Evaluating Truth and Validity Exercise Essay

Week three assignment was to evaluate arguments from scenarios in the applications list 12.2 (a.-y.) at the end of Ch. 12 in The Art of Thinking using the 4-stepm process while explaining the assessment and adding an alternative argumentation where need be. I will begin with the premise that â€Å"Power must be evil because it can corrupt people† which is in exercise j. Step one, I would verify that the argument was stated clear and complete for any hidden premises. The argument did not hold the water once checked for errors affecting the truth although it seemed to have past the first obstacle. Due to the many previous individuals throughout history who had power and were never corrupted proves that the argued statement â€Å"power corrupts all people† is not true. I believe that â€Å"power may be considered evil if put into the wrong hands† would be a more valid argument. The argument failed on several objectives once the reasoning’s that linked conclusions to premises determined whether the conclusion is illegitimate or legitimate and validity errors are considered during the evaluation process in step three. Questions such as â€Å"How corrupt do an individual have to become before considered evil?† need to be answered when revising the statement. Individuals who have done corrupt things still does not label them as evil. One may ask what would be considered evil or what would be acceptable or unacceptable but yet still not categorized as evil? So with picking that statement apart and showing all the flaws it is only best to move on to a different argument and throw this one out. Evil is defined as  some type of supernatural force or profound immorality and powers used for evil purposes will have evil results. So that tells you that if power is in the right hands there will be good results. Second Argument- N Exercise n will be the last argument which states, â€Å"Nuclear power is a threat to world peace.† Nuclear power is generated by nuclear energy stations which makes the statement not true. The hidden premise process and verifying that the statement was complete and clear was the first step done. Checking for errors affecting the truth was the next step. Just reading the statement as is, â€Å"Nuclear power is a threat to world peace†, is written falsely. It should read â€Å"Nuclear power is a threat to world peace if used as a weapon.† Fossil energy is a positive way to use nuclear energy which makes the original statement false. Next we will examine the reasoning that link conclusions to premises and check for validity errors. Nuclear power is a threat to world peace is the premise and I verified that the statement was false. Once I inserted â€Å"if used as a weapon† the statement is now more defendable. So rewriting the statement using â€Å"if used as a weapon† has changed everything and has made it a qualifying statement. Most nuclear energy is used to produce clean energy and is not a threat to world peace unless it is used to produce weapons. The statement â€Å"Nuclear power is a threat to world peace† had to be rewritten to state â€Å"Nuclear power is a threat to world peace if used as a weapon.† Alternative energy sources are generated by most nuclear energy stations and are no threat to the world peace. Third Argument- R â€Å"If the Social Security system is further weakened, the elderly will have to fear poverty† is my next argument which is exercise r in the evaluating for truth and validity. So therefore the elderly would not have to fear poverty if the Social Security system is not weakened. The statement passed once it was checked to be sure if it was a clear and complete statement and for  hidden premises so I moved on to checking for errors affecting the truth which was the next step. In this process I found the statement to be untrue due to not all elderly individuals rely on Social Security. There are several reasons one may be poverty level, one is making poor financial decisions which is also considered as mismanaging funds. This makes the statement false and untrue. If the statement read â€Å"The elder who depends on Social Security will have to fear poverty if the system is further weakened†, it would be more defensible. So therefore, those same elderly individuals would not have to fear poverty if the Social Security system is not further weakened. The final step can be derived from the premise to determine if there is a legitimate assumption and to check the argument for validity errors. The revised final statement is more defensible with the assumption that the elderly who depends on Social Security will be faced with poverty if the program is weakened. Step four process states that it’s best to embrace a different argument and abandon the old one if too many flaws are found in the one being evaluated which was done in each scenario to complete the process. References Ruggiero, V.R. (2012). The art of thinking. A guide to critical and creative thought (10th ed.). : Pearson Education

Personnel Management Research in Agribusiness

Personnel Management Research in Agribusiness Vera Bitsch Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics Michigan State University, 306 Agriculture Hall, East Lansing, Michigan, 48824 Tel: +517-353-9192, Fax: +517-432-1800, [email  protected] edu Paper presented at the 19th Annual World Forum and Symposium of the International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, Budapest, Hungary, June 20-23, 2009 Acknowledgements This study was supported by the USDA Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service, Hatch project #0191628. The author would also like to thank the Elton R.Smith Chair in Food & Agricultural Policy at Michigan State University for supporting the participation at the IFAMA World Forum and Symposium. Copyright 2009 by Vera Bitsch. All rights reserved. Readers may make verbatim copies of this document for non-commercial purposes by any means, provided that this copyright notice appears on all such copies. Personnel Management Research in Agr ibusiness (Executive Summary) One of the challenges faced by agribusinesses in the 21st century is the attraction, motivation, and retention of sufficient and qualified labor.However, personnel management research has mostly focused on other industries. Accordingly, agribusiness managers have little to rely on, when developing personnel policies and procedures. Once a business has grown beyond the labor capacity of the immediate family, personnel management becomes an issue and practices developed for large corporations do not always scale down well to smaller businesses or may not fit the agribusiness environment. This paper reviews the foci and results of personnel management research in the United States and in Canada, but results are likely applicable beyond these two countries.The analysis concentrates on publications analyzing personnel management publications, largely excluding labor market, immigration, and similar analyses. The unit of analysis is the business, not the mark et, society, or other institution. The review covers agribusiness and agricultural economics journals, and also animal science and horticultural science journals. Research reports and conference papers are included when accessible. With few exceptions, personnel management was virtually absent from agribusiness and agricultural economics research before 1990.Since then research methods cover the full range from in-depth, unstructured interviews and group discussions, through interview or moderator guide based approaches, up to fully structured surveys. Several broadly based results are emerging. First, many agribusiness managers perceive their personnel management competencies as a weakness, in particular during periods of organizational growth. Second, experienced managers typically have an adequate conceptual frame of the personnel management functions, but with respect to the details gaps and misconceptions persist.Third, the peculiar circumstances of agribusiness and farm work r equire specific skill sets and beginning managers could benefit from targeted training. Fourth, although compensation is important, employees’ job satisfaction and retention can be increased with inexpensive measures, such as feedback and appreciation. Fifth, the relationship between personnel management practices and financial success measures is complicated and difficult to assess. Few personnel management studies have been able to provide evidence of a substantial relationship between any particular personnel management practice and profit, or even productivity. Personnel Management Research in Agribusiness Problem Statement One of the challenges faced by many agribusinesses and farms in the 21st century is the attraction, motivation, and retention of sufficient and qualified labor. Although this problem is more pronounced in industrialized and developed economies, growing and transitional economies, including China, also face a lack of interest in agricultural work. In ad dition, personnel management research has mostly focused on other industries, neglecting agribusiness.Accordingly, agribusiness managers have little to rely on, when developing personnel policies and procedures for a growing business. Once a business has grown beyond the labor capacity of the immediate family, personnel management becomes an issue and practices developed for large corporations often times do not scale down well to smaller businesses or may not fit the agricultural or agribusiness environment. Farm Labor in the U. S. In 2007, U. S. hired farm labor comprised $21. 9 billion or 9. 1% of total production expenses. That was an increase in monetary expenses of $3. billion, compared to $18. 6 billion in 2002, but a decrease in percentage of expenses. In addition, contract labor amounted to $4. 5 billion in expenses or 1. 9% of total production expenses, up $1. 1 billion from 2002. Custom work and custom hauling, which includes machinery costs was up by $0. 8 billion at $4. 1 billion; 1. 7% of total production expenses (2007 Census of Agriculture). Hired labor was the third largest expense group behind purchased feed and purchased livestock and poultry. But farm labor expenses are not equally distributed regionally.According to Kandel, total farm labor expenses amounted to 22. 3% of the cash receipts in California, but only to 2. 5% in Iowa in 2006. The top five states in terms of payroll expenses were California, Florida, Texas, Washington, and Oregon. They account for 42. 8% of the expenditure on hired labor in the U. S. Runyan reported that 1910-19 the share of family labor of total farm employment was 75%; 1990-99 this share had declined to 64%. While total farm employment is declining, the role of hired workers is increasing with increasing farm sizes.However, farm wages rank near the bottom of all occupational groups, second only to private household work (Runyan). This fact may be ameliorated, at least in part, by lower cost of living expenses in rural communities (Gisser and Davila). By agricultural specialization, hired labor is most important for horticultural 3 operations (tree nurseries, ornamentals, fruit, and vegetables) and in dairy farming, followed by livestock and poultry farming; hired labor is least important in field crops.Objectives This paper reviews the foci and results of personnel management research in agriculture and agribusiness in the United States and in Canada, but results are likely applicable beyond these two countries. The goal of the review is to extract the lessons learned and derive guidance for both agribusiness management practice and future research. The specific objectives are to (1) analyze the state of the art of personnel management research in agribusiness, in particular agricultural production, including an analysis of research methods; (2) determine the ain themes with respect to (a) research questions and (b) empirical fields; and (3) summarize empirical results to (a) provide a f oundation for manager training and decision support and (b) serve as a roadmap to future research projects. Procedures Geographically, this paper focuses on the United States and Canada and the review is limited to publications in English. The analysis concentrates on publications analyzing personnel management questions, largely excluding labor market, migration, immigration, and similar analyses.Labor market, migration, and immigration studies are important to understanding the agricultural labor problem and a considerable amount of work has been done on these questions (see, e. g. , Devadoss and Luckstead; Ise and Perloff; Martin and Taylor; Taylor; Tran and Perloff; Walters, Emerson, and Iwai). Less work has been published on personnel management functions and the use of different management practices in agribusiness. Personnel management functions include practices to recruit, train, manage, organize, evaluate, compensate, discipline, and terminate employees, as well as, questi ons of job satisfaction, motivation, and retention.Therefore, the unit of analysis is the agribusiness or farm, not the market, society, or other macro institution. The review covers agribusiness and management journals, agricultural economics journals, and also animal science and horticultural science journals. In addition, research reports and conference papers (gray publications) are included when accessible and relevant. 4 Articles reporting on empirical research, as well as, review articles were content analyzed with respect to the objectives outlined above.A qualitative analysis method was used to determine the personnel management questions addressed, the research methods, the empirical field, the specific results with respect to the questions addressed, and the broader implications of each article. Only articles meeting the criteria summarized above are included in the discussion of the main themes and in the summary tables. Furthermore, although this paper is based on a com prehensive review, it cannot claim to include every study in this field. State of the Art Before 1990, personnel management was virtually absent from agribusiness and gricultural economics research (Howard and McEwan; Rosenberg and Cowen), with very few exceptions (e. g. , Adams, How, and Larson). For the agricultural field, personnel management research basically began in the early 1990ies, but many of these studies are difficult to access, because they have been published as conference or working papers, or in trade magazines, not in peer reviewed journals. Until the end of the 1990ies, studies remain few and common themes are yet to develop, with the possible exception of job attitudes, which appear as an early focus (e. . , Adams, How, and Larson). Additional themes emerging later include managers’ conceptualization of the personnel management functions, managers’ personnel management competencies and practices, and the relationship between personnel management pra ctices and organizational outcomes. Few studies focus on one particular personnel management function; more studies encompass a broad array of functions and the related management practices. Exceptions are studies of the management and preferences of migrant workers and of compensation (table 1).Compensation studies in agribusiness frequently are limited to a description of actual wages and their distribution, sometimes not including benefits, and not relating compensation to organizational outcome variables (see, e. g. , studies cited in Maloney and Milligan). Examples of compensation studies, which transcend this limitation, are a pay method and performance study (Billikopf and Norton), a study of the effect of compensation and working conditions on retention (Gabbard and Perloff), and studies of the relationship between wage, production technologies, and farm size (Hurley, Kliebenstein, and Orazem; Yu et al. . Gabbard and Perloff found that for the same monetary investment employ ee benefits increase the probability of retaining good workers more 5 than higher wages. Strochlic et al. also found benefits to increase retention. No relationship between wages and retention rates was found by Miklavcic, as well as Strochlic et al. Considering that, regardless of the personnel management model used (see Delery and Doty for the universalistic, contingency, and configuration models), specific management practices cannot e considered to function in isolation and independent of other practices. Conclusions based on such studies of singular practices would be limited. Therefore, even researchers interested in a particular personnel management function and in comparing relevant practices for this function, would have to take a more integrative approach and describe other practices to provide context. Empirical evidence for the relevance of the integrative approach in agriculture and agribusiness was provided in Adams, How, and Larson; Chacko, Wacker, and Asar; and Muger a and Bitsch.Despite many commonalities between different branches of agricultural production, the type and conditions of work vary, as does the dependency on weather and growth cycles, e. g. , comparing vegetable production to swine production. Both researchers and practitioners therefore will primarily look at the research matching their current undertaking most closely. Studies vary in their empirical coverage, with respect to the scope of farming specializations included, from studies focused on a single specialization (e. g. , floriculture) to studies including multiple specializations (e. . , horticulture, including floriculture, fruit and vegetable production), and the scope of personnel management functions analyzed, from single function studies (e. g. , compensation; see above) to studies including selected or multiple functions (table 1). Dairy farming stands out as the specialization most likely to be researched. Given that hired labor plays an even larger role in horticu ltural production than in dairy farming, the reasons for the higher interest in personnel management in dairy research are not obvious.The Journal of Dairy Science published papers of a Symposium: Dairy Personnel Management as early as 1993. In addition to the dairy studies reported in table 1 that address personnel management specifically other studies of dairy farming included personnel management questions in broader studies of farm expansion (Bewley, Palmer, and Jackson-Smith; Hadley, Harsh, and Wolf; Stahl et al. ). These studies found that personnel management competencies are most important for the success of farm expansion, but these competencies are also most challenging for farm managers.After an expansion, managers are more likely to use formal practices with respect to all major personnel management functions (Stahl et al. ), but some 6 problems, such as communication, persist (Hadley et al. ), although managers spend more time on personnel management. Also, personnel ma nagement education for large dairy farms has been emphasized as an opportunity for extension programming (Brasier et al. ).A relatively new arena of research, which cuts across different agricultural specializations, is the interface of personal management and sustainable or organic production. The questions being asked include whether sustainable and organic agriculture are inherently beneficial to employees, whether the commitment to sustainability does or should include a social component, and whether a fair labor certification approach would be beneficial to producers (e. g. Shreck, Getz, and Feenstra; Strochlic and Hamerschlag; Strochlic et al. ). Although a majority of certified organic farmers in California believe that organic agriculture is more socially sustainable than conventional agriculture, there is little support to include criteria on working conditions in the organic certification (Shreck, Getz, and Feenstra). On the other hand, Strochlic et al. found considerable interest in a fair labor certification (59% of respondents).Research Methods of Empirical Studies Considering the early stage of personnel management research in agribusiness, research methods were expected to be mostly exploratory and qualitative (Bitsch 2000 and 2005). However, research methods cover the full range from in-depth, unstructured interviews and group discussions, through interview or moderator guide based approaches, up to fully structured surveys administered at the business site or off-site one-on-one or in a group setting, over the phone, or mailed questionnaires (table 2).Fornaciari and Dean found a similar phenomenon in the study of religion, spirituality, and management, where research methods also include many quantitative approaches, despite the early stage of the research field. Reasons for the seemingly early venture into highly structured and quantitative research approaches are more likely to be caused by expectations set up in the qualification process of researchers, professional pressures regarding publication outlets, and differing prestige of certain research approaches in researchers’ professional fields than by research considerations.Although, this review of studies of personnel management in production agriculture and agribusiness cannot claim completeness, the number of studies employing unstructured or moderately structured methods (first two columns in table 2) appears lower than the number of studies employing highly or very highly structured methods (last two columns in table 2). 7However, even many of the quantitative, highly structured studies did not attempt (or accomplish) representative sampling and, therefore, their generalizability can only be judged based on their descriptions of the research approaches and the methods used, and the comparison of results across studies. As a result, researchers and practitioners planning to use studies of either research approach may need to analyze the original sources a nd pay close attention to details, before evaluating the applicability of their results to a different context.Most studies rely on a single method for data collection and multi-method studies are rare. An exception is the case study approach of best management practices by Strochlic and Hamerschlag that employed a variety of methods including semi-structured interviews with farm managers, focus groups with employees, and informal interviews with key informants. Multimethod approaches are likely to yield more valid results, due to the method triangulation involved.The method used most often by personnel management researchers in production agriculture and agribusiness is a survey questionnaire (table 2). Questionnaires are administered in a variety of ways, most frequently in person, which is more likely to garner to reliable results than mailed questionnaires, given the sensitivity of many personnel management questions, but also requires more resources. The number of studies using a mailed questionnaire is surprisingly high, considering the difficulty of developing a questionnaire that is fully understood by potential research participants.Other methods used frequently are moderately structured interviews either in an individual setting or set up as group discussions. Although resource intensive, these latter approaches are more likely to gather reliable data and allow for in-depth study of research questions than the more highly structured approaches, given the early stage of the field, the lack of common understanding of personnel management terms of potential research participants and researchers, and the multitude of interactions etween personnel management practices. Managers’ Conceptualization of Personnel Management Functions As early as 1967, Adams, How, and Larson observed that some farmers seem to have much fewer difficulties in finding and keeping the workforce they needed than other farmers in a comparable situation. Their research showed that this difference was not a chance occurrence, but that these farmers had invested considerably in the relationships with their workforce and carefully developed their personnel management practices.Similarly, Rosenberg and Cowen 8 found dairy managers’ assumptions about their workforce to correlate with their milk output, and suggest that those assumptions guide the choice of organizational structure and the management practices. Hence, it may be concluded that managers’ perception of which personnel management functions need to be given attention and which practices are available to them, will be the determinants of their management choices.After 2000, a renewed effort to delineate the field of agricultural personnel management resulted in three studies using focus group discussions to identify management practices in different areas of agricultural production and services, to describe their advantages and drawbacks from managers’ perspective and to critica lly review these practices. As a research method, focus group discussions are useful to integrate research and extension goals.The interaction between research participants and between research participants and the researchers triggers learning processes. In addition, relationships are developed and reinforced, which not only increase openness during the research process, but encourage participation in educational programs. During the research process, knowledge deficits can be diagnosed (Bitsch 2004). Bitsch und Harsh convened five focus groups with managers and owners of greenhouses, tree nursery operations, and landscape operations in Michigan.The study showed that horticultural managers conceptualize personnel management and its challenges and opportunities along the management process: recruiting and selection, training and development, performance appraisal and discipline, careers and relationships, and compensation. For the research participants, hiring immigrants and labor l egislation were also important HRM topics. In addition, Bitsch et al. convened four focus groups with dairy farmers and managers.Their perceptions of personnel management functions were similar to the horticultural study, and differences were mostly due to the more seasonal character of labor needs in the earlier study. Discipline was more important in dairy farming, because the continuous availability of work creates the need for terminating and replacing some employees who do not perform at the expected level. Seasonal operations often deal with these employees by providing less work to them, laying them off before the end of the season, and not recalling them for the following season.While horticultural managers considered working conditions mostly as an image problem in recruiting, to dairy managers working conditions were a permanent stress on employees. 9 Labor laws and regulations were less important in dairy farming, because few operations had their practices audited by gove rnment agencies at the time of the study. Finally, Bitsch and Olynk (2008) convened six focus groups with owners and managers of pork farms in Kansas and Michigan and reanalyzed the transcripts of the second study.Results of this study served to refine the framework of agricultural personnel management developed based on the first two studies. The most significant extension is an additional set of personnel management practices regarding the performance management function. Performance management describes the daily, informal interaction between managers and employees, including informal feedback, task-related communication, setting priorities, and dealing with problems. Although these practices are important in the day-to-day management processes, there has been little discussion about them in the literature.Also, working conditions were extended to include the organizational structure, and the social environment at work was established as another arena to be monitored and consciou sly managed. The resulting framework of agricultural personnel management includes eleven management functions: recruiting, selection, hiring immigrant employees, training, working conditions and organizational structure, social environment, performance management, discipline, performance appraisal, compensation, and labor law and regulation.Managers’ Personnel Management Competencies and Practices In a recent study, Stup, Holden, and Hyde identified competencies in different management areas on the senior and the middle management level of dairy farms through group discussions and then surveyed different managers about their comfort level with respect to these competencies. While managers were generally confident about their competencies, senior managers were least confident about their personnel management competencies (4. 95 on a 7-point Likert scale, 1=very low, 7=very high, n=41). Middle mangers ranked themselves second lowest in personnel management competencies (4. 1, n=22) and lowest in community service and public relations (4. 05, n=20). Bitsch and Olynk (2007) developed a typology of required personnel management skills for successful management in animal agriculture based on ten focus groups with dairy and pork farmers and managers. The typology consists of five skill sets: motivator, housekeeper, model employee, counselor, and change agent. This typology shows a number of commonalities with 10 the Competing Values Framework, used in general management education (Faerman, Quinn, and Thompson), but also industry specific differences.The motivator with the ability to train and motivate others, and to provide constructive feedback and the housekeeper with the ability to control, to lead, and to discipline others build the core of agricultural personnel management skills and also likely other production enterprises. In addition, the ability and willingness to be a model employee plays a surprisingly large role in agriculture. The function of the counselor, to support employees with their personal problems at work and beyond, was discussed less frequently by the research participants, but is necessary to prevent problems and to sustain employee productivity.The change agent initiates or implements innovations in the production process and was mentioned mostly by managers of larger farms. The authors point out that to be successful managers need to command a complete repertoire of skills including skills from each of the five types and not limit themselves to skills from only one type, for example, out of familiarity with certain behaviors (Hutt and Hutt). The role and the functions of middle management are a field of agricultural personnel management with few studies, but increasing importance.Not only did the share and impact of hired labor increase with increasing farm sizes, and personnel management became more important, but supervisors and middle managers are also playing a larger role. Billikopf (2001) interviewed far m supervisors in California and found them to struggle with personnel management tasks. Bitsch and Yakura employed a case study approach to develop a grounded theory of agricultural middle management (see Bitsch 2005, on grounded theory applications in agribusiness; see Glaser and Strauss on the foundations of grounded theory).The participating middle managers described an unexpectedly large number of different personnel management practices. Bitsch and Yakura suggested that these practices can be clustered into two basic types: traditional practices and participative practices. Traditional practices include reprimanding employees, orienting and training employees, monitoring and controlling employees, and dealing with conflict. Participative practices include accommodating employees (e. g. flexibility in schedules, task and team assignments), managing relationships with employees, providing information and goal setting, listening to employees, providing appreciation and feedback, r ewarding employees (non monetary), modeling work behavior, peer control, manager-induced team building, and training by coworkers. 11 Although this typology shows similarities with McGregor’s Theory X and Y, Bitsch and Yakura underline a significant difference. For the participating middle managers, using traditional or participative practices was not correlated with individuals.Each manager used both traditional, as well as, participative practices. The authors suggest that management success corresponds rather with the number of practices individual managers command than with the type of practices they use more frequently. McGregor had assumed that participative managers would be more successful. Bitsch and Yakura pointed out that some managers did use few practices, whereas others were using the full breadth of the described practices. Given that day-to-day management consists of many different management situations, anagers with a more complete repertoire are more likely to choose suitable practices. Employees’ Job Attitudes and Job Satisfaction Job satisfaction is considered both a goal in itself, as well as, a means to reduce turnover and increase motivation and performance. Although meta-studies found a smaller relationship between job satisfaction and these correlates than expected, several studies of job satisfaction in agriculture have been conducted during the past 50 years (see Bitsch and Hogberg). One of the more frequently applied models is the empirically grounded two-factor model by Herzberg et al.This model is particularly suited to structure the analysis of job attitudes and their context. Empirical evidence that indeed job satisfaction and job dissatisfaction are caused differently as predicted by the Herzberg et al. model is scant (Bitsch 2007). Independent of the theoretical models and the research methods several common results emerge from studies of job attitudes in agriculture. Porter pointed out that half of the dairy far m employees surveyed in New Hampshire saw appreciation of their work as the most important factor for their performance.In addition, they mentioned open communication with their supervisor, good records, and control of the work situation; Porter concluded that financial incentives are less important. Adams, How, and Larson found financial incentives to be important for a satisfactory employer-employee relationships, but stressed the importance of consideration for workers as human beings, taking into account personal problems of workers and helping to find solutions, and getting the right fit of worker and job (see previous section for middle managers’ practices for a similar finding).Bitsch (1996) in a study of tree nursery apprentices in Germany found that a large majority did desire higher wages, but almost half also 12 desired increased appreciation, more training, and more responsibility for their tasks. More training was also requested by Spanish speaking dairy farm emp loyees surveyed by Maloney and Grusenmeyer in New York. Surveying New York dairy farms, Fogleman et al. found that employees were least satisfied with the factor managers had most control over, that is performance feedback.Billikopf (2001) had found supervisors in all branches of agriculture to be mostly satisfied with their jobs. More detailed case studies with horticultural operations found for employees without supervisory responsibilities (Bitsch and Hogberg) and also for supervisors (Bitsch 2007) that the same factors seem to contribute to job satisfaction, as well as, to dissatisfaction, depending on their availability and characteristics.For both groups of employees, job security, achievement, technical competency of the superior, and personal relationships at the workplace were more likely to be perceived as positive. The work itself and organizational procedures and policies were perceived as ambiguous, contributing to both satisfaction and dissatisfaction. Compensation was perceived rather negative, more negative by employees without supervisory responsibilities than by supervisors; the latter are likely to be higher paid and more likely to receive benefits.Employees without supervisory responsibility perceived their work/life balance more positive than supervisors; the latter are also less satisfied with their working conditions. Mainly, this was due to the fact that employees with supervisory responsibilities were expected to be available for work whenever required, whereas employees without supervisory responsibilities were given more flexibility. An earlier study in Germany, also had found that horticultural employees value flexible scheduling and benefit arrangements (Bitsch, Bromm, and Schalich).Relationships between Personnel Management Practices and Organizational Outcomes Relationships between personnel management practices and various organizational outcomes, such as productivity (Rosenberg and Cowen), profit (Adams, How, and Larson), or co mpetitiveness (Chacko, Walker, and Asar; Mugera and Bitsch) have often been assumed, but infrequently been empirically researched. Owners and managers of agricultural operations also testify to a relationship between personnel management practices and farm level outcomes (Bitsch et al. Strochlic and Hamerschlag). The few studies attempting the empirical description and measurement of these relationships in production agriculture and agribusiness have found limited evidence. 13 Rosenberg and Cowen tested several personnel management practices’ and management assumptions’ impact on dairy farm productivity, including prevalence of Theory Y assumptions (McGregor), upward and downward responsibility diffusion, employee selection procedure, employee assessment criteria, and employee performance feedback, along with record use and herd size.In addition to record use, the authors found that Theory Y assumptions and the amount of feedback provided to employees impacted producti vity. Feedback has also been found to be important in employees’ job satisfaction (Bitsch 1996; Fogleman et al. ). Although management assumptions are likely to guide organizational structure, personnel management practice choice, and managers’ communication and interaction with employees, the study did not provide evidence of the relationship between assumptions and particular practices.Stup, Hyde, and Holden analyzed several personnel management practices of successful dairy farms in Pennsylvania, including milk quality incentives, performance reviews, employment of Spanish-speaking employees, use of standard operating procedures for milking, feeding, and reproduction tasks, continuing training, and use of job descriptions. Except for continuous training of employees, farm success did not differ significantly for farms using compared to farms not using these practices.While differences in definitions between Stup, Hyde, and Holden, and Rosenberg and Cowen and little overlap regarding the management practices researched, make it difficult to compare both studies, it should be noted that Stup, Hyde, and Holden did not find performance reviews to be significant. Chacko, Wacker, and Asar compared perceptions of agribusiness managers with respect to the contributions of different technological and personnel management practices to their competitiveness. In general, managers ranked technological practices higher than personnel management practices.However, job security and measures of training and development were among the top ranked management practices. Job security has also been emphasized in job satisfaction studies (Bitsch and Hogberg; Bitsch 2007). Training has been found to stand out in Stup, Hyde, and Holden and has also been emphasized in job attitude studies (Bitsch 1996; Maloney and Grusenmeyer). Based on managers’ perception of particular technological and personnel management practices, Chacko, Wacker, and Asar also aggregated pr actices in a factor analysis and regressed these factors on perceived competitiveness.The regression analysis showed personnel management 14 factors to contribute to a higher extent to different measures of competiveness than technological measures. The employee commitment factor (job security, sharing of profits and gains) stood out as contributing to most competitiveness measures. Mugera and Bitsch used a resource based perspective to analyze whether personnel management practices and the personnel itself constitute a competitive advantage for dairy farms (see Wright et al. for a general discussion of the application of the resource based theory to personnel management).The authors conducted case studies with dairy farms to analyze the integration of personnel management practices with each other (e. g. , practices regarding recruitment, selection, training, and compensation) and their outcomes (e. g. , voluntary turnover and termination). The case studies provided empirical examp les of the applicability of the resource based theory and evidence of the use of personnel management practices as a competitive advantage. The authors emphasize that studies of isolated management practices may lead to misleading results, due to the importance of the integration of practices with each other.Therefore, they recommend an integrative approach to researching and changing personnel management functions. Strochlic et al. surveyed 300 organic farms of various agricultural specializations with respect to their personnel management practices and organizational outcomes. They found significant relationships between an overall labor conditions score and 5- and 10-year retention rates, several occupational safety related practices and person-days lost due to accidents and injuries. No relationship was found between the surveyed management practices and supervisory costs or access to sufficient labor.Conclusions Personnel management research in agribusiness has increased over t he past 20 years, but the field is in an early stage of its development. Although agribusiness managers and organizations are demanding more decision support and training in personnel management, a rapid increase in research volume cannot be expected. The number of researchers giving this field more than cursory attention is relatively small compared to other agribusiness fields. Research funding is limited or unavailable for many agribusiness related personnel management questions. Peer reviewed articles are rare, because ublication outlets lack sensible reviewers for this field and many editors do not perceive it as a priority. 15 Notwithstanding the early stage of personnel management research in agribusiness, several broadly based results are emerging. First, many managers on different hierarchical levels perceive their personnel management skills as an area of weakness. This weakness becomes more visible during organizational growth, when additional employees are needed and tas ks change from production orientation to management, including management of more personnel. Growth processes have been researched mainly in dairy farming.Despite managers’ perception of a lack of personnel management competencies, participation rates in educational programs targeting such skills are not very high. Second, experienced managers typically have an adequate conceptual frame of the personnel management functions, and potential challenges and risks, at least regarding the big picture. They acknowledge all textbook personnel management functions (recruiting, selection, training, performance appraisal, compensation, discipline, and labor law and regulation), although they do not necessarily practice conscientious management with respect to all of these functions.For example, performance evaluation and discipline are rarely practiced. Also, gaps and misconceptions persist with respect to the details of each practice and potential alternative practices, and typically t he details decide the success of these practices. On the other hand, managers perceive a need for additional practices, rarely discussed in the literature, with respect to performance management, the social environment at the workplace, working conditions and organizational structure, as well as, hiring immigrant employees.Third, not only are the personnel management tasks outlined above numerous and often times difficult to balance, but they also result in challenging requirements with respect to the breadth and depth of management competencies and practices. Due to the peculiar circumstances of agricultural work, including long hours and family relationships, requirements of managers are not less stringent, but rather more demanding than in other sectors. Various new and unexpected tasks need to be mastered by newly promoted individuals who normally are not prepared to deal with these tasks.Learning management in agriculture is often limited to imitating the supervisor (Hutt and H utt) and training in many cases consists of â€Å"sink or swim† (Bitsch and Yakura). Many farms could improve their HRM practices through preparatory and accompanying training of their supervisors and managers. On the other hand, given their lack of training, managers have acquired and are using a surprisingly large number of traditional, as well as non traditional, HRM practices. 16 Fourth, compensation is important, as can be expected, considering the low level of agricultural wages compared to other occupational groups.However, incentive systems are not necessarily preferred by employees (Porter; Strochlic and Hamerschlag). In many cases, job satisfaction can be increased with inexpensive measures, such as providing more feedback and appreciation for tasks well done. Similarly, many farms could use training and employee responsibility for task performance to increase productivity and job satisfaction. On the other hand, in general, employees seem satisfied with their work and specifically with its context.Flexibility, especially for employees without supervisory responsibility, and positive personal relationships at work, particularly with superiors, contribute primarily to job satisfaction. As Adam, How, and Larson stated, â€Å"Such relationships seem to be the end result of a combination of policies and practices on the part of farmers and of a genuine liking of farm work and their employers on the part of employees† (p. 60). Fifth, the relationship between personnel management practices and financial measures of organizational success is complex and difficult to assess.Few personnel management studies in production agriculture and agribusiness have been able to provide evidence of a substantial relationship between any particular personnel management practice and profit, or even productivity. In particular, isolated practices do not usually show a statistical relationship with financial measures or even intermediate measures, such as produ ctivity, retention, or supervision costs. Although this is to be expected according to the integrative model of personnel management, it hinders the development of manageable research projects that can be analyzed and described in a standard form.Additional problems stem from the lack of data availability and changing conditions and actors who also continuously develop new practices and strategies. Compared to twenty years ago, when Howard and McEwan declared the absence of personnel management research in the agribusiness field, managers and researchers have more to build on today. A suitable framework of personnel management functions in production agriculture has been developed (Bitsch and Olynk 2008), on which manager training and future research can build.This framework must be broadened to encompass the agribusiness value chain as a whole. Groundwork has been done to describe and conceptualize what managers do in their day-to-day practice to motivate and lead employees, and wh ich competencies they need to acquire to be or become successful managers of personnel. In addition, a lot more is known about how 17 agricultural employees perceive their work and its context and where they see improvement needs. Nevertheless, differences and commonalities between production agriculture and the broader agribusiness environment need to be explored further.Also, future research will have to develop methods to establish the relationship between personnel management practices and organizational outcomes and to analyze specific practices in their organizational context more indepth. Education and training of production agriculture and agribusiness managers, both in the classroom and beyond, can and has started to build on a growing body of empirical research, instead of solely relying on results from other industries and large organizations, which may or may not be applicable in the industry settings.Specific results from many of the studies discussed have been used to develop personnel management programs for managers in production agriculture, both in terms of determining educational needs, as well as developing and organizing program content tailored to managers’ experience and understanding. A consequence of the availability of more suitable education and training programs is more conscientious and improved practical decision making with respect to personnel management.The lack of definitive empirical evidence notwithstanding, improved decision making in this important management arena is expected to lead to higher productivity and profits, and also better quality of life for managers, as well as employees. References Adams, L. P. , R. B. How, and O. L. Larson. Viable Farmer-Worker Relationships: A Study of Selected Cases I New York State in 1966. Bulletin 1019, Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station, Ithaca, New York, 1967. Bewley, J. , R. W. Palmer and D. B. Jackson-Smith. â€Å"An Overview of Experiences of Wisconsin Dai ry Farmers Who Modernized Their Operations. Journal of Dairy Science 84 (2001):717-29. Billikopf, G. E. â€Å"High Piece Rate Wages Do Not Reduce Hours Worked. † California Agriculture 49 (1, 1995):17-8. —. â€Å"Crew Workers Split between Hourly and Piece-rate Pay. † California Agriculture 50 (6, 1996):5-8. —. â€Å"Interpersonal Communications Tops Concerns of Farm Supervisors. † California Agriculture 55 (5, 2001):40-3. Billikopf, G. E. and M. V. Norton. â€Å"Pay Method Affects Vineyard Pruner Performance. † California Agriculture 46 (5, 1992):12-3. 18 Bitsch, V. â€Å"Job Satisfaction during Apprenticeship. † Acta Horticulturae 429 (1996):97-102. —. Agricultural Economics and Qualitative Research: Incompatible Paradigms? † Forum: Qualitative Social Research 1 (1, 2000). Available at http://qualitative-research. net/fqstexte/1-00/1-00bitsch-e. htm. —. â€Å"Focus Group Discussions as a Research and Extension M ethod: The Case of Personnel Management Issues in Horticultural Businesses. † Acta Horticulturae 655 (2004):461-9. —. â€Å"Qualitative Research: A Grounded Theory Example and Evaluation Criteria. † Journal of Agribusiness 23 (Spring 2005):75-91. —. â€Å"Job Satisfaction in Horticulture: New Insights. † Acta Horticulturae 762 (2007):431-8. Bitsch, V. G. Abate Kassa, S. B. Harsh, and A. W. Mugera. â€Å"Human Resource Management Risks: Sources and Control Strategies Based on Dairy Farmer Focus Groups. † Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics 38 (April, 2006):123-36. Bitsch, V. , U. Bromm and C. Schalich. â€Å"Improving the Horticultural Workplace: Fringe Benefit Options in Germany. † Acta Horticulturae 639 (2004):339-45. Bitsch, V. , and S. B. Harsh. â€Å"Labor Risk Attributes in the Green Industry: Business Owners’ and Managers’ Perspectives. † Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics 36 (December, 2 004):731-45. Bitsch, V. and M. Hogberg. Exploring Horticultural Employees’ Attitudes toward Their Jobs: A Qualitative Analysis based on Herzberg’s Theory of Job Satisfaction. † Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics 37 (December, 2005):659-71. Bitsch, V. , and N. J. Olynk. â€Å"Skills Required of Managers in Livestock Production: Evidence from Focus Group Research. † Review of Agricultural Economics 29 (Winter, 2007):74964. —. â€Å"Risk-increasing and Risk-reducing Practices in Human Resource Management: Focus Group Discussions with Livestock Managers. † Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics 40 (April 2008):185-201. Bitsch, V. nd E. K. Yakura. â€Å"Middle Management in Agriculture: Roles, Functions, and Practices. † International Food and Agribusiness Management Review 10 (2, 2007):1-27. Brasier, K. , J. Hyde, R. E. Stup and L. A. Holdern. â€Å"Farm-level Human Resource Management: An Opportunity for Extension. â₠¬  Journal of Extension 44 (3, 2006):#3RIB3. Available at http://www. joe. org/joe/2006june/rb3p. stml. Chacko, T. I. , J. G. Wacker, and M. M. Asar. â€Å"Technological and Human Resource Management Practices in Addressing Perceived Competitiveness in Agribusiness Firms. † Agribusiness 13 (1997):93-105. Delery, J. E. and D.H. Doty. â€Å"Modes of Theorizing in Strategic Human Resource Management: Tests of Universalistic, Contingency, and Configurational Performance Predictions. † Academy of Management Journal 39 (1996):802-35. Devadoss, S. and J. Luckstead. â€Å"Contributions of Immigrant Farmworkers to California Vegetable Production. † Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics 40 (December 2008):879-94. 19 Dunn, L. F. â€Å"Nonpecuniary Job Preferences and Welfare Losses among Migrant Agricultural Workers. † American Journal of Agricultural Economics 67 (May 1985):257-65. Faerman, S. R. , R. E. Quinn, and M. P. Thompson. Bridging Management Pract ice and Theory: New York State’s Public Service Training Program. † Public Administration Review 47 (July-August 1987):310-9. Fogleman, S. L. , R. A. Milligan, T. R. Maloney and W. A. Knoblauch. â€Å"Employee Compensation and Job Satisfaction on Dairy Farms in the Northeast. † Selected Paper, American Agricultural Economics Association Annual Meeting, Nashville, Tennessee, 1999. Fornaciari, C. J. and Dean, K. L. 2004. Diapers to car keys: The state of spirituality, religion and work research. Journal of Management, Spirituality and Religion 1(1), 7-33. Gabbard, S. M. and J.M. Perloff. â€Å"The Effects of Pay and Work Conditions on Farmworker Retention. † Industrial Relations 36 (October 1997):474-88. Gisser, M. and A. Davila. â€Å"Do Farm Workers Earn Less? An Analysis of the Farm Labor Problem. † American Journal of Agricultural Economics 80 (4, 1998):669-82. Glaser, B. G. and A. L. Strauss. The Discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for Quali tative Research. Chicago: Aldine, 1967. Hadley, G. L. , S. B. Harsh and C. A. Wolf. â€Å"Managerial and Financial Implications of Major Dairy Farm Expansion in Michigan and Wisconsin. † Journal of Dairy Science 85 (2002):205364.Harrison, J. , J. McReynolds, T. O’Kane and B. Valentine. â€Å"Hired Labor on Wisconsin Dairy Farms: Trends and Implications. † Status of Wisconsin Agriculture ed. by E. Jesse, Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2008:58-68. Herzberg, F. , B. Mausner and B. B. Snyderman. The Motivation to Work. New York: Wiley, 1959. Howard, W. H. Human Resource Management on the Farm: Attracting, Keeping, and Motivating Labour on Ontario Dairy, Hog, Poultry, and Flower Farms. Report for the Canada/Ontario Agricultural Employment Committee (undated, unpublished).Howard, W. Y. and K. A. McEwan. â€Å"Human Resource Management: A Review of Applications to Agriculture. † Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics 37 (1989):733-42. Howard, W. Y. , K. A. McEwan, G. L. Brinkman and J. M. Christensen. â€Å"Human Resource Management on the Farm: Attracting, Keeping and Motivating Labor. † Agribusiness 7 (1991):11-25. Hurley, T. M. , J. Kliebenstein and P. F. Orazem. â€Å"The Structure of Wages and Benefits in the U. S. Pork Industry. † American Journal of Agricultural Economics 81 (1999):144-63. Hutt, M. J. Influences of Attachment in Everyday Problem Solving.PhD dissertation, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, 1991. Hutt, M. J. and G. K. Hutt. â€Å"Organizing the Human Resource: A Review of Centralization, Decentralization, and Delegation in Agricultural Business Management. † Journal of Dairy Science 76 (1993):2069-79. 20 Ise, S. and J. M. Perloff. â€Å"Legal Status and Earnings of Agricultural Workers. † American Journal of Agricultural Economics 77 (May 1995):375-86. Kandel, W. â€Å"Hired Farmworkers a Major Input for Some U. S. Farm Sectors. â €  Amber Waves 6 (April 2008):10-5. Maloney, T. R. Management of Hispanic Employees on New York Dairy Farms: A Survey of Farm Managers.EB 99-19, Department of Agricultural, Resource, and Managerial Economics, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, 1999. Maloney, T. R. and D. C. Grusenmeyer. Survey of Hispanic Dairy Workers in New York State. RB 2005-02, Department of Applied Economics and Management, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, 2005. Maloney, T. R. and R. A. Milligan. A Survey of Human Resource Management Practices in Florist Crop Production Firms. A. E. Res. 92-10, Department of Agricultural Economics, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, 1992. Maloney, T. R. , R. A. Milligan, and K. T. Petracek.A Survey of Recruitment and Selection Practices in Florist Crop Production Firms. A. E. Res. 93-5. Department of Agricultural Economics, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, 1993. Martin, P. and J. E. Taylor. â€Å"Farm Employment, Immigration, and Poverty: A Structural Analy sis. † Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics 28 (2, 2003):349-63. McGregor, D. The Human Side of the Enterprise. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1960. Miklavcic, P. R. Migrant Farm Labor in Michigan: An Analysis of Recent Trends in Supply and Demand and Policy Implications. Dissertation, Michigan State University, 2004. Mugera, A.W. and V. Bitsch. â€Å"Labor on Dairy Farms: A Resource-based Perspective with Evidence from Case Studies. † International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, 8 (3, 2005):79-98. Porter, J. C. â€Å"What Dairy Employees Think About Their Jobs? † Journal of Dairy Science 76 (1993):2065-68. Rosenberg, H. R. and P. Cowen. â€Å"Management Differences and Dairy Results. † Agribusiness 6 (1990):267-79. Rosenberg, H. R. , J. M. Perloff und V. S. Pradhan. Hiring and Managing Labor for Farms in California. Working Paper 730, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of California, 1994.Runyan, J. L. â€Å"Hired F armworkers’ Earnings Increased in 2001 But Still Trail Most Occupations. † Rural America 17 (Fall 2002):66-73. Shreck, A. , C. Getz, and G. Feenstra. â€Å"Social Sustainability, Farm Labor, and Organic Agriculture: Findings from an Exploratory Analysis. † Agriculture and Human Values 23 (2006):439-49. Stahl, T. J. , B. J. Conlin, A. J. Seykora and G. R. Steuernagel. â€Å"Characteristics of Minnesota Dairy Farms That Significantly Increased Milk Production From 1989-1993. † Journal of Dairy Science 82 (1999):45-51. 21 Strochlic, R. and K. Hamerschlag.Best Labor Management Practices on Twelve California Farms: Toward a More Sustainable Food System. California Institute for Rural Studies (December 2005). Strochlic, R. , C. Wirth, A. F. Besada, and C. Getz. Farm Labor Conditions on Organic Farms in California. California Institute for Rural Studies (June 2008). Stup, R. E. , L. A. Holden and J. Hyde. â€Å"Case Study: Profiles of Management Competencies Ide ntified by Successful Dairy Managers. † The Professional Animal Scientist 23 (2007):728-37. Stup, R. E. , J. Hyde and L. A. Holden. â€Å"Relationships Between Selected Human Resource Management Practices and Dairy Farm Performance. Journal of Dairy Science 89 (2006):1116-20. Stup, R. E. and T. R. Maloney. Managing Hispanic Workers: Perceptions of Agricultural Managers. College of Agricultural Science, Cooperative Extension, Pennsylvania State University, 2003. Taylor, J. E. â€Å"Earnings and Mobility of Legal and Illegal Immigrant Workers in Agriculture. † American Journal of Agricultural Economics 74 (November 1992):889-96. Tran, L. H. and J. M. Perloff. â€Å"Turnover in U. S. Agricultural Labor Markets. † American Journal of Agricultural Economics 84 (May 2002):427-37. Walters, L. M. , R. D. Emerson, and N. Iwai. Proposed Immigration Policy Reform and Farm Labor Market Outcomes. † Selected Paper, American Agricultural Economics Association Annual Meet ing, Orlando, Florida, 2008. Wright, P. M. , M. C. Gary and M. Abagail. â€Å"Human Resources and Sustained Competitive Advantage: A Resource-based Perspective. † International Journal of Human Resource Management 5 (1994):301-26. Yu, L. , T. M. Hurley, J. B. Kliebenstein, and P. F. Orazem. â€Å"Firm Size, Technical Change and Wages: Evidence from the Pork Sector from 1990-2005. Selected Paper, American Agricultural Economics Association Annual Meeting, Portland, Oregon, 2007. 2 Table 1. Scope of Personnel Management Studies and Personnel Management Functions Analyzed in Production Agriculture and Agribusiness Studies Focused on One Farm Specialization Studies Focused on One or Few Personnel Management Function(s) Dairy Immigrant employees Harrison et al. ; Maloney; Maloney and Grusenmeyer; Stup and Maloney Floriculture Recruiting and selection Maloney, Milligan, and Petracek Swine Compensation Hurley, Kliebenstein, and Orazem; Yu et al. Vineyards Compensation Billikopf and Norton Studies Encompassing Selected or Many Personnel Management FunctionsDairy Bitsch et al. ; Fogleman et al. ; Hutt; Hutt and Hutt; Mugera und Bitsch; Porter; Rosenberg and Cowen; Stup, Holden, and Hyde; Stup, Hyde, and Holden Swine Howard et al. Floriculture/Greenhouse Bitsch, Bromm, and Schalich Maloney and Milligan Horticulturea) Bitsch (2004); Bitsch (2007); Bitsch and Harsh; Bitsch and Hogberg; Bitsch and Yakura; Miklavcic; Strochlic and Hamerschlag Livestockb) Bitsch and Olynk (2007 and 2008) Studies Encompassing Multiple Farm Specializations Horticulturea) Compensation Billikopf (1995 and 1996) Compensation and working conditions Dunn; Gabbard and PerloffAgriculturec) Adams, How, and Larson; Billikopf (2001); Chacko, Tree nursery production Wacker, and Asar; Howard; Bitsch (1996) Rosenberg, Perloff, and Pradhan; Strochlic et al. a) Horticulture indicates two of more of the following specializations: floriculture and greenhouse, fruit, nuts, vegetable, and vineyard produc tion. b) Livestock indicates two of more of the following specializations: dairy, beef, swine, and poultry production. c) Agriculture includes at least one horticultural and one livestock specialization, as well as agribusiness. 23 Table 2.Degree of Structure of Research Approaches and Methods Used in Personnel Management Research in Production Agriculture and Agribusiness Unstructured or Little Structure Individual Methods Examples Unstructured interviewing Billikopf (2001)a); Hutta); Hutt and Hutta); Strochlic and Hamerschlag Moderately Structured Interview schedule Adams, How, and Larson; Bitsch (2007); Bitsch and Hogberg; Bitsch and Yakura; Howard; Mugera and Bitsch; Porter; Strochlic and Hamerschlag Highly Structured Administered questionnaires At the work site: Billikopf (1995 and 1996); Bitsch, Bromm, and Schalich; Fogleman et al. Howard et al. ; Maloney and Grusenmeyer; Rosenberg and Cowen; Stup, Hyde, and Holden At a housing site: Dunn Over the phone: Billikopf (1996); Malo ney; Maloney and Milligan; Maloney, Milligan, and Petracek; Strochlic et al. Group Methods Examples Unmoderated group discussion Stup and Maloney Moderated group discussion Very Highly Structured Mailed questionnaire Billikopf and Norton; Chacko, Wacker, and Asar; Hurley, Kliebenstein, and Orazem; Miklavcic; Rosenberg, Perloff, and Pradhan; Stup, Holden, and Hyde; Yu et al.Secondary data analysis: Gabbard and Perloff Questionnaire administered to individuals in a group setting Bitsch (2004); At school sites: Bitsch and Harsh; Bitsch (1996) Bitsch and Olynk (2007 and 2008); Bitsch et al. ; Harrison et al. ; Howard; Stup, Holden, and Hyde; Strochlic and Hamerschlag a) Studies where the method was not described sufficiently to categorize by the level of structure were categorized as unstructured. 24

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Check the suitability of an individual’s clothing and footwear for safety and mobility. When I go into a client’s house on a morning I get out clean clothes for that day for the client to put on, as I get the clothes out I check that the clothes are in good condition and that the clothes are the right size for the client. I recently went to dress the client, I went to put some trousers on the client but the trousers were too small so I explained to the client that these weren’t suitable as she would be uncomfortable all day so I looked for a bigger pair of trousers for the client to wear. I got a bigger pair of trousers out and they fit ok. 2.4 check the safety and cleanliness of mobility equipment and appliances. I went into a client’s house where the client uses an electric hoist, the hoist was plugged in on charge I took the hoist off charge and made sure the remote buttons worked correctly as they should and they did, I went to put the sling on the cli ent and noticed a dirty mark on the sling, the client has a spare sling so I put the dirty sling in the wash and used the clean sling, then carried out the rest of my call. Give feedback and encouragement to the individual during mobility activities. One of the clients I go to uses a Zimmer frame and recently had a fall so she is less confident at working. I assist the client to stand up and hold the Zimmer frame I then guide the client by holding her back to keep her steady on her feet, I talk to client while she’s walking encouraging her to take it slowly and steady, this makes her feel better as she’s not being rushed. I guide the client by telling her to move one foot at a time and when she reaching the dining room and sits down, she tells me that she will get better at walking I say to the client that she has done really well and that all she has to do is take her time and not rush it. Support the individual to prepare to eat and drink, in a way that meets their personal needs and preferences. I went into the clients house for their lunch call, the client is unable to prepare or make the meal for themselves, I take out a selection of meals for the client to choose from, the client chooses a meal and I make it for them, I ask the client what drink he would like and I make it, while the lunch is cooking I support the client to walk through to the kitchen table where he eats his meals. I make  sure he his comfy, he gets his own cutlery from the table and puts a napkin on his shirt. I then serve lunch. Adapt support in response to an individual’s feedback or observed reactions while eating and drinking. I went into a client’s home and prepared the meal of their choice, I served the meal. I client is very independent and likes to feed themselves however the client was struggling to use a folk as the food kept falling off, I suggested if the client wanted to use a spoon and the client agreed. The client was then still struggling so I offered my help to the client, I put food on the spoon for the client to just pick up and eat off the spoon, the client still had their independence as they were still feeding themselves. Encourage an individual to communicate their needs, preferences and personal beliefs affecting their personal care. I went into a client’s house for their morning call to help wash and dress, I assist the client into the bathroom, the client then tells me she can manage to wash herself she just needs me to wash her back, the client fills the sink and starts to wash herself, I say to the client do you want me to make your bed while your washing yourself she replies yes, so I go and make the bed I also do this to give the client some privacy, then client then calls me to say she’s ready for me to wash her back so I do this, I support her into the bedroom to get dressed I go to put her bra on but she stops me and says she does it a different way, I then support her getting the rest of her clothes on. Ensure room and water temperatures meet individual needs preferences for washing, bathing and mouth care. I ran the bath for a client and made sure the water wasn’t too cold or too hot the client got into the bath but he prefers the water to be quite hot so he asked me to put the hot tap on for a bit which I did then client told me to turn the tap off when he felt the water was suitable for him which again I did. A client required mouth care the client was able to respond to me so I asked the client how they would prefer the water either cold or cooled boiled water they prefer cold so I got this for them then carried out giving them mouth care. Ensure toiletries, materials and equipment is in reach of the individual. When  giving the client a bath he can manage to wash himself, while running the bath I get out all the toiletries he uses and put them in a suitable place for him to reach them while he’s in the bath. Dispose of food waste promptly and safely. At a client’s house I made homemade mince and potatoes, with all the peeling from the carrots and potatoes and put them into the kitchen bin them emptied the kitchen bin into the outside bin. Store different types of food and drink safely. I went into a clients house and a family member had just arrived with some shopping, I put the shopping away making sure all the frozen stuff went into the freezer and all the chilled stuff in the fridge, there was some raw meat which I placed on the bottom shelf in the fridge. All tinned food was placed in the cupboard in the kitchen. Support an individual to understand factors that contribute to good personal hygiene. I went into a clients home to support with personal care. The client is still very independent and only requires support when needed. The client went into the bathroom and started filling the sink with water and got the wash bag ready, I checked the water was at a right temperature, I mentioned to the client that the water was quite cold and suggested putting more hot water in as this will give a better wash, the client agreed and started to carry out the personal care. I reminded the client to use the soap to make her feel clean properly, the client got washed and dried and applied talc and deodorant to herself. Address personal hygiene issues with the individual in a sensitive manner without imposing own values. I went into a client’s home to carry out personal care, the client is bed bound and requires full support with personal care, I greeted the client and told him I was going to give him a wash and freshen him up into clean pjs, the client refused and said he wasn’t dirty, i said to the client that he hadn’t a wash for the past 2 days and that he had his breakfast around his mouth, the client then agreed to wash and get freshened up, I told the client that its important to wash regularly as it could affect his skin if its not cleaned regularly. Support the individual to develop awareness of the effects of poor hygiene on others. While I was giving personal care to the man I was explaining to him the effects of poor hygiene, I explained that its important to wash daily and to change clothes daily, I also mentioned when using the toilet to wash hands after as it spread germs and that it wouldn’t be nice for others to catch germs. Support the preferences and needs of the individual while maintaining their independence. I went into a clients home to support with personal care, it was my first visit to the clients home, the client showed me to the bathroom where she would get washed, I filled the sink up for the client as she only wanted a full body wash, the client then ask me to put some body wash into the water as this is what she prefers to wash with, which I did the client then got ready to wash I asked the client if she needed any help the client said she could manage but let me wash her back as she couldn’t reach.

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Synthesis of current research literature on young children's mathematical thinking - Essay Example Number sense is a principal Mathematical component learned in the pre-school and junior levels of education. It is a concise understanding of the meaning of numbers and manner in which these numbers relate. Therefore, the number sense is a very basic yet imperative aspect of junior Mathematics learning that is essential for understanding of the subject. The fundamental concepts of the number senses include mental number line, conceptual structure, constitutive awareness, recognition of the numbers, skills, counting, arithmetic and the feel of numbers. These key components of the numbers sense lead to a comprehensive understanding of the Mathematics subjects. The capability of children to comprehend the number sense is an essential predictor of the future competence in the subjects. Learning and understanding of the number sense concept takes a diverse approach. These methods apply to children as young as 3-4 years old in school and throughout the junior levels. However, the number sense is an intrinsic ability built upon the infant minds even before attending formal education. Due to interaction of the children with adults and other peers, this intrinsic ability remains enhanced. It is made better by the formal number sense learning in the junior school and the pre-school levels. In the formal education system, the following methods are applicable to the learning of the number sense.

The European Central Bank Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The European Central Bank - Essay Example (ECB, n.d.) From the moment of its inception, the European Central Bank has been a favorite target of criticisms from economists and political leaders alike. Surprisingly, among its staunch critics are European countries themselves which suffer economically because of the oftentimes rigid and unreasonable policies ECB follows. This paper will thus examine how the political and economic world perceives the performance of the central bank in this regard. Commentaries from analysts, studies done by independent economic research bodies, and the media will be the three main sources for this research. "The list of challenges is long and a lot of work lies in front of us." This was the concluding statement of Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell, member of the ECB Executive Board during a speech on a conference in Vienna, Austria in 2004. However, she was optimistic that the system would be able to handle challenges that would be present along the way. (ECB, 2004) Among the many challenges present is how to balance decision-making with regards to rate increase to benefit all the economies of the EU member states. Because the ECB does not only cater to a single economy, it has this inherent challenge. An increase in rate would mean a negative effect on a country with a growing economy while it is a positive move for a country with a high inflation rate. The GoCurrency website cited that "several larger economies in the euro area (Germany, for example) that were recently coming out of an economic slump were unhappy as the higher rates would stunt their growth."(GoCurrency, 2006) One classic example often mentioned by analysts is the effect of low interest rates in countries with property bubbles such as Ireland. Because "the ECB was keeping rates low to help the stodgy economies of France and Germany, where growth was weak and needed nurturing, the need of the Irish to raise rates to help their already ailing economy is not addressed". (Louth, 2007) With the recent slump in mortgages in the American market, ECB is once more in the dilemma of raising rates in September or not. It should be noted that this is the first time since September 2001 that there is a proposed increase in rates. (MECB Update, 2002, p 3) Jean-Claude Trichet, President of ECB, indicated in August that the ECB "will raise its key refinancing rate to 4.25 from 4.0." (TodayOnline, 2007) However, there has been pressure from the world community to halt this intended rate increase. The article that appeared on the Business World website entitled "NCB: Another ECB hike could be risky", quoted NCB analyst Dermot O'Brien as saying that the credibility of the ECB may be in question if it does not proceed with the intended rise in rates and sticking to its original plan would be seen as immature stubbornness. This is the current dilemma. (Business World, 2007) With the "surprisingly weak growth figures for the

Swedish Daddies Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Swedish Daddies - Research Paper Example In fact, contemporary American society distinguishes people who seek only for success in career and those who want to become successful in their company but not to sacrifice their family life for this aim. As Shaw (2013) assumes, this situation is â€Å"one continuing source of frustration† (p. 351) for women. Each female worker inevitably faces dilemma of her development in the company, because choosing both career and family is much harder than dedicating all the lifetime to career. One of the reasons for this situation is absence of guaranteed maternity leave that helps mothers to dedicate enough time to their newborns, and then return to work in a company. Another reason is that companies force women to choose between career and family even during their job interviews. Finally, there is no paternity-leave law in America, which will put men in the same situation as women currently are. In short, it is hard to balance between career and family in America. 2/ In my opinion, United States should require companies to provide paid maternity leave. As I mentioned above, absence of paid guarantee from company for mothers is one of the main reasons why it is hard for contemporary female workers to choose balancing between career and family life. In other words, women do not feel their financial independence in case they give birth to a child. On the contrary, they have to take care of their babies (which takes all of their time) and realize they have to find the way to earn money at the same time. This is the reason why it is common to say, â€Å"Women are just men with less money† (Shaw, 2013, p. 351). In practice, women may find jobs with flexible hours, but they commonly earn less money for these activities (Shaw, 2013, p. 351). In fact, it is not right, because woman with a child obviously needs more money than a lonely woman does. At the same time, company is not ready to pay for the time woman does not

Wrapping the semester up for portfolio Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Wrapping the semester up for portfolio - Article Example In addition, Montaigne hates cruelty against living things. He questions the presumption that human beings can and should rule over other creatures when the former could be so cruel to the latter. He gives examples of how ancient peoples despised cruelty against human beings and animals too, even those who/that have wronged them. Montaigne argues that torture and the death penalty are examples of human cruelty. He does not approve of cruelty because it violates the human sensibility for compassion and it turns humans into inhumane monsters. Jane Kramer describes Montaigne’s writings about the â€Å"self,† most especially, his â€Å"self.† Montaigne was 38 years old when he started writing his essays for the purpose of pursuing â€Å"Myself† or his identity. Kramer advises that people can best read Montaigne through his own observation of himself. By the self, she refers to Montaigne’s second life, because his identity in his writings is detached from his real life. She wonders why Montaigne did not speak with more details about his life. He did not connect his beliefs to his own experiences as a politician, family man, and a man with religion. She indicates that this must have enriched his thoughts about many more issues. She adds that Montaigne did not discuss other important political and social issues in his time too. Moreover, Kramer notes that Montaigne criticizes his essays for lack of unity. He also admits to fearing fear most of all, although, before he died, he accepted his f ear of emptiness that comes after death. Kramer ends with Montaigne’s desire to be statesman again. However, before he returns to a political post, he has become too sick of his kidney stones to perform his political functions. WikiHow describes the method of writing a five paragraph essay. It starts with an introduction that sets the tone and hooks the audience. The hook must be followed by the topic and then the thesis. The thesis must be coherent and

Environmental Sustainability and Public Policy Research Paper

Environmental Sustainability and Public Policy - Research Paper Example But as the world now looks in retrospect, it’s evident that this growth has come at a cost. A cost which the future generations will have to bear if the respective practices pursue. Nature has provided us with the vast pool of resources that have fuelled our industrial growth alongside provision of basic sustenance materials such as food, water and air. But rampant anthropocentrism has made most industries oblivious to the consequences of growth at the expense of a degenerating ecosystem. While economists have historically acclaimed that human beings have unlimited wants but limited resources, the emphasis has lied on financial resources. Natural resources have always been thought of as being infinite. This thought has eventually led to what Garrett Hardin deemed as the Tragedy of the commons, multiple individuals acting independently and rationally consulting their own self-interest, depleting a shared resource without any consideration for the future sustainability of that r esource. This phenomenon has gained due attention from scientific circles and has inevitably transcended to political and administrative circles as well. By virtue of sharing a common environment, global initiatives are being taken to analyze the extent the environmental damages have taken place and modify the practices that need to take place. We are dependent on the environment for our survival and growth, and in return the environment requires our reciprocation for its sustenance. Facing countless environmental issues, the onus for environmental sustainability lies on governments, industries, citizens and every inhabitant of this planet; by virtue of being stakeholders. Some of the most pressing environmental issues that have surfaced include: Biodiversity: To protect ecosystems and curb extinction of species, otherwise it is bound to cause discrepancies in the natural food chain. This will automatically be a great loss for the environment and pose as a hurdle in sustainability. Climate change effects on ecosystems: The melting of glaciers and over all global biodiversity depletion is causing damage to the ecosystems as animal habitats are changing drastically. Oil pollution: Global oil mining and leaks such as the BP New Mexico leak have created massive setbacks in the animal population and permanently damaged sea beds. Several animal species are now included in the endangered species list as a consequence. Thus, it is the prime purpose of governments and environment protecting agencies to look into more environmental friendly energy sources and for now, a safer incident-free transportation system. Biosafety: To add artificial ecosystem catalizers in place of endangered species to add value back to the system and assuage the prevalent damages in the affected region. This is the least our advanced technology can do to add to the environment in place of the damages it has caused. Perhaps science and environmental sustainability can perhaps one day be known a s coexisting rather than being antonyms. Global dimming: The reflection of causes an opposite effect of global warming and doesn’t allow the sun’s heat and energy to pass though. This is known to have caused the droughts in Ethiopia. Thus, CO2 levels need to be looked at and controlled otherwise they will play

Placement Paper Essay Example for Free

Placement Paper Essay The placement in focus is a group of 15 – 19 year-old individuals who have been excluded from mainstream education due to behavioral problems. These problems can be generalized according to the description made by the American Psychological Association (2000) of oppositional defiant disorder or ODD as â€Å"a recurrent pattern of negativistic, defiant, disobedient, and hostile behavior toward authority figures. † Based on the theory developed in APA (2000), individuals who suffer from ODD find much difficulty in being able to operate effectively in a traditional learning environment. This falls in line with my findings on the social and personal development needs of young people in the placement. There were various areas identified where the individuals in the placement needed to develop. On a social level, the individuals need to develop forging less antagonistic relationships with one another. What was perceived throughout the work period of the individuals was that antagonistic factions have bee built up. These factions generally tended to have a racial characteristic, with those with the same racial traits (such as the Blacks or the Latinos), finding it reasonable to stay with one another. While this cliquing activity is normal amongst teenagers, what is not normal is the amount of antagonism that one clique gives to another. Another problem is that there are a few people who are left out by all of the cliques, and these people are the ones who are picked on most of the time. Being defenseless, these people have no choice but to take the psychological, and occasionally physical battery thrown at them by other members of the placement group. Towards solving this difficulty, there are several social areas within the members of the group that need to be developed. First is their sense of security. What is obvious is that many of the placement members are using membership to a clique as a way to have a group that would defend them when they are antagonized against. What should be developed in them is the idea that they do not need a clique to defend them against antagonism because the placement group is not a hostile environment but rather an environment for cooperative and mutual learning. If the members of the placement realize this, the fear between cliques that is generating conflict would abate and the members of the placement would learn to get along with one another better. The second area of social development is tolerance. The placement members should be acquainted with the concept of pluralism, that is, recognizing that there are different, conflicting ideas from different people that can coexist through mutual respect. An example of the lack of this trait is observed in cases when members get into an argument. Each member tries as much as possible to prove to the other that the other is wrong, and each is unwilling to make any concessions. It is important to develop in the placement members, the ability to recognize the value of the argument of others and to see that through reasonable debate and proper concessions, two arguments can reach an acceptable middle ground. On the level of personal development, there are also several points identified by the findings. First among these is that the placement members need to build a sense of life-direction. It was observed that many of the placement members do not participant because they feel that participation is pointless. The value of the education system is nonexistent within their perspectives and they believe that they are just wasting their time. Thus, what should be developed is the value of a good education. The placement members must be made to realize what opportunities they are giving up without a proper education. Secondly, diligence is another value that should be developed within the placement members. Most of the time, members try to seek the easiest way to accomplish the task, without considering that some tasks would take considerable effort to accomplish. While there is nothing wrong with trying to find shortcuts and the initiative of doing so is actually a positive characteristic, what should be developed in the placement group is the ability to realize when hard work is required by a task. These social and personal developmental needs should be addressed in order to help the members of the placement group function normally. Second Prompt In the project accomplished, four youths were asked to go to the local park where materials were provided for them for them to build a â€Å"rocket ship† that would contain an egg. The materials given were paper, scissors, cellotape, and the egg. Their objective was to make a contained for the egg such that when the container is launched (like a rocket ship) 25 yards high into the air with the egg contained in it, the egg would not break upon the ship’s impact on the ground. The objective therefore is to create a container that would allow the egg to survive being launched. In giving the youths the project, the facilitator presented the instructions clearly, so that the youths would understand exactly what was required for them to accomplish. The facilitator approached the topic with enthusiasm, and emphasized the â€Å"make-believe† side of the project by discussing matters about rocket ships before giving the activity. This created a deep sense of motivation among the group members which made them eager to begin working on the project. In order to help the youths become organized in working on the project, the facilitator suggested that they brainstormed first. That is, discussed individual ideas among one another so that they can synthesize the best way to accomplish the task. This work processes was very effective as seen from observing the youths at work. All of the four members were actively giving their opinions about how to go about the project. Based on the ideas that they were generating, they were slowly but surely constructing a solid plant that would later get the job done. However also during the observation, the theoretical perspectives of conflict was also playing out. The rejection of some suggestions from one member which were not well-received by another member created tension between two of the youths working on the project. The facilitator immediately made use of conflict pacifying techniques prevent the group from breaking down and the project from being left unfinished. This reinforced the earlier findings of the facilitator regarding the need for social development within the members of the placement group. The problem from a theoretical point of view is that they were highly resistant to conflicting viewpoints and see such occurrences immediately as acts of hostility that they need to counter with equal or greater hostility. Through making the members of the group see that their criticisms of each other suggestions can be utilized constructively, the tense members were pacified that the project continued. Based on a consensus among the group members, they resolved to construct the space ship by creating a hollow base filled with air. One of the members who knew how to make paper balloons created them from the material while the rest worked on the ship’s structure that would hold the egg. After they were done, they launched the ship with the egg in it and were successful at keeping the egg from breaking. What was observed by the facilitator in their success was that it strengthened their social bonds. When they saw that working together was successful, they applauded one another’s efforts and the two who had been previously antagonized against one another quickly settled their differences completely. Based on this observation, it is clear that the activity improved the youths capability to work together, to be more understanding of one another’s ideas, and to synthesize ideas in a manner that can get the task done right. What is recommended is that more activities such as the one accomplished be given to the members of the placement group. These activities can be used to convey actual learning objectives derived from the mainstream classroom. In this way, the youths would actually be learning not just about working together but about actual academic content through the activities that they perform with one another. Third Prompt There have been significant contributions of from different members of the placement. The placement experience has allowed members to become more aware about the value of education and has made members experience activities that enriched their social and personal development. The current policies in the educational system are effective as it is able to provide solutions to problems encountered in the classroom by sending problematic students to placements where they can be better acquainted with the learning process and be more ready to return to the mainstream classroom. Reference APA. (2000). The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health Disorders, Fourth Edition. American Psychiatric Publications.

Observations of Fourth Grade Foreign Language Learning

Observations of Fourth Grade Foreign Language Learning 1.1. Background of the study The purpose of this study is to investigate fourth graders learning experiences in using English as foreign language during the learning process in classroom context. In the process of learning, learners need experience as a result of what they have been involved in that learning. Experience is gained by direct involvement or participation of an event. As stated by Kellough (1998 : 280) when students are involved in direct experiences, they are using more of their sensory input channels, their learning modalities (i.e., auditory, visual, tactile, kinesthetic); and when all the senses are engaged, learning is most effective, meaningful and longest lasting. Moreover, in the context of learning English as foreign language, experience in using English is essential to achieve effective, meaningful, and longest lasting learning. As the results, learners are able to use the language for their daily communication. Experience will be better to gain when learning is done in early age. Curtain and Pesola (1988:3) stated that when language learning begins earlier, it can go on longer and provide more practice and experience, leading ultimately to greater fluency and effectiveness. This study was employed to pupils who have range age from 7 until 10 years old (concrete stages) (Curtain and Pesola, 1988). It is assumed that when they learn English from Primary School, they have more practice and experience. As supported by Curtain and Pesola (1988:3) the thinking skills of most children in elementary school foreign language programs are at the concrete stage, and experience plays a major role in all learning. However, children learning English as a foreign language in Indonesian elementary school context face many serious challenges. One challenge relates to lack of social uses of the English language real-life situations which would likely involve children in their daily life (CREST, 2002 :3). The pupils have experience in using English only from classroom context. They are lack to face real English communication. Moon (2001:14) added that in the foreign language situation, the pupils depend almost entirely on the school for input. Consequently, the English learning experience in classroom context is very essential to support pupils practice and communication simulation. For that reason, it is needed to conduct a study which is investigating whether learning experiences in our Primary School has accommodate pupils practice and simulation communication. The findings of this investigation are answered by describing learning experience from the classroom observation and categorizing data description. Learning experience is the experience in using language during the learning time, which is formulated in simulation and practices. The learning experience is developed by practice and communication simulation done by learners. By doing so, they will get a clear picture or discourse understanding about the use of language. The examples of practice and simulation communication are achieved from the physical activities (i.e., hands on experience), as cited by CREST (2002:3) children learn by way of physical activities (i.e., hands on experiences) in the context of doing things embedded in their daily lives, both individually and socially. From that hands on experience Moon (2000:6) also explained that the use of songs, rhymes, poems, drama and classroom routine all help to give children access to ready-made bits of language so they can begin to communicate. Curtain and Pesola (1988:xiv) assumed that successful language learning for children is organized in the term of concrete experienc e; considerable planning should go into the use of visual, props and realia, and hands-on activities. Concrete experience from the use of visual, props and realia and hands-on activities are able to lead pupils attain their language learning goals. Curtain and Pesola also gives example of concrete experience, those are song, rhymes, finger play, props and Concrete Materials (dialogs, role play, small-group or pair work). In addition from previous study conducted by Ririt (2004) said that various learning experiences in English program will be developed through various kinds of material, activities, such as song, stories, games, reading text, and media. It can be concluded that in this study by having practice (sing songs, do classroom routines, read text, play game) and communication simulation (dialog, role play), the pupils will be able to achieve the purpose of learning English as foreign language for young learner which is developing pupils communicative competence in language accompanying action in school context and developing pupils awareness of the importance of English in global community. It is stated on Standar Isi Kurikulum Muatan Lokal Bahasa Inggris Provinsi DKI Jakarta (2006). Mata pelajaran Bahasa Inggris di SD/MI bertujuan agar peserta didik memiliki kemampuan sebagai berikut: 1. Mengembangkan kompetensi berkomunikasi dalam bentuk lisan secara terbatas untuk mengiringi tindakan (language accompanying action) dalam konteks sekolah; 2. Memiliki kesadaraan tentang hakikat dan pentingnya Bahasa Inggris untuk menngkatkan daya saing bangsa dalam masyarakat global Standar Isi Kurikulum Muatan Lokal Bahasa Inggris Provinsi DKI Jakarta (2006) is a government policy which is listed the purpose of learning English for primary schools pupils in Jakarta. However, there are some problems about the implementation of learning experience that the pupils get from the learning. They have unvaried activities; make them bored and not interested to the learning, have the learning activities but does not give experience (it is not hands on activities); and misconception to teach grammatical than convey the meaning of language message to children. Retrieved information from http://www.businessballs.com/experiental learning.htm, there is mentioned the differences between experiential learning and conventional training and teaching. The differences are in how the learning process happens. The example of conventional training, the learning are usually presented by power point presentation, chalk-and-talk classes, reading, attending lectures, exam study, observation, planning and hypothesising, theoretical work, unreal role-play. In other hand, experiential learning presents by physical activity, games, and exercises, drama and role-play which beco mes real, actually doing the job or task, outward bound activities, teaching others, hobbies, pastimes, and passions. Based on the importance and problems of learning experience, and requirement of government policy, this study is conducted to examine the fourth graders learning experiences in using English as foreign language during the learning process in classroom context. 1.2 Research Questions The research questions of this study are: What kinds of learning experiences that pupils acquired to support their English practice and simulation? To what extend that learning experiences accommodate the pupils need? 1.3 Purpose of the study The purpose of this study is to investigate fourth graders learning experiences in using English as foreign language during the learning process in classroom context 1.4 Method of the study This study used a case study as its methodology. This study was carried out at four schools, SDN Cipinang Muara 14 Pagi East Jakarta, SDN Pisangan Timur 03 and 05 Pagi East Jakarta, SDN Pesanggrahan 06 Petang South Jakarta. The subjects of the study are fourth grader at each those schools. The research subject is pupils learning experiences in English classroom. This study used classroom observation and teacher interview to gain the data. Class observation is used to provide description of learning activities then to be analyzed into what learning experiences. Teacher interview is used as the additional data of what in teachers plan and how the implementation of learning experiences happen in the classroom. 1.5 Significance of the study This study is mainly to find out pupils learning experiences at Primary Schools. It gives a thick description of what kinds of learning experiences that pupils acquired during the learning process of English. This result will be beneficial as an input to the English teacher, school and the researcher itself; it gives the recent data about pupils English learning experiences at four grade of primary school. Thus, it will be an input for those schools in developing their school curriculum and English Department of State University of Jakarta students who are interest in teaching English to young learner. CHAPTER 2 2.1. English Learning Experiences Experience as a result of learning process is a must. Madya, S et all. (2004) stated that experiences are paramount and activities is a must in learning process.The experience it self is gained by doing activity or letting the learners to practice doing it. From Webster dictionary, the definition of experience is practical knowledge, skill, or practice derived from direct observation of or participation in events or in a particular activity (Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/experience). Pupils English learning experiences in the classroom context also can be achieved with direct participation during the learning process. During the learning process, pupils are given by teacher various learning activities which is contain various experiences. Then, as supported by Moon (2000:7) if pupils enjoy the learning activities, they will be more involved and this may increase their desire to continue. This is very positive for language learning, because if children want to continue with an activity for some time, it will give them more exposure to language input and more chance to practice the language. They will also develop more positive attitudes towards English, as they will associate it with something enjoyable and pleasing. Teaching English to the primary school students need varieties of activities. The teacher needs to plan a range of activities to avoid students getting bored. In Ferguson (2008:v) mentioned that research shows that games and activities provide a fun and interactive learning environment and promote effective language learning. When students are active, engaged, and enjoying themselves, their ability to learn and master new vocabulary and other linguistic functions is much higher than if they are simply learning by memorization or drills. Therefore, the activities which carried on experiential learning for young learner is hands on activity or physical activity. Moon (2000:8) gives example of physical activities such as making things, action songs, games, rhymes and drama provide excellent context for language learning. It is also supported by Curtain and Pesola (1988:199), they said, because children require hands-on learning experiences with concrete object, the elementary school foreign language classroom must have a wide variety of objects and material available, as many of them as possible from the target culture. Futhermore, Moon (2000:9) stated that childrens desire to communicate is very powerful and this carries over into foreign language learning. If they are engaged in an interesting activity, they will talk their heads off happily. This is very useful for language learning because it means that pupils will get plenty of practice in using the language. In this study, the practice and communication simulation that pupils use during the class is limited. Practices are singing songs, doing classroom routines, reading text, playing game, and simulation communications are dialog, role-play. Paul (2003)l mentioned some kinds of activities that can makes learning more meaningful, he stated that when playing, singing, and learning are integrated into total learning experience, the combination is very powerful. Children learn through first-hand (concrete) experiences, particularly through structured play as stated by Gipps (1994, p.26) cited in Brewster (2003). Pupils are expected to be facilitated by the teacher with concrete experiences. 2.2. English for Forth Graders The characteristic of young learner based on CREST (2002:3) children have their own world, which is far different from that of adults. The pupil is not the mini adult. They have their own way to learn. As stated also in CREST (2002:5), the characteristics of children are: Children learn naturally Children know a lot about literacy before schooling All children can learn Children learn best when learning is kept whole, meaningful, interesting, and functional. Children learn best when they make their own choices Children learn best as a community of learners in a non-competitive environment Children learn best by talking and doing in a social context. Curtain and Pesola (1988:67) explained those children ages 8 to 10 is named Intermediate Students. This intermediate students is categorized to grades 3, 4, and 5. Children at this age are at a maximum of openness to people and situations different from their own experience. For these students, a global emphasis is extremely important, because it gives them an opportunity to work with information from all parts of the world. As intermediate develop the cognitive characteristics of the concrete operations stage, they begin to understand cause and effect. Students in intermediate grades can work well in groups. They can begin a more systematic approach to language learning, but they continue to need first-hand, concrete experiences as starting point and continue to benefit from learning that is embedded in context. Moon (2000:7) defines that children are naturally curious and active. They eagerly explore their environment and interact with people, which helps them to construct their un derstanding of the world they live in. An important way in which they do this is through physical activity and experiencing things at first hand. Children love discovering things and because they respond well to being asked to use their imagination, they may well be involved in puzzle-like activities, in making things, in drawing things, in playing games, in conducting physical movement (Harmer, 2001, p.38) 2.3. Related Researches on the English Learning Experiences There is a study about learning experience, which has done by Kartika, Jatu (2007). Her study entitled Supporting Basic Literacy through English Learning Experiences is focus on students basic literacy through learning experiences. The study was done in SDN Tegallega 1 and 2 Bogor. The result of her study is students have been involved in English learning experiences in the context of executing classroom assignments but have not yet fully supported the students basic literacy. Her classroom observation data showed that students were mostly engaged in language pronunciation activity during the English and very limited learning activities were pursued to develop students self-awareness in employing English to be socially literate. Her finding from the data interview and questionnaire showed that students felt bored to be engaged in unvaried activities and felt difficult to memorize English word. The previous study conducted by Ririt (2004) entitled Fifth Grade students preferences towards English Learning at Labschool Elementary School founds that various learning experiences in English program will be developed through various kinds of material, activities, such as song, stories, games, reading text, and media. Another study, which carried out, by Astriani R. F (2006) notes that in her survey titled The English Vocabulary size of elementary school students in Jakarta, the score of average vocabulary size of the students is 477 words out of 1000 words. She is recommended that the teachers in elementary school should emphasized teaching and learning English in vocabulary and they also apply creative teaching and learning techniques such as singing, drawing, telling stories, and mentioning something through games so that the pupils will feel happy when they are learning English. Yeni (2009) in her research entitled Using Games to increase students participation in Listening Activity at SDN Pisangan Timur 11 shows that games; missing lyric, word race, Simon say, whats the number and song puzzle can be used to increase students participation. It also reports that there was significant improvement to the students participation in listening activities. Students were actively involved in listening activity. The students are interested in following the game and feel enjoy confident in participating activities. 2.4. Conceptual Framework The purpose of the study is to get factual data and information of pupils learning experiences in English classroom context by using describing, categorizing and analyzing classroom observation. The researcher decided to conduct the study on fourth grade because English is introduced in Primary School started from fourth grade of primary school. The study is also meant to see whether pupils have various kinds of learning experiences during the learning process. Learning experience can be developed by practice and simulation communication. If the pupils have experience in practice and simulation, it is assumed that they have meaningful, effective and longest lasting learning experience. 2.5. Definition of Terms Learning experience is the experience in using language during the learning time, which is formulated in simulation and practices. The learning experience is developed by practice and communication simulation done by learners. Practice means sing songs, do classroom routines, read text, play game and communication simulation here and communication simulation means dialog, role-play. CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY This chapter describes how this study is carried out. It covers the design of the study, the subjects of the study, instrument of the study, data collection procedures, and data interpretation. 3. 1. The Design of the Study This study is conducted through a case study in order to find in depth (1) what kinds of learning experiences that pupils acquired to support their English practice and simulation (2) To what extend that learning experiences accommodate the pupils need. The data is picked up through classroom observation and interview. 3.2 Research Setting 3. 2. 1 Time and place of the Study This study was carried out from March up to April 2009 in four primary schools. They are SD Negeri Pisangan Timur 03 and 05 pagi, East Jakarta; SD Negeri Cipinang Muara 14, East Jakarta; and SD Negeri Pesanggrahan 06 Petang, South Jakarta. 3. 2. 2 Subject of the Study The subjects of this research are the fourth graders from four schools in Jakarta. Their experiences during the English class were be observed and recorded. 3. 3 Data Collection Method For the first research question What kinds of learning experiences that pupils acquired to support their English practice? The data was gathered by observing and recording the pupils and teachers interaction during their English class. After observing and recording, the visual data was transcribed. The data transcriptions were described as data description. Afterward the data was be classified by bolding the description, it was be reduced based on the needs of the study and will be put in the table because of the amount of data collected during the classroom observation. Next, the data reduced will be put in the table which is categorized based on the synthesis which was mention in the conceptual framework. The categorization was made in order to answer the research question. Second research question, to what extend that learning experience accommodate the pupils need? is answered by analysing the data categorization. Besides, the interview is also used to support the information of learning experience in the data analysing. It is open-ended interview and it is done after the class ended and recorded. 3. 4. Data Interpretation The data from the recorded classroom observation was analyzed from transcribing and categorizing learning experience data. The information of pupils learning experience also gathered from data interview. The data obtained in this study were mainly descriptive data, which had been narrated by using a procedure, proposed by Woods (1996: 27); and Bailey (1996) described as follow: Data Labeling The data were classified by bolding the description related to the focus of the study. Data Reducing The observation data were reduced based on the needs of the study and was put in the table because of the amount of data collected during the classroom observation. Data Categorizing The data reduced will be categorized based on the synthesis, which was mention in the conceptual framework. The categorization was made in order to answer the research question. CHAPTER IV Data Description and Research Findings This chapter presented data description and interpretation to lead the discussion in the research findings. The data description of this study is based on classroom observations. A. Data description A.1 Classroom Observations Data The factual data of pupils learning experiences in this study was obtained from classroom observations. The interaction between teacher and pupils from four schools observation is described in the following data description. CASE A 1. Observation on March 7th, 2009 The observation was carried on Saturday, on 06.30 to 07.40 a.m. The pupils started the class by saying Good Morning to reply teachers greeting. The pupils also said I am fine, thank you. And you? when the teacher asked them How are you?. At that time, it was the first time of observation, so the teacher introduced the observers before starting the lesson. While the teacher was introduced the observers, one of the pupils was coming late. With automatically the teacher and the pupils greeted the late boy by saying Good Morning. The pupils were asked to recall their memorization about the previous lesson. A pupil mentioned the previous lesson was question but another pupil mention public sign. Pupils were experienced to recall the information that they have studied before. Pupils were experienced to count number of their classmates. Each pupil was experienced to count one until thirty two. They counted the amount of pupils that come in the class. There were 32 pupils and 5 were absent. After all pupils are ready, they were experienced to read the picture on the whiteboard. The pupils tried to recollect their previous memory about public sign. They pay attention to the picture then mentioned the function of those public sign picture. Pupils were experienced to answer teacher question by mentioning that Cross Park sign mean you cannot park here, stripe sign mean you do not enter, turn left, turn right, go straight. Then, the pupils were asked to use their hand in giving direction of left and right sign. The pupils were experience to act out the teacher instruction by using their hands. They seemed able to differentiate right sign and left with enjoyable. Next, the pupils guessed the second pictured drawn by the teacher on the whiteboard. They mentioned it was a picture of lampu lalulintas. Pupils were experience translating word into English with teacher scaffolding. Then they have to repeat words written in whiteboard in order get the right pronunciation. Pupils were experience to pronounce traffic light, red, yellow and green. The pupils also were experience to mention the meaning of each traffic light lamp colour. They were able to identify meaning of the green lamp for go, yellow lamp for be careful and red lamp for stop. After mentioning the meaning, the pupils were experience to pronounce the words such as stop, be careful and go by repeating their teacher. Then pupils were reminded by their teacher, the expression for borrowing something from friends. They were experience to mention the expression for borrowing by saying May I borrow your †¦. The pupils also were experience to practice the conversation in simple dialogue. They practiced in pairs. After practicing the conversation, the pupils were noisy. The teacher engaged the pupils to sing happy song in order to get pupils silent. Pupils were experience in English to sing Happy song, please silent. That time, pupils have a small test. Before starting the test, a pupil cleaned the whiteboard in responding teacher instruction. Pupils were experience in English to act out teacher instruction such as Clean the board please; Listen to me please; Sit down please; Silent please. They were experience in English to do the teacher instructions. Afterwards, the pupils were experience in English to answer the written test. They matched part A into part B. Finishing done the test, the pupils were experience to check the answer test with a whole class. The pupils were given chance to come forward to write the answers on the whiteboard. Most pupils were enthusiastic to come forward. They raised hand and the teacher selected them. While a pupils writing on the whiteboard, the others pupils sing a song Que Sera Sera. Pupils were experience in English to sing a song. In the end of the class, pupils were experience in English to mention what they have learnt on that day. Pupils simulated again the conversation of borrowing things from friends. After that, teacher closed the class by singing Happy song, good bye 2. Observation on March 14th, 2009 The observation was held on Saturday from 06.30 to 7.40. The class was opened by pupils greeting. Pupils were experienced to greet the teacher by saying Good Morning. Also replied greeting How are you? by saying Im fine. Thank You. And You?. Before the class starting, their sitting places were arranged. They have to sit on their own chair to avoid much tease between them. The pupils were experience in English to mention previous study such as public sign, stripe sign, do not enter, no smoking, push, pull, exit, enter, turn right, turn left. Then, they asked to pay attention to the picture shown by the teacher. The pupils were experience to guess the picture and to conclude the picture. The picture was not clear enough to be seen from the back class, so some pupils come forward to look at the picture. They were ordered to sit, the teacher said Sit down please then the pupils sat on their chair. The pupils were experience to do the instruction in English. After the pupils settled down, the pupils were asked to conlude the pictures theme. They were experience to conclude the theme pictures by saying it is about Hobby. The teacher wrote some words on the whiteboard, the pupils were experience to repeat and to read aloud words such as watching, playing soccer, swimming, traveling, sleeping, reading books. Every word they were repeated and read, they were experience to gesticulate it. They act as they were playing soccer, swimming, traveling, sleeping, reading books and cooking. The pupils seemed enjoy the activites. Next sequence, the pupils were asked about their hobby. They were experience in English answering teachers question What is your hobby? by saying My hobby is †¦... Then, the teacher asked the pupils to ask her hobby. The pupils were experience in English to question the teacher by saying What is your hobby?. After that the pupils were explained about the difference of his and her. They were given the example question in distinguishing his or her. The pupils were experience to pronounce his and her. Subsequently, the pupils were experience to do questioning and answering to their friend about hobby. They practiced how to ask their friends hobby use English. The pupils were experience to practice conversation in a simple dialog and to note it in their workbook. Pupils were experience in English do the task in written. In the closure time, the pupils were experience to write home work in their workbook do the same task. They have to question their families hobby. Teacher closed the class by saying Good bye. 3. Observation on April 18th, 2009 The observation was done every Saturday, at 06.30 to 7.30 a.m because the English class is every Saturday. Pupils started the class by praying and then greeting the teacher. They were experience greeting the teacher by saying Good Morning. Next, the pupils were asked to guess the picture that be drawn by the teacher on whiteboard. They were experience to identify the picture by saying Radio and Television. After that, they have to pay attention to what teachers was done. The pupils were supposed to guess the teachers act. They were experience to conclude the word from teachers action. The pupils said Lamp when the teacher turn off and turn on the lamp. The pupils were experienced repeating the teacher by saying Radio, TV, and lamp. From the three pictures, the pupils asked to guess what the key word for those things is. The pupils have the right answered which is electronic. The core activities of that day, pupils were experience to practice turn on and off the lamp, turn on and turn off the tv, play and eject the cassette from the radio. The pupils followed step by step the teachers instruction like turn on the tv please, turn on the lamp please, turn off the lamp please. In practicing play and eject the radio, the pupils were experience to identify the button in the radio. They have known which play button, stop button, rewind button, fast forward button are. They also were experience to mention each button function. Finally, they were experience to write the right procedure of playing the cassette in their workbook. The pupils have to arrange the sentences into good order. While the pupils writing the task, some pupils were chosen randomly to come forward in front of the class. They practiced press the buttons from the button pictures on the whiteboard. Before the class was dismissed, pupils were asked to conclude what they have learned on that day. The class were closed by the teacher saying Good bye and pupils were experiences in English replaying say Good bye. CASE B 4. Observation on March 3rd, 2009 The observation was conducted on Tuesday afternoon at 12.30 to 13.40. The pupils replied teachers greeting by saying Good Morning. Afterwards, they sang a song titled Happy song but with a little different melodies. The pupils recalled their experience in previous meeting by mentioning the English of lemari with cupboard. The class started with guessing the English of thing that teachers point out. The teachers pointed out two cupboards, and the pupils mentioned it by saying These are cupboards. Some pupils seemed still confused the diffrence of these are and this. Then they listened to teacher explanation about the difference of the these and this. The pupils were experience to read aloud This is a cupboard; These are books; That is a chair; Those are chairs Finally, the pupils were experience to do the exercise fill in with this, these, that or those. They did the task in an exercise paper. While pupils were answering the questions, they were checked for the absent. After finish an swer the exercise, the key answer be written on the whiteboard. They were experience to write the answer on the whiteboard. Teacher checked pupils answer on the board. The pupils checked their friends work or peer correction. Teacher closed the class by submitting pupils paper. 5. Observation on March 10th, 2009 The pupils started the class by saying Good Afternoon to the teache Observations of Fourth Grade Foreign Language Learning Observations of Fourth Grade Foreign Language Learning 1.1. Background of the study The purpose of this study is to investigate fourth graders learning experiences in using English as foreign language during the learning process in classroom context. In the process of learning, learners need experience as a result of what they have been involved in that learning. Experience is gained by direct involvement or participation of an event. As stated by Kellough (1998 : 280) when students are involved in direct experiences, they are using more of their sensory input channels, their learning modalities (i.e., auditory, visual, tactile, kinesthetic); and when all the senses are engaged, learning is most effective, meaningful and longest lasting. Moreover, in the context of learning English as foreign language, experience in using English is essential to achieve effective, meaningful, and longest lasting learning. As the results, learners are able to use the language for their daily communication. Experience will be better to gain when learning is done in early age. Curtain and Pesola (1988:3) stated that when language learning begins earlier, it can go on longer and provide more practice and experience, leading ultimately to greater fluency and effectiveness. This study was employed to pupils who have range age from 7 until 10 years old (concrete stages) (Curtain and Pesola, 1988). It is assumed that when they learn English from Primary School, they have more practice and experience. As supported by Curtain and Pesola (1988:3) the thinking skills of most children in elementary school foreign language programs are at the concrete stage, and experience plays a major role in all learning. However, children learning English as a foreign language in Indonesian elementary school context face many serious challenges. One challenge relates to lack of social uses of the English language real-life situations which would likely involve children in their daily life (CREST, 2002 :3). The pupils have experience in using English only from classroom context. They are lack to face real English communication. Moon (2001:14) added that in the foreign language situation, the pupils depend almost entirely on the school for input. Consequently, the English learning experience in classroom context is very essential to support pupils practice and communication simulation. For that reason, it is needed to conduct a study which is investigating whether learning experiences in our Primary School has accommodate pupils practice and simulation communication. The findings of this investigation are answered by describing learning experience from the classroom observation and categorizing data description. Learning experience is the experience in using language during the learning time, which is formulated in simulation and practices. The learning experience is developed by practice and communication simulation done by learners. By doing so, they will get a clear picture or discourse understanding about the use of language. The examples of practice and simulation communication are achieved from the physical activities (i.e., hands on experience), as cited by CREST (2002:3) children learn by way of physical activities (i.e., hands on experiences) in the context of doing things embedded in their daily lives, both individually and socially. From that hands on experience Moon (2000:6) also explained that the use of songs, rhymes, poems, drama and classroom routine all help to give children access to ready-made bits of language so they can begin to communicate. Curtain and Pesola (1988:xiv) assumed that successful language learning for children is organized in the term of concrete experienc e; considerable planning should go into the use of visual, props and realia, and hands-on activities. Concrete experience from the use of visual, props and realia and hands-on activities are able to lead pupils attain their language learning goals. Curtain and Pesola also gives example of concrete experience, those are song, rhymes, finger play, props and Concrete Materials (dialogs, role play, small-group or pair work). In addition from previous study conducted by Ririt (2004) said that various learning experiences in English program will be developed through various kinds of material, activities, such as song, stories, games, reading text, and media. It can be concluded that in this study by having practice (sing songs, do classroom routines, read text, play game) and communication simulation (dialog, role play), the pupils will be able to achieve the purpose of learning English as foreign language for young learner which is developing pupils communicative competence in language accompanying action in school context and developing pupils awareness of the importance of English in global community. It is stated on Standar Isi Kurikulum Muatan Lokal Bahasa Inggris Provinsi DKI Jakarta (2006). Mata pelajaran Bahasa Inggris di SD/MI bertujuan agar peserta didik memiliki kemampuan sebagai berikut: 1. Mengembangkan kompetensi berkomunikasi dalam bentuk lisan secara terbatas untuk mengiringi tindakan (language accompanying action) dalam konteks sekolah; 2. Memiliki kesadaraan tentang hakikat dan pentingnya Bahasa Inggris untuk menngkatkan daya saing bangsa dalam masyarakat global Standar Isi Kurikulum Muatan Lokal Bahasa Inggris Provinsi DKI Jakarta (2006) is a government policy which is listed the purpose of learning English for primary schools pupils in Jakarta. However, there are some problems about the implementation of learning experience that the pupils get from the learning. They have unvaried activities; make them bored and not interested to the learning, have the learning activities but does not give experience (it is not hands on activities); and misconception to teach grammatical than convey the meaning of language message to children. Retrieved information from http://www.businessballs.com/experiental learning.htm, there is mentioned the differences between experiential learning and conventional training and teaching. The differences are in how the learning process happens. The example of conventional training, the learning are usually presented by power point presentation, chalk-and-talk classes, reading, attending lectures, exam study, observation, planning and hypothesising, theoretical work, unreal role-play. In other hand, experiential learning presents by physical activity, games, and exercises, drama and role-play which beco mes real, actually doing the job or task, outward bound activities, teaching others, hobbies, pastimes, and passions. Based on the importance and problems of learning experience, and requirement of government policy, this study is conducted to examine the fourth graders learning experiences in using English as foreign language during the learning process in classroom context. 1.2 Research Questions The research questions of this study are: What kinds of learning experiences that pupils acquired to support their English practice and simulation? To what extend that learning experiences accommodate the pupils need? 1.3 Purpose of the study The purpose of this study is to investigate fourth graders learning experiences in using English as foreign language during the learning process in classroom context 1.4 Method of the study This study used a case study as its methodology. This study was carried out at four schools, SDN Cipinang Muara 14 Pagi East Jakarta, SDN Pisangan Timur 03 and 05 Pagi East Jakarta, SDN Pesanggrahan 06 Petang South Jakarta. The subjects of the study are fourth grader at each those schools. The research subject is pupils learning experiences in English classroom. This study used classroom observation and teacher interview to gain the data. Class observation is used to provide description of learning activities then to be analyzed into what learning experiences. Teacher interview is used as the additional data of what in teachers plan and how the implementation of learning experiences happen in the classroom. 1.5 Significance of the study This study is mainly to find out pupils learning experiences at Primary Schools. It gives a thick description of what kinds of learning experiences that pupils acquired during the learning process of English. This result will be beneficial as an input to the English teacher, school and the researcher itself; it gives the recent data about pupils English learning experiences at four grade of primary school. Thus, it will be an input for those schools in developing their school curriculum and English Department of State University of Jakarta students who are interest in teaching English to young learner. CHAPTER 2 2.1. English Learning Experiences Experience as a result of learning process is a must. Madya, S et all. (2004) stated that experiences are paramount and activities is a must in learning process.The experience it self is gained by doing activity or letting the learners to practice doing it. From Webster dictionary, the definition of experience is practical knowledge, skill, or practice derived from direct observation of or participation in events or in a particular activity (Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/experience). Pupils English learning experiences in the classroom context also can be achieved with direct participation during the learning process. During the learning process, pupils are given by teacher various learning activities which is contain various experiences. Then, as supported by Moon (2000:7) if pupils enjoy the learning activities, they will be more involved and this may increase their desire to continue. This is very positive for language learning, because if children want to continue with an activity for some time, it will give them more exposure to language input and more chance to practice the language. They will also develop more positive attitudes towards English, as they will associate it with something enjoyable and pleasing. Teaching English to the primary school students need varieties of activities. The teacher needs to plan a range of activities to avoid students getting bored. In Ferguson (2008:v) mentioned that research shows that games and activities provide a fun and interactive learning environment and promote effective language learning. When students are active, engaged, and enjoying themselves, their ability to learn and master new vocabulary and other linguistic functions is much higher than if they are simply learning by memorization or drills. Therefore, the activities which carried on experiential learning for young learner is hands on activity or physical activity. Moon (2000:8) gives example of physical activities such as making things, action songs, games, rhymes and drama provide excellent context for language learning. It is also supported by Curtain and Pesola (1988:199), they said, because children require hands-on learning experiences with concrete object, the elementary school foreign language classroom must have a wide variety of objects and material available, as many of them as possible from the target culture. Futhermore, Moon (2000:9) stated that childrens desire to communicate is very powerful and this carries over into foreign language learning. If they are engaged in an interesting activity, they will talk their heads off happily. This is very useful for language learning because it means that pupils will get plenty of practice in using the language. In this study, the practice and communication simulation that pupils use during the class is limited. Practices are singing songs, doing classroom routines, reading text, playing game, and simulation communications are dialog, role-play. Paul (2003)l mentioned some kinds of activities that can makes learning more meaningful, he stated that when playing, singing, and learning are integrated into total learning experience, the combination is very powerful. Children learn through first-hand (concrete) experiences, particularly through structured play as stated by Gipps (1994, p.26) cited in Brewster (2003). Pupils are expected to be facilitated by the teacher with concrete experiences. 2.2. English for Forth Graders The characteristic of young learner based on CREST (2002:3) children have their own world, which is far different from that of adults. The pupil is not the mini adult. They have their own way to learn. As stated also in CREST (2002:5), the characteristics of children are: Children learn naturally Children know a lot about literacy before schooling All children can learn Children learn best when learning is kept whole, meaningful, interesting, and functional. Children learn best when they make their own choices Children learn best as a community of learners in a non-competitive environment Children learn best by talking and doing in a social context. Curtain and Pesola (1988:67) explained those children ages 8 to 10 is named Intermediate Students. This intermediate students is categorized to grades 3, 4, and 5. Children at this age are at a maximum of openness to people and situations different from their own experience. For these students, a global emphasis is extremely important, because it gives them an opportunity to work with information from all parts of the world. As intermediate develop the cognitive characteristics of the concrete operations stage, they begin to understand cause and effect. Students in intermediate grades can work well in groups. They can begin a more systematic approach to language learning, but they continue to need first-hand, concrete experiences as starting point and continue to benefit from learning that is embedded in context. Moon (2000:7) defines that children are naturally curious and active. They eagerly explore their environment and interact with people, which helps them to construct their un derstanding of the world they live in. An important way in which they do this is through physical activity and experiencing things at first hand. Children love discovering things and because they respond well to being asked to use their imagination, they may well be involved in puzzle-like activities, in making things, in drawing things, in playing games, in conducting physical movement (Harmer, 2001, p.38) 2.3. Related Researches on the English Learning Experiences There is a study about learning experience, which has done by Kartika, Jatu (2007). Her study entitled Supporting Basic Literacy through English Learning Experiences is focus on students basic literacy through learning experiences. The study was done in SDN Tegallega 1 and 2 Bogor. The result of her study is students have been involved in English learning experiences in the context of executing classroom assignments but have not yet fully supported the students basic literacy. Her classroom observation data showed that students were mostly engaged in language pronunciation activity during the English and very limited learning activities were pursued to develop students self-awareness in employing English to be socially literate. Her finding from the data interview and questionnaire showed that students felt bored to be engaged in unvaried activities and felt difficult to memorize English word. The previous study conducted by Ririt (2004) entitled Fifth Grade students preferences towards English Learning at Labschool Elementary School founds that various learning experiences in English program will be developed through various kinds of material, activities, such as song, stories, games, reading text, and media. Another study, which carried out, by Astriani R. F (2006) notes that in her survey titled The English Vocabulary size of elementary school students in Jakarta, the score of average vocabulary size of the students is 477 words out of 1000 words. She is recommended that the teachers in elementary school should emphasized teaching and learning English in vocabulary and they also apply creative teaching and learning techniques such as singing, drawing, telling stories, and mentioning something through games so that the pupils will feel happy when they are learning English. Yeni (2009) in her research entitled Using Games to increase students participation in Listening Activity at SDN Pisangan Timur 11 shows that games; missing lyric, word race, Simon say, whats the number and song puzzle can be used to increase students participation. It also reports that there was significant improvement to the students participation in listening activities. Students were actively involved in listening activity. The students are interested in following the game and feel enjoy confident in participating activities. 2.4. Conceptual Framework The purpose of the study is to get factual data and information of pupils learning experiences in English classroom context by using describing, categorizing and analyzing classroom observation. The researcher decided to conduct the study on fourth grade because English is introduced in Primary School started from fourth grade of primary school. The study is also meant to see whether pupils have various kinds of learning experiences during the learning process. Learning experience can be developed by practice and simulation communication. If the pupils have experience in practice and simulation, it is assumed that they have meaningful, effective and longest lasting learning experience. 2.5. Definition of Terms Learning experience is the experience in using language during the learning time, which is formulated in simulation and practices. The learning experience is developed by practice and communication simulation done by learners. Practice means sing songs, do classroom routines, read text, play game and communication simulation here and communication simulation means dialog, role-play. CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY This chapter describes how this study is carried out. It covers the design of the study, the subjects of the study, instrument of the study, data collection procedures, and data interpretation. 3. 1. The Design of the Study This study is conducted through a case study in order to find in depth (1) what kinds of learning experiences that pupils acquired to support their English practice and simulation (2) To what extend that learning experiences accommodate the pupils need. The data is picked up through classroom observation and interview. 3.2 Research Setting 3. 2. 1 Time and place of the Study This study was carried out from March up to April 2009 in four primary schools. They are SD Negeri Pisangan Timur 03 and 05 pagi, East Jakarta; SD Negeri Cipinang Muara 14, East Jakarta; and SD Negeri Pesanggrahan 06 Petang, South Jakarta. 3. 2. 2 Subject of the Study The subjects of this research are the fourth graders from four schools in Jakarta. Their experiences during the English class were be observed and recorded. 3. 3 Data Collection Method For the first research question What kinds of learning experiences that pupils acquired to support their English practice? The data was gathered by observing and recording the pupils and teachers interaction during their English class. After observing and recording, the visual data was transcribed. The data transcriptions were described as data description. Afterward the data was be classified by bolding the description, it was be reduced based on the needs of the study and will be put in the table because of the amount of data collected during the classroom observation. Next, the data reduced will be put in the table which is categorized based on the synthesis which was mention in the conceptual framework. The categorization was made in order to answer the research question. Second research question, to what extend that learning experience accommodate the pupils need? is answered by analysing the data categorization. Besides, the interview is also used to support the information of learning experience in the data analysing. It is open-ended interview and it is done after the class ended and recorded. 3. 4. Data Interpretation The data from the recorded classroom observation was analyzed from transcribing and categorizing learning experience data. The information of pupils learning experience also gathered from data interview. The data obtained in this study were mainly descriptive data, which had been narrated by using a procedure, proposed by Woods (1996: 27); and Bailey (1996) described as follow: Data Labeling The data were classified by bolding the description related to the focus of the study. Data Reducing The observation data were reduced based on the needs of the study and was put in the table because of the amount of data collected during the classroom observation. Data Categorizing The data reduced will be categorized based on the synthesis, which was mention in the conceptual framework. The categorization was made in order to answer the research question. CHAPTER IV Data Description and Research Findings This chapter presented data description and interpretation to lead the discussion in the research findings. The data description of this study is based on classroom observations. A. Data description A.1 Classroom Observations Data The factual data of pupils learning experiences in this study was obtained from classroom observations. The interaction between teacher and pupils from four schools observation is described in the following data description. CASE A 1. Observation on March 7th, 2009 The observation was carried on Saturday, on 06.30 to 07.40 a.m. The pupils started the class by saying Good Morning to reply teachers greeting. The pupils also said I am fine, thank you. And you? when the teacher asked them How are you?. At that time, it was the first time of observation, so the teacher introduced the observers before starting the lesson. While the teacher was introduced the observers, one of the pupils was coming late. With automatically the teacher and the pupils greeted the late boy by saying Good Morning. The pupils were asked to recall their memorization about the previous lesson. A pupil mentioned the previous lesson was question but another pupil mention public sign. Pupils were experienced to recall the information that they have studied before. Pupils were experienced to count number of their classmates. Each pupil was experienced to count one until thirty two. They counted the amount of pupils that come in the class. There were 32 pupils and 5 were absent. After all pupils are ready, they were experienced to read the picture on the whiteboard. The pupils tried to recollect their previous memory about public sign. They pay attention to the picture then mentioned the function of those public sign picture. Pupils were experienced to answer teacher question by mentioning that Cross Park sign mean you cannot park here, stripe sign mean you do not enter, turn left, turn right, go straight. Then, the pupils were asked to use their hand in giving direction of left and right sign. The pupils were experience to act out the teacher instruction by using their hands. They seemed able to differentiate right sign and left with enjoyable. Next, the pupils guessed the second pictured drawn by the teacher on the whiteboard. They mentioned it was a picture of lampu lalulintas. Pupils were experience translating word into English with teacher scaffolding. Then they have to repeat words written in whiteboard in order get the right pronunciation. Pupils were experience to pronounce traffic light, red, yellow and green. The pupils also were experience to mention the meaning of each traffic light lamp colour. They were able to identify meaning of the green lamp for go, yellow lamp for be careful and red lamp for stop. After mentioning the meaning, the pupils were experience to pronounce the words such as stop, be careful and go by repeating their teacher. Then pupils were reminded by their teacher, the expression for borrowing something from friends. They were experience to mention the expression for borrowing by saying May I borrow your †¦. The pupils also were experience to practice the conversation in simple dialogue. They practiced in pairs. After practicing the conversation, the pupils were noisy. The teacher engaged the pupils to sing happy song in order to get pupils silent. Pupils were experience in English to sing Happy song, please silent. That time, pupils have a small test. Before starting the test, a pupil cleaned the whiteboard in responding teacher instruction. Pupils were experience in English to act out teacher instruction such as Clean the board please; Listen to me please; Sit down please; Silent please. They were experience in English to do the teacher instructions. Afterwards, the pupils were experience in English to answer the written test. They matched part A into part B. Finishing done the test, the pupils were experience to check the answer test with a whole class. The pupils were given chance to come forward to write the answers on the whiteboard. Most pupils were enthusiastic to come forward. They raised hand and the teacher selected them. While a pupils writing on the whiteboard, the others pupils sing a song Que Sera Sera. Pupils were experience in English to sing a song. In the end of the class, pupils were experience in English to mention what they have learnt on that day. Pupils simulated again the conversation of borrowing things from friends. After that, teacher closed the class by singing Happy song, good bye 2. Observation on March 14th, 2009 The observation was held on Saturday from 06.30 to 7.40. The class was opened by pupils greeting. Pupils were experienced to greet the teacher by saying Good Morning. Also replied greeting How are you? by saying Im fine. Thank You. And You?. Before the class starting, their sitting places were arranged. They have to sit on their own chair to avoid much tease between them. The pupils were experience in English to mention previous study such as public sign, stripe sign, do not enter, no smoking, push, pull, exit, enter, turn right, turn left. Then, they asked to pay attention to the picture shown by the teacher. The pupils were experience to guess the picture and to conclude the picture. The picture was not clear enough to be seen from the back class, so some pupils come forward to look at the picture. They were ordered to sit, the teacher said Sit down please then the pupils sat on their chair. The pupils were experience to do the instruction in English. After the pupils settled down, the pupils were asked to conlude the pictures theme. They were experience to conclude the theme pictures by saying it is about Hobby. The teacher wrote some words on the whiteboard, the pupils were experience to repeat and to read aloud words such as watching, playing soccer, swimming, traveling, sleeping, reading books. Every word they were repeated and read, they were experience to gesticulate it. They act as they were playing soccer, swimming, traveling, sleeping, reading books and cooking. The pupils seemed enjoy the activites. Next sequence, the pupils were asked about their hobby. They were experience in English answering teachers question What is your hobby? by saying My hobby is †¦... Then, the teacher asked the pupils to ask her hobby. The pupils were experience in English to question the teacher by saying What is your hobby?. After that the pupils were explained about the difference of his and her. They were given the example question in distinguishing his or her. The pupils were experience to pronounce his and her. Subsequently, the pupils were experience to do questioning and answering to their friend about hobby. They practiced how to ask their friends hobby use English. The pupils were experience to practice conversation in a simple dialog and to note it in their workbook. Pupils were experience in English do the task in written. In the closure time, the pupils were experience to write home work in their workbook do the same task. They have to question their families hobby. Teacher closed the class by saying Good bye. 3. Observation on April 18th, 2009 The observation was done every Saturday, at 06.30 to 7.30 a.m because the English class is every Saturday. Pupils started the class by praying and then greeting the teacher. They were experience greeting the teacher by saying Good Morning. Next, the pupils were asked to guess the picture that be drawn by the teacher on whiteboard. They were experience to identify the picture by saying Radio and Television. After that, they have to pay attention to what teachers was done. The pupils were supposed to guess the teachers act. They were experience to conclude the word from teachers action. The pupils said Lamp when the teacher turn off and turn on the lamp. The pupils were experienced repeating the teacher by saying Radio, TV, and lamp. From the three pictures, the pupils asked to guess what the key word for those things is. The pupils have the right answered which is electronic. The core activities of that day, pupils were experience to practice turn on and off the lamp, turn on and turn off the tv, play and eject the cassette from the radio. The pupils followed step by step the teachers instruction like turn on the tv please, turn on the lamp please, turn off the lamp please. In practicing play and eject the radio, the pupils were experience to identify the button in the radio. They have known which play button, stop button, rewind button, fast forward button are. They also were experience to mention each button function. Finally, they were experience to write the right procedure of playing the cassette in their workbook. The pupils have to arrange the sentences into good order. While the pupils writing the task, some pupils were chosen randomly to come forward in front of the class. They practiced press the buttons from the button pictures on the whiteboard. Before the class was dismissed, pupils were asked to conclude what they have learned on that day. The class were closed by the teacher saying Good bye and pupils were experiences in English replaying say Good bye. CASE B 4. Observation on March 3rd, 2009 The observation was conducted on Tuesday afternoon at 12.30 to 13.40. The pupils replied teachers greeting by saying Good Morning. Afterwards, they sang a song titled Happy song but with a little different melodies. The pupils recalled their experience in previous meeting by mentioning the English of lemari with cupboard. The class started with guessing the English of thing that teachers point out. The teachers pointed out two cupboards, and the pupils mentioned it by saying These are cupboards. Some pupils seemed still confused the diffrence of these are and this. Then they listened to teacher explanation about the difference of the these and this. The pupils were experience to read aloud This is a cupboard; These are books; That is a chair; Those are chairs Finally, the pupils were experience to do the exercise fill in with this, these, that or those. They did the task in an exercise paper. While pupils were answering the questions, they were checked for the absent. After finish an swer the exercise, the key answer be written on the whiteboard. They were experience to write the answer on the whiteboard. Teacher checked pupils answer on the board. The pupils checked their friends work or peer correction. Teacher closed the class by submitting pupils paper. 5. Observation on March 10th, 2009 The pupils started the class by saying Good Afternoon to the teache