Costa Coffee Essay

1. Executive summary In this business report we are analysing the business environment in which our company – BESO and its main competitor – Costa Coffee operate. The main objective is to research, analyse and understand the competitor’s business strategy, to find out if there is a gap in their action plan and how we can take advantage of this. The report consists of SWOT analysis of BESO and PEST analysis of both companies. The target markets of both – BESO and Costa Coffee are similar. That makes the competition between them even bigger. The report also discusses the marketing approach and the various advertising campaigns conducted by Costa Coffee and the advertising techniques we decide to adopt in the long run. The distribution system of Costa Coffee is also considered and plans to expand to different locations. The pricing strategy of BESO is based closely to the strategy of Costa Coffee as we have adopted competitive pricing. In terms of ethical issues we examined the various types of corporate social responsibilities of Costa Coffee. 2. Introduction The business report includes an analysis of Costa Coffee as a main competitor of BESO Coffee. The report examines the business environment where both companies operate in. It has been requested from the Marketing Director of BESO and also has to be focused only on the UK market. 3. BESO – Brief history BESO Coffee is a coffee chain settled in the UK in 2001. It has been established by an independent trader but later on when the business has grown, new stakeholders appeared. At first BESO’s target market was limited as well as the products it offered- only a few types of coffee and limited types of confectionary. However, only two years after launching BESO on the market it became popular through different groups of people, therefore the menu became much diversified and the target market as well. BESO has shown great performance during the years and has become one of the most recognized names on the current market. That is why Costa Coffee is determined as a main competitor of BESO. 4 5 The Marketing Profession 4. SWOT and PEST analysis 4. 1. SWOT analysis Strengths †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Efficient and trained staff Customer loyalty Brand recognition High quality coffee Friendly and relaxing atmosphere for our customers. Weaknesses †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Limited number of outlets Low levels of advertisement Interior design needs updating More range of the types of coffee available. Continual change in consumer taste Can be seen as an unhealthy product Opportunities †¢ Based in Central London which covers a large demographic of customers Olympics 2012 will bring in more sales Introduction of new products including healthy options. Retailing mugs and coffee equipment Threats †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Customers demanding fair-trade and organic coffee. Big chain coffee shops dominating the market. Economic issues and crisis Lack of ownership of primary resources e. g. Coffee farming. †¢ †¢ †¢ 4. 2. PEST analysis There are many different Political, Economic, Social and Technological issues that both our company and also Costa Coffee face within the coffee industry. Firstly, the first political issue to consider is that majority of coffee beans are brought and made in developing countries, so companies need to ensure that their coffee is made by fair-trade dealers and they need to consider the ethical conditions of the labor used. Another political issue includes all the taxes and tariffs incurred by any business operating within the UK, whether it be import tariffs or VAT on goods sold. The economic factors that our companies face are similar to the issues faced by many businesses within the whole goods and services market, this including the economic recession of 2008. Customers now have less disposable income to spend and as a result cut-down on the purchasing of non-vital goods. This is due to of unemployment rising and the levels of debt increasing. The social factors that need to be taken into consideration is that consumers are spending more money on coffee due to the demand for quality goods. This can be seen in the comparison of value of tea and coffee industry with coffee valuing at 738 million according to the Times (2008). As a result, companies need to ensure that buying coffee is not only a quick purchase, as they need to have value-added for customers including high quality coffee and a relaxing 5 6 The Marketing Profession atmosphere. Lastly, the technological issues that both our company and Costa face is the introduction of self-made home coffee by the use of coffee machines specifically tailored to make at home, for example, the Senseo coffee-machines. This can be seen as a threat to coffee shops as it is a cheaper alternative for customers in the long run. 5. Target market According to a Mintel report titled â€Å"Coffee Shops† published February 2012, â€Å"Two thirds of consumers buy coffee out of home, rising to three in four among 16-24-year-olds as core users†. Costa Coffee has the highest number of outlets within the UK totaled to 1,302 coffee shop chains as opposed to Starbucks who has 739 and Caffe Nero with 509 shops. It also claimed that â€Å"Costa has different store designs to suit different purposes such as ‘Metro’ which is aimed at the younger/urban consumers and ‘Evolution’ which is designed for more mature customers in provincial locations. It states its customer segments are ‘Recharge, Relax, Refuel’†. Therefore the target market for Costa Coffee ranges from a wide range of customers of different ages as it caters to many different needs. Students have been said to make up 30% of their target market, Professionals 45%, Families 10% and mature consumers 15% of the clientele. At BESO Coffee, our market we aim to target at is very wide as it ranges from teenagers to mature customers. We even target at families as we offer menus for younger children and parents. Our products are reasonably priced so it can be bought from people of many different income level groups, from working to upper class. 6. Marketing approaches Costa coffee have used many different marketing approaches and campaigns in order to succeed within the industry as it is important to continually update their marketing strategies. Costa has introduced campaigns such as ‘How Do You Like Yours’, which allowed customers to customize their coffee’s by for example adding espresso or syrup. This helps them differentiate themselves from competitors as it gives consumers more power and control over their purchase. Another campaign introduced by Costa was the arrival of Costa light in 2011, which offered low-calorie and healthier options to customers. This was an important step for Costa as there has been an increase in healthy eating trends, which can be seen in the figure below. Figure: Consumer demand for display of calorie content on restaurant menus, June 2010-December 2011 6 7 The Marketing Profession Other campaigns included the launch of Costa Coffee Gift Card in November 2011 which allowed customers to buy card with pre-paid amounts of up to ? 75 and a more recent campaign at the beginning of 2012 when Costa collaborated with the Spirit Pub Company which ensured that Costa coffee would be used in its restaurants chains including Chef & Brewer and Flaming grill. Costa has used many forms of media to advertise their campaigns to the public. One method used to inform customers was through the use of television advertising in 2008 whereby Costa launched its first ad. The advert helped to illustrate the â€Å"superiority of Costa’s products† and according Reynolds (2010) its message was that â€Å"the brand is on a mission to save the world from mediocre coffee and seven out of 10 coffee lovers prefer Costa†. Other forms of media used by Costa include Billboards as it can be seen by many commuters within the UK by their use of big bold writing and minimal distraction of the main message. Their billboards are distinctive as they have a continual theme colour, text and logo, which are recognised by customers. Our approach to our marketing campaign is to use alternative uses of media to portray our message, including the use of the Internet, as it is a popular form of media used in today’s society. We aim to use Facebook and Twitter to advertise our campaign and the company as a whole as it covers a large demographic. 7. Distribution strategy Costa operates in the UK through its own coffee shops, franchises and wholesale outlets. On the18th of October 2011, Whitbread stated that the number of Costa UK stores had risen from 1,217 in March 2011 to 1,302 in September 2011, including 95 openings and ten store closures. In comparison, Costa International increased its stores from 654 to 701 during the same period, including 72 openings and 25 closures. Meanwhile Costa Express/Coffee Nation units increased from 877 in March 2011 to 934 in September 2011, taking account of 79 openings and 22 closures. These units are partnered with service station operators such as Moto, Esso and Welcome Break, retailers like Tesco and The Co-Operative and foodservice group Compass (Mintel 2012). In a market with low loyalty levels, advertising and promotion is important in keeping brands in the forefront of consumers’ minds. Costa Coffee looked to sustain an emotional response among consumers with the marketing supporting its launch of Costa Light variant in autumn 2011 through an advertising campaign that used slogans such as ‘All the love, none of the handles’ and ‘Extra feel good in every cup’ (Mintel 2012) Customers were also encouraged to see the lighter side of life with its Costa Light Comedy Challenge competition. Costa’s aim was to showcase up-and-coming comedians by asking them to submit a one-minute film via its website. A public vote then saw the top ten entries from five regions go through to a further round to be judged during one-off events across the UK, with the campaign finally culminating in two regional winners performing at The Comedy Store, London (Mintel 2012). Costa Coffee’s distribution system is broad with a balanced portfolio across high streets, retail parks, concessions, airports, rail and other travel hubs as well as an increasing number of stores in new locations such as universities and hospitals. Innovative distribution channels, such as Costa Express and Drive Thru are developed. They will extend the brand’s reach and increase accessibility for the customer (Whitbread, 2010). 7 8 The Marketing Profession Andy Harrison, chief executive of Whitbread said that popping out for a coffee has become a â€Å"firm fixture† of peoples’ lives. â€Å"Coffee culture has grown massively over the last five to 10 years – people have a real demand for quality coffee and a choice of different coffees,† he said. â€Å"When I was kid everyone wanted a Nescafe – that has definitely changed. † (The Guardian 2011). 8. Pricing strategy Costa Coffee is a well-known, high valued and trusted cafeteria all over the world. They offer wide range of high qualitative coffee drinks and food, excellent services and relaxing atmosphere. Costa relies on their superiorities and offer comparatively higher prices because they have realized that the luxury comes with the price. Costa Coffee offers two sizes of drinks – medium and large and the price difference between them is not significant. In this way they encourage their customers to buy the bigger size, because the amount of the drink is bigger and is on almost the same price as the medium one. But even the medium size of cappuccino is served in a cup with the size of soup bowl, so Costa Coffee has a reason to charge a relatively higher price because of the value they give, even though in most cases customers do not need such a big amount of drink although they have to pay for it. In this way, Costa is able to sell cheaper coffee to regular customers, who are aware of the amount of the drink (with elastic demand) and sell more expensive coffee to infrequent visitors, therefore the cafeteria makes big profit from each cup of coffee. This is the corporate strategy and how Costa found a way to charge comparatively higher prices than most of their competitors. This strategy has some disadvantages and threats such as the present credit crunch, which might affect the sales and the budget of Costa Coffee as they target middle and upper middle class, therefore in the time of recession customers may prefer some of the cheaper competitors. 9. Pricing strategy that we will adopt – competition based pricing strategy One of the biggest advantages of the †Competition based pricing strategy† is that in the same time you are focused on your business and objectives and on the competition’s strategies. Once you understand what the competition is doing, you have the chance to do everything better and to gain a competitive advantage (Jobber 2008), therefore to increase the number of customers and to gain bigger market share. There are three types on competition based pricing methods: †¢ †¢ †¢ Price your product the same as the competitor Set your price to increase customer base Seek larger market share through price Compared to Costa Coffee we are fairly new to the market so it would be more appropriate for BESO to adopt the †Competition based pricing† as a strategy that will allow us to grow fast as competitive brand. In order to achieve biggest results we will match/mix the three competition-based pricing methods. BESO will offer similar products as/like the Costa’s products but on lower prices, therefore BESO’s market department must always be aware of what the competition is offering in order to provide better value for money. In this way BESO will has the opportunity to outline its advantages as comparing similar products as those of the competition but on lower prices (even pence). Once customers understand our priorities they will use to come to BESO as a place, which offers better value for money, 8 9 The Marketing Profession therefore we will increase our market share (Palmer and Hartley 2006). In terms of increasing customer base, the process is similar to market penetration, we have to select a price that will beat the competition and doing that we will motivate customer to notice our products and to make a purchase decision. Market penetration pricing works well in the introduction stage of the product life cycle and in a highly competitive market, as you increase the production some of your costs will decrease. During the next stages of the product life cycle the price can be increased (Jobber 2010). The easiest way to increase the market share of BESO is to select prices that will attract and hold as many customers as possible (depend on target). It is recommended to adopt the †Market – share pricing† after the business achieved market penetration, because they are linked as the market share happens when large volume of products are sold. So it is better if things happen step by step. And finally the market share is calculated by dividing the amount of each company sells out of the total market and in this way the market leader is determined. 9. 1. Disadvantages of †Competition based pricing† †¢ †¢ †¢ There is a danger to ignore your own production cost if you focus too closely on the competitors’ prices. It takes more time to research and update competitors’ information. Competitors also can copy whatever price you select. 10. Customer service Loyalty is particularly low in the coffee shop market, making customer retention a key area of improvement going forward (Mintel 2012). At the start of 2012 Costa Coffee launched the ‘Just How Do You Like Yours? ’ campaign. It aims to highlight the customizable elements of its products, a key differentiator to its lower-priced non-specialist competitors such as EAT and Pret A Manger. A clear pricing strategy was also included in order to appeal to consumer’s sense of value for money. For example, customers can now add an extra shot of espresso or sugar-free syrup shots to their drinks for 35p per unit. Also, in 2011 Costa Coffee launched gift cards (Mintel 2012). Although consumers state that convenient location is more important to them than the brand of coffee chain, operators can still capture consumers’ attention through qualities other than price. For example, two in three users think that quality is the most important decision-making factor when choosing where to buy hot drinks, whilst nearly half disagree that they usually choose the cheapest venue. However, with so many brands trading off of a quality positioning, operators have to ensure that they are differentiating themselves on additional levels, hence the trend towards lifestyle branding in the wider eating out market (Mintel 2012). Costa Coffee’s reputation for excellence applies not only for the exceptional coffee but also the insistence on perfect service. â€Å"Recruiting and retaining highly motivated and talented people is essential and great emphasis is placed on improving the skills, expertise and 9 10 The Marketing Profession performance of our people through award winning, industry-leading training and developing programs† (Mintel 2012). 11. Costa Coffee’s attitude towards environmental issues Consumers are extremely careful about environmental issues, trying to buy environmentally friendly food and drinks. Most of the customers feel that it is their duty to save the environment in order to live healthier. That is why most companies are under a lot of pressure to change their attitude towards the environment most often related to greener, packaging solutions, recycling and many others. Costa Coffee is the first UK coffee chain buying beans from Rainforest Alliance Certifiedâ„ ¢ farms. From October last year, almost 100% of the coffee beans for Mocha Italia blend are from certified sustainable farms. Costa Coffee is also a member of UK Paper Cup Recycling Committee, their cups are made from sustainable sources and that’s saves about 1,100 trees a year. The ingredients from which the cups are made of are all from iconic recyclable material and are made using only certified sustainable pulp. Vegetable Costa Coffee is also concerned about its coffee-growers and in 2006 it registered a Costa Foundation, dealing with the improvement of the welfare of coffee-growing places like Colombia, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Uganda and Vietnam. Costa Coffee is also a partner with Cafechurch network, supporting local community. The organization deals with environmental issues, fair trade, divorce and stress problems and others. People are feeling well, being part of a great atmosphere, live music, good communication, and a lot of interviews, having the opportunity to understand more about the Costa Coffee Foundations. 12. The competitor’s CSR activity Costa Coffee is not achieving basic standard of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The coffee company does not give a specific data for the carbon footprint. Its environmental data is part of the environmental data of its parent company-Whitbread. 13. What is your attitude to CSR/environmental issues going to be? The aims that Costa Coffee manages to do are quite a lot. Some of the first ones are: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Developing Costa Coffee’s energy & environmental strategy. Managing carbon reporting and ensuring compliance for CRC. Maintaining the ISO50001 system. Working with manufacturer’s waste contractors and NGO to improve takeaway cup recycling. 10 11 †¢ †¢ The Marketing Profession Developing Costa Good Together CR programme . By 2012/13 Costa Coffee aims to help 15, 000, providing them access to education. That target will help to bring together the communities, helping adults to find jobs and trades. The coffee chain aim is to raise ? 750,000 alone during 2012/13. Costa Coffee will try to dedicate Energy & Environment Manager in Costa Coffee. That will be useful, trying to insure more control and to organize the best structured plan for the company. Costa’s cardboard cups are not recyclable, even though the cardboard can be recycled. The other ingredient in the cardboard cups, the ink and the glue, cannot be recycled. The target environmental plan of Costa Coffee is to use vegetable ink and degradable glue on its cups. Costa Coffee is raising money to build schools in regions where a lot of coffee farms take place. There are already 22 schools in developing countries. That makes a big difference for a lot of young people who have the opportunity to study. Costa Foundation is also taking care for the supplement of special healthy nutritious meals and laptops for the children. †¢ †¢ †¢ 14. Conclusion Based on the researches and analysis that have been done BESO has a great potential to use Costa’s disadvantages and to convert them into our opportunities for prosperity. Offering similar products as those of Costa Coffee but on lower prices and in the same time launching our own products (BESO’s cupcakes) is a good strategy to gain a competitive advantage. Slight changes in the interior design of our cafeteria would be refreshing and a good way to attract new customers. Furthermore increasing our advertising activities would be an opportunity to remind our customers and in the same time to inform our new potential customers about BESO’s fantastic services and great value for money. 15. References Baker S. (2003), New Consumer Marketing, West Sussex, John Wiley & Sons Ltd Cooper D., Schindler P.(2011), Business Research Methods, New York, McGraw – Hill Education Economics Help (2008), Costa Coffee UK and Sales Techniques. Available at: http://econ. economicshelp. org/2008/08/costa-coffee-uk-and-sales-techniques. html [Accessed: 20th March 2012]. Government of Alberta (2012), Methods to Price Your Products. Available at: http://www1. agric. gov. ab. ca/$department/deptdocs. nsf/all/agdex1133#competition [Accessed: 20th March 2012] Jobber D. (2010), Principles and Practice of Marketing, London, McGraw – Hill Education 11 12. The Marketing Profession Kotler P. , Armstrong G. (2006), Principles of Marketing, The United States of America, Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data LinkedIn (2011), Costa Coffee Energy and Environment Manager at Whitbread. Available at: http://uk. linkedin. com/pub/ollie-rosevear/14/672/948 [Accessed: 20th March 2012] Mintel (2012), Brand Communication and Promotion. Available at: http://academic. mintel. com/sinatra/oxygen_academic/search_results/show&/display/id=59 0036/display/id=611992#hit1 [Accessed: 20th March 2012] Mintel.

Phuket Beach Resort Essay

Case Report : Phuket Beach Hotel Executive Summary Phuket Beach Hotel has space located on second floor of the main building which was underutilized. Planet Karaoke pub was expanding in Thailand and looking for a venue in patong beach area for setting up another outlet. Planet Karaoke Pub found unused space of the hotel most suitable for their new venture. Beach Karaoke pub project does not considered salary as excess man power is available but if we considered cost of staff salary, Beach Karaoke pub becomes less attractive. There are many factors that cannot be quantified but they need to be addressed for the evaluation of the projects including Security issues. Additional security guards can be hired to maintain law and order but the costs of extra security is not provided for analysis. Recommendation Wanida should suggest an investment recommendation in favor of the Planet Karaoke Club (PKC) project. Reference : On-line segments Text Book – Financial management (Theory & Practices) Phuket Beach Hotel report

Economics and Book Online Essay

1. Liza needs to buy a textbook for the next economics class. The price at the college bookstore is $65. One online site offers it for $55 and another site, for $57. All prices include sales tax. The accompanying table indicates the typical shipping and handling charges for the textbook ordered online. a. What is the opportunity cost of buying online instead of at the bookstore? Note that if you buy the book online, you must wait to get it. The opportunity cost of buying online instead of at the bookstore would be whatever is you would need to give up to get the book online. This would mean that the opportunity cost of buying online would include the sum of the shipping charge and the time that you would spend waiting on the book to arrive. If you buy the book at the store, you would be able to get the book the same day but it would also mean losing out on the possible savings that you would get if you bought it online. b. Show the relevant choices for this student. What determines which of these options the student will choose? So if Liza buys from the bookstore it would cost $65. If Liza decides to buy online from the first store the cost would vary. The price of the book from the first online store would be $55. Next day air to get the book in one business day would cost an additional $13.98. ($55 + $13.98 = $68.98). Her next choice would be to use 2 days shipping which is an $8.98 charge also from the first site. ($55 + $8.98 = $63.98). Next she could use 3-7 day shipping for a $3.99 shipping charge. ($55 + $3.99 = $58.99) The next online site charged $57 for the book. If she chose 1 day shipping it would cost ($57 + $13.98 = $70.98), 2 day shipping would cost ($57 + $8.98 =  $65.98) and 3-7 day shipping would cost ($57 + $3.99 = $60.99). So from looking at the information here it would be unlikely that Liza would purchase from the 2nd online store and I don’t see her buying it from the first online store and using next day shipping because that would cost her $68.98. It is hard to tell from the information whether or not Liza has enough time between now and her next class to wait the 2 or 3-7 for shipping. It would be helpful to know if her class was tomorrow or next week and depending on what time of day she orders the book online or if it is over a weekend or close to a holiday that would also push the shipping date back some. Also where she lives in the U.S. sometimes plays a factor in shipping times. 2. In August 2007, a sharp downturn in the U.S. housing market reduced the income of many who worked in the home construction industry. A Wall Street Journal news article reported that Wal-Mart’s wire-transfer business was likely to suffer because many construction workers are Hispanics who regularly send part of their wages back to relatives in their home countries via Wal-Mart. With this information, use one of the principles of economy-wide interaction to trace a chain of links that explains how reduced spending for U.S. home purchases is likely to affect the performance of the Mexican economy. I think in this case this may fall under Principle #10: One person’s spending is another person’s income according to our textbook. If you start from the top of the chain that may include lenders and financial institutions that are funding a construction or real estate project or they are finding that they are taking a high risk because more people are defaulting on the mortgage loans. If that takes place then this hurts the lenders because there will be less potential home buyers because of people losing jobs and finding it harder to find work so in return that will make the real estate market crash. This chain of events will make it harder for the contractors to keep some of their workers and be forced to fire people so that will make it harder for the Mexican community to send money back to their families which is why it will also hurt Wal-Mart’s wire-transfer business. 3. During the Great Depression, food was left to rot in the fields or fields that had once been actively cultivated were left fallow. Use one of the principles of economy-wide interaction to explain how this could have occurred. For this I would say that Principle #11: Overall spending sometimes gets out of line with the economy’s productive capacity, would fit this situation. Because there was not as much spending going on during the great depression that also would mean that there would be less people buying products such as foods from the fields. The food that was already produced or grown would be left to rot if the sellers could not find any buyers. As it says in our textbook, â€Å"in the 1930s, spending fell far short of what was needed to keep American workers employed, and the result was a severe economic slump. In fact, shortfalls in spending are responsible for most, though not all, recessions.†

Letter for Master Degree Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Letter for Master Degree - Essay Example Accordingly, I have already completed my B.A. course in criminal justice administration from the Columbia College of Missouri (December, 2006) securing 2.2 GPA, missing cum laude by 0.2. After graduation, I chose the option of military service in the US Navy, as it would expose me to the world outside, and expand my horizons significantly and appreciating the compulsions of a great power as the USA, while dealing with the outside world. It is affording me the opportunity to pit myself against the best and compete hard successfully. After retiring from this service, I intend to pursue my long term career ambition in the legal profession. With my service background and personal philosophy of service to the society, I intend to pursue a career in the US Secret Service agencies. I kept myself abreast of the developments in the legal profession, even during my military service, by accessing current literature on the subject through magazines and the Internet. I am also pursuing the Masters Course from the American Military University through distance learning and earned two credits so far, which I intend to transfer to my program with your university. Before deciding to join the graduate program in the Columbia College of Missouri, I have done a bit of Internet based research on the program in order to concretize my understanding of the course and to satisfy myself that I am indeed in need of that qualification. I was convinced that a formal and structured training in criminal legal administration, under the tutelage of experts should help me immensely. I have decided then itself to go in for Masters program, as soon as I can. I am aware of the details of the program in Columbia College of Missouri, its emphasis on extensive self-study of the relevant literature for each topic / subject, case study approach, developing one’s presentation skills, usage of libraries / online resources, and interaction with faculty. I am fully committed

Evaluating international business communications situations Essay - 10

Evaluating international business communications situations - Essay Example In order to promote holidays in China amongst the British public, one needs to come up with a great communication plan that will ensure that the target audience receives the message. This can be done through advertisements in the local media, social media, billboards and cultural fairs and events. One can also highlight some of the cultural issues such as language barrier and some cultural practices that the British citizens would face once they arrived in China. This process would ensure that mutual respect is maintained and a good relationship fostered between the two cultures. According to Noreen Barkley, Peiyi Ding and Timothy Lee, China recognised that international tourism was a key part of its economy, therefore, launching many initiatives to increase the business and provide a memorable experience that would help market its tourist attractions (Breakey, Ding and Lee 2008: 567). Through the use of excellent communication strategies and international marketing, China has successfully marketed its numerous attractions to many countries, therefore, swaying many of them to travel to the country and have a first-hand experience (Wen and Ximing, 2008: 580). A significant number of British citizens are financially secure, therefore, bearing the ability to spend a sizeable amount of money on holidays. The older generation comprising of senior citizens is also increasing, as baby boomers retire from their jobs. Therefore, Britain has a high number of potential international tourists who are willing to spend a lot of money for leisure travels and holidays. In o rder to persuade British citizens to visit China for holidays, one must establish a communication plan that will be appealing to them. It should be sensitive to the British culture and create awareness on the cultural differences between the two countries. It should also highlight China’s numerous cultural sites, unique geographical sceneries, the wide variety of

Research paper about lululemon Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 5

About lululemon - Research Paper Example His early promotional approach was to offer yoga instructors free yoga pants just to get their feedback on the flexibility of the pant. One of the main objectives in Lululemon is the creation of a fun atmosphere and a healthy living at the same time aiming at designing end products that offer high performance, comfort and fit. The company has a market-oriented focus that helps it to offer products that are of high performance, generates customers trust and commitment from the company in supporting the customer. Lululemon price of yoga pants averagely goes for ninety-two dollars. Lululemon is a company that runs with profits. The company worked hard to maintain its level in the market, and its prices earn many profits. According to its website, Lululemon is striving its best to serve its shareholders to the best. An average of seventy percent of the company’s total revenue in business is estimated to come from yoga were selling. What the company aims at is selling and pricing tits products in a way that it earns a profit in the end. In addition, the company makes use of a mixture of value and prestige in pricing strategies in determining the cost of its products. The strategy used for pricing on the company products includes the strategy of value added pricing and prestige pricing. In value added pricing, the company spends a lot in trying to create additional values in its products through promotion. Prestige pricing happens through adding extra features for its customers on their apparel instead of trying to reduce the total cost of by reducing the features used and the material quality used in producing the yoga pants products. The use of unique features in manufacturing the yoga wears made by Lululemon, such as the use of natural substance clothing in production of yoga pants, helps in justifying the high prices of the Lululemon’s pants in the market. On the other hand, the company also employs the use of prestige in pricing

The European Central Banks Targeted Inflation Rates Assignment

The European Central Banks Targeted Inflation Rates - Assignment Example Inflation is a rise in the price of soothing ds and services within an economy which results in a decline in the purchasing power of every subsequent unit of currency and this causes a loss in the real value of exchange within an economy. The main measure of inflation is the Consumer Price Index which provides an indication of the price level of consumer goods and services which are purchased by households, business firms, the government as well as the rest of the world (in case of an open economy). The CPI in the United States is defined by the  Bureau of Labor Statistics  as â€Å"a measure of the average change over time in the prices paid by urban consumers for a  market basket  of consumer goods and services.† This paper helps to provide an insight into the inflation that is currently taking place within the German economy. As per the current happenings within the German economy, the prices of goods and services naturally saw a hike due to the holiday season; this period mostly witnesses an increase in demand of goods and services which is met by an almost equivalent amount of supply. ... Most governments, especially in the European zone, had been able to recover well from the financial crisis that took place world over in 2008-2009 but the repercussions of that are lingering on as inflation in the same economies. German consumer prices nonetheless, harmonized to compare with other European Union countries, showed a rise of 2.4 percent on the year in December, down from 2.8 percent in the previous month. The following graph helps to show the Consumer Price Index in Germany and the changes that the same has undergone over a decade. The graph thus helps in interpreting the various changes within the German economy with respect to fluctuations in the Consumer Price Index. By understanding the ups and downs within the graph it may be understood that the demand and supply situation of a consumer base within Germany has never been a constant; it varies according to the variations of the need for goods. Thus, putting the same to thought, it may be comprehended that a hike is usually seen during the peak holiday season when the demand and supply of goods and services see a huge rise. Chart - CPI inflation Germany 2011 (yearly basis) Interest rates refer to the rates at which a borrower is able to borrow money in order to have greater purchasing ability. (Parkin, Michael) Since loans and smaller debts can be taken from the European Central Bank at lower rates, consumers have been able to increase their purchasing powers and have been thus causing the economy to slow down considerably. Due to increased spending by the consumers, the economy has witnessed growth and expansion which has almost led in the demand outpacing the supply.

Marketing the iPhone Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Marketing the iPhone - Essay Example Product, price, place and promotion formed the marketing mix. While each component had its role in forming the marketing strategy, promotion essentially meant reaching out to the customer through advertising and media campaigns. The marketing campaign is in fact considered successful, if the company is able to create a genuine buzz around its product/s and able to raise the curiosity levels of the prospective customers. In today's world 'promotion' field has been further widened by renaming it as marketing communication. Such a communication now forms a crucial part of the managerial activities. Creating a buzz becomes all the more crucial if the company is coming out with a product for the first time, which is outside its core business. A renowned company known for its computer brands would certainly make sure that it doesn't end up with a deep dent in its reputation and huge financial losses after entering into a product category, where cut-throat competition keeps the reputed bran ds always on their toes. It is under these circumstances that Apple Inc. decided to create the buzz around the iPhone. It certainly goes to the credit of Apple Inc that it not only created a decent buzz around iPhone, but it also retained the faith of its millions of customers. It is worthwhile here to mention that the marketing communication strategy adopted by Apple Inc was unique in many ways. While on the surface it appeared to be a low key, the blogger community, the media, the corporate circles, the office going community, the college going students etc. kept debating and discussing 'what the iPhone could be like' While on the one hand Apple Inc. did not spend too much on its advertising campaigns, the company was also able to put on display a mature appearance. Apple, having entered in the mobile field in collaboration with Motorola, in the recent past had some experience of the stiff competition in the mobile world. With brand names like Nokia, Ericson, Motorola etc. tracking the moves of new entrants, Apple Inc. was bound to think about a campaign which goes well beyond the launch of just another phone from existing mobile phone makers. At the same time, managers at Apple were equally concerned about any loose ends, which might adversely impact its reputation and other established brands. Apple wanted to make sure that while the campaign doesn't look like too glittery and gaudy, yet the message reaches out to the common man. In addition, company also realized that people may not be ready to go for 'just another phone', because with the advent of powerful technologies like Wimax31 and HSOPA32 (High Speed OFDM Packet Access), the mobile phone is no more being used as a phone, instead it has become an important tool for entertainment and mob ile computing in this convergence era. Therefore, Apple Inc. was bound to pack the iPhone with a host of feature, including some of the features of its own stronghold gadget iPod. Prior to the official launch of the iPhone, Apple came out with a teaser ad campaign that did not even mention the brand name. This ad campaign called 'Hello' was started during the Academy Awards. And the long queues before the iPhone stores, use of terms like 'Jesus Phone' for the iPhone are a testimony of the successful buzz around the launch. Advantages of such a strategy are; i. The company, while able to raise the curiosity levels around

Irving Roth - Holocaust Survivor Testimony Movie Review

Irving Roth - Holocaust Survivor Testimony - Movie Review Example Businesses that were previously run by the Jews were confiscated and given to Germans. Their household properties (which they had been ordered to leave behind) were auctioned to the German citizens. The Jews basically become non-existence and they were treated worse than slaves. With their lives becoming almost worthless, the government of Germany saw no use for them and therefore built death camps to dispose them off through death. Some were transported to Poland where there were also additional death camps. Some escaped to Hungary (which was not killing the Jews) where the men were recruited in the army (where they are mistreated by the rest of the population and even discriminated against but the rest of the population remained safe). Their safety was however short lived as they started being treated in the same way as those who were shipped to Poland as a way to dispose them as well through burning them in gas chambers. I thought slavery in America was a bad experience but what the Jews went through is incomparable. Segregation denies people freedom of liberty but the treatment the Jews were accorded denied them not only freedom of liberty and movement but also right to life among other human rights. It is a wonder how all these happened without the rest of the world reacting. The questions remains as to whether they had no idea of what was happening? Whether they simply did not care? Had no ability or capacity or even mandate to do anything about it? or were they simply in agreement of the Jews being killed? For those who survived the holocaust like the orator, the experience (though it took place many decades ago) is still vivid as if it just happened. It is evident that the psychological torture for the survivors cannot be wiped away even though the talk therapy seems helpful. As Roth talks about his family being killed in the

The Efficient Market Hypothesis Essay Example for Free

The Efficient Market Hypothesis Essay In modern financial economics, one of the most essential constructions , which plays a significant role in financing strategy, is efficient market hypothesis (henceforth EMH). Despite the fact that its first theoretical formulation, which was founded by Paul Samuelson in 1960s, is almost five decades old, numerous academic studies have been conducted about it (Alajbeg, Bubas Sonje, 2012). According to Alajbeg et al. (2012), in the middle of 1960s market efficiency was defined by Samuelson as the existence of a complete competition in a market, albeit under an assumption that all participants have equally the same opportunity to access the available information. Furthermore, Fama (1965) cited in Alajbeg et al. (2012) attempts to show the EMH empirically. This essay will try to critically debate all the forms of efficiency and give sensible evidence why most of the forms seem to be illogical in the current economic situations. It will start by introducing how to recognise efficiency and what are the forms of the EMH, following by testing each form in today’s economic circumstances with presenting coherent arguments. Damodaran (2001) points out that market efficiency is distinguished by three different measurements. First is considering the amount and the distance of diverting price from real value in the market. The second measure is by looking at the pace and the quantity of adapting prices to new information which come to the market. Finally, it is measured by determining the possibility of usual gaining higher profits by some investors in the market while they may expose the same rate of risk that other investors reveal. Generally, economists have divided the EMH into three main forms based on the type of the information reflected in security prices. The first type of the EMH is weak form. In this form of efficiency, the only information depending on is the past prices information. However, any other available stock information seems to be invaluable in these markets. As Hillier, Ross, Westerfield, Jaffe Jordan (2010) state no information, apart from the historical prices, is relied on by the investors in the weak form efficiency. In the light of this, a capital market is considered to be w eakly efficient when it contains price information about the past share prices. Hillier et al. (2010) also confirm that predating strategy is unlikely to be able to produce returns in the market operations. Put another way, information for future is not predicted in this form of efficiency. This seems to be a possible reason why these markets are called weak efficiency. The second type of the market efficiency is semi-strong form. According to Ross, Westerfield Jordan (1993), the semi-strong efficiency is the most controversial form among all the three forms. From this perspective, Ross et al. (1993) mention the reason why this form in the markets is more controversial than the other forms is that it warns an expert, who analysis financial information in order to find mis-priced stock, to not waste time in analysing some possibly useless information, for instance, financial statement information because this information is already included in the current stock prices. Brealey, Myers Allen (2011) maintain that in these markets, prices rapidly incorporate whole publicly available information, such as last quarters earning declaration, a proposal of unifying other companies and an unfamiliar matter of stock. In the light of this finding, it can be said that the semi-stro ng market efficiency rely on both historical and public information at the same time (Brealey, Myers Allen, 2008). Strong form efficiency is the final form of efficiency. Ross et al. (1993) emphasise all types of information, either public or private, are more likely to be incorporated in the stock market prices when the market is efficiently strong. Additionally, in this kind of market, it is impossible to determine any incomparable investors who are able continually to vanquish the market (Brealey et al., 2011). Expressed differently, strong competition is highly considered among the investors of the strong market efficiency. Therefore, the crucial investors may not be able to keep their high position in the long-term. According to Brealey et al. (2011), since Maurice Kendall published his controversial paper in 1953 on the behavior of stock prices, a significant amount of financial research has been done to test the EMH. In the light of that background information, both supporting and disapproval evidence has extended to each of the three forms weak, semi-strong and strong. Firstly, in order to test the weak form of this hypothesis, Brealey et al. (2011) evaluate the profitability of some trading rules which is utilised by investors who seek to determine patterns in security prices. Hillier et al. (2010) claim although the share price movements are random, investors tend to notice patterns. However, the existence of patterns in the past price data, which is the main information in weak form efficiency, seems to be unreal, according to Hillier et al. (2010). As an example, Hillier et al. (2010) illustrate the participation between Shell transport and Royal Dutch Petroleum, which randomness is highly predicted instead of pattern in their stock price. Then Brealey et al. (2011:352) demonstrate ‘‘since both companies participated in the same underlying cash flows in 2005, it would be expected the stock prices to have moved in exact lockstep, while the real price of the tow shares sometimes diverged substantially’’. Therefore, Hillier et al. (2010) confirm that the security choices based on patterns of historical price changes would not be as acceptable as random choice. As a consequence of this evidence, it can be assumed that the weak form efficiency seems to be a meaningful form in the new economic environment. Secondly, in examining the semi-strong efficiency, the speed of reacting security prices towards announcements is measured (Brealey et al., 2011). According to this form of efficiency, previous price information would not have any influence on present actual return because this form implies that in an efficient market, historical information has merely reflected in the current prices (Hillier et al., 2010). Whereas, in many empirical cases past information impacts on stock prices. For example, Hillier et al. (2010) highlight the global credit crisis of 2008 which firstly started only from the British bank Northern Rock. Then it slowly continued and cover some other banks, such as, Bear Stearn, the US investment bank, HBOS and Lehmann Brothers. Hillier et al. (2010) also state that it had not stopped unless the short selling would have been temporarily avoided by the US and UK governments. From the light of this empirical circumstance, the semi-strong efficiency is probably no longer a sensible form in todays economy because the standard test requirement, which economists follow , may not be reflected in it. Finally, In terms of testing the strong form efficiency, Brealey et al. (2008) point out that the performance of the managers in the markets is depended on. Hillier et al. (2010) imply that it is more likely to profit from a personal information which the other investors do not have in the market, whilst in the strong efficient market it is unlikely to be profited from this information by their owners. Further to this, Brealey et al. (2011) claims that it is probably more common that a particular manager in a market, who is more clever than the others, could make superior profits. This seems to be an appropriate evidence against the EMH in the case of strong form. Similarly, Damondaran (2001) points out that some investors can earn more profit than the others whilst they have the same chance of risk. Brealey et al. (2011) take a large sample of the US companies in order to test the proportion of annual profits among them from 1926 to 2008. Brealey et al. (2011:349) prove ‘‘since 1926 the stock of the firms with the lowest market capitalizations have performed substantially better than those with the highest capitalizations’’. In the same way, Alajbeg et al. (2012) criticise the EMH because of the effectiveness of some anomalies in the market, for example, January effect, weekend effect and momentum effect. As a result of the aforementioned arguments, it can be argued that the strong market efficiency does not make sense in the current economic situations because of the possibility of out-performance in the market. In addition, the EMH has faced many criticisms. For example, Brealey et al. (2011) mention a stock market bubble in property prices in the US. In a way, the price has almost doubled by 2005. Nevertheless, the EMH considers that prices always equal to the values inside the efficient markets (Brealey et al., 2011). This can also be noticed as an evidence against the EMH. In conclusion, the participants mostly try to exploit each single discovered mis-pricing in the stock market. This competition results in market efficiency (Brealey et al., 2008). There are three forms of efficiency: weak, semi-strong and strong. The weak form efficiency seems to be significant in todays economy because it considers that prices are random and that is proved in the empirical situations. However, the strong form is generally considered to be meaningless because of the out-performance which can be executed by some investors. Similarly, the semi-strong form may be seen as an insensible form of the EMH in the current economy. This form is unlikely to provide the common test demands when it tests to find how rapidly prices respond to the new information. Furthermore, there are many debates about the EMH in empirical situations because of occurring some bubbles and crisis. Apparently, there are considerable arguments about market efficiency along the history of the capital market. Nonetheless, financial market efficiency is constantly under debate. In other words, it is still a challenging issue in the current financial economics (Alajbeg et al., 2012). References: * Alejbeg, D., Bubas, Z. And Sonje, V. (2012)The efficient market hypothesis: problems with interpretations of empirical tests. Financial Theory and Practice. Available at: http://core.kmi.open.ac.uk (Accessed at 17th August 2012). * Brealey, A., Myers, C. And Allen, F. (2011) Principles of Corporate Finance (global edition). New York. Mcraw Hill/Irwin. * Brealey, A., Myers, C. And Allen, F. (2008) Principles of Corporate Finance (nine edition). New York. Mcraw Hill/Irwin. * Damodaran, A. (2001) Corporate Finance: theory and practice. Second edition. United States. John Willey Sons, Inc. * Hillier, D., Ross, S., Westerfield, R., Jaffe, J. And Jordan, B. (2010) Corporate Finance. Mcraw-Hill. * Ross, S., Westerfield, R. And Jordan, B. (1993) Fundamentals of Corporate Finance (second edition). Boston. Irwin Inc.

Using Drama to Teach Literacy

Using Drama to Teach Literacy Abstract: The term ‘oracy’ meaning: ‘the ability to speak fluently and articulately and to understand and respond to what other people say’. was first used by Wilkinson in 1965 (Definition, Microsoft Encarta World English Dictionary). Since that time the fact that it is central to all aspects of the learning process and activities in which children engage in school has been increasingly recognised. The development of talking and listening skills is central to the reading process and to participation in all curricular areas. This term my focus was teaching oracy and literacy to year 4 children in an interactive and communicative environment created through the use of drama. By the end of the series of lessons I wanted children in year 4 to be able to identify social, moral and cultural issues in stories. Drama was employed as a tool to create roles showing how behaviour could be interpreted from different points of view. I shall present a discussion of the rationale behind the activities I have chosen, the ways in which the children engaged with them and the success of this approach to the teaching of oracy. I shall support my work with research evidence in the areas of talking and listening, the wider area of literacy, and research pertaining to effective teaching and learning generally. I will discuss what I found when I assessed the progress made by the children and the implication this has for my future role as a teacher by linking my work with the Professional Standards for Qualified Teacher Status and Requirements for Initial Teacher Training. Introduction: The acquisition of language, a complex process, is essential for effective communication throughout life. Creating opportunities for the development of oracy in the classroom is essential if children are to develop the ability to communicate. With research showing that children are increasingly spending time in solitary activities related to computers (MacGilchrist et al., 2006, p.12), thereby reducing opportunities for talking in the home, it is essential for schools to act as facilitators in the development of talking and listening. The National Literacy Strategy defines literacy thus: ‘Literacy unites the important skills of reading and writing. It also involves speaking and listening which, although they are not separately identified in the framework, are an essential part of it. Good oral work enhances pupils’ understanding of language in both oral and written forms and of the way language can be used to communicate. It is also an important part of the process through which pupils read and compose texts.’ (National Literacy Strategy: Framework for Teaching, p.3). The lack of reference to talking and listening as a separate area has been addressed in later recommendations with an acknowledgement that ‘language is an integral part of most learning and oral language in particular has a key role in classroom teaching and learning’ (DfES, 2003, p.3). The document is highly prescriptive in the means through which contexts for talk should be established. This paper will present work carried out with a year 4 class in respect of oracy taught through drama. I will evaluate the opportunities given to children for developing oracy and the ways in which children responded to the tasks. The role of talking and listening: For the past fifty years researchers have been making a clear case for the importance of talk in the learning process. The psychologists Vygotsky and Bruner have demonstrated the fundamental importance to cognitive processes and learning of speaking and listening (Lambirth, 2006, p.59). Talk is both a medium for teaching and learning and one of the materials from which a child constructs meaning (Edwards Mercer, 1987, p.20). I wanted the talking and listening activities to act as a medium for teaching and learning through the children’s interaction. My aim was that they would be teaching and learning from each other through their discussion group work. Their construction of meaning would come about as a result of their understanding of the text and the dilemmas faced by David (see appendix 2). Opportunities for developing talking and listening: Developing talking and listening skills is a complex process which must be carefully managed in the classroom. In all curricular areas oral skills should be constantly being developed through a range of activities and, like other areas of the curriculum, should be differentiated to allow for a range of abilities within the class (see appendix 2). Different subjects offer opportunities for different kinds of talk (DfES, 2003, p.4). It is therefore a very important feature of effective teaching to give children as many opportunities as possible to engage in a variety of types of talk. Children make sense of the world as they learn the communication skills to interact with others in their culture (Lambirth, 2006, p.62). Light and Glachan have shown that children working together and sharing their ideas orally can develop solutions to problems that they could not manage to solve independently (Light Glachan, 1985). Carnell and Lodge suggest that more school learning should be based on talk and dialogue between pupils as ‘it has the power to engage learners in learning conversations, keeps them open to new ideas and requires both honesty and trust (Carnell Lodge, 2002, p.15). Planning the activities: When planning the activities I sought to involve the following aspects: Modelling appropriate speaking and listening; Encouraging sensitive interaction; Ensuring goals are set with clear criteria for success; Planning opportunities for children to investigate, apply and reflect on language in use. (DfES, 2003, p.19) (see planning appendices 1 2). I chose to provide opportunities for talk in the context of drama, giving the children opportunities to engage with one another. Research has shown that children learn more effectively when given opportunities to share ideas. Grugeon points out that this is a skill, like others, and must be taught. ‘Children who are expected to work together in groups need to be taught how to talk to one another. They need talk skills which enable them to get the best out of their own thinking and that of all other members of the group (Grugeon et al., 2001, p.95). For this reason I modelled the activities for the children so that they would have a clear understanding of what they were required to do and how best to go about the tasks in hand (see appendix 2). Some of the children were tentative in respect of their engagement at the beginning of the exercise but the group work gave them opportunities to develop their confidence and self esteem. Developing appropriate talking and listening: It is important to be aware of the difference between incidental talk, in which children engage in the course of an activity, but is not directly related to the learning intentions, and talk which is a main focus of the activity. In my drama activities, I wanted children to be focused on their talk through appropriate activities which would engage them and hold their interest. When planning the activities I was aware of the need to engage pupils on the basis of their prior knowledge ‘To prompt learning , you’ve got to begin with the process of going from inside to outside. The first influence on new learning is not what teachers do pedagogically but the learning that is already inside their heads (Gagnon, 2001, p.51). It was with this in mind that I decided on David’s dilemma. I felt that the children would have sufficient previous knowledge of the ideas presented to be able to identify with the characters and the dilemmas faced by them (see appendix 2). Establishing Rules: In all conversations there are rules, for example, only one person talking at a time. Cordon suggests that ‘ children receive little help in understanding and appreciating the ground rules for group discussion’ (Cordon, 2000, p.86) an issue that I felt it was important to address through the establishment of guidance for the children. This is vital to the process so that all children have equal opportunities to participate in the talking and listening activities. Aims: My aims in the drama activities were: To encourage purposeful talk, the skills associated with which the children could later transfer to other areas of their learning. To develop children’s ability to work in a group. To enable children to develop the confidence and competence to present their work to a group of their peers. To develop children’s skills in forming opinions, responding to other children’s opinions and oral presentation skills. Drama as a tool for developing talking and listening: I chose to approach the teaching of speaking and listening through drama as it affords many opportunities for children to develop their speaking and listening skills. Drama helps children to understand their world more deeply and allows them an opportunity to find ways to explore and share that understanding (Wyse, 2001, p.213). Research about learning has shown that children learn most effectively when learning is meaningful to them. Learning happens in the process of coming to new understandings in relation to existing knowledge (MacGilchrist et al., 2006, p.52). For this reason I gave children the opportunity to create their own scenarios in acting out David’s dilemma. In the group activities I wanted the talk to be open-ended so that the children could question, disagree with, extend and qualify each other’s utterances (DfES, 2003, p.7). After their group activities children had the opportunity to share their ideas with the class, giving them important experiences in presenting their opinions and listening to the views of others. Children were actively engaged in tasks which gave validity to all of their ideas and opinions. When given opportunities, children are keen to engage with issues on text and challenge the conventions of the story (Baumfield Mroz, 2004, p.55). I wanted children to have experience of challenging the ideas they were faced with by developing their own responses to scenarios and the behaviour of characters. Links with reading: The development of effective talking and listening skills is vital to the reading process. Before their oral work, children were finding main ideas in the text to support their viewpoints (see appendix 1). Only after the children had established the supporting information they wished to use, were they in a position to verbalise their ideas. Reading and talking were also linked through the requirement that the children orally summarise the salient points in a written argument. Through a discussion of the ways in which authors are able to develop their ideas children can develop ways in which to present their own ideas to an audience. Effective questioning was essential to this part of the process to provide a framework for the development of the children’s ideas in the correct context. As children have more experience and gain more confidence in this type of activity they are able to act as effective peer questioners, a very useful aspect of pupil self-assessment. Through this process children can measure the success of their own learning. Baumfield and Mroz advocate the development of a community of inquiry to develop pupils’ critical analysis of text (Baumfield Mroz, 2004, p.58). Developing opportunities for talk: In the classroom a variety of types of talk occur throughout the day. The ways in which children interact with each other is very different to the way in which they interact with the teacher who does 70% of the talking in the course of a day (Baumfield Mroz, 2004, p.49). This clearly means that children are not being given sufficient opportunities to develop talking and listening skills critical to success in all other areas. To enhance the role of talk in shaping and developing learning requires a reduction in the teachers role as classroom controller and a shift towards an enabler of talk for thinking (Myhill, 2006, p.19). After the initial modelling and discussion, it was important for me to let the groups work, as far as possible, along the problem path independently. It was my intention to give children a variety of opportunities to engage in different types of talk. They had opportunities to talk in small groups when working on their scenarios and afterwards had opportunities to present their work to the whole class. Talking in groups: Working in groups has been shown to develop a sense of belonging in children, something which I regard as very important in the classroom. Osterman has pointed out that, ‘There is substantial evidence showing or suggesting that the sense of belonging influences achievement through its effects on engagement (Osterman, 2000, p.341). She goes on to say that children with a well developed sense of belonging in school tend to have more positive attitudes to school and each other. As shown in appendix 3 some of the children were lacking in confidence in the initial stages of the activities, something which I would seek to develop in children through more exposure to this type of activity. Resnick has pointed out that while the majority of learning in schools is individualistic in its nature, this is contrary to other aspects of life such as work and leisure activities which are much more social in the nature (Resnick, 1987). It is essential, therefore, that children develop the skills needed for group work so that they have ability to engage in participatory aspects of education. When planning the group activities for the children I was conscious of making sure that each child had a part to play in the development and presentation of each activity. Francis has pointed out that the majority of talking and listening activities involve the teacher doing most of that talking with the children interjecting at suitable gaps in the teacher discourse (Francis, 2002, p.29), something which I wanted to avoid by giving the children ownership of the activities. This would ensure that all children were engaged in the process and less likely to be passive. At the same time children had to be able to quietly listen to the views of others, thereby developing strategies for turn-taking. All the children engaged in the process very well. Assessment: Assessment for learning is a very important aspect of the teaching and learning process and from the point of view of my own professional development the ability to effectively assess pupil learning is a very important competence to have. As Dann has pointed out, ‘if assessment genuinely seeks to give some indication of pupils’ level of learning, pupils will need to understand and contribute to the process’ (Dann, 2002, p.2). In assessing the effectiveness of the activities it is important to assess the appropriateness of the children’s talk for the task. The children participated in the assessment process through their involvement in the plenary sessions. This was coupled with my observations of children’s success on the task (see appendix 3). All of the children achieved the objectives and reported that they enjoyed the activities. Children’s talk is a very good indicator of their understanding of a task. The fact that all the children exper ienced success with the tasks and were able to carry them out using appropriate language was demonstrative of their understanding of the characters and dilemmas with which they were faced. Talking and listening is very valuable to assess understanding particularly with children who have special educational needs and may have difficulty with written tasks. Myers has presented research carried out in primary schools which suggests that children who participate in group work enjoy the experience of working with others and find it very helpful in the learning process (Myers, 2001, cited in MacGilchrist et al., 2006, p.159). My evaluation of the drama activities leads me to agree with this, particularly in light of the comment made by one of the children ‘I wish we could always do drama with English’(see appendix 3). Children’s language, like most of their learning, responds to encouragement (Fontana, 1994, p.78). This is an important idea to bear in mind when giving the children feedback and it is important to praise their efforts at contributing. I would hope that this would encourage the children who were initially reluctant participants in their efforts in the future. What I have Learnt: I have developed a greater degree of understanding of the role of talking and listening in the curriculum as well as an understanding of how children progress in this area and what they should be expected to achieve. I hope to build on this in my future development and feel that I have made progress in terms of the standards laid out by the Training and Development Agency. Appendix 1: Literacy planning: Appendix 2: Lesson Observation Sheets: Appendix 3: Evaluation: Evaluation: Week 2 All groups were very engaged and enjoyed the task. They said that they wished they could always do drama with English. Possible action to be taken: More use of drama when teaching English. Assessments Child’s Name Objective achieved? Comments: Action: Andrei More able √ Very animated – leader of group Speaking ad listening skills Leo Middle Group √ Co-operative Robert Middle Group √ Tentative at first – more engaged with script Confidence building Oona Middle group √ Good directional skills Use of props (desk) Good team player Danielle More able √ Works well in her team. Alexandra SEN √ Tentative – very aware of being stared at. Confidence building References: Baumfield, V. Mroz, M. (2004) Investigating Pupils’ questions in the primary classroom in E.C. Wragg (Ed.)(2004) The RoutledgeFalmer Reader in Teaching and Learning. London:RoutledgeFalmer. Burns, C. Myhill, D. (2004) Interactive or inactive? A consideration of the nature of interaction in whole class teaching. Cambridge Journal of Education, 34, 1, 35-49. Carnell, E. Lodge, C. (2002) Supporting Effective Learning. London: Paul Chapman Publishing. Cooper, P. McIntyre, D. (1996) Effective Teaching and Learning. Buckingham:Open University Press. Cordon, R. (2000) Literacy and Learning Through Talk: Strategies for the Primary Classroom. Buckingham: Open University Press. Dann, R. (2002) Promoting Assessment as Learning. London: RoutledgeFalmer. Department for Education and Employment (1998) The National Literacy Strategy: Framework for Teaching. London: DfEE. Department for Education and Employment (2003) Speaking, Listening and Learning Handbook. London: DfEE. Department for Education and Skills (2003) Speaking, Listening, Learning: Working with children in key stages 1 and 2. London: DfES. Edwards,D. Mercer, N. (1987) Common Knowledge. London: Metheun. Francis, P. (2002) Get on with your talk. Secondary English Magazine, 5, 4, 28-30. Gagnon, G.W. (2001) Designing for Learning. London: Paul Chapman Publishing. Grugeon, E., Hubbard, L., Smith, C. Dawes, L. (2001)(2nd edition) Teaching Speaking and Listening in the Primary School. London: David Fulton. Lambirth, A. (2006) Challenging the laws of talk: ground rules, social reproduction and the curriculum. The Curriculum Journal, 17, 1, 59-71. Light, P. Glachan, M. (1985) Facilitation of individual problem-solving through peer group interaction. Journal of Educational Psychology, 5, 3-4. MacGilchrist, B., Myers, K. Reed, J. (2006) The Intelligent School. London: Sage Publications. Myhill, D. (2006) Talk, talk, talk: teaching and learning in whole class discourse. Research Papers in Education, 21, 1, 19-41. Osterman, K. (2000) Students’ need for belonging in the school community. Review of Educational Research, 70, 3, 323-367. Resnick, L.B. (1987) Learning in school and out. Educational Researcher, 16, 9, 13-40. Training and Development Agency (2002) Qualifying to Teach: Professional Standards for Qualified Teacher Status and Requirements for Initial Teacher Training. London: Training and Development Agency for Schools. Thompson, P. (2006) Towards a sociocognitive model of progression in spoken English, Cambridge Journal of Education, 36, 2, 207-220. Vygotsky, L. (1972) Thought and Language. Cambridge, MA: MIT. Wyse, D. Jones, R. (2001) Teaching English Language and Literacy. London: RoutledgeFalmer.