You Have To Learn The Rules Of The Game Albert Einstein Essay Example For Students

You Have To Learn The Rules Of The Game Albert Einstein Essay Albert Einstein was on of the most popular men of all time. When one thinks of Einstein, they think scientist, or maybe, genius. Well he was both of those, but not only those. Einstein was a meek man, an ingenious man also, a man that could invent any-thing in the world if he wanted to, but kept his ideas very normal and simple.Einstein was a very meek man in that he did not want popularity; he just wanted to be normal, just like everyone else. We will write a custom essay on You Have To Learn The Rules Of The Game Albert Einstein specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now For example, at the Institute for Advanced Study, Einstein was offered a blank check for his salary. He did not accept it, he asked for an incredibly small amount. The director had to beg him to take a larger amount. He also, when he was walking in the rain, took off his hat because he believed that the hat could get ruined but his hair will get nothing but wet. Einstein did not act any different or better than anyone either. He did not dress any better, which was proved when Hoffman first met Einstein, he went into his office, and Einstein was sitting there in ill-fitting cloths, and his hair characteristic-ally awry. He did not speak or write better or more elegantly than anyone else either. He did not even have any special learning powers either. This was proved when Hoffman was writing equations on a blackboard when he was asked to slow down by Einstein, he said, Please go slowly, I do not understand things quickly. Proving that he is not that much more intelligent than anyone else. Einstein was a normal guy with maybe just a little more on the brains side, but original as an ordinary person. Einstein was also a very ingenious person at the same time. He came up with many theories that have been written about, but also many that have not been put down in history. One of his greatest achievements was the theory of relativity (E=MC2), which was Einsteins theory concerning that relationship among matter, energy, space, time, and gravitation (Energy equals the mass times speed of light squared). When he was in school, he used to ask his teachers calculus questions that they could not answer. Have you ever wondered why a mans feet will sink into either dry or completely submerged sand? This question resulted in the theory or explanation of surface tension. He said, When the sand is dry, there is obviously no water between grains. If the sand is fully immersed, there is water between grains, but no water surface to pull them together.Einstein was a very intelligent man, but also very normal. He refused the chance to be very heard, which he became anyway, and did not want everyone to treat him anymore special than anyone. Hoffman clearly explains this is his story of Einstein. Einstein went from being an average school student, to being the most famous scientist known to man. His theories, which were not always used for a good cause and his explanations, revealed answers to everyday things that one does not realize. He was truly a magnificent man.

Essay on Boyhood by J.M. Coetzee †Literature Essay

Essay on Boyhood by J.M. Coetzee – Literature Essay Free Online Research Papers Essay on ‘Boyhood’ by J.M. Coetzee Literature Essay Title: After studying Boyhood by J.M. Coetzee, would you say that childhood, and especially the end of childhood and the beginning of teenage, is always a happy moment in one’s life ? Every one has to pass this proof in his/her life and it’s a special moment because you ask yourself on things you had never thought before. Your body and your mind are also changing. We can ask ourselves if the end of the childhood is really a happy moment in one’s life and, if it isn’t right, what are the reasons of that ? We’ll use the book ‘Boyhood’ from J.M. COETZEE to analyze and understand that part of life as well as possible. That periode can be difficult because you don’t know where you are going to. You know that you anyway have to live that part of your life but you don’t know how it’ll happen. You also feel different from other people because you start taking care of your appearance and of what the others are thinking of you, your manners, your look, persuaded that everyone is watching and will judge you on the first thing wrong you’ll do. For example, in the beginning of Boyhood p.7, John would like to be beaten only once to become a normal child. He isn’t thankful to his mother for not to give him a ‘normal education’. He feels different from other boys and would just like to look like them. Or p.9 as he doesn’t want to wear shoes to be like the others. Then his feets hurt and he’s expecting some support from his classmates, but he only gets mockeries. So it’s his mother’s mistake, to send him to school with shoes. You also ask questions you never asked before, with answers you often aren’t satisfied, as John asks his mother p.13 about who she does love the most, him or his brother. What she answers:’ I love you both the same.’. That doesn’t make her son happy because he was expecting a precise answer. John himself doesn’t think that childhood is a moment of joy in one’s life. On p. 14 it’s written:’Nothing John experiences leads him to think that childohhd is a time of innocent joy but a time of difficult examinations.’ It also can be a stressful moment as you’re thinking of existantial questions, like: how and where would I be if my parents didn’t get married together but with another person? You realise that people aren’t anymore as nice as before. The examples p. 15 and 19 prove it: john thinks he’ll be given a second opportunity to light a fire and to choose an other religion just to try to be like the others but he isn’t. Nevertheless you can also have fun as John enjoys more and more playing cricket but he feels alone like p.28:’ a spider in a hole, shutting out the world, hiding.’ At the age of john, you start knowing what is realistic in true life and what isn’t, like p. 33 (bottom) as John wants to ‘put aside the fantasy and do realistic things’ like growns-up do. During that periode you are also thinking of the importance of what you’re saying and doing and its consequences, what can make you sad. John is precisely in this situation p. 29 35 and 151 as he learns to be more prudent on what he’s saying not for the others to laugh at you and behave as normal (= like the others do) as possible. Your look becomes important for you (p.44) and you don’t want to keep the same habits that could remain your childhood (p.49: John doesn’t want to call his mother in public as he does at home because to him it isn’t a normal thing and he wants to be normal). Later you think ask yourself what is desire used for. So does John p.56 because he thinks he starts feeling it. You can be easily influenced, what can be dange rous because you’re ready to believe nearly everything what one tells you, like John p.69 when he’s afraid of african boys because of rumours he had been told. You don’t like the same things as if you were a child because your mind is changing. What you liked as you were small seeme you ridiculous now (p.70: John doesn’t like anymore the comics he thinks are for babies, now that he’s becoming a grown-up). Or p.144 as he thinks he has wasted his time riding bicycle and playing with his mecano because they aren’t interessant. It isn’t his activities that have changed but his mind. Now he prefers to spend hours in the bathroom, examining himself in the mirror, not liking what he sees (p.144) or play cricket. During that periode, you may be more easily irritable and think that your parents are old enough to do things they ask you to, and consequently refuses to obey. For example the habits of other people can disguss you, for example as John hates his father’s personal habits (p.43). That can make your parents angry and your relationship with them can become worse during that periode of your life. At the end of this passage of your life, your feelings for the people of the other sex starts growing and you think of the meaning of love. For John, that starts p.95 with his cousin Agnes. Later, p.121, he thinks of the word ‘love’ and its meaning. Because he only knows this feeling by the television and not really, he finds it disgusting. He also hates to be kissed by girls and doesn’t know what to do with his mother’s feelings to him (love, p.122) and thinks his parents don’t have love stories since he was born. And during the pause, they John and his friends are always speaking about sex, and John brings a book about sex to school. Children are often afraid because becoming a grown-up means that your mother won’t protect you anymore and you’ll stay alone against every problem that can occur in one’s life. As a conclusion, we can say that the end of childhood isn’t a part of pleasure and joy in one’s life, principally because too much new things come to you at the same time and you aren’t mature enough to face it. You pass through different states of mind that can make you loose some friends because you don’t know how to react to all of these new things, what to think about this new feeling that is calling ‘love’ and you may often panic, what can make you sad like John. Research Papers on Essay on ‘Boyhood’ by J.M. 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An Overview of the Origin of Swimming

An Overview of the Origin of Swimming Written records of swimming date back to near 2000 BC, however, nowhere are strokes or techniques mentioned, children were simply taught to swim. A record from between 2160 BC and 1780 BC from an Egyptian nobleman says â€Å"his children took swimming lessons with the king’s children† (Colwin 4). In addition, many passages from the Biblical Old Testament mention swimming or the act of swimming; such as in the old testament book of Isaiah: â€Å"as he that swimmeth spreadeth forth his hands to swim† (KJV Isa 25:11). Until around the 1500s, no swimming manuals teaching specific techniques existed. In 1559, Sir Everard Digby wrote, in Latin, A short introduction for to learne to swimme. Later Christofer Middleton translated Sir Digby’s work into the common English â€Å"for the better in|struction of those who vnderstand not the Latine tongue† (Digby 1). Digby wrote instructions on how to swim â€Å"like a dog† and â€Å"like a dolphin† as well as many other forms (Digby table of contents). From there, other manuals were written to further refine strokes. While swimming originates as an old pastime, until the early 1800s competitive swimming’s history did not exist because competitive swimming itself did not exist. Up until then, swimming acted as a pleasurable pastime intended more for relaxation than exercise. That mentality shifted during the 19th century in Britain with the opening of St. George’s Baths in 1828, the first indoor public pool. Following that in 1837, the British National Swimming Society made many more indoor pools and began holding swimming competitions (Sharma 1). While the sport remained on the back burner for several decades it steadily grew in popularity until swimming debuted on a global scale in the Grecian Olympics of 1896. In recent decades, athletes such as Mark Spitz, Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte, Nathan Adrian, Natalie Coughlin, Katie Ladecky, and Missy Franklin have rocketed the swimming world into becoming one of the most televised sports during the summer Olympics. The language the sport of competitive swimming employs many words from non-aquatic sources. For example, the butterfly stroke, though allegedly invented in 1933 by Brooklyn swimmer Henry Myers (Colwin 30). Instead the butterfly stroke derives its name from the butterfly insect since the technique somewhat resembles that of its namesake. Several other words in swimming’s lexicon follow the same mentality. Named not for who invented the technique, but rather for what it looks like. Kicks such as the dolphin and whip kick when categorized in this way provide pristine examples for this method. The dolphin kick looks like that of a dolphin’s tail moving up and down in the water. The whip kick, sometimes called the frog kick, also makes sense because as human legs perform the kick they mimic the action of frog legs. The swim strokes themselves hold other examples of words coming from non-aquatic sources. Butterfly (previously explained), backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle all have nothing to do with water. The back and breast strokes seem to explain themselves, one executed while swimming on your back and the other executed while swimming with your chest or breast side of your body facing downward in the water. While the easiest to swim, freestyle tends to exists as a more complex term to understand. Technically breast, back, and fly exist as alternate strokes for the freestyle though usually traditionally performed as the complete reverse of backstroke. The stroke of free takes on the dictionary definition of â€Å"enjoying personal rights or liberty† (â€Å"free†), which allows swimmers to swim whatever stroke they deem the easiest or the fastest for themselves. Most of the words in the following lexicon find their roots in Germanic languages. Old Norse, Old Dutch, Old English, and even Old Frisian boast the origin of these words. Invented in Britain, competitive swimming has its lexical language background in these and other Proto-Germanic roots. Of the words in the following lexicon only five can have their origins traced back to Latin, French, or Greek. Of the five outliers, three are Latinate in origin. ‘Dolphin’ derived from a term for the animal and the constellation ‘dolphinus’, ‘paddles’ from the Medieval Latin term ‘padela’, and ‘cap’ from the word cappa. The Old French word ‘touch’ from ‘tochier’ joins with a Germanic word ‘pod’ to make the compound ‘tochierpod’ or ‘touchpad’. Finally, swimming gets its word ‘cards’ from the Greek word ‘khartes’. Verbs and nouns entirely comprise the lexicon list, evidence for this observation lies in the reasoning that verbs and nouns describe either an action or a piece of equipment. However, three words defy normal constructs of language. ‘Dolphin’, ‘whip’, and ‘flutter’ are normally used in language as a noun and two verbs respectively. In swimming, these words take on the role of an adjective because they are describing the type of kick used in a stroke (the dolphin kick in butterfly, the whip kick in breaststroke, and the flutter kick in backstroke and freestyle). Swimming, with its complex history of starting as a leisure activity and evolving into a competitive sport, becomes a wonderful example of how a language can adapt its words to fit a new activity. In addition to creating a new lexicon, a competitive swimmer may ignore old definitions as new definitions are created such as the case of ‘dolphin’. The following lexicon presents a collection of twenty swimming terms that demonstrate all of what has been previously written.

Denialism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Denialism - Essay Example In most cases of such dissenters, the stronger the emotion behind their beliefs, the more they are likely to invariably use cognitive inaccuracies to hold onto the false belief. In general, human beings tend to believe that there is a reason, and a physical logical one at that, why certain things happen. This especially true where emotional subjects such as the health of children is concerned. For example, they will feel that there is a reason why autistic children are that way. Some parents will also use examples of coincidental situations that occur to prove that there is a connection between autism and vaccinations. For instance, if a child dies soon after being vaccinated, its parents are likely to use that incident as justification for refusing to let their other children get vaccinated. Also, people have the tendency of expressing reservations on only the procedures that they are able to remember easily. In most cases where children receive vaccinations, they have no adverse re actions to them. This is an extremely common occurrence that is never reported on. Moreover, the media will report extensively whenever a child has adverse reactions to a vaccine. ... In the false consensus effect, parents are led to believe that the subject belief concerning the danger of vaccines is one which is widely held. This is mainly the result of being exposed to selective data through various elements of the media (Specter, 2009). In addition, most parents have no way of getting feedback from others about questions regarding this premise due to the unspoken rules regarding social interaction. For instance, if a parent suspects that his son or daughter is autistic because of the administrations of multiple vaccines, this view is not likely to be corrected by others or by doctors because it is unlikely that the parent will express it out loud. In recent years, the people who believe that vaccines cause autism have been influenced by the consistency with which the media reports on the subject of vaccines in relation to autism. It is also a fact that the parents who feel that vaccines are the actual cause of their children’s autism are more speak abou t it more often than those who do not believe this. Another reason why people might be persuaded about the accuracy of this inaccuracy is that it is the one issue over which they feel that they have control. Healthcare, in most nations, is the responsibility of government ministries; which many people distrust. Most citizens in nations around the world do not have a choice about the vaccines that their children get because governments have determined that the child’s rights to health are more important than the parent’s feelings about the matter. In some nations, children are vaccinated before being allowed to attend school while in others, parents are obligated to deliver the child to clinics for vaccinations. Many parents are irritated by the fact

Practicing Curiosity Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Practicing Curiosity - Assignment Example In fact, he says that he successfully made his first public performance when he was only seven. This shows that he was always having the passion and desire to be a great musician (Eisen and Stanley 43). The other important thing which arouses my curiosity is Daniel’s musical style. As a pianist, he acknowledges his disapproval for the band wagon and instead, adopting and subscribing to his own school of thought. Instead of borrowing from his mentors, he opted to adopt his own peculiar style for playing his piano. He became so conventional and used to find his tempo from within his music particularly harmonic rhythm and harmony. by opting to act in such a manner, he was trying to prove to his colleagues of fans that music is a very dynamic field which does not necessarily need to be done in a similar manner. since each musician is free, they can choose their own style to adopt as they refine and make it better to appeal to their respective audience. Because of this, I would like to point out that I have really learnt a lot from this artist. Through his interview with Rose, I have known that music is a good and rewarding career if taken seriously. The interview has changed my attitude towards music. Unlike before, I now regard music as a very interesting and fulfilling career. However, for anyone to excel to the level of Daniel, they must have the required passion for it (Eisen and Stanley 27). Besides, they should be dedicated and committed to be novel and perfect in the playing of their various instruments. Lastly, it needs a high level of flexibility. Just like Daniel himself who participated in the orchestra, symphony and jazz, any artist should not be restricted to only one area. This is the only way through which they can build a reputation for

Plagiarism :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Plagiarism is defined in the Encyclopedia Britannica Online as â€Å"the act of taking the writings of another person and passing them off as one's own†. In my own words I define it as the stealing of someone else’s literary work and taking credit for their writings. Sometimes it is done intentionally as an act of complete dishonesty. Someone may not want to exert the necessary effort required to research and write his or her own work. They assume it would be easier to just copy another author’s work. Another example of deliberate plagiarism is the buying or selling of papers, or hiring someone to write a paper. Most frequently, plagiarism occurs without the writer knowing that he or she is plagiarizing. Simply quoting an author without stating where the quote was taken from and citing the name of author is plagiarizing. If someone uses an authors style of writing and/ or word usage throughout his/her paper that is also considered plagiarism. Whether done intentionally or in error, plagiarism is a crime that can warrant serious penalties   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Plagiarism is a severe problem because it has since become an epidemic and is being practiced at an alarmingly increasing rate. It has become widely accepted among students at many colleges and universities across the United States. It has gotten to the point that many students don’t even consider it cheating. This fact alone makes it even more serious and harder to control. It is now common practice to obtain someone else’s writing and turn it in as an original work. It is not difficult to purchase a pre-written paper or hire another individual to write a paper. Students are willing to pay whatever the cost so that they don’t have to do the work themselves. In fact, paper-selling services such as this have become quite a lucrative business. With the age of technology quickly advancing it has become all the more easily to plagiarize. The impact of the Internet on the plagiarism has been huge. You can find hundreds of websites that, for a fee, will offer papers on every topic imaginable. There are also websites that promise custom made papers written based on the requested criteria. The ease and availability offered through such sites has tempted even the most honest students. With the stress and pressure that the pursuit higher education can bring it is often a welcome release to have a ready-made paper at the stroke of key.

Developmental Reading Essay

What makes reading different from the other macro skills of communication? How does it relate to the other skills needed for communication? â€Å"Reading† is the process of looking at a series of written symbols and getting meaning from them. When we read, we use our eyes to receive written symbols (letters, punctuation marks and spaces) and we use our brain to convert them into words, sentences and paragraphs that communicate something to us. Reading can be silent (in our head) or aloud (so that other people can hear). Reading is a receptive skill – through it, we receive information. But the complex process of reading also requires the skill of speaking, so that we can pronounce the words that we read. In this sense, reading is also a productive skill in that we are both receiving information and transmitting it (even if only to ourselves). Reading is the third of the four language skills, which are: Listening Speaking Reading Writing In our own language, reading is usually the third language skill that we learn. Do we need to read in order to speak English? The short answer is no. Some native speakers cannot read or write but they speak English fluently. Read more:  How to write a reflective essay. On the other hand, reading is something that you can do on your own and that greatly broadens your vocabulary, thus helping you in speaking (and in listening and writing). Reading is therefore a highly valuable skill and activity, and it is recommended that English learners try to read as much as possible in English. A. The Psychology of Reading The last 20 years have witnessed a revolution in reading research. Cognitive psychologists, using high-speed computers to aid in the collection and analysis of data, have developed tools that have begun to answer questions that were previously thought unanswerable. These tools allow for a â€Å"chronometric,† or moment-to-moment, analysis of the reading process. Foremost among them is the use of the record of eye movements to help reveal the underlying perceptual and cognitive processes of reading. Reading is a highly complex skill that is a prerequisite to success in our society. In a society such as ours, where so much information is communicated in written form, it is important to investigate this essential behaviour. In the past 15 years, a great deal has been learned about the reading process from research by cognitive psychologists. Reading as a complex skill is pretty much taken for granted by those who can do it. While those who can do it fluently take it for granted, its complexity is more apparent to those who are having trouble reading. Reading is sometimes difficult for children to learn and illiterate adults find learning to read agonizingly frustrating. The roots of cognitive psychology, the branch of psychology which examines internal mental processes such as problem solving, memory and language can be traced to the experiment of Wundt’s laboratory in Leipzig in 1879. As a part of the larger field of cognitive science, this branch of psychology is related to other disciplines including neuroscience, philosophy and linguistics. The core focus of cognitive psychology is on how people acquire, process and store information. There are numerous practical applications for cognitive research, such as improving memory, increasing decision-making accuracy and structuring educational curricula to enhance learning. Until the 1950s, behaviourism was the dominant school of thought in psychology. Between 1950 and 1970, the tide began to shift against behavioral psychology to focus on topics such as attention, memory and problem-solving. Often referred to as the cognitive revolution, this period generated considerable research on topics including processing models, cognitive research methods and the first use of the term â€Å"cognitive psychology. † The term â€Å"cognitive psychology† was first used in 1967 by American psychologist Ulric Neisser in his book Cognitive Psychology. According to Neisser, cognition involves â€Å"all processes by which the sensory input is transformed, reduced, elaborated, stored, recovered, and used. It is concerned with these processes even when they operate in the absence of relevant stimulation, as in images and hallucinations†¦ Given such a sweeping definition, it is apparent that cognition is involved in everything a human being might possibly do; that every psychological phenomenon is a cognitive phenomenon. † Today, we find many psychologists interested in reading. Why has the change taken place? The primary reason appears to have been the failure of behaviourism to account for language processing in many reasonable ways. The promise of behaviourism was always that if psychologists could understand the laws of learning and behaviour is simple tasks, those laws could be generalized to more complex tasks like language processing. Some cognitive psychologists who study the product of reading would also want to argue with the bias towards understanding the process of reading. To their way of thinking, what people remember from what they read maybe more important than how they go about the chore of reading. However, the response to such a point is that understanding the process by which some mental structure is created almost logically entails understanding that structure. In contrast, understanding what gets stored in memory may not reveal much about the processes that created the structure. Thus, understanding what is in memory as a result of reading discourse may not be unique to reading; essentially the same structures may be created when people listen to discourse. It is not saying that understanding the product of reading and how remarkable skill must be understood- quite apart from issues like general comprehension skills and intelligence. B. The Meaning of Developmental Reading C. The Teaching of Reading Traditionally, the purpose of learning to read in a language has been to have access to the literature written in that language. In language instruction, reading materials have traditionally been chosen from literary texts that represent â€Å"higher† forms of culture. This approach assumes that students learn to read a language by studying its vocabulary, grammar, and sentence structure, not by actually reading it. In this approach, lower level learners read only sentences and paragraphs generated by textbook writers and instructors. The reading of authentic materials is limited to the works of great authors and reserved for upper level students who have developed the language skills needed to read them. The communicative approach to language teaching has given instructors a different understanding of the role of reading in the language classroom and the types of texts that can be used in instruction. When the goal of instruction is communicative competence, everyday materials such as train schedules, newspaper articles, and travel and tourism Web sites become appropriate classroom materials, because reading them is one way communicative competence is developed. Instruction in reading and reading practice thus become essential parts of language teaching at every level. What is reading? Reading about understands written texts. It is a complex activity that involves both perception and thought. Reading consists of two related processes: word recognition and comprehension. Word recognition refers to the process of perceiving how written symbols correspond to one’s spoken language. Comprehension is the process of making sense of words, sentences and connected text. Readers typically make use of background knowledge, vocabulary, grammatical knowledge, experience with text and other strategies to help them understand written text. Much of what we know about reading is based on studies conducted in English and other alphabetic languages. The principles we list in this booklet are derived from them, but most also apply to non-alphabetic languages. They will have to be modified to account for the specific language. Learning to read is an important educational goal. For both children and adults, the ability to read opens up new worlds and opportunities. It enables us to gain new knowledge, enjoy literature, and do everyday things that are part and parcel of modern life, such as, reading the newspapers, job listings, instruction manuals, maps and so on. Most people learn to read in their native language without difficulty. Many, but not all, learn to read as children. Some children and adults need additional help. Yet others learn to read a second, third or additional language, with or without having learned to read in their first language. Reading instruction needs to take into account different types of learners and their needs. Research has shown that there is a great deal of transfer from learning to read in one language to learning to read in a second language. The principles outlined below are based on studies of children and adults, native speakers as well as those learning to read in a second or foreign language. They deal with different aspects of reading that are important in the planning and design of instruction and materials. The practical applications are based on general learning principles, as well as on research. Briefly stated, these learning principles start with the learner in mind. The type of learner will affect the type of methods and materials to be used. The context of learning is also important. For instance, children and adults who are learning to read in a language different from their native language will also need to learn about the culture of the second or foreign language. Because texts are written with a specific audience in mind, cultural knowledge is present in texts and it is assumed that the reader is familiar with such knowledge. Both research and classroom practices support the use of a balanced approach in instruction. Because reading depends on efficient word recognition and comprehension, instruction should develop reading skills and strategies, as well as build on learners’ knowledge through the use of authentic texts. 1. Theories of Reading Just like teaching methodology, reading theories have had their shifts and transitions. Starting from the traditional view which focused on the printed form of a text and moving to the cognitive view that enhanced the role of background knowledge in addition to what appeared on the printed page; they ultimately culminated in the metacognitive view which is now in vogue. It is based on the control and manipulation that a reader can have on the act of comprehending a text. a. The Traditional View According to Dole et al. (1991), in the traditional view of reading, novice readers acquire a set of hierarchically ordered sub-skills that sequentially build toward comprehension ability. Having mastered these skills, readers are viewed as experts who comprehend what they read. †¢ Readers are passive recipients of information in the text. Meaning resides in the text and the reader has to reproduce meaning. †¢ According to Nunan (1991), reading in this view is basically a matter of decoding a series of written symbols into their aural equivalents in the quest for making sense of the text. He referred to this process as the ‘bottom-up’ view of reading. †¢ McCarthy (1999) has called this view ‘outside-in’processing, referring to the idea that meaning exists in the printed page and is interpreted by the reader then taken in. †¢ This model of reading has almost always been underattack as being insufficient and defective for the main reason that it relies on the formal features of the language, mainly words and structure. Although it is possible to accept this rejection for the fact that there is over-reliance on structure in this view, it must be confessed that knowledge of linguistic features is also necessary for comprehension to take place. To counteract over-reliance on form in the traditional view of reading, the cognitive view was introduced. b. The Cognitive View. The ‘top-down’ model is in direct opposition to the ‘bottom-up’ model. According to Nunan (1991) and Dubin and Bycina (1991), the psycholinguistic model of reading and the top-down model are in exact concordance. †¢ Goodman (1967; cited in Paran, 1996) presented reading as a psycholinguistic guessing game, a process in which readers sample the text, make hypotheses, confirm or reject them, make new hypotheses, and so forth. Here, the reader rather than the text is at the heart of the reading process. †¢ The schema theory of reading also fits within the cognitively based view of reading. Rumelhart (1977) has described schemata as â€Å"building blocks of cognition† which are used in the process of interpreting sensory data, in retrieving information from memory, in organising goals and subgoals, in allocating resources, and in guiding the flow of the processing system. †¢ Rumelhart (1977) has also stated that if our schemata are incomplete and do not provide an understanding of the incoming data from the text we will have problems processing and understanding the text. Cognitively based views of reading comprehension emphasize the interactive nature of reading and the constructive nature of comprehension. Dole et al. (1991) have stated that, besides knowledge brought to bear on the reading process, a set of flexible, adaptable strategies are used to make sense of a text and to monitor ongoing understanding. c. The Metacognitive View According to Block (1992), there is now no more debate on â€Å"whether reading is a bottom-up, language-based process or a top-down, knowledge-based process. † It is also no more problematic to accept the influence of background knowledge on both L1 and L2 readers. Research has gone even further to define the control readers execute on their ability to understand a text. This control, Block (1992) has referred to as metacognition. Metacognition involves thinking about what one is doing while reading. Klein et al. (1991) stated that strategic readers attempt the following while reading: Identifying the purpose of the reading before reading Identifying the form or type of the text before reading Thinking about the general character and features of the form or type of the text. For instance, they try to locate a topic sentence and follow supporting details toward a conclusion Projecting the author’s purpose for writing the text (while reading it), Choosing, scanning, or reading in detail Making continuous predictions about what will occur next, based on information obtained earlier, prior knowledge, and conclusions obtained within the previous stages. Moreover, they attempt to form a summary of what was read. Carrying out the previous steps requires the reader to be able to classify sequence, establish whole-part relationships, compare and contrast, determine cause-effect, summarise, hypothesise and predict, infer, and conclude. Tips and Guidelines for implementing a theory of reading which will help to develop the learner’s abilities Text characteristics. Pre-reading tips During-reading tips After-reading tips These tips can be viewed in three consecutive stages: before reading, during reading, and after reading. For instance, before starting to read a text it is natural to think of the purpose of reading the text. As an example of the during-reading techniques, re-reading for better comprehension can be mentioned. And filling out forms and charts can be referred to as an after-reading activity. These tasks and ideas can be used to enhance reading comprehension. Text characteristics. Good readers expect to understand what they are reading. Therefore, texts should contain words and grammatical structures familiar to the learners (Van Duzer, 1999). In texts where vocabulary is not familiar, teachers can introduce key vocabulary in pre-reading activities that focus on language awareness, such as finding synonyms, antonyms, derivatives, or associated words (Hood et al. , 1996; cited in Van Duzer, 1999). The topics of texts chosen should be in accordance with the age range, interests, sex, and background culture of the students for whom they are intended. Pre-reading activities that introduce the text should encourage learners to use their background knowledge (Eskey, 1997; cited in Van Duzer, 1999). Class members can brainstorm ideas about the meaning of a title or an illustration and discuss what they know. Pre-reading tips Before the actual act of reading a text begins, some points should be regarded in order to make the process of reading more comprehensible. It is necessary to provide the necessary background information to the reader to facilitate comprehension. In addition, as stated by Lebauer (1998), pre-reading activities can lighten students’ cognitive burden while reading because prior discussions will have been incorporated. Teacher-directed pre-reading (Estes, 1999) Some key vocabulary and ideas in the text are explained. In this approach the teacher directly explains the information the students will need, including key concepts, important vocabulary, and appropriate conceptual framework. Interactive approach (Estes, 1999). In this method, the teacher leads a discussion in which he/she draws out the information students already have and interjects additional information deemed necessary to an understanding of the text to be read. Moreover, the teacher can make explicit links between prior knowledge and important information in the text. Purpose of reading It is also necessary for students to become aware of the purpose and goal for reading a certain piece of written material. At the beginning stages this can be done by the teacher, but as the reader becomes more mature this purpose, i. e.awareness-raising strategy, can be left to the readers. For instance, the students may be guided to ask themselves, â€Å"Why am I reading this text? What do I want to know or do after reading? † One of the most obvious, but unnoticed, points related to reading purpose is the consideration of the different types of reading skills. Skimming: Reading rapidly for the main points Scanning: Reading rapidly to find a specific piece of information Extensive reading: Reading a longer text, often for pleasure with emphasis on overall meaning Intensive reading: Reading a short text for detailed information. The most frequently encountered reason as to why the four skills are all subsumed into one – intensive reading – is that students studying a foreign language feel the urge to look up every word they don’t understand and to pinpoint on every structural point they see unfamiliar. To make students aware of the different types of reading, ask them about the types of reading they do in their first language. The type of text – The reader must become familiar with the fact that texts may take on different forms and hold certain pieces of information in different places. Thus, it is necessary to understand the layout of the material being read in order to focus more deeply on the parts that are more densely compacted with information. Even paying attention to the year of publication of a text, if applicable, may aid the reader in presuppositions about the text as can glancing at the name of the author. Steinhofer (1996) stated that the tips mentioned in pre-reading will not take a very long time to carry out. The purpose is to overcome the common urge to start reading a text closely right away from the beginning. During-reading tips What follows are tips that encourage active reading. They consist of summarizing, reacting, questioning, arguing, evaluating, and placing a text within one’s own experience. These processes may be the most complex to develop in a classroom setting, the reason being that in English reading classes most attention is often paid to dictionaries, the text, and the teacher. Interrupting this routine and encouraging students to dialogue with what they are reading without coming between them and the text presents a challenge to the EFL teacher. Duke and Pearson (2001) have stated that good readers are active readers. According to Ur (1996), Vaezi (2001), and Fitzgerald (1995), they use the following strategies. Making predictions: The readers should be taught to be on the watch to predict what is going to happen next in the text to be able to integrate and combine what has come with what is to come. Making selections: Readers who are more proficient read selectively, continually making decisions about their reading. Integrating prior knowledge: The schemata that have been activated in the pre-reading section should be called upon to facilitate comprehension. Skipping insignificant parts: A good reader will concentrate on significant pieces of information while skipping insignificant pieces. Re-reading: Readers should be encouraged to become sensitive to the effect of reading on their comprehension. Making use of context or guessing: Readers should not be encouraged to define and understand every single unknown word in a text. Instead they should learn to make use of context to guess the meaning of unknown words. Breaking words into their component parts: To keep the process of comprehension ongoing, efficient readers break words into their affixes or bases. These parts can help readers guess the meaning of a word. Reading in chunks: To ensure reading speed, readers should get used to reading groups of words together. This act will also enhance comprehension by focusing on groups of meaning-conveying symbols simultaneously. Pausing: Good readers will pause at certain places while reading a text to absorb and internalize the material being read and sort out information. Paraphrasing: While reading texts it may be necessary to paraphrase and interpret texts subvocally in order to verify what was comprehended. Monitoring: Good readers monitor their understanding to evaluate whether the text, or the reading of it, is meeting their goals. After-reading tips It is necessary to state that post-reading activities almost always depend on the purpose of reading and the type of information extracted from the text. Barnett (1988) has stated that post-reading exercises first check students’ comprehension and then lead students to a deeper analysis of the text. In the real world the purpose of reading is not to memorize an author’s point of view or to summarize text content, but rather to see into another mind, or to mesh new information into what one already knows. Group discussion will help students focus on information they did not comprehend, or did comprehend correctly. Accordingly, attention will be focused on processes that lead to comprehension or miscomprehension. Generally speaking, post-reading can take the form of various activities as presented below: Discussing the text: Written/Oral Summarizing: Written/Oral Making questions: Written/Oral. Answering questions: Written/Oral Filling in forms and charts Writing reading logs Completing a text Listening to or reading other related materials Role-playing 2. The Reading Purpose Reading is an activity with a purpose. A person may read in order to gain information or verify existing knowledge, or in order to critique a writer’s ideas or writing style. A person may also read for enjoyment, or to enhance knowledge of the language being read. The purpose(s) for reading guide the reader’s selection of texts. The purpose for reading also determines the appropriate approach to reading comprehension. A person who needs to know whether she can afford to eat at a particular restaurant needs to comprehend the pricing information provided on the menu, but does not need to recognize the name of every appetizer listed. A person reading poetry for enjoyment needs to recognize the words the poet uses and the ways they are put together, but does not need to identify main idea and supporting details. However, a person using a scientific article to support an opinion needs to know the vocabulary that is used, understand the facts and cause-effect sequences that are presented, and recognize ideas that are presented as hypotheses and givens. Reading research shows that good readers Read extensively Integrate information in the text with existing knowledge Have a flexible reading style, depending on what they are reading Are motivated Rely on different skills interacting: perceptual processing, phonemic processing, recall Read for a purpose; reading serves a function Reading as a Process Reading is an interactive process that goes on between the reader and the text, resulting in comprehension. The text presents letters, words, sentences, and paragraphs that encode meaning. The reader uses knowledge, skills, and strategies to determine what that meaning is. Reader knowledge, skills, and strategies include Linguistic competence: the ability to recognize the elements of the writing system; knowledge of vocabulary; knowledge of how words are structured into sentences Discourse competence: knowledge of discourse markers and how they connect parts of the text to one another Sociolinguistic competence: knowledge about different types of texts and their usual structure and content Strategic competence: the ability to use top-down strategies, as well as knowledge of the language (a bottom-up strategy). The purpose(s) for reading and the type of text determine the specific knowledge, skills, and strategies that readers need to apply to achieve comprehension. Reading comprehension is thus much more than decoding. Reading comprehension results when the reader knows which skills and strategies are appropriate for the type of text, and understands how to apply them to accomplish the reading purpose. Developmentally Appropriate Materials for Preschool and Kindergarten Children (Ages 3-6). Materials for preschoolers and kindergarteners should support their developing social skills and interest in adult roles, growing imaginations, increasing motor skills, and rapidly expanding vocabularies. Refer to the table below for examples of developmentally appropriate materials for preschool and kindergarten children. Type of Material Appropriate Materials Examples Skill/concept Books/records Picture books, simple and repetitive stories and rhymes, animal stories, pop-up books, simple information books, wide variety of musical recordings. Games Socially interactive games with adults, such as What If; matching and lotto games based on colors and pictures, such as picture bingo or dominoes; games of chance with a few pieces that require no reading, such as Chutes and Ladders; flannel board with pictures, letters, and storybook characters Gross motor Active play Push and pull toys; ride-on toys; balls of all kinds; indoor slide and climber; rocking boat Outdoor Climbers, rope ladders, balls of all sizes; old tires, sand and water materials Manipulative Fine motor. Dressing frames; toys to put together and take apart; cookie cutters, stamp and printing materials, finger paint, modeling dough, small objects to sort and classify; bead stringing with long, thin string; pegs and small pegs; colored cubes, table blocks, magnetic board/letters/numbers and shapes; perception boards and mosaics Puzzles and form boards Fit-in or framed puzzles (for 3-year-olds: from 4-20 pieces, for 4-year-olds: from 15-30 pieces, for 5-year-olds: from 15-50 pieces); large, simple jigsaws; number/letter/clock puzzles Investigative. Toys, globe flashlight, magnets, lock boxes, weather forecasting equipment, scales, balances, stethoscopes Construction Building sets Small and large unit blocks; large hollow blocks; from age 4, interlocking plastic blocks with pieces of all sizes Carpentry Workbench, hammer, preschool nails, saw, sandpaper, pounding benches, safety goggles Self-expressive Dolls and soft toys Realistic dolls and accessories; play settings and play people (e. g. , farm, hospital) Dramatic play Dress-up clothes, realistic tools, toy camera, telephone, household furniture. Sensory Tactile boxes; auditory and musical materials such as smelling and sound boxes; cooking experiences Art/music All rhythm instruments, music boxes; large crayons, paint, paste, glue, chalkboard and chalk, sewing kits, collage materials, markers, modeling dough, blunt scissors Natural and everyday Sand and water Sandbox tools, bubbles, water toys Old clocks, radios, cameras, telephones; telephone books; mirrors; doctor kits; typewriter; magazines; fabric scraps; computer; cash register and receipts; measuring cups and muffin tins 3. Basic Reading Skills  a. Skimming – is used to quickly gather the most important information, or ‘gist’. Run your eyes over the text, noting important information. Use skimming to quickly get up to speed on a current business situation. It’s not essential to understand each word when skimming. Examples of Skimming: The Newspaper (quickly to get the general news of the day) Magazines (quickly to discover which articles you would like to read in more detail) Business and Travel Brochures (quickly to get informed) b. Scanning- is used to find a particular piece of information. Run your eyes over the text looking for the specific piece of information you need. Use scanning on schedules, meeting plans, etc. in order to find the specific details you require. If you see words or phrases that you don’t understand, don’t worry when scanning. Examples of Scanning The â€Å"What’s on TV† section of your newspaper. A train / airplane schedule A conference guide c. Extensive reading- is used to obtain a general understanding of a subject and includes reading longer texts for pleasure, as well as business books. Use extensive reading skills to improve your general knowledge of business procedures. Do not worry if you understand each word. Examples of Extensive Reading The latest marketing strategy book A novel you read before going to bed Magazine articles that interest you d. Intensive reading – is used on shorter texts in order to extract specific information. It includes very close accurate reading for detail. Use intensive reading skills to grasp the details of a specific situation. In this case, it is important that you understand each word, number or fact. Examples of Intensive Reading A bookkeeping report An insurance claim A contract Essential Components of Reading Reading is an astoundingly complex cognitive process. While we often think of reading as one singular act, our brains are actually engaging in a number of tasks simultaneously each time we sit down with a book. There are five aspects to the process of reading: phonics, phonemic awareness, vocabulary, reading comprehension and fluency. These five aspects work together to create the reading experience. As children learn to read they must develop skills in all five of these areas in order to become successful readers. 1. Phonics Phonics is the connection between sounds and letter symbols. It is also the combination of these sound-symbol connections to create words. Without phonics, words are simply a bunch of squiggles and lines on a page. If you think about it, letters are arbitrary. There is nothing innately bed-like about the written word â€Å"bed†. It is simply the collection of letters and corresponding sounds that we agree constitute the word â€Å"bed†. Learning to make that connection between the individual sounds that each letter represents and then putting those together is essential to understanding what that funny squiggle means. There are a number of ways that phonics can be taught because there is a variety of ways to apply this aspect when reading. Each approach allows the reader to use phonics to read and learn new words in a different way. Synthetic phonics builds words from the ground up. In this approach readers are taught to first connect letters to their corresponding phonemes (sound units) and then to blend those together to create a word. Analytic phonics, on the other hand, approaches words from the top down. A word is identified as a whole unit and then its letter-sound connections are parsed out. Analogy phonics uses familiar parts of words to discover new words. Finally, phonics through spelling focuses on connecting sounds with letters in writing. All of these approaches can be taught and used independently or in combination to help young readers learn to identify new words. 2. Phonemic Awareness Phonemic awareness is closely related to phonics because both involve the connection between sounds and words.