Gender in Translation Essay

Abstract Metaphors are taken to be the most fundamental form of figurative language, carrying the assumption that terms literally connected with one object can be transferred to another object. A writer/speaker uses metaphor more often than not with the intentions of introducing a new object/concept, offering a more precise meaning, or simply presenting a more poetic effect to his text/speech. The main focus of this study is image metaphors of color in the Shahnameh of Ferdowsi. The study set out to determine how this particular figure of speech is rendered by reviewing two English translations of the work. The framework of the study was Newmark’s (1988a) seven suggested procedures for translating metaphors. In addition to determining which of these procedures have been applied in the two translations, the study also aimed at discovering whether any new procedures might have been applied. The study also attempted to find out whether any exclusive patterns were observed in each translator’s rendering of the discussed items. The study concluded that out of the seven procedures proposed by Newmark for translating metaphors, Warner & Warner applied five procedures and Davis applied all seven of the procedures in the translation of image metaphors of color. No new procedure was observed in their translations. The translators’ choices of procedures for translating these specific items showed that Warner & Warner had a tendency towards the first procedure which resulted in a literal translation of the particular metaphor, whereas Davis had a tendency towards the other six  procedures which all led to explicitation, simplification and the production of a reader-oriented text. Key terms: the Shahnameh, figurative language, metaphor, image metaphor of color, translation procedure 1. Introduction Translation, as Catford (1965) defines it, is â€Å"an act of transference, in which a text from the source language is replaced by its equivalent in the target language† (p. 20). Newmark’s (1988b, p. 5) more modern version of the term is â€Å"often, though not by any means always, rendering the meaning of a text into another language in the way that the author intended the text. † Even the mere thought of inferring from these two definitions that the task of a translator and the whole translation process is a simple one seems a naivete on the part of the inexperienced. Any given source text intended for translation, regardless of its text-type, is required to undergo a close reading in order to understand what it is about, and then an analysis from the point of view of the translator. The analysis stage consists of determining the intention of the text – which, according to Newmark (1988a), represents the SL writer’s attitude to the subject matter – and also the style in which it is written. Being attentive to the selected lexicon, the syntax, figures of speech, neologisms, punctuations, names, and many more is a vital role the translator plays in the process of translation. In the case of poetry, apart from all the above features there is a surplus of sound effects such as rhyme, meter, assonance, alliteration, stress, onomatopoeia. The most common goal among translators is, and always should be, to create the same effect on the target reader as the original writer had intended for his readers. In Nida’s own words, â€Å"the relationship between receptor and message should be substantially the same as that which existed between the original receptors and the message† (Nida, 1964a, p. 159). Understanding and analyzing figurative language in a text, as mentioned above, is one of the difficult processes in translation. One of these figures of speech is metaphor which is considered by linguists as the most basic where one object is used to describe another object and both objects are essentially disparate entities, but common in one or more attributes. In the following section, the theoretical preliminaries of the study will be presented, which includes an overview of metaphor, concerning its definition, classifications, identification, and also translation procedures introduced by Newmark (1988a) on the translation of metaphors in general. The image metaphor of color in particular will also be discussed along with several exemplifications. Thereafter, a selection of the collected data will be presented, analyzed and discussed. The last section will include the conclusion of the study. 2. Theoretical Preliminaries 2. 1. Definition of Metaphor Metaphor, as stated in the Merriam Webster online dictionary, is etymologically from Greek, from metapherein, meaning ‘to transfer’ and from meta- + pherein, meaning ‘to bear’. It is defined by the same source as â€Å"a figure of speech, in which a word or phrase literally denoting one kind of object or idea is used in place of another to suggest a likeness or analogy between them. † One of Shakespeare’s most famous and oft-quoted lines, ‘All the world’s a stage’, is an example of a metaphor, where he indicates that ‘the world’ and ‘stage’ are analogous. According to Richards (1936), a metaphor consists of two parts, tenor andvehicle, also introduced as object and image by Newmark (1988a), respectively. The tenor is the term to which attributes are ascribed and the vehicle is the term from which attributes are borrowed. The properties of the vehicle which apply to the tenor in a given metaphor are namedgrounds of a metaphor, also known as the sense of a metaphor. Therefore, in the example given above, ‘world’ is the tenor or object, and ‘stage’ is the vehicle or image. The ground of this metaphor is more apparent when the next two lines are added: All the world’s a stage And all the men and women are merely players, They have their exits and their entrances This metaphor is extended through adding another pair of tenor and vehicle, i. e. ‘men and women’ is the second tenor and ‘players’ is the second vehicle. Therefore, as the actors on stage have an entrance and also an exit, the inhabitants of the world do as well, their entrance to this world being ‘birth’ and their exit being ‘death’. 2. 2. Classifications of Metaphors Metaphors have been categorized in different ways by different linguists. Black (1962a, p. 25) asserts that â€Å"the only entrenched classification is grounded in the trite opposition between ‘dead’ and ‘live’ metaphors. † He adds that â€Å"this is no more helpful than, say, treating a corpse as a special case of a person: A so- called dead metaphor is not a metaphor at all, but merely an expression that no longer has a pregnant metaphorical use†. However, he does present a classification for metaphors, but not before declaring that â€Å"if the ‘actuality’ of a metaphor †¦ is important enough to be marked, one might consider replacing the dead and alive contrast by a set of finer discriminations†; hence, the following classification (ibid, p. 25): 1. extinct metaphors: expressions whose etymologies, genuine or fancied, suggest a metaphor beyond resuscitation (a muscle as a little mouse, musculus) 2. dormant metaphors: those expressions where the original, now usually unnoticed, metaphor can be usefully restored (obligation as involving some kind of bondage) 3.  active metaphors: those expressions, that are, and are perceived to be, actively metaphoric He continues further to discriminate between two types of active metaphor: an emphatic metaphor whose â€Å"producer will allow no variation upon or substitute for the words used†, and a resonant metaphor, which supports â€Å"a high degree of implicative elaboration† (ibid, p. 26). On this account, he calls a metaphor of marked emphasis and resonance a strong metaphor, and in contrast, a metaphor of relatively low emphasis or resonance a weak metaphor. Lakoff (1977) made a revolutionary contribution to the study of metaphors when he suggested a new theory of metaphor which basically stated that metaphors are â€Å"fundamentally conceptual, not linguistic, in nature† (Lakoff, in Ortony, 1993, p. 244), which resulted in the advent of the conceptual or cognitive theory of metaphor. In his proposal of the theory, he does not provide us with any specific classification for metaphors, but rather, he only refers to them in his writings as he explains and elaborates on the theory. He states that conceptual metaphors â€Å"map one conceptual domain onto another† (ibid, p.  229). On the other hand, the novel metaphors of a language are, except for image metaphors, â€Å"extensions of this large conventional system† (ibid, p. 240). Therefore, it can be implied that he believes most metaphors to be ‘conceptual metaphors’ and some others to be ‘novel metaphors’ under which ‘image metaphors’ are subcategorized. However, more than twenty years after Black’s declaration of his standpoint on the categorization of metaphors, Newmark (1988b) was still a faithful believer in the dead/live metaphor classification, as he distinguishes six types of metaphors, beginning with dead metaphors: 1.dead metaphor: this type of metaphor â€Å"frequently relates to universal terms of space and time, the main part of the body, general ecological features and the main human activities† (ibid, p. 106). Dead metaphors have lost their figurative value through overuse and their images are hardly evident. Some examples of a dead metaphor include ‘at the bottom of the hill’, ‘face of the mountains’, and ‘crown of glory’. 2. cliche metaphor: this type of metaphor is known to have outlived its usefulness, and is â€Å"used as a substitute for clear thought, often emotively, but without corresponding to the facts of the matter† (ibid, p.107). Some examples include ‘a jewel in the crown’, ‘to make one’s mark’, and ‘backwater’. 3. stock or standard metaphor: this type of metaphor is defined by Newmark (1988b, p. 108) as â€Å"an established metaphor, which in an informal context is an efficient and concise method of covering a physical and/or mental situation both referentially and pragmatically. † He also states that stock metaphors, in contrast to dead metaphors, are â€Å"not deadened by overuse† (ibid). Examples of this type also mentioned by Newmark are: ‘to oil the wheels’, ‘he’s in a giving humour’, and ‘he’s on the eve of getting married’. 4. adapted metaphor: this type of metaphor is actually a stock metaphor that has been adapted into a new context by its speaker or writer, for example, the stock metaphor ‘carrying coals to Newcastle’ can be turned into an adapted metaphor by saying ‘ almost carrying coals to Newcastle’. 5. recent metaphor: this type of metaphor is produced through coining and is spread in the SL rapidly. Examples of this kind are ‘spastic’, meaning stupid, and ‘skint’, meaning without money. 6.original metaphor: this type of metaphor is â€Å"created or quoted by the SL writer†, and in the broadest sense, â€Å"contains the core of an important writer’s message, his personality, his comment on life† (ibid, p. 112). 2. 3. Identifying Metaphors The recognition of a metaphor in a certain text or speech may be rather easy for native speakers, but when it comes to a non-native, the challenge begins. The supposition that an expression is a metaphor when it yields a false or absurd meaning when interpreted literally is not reliable â€Å"because not all metaphors have false literal interpretations† (Way, 1991, p.14). This unreliability is proven by Way when she exemplifies through the following lyrics of a song: ‘A rock feels no pain, and an island never cries’. This statement is a metaphor, but it is also â€Å"literally true; rocks do not feel pain, and islands are not the kind of things that can cry† (ibid). But how do we identify it as a metaphor, even when the literal meaning seems true? Way (1991, p. 14) explains: â€Å"Perhaps because, while not actually false, talking about rocks feeling pain and islands crying is certainly a peculiar combination; maybe we can identify metaphors by their odd juxtaposition of ideas. † A more classical way of identifying metaphors, which again is not reliable, is the form ‘x is a y’. Although many metaphors do take this form, many more do not. As Way exemplifies through Shakespeare’s ‘Let slip the dogs of war’, she states that although this is clearly a metaphor, but â€Å"it does not fit the form of ‘x is a y’, for we are not comparing dogs to war, but rather to armies, something which is never explicitly mentioned in the phrase† (ibid, p. 15). She goes on to explain that even the syntactic structure of a metaphor can not be proof of its essence, as it has no consistent syntactic form. She provides an example by Saskice, where it is shown how one â€Å"metaphor can be rephrased as a statement, a question or an exclamation† (ibid): The moonlight sleeps sweetly upon the bank. Does the moonlight sleep sweetly upon the bank? How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon the bank! She also mentions that a metaphor’s focus can be of any part of speech. In the following examples by Saskice provided by Way (1991, p. 15), it is stated that â€Å"the focus is first a verb, then a noun, and finally a participle†: The smoke danced from the chimney. The trees bowed in the dance of the seasons. Dancing waters surrounded the canoe. According to all the above, there is no reliable method for identifying a metaphor. The more we strive to analyze a metaphor, the more we understand that its creation and comprehension are challenging tasks, specifically for the non-native speaker. 2. 4. Translating Metaphors Newmark (1988b) proposes the following seven strategies for translating metaphors; the examples included for each strategy are provided by Tajalli (2005, p. 107): 1. Reproducing the same image in the TL. Play with someone’s feelings > 2. Replacing the image in the SL with a standard TL image which does not clash with the TL culture I got it off my chest > 3. Translation of metaphor by simile, retaining the image The coast was only a long green line > 4. Translation of metaphor (or simile) by simile plus sense, or occasionally metaphor plus sense He is an owl > 5. Conversion of metaphor to sense To keep the pot boiling > 6. Deletion. If the metaphor is redundant or serves no practical purpose, there is a case for its deletion, together with its sense component 7. Translation of metaphor by the same metaphor combined with sense. The addition of a gloss or an explanation by the translator is to ensure that the metaphor will be understood The tongue is fire > . 2. 5. Image Metaphors of Color As mentioned earlier, image metaphor is a subcategory of Lakoff’s ‘novel metaphor’. He distinguishes between conceptual metaphor and image metaphor due to their distinct mapping processes. The conceptual metaphor maps one conceptual domain onto another, often with many concepts in the source domain mapped onto many corresponding concepts in the target domain, whereas the image metaphor maps only one image onto one other image; thus, Lakoff (1977) calls them ‘one-shot metaphors’. The following poem, interpreted by Louis Watchman (as cited in Ortony, 1993, p. 231), contains several image mappings: My horse with a hoof like a striped agate, with his fetlock like a fine eagle plume: my horse whose legs are like quick lightning whose body is an eagle-plumed arrow: my horse whose tail is like a trailing black cloud. He continues by explaining that â€Å"Metaphoric image mappings work in the same way as all other metaphoric mappings: by mapping the structure of one domain onto the structure of another. But here, the domains are conventional mental images† (ibid, p. 229). Therefore, image metaphors map one attribute of the source domain onto the target domain. Image mapping may involve physical part-whole relationships, as in the following example extracted from The Descriptions of King Lent, translated by J.M. Cohen (ibid, p. 230): His toes were like the keyboard of a spinet. Lakoff explains that â€Å"The words do not tell us that an individual toe corresponds to an individual key on the keyboard. The words are prompts for us to perform a conceptual mapping between conventional mental images† (ibid). Image mapping may also involve a dynamic image, as in the following lines by Shakespeare (as cited in Hawkes, 1972, p. 46), where the movement of the curtains is mapped onto the movement of the eye: The fringed curtains of thine eye advance,  And say what thou sees yond. Other attributes, such as colors, may also be mapped, which are the main focus of the present study. The following lines by Shakespeare (ibid, p. 47) map the whiteness of the lily and also ivory onto the girl: Full gently now she takes him by the hand, A lily prison’d in a gaol of snow, Or ivory in an alabaster band: So white a friend engirts so white a foe. There are many examples of image metaphors of color in the Shahnameh, where the attribute of color has been mapped onto the target domain. The following translation of a couplet in the Shahnameh, produced by Warner & Warner, contains four image metaphors (of which two are similes), but only in two of them is the attribute of color intended to be mapped; the whiteness of camphor is mapped onto the character’s hair, and the redness of a rose onto his cheeks: His stature cypress-like, his face a sun, His hair like camphor and his rose-red cheeks (Warner and Warner, 1925, vol. 1, p. 191) Also in the following example from the Shahnameh, Davis has compared blood to the redness of wine in this metaphor, even including the sense. But here, the metaphor has been applied simply as a device for making the text more poetic, as Way (1991, p. 33) discussed about the substitution theory of metaphor. He saw Sohrab in the midst of the Persian ranks, the ground beneath his feet awash with wine-red blood. (Davis, p. 205) 2. 6. Formal and Dynamic Equivalence Nida (1964) divides equivalence in two different types in his article entitled ‘Principles of Correspondence’, i. e. formal and dynamic equivalence. He depicts formal equivalence as a focus on the message, in both its formal aspects and its content. Thus, in a translation from â€Å"poetry to poetry, sentence to sentence, and concept to concept† (Nida, in Venuti 2000, p. 129), the concern is formal equivalence. In this type of equivalence, the message produced in the TT should match the different elements of the ST as closely as possible. Nida further explains that a gloss translationtypifies formal equivalence. In this type of translation, he states, â€Å"the translator attempts to reproduce as literally and meaningfully as possible the form and content of the original† (ibid). In order to be comprehensible, such a translation â€Å"would require numerous footnotes† (ibid). This structural equivalence seems to be rather identical to Larson’smodified literal translation, where the translation is basically literal, but with modifications to the order and grammar of the ST, so as to produce â€Å"acceptable sentence structure in the receptor language† (Larson, 1984, p. 16). To a great extent, it also resembles Newmark’s semantic translation, which he states, â€Å"attempts to render, as closely as the semantic and syntactic structures of the second language allow, the exact contextual meaning of the original† (Newmark, 1988a, p.39). Dynamic equivalence, on the other hand, maintains that â€Å"the relationship between receptor and message should be substantially the same as that which existed between the original receptors and the message† (Nida, in Venuti 2000, p. 129). In a translation of dynamic equivalence, the target readership is not necessarily required to understand the SL culture in order to understand the message. Most importantly, this type of equivalence â€Å"aims at complete naturalness of expression† (ibid) , and is also based on the principle of equivalent effect, which maintains that the translator should produce the same effect on his own readers as the SL author produced on the original readers. Similar to Nida’s dynamic equivalence is the traditional idiomatic translationdiscussed in Larson (1984). â€Å"The translator’s goal should be to reproduce in the receptor language a text which communicates the same message as the SL, but using the natural grammatical and lexical choices of the receptor language† (ibid, p. 17). Also rather similar to this type of equivalence is Newmark’s communicative translation, which he claims, â€Å"attempts to produce on its readers an effect as close as possible to that obtained on the readers of the original† (Newmark, 1988a, p. 39). According to the above-mentioned, after comparing Warner & Warner’s (1925) and Davis’ (2007) English translations of the Shahnameh with the original, it was concluded that the first translation is a semantic translation, while the second one is a communicative translation. Warner & Warner have translated poetry into poetry and also strived at preserving the archaic tone of the original. Furthermore, they have indicated in their Introduction to the translation that many explanatory notes have been added; hence leading to a semantic translation. Davis, on the other hand, has converted poetry into prose, with occasional lines of verse in some episodes. He also explains in his Introduction to the translation that he has intended this translation for the general reader and not for scholars; thus his version is a communicative translation. 3. Empirical Data 3. 1. Data Collection and Analysis Thirty-three examples of image metaphors of color identified in theShahnameh were located in two English translations, i. e. Warner & Warner (1925) and Davis (2007). It is worth noting that over forty-five metaphorical expressions of color were identified in the entire Shahnameh, but as Davis’ translation is not a complete translation, rather an abridged version, only thirty-three were applicable to this study. The first step in this procedure was to identify all terms/objects in theShahnameh that presented color imagery. This information was found in a list provided by Rastegar Fasaei (1990). Seventy-nine items were listed, but only thirty-three were applicable in this study, because the list was obviously not intended for metaphors of color, but rather a list indicatingterms that denote a color. Many of these terms were basic color terms, e. g. , which could not produce any potential metaphorical expression implying a color. They were mostly used in adjectival phrases describing a particular object or event. Therefore, all color terms were ruled out, as well as other terms which indicated some kind of ‘brightness’ or ‘shiny effect’, e. g. the expression , in which the metaphor implies that the sword is very shiny. Unfortunately, approximately eighteen of the items in this list were of this kind, representing brightness of an object, colors of the air, and colors of the earth, of which the latter two seemed ambiguous and impracticable for this study. As mentioned earlier, the translation by Davis is not a complete translation of the wholeShahnameh, as many episodes have been omitted. Therefore, several of the items in the list have occurred only in the sections not translated by Davis; hence, deleting them from the list was inevitable. Many of the terms in the list, unfortunately again, were observed only in the form of similes, and not metaphors; therefore, they could not be applied either. After settling on these thirty-three items, they were sought in aShahnameh software, in order to locate the couplets which contained these terms. The next step was to review each couplet to see which one had an image metaphor of color created with that specific term. For some terms, the frequency of occurrence was very high, e. g. approximately 400 couplets, which caused some difficulties in terms of being highly time-consuming. A minimum of one couplet carrying an image metaphor of color was chosen for each of the thirty-three instances via the Shahnamehsoftware. These examples were then initially located in the translation by Davis, as his is an abridged translation. Regarding this, he states in the Introduction to his book: â€Å"Given the poem’s immense length, some passages have inevitably been omitted, and others are presented in summary form† (Davis, 2007, xxxiv). After determining which of the examples were included in Davis’ translation, one couplet was eventually chosen for each instance, and then the corresponding expression was located in Warner & Warner’s translation. So far, there were thirty-three Persian examples of image metaphors of color, along with their corresponding expressions in the two English translations. These were the steps taken in the data collection stage. The next step was to analyze the collected data, which included determining the translation procedures involved in each of the two translations. The framework applied was Newmark’s (1988b) seven procedures introduced for translating metaphors. The goal here was not just determining which translator applied which procedure(s) and the frequency of each procedure, but also finding out whether any new procedures were applied other than Newmark’s. The study also aimed atdiscovering any possible translation patterns exclusive to each translator. The following three examples were selected as representatives of the collected data in this study. (?. – ?) The night was like jet dipped in pitch, there lent No planet luster to the firmament (Warner & Warner, vol. 3, p. 287) A night as black as coal bedaubed with pitch, A night of ebony, a night on which Mars, Mercury, and Saturn would not rise. (Davis, p. 306) In this ST context, the poet has depicted the scene as though the night has actually covered its face with pitch. Both translators have reproduced the same image in their TTs, thus likening the night to a black stone ( ) that has washed its exterior with pitch. (?. – ) Raised such a dust! But swift as dust they sped Till day’s cheeks turned to lapis-lazuli. (Warner & Warner, vol. 7, p. 67) They rode quickly until the day turned purple with dusk. (Davis, p. 642) The definition provided for is ‘a dark blue stone’; its translation by Emami is ‘lapis-lazuli, azure’. Britannica’s online dictionary definition forlapis-lazuli is ‘a semiprecious stone valued for its deep blue color’. Therefore, the first translator has again reproduced the same image through the same metaphor. The second translator, however, has converted the metaphor to its sense, i. e. the color it represents. ? ? (?. – ) This he said, And heaved a sigh. The colour of his cheek Turned from pomegranate-bloom to fenugreek (Warner & Warner, vol. 6, p. 25) Having said this he heaved a sigh from the depths of his being, and the rosy pomegranate petal turned as pale as fenugreek. (Davis, p. 455) The mental image of this ST metaphor is mapped onto the king’s face, describing the change of color in his complexion. The first translator has interestingly enough converted the metaphor to its sense, which seems rather a rare procedure for a semantic translation. The second translator, however, has reproduced the same image in TT2. 3. 2. Discussion Thirty-three cases of image metaphors of color were identified in theShahnameh and then located in two English translations, i. e. Warner & Warner (1925) and Davis (2007). Afterwards, the procedures applied by each translator in rendering these thirty-three items were identified. The framework chosen was that of Newmark’s (1988a). The analysis of the data showed that Warner and Warner applied five of Newmark’s suggested procedures in translating the specified image metaphors of color. They also presented two cases of wrong translation. In the following table, the procedures applied by Warner & Warner in translating the thirty-three image metaphors of color identified in this study and their frequency of occurrence, along with the corresponding percentages are shown. Table 4. 1. Frequency and percentage of procedures applied by Warner & Warner Procedure| Frequency| Percentage| Reproducing the same image in the TL| 23| 69. 69| Replacing the image in the SL with a standard TL image| 3| 9. 09| Translation of metaphor by simile, retaining the image| 1| 3. 03| Translation of metaphor by simile plus sense| 0| 0|. Conversion of metaphor to sense| 3| 9. 09| Deletion| 0| 0| Translation of metaphor by the same metaphor plus sense| 1| 3. 03| Wrong translation| 2| 6. 06| Total| 33| 100| As evident in this table, Warner & Warner have neither translated any metaphors by simile plus sense, nor deleted any metaphor. The most frequently applied procedure in their translations was the reproduction of the same image in the TL. The translation of the Shahnameh produced by Warner & Warner is a semantic translation, which clearly proves the reason as to why their most frequently applied procedure is the one mentioned above. â€Å"A semantic translation attempts to recreate the precise flavor and tone of the original: the words are ‘sacred’, not because they are more important than the content, but because form and content are one† (Newmark, 1988a, p. 47). The analysis of the data also shows that Davis has applied all seven procedures introduced by Newmark in translating these items. There was no evidence of any wrong translation. The following table presents the frequency of each procedure which was applied and also their percentages. Table 4. 2. Frequency and percentage of procedures applied by Davis Procedure| Frequency| Percentage|. Reproducing the same image in the TL| 12| 36. 36| Replacing the image in the SL with a standard TL image| 3| 9. 09| Translation of metaphor by simile, retaining the image| 3| 9. 09| Translation of metaphor by simile plus sense| 2| 6. 06| Conversion of metaphor to sense| 6| 18. 18| Deletion| 2| 6. 06| Translation of metaphor by the same metaphor plus sense| 5| 15. 15| Total| 33| 100| As indicated in the table, the most frequently used procedure by Davis is also the reproduction of the same image in the TL. He has opted for deletion of the image metaphor of color in two cases. In one of the two cases, his deletion seems to serve the purpose of a more easy-going, reader-friendly text (where the metaphoric elements seem complex or far-fetched to the target audience), whereas in the other case, his deletion seems somehow arbitrary or unjustifiable. The following table compares the two translations in terms of the percentage of procedures applied. P1 through P7 are the seven translation procedures involved in this study, also indicated in the previous table, and WT stands for wrong translation. Table 4. 3. Percentage of the procedures applied by both translators | P1| P2| P3| P4| P5| P6| P7| WT| Total %| W. & W. | 69. 69| 9. 09| 3. 03| 0| 9. 09| 0| 3. 03| 6. 06| 100| Davis| 36. 36| 9. 09| 9. 09| 6. 06| 18. 18| 6. 06| 15. 15| 0| 100| 4. Conclusion Thirty-three cases of image metaphors of color were extracted from theShahnameh and relocated in two English translations, i. e. Warner & Warner (1925) and Davis (2007). The main objective of the study was to determine which translation procedures introduced by Newmark (1988a) for translating metaphors in general were applied by the two above mentioned translators. According to the collected and analyzed data, Warner & Warner applied five of Newmark’s suggested procedures. The two procedures they did not apply at all were deletion and translation of metaphor by simile plus sense. The figures indicated that approximately 70% of the thirty-three cases had undergone Newmark’s first procedure, i. e. reproducing the same image in the TL, which was also considered the most frequently used procedure by Warner & Warner. This is a verification that their translation is indeed a semantic translation, as the objective in this type of translation is to recreate the ST, both its form and its content. This occurs to a great extent through literal/word-for-word translation, which is rather similar to the above- mentioned procedure. Davis, on the other hand, applied all seven of Newmark’s procedures in his translation of image metaphors of color. The most frequently used procedure was again, a reproduction of the same image in the TL (36%). The second aim was to determine whether any new procedures for translating image metaphors of color other than those proposed by Newmark for translating metaphors resulted from this study.

Girls Education Essay

It is one the basic necessities to be educated for human, as world is full of competition, where one needs certain amount of skills to survive and be a threat to others. Education gives an insight to the person to differentiate between good and bad. Both men and women are part of our society so we need education for the females as well as for the males. In India despite of all the plans measures, initiatives and tall claims by the government and various voluntary organizations, a vast majority of the girls are yet illiterate in India. During the last four decades since independence, many schools and colleges are founded for girls. Education of girls is one of the basic features of the government plans. The female education is important for the society as mothers are the first teachers of the children. They are the first teachers of the future citizens of the country. It is being increasingly recognized that educated wives and mothers are an asset to a nation. Educated girls are working in banks, private firms, hospitals and government offices and supporting their families as well as contributing to the development of the country. Educated girls have an honored position in society. They have secured their rights from the reluctant men but all this is confined chiefly to the urban areas. Indians are conservative by nature. So, their blind faith and age old superstition stood against the female education. In rural areas most of the people are still against girls’ education. So much needs to be done yet. Special legislation should be enacted to deal with parents who neglect the education of their daughters. There are many villages where schools for girls do not exist. Every village must have a girl’ schools, or if that is not possible owing to lack of funds, parents should be persuaded to admit their daughters to the schools providing co-education. In recent years situation has improved considerably. People have felt the virtue of female education. Now in India we find women professors, lady doctors, lady scientists, lady politicians and lady ministers. Girls should be educated in the interest of our national progress. India is now optimistic in the field of female education. We had the female philosophers like Gargi, in the Vedic age. We had Mirabai, Ahalyabi and Laxmibai in the days of history. They were all learned. Hence, we had a great tradition during the days of our degeneration. Now, we have revived. So, we will certainly revive the female education in India.

Advantages and disadvantages of nuclear power

Advantages and disadvantages of nuclear power Do the advantages of using nuclear power outweigh the disadvantages and thus making it a safe and economical method of generating electricity? At this time it is believed that there are far more disadvantages than advantages when it comes to the use of nuclear power. This report will list the advantages and disadvantages and prove that nuclear power is the next stepping stone in technological advancements and a cleaner future. HYPOTHESIS The advantages of utilizing nuclear power will by far demean the disadvantages and therefore prove that it will be beneficial to make use of nuclear power as an energy source. DISCUSSION ADVANTAGES One of the main advantages of nuclear power is that it does not emit a large quantity of green house gases such as CO2 [1] [2] and thus does not contribute to global warming. In turn this allows for a cleaner global environment. As seen in the below diagram, Coal-fired power stations release 5912000 tons of CO2 per year. Nuclear power stations use less th an a twenty-fifth of that because they only release 230000 tons of CO2 per year. Therefore in the environmental aspect, nuclear power is safe and beneficial for the world s future. Figure 1: A graph of the CO2 Emission by Each Power Source Another advantage of nuclear power is that it has relatively low costs involved in its production [5]. It yields much more electrical energy for each unit of nuclear fuel (uranium rods) used than the conventional fossil fuel power stations (coal) [1] [2]. Due to this it will also cost less to ascertain the resources needed to produce the same amount of energy as fossil fuels as is made evident in the below graph. This results in nuclear fuel costing much less per kilowatt hour for a consumer than any other method of producing electricity [fig. 2]. Therefore nuclear power will be economically beneficial for the world s electricity consuming population. Figure 2: A graph showing the US Electricity Production Costs for 1995 – 2008 An organizat ion known as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is in place to ensure that all nuclear power stations and nuclear activity which occur anywhere in the world is done without error which ultimately makes the use of nuclear power a safer option [7]. They implement standards and regulations which must be adhered to by all nuclear facilities [7]. One of their main tasks is to oversee the installation of the nuclear systems and transportation of nuclear materials to insure safety and security [7]. These monitoring protocols allow the usage of nuclear energy to be safe and secure. Over time improved designs have come about for nuclear reactors such as the advanced reactor in Japan which has been operating since 1996 [6]. The major safety feature in this reactor is its passive safety system. In the event of a malfunction, no intervention from an operator is required thus eliminating the chance of a human error [6]. If this type safety feature was to be implemented in all the curr ent and future nuclear reactors, it would significantly enhance the safety of the nuclear plants. There is a variety of safety features for nuclear reactors one of which is the three barriers between the fuel rods and the environment [6]. The fuel rods are in a solid ceramic pellet which forms the first barrier [6]. These pellets are inside a closed zirconium tube, which forms the second barrier [6]. The final barrier is the containment of the fuel rods. They are stored in a steel pressure vessel and this vessel has walls up to 30cm thick therefore preventing all radioactive radiation from escaping. Other than those safety barriers the whole containment structure has one meter thick reinforced concrete walls [6]. Thus in the event of a human error there are provisions in place to minimize the severity of the error. These measures will increase the safety of using nuclear power plants even more.

The Current and Futuristic Position of Etisalat Assignment

The Current and Futuristic Position of Etisalat - Assignment Example Furthermore, the report looks into the factors that limit the company’s efficiency and effectiveness on a global and national front. According to research carried out, it is notable that entering a foreign market can pose unique sets of problems that a company had not previously in the country of origin (Womack and Jones, p. 12). Emirates Telecommunications Corporation, which operates under the brand name Etisalat is a service provider in the telecommunication sector. The company is incorporated in the UAE and is operational in at least eighteen nations especially in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. Mobile Network Code (MNC), a global regulator of the telecommunication industry asserts that, at present, Etisalat is ranked as the fifth biggest operator in the mobile telecommunication sector, having a massive consumer base of close to one hundred and twenty million people globally. MNC, which offers a list of mobile national codes under ISO 3166-1 country codes, asserts that Etisalat is a key player in the global telecommunication sector, having been founded in the year 1976. As at February 2011, Etisalat gives an account of a net income of AED 31.9 billion ($8.4 billion), with profit margins reaching AED 7.63 billion or $ 2.07 billion. The company is a joint-stock corporation held by local affiliates and int ernationally reputed companies such as International Aeradio Limited and another company based in Britain. The ownership structure of the company shifted significantly in 1983 when the government of the United Arab Emirates acquired up to 60% of the company’s shares, before trading the remaining 40% in the public market.

King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschilds Term Paper

King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschilds - Term Paper Example One prominent thing about this book was refusal by nine publishing houses in United States to publish this book. Most of the colonialists invaded Africa with the motive of getting industrial resources and enriching themselves. However, they gave false pretexts for the scramble saying they were after benefiting their colonial subjects. Some of these pretexts included spreading the gospel, educating their subjects and delivering benefactions to their colonial subject. Different colonial powers worsened the living conditions and lives of their subjects. Most of the atrocities and crimes done by King Leopold’s and his army as the author describes. While most of these colonialists exploited their subjects, King Leopold representing the Belgian imperialism over-exploited the people of Congo, made them slaves and even tortured them. This is something truly different as compared to the French imperialism in Senegal. Useful Discussions from King Leopold’s Ghost   During the ti me of European imperialism, there are so many things that took place, with many nations trying to build empires in different parts of the world, including Africa and Asia (Hochschild 21). The term ‘civilized people’ was used by a Swedish missionary, C.N. Borrisson, who described their different intentions for the scrambling for African resources. According to the known facts, the colonialists lied about their reasons for invading some of these nations. The facts are that the colonialists wanted raw materials for their industries. There was also need to get cheap labor for their industries. These colonialists took this opportunity to develop their economy so as to increase their kingdoms. One thing about this book is that it offers a lot of information about these developments in Congo by the Belgians. There were many things that transpired in the name of colonialism. There was an increase in support for the colonialists by other nations such as the United States and Can ada. The main explanations given by the colonialists or the ‘civilized people’ for the exploitation and colonial imperialism included the need to spread Christianity also extend their benefactions abroad (Hochschild 26). Many humanitarians view this as a stratagem that does not make any sense at all. The increased settlement by the colonialists in these countries justifies the materialism and desire for wealth. King Leopold’s Ghost is a story providing a focuses on the vivid accounts of what took place in Africa. Adam Hochschild’s book therefore, deals with the continued looting which took place in Congo. It is worth noting that people went through traumatizing events apart from been tortured by the colonialists. This helps us understand the main reasons why the ‘civilized people’ invaded these nations. This neglect by the colonialists to care about the colonists was a crucial issue for consideration when examining the roles played by these â €˜civilized people’ in Africa. The other noteworthy thing to consider is the colonialists’ callous disregard for the lives and the dignity of others based on the color of their skin, nationality, religion, or ethnic backgrounds. During these days, the colonialists prejudiced the Africans without giving them any opportunity to express themselves (Hochschild 62). The ‘civilized people’ continued disregarding the dignity and lives of others based on their skin color, religion, nationality and ethnic background. The whites treated Africans indifferently on their

Environmental Law Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Environmental Law - Research Paper Example The decisions of the Agency unavoidably comprise value judgments, and the resolutions should be reached within a web of political restrictions. The EPA’s administrator is the legal authority on any specific resolution; nevertheless, the job is appointed by the President, and the administrator performs his/her tasks under the President’s authority (Glicksman 53). Moreover, regulatory agencies are largely controlled and affected by the manpower and budgetary proposals of the Office of Management and Budget, by the outcome of Congressional inspection, and by the Congress’s supervision (Glicksman 61). EPA should essentially moderate its decisions and activities with a certain level of political sense. In fact, political circumstances may prevent regulatory decisions that seem to be constitutional, and even important, under related statute. Furthermore, since regulatory activities carried out by EPA in Washington should be overseen either by the EPA regional departmen ts that are supervised by independent local and state governments or by fairly autonomous appointees, EPA’s decisions should be appropriate to an even wider array of political interests and should predict difficulties in implementation (Rom 82). This research paper argues that the EPA should have the authority to change policy and implement those policies concerning the health of the nation’s population without causing a political conflict in Washington over the economic impact of government regulations. In essence, this paper argues that EPA should be highly involved in the decision-making process, but it should not be in conflict with the economy and the government. Protecting the Environment and the Economy The regulation of activities that have an effect on the environment has been current event in the United States, but it is a perfect case of the economic involvement of the government for a social reason. Since the 1960s, Americans became more and more worried ab out the effect of industrial progress on the environment (Heyes 61-62). For example, engine exhaust from numerous vehicles was held responsible for air pollution in major urban areas. Pollution corresponded to ‘externality’, which is defined by economists as â€Å"a cost the responsible entity can escape but that society as a whole must bear† (Heyes 62). Because market dynamics are not capable of addressing these issues, numerous environmentalists asserted that government has a moral responsibility to safeguard the planet’s delicate environment, even though doing so entails that a certain level of economic progress be given up. Several major laws were ratified to prevent and regulate pollution, such as the 1972 Clean Water Act and the 1963 Clean Air Act. Environmentalists accomplished a very important objective in 1970 with the creation of EPA which merged into a single organization numerous federal projects focused on environmental conservation. The EPA e stablishes and implements acceptable regulatory practices, and it provides timetables to encourage polluters to conform to these norms. Because majority of the prerequisites are current, industries are granted a substantial amount of time to abide by these rules (Schoenbrod 25). The Agency also has the power to organize and

The theory of endogenous money Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

The theory of endogenous money - Essay Example endogenous money theory based its arguments on classical economics, it proved a constructive attempt for providing alternative theoretical framework for dealing with unsatisfactory IS/LM model. As of now, policy makers are receiving utterly contrasting advice from economists concerning how to surmount the prolonged financial sprawl in the USA and Europe: a number of them propose austerity while others advocate for deficit spending. With this regard, this paper will seek to assess the arguments and the probable impact of both policy extremes in the light of the theory of endogenous money. Fiscal austerity as well as fiscal stimulus brings about numerous impacts on the economy of a country, depending on the level or degree in which they carry out the redistribution of income to both the low and high earners. After the 2007/2008 economic slump, many nations continued to struggle with the view of reducing government debt levels. However, as time went by, it came to a point where the US and Europe’s governments accepted that they faced great level of government debts and as such, they ought to increase their revenue, cut their spending, default on their obligations, or thereof combine all of them. Some policy makers recommend austerity because it is an intriguing option and rarely takes place on government debt even at times when the available solution is painful (Keen and Grasselli, 2012:3). In spite of the measure that default increases the future borrowing cost sharply, austerity leaves tax increased and the level of government expenditure cut. Fiscal austerity, in a number of ways, seems to be the contrast for of fiscal stimulus policies. This is so because it leads to tax cuts and increase spending applied by government at times whose purpose is to expand the country’s economy. With reference to the endogenous theory, some policy makers seem to propose austerity due to its impacts. First, with austerity, low-income earners will be in a position to have

Motivation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Motivation - Essay Example As a direct impact of the competition between the firms, in various markets, various new economies and markets are emerging. These new markets and economies are providing the companies across the world with a significant amount of future growth potential because of their consumer needs as well as the consumer needs of the masses. However, the opening of the global markets has also led to the increase of risks in the business environment as well as spillover effects arising from slow economic growth in countries around the world. The macro and micro economic developments of nations and continents around the world are highly affecting the business scenario around the globe and making the companies go for sporting a lean cost structure. This approach of the companies to downsize staff in an attempt to cut costs is having a toll in the minds of the employees of the company, who gets increasingly worried regarding the process of thinking of ways for maintaining a sustainable lifestyle rat her than losing his job. So, naturally it can be said that the entire business scenario is playing a major role in the process of affecting the moral of employees, thereby hampering their productivity at the workplace. Theory 1: McClelland’s Achievement Motivation Theory In an attempt to tackle the issues related to handling of the declining levels of motivation, there are a large number of motivational theories that have been discussed and analyzed by the human resources experts around the world. In a measure to increase motivation of the employees, the human resources managers and employees of various organizations focus on implementing the motivational practices in the workplace. One very important theory of motivation is the achievement motivation theory by David McClelland. This theory essentially highlights three important factors like the needs for achievement, need for power as well as need for affiliation (Aswathappa, 2005, p. 364). Need for Achievement This particul ar need brings into focus the need of the human being to excel in their field of work and thereby focus on setting a bench mark of quality standards for others. The existence of this need is high among employees who gain tremendous satisfaction through the fulfillment of their personal goals. Need for Power This particular point reflects the needs of a person in regards to having the power of authority for making decision and recommending the course of future actions for an organization. The subjects with a high on power need garner satisfaction by having the positions of influence and control of the physical as well financial and human resources in the organization. Need for Affiliation It can be said that the individuals apart from the achievements and power based needs also has a significant amount of need for affiliation and recognition. As a matter of fact, the subject will gain satisfaction by the process of interacting with others as well as working in a friendly environment. Theory 2: Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory of Motivation With the rise of

The Past Present and Future of Veterans Health Care Research Paper

The Past Present and Future of Veterans Health Care - Research Paper Example While the benefit is one not enjoyed by all Americans, the veterans' health care system has had its difficulties in providing good health care for those afforded the privilege. In the past there has been many issues with the cleanliness and availability of the services that had been promised. In addition, the issue of veterans' of heath care benefits is often up for both media and political review, threatening the whole system. However, there is evidence to show that the VA health care system is the finest in the United States and with better funding should serve as an example of how government run health care can save an inadequate health care system through privatizing. The biggest problem within the VA is that it is under funded. In a world where volunteering for service is not top on the career moves of most young men and where the draft is no longer being used, maintaining a health care system for those who have dutifully served and may need continuing care afterward is the one of the few ways in which men and women of the service are given proper acknowledgement for the gift that they given to their country. Overview The need for a better health care system for all citizens points to the need for a more approachable system of health care for those in military service. The health care that is provided for veterans' is defined by an as needed basis, but in remembering the nature of illness, one must remember that to wait to get service is to continue to suffer without care. Many appointments are not available for as long as a year, in which the medical issue can be expanded and then require more care than was originally needed had the patient been able to receive care at an earlier time (Gayton & Borden, 2008, p. 7). One advantage to the system is that it is also based on income so that those who have the complication of low income with medical needs can be seen sooner than those with resources from outside of the VA. History Throughout the history of the U nited States, medical benefits have been supported by the government for those who have fought in the service of the country. After the American Revolution, hospitals were erected by the government to treat soldiers in need of care after fighting for the right to be a country. In 1930, the government formalized veterans' benefits so that law could govern the care of soldiers. The unfortunate history of VA health care benefits is defined by a shortage of resources in which to service all of those who are in need. In 1930 there were 45 veterans' hospitals with 54 regional offices, but by 1948, after the end of World War II there were 125 hospitals with 102,200 beds, but there were still 20,700 soldiers in need of admission, but without the beds to service them (Gayton & Borden, 2008, p. 7). Background Current eligibility for veterans' health care benefits are based upon the: serving in military, navel or air service and being honorably discharged or having been a reservist who was cal led to active duty and completed the full call-up period. If not, one of the following might be true: the soldier was discharged or separated for medical reasons, the soldier served in combat operations within the last five years, the soldier had a non-pre-existing disability, the soldier was a prisoner of war, received a purple heart, was previously eligible for VA benefits, or receives state Medicaid benefits. After these qualifications are investigated other criteria might be used to situationally determine whether or not benefits are applicable (United States Department of Veteran Affairs, 2011).1 The highest priority for eligibility are those who have

Discuss the key guiding principles which should underpin a successful Essay

Discuss the key guiding principles which should underpin a successful Destination Management Strategy, using relevant examples - Essay Example The entrance of new competing destinations has heightened competition prompting the destination marketing organizations to change their business strategies. Since each country has unique goals and objectives for tourism, it is crucial that the marketing strategies match the gaols of the specific country. For any country to position its tourism marketing strategy, it is crucial to design a visionary plan, design strategies to promote the plan, source funds and support for the program and work out a correction plan to counter the challenges that are likely to arise during the strategy implementation process. The challenges arising in the tourism require a different approach of destination management to stimulate growth and ensure that all stakeholders in tourism benefit from the investment plans. The first step towards efficiency destination marketing is to build a vision and a plan that involves all the stakeholders in the industry (Shirazi & Som, 2011). The vision of the destination marketing should be to use an integrative approach that embraces changes, flexibility and one that is customer focussed. The customer should be the main focus of the organization, as they are the source of profit for the organization. On this note, the objective should be to understand the customer needs, and develop strategies to satisfy them. Additionally, the vision of the project should be to involve all the stakeholders of the tourism industry in the implementation process. England is an example of the countries that have focussed on the customer needs to stimulate a tourism growth of over 5% per year (Prideaux & Cooper, 2002). By satisfying the customers, the locals, the employees and the government, it is possible to overcome the challenges that affect the tourism market. Destination marketing seeks to satisfy all the stakeholders by actively involving them in the

Mental Health and Psychotropic Drugs Essay Example for Free

Mental Health and Psychotropic Drugs Essay

Focus on Trash Island, Save Our Life Essay Example for Free

Focus on Trash Island, Save Our Life Essay Ignored by humans for decades of years, garbage floating on the ocean has become a trash island. The island consists of plastic bags, cans, tires and other plastic debris. The worse thing is that the trash island is still growing. The seawater in the center of Subtropical Airflow of pacific flows extremely slowly, with the addition of weather patterns, a large amount of garbage gather in this place. Year after year, a trash island has formed, which was called â€Å"the eighth continent†. It consists of four million tons of pelagic plastics, chemical sludge, and other debris, researchers estimate island area may be twice the size of Texas! (Wikipedia.com) The floating debris can absorb organic pollutants from seawater, and then such debris can be ingested by small fish, which are then eaten by larger fish. Many of these fish are then consumed by humans, resulting in their ingestion of toxic chemicals. (Ballard 2004). Therefore, human life will be threatened by this situation. What should be done to reduce the amount of pollution and garbage building up on trash islands? It is undeniable we should take this problem seriously; otherwise humans will be faced with disaster. After realized how urgent we should clean the trash island, humans did a lot of work, try to diminish it. Once it was a project called â€Å"Project Kaisei†, which devoted to study the ways of cleaning up the trash island. According to the material, in 2009, Project Kaisei embarked on its first expedition to the Pacific Patch. There are two vessels in this trip, one is the â€Å"Kaisei†, and the other is the â€Å"New Horizon†. Each research vessel had a crew of scientists and volunteers on board in order to research the effects that might be occurring as a result of the large amounts of floating debris in this area of ocean. Investigation was carried out for material science, toxicity, invasive species, ecosystem impact and new catch methods to develop ways for removing some of the debris in the future in a larger scale.(projectkaisei.org). Similar projects are taken; scientists and government are trying to find ways to recycle plastic wastes. Project Kaisei drawn out a plan to save the ocean, which will raise about 200 million dollars in the next 18 month, then it will clean up more than 400,000 tons of garbage; those garbage can be decomposed as fuel. The Kaisei Project indeed got a good return, basically it clean up part of the island, however, the island is still growing because those factories never stop dumping plastic waste into the ocean. Take the real situation into consideration, I think the best strategy we should do is to avoid the island growing bigger. Charles Moore, who firstly found â€Å"the eighth continent†, said even cost all the countrys financial resources, and killed a large number of wildlife, it is impossible to clean up the whole trash island in the Pacific Ocean. (Earth Island Journal, 2010). The technology may not be advanced so much that we can’t clean up the whole island at present; moreover, the costs have far exceeded the benefits. I believe we should develop the technology firstly and seek out the most effective and economical process to recycle and resolve the trash. On the other hand, we can take other actions to prevent more debris from inflowing the ocean. And the costs will be much lower than cleaning the island up. Unquestionably the garbage island is a serious issue that worth to think. Prevention may not solve the problem once for all, but it can avoid it getting worse. And it is practical and workable, has a chance to be enacted. Government can encourage entrepreneur to develop green industry; policy can be carried out to close those factories which had high pollution productive process. Research and development department has the ability to improve technology, as a result, the discharge of pollutant will be reduced and eliminated. Communities can contribute by lobbying companies to find environmentally safe alternatives to plastic and formulate reusable packaging. â€Å"International treaties prohibiting dumping at sea must also be enforced, such as prohibiting sewage from being allowed to flow into the ocean, or eliminating the use of plastic bags†(Silverman, 2007). Factories can find a way to reduce the discharge of plastic waste, or they can stop dumping the wasted into the ocean; there must be approach to resolve the waste rather than simply discard them to the sea. With all efforts, the trash island will not bigger any more. Beyond this, our individual should stop dumping plastic wastes into the sea. As an article said, about 80% of the debris comes from land, much of which is plastic bags, bottles and other consumer products as wind â€Å"blows plastic rubbish out of littered streets and landfills where it gets into rivers and storm drains before riding the tides and currents out to sea† (Grant, 2009). Some tourists always think the ocean is â€Å"a big trash dustbin†, they enjoy the scenery as well as drop the trash unconsciously. Environmental protection advertisement, public announcement and collection can be made to wake up the awareness of environmental protection from human. Although it’s hard to persuade those factories to close down their pollution business, the policies still need to be put into effect. It is indeed the most helpful approach to prevent the trash island grow up. At the national level in the United States, authorities like the Clean Water Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and the Pollution Prevention Act of 1990 do not specifically mention marine debris, but include standards applicable to the control of land based sources of marine debris (Interagency 2008). The most important thing is, such management can heighten human’s awareness of protecting environmental, constant dropping wears the stone, I believe it will lead a right direction. If we can change our habits, the trash island will not grow. â€Å"Ultimately more plastic recycling and wider use of biodegradable materials is the best hope for controlling these garbage patches† (McLendon, 2010). Without global effort, we cannot successfully control the situation and protect the ocean environment; marine animals and human’s life will be at risk. Changes and actions need to be made, thus we can fix the problem and prevent it from occurring again. In conclusion, reduction of sources and international collaboration for cleanup is the most efficient way to reduce the expansion of the trash island. Work Cited Project Kaisei Capturing the Plastic Vortex. Project Kaisei Capturing the Plastic Vortex. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Dec. 2012. Ballard, K. ―The importance and conservation of Biomes.â€â€" University of California. (2004) Great Pacific Garbage Patch. â€Å"Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pacific_Garbage_Patch. Captain Charles Moore. Earth Island Journal, Aug. 2009. Web. 05 Dec. 2012. Silverman,J.(2007,September 19).Why is the Worlds Biggest Land fill in the Pacific Ocean Retrieved February13,2012,from HowStuffWorks: http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/earth/oceanography/greatYpacificYgarbageYpatch3.html Grant, R.(2009,April 24).Drowning in plastic: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is twice the size of France.TheTelegraph . Interagency Report on Marine Debris Sources, Impacts, Strategies and Recommendations. Interagency marine debris coordinating committee (2008) McLendon,R.(2010,February 24).WhatistheGreatPacificGarbagePatch? Retrieve d February 13, 2012,from Mother Nature Network: http://www.mnn.com/earthYmatters/translatingYuncleYsam/stories/whatYisYtheYgreatYpacificYoceanYgarbageYpatch

Analysis of Internal Service Quality

Analysis of Internal Service Quality Internal Service Quality is a visible expression of an organizations culture and it can be thought of as the quality of work life. It is about the workplace design, job design, employee selection and development, employee rewards and recognition and tools for serving customers. Service Quality: Services are intangibles and it is more difficult to measure it physically as compared to the products. Service quality is delivery of superior services to their customers according to their desires and expectations. (Zeithaml V.A and M.J.Bitner, 1996) In todays fast-paced and increasingly competitive market, the bottom line of an organisations strategies and tactics is to make profits and contribute to the growth of the company. Customer satisfaction, quality and retention are global issues that affect all organisations. Many companies are interested in studying, evaluating and implementing strategies that aim at improving both internal and external customer retention. Internal Service Quality in Mauritius is starting to emerge in the fast expanding economy in order to add a competitive edge to both our public and private sector. In the tourism sector, hotels are starting to apply Internal Service Quality. In this competitive environment, organisations believe that they have to maintain the quality of products to sustain, survive, leading the market and achieving the competitive advantage which depends on organisational valuable assets, that is, employees. The quality of the services or products can be judged by its customers perceptions and expectations about that services or products (Parasuraman et al.1991). External customer loyalty and satisfaction strongly depends on internal customers. Employees satisfaction is directly related to superior services. The strong relationship between an organisation and an employee leads to a real improvement in the services provided to customers (Scheinder and Bowen, 1995) 1.1 Background of Tourism Sector in Mauritius The hotel sector, being an important pillar in the Mauritian economy has to provide first class service to their clients in order to maintain level of competition with other reputed touristic venues across the world. Since 2005, the tourism sector has averaged a growth of approximately 5 % (www.gov.mu) from arrival of tourist in Mauritius. This growth is encouraging but at the other end other sectors, such as the textile or sugar industry sector has gone on decline following open trade treaty in 2005. As a result of that, our economy is dependent on the Tourism Sector and in order to attract more tourists to Mauritius, the Internal Service Quality must be enhanced to improve our service to clients in hotels. Legends Hotel provides Internal Service Quality since year 2002. Internal service quality forms part of the Human Resource strategies to attract and retain both internal and external customers. One among many strategic examples at Legends Hotel, employees are empowered with more training and development programs so that they can better handle customers queries. 1.2 Problem Definition At Legends, Internal Service Quality has been more or less beneficial to the company as a whole. However, some key areas within the business still need consideration. First and foremost, communications within different departments and teamwork among employees are not that effective. There are always complaints about employees not cooperating while performing their job or information is not well communicated. Effective communication within a business is considered as a vital tool in the day to day management of an organisation and improper communication can lead to decline in the performance both in terms of customer satisfaction and in managerial perspective as a whole. Moreover, remuneration is another important factor that affects the performance of employees. The latter consider that they could get better remuneration for similar work performed elsewhere. Hence attitude and behaviour towards providing dedicated service to clients and the organisation are somewhat affected. And since a fierce competition exists among hotels in Mauritius, it is very important for management to provide good internal service quality for survival of the organisation as it has a direct impact on profitability and customer loyalty. 1.3 Aims and Objectives: The effectiveness of Human Resources Practises in delivering Internal Service Quality. The effectiveness of the SERVQUAL Model using Internal Service Quality battery. To provide an insight into the process of improving Internal Service Quality. 1.4 Outline of Chapters Chapter 1: Introduction It provides a general outline of the project, with the different sections included and the objectives of the study. Chapter 2: Legends Hotel This chapter consists of a brief overview of the company and the structure of the organization. Chapter 3: Literature Review This chapter consists of the different theories used in the dissertation together with background study of the subject. Chapter 4: Methodology and Research This chapter includes the hypothesis of the study as well as sampling and questionnaire design utilized during the project survey. Chapter 5: Results and Analysis This chapter comprises of the analysis of data obtained during the questionnaire survey followed by discussion on the results obtain. Again, appropriate statistical tools, such as the SPSS technique was used for the analysis of results. Chapter 6: Conclusion and Recommendations It deals with the conclusion of the main findings and based on them, it puts forward some recommendations in order to have an effective Internal Service Quality. 2.0 legends hotel 2.1 Company Overview Legends Hotel, set up in 2002, is a 5 star hotel located at Grand Gaube and it consists of 198 rooms. It forms part of the Naiade Group which owns hotels like Le Tropical, Les Pavillons, Beau Rivage, Merville Beach, Ile des Deux Cocos, Tamassa, Hotel Le Recif (Reunion Island), Grand Hotel du Lagon (Reunion Island) and Dive in Maldives. The five core values at Naiade are Guests, People, Leadership, Responsibility and Excellence. Guests are to be put at the forefront of everything, People are the employees who are provided with opportunities to grow within the business, Leadership is about fast management reaction to secure maximum advantage of changes, Responsibilities to recognize and honour investments of shareholders and Excellence is about building competitive edge on superior innovation and customer responsiveness. Naiades vision is to be an international hotel group offering wide range of product in all market segments of leisure in the hospitality industry. It wants to be recognized as the business community leader, continuously improving share holder value and welfare of staff whilst fulfilling corporate social responsibility. The purpose of Legends is to help people enjoy good times together, to celebrate life. The five beliefs at Legends are consideration for people, serving with passion, insistence on integrity, responsibility of leadership and entertaining with creativity. If we quote the Mission Statement of Legends Hotel, it can be seen that they view customer satisfaction in different perspective. Mission Statement: we are unforgettable, passionate team committed to provide outstanding personalised service through our unique concept of fengshui, the art of living in harmony Employees are provided with several benefits such as pension plan, medical cover, naiade home loan scheme, discretionary bonus, hotel stays at preferential rates, Naiade fun day, kids and team member party and star team member of the month and year. 2.2 Organisation Structure Legends Hotel is administered by a General Manager and a Resident Manager, who are responsible for the day to day management of the affairs of the organisation. Legends Hotel is structured with several departments, each headed by a Head of Department. These departments are then sub-divided into a number of divisions which are each under the direct responsibility of a Supervisor. The different departments as well as the divisions are illustrated hereunder. For ease of understanding each department constituting the hotel has been illustrated in the diagram. As far as Internal Service quality is concerned, it is directly related to the Human Resource Department which is constituted of the HR Manager, the Personnel Manager, Assistant HR Manager and HR coordinator in the frontline of this department. The table below shows the number of staffs per department at The Legends Hotel. Table 2.1: No. of Employees at Legends Hotel S/No Department No. of Employees (Population) 1 Human Resource 5 2 Kitchen 77 3 Spa 15 4 Entertainment 18 5 Food Restaurant 125 6 Front Office 20 7 Security 30 8 Finance 15 9 Housekeeping 118 10 Quality and Events 2 11 Maintenance 25 Source: Human Resource Management Department, Legends Hotel Figure 2.1: Structure of Functional Organization Chart Assistant HR Manager NAIADE BOARD OF DIRECTORS LEGENDS GENERAL MANAGER LEGENDS RESIDENTMANAGER HOUSEKEEPING DEPARTMENT- Linen Laundry and Floor Valet Front Office Department reception, guest relation officer quality and events department food and beverages department- Restaurant, room service, bar Beach Entertainment department Kitchen department pastry, main kitchen, stewarding spa department maintenance department security department finance department Human Resource department HR MANAGER HR Coordinator Personnel Manager Source: Human Resource Management Department, Legends Hotel 3.0 Literature review 3.1 What is Internal Service Quality? Quality is defined in ISO 9000:2000 as the degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfils requirements. Degree means that quality can be used with adjectives such as poor, good and excellent. Inherent is defined as existing in something, especially permanent characteristics. Characteristics can be quantitative or qualitative. Requirement is a need or expectation that is stated; generally implied by the organisation, its customers both internal and external and other interested parties. Internal service quality is measured by the feelings that employees have towards their jobs, colleagues and companies. It points to the ability and authority of service workers to achieve results for customers. Internal quality is also characterised by the attitudes that people serve each other inside the organisation (David, 1988) According to Grà ¶nroos (1988), service quality is commonly defined as a discrepancy between the service quality that is delivered by the organization and the service performance that employees expect. Conceptually, service quality is defined as global judgment or attitude relating to the overall excellence or superiority of the service (Parasuraman et al., 1988). 3.2 Importance of Internal Service Quality Delivering quality service is considered to be an important strategy for success in todays competitive environment. Since the 90s many service companies have pursued to enhance their performance and effectiveness in search of achieving differentiation in the market. An example of that is the attempt to convince customers that their quality is superior to the competitors. In addition, the importance of service sector has sharply increased in both developed and developing countries. The Service Profit Chain establishes relationships between profitability, customer loyalty and employee satisfaction, loyalty and productivity. Profit and growth are stimulated primarily by customer loyalty. Loyalty is a direct result of customer satisfaction. Satisfaction is largely influenced by the value of services provided to customers. Value is created by satisfied, loyal and productive employees. Employee satisfaction results primarily from high quality support services and policies that enable employees to deliver results to customers. This is demonstrated in the diagram below. Figure 3.1: The Links in the Service-Profit Chain Source: Putting the Service-Profit Chain to Work (James L. Heskett et al., 1994) Employee Satisfaction is the individual employees general attitude towards the job. It is also an employees cognitive and affective evaluation of his or her job. It is an important factor in determining service quality (Zeithaml et al., 1990). Satisfied employees are more committed to continuous improvement and quality, thus they are also more committed to delivering quality service. Employee Retention involves taking measures to encourage employees to remain in the organization for the maximum period of time. Employee loyalty is synonymous with achieving a balance that brings feelings of connection along with a commitment to produce. Ultimately, loyal employees can bring some big benefits. Economists define employee productivity as the output per worker or output per hour. With the increase in part-time employment and temporary and contract workers, many businesses use hours worked rather than output per worker to measure productivity. External Service Value- Value is a function not only of costs to the customer but also of the results achieved for the customer. It is based both on perceptions of the way a service is delivered and on initial customer expectation. Customer Satisfaction is the degree to which customer expectations of a product or service are met or exceeded. Corporate and individual customers may have widely differing reasons for purchasing a product or service and therefore any measurement of satisfaction will need to be able to take into account such differences (Pugh et al, 2002) Customer Loyalty is used to describe the behaviour of repeat customers, as well as those that offer good ratings, reviews, or testimonials. Some customers do a particular company a great service by offering favourable word of mouth publicity regarding a product, telling friends and family, thus adding them to the number of loyal customers (Gursoy and Swanger, 2007) 3.3 Internal Service Quality in Tourism Sector In tourism sector, delivering quality across tangibles and intangibles elements represented a departure from conventional manufacturing oriented approaches to Total Quality Management At the heart of Quality Service is the difficulty in ensuring consistency due to the variability of human element. Lewis (2000) argues that As the 21st century unfolds, it is clear that people accept that service will play an increasingly important part in the economy. Customer perception of service delivery will be imperative and will shape the choice of service provider (Norma Dannunzio-Green et al., 2005) In the age of service competition, the customer comes first. Such is the power of customers that the term service management is increasingly used to emphasised management imperatives in this age of service competition and market forces. Managing quality is an integral part of service management and internal development of personnel and reinforcement of its commitment to competitive goals and strategies are strategic prerequisites for success. Does quality pay? This is one of the key contemporary issues that attract attention from practitioners. The role of quality in the overall performance of service business starts right from strategic level down to the implementation details. Improved service quality and customer satisfaction lead to higher productivity, increased loyalty, lower transaction cost and customer retention. It is popularly believed that better service leads to improved performance for a service firm. Today service organizations are concerned in the delivery of quality service and the building of loyalty among employees and customers. If employees are not happy with the work, they are more readily to quit their jobs than satisfied employees. Researchers have found that satisfied employees are more likely to improve their job performance (Judge et al., 2001), be creative and cooperate with others because satisfaction is the inner force that drives employee behaviour. Previous studies have suggested that loyal employees are more willing and capable of delivering a higher level of service quality. According to Schneider and Bowen (1985; 1993) the efforts to promote service quality must be based on managing employee behaviours and training them in interpersonal skills in order to exhibit a true customer focus. Bitner et al. (1990) observed that in service encounters, employee behaviour will impact on the customer perceptions of service quality. Zeithaml et al. (1990) argue that employ ees who are not suited to their jobs will not be able to deliver quality service (Ramseook, P. et al., 2010) 3.4 Measuring Internal Service Quality Measuring the quality of internal services is relevant since an external-customer support requires internal systems aligned with external customer expectations, including each internal subsystems adding value to others systems within the organization (Gilbert, 2000). Since years ago, researchers (Reynoso and Moores, 1995; Caruana and Pitt, 1997) have pointed out that there is a positive correlation between internal service quality, business performance and services delivered to customers, motivating some efforts to measure internal service quality by applying the SERVQUAL instrument. (Miguel Cauchick et al., 2006) SERVQUAL is the most widely utilized tool for measuring service quality (Parasuraman et al., 1988; 1994; Sureshchandar et al., 2001; Chiu, 2002) and its application continues to increase in different service setting such as banks, hospitality industry, health sector, education and travel and tourism. The five dimensions of SERVQUAL are as follows: Tangibles (physical facilities, equipment, and appearance of personnel) Reliability (ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately) Responsiveness (willingness to help customers and provide prompt service) Assurance (knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to inspire trust and confidence) Empathy (caring, individualized attention the firm provides its customers). The present investigation can also be considered an attempt to use it for measuring internal-service quality, which is the service provided by Legends Hotel. 3.5 HR Implications on Internal Service Quality Human Resource Management can be essentially seen as an employee centred approach to management, although there is lots of definition of the term. Its an essential part of every managers responsibilities, but many organizations find it advantageous to establish a specialist division to provide an expert service dedicated to ensuring that the human resource function is performed efficiently. To the modern management theory, the employee satisfaction is considered one of the most important drivers of quality, customer satisfaction and productivity. Success of any organization depends on its valuable human resource. Achieving service quality through valuable human resource strongly depends upon the organizational culture and working environment. To deal with the attitude and behaviour of the human resource, HRM best practices and quality principles play an important role to motivate, train, develop, retain and satisfy their valuable human resource. When the internal customers are not satisfied with the practices of the management, they not only are unlikely to continue their service but also to share their unfavourable service experiences to others resulting in decreased motivations and financial performance of organization. Globalization has augmented competitive pressures to help improve the quality of services provided by the tourism sector. There is the need to enforce compliance with internal services quality regarding human resource management as many researchers are of the view that the whole development in the organization is due to the potential human resource, it is therefore call of the time to the employee in the centre of development of all process to enhance the sense of ownership and hidden assets for the effective employee job satisfaction. Berry (1994) found that a several beneficial organizations competed by hiring, rewarding, training and retraining a frequent error that organization made was to look at human resources skills and knowledge development as an experience which they had acquired during their working with the organization rather than a continuing process. He further added that, even if employees received training, it was either deficient, not on time, or not the actual type of training they needed or rather it was in general not specific.(Khan,2010) It was found that that human resource management practices as actual, tangible practices were designed to develop commitment. Along with a variety of human resource management practices, it had been found that rewards and recognition had a greater influence on the organizational commitment found relationships between specific practices, such as performance evaluation, promotion policies, compensation, and benefits, and affective commitment. (Ogilvie, 1986) Moreover employee satisfaction was considered to be one of the most important drivers of quality of services, customer satisfaction and productivity. In his study he investigated an important driver of employee satisfaction. He argued that interpersonal trust (trust in management and trust in peers) robustly influenced employee satisfaction and, employee loyalty as an end result (Matzler et al., 2004) Also, associations between employees commitment to their organizations and satisfaction and argued that still there seemed little conformity about the fundamental associations between these two significant employee attitudes. Understanding these approaches was important because they had significant consequences on business performance, and these approaches could be influenced by human resource strategies and practices (Rayton, 2006) The modern management must also focus these factors which were very important to enhance the profitability in the new paradigm of service that organization not only invested in employees to enrich their knowledge skill abilities through extensive training programs but also to provide them with required technological support to manage the customers. They must reconsider their recruitment process, training methodologies and implementation of fair system of pay for performance, conducive environment and job definition. Recruitment Selection The goal of recruiting is to generate a large pool of applicants and to provide enough information for individuals to self select out the process. The Selection process on the other side follows a standard and systematic pattern beginning with an initial screening interview and concluding with the final employment decision. The recruitment and selection process demands lots of interpersonal skills and management must be very careful while selecting the right candidate for the job (Decenzo and Robbins, 2005) Training and Development It forms an important part of an organization overall HRM strategy. It implies transition in skills, knowledge, attitudes and social behavior. (Cascio, 1982).Organisations are investing to train their workforce and develop it for future so that they can perform their job efficiently and effectively and therefore it is expected that training has a positive impact on both employees motivation and commitment. Reward and Recognitions Employees reward and recognition includes focusing on employees input and peer recognition by using multiple layer methods within a system to recognize individuals and teams in accordance with the established practices and the rewards must be on the basis of their performance even tangible rewards along with an intensive communications strategy with accepted and integrated accountability systems (Khan, 2010) Job Design It has a significant and positive effect on client satisfaction which, in turn, significantly affected organizational performance and it leaded the organizations goals accomplishment which employed new service standards and customer systems. It can be said that job designs could provide high levels of control on employee also offered augmented chances for the growth and implementations of employees skills. Hackman Oldham proposed the Job Characteristics Model, consisting of skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and feedback (Hackman and Oldham, 1976) Job Definition The job definition is basically arrangement or rearrangement of work with the motive to facilitate their employees and overcoming job frustration and enable them to be more productive, comforter while discharging their duties. It can be argued that defining the job of the employee helped the manger as well as the employee in decision making. The manger could get help regarding the decision whether the employee is the right person for promotion (Khan, 2010) 4.0 Methodology 4.1 Materials and Methods The purpose of this chapter is to outline the research methodology and processes undertaken to collect information for the report. A research is an organised inquiry which seeks to find explanations and to clarify doubtful facts so as to reach a conclusion. There must be ways of producing and analysing data so that the theories can be tested, accepted or rejected. (Clover and Balsley, 1979) defines research as the process of systematically obtaining accurate answers to significant and pertinent questions by the use of scientific method of gathering and interpreting information. 4.2 Purpose and Design of Survey A survey is a fact finding study. It is a method of research involving collection of data directly from a population or a sample thereof at particular time. For the purpose of this study, a survey was carried out to assess the status of Internal Service Quality on a sample of workers of different departments at Legends Hotel. The prime aim of the survey was to assess the following: The effectiveness of Human Resources Practises in delivering Internal Service Quality. To measure employees expectations and perceptions of service quality based on SERVQUAL model. To examine service quality dimensions in predicting satisfaction and loyalty among employees at Legends Hotel. To assess on the above, the design of the survey was very important. The survey design depends on the subject of the survey, the amount of time and the accuracy required. In effect, all depends on the proper design of the questionnaire in order to gather the appropriate information in a reasonable time frame. 4.3 Questionnaire Design A survey is a fact finding study. It is a method of research involving collection of data directly from a population or a sample thereof at particular time. For the purpose of this study, a survey was carried out to assess the status of Internal Service Quality on a sample of workers of different departments at Legends Hotel. The prime aim of the survey was to assess the following: The effectiveness of Human Resources Practises in delivering Internal Service Quality. To measure employees expectations and perceptions of service quality based on SERVQUAL model. To examine service quality dimensions in predicting satisfaction and loyalty among employees at Legends Hotel. To assess on the above, the design of the survey was very important. The survey design depends on the subject of the survey, the amount of time and the accuracy required. In effect, all depends on the proper design of the questionnaire in order to gather the appropriate information in a reasonable time frame. 4.4 Pre Testing However, before proceeding with the survey, it was important to undertake a pilot survey so as to test the efficiency of the questionnaire. Firstly, the questionnaire was circulated among five staffs of different grades and with varied academic background such as valet de chambre, security officer, chef de cuisine, assistant finance officer and front office manager. Since a face to face interview technique was used mainly for staff of lower grade, the concept of the questionnaire was clearly understood and all were able to make sense of the questions 4.5 Sampling Technique Used To conduct the survey, the target population was divided into eleven categories encompassing the different departments existing at Legends Hotel as more fully illustrated in Chapter 2. As the target population was quite large, a sample had to be used. The sampling size was determined using the stratified sampling technique. A stratified sample is obtained by taking samples from each sub-group of a population. It was required that the proportion of each stratum in the sample is the same as the population. At first a sample size of 100 questionnaires were distributed among the employees of the hotel. But during administration of the survey, employees were unfortunately reluctant to complete the questionnaire. The murder of an Irish tourist on the hotel premises in January 2011 gave rise to substantial trauma at different levels. As a result of that, employees had access to counselling, but still, there is still some sign of disturbance amongst them. Of the 100 questionnaire distributed, only 50 was collected which was fully answered following face to face interview with the employees. Due to time constraint, it was decided that the sample size of 50 was a good representative of the population size of 450 employees. Table 4.2: Sampling of Employees at Legends Hotel S/No. Department No. of Employees (Population) No. of Employees (Sample for 100 Employees) No. of Employees (Sample for 50 Employees) 1 Human Resource 5 1 1 2 Kitchen 77 17 8 3 Spa 15 3 1 4 Entertainment 18 4 2 5 Food Restaurant 125 28 14 6 Front Office 20 4 2 7 Security 30 7 3 8 Finance 15 3 2 9 Housekeeping 118 26 13 10 Quality and Events 2 1 1 11 Maintenance 25 6 3 Source: Computed Expected Results The study will reveal the present status of Internal Serv

Cultural Chameleon :: Essays Papers

Cultural Chameleon For me, being late to school meant chasing down taxis at 7:15 am and hurriedly telling the driver, in broken Cantonese, to please hurry. A day of shopping meant searching the Hong Kong market streets for a pair of shoes larger than a size 7 and bargaining for thirty minutes with the shopkeeper to bring the price down to fewer than ten dollars. Lunch with a friend was being the only white girl in a small noodle house tainted by the smell of the ducks and chickens hanging in the window, my voice drowned out by music blaring through Cantonese speakers. Sometime in the five years I had lived in Hong Kong, between speaking a little Cantonese and knowing the downtown streets like the back of my hand, I was promoted from my status as a typical American blonde to a true Hong Kong kid. When I moved away the summer after my sophomore year in high school, I was leaving home and going somewhere completely foreign. Texas. I will always remember the first day of public school. My mom dropped me off at the front of the school, as kids sped by us in their huge SUV’s to viciously snag a parking space. Inside, I was met with a swarm of Abercrombie-clad blondes and brunettes in every hall and at every corner. My thoughts were drowned out by singing of the latest songs on the radio, gossip, and laughter. Seeing as these were people who spoke the same native language as me, who looked the same and sounded the same, you would think that I would finally feel at home and relieved. But I had never felt so foreign in my life. This American culture that my parents called their own, did not at all feel like something that was mine. I was confused by the fact that I felt more at home and at ease in a culture where I stuck out as blatantly different, than in one where I blended in completely. It was this challenge and these feelings that established me as what is commonly referred to as one of the world’s â€Å"Third Culture Kids.† In their book so titled, David C. Pollock and Ruth E. Van Reken describe in detail the concept of what it means to grow up in a culture other than that of your own native culture, and the challenges and emotions that are often met.