Tuesday, December 31, 2019

A Case Study Of An English Learner s Use Of Carnegie...

A NativeAccent Case Study This paper describes a case study of an English L2 learner’s use of Carnegie Speech’s NativeAccent online speech recognition software. The target student, in this case study, significantly improved her English pronunciation and fluency through the individualized exercises offered by Native Accent’s Intelligent Tutor lessons. However, the student’s word stress results were considerably lower after completing all of the Intelligent Tutor lessons compared to her initial assessment results. Her grammar skills remained constant through this case study, exhibiting only a slight improvement. For this target student, NativeAccent represents an improvement over previous technologies designed to teach English pronunciation. Nevertheless, she expressed concerns regarding the software’s unforgiving nature, which for her was excessively stressful and counterproductive. Target Student The target student, who willingly participated in this case study, is a 43-year-old naturalized US citizen who grew up in Thailand. The student immigrated to the United States when she was 26 years old. She is as a highly proficient English L2 speaker who graduated from an international university in Bangkok, where all courses were taught in English. The target student’s initial NativeAccent online assessment revealed her baseline English proficiencies to be 74% correct pronunciation, 82% correct grammar, 98% correct word stress, and 88% correct fluency. The target student felt her

Monday, December 23, 2019

Analysis Of The Poem Four Time Pulitzer Prize Recipient...

Four time Pulitzer Prize recipient Robert Frost was an American poet who was exceedingly popular in the twentieth century. It’s easy to assume that almost every American with a high school equivalent education has heard of or read his work. Which I had before this class, although I had never really taken an interest in poetry or any poet in particular until this semester. As we grow older our perception of the world and the components of it change, this was the case for my newly found kinship with Frost. His calming and insightful words have become a beacon of worldly advice for my current perception of life. Three particular poems that infiltrated my heart and bound themselves to my conches; The Road Not Taken, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, and Dust of Snow. The Road Not Taken was published in 1916, almost 100 years before I would read and find direction from his words. On the first read through I knew that this poem would soon be a favorite of mine, as it is for so m any other people. This is understandable because of the poems timeless nature about an age old question, which path do I take? Throughout life we are faced with choice after choice, these choices form the route that becomes our life. So choosing your path when it comes to a fork in the road is a crucial part of where you end up and who you become. In the first stanza frost outlines an important factor of making a choice: Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be

Sunday, December 15, 2019

Stefan’s Diaries Bloodlust Chapter 20 Free Essays

The next morning, I woke as someone shook my shoulder. â€Å"Go away,† I murmured. But the shaking was insistent. We will write a custom essay sample on Stefan’s Diaries: Bloodlust Chapter 20 or any similar topic only for you Order Now My eyes snapped open, and I realized I was lying curled up next to one of the tents at Gallaghers freak show. â€Å"Did you sleep here?† Callie asked, crossing her arms over her chest. I sat up, rubbing the sleep from my eyes, thinking about the previous evening. Id returned to the circus grounds, unsure of where else to go and had fallen asleep there. â€Å"Good morning, Miss Callie,† I said, ignoring her question. I stood up and brushed dirt off the back of my pants. â€Å"How can I help you?† She shrugged. She was clad in a pink cotton dress that showed her tiny waist and freckled arms. The color stood in contrast to her flowing red hair, and she reminded me of a wild rose. â€Å"Were going to take a few days off from the show. Father made so much money, he wants the next event to be even bigger.† Callie smiled. â€Å"The first rule of show business: Keep em wanting more.† â€Å"Hows Da–the vampire?† I asked, shielding my eyes from the sun. While my ring protected me from the agony of the rays, the sun made me feel exposed and clumsy. The dark cloaked more than my fangs, and in the light of day, I constantly had to check to make sure I wasnt moving at lightning speed, responding to questions I shouldnt be able to hear, or following my urge to feed. Callie tucked a loose strand of rust-colored hair behind her ear. â€Å"The vampire is okay, I suppose. Father has its handlers tending to it around the clock. They dont want it to die. Not yet, anyway.† Not yetwas a small comfort, but it was something. It meant I still had time. She frowned slightly. â€Å"Of course, I hardly think they should let it die at all. What were doing to it, and to the animals it fights, is totally barbaric,† she said softly, almost speaking to herself. I looked up swiftly at the words. Was she more sympathetic to Damons plight than Id imagined? â€Å"Can I see him?† I asked, surprised at my boldness. Callie swatted my arm. â€Å"No! Not unless you pay up, like everyone else. Besides, hes not here.† â€Å"Oh.† â€Å"Oh,† she said, mocking me. Then her eyes softened. â€Å"I still cant believe you slept here. Dont you have a home?† I met her gaze straight on. â€Å"I had a disagreement with my family.† It wasnt exactly a lie. The freak show was starting to wake up. The strong man walked, bleary-eyed, out of a tent. Abruptly, he dropped down to the ground and began doing push-ups. The fortune-teller headed to the secluded part of the lake, towel in hand, no doubt for a bath. And two of the ever-present burly security men were watching Callie and me curiously. Callie clearly noticed as well. â€Å"Would you like to go for a walk?† she asked, leading the way down a dirt-packed road to the edge of the lake, out of sight of the show. She picked up a stone and threw it into the water, where it landed with a thunk. â€Å"I never could skip stones,† she said, in such a sad voice that I couldnt help but burst out laughing. â€Å"Whats so funny?† she asked, hitting my arm again. The swat was playful, but the bracelets she wore were twisted through with vervain, and the contact sent a wave of pain up my arm. She put her hand on my shoulder, concern creasing her forehead. â€Å"Are you okay?† I winced. â€Å"Yes,† I lied. â€Å"Okay . . .† she said, throwing me a skeptical look. She leaned down to pick up another stone and raised her light brown eyebrow at me before she threw it in the water. It fell with a harmless plop. â€Å"Tragic!† I picked up my own stone and aimed it across the water. It skipped five times before falling below the surface. Callie laughed and clapped her hands. â€Å"You must teach me!† â€Å"You have to flick your wrist. And pick a flat stone.† I spotted a smooth brown rock with a white band ringing the top. â€Å"Here.† I put the rock in her hands. â€Å"Now, flick,† I said, gingerly touching her skin, making sure my fingers didnt brush against the vervain. She closed her eyes and tossed the stone, which skipped once, before falling into the water. She threw her arms up in delight. â€Å"Thank you, Stefan,† she said, her eyes twinkling. â€Å"No more ,,stranger?† I teased. â€Å"Youve taught me something. That means were friends.† â€Å"Does it, now?† I said, taking another stone and tossing it in the water. Damon and I had skipped stones in the pond near our home in Mystic Falls. Wed make wishes and pretend that they would come true if we could guess the number of skips a stone would make. I closed my eyes briefly.If it skips five times, I’ll have a chance to free Damon, I thought. But this stone was heavier and sank after two skips. I shook my head, annoyed at myself for indulging in such a childish game. â€Å"So was that your biggest concern in the world? That you couldnt skip stones?† I teased, trying to reclaim the light tone of our outing. She smiled, but her eyes looked sad. â€Å"No. But dont you think pretend problems are much more manageable than real ones?† â€Å"Yes, I do,† I said quietly. The sun was steadily rising, lending the lake an orange glow. Several small skiffs were already on the water, casting their nets, and the wind whipped around our ears, a reminder that even though the sun felt warm, winter was well on its way. â€Å"Ive never talked to anyone about this. Thats rule number two of the Gallagher family business–dont trust anyone,† she said. â€Å"Your father seems tough,† I ventured, sensing her frustration. â€Å"Perhaps too tough?† â€Å"My father is fine,† Callie snapped. She scowled at me, hands on her hips. â€Å"Im sorry,† I said, raising my hands in surrender. I realized Id pushed too far too quickly. â€Å"That was out of line.† Callie let her hands fall to her sides. â€Å"No, Im sorry. Im just protective of him. Hes all I have.† â€Å"Where is your mother?† I asked. â€Å"Died when I was six,† Callie said simply. â€Å"I understand,† I said, thinking of my own mother. â€Å"Its hard, isnt it?† Callie plucked a blade of grass from the ground and shredded it between her fingernails. â€Å"I try to be strong. But after Mother died, Father threw himself into work.† â€Å"It seems that you do that as well.† â€Å"Now that Fathers got the vampire act worked out, I feel like things will change for the better. He has a short fuse that gets shorter the less money he has.† At the mention of the vampire act, I kicked the stones around the edge of the shore. A flurry of pebbles flew through the air and landed several meters into the lake with a violent splashing sound. â€Å"What was that?† Callie asked, alarm in her voice. I forced myself to smile, to look calm–human. In my anger, Id forgotten to hide my Power. â€Å"Advanced stone skipping.† Callie raised an eyebrow, as if she wanted to challenge me. But all she said was: â€Å"We should get back. Dad wants us to clean up the grounds.† I nodded. â€Å"Good idea.† Alone here with Callie, Id come so close to losing control. â€Å"Stefan,† Callie said. â€Å"I was thinking since we dont have the shows for a few nights, do you think you could show me the city?† â€Å"But I dont know the city,† I pointed out. â€Å"Youve been here longer than I have.† Callies cheeks flushed poppy red. â€Å"Father doesnt let me leave the house, unless its for work. But there are so many shows and adventures in New Orleans.† She looked up at me from beneath her long lashes. â€Å"Please? Ill feel safe if Im with you.† I nearly laughed at the irony of that statement, but the chuckle caught in my throat. Callie had it wrong: She wouldnt necessarily be safe with me, but I could use her to guarantee the safety of my brother. After all, she knew everything about Gallaghers Circus–including where her father was holding Damon. â€Å"Okay, lets do it,† I said. â€Å"Oh, well have such fun!† Callie clasped my hands and whirled me around. â€Å"Meet me at the park at the end of my street at nine oclock.† She rose onto her tiptoes and kissed my cheek. She was so close, I could practically feel her heart beating against my chest. I pulled away abruptly, my head pounding and my jaw aching. I turned my back to her as my canines extended with a click. I had to take five deep breaths before they retracted again. â€Å"Are you okay?† she asked, placing her hand on my shoulder. I plastered a smile on my face and turned back to her. â€Å"Just excited for tonight.† â€Å"Good,† Callie said, humming to herself as we walked back to the circus grounds. I ran my tongue over my teeth. It was true: I was excited for tonight. But excitement was akin to desire, and as Id been learning ever since I met Katherine, nothing good ever came from desire. How to cite Stefan’s Diaries: Bloodlust Chapter 20, Essay examples

Saturday, December 7, 2019

Human Factors

Question : What is the Human Factors With Exaples ? Answer : Definition of Human Factors Integration Human Factors Integration is one of the prominent aspects of any operating industry. According to the According to the Health and Safety Executive Board of UK, Human factors refer to environmental, organizational and job factors, and human and individual characteristics, which influence behavior at work in a way which can affect health and safety". It takes into view all the human factors, which are in accordance with the techniques and services that various industries provide. In fact, HFI (Human Factors Integration) is a plan with a definite purpose those are adopted in order to enhance the services and improve its application. In the words of H.L. Mencken, For every complex problem there is a solution that is simple, neat and wrong. Therefore, the humanistic involvement takes into account all the problems that arise and create measures to mitigate it and engage the dynamics of culture along with technology. There are many aspects of human factor integration like safety issues, work permits, healthy hazard assessment and the engineering. All these necessary factors control the implications of the human factors. According to the US MANPRINT, and the key legislations by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) a number of features and agendas are present. After the federal and higher authorities of civil aviation made it mandatory, these were included in the regulation. The decisions to induct the key elements and the plans for the procurement are essential parts of the human integration system. Over the years, a number of integration and elements must be improvised which will make to be considered while dealing with the facilities and assumptions of the particular industry. The inputs in the development plan and processes must meet the Automation, Line Operations and Fatigue Risk Management concerns. In regards to the aviation industry, there are a number of critical analyses involved in it but the demographics must help in improving the statistics of aviation and human factors. Key Elements of Human Factors Integration The varied human factors have always remained the subject of experiment and that with technological advancement and expansion of human resources a wider perspective of human factors has generated. In fact, rising global competition, changes in demographic trends and greater risk in application of technology have been forcing an integration of all the wide-ranging human factors. The integration of human factors is a more recent concern in the aviation industry and in this context, it should be mentioned that the third human factor seminar of EUROCONTROL in October 1998, focused chiefly on the integration ways and elements of these factors. The procedure of integration commences with the designing part of airports and flights, which have to be user-centered. This approach of design represents that particular philosophy of system designing which triggers most other approaches of HFI. The central approach to achieve a user-centered design is to transform every part of aviation industry intended to be used by humans corresponding to the characteristics of the human consumers. However, the integration of human factors needs to be enforced in the organization or industry otherwise there are chances that this would be treated as an unnecessary extra. A person, who is in the topmost level of the organization, must authorize this enforcement. HFI requires proper plan developing, determining responsibilities and roles along with conducting an analysis on Early Human Factors to understand the necessities and differences better. The key elements of HFI consists of several programmes; it includes management, responsibilities, chalking out plans, description of target audience, concentrating on technical processes, guidance, methods and tools (Barfield and Dingus 2013). The several aspects of human factors and issues regarding automation especially on flight deck have been a matter of concern for a long time in the aviation industry. With the panacea to overcome human errors, the ATM industry attempted to replace manual operations with technology but to counter the automation trend another design approach called human-centered automation emerged. This approach formed a foundation of what the design of human factors should aim to achieve. If identified, there are six prominent elements, which need to be considered in the process of HFI; work force, personnel, training programme, Task and Interface design, safety of the system along with evaluation of the health hazards are all the major aspects that are concentrated on. In the first place, workforce refers to the personnel strength, which should exactly be appropriate for the smooth functioning and management of the industry as well as support and train the system (Valavanis and Vachtsevanos 2014). Next comes the roles and accountability of the personnel; their aptitudes, human characteristics and experience should be judged well to integrate them well in the process of the system. Another significant aspect is of the training of the personnel to specify and evaluate the optimum blend of education and instructional systems. On-the-job training is integral to the assimilation of the human factors since it develops the required knowledge, competency and efficiency for t he available personnel to maintain and operate with effectiveness under the complete range of in service condition. On the other hand, it is very important to integrate all the human characteristics in the TID to execute perfection and lessen errors. The expertise of human factors can also be very useful in minimizing safety risks identifying whether the system is running in a normal or an anomalous way. Another key stage to integrate human factors is to identify and assess some of the health hazardous conditions of the workplace in the aviation industry. These include radiation, toxic fumes, vibration, shock or recoil, which can cause severe health damage and even death. Thus, the human factors are obligatory to be well integrated into the system giving attention to these specific stages mentioned in the literature with great importance. The Human Factor Integration System and its advantages: The identification of human error has led to the changing strategies of the human awareness system. A number of procedural operations compose of the interaction between the human entity and the services they enjoy. One needs to undertake the various aspects like the regularity of occurrence, strategies and reasons in order to include the visions of human error and derive conclusions. According to Deker, the important analysis of human error entails the elements of defense, violations, and incorrect assumptions (Daramola 2016).The incorporation in the industrial appliance for example flights, cockpits, necessary regulations and most importantly the probable safety and security issues, which is an obligation while boarding an aircraft. The term "human factors" has grown increasingly accepted, as the commercial aviation industry has realized that human error, rather than mechanical failure, underlies most aviation accidents and incidents. The maintenance of resource management (CRM) and crew resource management (MRM) must necessarily be an essential part of the application procedures. However, it is much broader in both its acquaintance base and capacity. Human factors engage in congregation of information concerning human abilities, and other characteristics of limitations and applying for effective human use. The recurrent systems, device, machines responsibilities, jobs, and environments must be coordinated to produce safe and comfortable submission of the execution and understanding. In aviation, human dynamics is accustomed for better comprehension on how humans can most safely and efficiently be integrated with the technology. The composition of the client and human preference must be addressed into design, preparation, policies, or procedures to help humans perform better. Safety and Efficiency of the System reducing cost: One of the significant advantages of human factor integration is the initiatives involved with the safety management issues. There is a healthy correlation between the human involvement, the organization and the subsequent technicalities involved in the whole system. The Human errors are partial reason or cause for the the number of several mishaps and discrepancies that occur in different areas. Therefore, a number of derivatives that have been composed of the production and tool of delivering the best are very essential. In fact, regardless of the number of mishaps and accidents, there are many chances of the following industry. It has been initiated that all the equipments and apparatus like the legal requirements, issues regarding the ultimate discourses. The enhancement of the resilience has been given importance with the inherent practices that the safety should not be incorporated as an absence of something, it is about the presence of something which is important for the scen ario. The perspective and opinion of the major resilient force, in the words of Sidney Dekker have been mentioned. The various accidents can be significantly reduced: In case of certain situations there are disruptions and causalities in the accounts of developing the best engineering that should be compatible to the ultimate scenario. The call for the emergency and sustenance is important for the various considerations. The accountability action should be compatible with learning. The post negligence conducts of the actions and current scenario of the aviation industry. The standard of good practice in human performance determines the just culture of the scenario that must be necessitated with the involvement and safety conscience (Valavanis and Vachtsevanos 2014). Types of Human Factor Integration The main concern of human factors addresses the issues of the task or the characteristics of the activity. The judgment of the human error evidently depends on the positive and the negative features of the particular task. In the case of aviation industry, the attributes and the surrounding environmental engagements matter which affects the final result of the integration system involving human and ergonomic factors all of which are inclined by the wider societal concern, both local and national. There are two types of human factor integration. The examples of good and bad types are as follows: Good Examples: The tools of integrating human factors those are available at the disposal of lay practitioners and specialists are as extensive as the wide discipline of aviation engineering. There have been several ways recommended to perform the said integration; however, the best example of Human Factors Integration is that which stops adding expense to the industry and is cost effective. When integration of human factors is based on practical knowledge and experience, it is very likely to turn out as commercial benefitting the industry (Grosse et al. 2015). Another example of good HFI integration is which increases the efficiency of the system by focusing precisely on human safety in operation. It is very important to ensure the safety factor in operating the system engineering. In addition, it is important to make certain that the technological equipments run hassle free and the best possible service is provided. Bad Examples: In the aviation industry, there are various aspects of human integration or design. Starting from manufacturing to the services on board, everywhere the human integration is the most important part of the process. The human integration has both the good and bad determining factors. The examples of bad human integration can be broadly classified as the human errors. The errors caused by humans are the reasons behind almost 70% of the commercial hull-loss accidents. Not only in flight operations, but the errors are major concerns in the maintenance and air traffic management also. The aviation industry applies the skills of human resources in all types of profile to achieve the perfect integration of safety and comfort during the travel. The system of life cycle of the commercial aircraft production consists of the following phases. Those are Manufacturing, testing, operation and maintenance (Daramola 2016). There design principles are: the compatibility of the systems with capabilities and limitations of the human resources; the power of the system to recover from any human error by blocking, detecting and minimizing the human errors; and utilization of human capabilities in the unpredicted and non-routine situations in the system. The life cycles of an aircraft and the design principles are all interconnected, and it hugely depends on the human integration. It is often termed as Crew Resource Management (CRM). The areas of CRM are: flight deck design; maintenance and support; management of errors and designing passenger cabin (SATOW 2017). The bad human integration examples may include: error in designing, not considering the safety issues, not catering to the passenger comfort, not giving proper support to the cus tomers when needed, not providing help during any emergency, negligence in service, bad services and behavior towards the passengers on board. Any of these can lead to disasters in the aviation industry. Reference Aviation Safety Thought Leadership. (2017). Baines Simmons https://www.bainessimmons.com/papers/ Barfield, W. and Dingus, T.A., 2014.Human factors in intelligent transportation systems. Psychology Press. Booher, H.R., 2013.Handbook of human systems integration(Vol. 23). John Wiley Sons. Cacciabue, P.C., 2013.Guide to applying human factors methods: Human error and accident management in safety-critical systems. Springer Science Business Media. Crichton, M., O'Connor, P. and Flin, R., 2013.Safety at the Sharp End: A Guide to Non-Technical Skills. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.. Daramola, A.Y., 2014. An investigation of air accidents in Nigeria using the Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS) framework.Journal of Air Transport Management,35, pp.39-50. Dekker, S., 2014.The field guide to understanding'human error'. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.. Dekker, S.W., 2015. The danger of losing situation awareness.Cognition, Technology Work,17(2), pp.159-161. Grosse, E.H., Glock, C.H., Jaber, M.Y. and Neumann, W.P., 2015. Incorporating human factors in order picking planning models: framework and research opportunities.International Journal of Production Research,53(3), pp.695-717. Human factors/ergonomics Introduction to human factors. (2017). Hse.gov.uk. https://www.hse.gov.uk/humanfactors/introduction.htm Portal:Human Factors - SKYbrary Aviation Safety. (2017). Skybrary.aero. https://www.skybrary.aero/index.php/Portal:Human_Factors#Description Reason, J.T., 2008.The human contribution: unsafe acts, accidents and heroic recoveries. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.. Stanton, N., Salmon, P.M. and Rafferty, L.A., 2013.Human factors methods: a practical guide for engineering and design. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.. Valavanis, K.P. and Vachtsevanos, G.J., 2014.Handbook of unmanned aerial vehicles. Springer Publishing Company, Incorporated. Wise, J.A., Hopkin, V.D. and Stager, P. eds., 2013.Verification and validation of complex systems: Human factors issues(Vol. 110). Springer Science Business Media.