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Regularly Occurring Interactional Routines
Regularly Occurring Interactional Routines: A Language Socialization and Zone of Proximal Development Perspective
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Table of Contents
TOC o “1-3” h z u Introduction PAGEREF _Toc72848412 h 3Attaining Culture and Language via Regularly Occurring Interactional Routines PAGEREF _Toc72848413 h 4Supporting Regularly Occurring Interactional Routines through the Language Socialization Concept PAGEREF _Toc72848414 h 5The Zonal Proximal Development in Language Socialization PAGEREF _Toc72848415 h 7The ZPD against Social Interaction and Socialization PAGEREF _Toc72848416 h 9Role of Cross Cultural Patterns in Learning PAGEREF _Toc72848417 h 10Habitual Actions through which Humans Adapt to the Social Inter-Subjective Conditions PAGEREF _Toc72848418 h 11Conclusion PAGEREF _Toc72848419 h 12Reference List PAGEREF _Toc72848420 h 14
IntroductionLearning is one of the most important aspects of human life because it allows one to interact socially and to be able to act according to context. It is important to understand how children learn in order to best figure out ways to teach them. One way of gaining this knowledge is through a study of socialization, to better define regularly occurring interactional routines, to define the concept of Zone of Proximal Development and to combine these elements in the teaching and learning process. In the acquisition of language and culture, Brice‐Heath (1988) asserts that interactional routines and habitual actions play a vital role. They create a discourse that is structured in a way that the conceptions of the speaker and the hearer of social activity and events interact to create meaning. Habitual actions through social events or activities define a critical area that requires learners to acquire an ability to recognize and interpret the social events or activities occurring and to act in a manner that is sensitive and suitable to the context. Lee and Bucholtz (2015) define routine interactions as the repeated and regular contact with learners, an integral part of the learning process. The said interactions lead up to the Zone of Proximal Development, described by Ochs and Schieffelin (2011), as the difference between what learners are able to do without help and what they can attain with encouragement and guidance from skilled educators. Proximal, in this sense, refers to the skills that learners are about to mastering. Therefore, the zone of proximal development, as presented by Watson‐Gegeo (2004), denotes an observable distance between actual developmental levels determined through independent problem solving and potential development levels determined by problem solving through collaboration and guidance with more capable partners or social contexts. The significance of these regularly occurring interactional routines in language socialization and the concept of zone of proximal development are the basis of this study. The overall aim is to show that the cross-cultural study of regularly occurring interactional routines teaches us about the habitual actions through which humans adapt to the inter-subjective conditions for being in the world. There will be an in depth study of language socialization and the concept of the Zone of Proximal Development in advancing a discussion on the aforementioned. Overall, learners are able to diversify their learning methods and approaches to problem solving to attain specific interactional activities and events as they advance their competence based on routine and habitual interactions with social events and activities.
Attaining Culture and Language via Regularly Occurring Interactional Routines
Written and/or spoken communication are structured by the conceptions of the speaker and the hearer. Additionally, Watson-Gegeo and Nielsen (2003) points to the need for proper interpretation and identification of social events and activities that inform the direction of discourse. In a learning environment, children are required to have the ability to identify and interpret what social events and activities are occurring and to act or speak in a manner that signifies sensitivity to the context as evidence of progressive learning (Duff and Talmy, 2011). A child is also required to showcase competence in a way that is expressed through proper definition of events and activities via their use of nonverbal actions and language communications. In a number of cases, Ochs and Schieffelin (2011) found language not to be always responsive to social events or activities, but rather the social event or activity itself. For example, explaining a concept, teasing, narrating a story, negotiations, and debating are all examples of language that are simply social events and activities by themselves. As Schieffelin and Ochs (1986) emphasizes the importance of social events and activities in information processing, it is clear that the social events and activities are primary information organizing concepts in a top-down processing structure. The system allows a learner to create and assign meaning to persons, objects, and nonverbal actions against the definition available to a learner.
The symbolic interactionalism theory emphasizes the effect of environment/society on a person’s view of self (Duranti, Ochs, and Schieffelin, 2011). Similarly, the perception of self-influences how an interactional partner sees and treats a person. In the said symbolic interactionalism theory, the individual is treated as an active agent in their own socialization all through their lifetime. People lack the ability to internalize how others perceive them but are only limited to selecting perspectives and images (Ohta, 1999). Therefore, the society and its individuals are in a mutual construction realm through social interaction. As a result, individuals have an active and selective role of constructing social order. This ability allows them to acquire innate knowledge and skills via socialization and interactions within different contexts and environments. The use of these socially-acquired knowledge is in the construction of contexts, for interpreting social events and activities, and to combine these elements to remain relevant in a given situation. Socialization emerges to be a covert or overt interactional display to expected ways of feeling, acting, and thinking. Again, it can be expressed that routine social interactions are sociocultural environments, through which participants (in this case children and learners) in a social interaction process are able to gain performance competence and internalize the defined contexts. According to Pathan et al. (2018), regularly occurring interactional routines allows learners to construct and recognize contexts and to relate the same to one another. In the same vein, it is important to note that children are not passive participants in the socialization concept but rather as actively organizing the sociocultural information relative to their context as conveyed through the content and for of other peoples’ actions. For example, the cognitive, linguistic, and social development of children limits their acquisition of sociocultural knowledge. Additionally, children have been described by Duranti (2009) as active participant sin socialization with others in their immediate environment. The case is further developed by the fact that infants and toddlers have an active role in socializing other members of their sociocultural circles through regularly occurring interactional routines including parents, siblings, and caregivers (Pathan et al., 2018). Following the above information, the path taken by firstborn children is different from that of second and consequent children because it is clear that they enter into different social environments compared to the pioneers. Regularly occurring interactional routines here describe the role that parents and caregivers, as well as older siblings play in redefining the social environment that second and consequent children grow up in (Ochs and Schieffelin, 2011). Overall, ethnographic studies point out that children play a socializing role to their parents and others in the households by changing the modes of communicating and acting linked to their own social interactions such as their school work and other peer group experiences.
Supporting Regularly Occurring Interactional Routines through the Language Socialization ConceptLanguage socialization is the investigation of the socialization of language and socialization through language. It includes both a hypothetical methodology and a strategy for contemplating human advancement in social settings. Language socialization orders the longitudinal, ethnographic and microanalytic examination of students of all ages, assuming a relative way to deal with the investigation of human turn of events (Brice‐Heath, 1988). It is the process through which an individual acquires the knowledge and practices that enables them to be active participants and to effectively remain present in a language community. Given the suspicion that learning happens just inside socially characterized settings, language socialization depends on the capacity of language being used to file meaning, regardless of whether such significance is innate in words and punctuation themselves or installed in the unique situation and practice of their utilization. Language socialization focuses on the repeat of phonetic practices across time, and in this way aligns itself with training speculations of social transmission. The field of language socialization has extended in new ways, while additionally keeping a strong obligation to exploring the interaction by which semantic, desultory, and proficiency practices are kept up, challenged, and changed in social groupings of a wide range of scales, from families, to instructive establishments, to proficient networks, to social orders and so on. Simultaneously, research in the field has followed patterns in human sciences all the more for the most part to question the very security, share-ability, provenance, and philosophy of socially based standards and practices.
Language socialization can be interpreted to mean the use of verbal communication and language to create socialization and interactions to use language (Ochs and Schieffelin, 2011). Children and learners acquire ethnotheories, knowledge of concepts relating to social systems and order of beliefs, through innate exposure and participation in interactions that are language-mediated. Therefore, the development of knowledge, skills, and intelligence is to a large extent facilitated by the communication of children with others in their environment. For example, infants and small children interactions with others in their environment, including adults and older children, leads to a creation of sociocultural structures. The use of language by toddlers, in what is commonly referred to as baby talk, registers the support to the innate capacity for children to acquire phonology as well as grammar in their communicative environment and sociocultural interaction with others in their environment. While research studies by Ochs and Schieffelin (2011) argue that communities differ in the communicative goals established relating to children and once the objectives are established, they unswervingly organize the linguistic environment of the developing child. It has been observed that, for example in societies where caregivers routinely set communication goals with infants as a young age, there is increased use of simplified speech as well as other accommodations. In contrast, in settings where caregivers usually wait until children are more mature to communicate intentions, the infants are immersed as passive participants in a linguistic environment of non-simplified conversations (Watson-Gegeo and Nielsen, 2003). One view of the language socialization paradigm is that the social, emotional, and intellectual trajectories of children are structured complexly by webs of public and domestic control systems, social and economic institutions, settings, beliefs, practices, identities, and meanings. According to Duranti (2009), the inverse is also true that children are agentive in shaping their development and have the ability to resist or transform aspects of the social orders into which have been socialized.
The role of social events and activities is also emphasized by the Vygotskian school of thought in developing the mind. In this view, Lee and Bucholtz (2015) found that the organization of behavior affects one’s cognitive growth. Cognitive skills are the consequence of use of language for specific purposes linked to different activities. The Vygotsky’s perspective defines the ZPD as the notable difference between observed for the current cognitive development level and its potential levels in the presence of a mentor or guide. In this view, Ochs and Schieffelin (2011) found that a learner could attain their learning goals by carrying out problem-solving tasks or activities in the presence of a teacher or engaging other competent peers in a learning environment. Otherwise, no learner would be able to attain the same level of learning through working alone. The interactions with other social activities and agents, especially those that are more capable and skillful, enables learners to leave their zones of current development to travel through their zones of proximal development into their learning objectives. All through, language provides a medium for interaction, for issuing and receiving instructions, for identifying and interpreting social events and activities, and for use in creating different sociocultural activities. Therefore, language emerges to be a tool that is utilized in serving several ends because speakers differ in their use of language and the variations lead to the development of variant cognitive skills. It follow that language has a critical role to play in acquiring knowledge from an event or activity.
The Zonal Proximal Development in Language SocializationThe Zone of Proximal Development, ZPD, is the difference between what learners are able to do without help and what they can attain with encouragement and guidance from skilled educators. Vygotsky developed the ZPD from the use of language. According to Smagorinsky (2018), language is the manner through which children communicate with others after birth and they continuously learn through interacting with their immediate environment as well as those around them. Building on Vygotsky’s idea of social interaction as the basis for learning, the ZPD proposed the value of a guide or educator in the life of a learner. The ZPD denotes an observable distance between actual developmental levels determined through independent problem solving and potential development levels determined by problem solving through collaboration and guidance with more capable partners or social contexts. The ZPD alludes to the student’s capacity to effectively finish undertakings with the help of more skilled others, and hence it is regularly talked about corresponding to the concept of assisted or scaffolding learning. According to Yusuk (2018), these parts of the ZPD make it a naturally persuasive zone. The ZPD is ideally difficult on the grounds that undertakings are adjusted to the student’s level, while proper help and framework guarantee that assignments can be finished effectively (Ochs and Schieffelin, 2011). Help from others additionally assists the student with figuring out how to chip away at troublesome assignments and how to control or oversee nervousness and anxiety all the while. Furthermore, working with the ZPD is characteristically persuading in light of the fact that it includes the exchange of duty, or control, for learning, from the educator or more fit other to the student. This exchange of control is exciting for the learner as it recognizes student authority of a task, and henceforth the student’s development of efficacy. Social interactions within the concept of ZPD is likewise prone to initiate the enrollment of the student’s interests in a task of exercise or knowledge domain as the student comes to appreciate and value the information which is also valued by other capable, respected, and more knowledgeable partner. Moreover, as students come to accomplish authority in an information space, they are bound to see the value in the pertinence and worth of the knowledge domain.
Image 1: Summarization of the ZPD (Source: Xi and Lantolf, 2021)
In developing the ZPD, Vygotsky dismissed a popular idea at the time that there was no ideal age for learning and instead introduced ideal stages for learning, taking on a comparable opinion to that of Piaget (Wass and Golding, 2014). As per his assertions, cognitive growth increased less for students with a higher intelligence than a lower intelligence when they entered school. In explaining the concept, Sanders and Welk (2005) refer to relative achievement, an approach highlighting the departure point of student learning and not just the end result. Therefore, as shown in image 1 above, the ZPD assesses the changes in cognitive development of students and not just the final outcome. Learners benefit directly from social interactions in their environment such as the classroom, and ideally, attain their full learning potential through the assistance and guidance of their teacher Wass, Harland, and Mercer (2011), a similar perspective to scaffolding learning (Xi and Lantolf, 2021). In differentiating ZPD to scaffolding learning, Fani and Ghaemi (2011) define the latter as the systematic breaking up of the learning materials and concepts into manageable chunks and offering a tool, system, and structure, with every chunk. The role of the mentor or more capable partner in the ZPD concept is also present in scaffolding learning exhibited through practices such as offering mini-lessons, modelling, demonstrating, describing concepts for learners in multiple methods and giving examples, incorporation of visual aids, giving students talk time, providing time to practice, checking for understanding in the middle of a lesson, and activating prior knowledge. According to Wass and Golding (2014), such use of scaffolding learning in ZPD opens up the learner’s cognitive abilities and enhances more development and growth, allowing a student to move from the Zone of Achieved Development to the ZPD. Again, the role of language emerges as a vital tool to the facilitation of communication between and amongst different players in the environment that a learner is exposed to.
The ZPD against Social Interaction and SocializationThe ZPD is made up s of 2 vital elements: the potential development of a learner and the role that interaction with others plays in the process. According to Yusuk (2018), learning ensues in the ZPD after identification and interpretation of current knowledge. Thus, potential development can be explained as what the student is capable of learning in the long term. To support the ZPD and ultimately attain a learner’s learning objectives, scaffolding was advanced by Vygotsky as a tool for growth. Working collaboratively with skilled instructors, mentors, or guides, learners complete small and manageable tasks. The same is applicable when in social interactions with more knowledgeable peers to help learners make better connections between learning concepts. Xi and Lantolf (2021) note that as a learner grows within his/her zone of proximal development and becomes more confident, the practice of new tasks with a social support in the environment makes it easier for the entire learning process. According to this principle then, learning can only occur through purposeful and meaningful interactions, as well as active participation in socialization by use of language and other tools in the company of others, more skilled or with prior knowledge of how to act in a given social event or activity. In the classroom learning, an instructor is more knowledgeable and therefore provides the right assistance to leaners.
Socialization, language, and cultural influences have previously been assessed by scholars to try identify patterns that impact learning. Vygotsky found all of these elements to be inherently tied together in influencing learning (Yusuk, 2018). The role that a society plays in defining an individual is too large to be ignored. By exploring the interactions that sociocultural practices, language, and socialization between societal elements display, then the levels of growth can be further observed. Social interaction is one of the main promoters of cognitive development. Ochs and Schieffelin (2011) argues in agreement with Vygotsky that although thoughts, ethics, morals, and values are influenced by an environment or a society, the process of learning cannot be mimicked in a similar fashion. Instead, these social interactions between and amongst others in a sociocultural setting create growth through the making of connections for various concepts. Overall, in the confines of regularly occurring interactional routines and language socialization, the ZPD and other learning objectives of a learner can be attained. These are facilitated by the relationship between a learner and the mentor or more capable partner, the society, culture, and other influences that are within a student’s each. Culture and the society are said by Smagorinsky (2018) to influence the beliefs and attitudes of a learner towards cognitive and individual development. Language is a primary tool employed in development learning in young children. Language includes the transfer of sociocultural influences. Learners benefit in a great through student-led programs, allowing them to use social interactions (socialization) and language to grow in the direction of their potential development levels.
Role of Cross Cultural Patterns in Learning
Ethnographic observations are critical to understanding how culture influences learning through well-established patterns, language socialization, and other concept unique to a society. Cross-cultural patterns define differences in the frequency of occurrence and contextual variations (Marambe, Vermunt, and Boshuizen, 2012). For example, in a given culture such as a working-class American homestead, a caregiver is likely to engage a young child in a lengthy stimulated imitation routine. While such routines may occur in every society in the world, the difference is noted in the extensiveness or frequency of said routines in terms of what it covers. For instance, there are observable differences in how caregivers engage children in terms of imitation routines on politeness, teasing, language correction, role instruction, insults, and insults.
There are also cross-cultural differences in terms of the social relationships between interlocutors such as strangers, peers, siblings, or caregivers (Martínez-Fernández and Vermunt, 2015). In another example, there are observable ethnographic differences in the way American societies, particularly the Whites, Blacks, and Mexican families treat young children. Teasing is very common amongst all three cultures, yet somewhat restrictive in White Americans in relation to how the society uses teasing as a learning tool for young children. The black and Mexican societies devote significant amounts and high frequency as well as over socialization to teasing as a reflection of the importance of this aspect to learning.
Cross-cultural research also takes note of expectations amongst different cultures and how these preferences, expectations, and belief systems affect learning. While these values may not be necessarily available and shared by every community member, there is enough evidence of the interactions in research. For example, the expectations and belief systems for white communities in the American context are significantly higher compared to other cultures. Overall, every culture is different in the way it uses language or socialization to impart learning to children and other novice learners.
Habitual Actions through which Humans Adapt to the Social Inter-Subjective ConditionsSocial interaction is a process of reciprocal influences. It is exercised by people over each other in social encounters. It usually refers to encounters where people are physically present for a specified duration. The elements of social experiences play out dependent on whether an individual is able to retain credibility or whether they make a gaff or accomplish something that accidentally intrudes on their presentation. In the event that they are a teacher, they may incorrectly spell a word on the writing board, which sabotages their case to intelligence and rarefied information. These social interactions require language, developed through various other components such as routine actions and social events and interactions. The overall aim, therefore, is to ascertain one is able to participate actively. Learning is required because it defines how well one is able to perform in the said social events and interactions. When performed habitually, these actions and elements of socialization become a culture and define other consequent social events and interactions. A human being must constantly work towards adapting to inter-subjective conditions in the social life in order not only to fit in but also to be able to express themselves in language-based communications and language socialization.
ConclusionThe aim of this discussion was to show that the cross-cultural study of regularly occurring interactional routines teaches us about the habitual actions through which humans adapt to the inter-subjective conditions for being in the world. The in depth study of language socialization and the concept of the Zone of Proximal Development in advancing a discussion on the aforementioned have shown how these elements contribute to learning. From the various literature analyzed, it has been identified that learners are able to diversify their learning methods and approaches to problem solving to attain specific interactional activities and events as they advance their competence based on routine and habitual interactions with social events and activities. There is a need for proper interpretation and identification of social events and activities that inform the direction of discourse. The discussion further used the symbolic interactionalism theory that emphasizes the effect of environment/society on a person’s view of self, finding that the individual is treated as an active agent in their own socialization all through their lifetime. The use of these socially-acquired knowledge is in the construction of contexts, for interpreting social events and activities, and to combine these elements to remain relevant in a given situation. Socialization emerges to be a covert or overt interactional display to expected ways of feeling, acting, and thinking. Routine social interactions are sociocultural environments, through which participants (in this case children and learners) in a social interaction process are able to gain performance competence and internalize the defined contexts.
Additionally, the study has defined language socialization as the investigation of the socialization of language and socialization through language. It is the process through which an individual acquires the knowledge and practices that enables them to be active participants and to effectively remain present in a language community. Communities differ in the communicative goals established relating to children and once the objectives are established, they unswervingly organize the linguistic environment of the developing child. The role of social events and activities is also emphasized by the Vygotskian school of thought in developing the mind. All through, language provides a medium for interaction, for issuing and receiving instructions, for identifying and interpreting social events and activities, and for use in creating different sociocultural activities. Lastly, the Zone of Proximal Development, ZPD, is the difference between what learners are able to do without help and what they can attain with encouragement and guidance from skilled educators. It denotes an observable distance between actual developmental levels determined through independent problem solving and potential development levels determined by problem solving through collaboration and guidance with more capable partners or social contexts. As a learner grows within his/her zone of proximal development and becomes more confident, the practice of new tasks with a social support in the environment makes it easier for the entire learning process.
Reference ListBrice‐Heath, S., 1988. Language socialization. New Directions for Child and Adolescent
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Duff, P.A. and Talmy, S., 2011. Language socialization approaches to second language
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Duranti, A., 2009. The relevance of Husserl’s theory to language socialization. Journal of
Linguistic Anthropology, 19(2), pp.205-226.
Duranti, A., Ochs, E. and Schieffelin, B.B. eds., 2011. The handbook of language
socialization (Vol. 72). John Wiley & Sons.
Fani, T. and Ghaemi, F., 2011. Implications of Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development (ZPD)
in teacher education: ZPTD and self-scaffolding. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 29, pp.1549-1554.
Lee, J.S. and Bucholtz, M., 2015. Language socialization across learning spaces. The handbook
of classroom discourse and interaction, 319, p.336.
Marambe, K.N., Vermunt, J.D. and Boshuizen, H.P., 2012. A cross-cultural comparison of
student learning patterns in higher education. Higher Education, 64(3), pp.299-316.
Martínez-Fernández, J.R. and Vermunt, J.D., 2015. A cross-cultural analysis of the patterns of
learning and academic performance of Spanish and Latin-American undergraduates. Studies in Higher Education, 40(2), pp.278-295.
Ochs, E. and Schieffelin, B.B., 2011. The theory of language socialization. The handbook of
language socialization, 71(1), pp.1-11.
Ohta, A.S., 1999. Interactional routines and the socialization of interactional style in adult
learners of Japanese. Journal of Pragmatics, 31(11), pp.1493-1512.
Pathan, H., Memon, R.A., Memon, S., Khoso, A.R. and Bux, I., 2018. A critical review of
Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory in second language acquisition. International Journal of English Linguistics, 8(4), p.232.
Sanders, D. and Welk, D.S., 2005. Strategies to scaffold student learning: Applying Vygotsky’s
zone of proximal development. Nurse educator, 30(5), pp.203-207.
Schieffelin, B.B. and Ochs, E., 1986. Language socialization. Annual review of
anthropology, 15(1), pp.163-191.
Smagorinsky, P., 2018. Deconflating the ZPD and instructional scaffolding: Retranslating and
reconceiving the zone of proximal development as the zone of next development. Learning, culture and social interaction, 16, pp.70-75.
Wass, R. and Golding, C., 2014. Sharpening a tool for teaching: the zone of proximal
development. Teaching in Higher Education, 19(6), pp.671-684.
Wass, R., Harland, T. and Mercer, A., 2011. Scaffolding critical thinking in the zone of proximal
development. Higher Education Research & Development, 30(3), pp.317-328.
Watson-Gegeo, K.A. and Nielsen, S., 2003. Language socialization in SLA. The handbook of
second language acquisition, 15(4), pp.155-171.
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REFLECTIVE DIARY
REFLECTIVE DIARY
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Reflective Diary
This reflective diary is presented by a student under the undergraduate Foundation Program and therefore preparing for university training. It is a reflective essay of what the student has achieved in the completed sections of his or her undergraduate course. The preparation for the learning diary is for purposes of reflection that assist the student in assessing and evaluating his or her experiences throughout the course. The framework of the reflective diary has a cyclic nature, which helps in conducting a repeated review of the student’s learning practices. The objective of this learning diary is to understand whatever it has been learned in the last two terms and the areas the student should focus on to improve his or her learning experiences before graduating from campus. A diary helps in learning from the past through things that were either done correctly or wrongly and carefully planning. Therefore, this reflective diary is a description of the presentation, the CSR essay and the exams.
Section 1
Presentation Skills (Marketing Mix Presentation)
Description and Feelings
The presentation that was conducted on the marketing mix was a comprehensive report whose coverage was focused on Cathay Pacific Airways. The presentation was excellent, and it demonstrated a high level of confidence from the presenter.The details of the presentation required that the student should research the marketing mix of a specific company of interest. It meant carrying out secondary research analysis on the information provided on Cathay Pacific Airways that aided in the development of the presentation. The main challenge experienced in the course of the research was getting the information related to Cathay Pacific Airway’s marketing mix. However, the available content was direct and included vivid descriptions of the company’s marketing mix. The feeling of curiosity and desire to find out new information about the company is part of the experience during the presentation creation process. The process was very crucial in equipping skills and knowledge of English learning. The long process of conducting research and developing the presentation was both discouraging and frustrating. Opposite to the expectation is the fact that the presentation was not similar to that of a company developing a new product. Thus, it helped in the development of the feeling that the research was easier than expected.
Reflection (Evaluation and Analysis)
The presentation on the marketing mix explicitly presented its four main features, the history of the company and what the company is dealing with. It is the part of the presentation that was extraordinarily well hence displaying an in-depth understanding of the company. One notable limitation of the presentation is that it did outline poor time control as an aspect of the marketing mix. It indicates that the research was superficially conducted on small yet important points about the company. The omission of such important details leads to the generation of insufficient conclusion on the topic under research. During the research period, paying close attention to aspects related to the company’s core values is a major strength. Additionally, the research conducted in the form of a questionnaire was part of the marketing mix presentation that is free from any biasness. One notable weakness of the presentation is the lack of a detailed explanation of the company’s marketing mix. Each aspect of the marketing mix is presented briefly without a description of the strategy that the company intends to use to achieve an effective marketing mix. However, the overall experience in the process of conducting the research and presentation has significant impacts on knowledge development throughout the course. The acquisition of research-based knowledge will be applied in conducting research-based projects. Additionally, considerable knowledge has been acquired about the company because it is among the leading local airline’s transport providers.
An example of the presentation instance that was not done well is the presence of overlap in the questionnaire and secondary research. It does not provide a clear distinction between the findings of the questionnaire and secondary research. The presentation also fails to provide a detailed explanation of the findings of the research methods applied. In presenting a research report on the findings, it is important to give a clear guideline that gives the reader an opportunity for easy analysis (Pennington 2013, p. 97). The use of relevant headings and sub-headings to distinguish the contents of each research method is essential. To improve on this, review how to conduct research using various methods and ways of presenting the findings. Additionally, a review of the available literature that guides the development of research and skills for a presentation that helps in maintaining the relevance of the report. Also, more research will be conducted on the best presentation skills that will aid in developing better presentation. Conclusively, the entire research project and presentation will help in generating useful experience for future studies at the university. It will be of great help in the process of undertaking postgraduate studies that mainly entails conducting research projects and thesis. Despite the mistakes made in the presentation, the outlined forms of improvement will lead to enhance the quality of future presentation of research projects.
Section 2
Argumentation and Academic Essay Writing (CSR Essay)
Description and Feelings
The CSR essay is the research report was conducted on a number of companies using the required PowerPoint presentation format. The topic of the essay was corporate social responsibility used by different leading companies. It also written using the required amount of word-count and within the given assessment period. Therefore, it required a high level of attention to achieve the required standard of the essay. The major challenge encountered during the process of conducting the research was the lack of acquaintance with the idea of CSR and the related concepts. Therefore, it increased the need for more studies to facilitate a more general understanding of the CSR issue. However, the available literature provided a simple and understandable view of the concept. A feeling of satisfaction accompanied the process as the knowledge of the topic was developed and enhanced. The most likable aspect of writing the essay is the contribution it makes on the knowledge about the topic. It also applies simple and concepts that are easy to understand. The most unlikeable thing about the developing the essay is the frustrating process of citing the CSR strategies of different companies. Regarding the development of the essay, the expectation was that an essay does not have to follow any type of format. Contrary to the expectation is that an essay follows a specific format. It brought a feeling of curiosity to know more about the essay formats.
Reflection (Evaluation and Analysis)
The essay entails the CSR reports of Virgin Atlantic, Starbucks, MacDonald, Disney-Mickey Mouse, and Friends Book. Presenting the images related to the organization’s CSR issues was considered excellent. However, the essay does not provide detailed information about how these companies implement their CSR strategies and their effectiveness. The essay is considered very brief and provides limited information about the topic. The strength in the writing of the essay lies in an absolute understanding of the topic. After conducting research to acquire knowledge on the CSR topic, the information acquired was instrumental in the development of the CSR essay for organizations in question. The weakness is that limited scope on the requirements of the essay that could not allow for an in-depth description of the CSR strategies of the concerned companies. The process of researching and establishing the CSR issues related to different companies that are under study is both tiring and time-consuming. It implies opening the official websites of these organizations to get first-hand information on the CSR issues. Although the websites provide the CSR information for the organizations, the information is usually brief and does not give a detailed view of the entire topic. Presenting the examples of issues related to CSR in the middle of the essay is wrong and disrupts the required development and structure of an essay. The examples should appear at the end of the essay after presenting the CSR of the concerned companies.
The general structure of the essay was unorganized evident in the presentation of images without giving a relevant explanation. Thus, it fails to direct the reader into what the essay presents about the topic. Essay writing involves following a predetermined structure that helps in the analysis and evaluation (Kılıç, Genç and Bada 2016, p. 108). Thus, a good essay writing skills implies a good organization in the structure and development of the ideas being addressed. In the presentation of an essay that gives an overview of the topic, images are suitable, but it does enable the writer to gain a good understanding of the topic. Therefore, the use of images should be accompanied by relevant explanations that provide the reader with an in-depth understanding of the topic. To achieve significant improvements in what was not done well entails numerous tasks ranging from conducting online research and the use of library materials that guide on essay writing and presentation. Additionally, the search for information using relevant websites such as Harvard business reviews and official news websites is significant in acquiring information on issues related to well-known companies across the globe. It is also necessary to focus on the areas that were conducted well and focus on ways for further improvement. It entails conducting more research on the company’s most recent images related to their CSR issues and strategies. The overall experience acquired in the process of researching and writing this essay is fundamental in conducting more essays, both in the undergraduate and postgraduate studies. The technique of writing an essay while giving relevant and detailed information is a basic technique that helps in writing most course-work activities.
Section 3
Exam Preparation and Exam Taking Skills
Description and Feelings
Adequate preparations were conducted before the exams that were done at OnCampus London. The exams were done while paying attention to the required format and within the period stipulated by the university. The preparation process ignited feelings of anxiety and fear for exams that most students develop as the exam period draws near. However, the completion of the exams ignited a feeling of contentment for having prepared well for the exams. There was a little bit of difficulty in tackling questions based on the calculation of statistical data. However, the theory part of the questions was direct and self-explanatory. Understanding the requirements of the question is a crucial element for developing the right answers. The most likable thing about preparing and handling exams is that it results in gaining knowledge and understanding more than what can be acquired from the tutor. The most unlikable thing about the process of preparing for the exam is the limited time given for the preparations. Therefore, it implies doing strenuous studies in an attempt to cover up the syllabus. The exams came out contrary to the expectations of being difficult to answer, and turned out simple and hence resulting in profound happiness
Reflection (Evaluation and Analysis)
The explanation and description of theoretical models are considered a significant part of what was done well during the exam. Adequate preparations directed towards learning theories and models presented on the syllabus contributed to excellent performance on theory questions. However, inadequate skills in calculations with special formulas were considered poorly performed. Personal strength in studying and mastering theoretical concepts was instrumental to excellent performance on theory-based questions. However, inadequate skills in understanding and mastering technical theories, especially those related to statistical calculation, contributed to poor performance in this section of exams.The process of preparing and doing the exams was useful as it entails making serious personal studies and analysis that contributes to the acquisition of significant knowledge. The experience also challenges one to conduct more personal studies and to polish up the areas of little understanding. Individual studies provided a self-efficient framework that can accommodate the required learning opportunities and planning (Yeager et al 2014, p. 559). It also reduced the tendency to depend on the course tutor to provide all the answers needed for student questions. Poor performance, such as those in technical calculations that decreased the overall performance in the exams, will be improved by allocating more to the practice of solving technical questions using the provided formulas. Also, forming discussion groups, whether physical or online, can help in improving performance due to shared knowledge and exchange of ideas.
Excellent performance, such as those on theoretical questions, can be further improved by doing more research and developing research questions that enhance the understanding of different models. Improving studying and performance skills can be achieved by doing reviews of what has been taught in class. The overall learning experience in the preparation and doing of the exams helps in anticipating the future demands of the course work. It gives the perception that more efforts are required in making personal studies in order to get a good grade at the end of the course. Sometimes students perceive that some classroom provided details are not worth revising because they seem insignificant to the requirements of the course. It is wrong because every aspect of the course has the possibility of being tested in the exam. It is also essential to pay attention to details provided by the tutor that might be small can contribute to overall performance in the exams. The fear of failure in exams forces one to take his or her studies more seriously to achieve adequate preparation to tackle the exam questions. The experience will help carry out future university studies as more time will be allocated to personal studies that contribute considerably to performance during examinations. The use of library materials and online content about the research topic is a study element that students have always been encouraged to conduct. It results not only in gaining an adequate understanding of the subject but also improves the general academic performance. Additionally, exam preparation techniques such as doing reviews and developing content summary are crucial for knowledge development in future studies.
Conclusively, reflective writing entails basing one reflection on what has been done in terms of the process and the outcomes of the assessment process. Reflective learning is essential as it provides the direction of the learning experience and areas that requires significant improvement. As it is said, “experience is the best teacher,” individuals learn through past experiences that help them in highlighting what was done right or wrong and make adjustments on the same. This reflective dairy provides a fair and unbiased evaluation of the assessments conducted in the term. It, therefore, provides an overview of the achievements and failures encountered during the learning and examination process.
Reference List
Kılıç, M., Genç, B. and Bada, E., 2016, Topical structure in argumentative essays of EFL learners and implications for writing classes. Dell ve Dilbilimi Çalışmaları Dergisi, 12(2), pp.107-116.
Pennington, M.C., 2013. Electronic media in second language writing: An overview of tools and research findings. In New perspectives on CALL for second language classrooms (pp. 81-104). Routledge.
Yeager, D.S., Henderson, M.D., Paunesku, D., Walton, G.M., D’Mello, S., Spitzer, B.J. and Duckworth, A.L., 2014. Boring but important: A self-transcendent purpose for learning fosters academic self-regulation. Journal of personality and social psychology, 107(4), p.559.
Reflection on Stakeholder Analysis and Communication Plan
Reflections
Name
Institution
Reflection on Stakeholder Analysis and Communication Plan
Issues that Occurred
The issues that occurred with the stakeholder analysis include the validity of assumptions and risks. In the stakeholder analysis, the possibility of conflicting needs and expectations of the stakeholders was assumed. The interest of the stakeholders who have high influence might not align with the objectives of the project (Aaltonen, 2011). The occurrence of such a scenario could block the progress of the project.
The issue of communication plan was on the identification of the best method of communication and the frequency of meetings by team members on the progress. The daily stakeholder meetings are too frequent, especially when dealing with the progress updates. The meeting should not involve all the stakeholders but representatives. The choice of communication to all the stakeholders, especially the employees, is essential (Heagney, 2016). The use of printouts for internal communication is crucial. However, social media is worth considering because the stakeholders can hold online meetings in cases where a virtual meeting is not possible. In the initial stages of the project, employees can have low morale and mistrust because of challenges in adapting communication methods.
How the Issues were managedThe project manager managed the issue of stakeholder analysis assumptions and risks. The project manager clarified the unspecified stakeholder roles and responsibilities. The negotiation between the stakeholders is essential to ensure that an agreement is found. It is important to ensure that there is no conflict of interest between the stakeholders. The negotiations will provide a peaceful working environment between all the involved stakeholders. The challenges that arise in the progress of the project are solved in the presence of all stakeholders to ensure transparency and progress towards goal achievement.
The project manager resolved the issue of communication method and frequency by the development of a better plan to include both virtual and physical communication. The most appropriate frequency of physical meetings for all the team members was rescheduled to weekly to hear on the progress and provide their views.
Lessons Learned in the Process
In the stakeholder analysis, the lesson learned is that stakeholders are different and cannot have the same interests. The differences arise from their expectations, their impact, influence, interests, and power (Aaltonen, 2011). In the stakeholder analysis, it is essential to identify the most influential stakeholders. The identification is followed by the stakeholder engagement plan to navigate the stakeholder-related challenges. The process ensures that a good working environment is created for all the stakeholders
In the communication plan, process the identification of the appropriate method of communication between the different categories is important (Heagney, 2016). For example, the project manager needs to have a daily update on the progress of the project. However, project directors should be given more comprehensive information after a more extended period. The suppliers would need communication periodically on the progress and when the need arises. The engineers and architects would require a daily update on their expectations and identification of possible challenges. The challenge identification is important to ensure they are solved at the appropriate time.
Application of the Knowledge in the Future
The issues and the lessons learned are essential in handling a similar project in the future. The steps in stakeholder analysis are important to ensure conflicts do not arise in the future. The identification of the proper method and frequency of the communication process provides transparency and trust development.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the stakeholder analysis and development of a communication plan are essential in project management to ensure the progress of the project. The various stakeholders will know their roles and responsibilities, and through negotiations, the conflict of interest is avoided. The communication plan ensures transparency and trust among the stakeholders.
References
Aaltonen, K. (2011). Project stakeholder analysis as an environmental interpretation process. International journal of project management, 29(2), 165-183.Heagney, J. (2016). Fundamentals of project management. Amacom.