Research on Bilingual Language Behaviour

Research on Bilingual Language Behaviour The aims of this qualitative study are threefold: To observe the language behaviour, in the formal register of religious services, of bilingual members of a sample East African Sikh speech community; To identify and examine the broad patterns of the bilingual language behaviour observed; and To attempt to explain those patterns from the perspectives of language policy (specifically, religious language policy), audience design and communication accommodation. The structure of this dissertation is as follows: Chapter 1 offers a brief history of Sikhism; a discussion of the double migration of the East African Sikhs to the United Kingdom; and the linguistic ramifications of the same for the sample speech community today. Chapter 2 contains a critical examination and review of the literature and central notions relevant to the study. Chapter 3 discusses the hypothesis and methodological aspects of this study; Chapter 4 contains observations made over the course of the data collection period, with the results and analysis of that data. Chapter 5 draws preliminary conclusions on the basis of the data analysis in the preceding chapter. Sikhism, the worlds fifth largest religion, originated in the Punjab (Northern India) as an off-shoot of Hinduism in the 15th century. Its emergence and development as one of the three main religions in India are closely tied to, influenced by and reflect the political, economic and socio-cultural changes that swept across the region over the course of nearly three centuries, shaping the role of Sikhs thereafter. Sikhism would only take on its à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾modern and most immediately recognisable form in 1699 (see below). The faith was founded by the first of the Sikhs ten gurus, Guru Nanak (1469-1538). He began preaching a new belief system founded on principles of monotheism, gender equality and egalitarianism at a time when the Muslim Mughal conquerors of India were forcing conversions to Islam, while the caste system reduced thousands of people to living, starving and dying in poverty. Guru Nanaks disciple and appointed successor, Guru Angad (1504-1552), is credited with creating the Gurmukhi script (which is still in use today) and popularising the practice of Guru ka Langar, whereby congregants eat together at the end of each service. Guru Angad was succeeded by Guru Amar Das (14791574), who made Guru ka Langar compulsory. He also instituted new ceremonies for birth, marriage and death; raised the status of women; and established three main gurpurbs (festivals), one of which is Vaisakhi (see below). The fourth guru, Guru Ram Das (1534-1581), is credited in turn with composing the Laava (the hymns recited during Sikh marriage ceremonies) and, perhaps more significantly, designing the Harimandir Sahib (also known as the Golden Temple) in Amritsar, Punjab. Guru Nanaks teachings, saloks (verses) and shabads (hymns) together with those of his successors were compiled by the fifth guru, Guru Arjan Dev (1563-1606), into the Adi Granth. This would eventually be known as the Guru Granth Sahib, the contents of which are known as gurbani (literally, the utterances of the Gurus). The sixth Guru, Har Gobind (1595-1644), instituted the role of the Sikhs as a martial race of saint soldiers a role which was maintained and expanded by his successor, Guru Har Rai (1630-1661). The eighth Guru, Har Krishan (1656-1664), died of smallpox aged 7 and appointed Guru Tegh Bahadur (1621-1675) as his successor. Tegh Bahadur further reinforced the Sikhs role as a warrior class before his execution by Emperor Aurangzeb. Prior to his death, he appointed his son, Gobind, as his successor. Guru Gobind Singh (1666-1708), the tenth and final human guru, is widely regarded as having laid the foundations for modern Sikhism on Vaisakhi in 1699. In establishing the Khalsa[1] Panth, Gobind Singh gave tangible shape to Sikh identity. He instituted the taking of amrit (literally nectar) as a new baptism ceremony, together with the five Ks, symbols to be worn by Sikhs as outward identifiers. New names were also to be taken by the newly unified community of Sikhs: Singh (literally, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾lion-hearted) for men and Kaur (à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾princess) for women. Guru Gobind took part in the first baptism, thus becoming Guru Gobind Singh. Equally significantly, Guru Gobind Singh elevated the Adi Granth (see above), to which he had made significant contributions, to a new status as the Guru Granth Sahib, and effectively appointed the sacred text as his successor[2]. In doing so, he vested it with full spiritual authority, with temporal authority laying with the Khalsa Panth. The Guru Granth Sahib continues to be worshipped and venerated by Sikhs as a living Guru, with various rites and rules governing how it is handled and treated. The Guru Granth Sahib is unusual in that it is a religious text compiled within the lifetime of its authors and contributors. Furthermore, whilst it is written exclusively in Gurmukhi script, the text itself is actually a mixture of different languages, including inter alia Punjabi, Persian, Hindi-Urdu, and Sanskrit. Gurmukhi has therefore been used as a transliterative device, a means of unifying and harmonising a disparate collection of verses and hymns written, collected and compiled by the Gurus and their devotees. In an informal chat during one of my visits, the president of the gurdwara informed me that, stylistically, the language used in the Guru Granth Sahib can be equated with Shakespearean English: spiritual, poetic and inspiring, but with a meaning that is not readily grasped by congregants without an explanation or interpretation provided by a giani. Gurmukhi (literally from the mouth of the Gurus[3]) is central to Sikh worship and religious practices. The general view held is that true understanding of the spiritual significance of the sacred texts cannot be achieved without knowledge of Gurmukhi, and a Sikh cannot fully experience the Guru Granth Sahib until he or she can read its contents. English translations are not frowned upon per se, and Romanised publications (in which the original Gurmukhi text is rendered in Romanised script[4]) abound, but these are rather viewed as little more than an introduction to worship and prayer rituals practices for which only Gurmukhi can and must be used in order to be correct or acceptable[5]. Two further points are implicit within such a requirement: First is the need for congregants to speak the heritage language in order to understand the text in terms of its spiritual content (as stated above) and, by extension, participate completely as fully-fledged and acknowledged congregants in a given service. Following that line of reasoning, it would seem futile to be able to read Gurmukhi script without the requisite understanding of the Punjabi language necessary to grasp the meaning of the text. Secondly, proficiency in reading Gurmukhi would appear to establish a form of hierarchy amongst congregants: the greater the proficiency, the greater the understanding of Sikh spirituality, and the more likely any such members are to be able to participate fully in services particularly the Akhand Path, in which proficient ability to read Gurmukhi is central. It may be said that Gurmukhi script acts here as a source of religious mysticism[6], in that a full understanding of the spiritual message contained in the Guru Granth Sahib remains inaccessible and, therefore, a source of mystery to anyone who cannot read it. Congregants who are unable to read Gurmukhi are consequently dependent on the giani or fellow congregants who are fully proficient in reading Gurmukhi script. Taken together, it may be argued that Gurmukhi script and, therefore, Punjabi more generally could have an exclusionary or prohibitive effect, imposing additional criteria for full membership of a group on the basis of a shared language and social and cultural identity, creating a religious hierarchy within a group that also serves social and cultural ends. According to the 2001 Census, there are 329,000 Sikhs in England and Wales[7]. It should be noted that the census data makes no distinction between Indian Sikhs and East African Sikhs, who in fact constitute two very separate groups within a wider religious community. The establishment of the Sikh community taken as a whole as a bilingual speech community in the United Kingdom can by and large be described in terms of the chain migration model detailed, for example, by Dabà ¨ne and Moore (1995)[8]. It is, however, important to bear in mind that the history and development of the East African Sikh community present in the United Kingdom followed a distinct trajectory, one in which a sense of separateness has heightened the groups awareness of and desire to preserve it social, cultural and religious (and, by extension, linguistic) identity. [1] à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾Khalsa is derived from Arabic khalis (literally meaning pure or unsullied). Khalsa Panth means community of the pure. [2] Partridge, C. H. (2005). Introduction to World Religions. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, p. 223. [3] See Appendix VI. [4] See Appendix VI for examples. [5] This is further confirmed when one looks at the communities of non-Asian Sikh converts in the United States: they learn Punjabi particularly how to read Gurmukhi script and conduct their services in that language Their conversion is not only religious, but also linguistic. [6] Wirtz (2005) offers fascinating insight, from an anthropological perspective, on the use of language as a source of religious mysticism in Santerà ­a ceremonies held in Cuba. [7] See Appendix V for relevant data drawn from the 2001 UK Census. [8] See below Chapter 3: Literature Review.

Competitive Organization Essay -- Business

How does your organization compete? Walker et al. (2010) write, â€Å"competitive strategies are based on overall patterns of purpose, practice, and performance.† After reviewing the annual report and company website, it appears that Limited Brands Inc. (LTD) does not only have one competitive strategy. Since the firm is divided into several distinct strategic business units (SBU) with differing core competencies and available resources, as well as disparate customer and competitive characteristics it employs different strategies to create value, promote growth and profitability (i.e. Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works; Walker et al., 2010). For instance, the Victoria’s Secret SBU appears to leverage a â€Å"differentiated analyzer strategy† by â€Å"actively seeking to expand into related product markets with differentiated offerings† (Walker et al., 2010). Not only does Victoria’s Secret offer a differentiated line of lingerie, but it also has expanded its product offerings to include beauty, apparel, and accessories. These expansions are largely financed and supported by the SBU’s core business (lingerie) and its profitable, strong brand reputation. In contrast, the Bath & Body Works SBU seems to employ a â€Å"differentiated defender strategy† (Walker et al., 2010). Its activities focus on constantly improving existing offerings by modifying products as well as processes. In addition, it also defends its market position through line extensions to help insulate and fortify the company’s position from competition. In its annual report LTD notes â€Å"we are aggressively focusing on bringing compelling merchandise assortments, marketing and store experiences to our customers† (LTD, 2011). This implies that LTD’s overarching strategy is driv... ...ity. Resources: Anderson, J.C., Narus, JA., & van Rossum, W. (2006). Customer value propositions in business markets. Harvard Business Publishing. Retrieved from http://hbr.org/ Johnson, M.W., Christensen, C.M., & Kagermann, H. (2008). Reinventing your business model. Harvard Business Publishing. Retrieved from http://hbr.org/ Limited Brands Inc. (LTD). (2011). Proxy statement and annual report. Retrieved from https://materials.proxyvote.com/Approved/532716/20110328/CMBO_86861/HTML2/default.htm Porter, M.E. (1996). What is strategy? Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from http://hbr.org/ Treacy, M., & Wiersema, F. (1993). Customer intimacy and other value disciplines. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from http://hbr.org/ Walker, O.C., & Mullins, J.W. (2010). Marketing strategy: a decision focused approach (7th Ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Beowulf vs. Modern Society :: Epic of Beowulf Essays

Beowulf vs. Modern Society Are there any similarities between life in modern America and the world of Beowulf? Is it possible for such a technology oriented world such as ours to have anything in common with a world which had not even heard of electricity? Has this technology really separated us from prior civilizations? Is our thinking today any different from the thinking of ancient cultures? Although it may not seem to be true, there are actually many similarities between our world and that of Beowulf’s. These similarities are readily seen in all forms of media and entertainment, as well as noted sources of culture such as music and movies. If the similarity between the two cultures is accepted, it will not be hard to comprehend Beowulf. The first and most notable similarity is drinking. King Hrothgar built a giant mead-hall, namely Heorot, to accommodate his celebrations. Throughout Beowulf it can be seen that celebrations of any kind are always accompanied by drinking. Drinking is just present today as it was thousands of years ago. People today always include drinking in their celebrations, whether it be a birthday, anniversary, or marriage. Heorot is nothing more than a tremendous bar. The festivities of the warriors in Beowulf’s time can be seen every night in any local bar or pub. Another similarity of course is violence. Violence is obviously present in Beowulf’s world. The determinant of status holds its roots in violence. The only way for a warrior to prove himself is through battle, or violence. Specifically this can be seen through the character, Unferth. He was not respected as a warrior due to his inability to win battles. He tried to find faults in Beowulf to raise his own ego. The disrespect given to this man was due to his unsuccessfulness in violent engagements. Modern violence is present all around us. No matter which way one turns, violence will be there to greet him. Whether it be on the street, in school, or even at home, violence cannot be avoided. The presence of this violence in society leads to stress. This stress is to a large extent the cause of the similarity mentioned earlier, namely drinking. Anyone from the local bully to a armed robber can be representatives of modern violence. Although it is present in everyday life, this violence can be seen easier in any form of media.

Centralized Organizational Structure Essay

ABC Homecare is a growing company consisting of four different departments. Each department has a director who makes all of the daily decisions from patient enrollment to employee breaks. This type of structure worked well when the company was established in 1989 since it only consisted of 30 employees total. ABC Homecare has grown to over 150 employees and needs change. The centralized structure has been successful for the Directors of the company, however, often leaves employees and managers unhappy. This structure is popular for producing â€Å"sluggish† business operations since ultimately only one person is making the final decision (Vitez, 2013). Currently we have 7 employee complaints on file for issues regarding our structure. Formal versus Informal Organization Reports have indicated that attendance in our formal organization groups have decline drastically over the past six months. Many employees have joined the smaller, informal groups to voice concerns and suggestions. Although we are happy that employee voices are still exercised, they are not getting the level of satisfaction needed according to the employee and this is for a number of reasons. Employees are using their voices in informal settings that do not have all of the features of actual formal organizations. In a formal group several features are characterized: a common goal; an accepted pattern of purpose †¢ a set of shared values or common beliefs that give individuals a sense of identification and belonging †¢ continuity of goal-oriented interaction †¢ a division of labor deliberately planned to achieve the goal †¢ a system of authority or a chain of command to achieve conscious integration of the group and conscious coordination of efforts to reach the goal (Liebler & McConnell, 2013 p. 67). Without these features, informal groups only serve to clarify any misunderstanding from a formal organization or allow for socialization informally. Although ABC Homecare has been voted one of the best homecare agencies in our area, there is room for improvement. Patient satisfaction is greatly affected by employee satisfaction so a plan must be implemented soon to ensure that our employees are happy to work for our company and remain as such.

Extended Definiton of Emo

Frances Louise Y. GarayFinal Draft of Extended Definition Paper 11048492 A57 â€Å"Emo† â€Å"I wish my lawn mower was emo so it would cut itself. † Isn’t the word â€Å"emo† now a very familiar word to refer a person who is feeling gloomy, heartbroken and depressed? Nowadays, the word â€Å"emo† is used as an adjective to describe a person who cuts himself or a person who feels depressed whenever the rain is pouring hard and stares at it while listening to some emotional songs or â€Å"senti† songs.Emo is an abbreviation of â€Å"emotional hardcore† that originated in the mid-1980’s from the hardcore puck movement of Washington, D. C. Emo is a style of rock music typically characterized by melodic musicianship and expressive, often confessional lyrics. Emo, in modern time, used to describe people who are depressed and cut themselves. Emo is a young person who is considered to be over-emotional or stereotypically emo. The word à ¢â‚¬Å"emo† actually means a s something of a put-down for the kids who really like â€Å"Rites of Spring† and â€Å"Indian Summer† (Emo bands).The word â€Å"emo† is now used to describe people who have fashion like side bangs, tight pants, wearing black or sweater vest, chains and spiky bracelets. Emo people usually wear dark clothes and tight pants. However, happy people are usually seen wearing and light-colored clothes. In addition, a happy person has an aura of an uplifting, cheerful and happy-go-lucky type of person. They also have an aura that makes you comfortable and delightful. Unlike an emo person, it can give you a bad feeling, weird and pessimistic type of person when you see them.In terms of attitude, an emo person is usually depressed, emotional, dramatic, sensitive, expressive and heartbroken. They are also always feeling insecure and in pain. They have low self-esteem and they are anti-social. In contrast, a happy person has an attitude of being an optimistic, smiling, open-minded, jolly, confident and sociable type of person. Emo’s confessional lyrics are the reasons why people used the word â€Å"emo† to describe a person who is being dramatic, emotional and expressive to what they feel.Because of the lyrics of the song about the pain they felt and it should be expressed, it encouraged teenagers to cut themselves. It also encouraged them to become a loner and lose their ego because of their problems to other people. Lastly, it encouraged them to have a fashion trend of wearing black clothes and punk hairstyles because of the emo bands that made this fashion trend famous. Emo is a style of rock music typically characterized by melodic musicianship and expressive often confessional lyrics.The word â€Å"emo† is now used to describe people who are wearing dark clothes and tight pants, emotional and pessimistic kind of person. Because of this, it encouraged them to be different in society, to be a loser and to cut themselves. The word emo helped us in defining things around us. Instead of saying that person looks so depressed or is being so sad, we can just say ‘he’s just being emo today. ’ Though words can change its meaning overtime, it still, somehow contain the same thought of how the word was first used.

Internationalisation of Fashion Company in Brazil Research Paper

Internationalisation of Fashion Company in Brazil - Research Paper Example The research paper "Internationalisation of Fashion Company in Brazil" talks about the ways to present a luxury fashion company on the Brazil fashion market and how to successfully expand its consumer. The internationalization strategy to be pursued should be chosen carefully in order to determine the best approach in the luxury fashion product market. The foreign market expansion is not a new concept. For over two decades, intercontinental development in the trend industry had been unparalleled. The emergence of super-brands has sparked intense competition. The market positioning of some brands makes them more appealing than others. Internationalization can be defined as the sourcing of goods from overseas markets. Buying from worldwide markets is aggravated by the economic and competitive consideration. Fashion companies seek to obtain gain from a low cost of labor in the underdeveloped economies. The global fashion brand has caused most of the people to look for the most successful brands like the Ralph Lauren and Carolina Herrera. The super brands have left the fashion buyers with little choice but to ignore the lesser known brands. Expansion strategies are important when dealing with recessionary pressure. The emergence of a cosmopolitan and fashion-informed consumer market has caused global expansion. And technology has enabled online transactions. This led to an amplified union in worldwide lifestyles. This allowed the fashion industry retailers to correspond efficiently with the customers in foreign markets. International fashion and design companies have succeeded partly because of design excellence, cosmopolitanism and exclusivity (Alexander & Myers 2000). The Carolina Herrera and Ralph Lauren companies have indentified their market niche. The companies target the clients who deal with accessories, garments and apparels. The companies aim at offering differentiated products of high quality (Charles & Gareth 2012). The same market is the target of the rival companies like Loewe. The future of companies like Ralph Lauren and Carolina Herrera and other fashion retailers lies in the internalization strategy. Many domestic markets have been saturated by local brand leading to lessening of profits. Intense local markets competition has caused constraints to complicate the strategic management of these organizations (Charles & Gareth 2012). The rise of global sourcing by fashion retailers and technological advances has made it easy for companies to target the global market (Chevalier & Mazzalovo 2012).

Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Strategy - Essay Example Donald Hambrick and James Frederickson present a framework for strategy design insisting that a strategy has five distinct elements (Hambrick & Fredrickson, 2005, p 51). Providing the answers to five questions will distinguish these five elements allowing them to form a unified whole. Loblaw Companies Limited is the largest food retailer in Canada and also a leading provider among general merchandise, financial products, pharmacies and financial services. They have over 1000 corporate and franchised stores and they employ more than 135,000 employees, both full time and part time. As such they are one of Canada’s largest private sector employers (Loblaw Companies Limited, 2011). Strategies of a company should contain the answers to pertinent questions as to how the company will be a leader among their competitors, where will they base their activity, what is outlined in the company’s business and marketing plans to assist the company in reaching goals, how fast and in wh at order should our actions be planned to get where we want to be and in what economic ways will we realize our returns (Hambrick & Frederickson, 2005, p 3). Deciding the arena, or where the company will be active should not be a generalized decision but as specific as possible in order to focus strongly in implementing successful strategy that will allow them to expand and consider the possibility of one day reaching the status of a product, service, or company that could be considered general by the population. There are very few of these we consider to be general, meaning they are obviously the leader and most often thought of in a particular industry with little competition; the fact is that they just are and there aren’t many decisions to be made or choices when a product, service or company reaches the status of being general. Though there are many general products, such as bread, shoes, cars , etc. there are actually very few that when we think of the general word ther e is only one choice that comes to mind. This would also be considered defining the scope of the business (Collis, Rukstad, 2008, p2). While Loblaw’s mission is to be ‘Canada’s best food, health and home retailer their mission also includes innovative products at great prices (LobLaw Companies Limited.-2, 2008)’. Loblaw’s chose as it’s arena restoring innovation by making their brands and assortment of products worth changing supermarkets for and targeting consumers with specific brands and assorted product specialties that are hard to find in other supermarkets. Their brands wanted to strengthen and also revitalize product development, to simplify and also to grow. These areas are considered the arena the company has chosen to be active in. Core priorities of the company also describe strategy the company will use to achieve goals and reach milestones. LobLaw operations planned to focus on achieving greater performance and increasing engagem ent among colleagues, strengthening the customer experience, simplifying assortments and improving price perceptions (LobLaw Companies Limited.-2, 2008) Enhanced decision making support, an improvement in company infrastructure, along with better talent retention, motivation and development are also vehicles the company’s strategy includes in order to reach the goals their plans have outlined. Various vehicles are less effective than those which are concentrated and strong efforts utilizing only a few strategies at once in order to focus efforts. Differentiator’s used by LobLaw are those factors and attributes that LobLaw will use to differentiate itself among competitors; while not necessarily having one product that is used as differentiator among competitors companies can also have the best combination of differentiators can allow an