Learning Irregular Verbs In English

Learning Irregular Verbs In English INTRODUCTION The present report contains the results of the investigation carried out at Higà ¼erito Basic School. It is evident that the goal of grammar instruction is to enable students to carry out their communication, Purposes, thereby getting involved with all those difficulties students have had for years to learn and use irregular verbs is highly important for teachers of English as a foreign Language. This Research has three Different Chapters: Chapter I, Presents the historical context of the Educational Center, it shows the External or geographic aspects of Higà ¼erito Basic School, There ´s an analysis of the Socio Economic and cultural characteristics of the Educational Center, In addition the philosophy of Higà ¼erito Basic School. The second chapter of this investigation states the difficulties in Learning Irregular verbs which is the basis of this research, It is analyzed here different aspects and methods of teaching irregular verbs such as; Infinitives matching and grouping, presentation, infinitives, unfamiliarity with infinitives, infinitives matching, The present continuous tense as matter of priority, categorization of irregular verbs and some strategies to teach irregular verbs. Chapter III, Is where the result of the investigation is presented. Firstly this chapter shows the results of the interview directed to the English teachers of Higà ¼erito Basic School and the results of the survey applied to the students of this Educational Center. JUSTIFICATION Teachers are always trying to find new and easily comprehensible ways to teach different parts of grammar, especially for the challenge that teaching irregular verbs represents. It hasnt been easy to deal with irregular verbs or make students understand how to use them. We felt motivated to investigate about it, because as English students we have also had difficulties with the acquisition and usage of irregular verbs. It is highly important to have all kind of information about the process of teaching irregular verbs, because we are thoroughly sure that as future English professionals will need to use them in a current conversation or in the classroom. This research will not only be important for us, it will also be important for those readers who share the benefits of the results of this investigation. The advantages of overcoming the difficulties that most teachers and students have with irregular verbs will contribute to improve the teaching and learning process that so far has been obstructed. METHODOLOGY This investigation was documentary and it was carried out in the field too, considering these, and the best and ideal ways to obtain excellent results and to count with the correct tools to understand the target problem of this research. In this investigation were used the descriptive and analytical methods, this report starts with a problem that is affecting most of the schools of our country in order to analyze a particular situation that is happening in Higà ¼erito Basic in San Juan de la Maguana Dom. Rep. All the possible elements that concern to this research were summarized and the results of the analysis were summarized. For more credibility and trying to give a realistic out look to Different sources were analyzed: Research, Books, on line technology and surveys at Higà ¼erito Basic School; teachers and students were interviewed CHAPTER I: CHAPTER I GENERAL CHARACTERICTISC OF THE HIGUERITO BASIC SCHOOL 1.1- Historical context of the Educative center. 1.2 External or Geographic Aspects 1.2.1- Socio Economic and Cultural Characteristics of the Center. 1.3 Internal Characteristics of the School 1.3.1 Description of the infrastructure. 1.3.2 Philosophy of the Educative Center. 1.3.3- Strengths and weaknesses of Higà ¼erito Basic School. 1.3.4- Problems of the Educative Center. 1.3.5- Statistics of Higà ¼erito Basic School CHAPTER I General Characteristics of Higà ¼erito Basic school This chapter I presents important information concerning to the historical context of the Educational Center, the Geographical location of Higà ¼erito Basic School, The Socio Economic and Cultural Characteristics of the Sector; This chapter also presents the internal characteristics of the school, it focuses the infrastructure; In addition it presents the philosophy of the Educational Center, the Strengths and weaknesses of Higà ¼erito basic school whereas the problems of the Educational Center and the Statistics of Higà ¼erito basic School. I. I. Historical context of the Educational Center. The first pavilion of the school was made of wood in 1953, by this time the principal was Mrs. Batida Ruiz, later they built three more classrooms, and three more teachers were hired. In 1970 teacher Ana Isolina de la Cruz was in charge of the school, in 1970 there was a staff of 2o teachers. Under Mrs. De la Cruz administration a second pavilion was built in 1982. Finally in 2001 Higà ¼erito Basic School was managed by Lida. Francisca Mirella Rodriquez. 1.2 Geographical Location of the Higà ¼erito Basic School This Urban School Belongs to Region 02 District 02-06. It is located in the Northern part of the city at 151 Anacaona Avenue in San Juan de la Maguana Dominican Republic. In the northern part of Higà ¼erito Basic School theres a neighborhood called, project 20 of the Ensanche Anacaona. South of the school theres a belt way Better Known as Circumvallation San Juan Bautista. East of the school, its located the Fire Fighter building and to the west La Altagracia Neighborhood. 1.2.1- Socio Economic and Cultural Characteristics of the sector. To talk about the Educational preparation of the, or background of the people, who live in this area it is necessary to present this topic focusing on the different sectors that are surrounding the educational center. The people, who live in the Eastern part of the school, are teachers, some of them are working and others are retired. Those people who live north of the school have an average level of education, most of the students that attend this school belong to this area, and they come from humble homes lots of economic adversities. San Juan de la Maguana is well known as El Granero del Sur, for its grain production, there by most of these people income depends on agriculture this activity is the economic support of the citizens, all around this educational center there are, some liquor stores. Concerning to cultural aspects, it is well known that every educational center that provides any kind of service to the community has its own beliefs and culture, which is well identified in students behavior. San Juan owns a rich culture with multiple traditions such as saint patrons party, in honor of John the Baptist. These parties are celebrated from June 15th to June 24th each year. This belief is part of every child and it is part of the school and the community. The school participates in all the activities promoted by different institutions of the community. 1.3- Description of the Infrastructure of the Higà ¼erito Basic School. The infrastructure of Higà ¼erito basic school looks in good conditions, Nowadays the School is made of blocks. It has 17 classrooms, Higà ¼erito School has an area of 466, 43 Mts. And each classroom measures 5.29mts. And 6.44 mts. There are only two bathrooms for the students which are not enough for the amount of pupils. The furnitures are not in good conditions, they need to be fixed. In the inside part of the school it could be observed certain amount of garbage in the yard and in the halls. There is a bad smell that comes out of the bathrooms this situation is affecting the students health. 1.3.1 Internal Characteristics of Higà ¼erito Basic School At present this School is been managed by a principal, for a better management it also has a procedures Staff, a cooperative team and a pedagogic team pretending to guarantee the application of the contents proposed by the curriculum. 1.3.2 Philosophy of the educative Center The project of Center of Higà ¼erito Basic School States the vision and mission of this school, it pretends to guarantee the preparation of all of the students increasing the reinvestment of values, attitudes and talents, making of those teenagers competent people. With the effort of dedicated teachers and following the guidance of the curriculum the image and the prestige of the school is going up. Some important values that make part of this school priority are: dignity, love, solidarity, discipline, responsibility, respect, collaboration, empathy, partnership, faith, honesty, creativity, humbleness, hygiene and sincerity. 1.3.3 Strengths and weaknesses of Higà ¼erito Basic School. According to the information compiled from the project of center this school, it may be quoted the following strengths: The teachers who come to this school are qualified teachers, willing to work with a high spirit of compromise, responsibility and desire to improve. The school is located away from disturbing places in benefit of those who take classes in this Educative Center. This Educative center contemplates as weaknesses: Lack of Library equipment, counseling Department, equipment and adequate school supplies. 1.3.4 Problems of the educative center The problems that are quoted in the project of center of this school are : indiscipline in the classroom, the student have reading problems, The process of teaching technical areas has become one of the biggest problems of the school because those technical areas as English and French require experienced teachers and this school doesnt have these teachers yet. CHAPTER II Difficulties in Learning Irregular Verbs 2.1 Difficulties Learning Irregular verbs. 2.1.1 Infinitives Matching and grouping. 2.1.2 Presentation, practice, production. 2.1.3 Unfamiliarity with infinitives 2.1.4 Infinitives matching. 2.1.5 The present continuous tense as matter of priority. 2.1.6 Categorization of irregular verbs. 2.1.7 Database making and strategies to teach irregular verbs. THE Difficulties in Learning Irregular verbs The chapter II of This research is based on the analysis of the difficulties in learning irregular verbs, here it is presented the infinitive matching and grouping activities and some methods such as presentation, practice and production, it is also treated here the unfamiliarity with infinitives, infinitive matching, the present continuous tense as a matter of priority as well as the categorization of irregular verbs and some strategies to teach irregular verbs. 2.1 Difficulties Learning Irregular Verbs. For learner of English, irregular verbs represent one of the most difficult aspects of the language. Normally because they are presented in the form of alphabetical lists. Never take into account the actual occurrence of these verbs. Irregular verbs haunt learners of English from the beginning to the end of their studies. Teachers are always trying to find new and easily comprehensible ways to teach different parts of grammar. The past tens and the perfective aspect on the verb are two rather difficult areas for ESL Learners all over the world. ESL Learners usually try several hypotheses before they can handle the past tense confidently. Especially, the irregular past poses problems for learners. If they could be organized in a morphonemic classification, to make it easier for the learners to create file/ folders that they can easily accommodate them in their learning process, and if the learning load can be reduced thereby, learners can grasp and remember them better and faster. In English, majority of the verbs go through 4 forms, with an exception of modal auxiliary verbs. These forms are: 2 tense forms and 2 aspects for The verbs in English behave in four different ways in the past tense: I. There is a regular past tense form: 2. There is an irregular past tense form wherein it takes any shape, which is not easily predicted. 3. There is a vowel change past tense form in which on vowel in the verb changes to form the past tense, while the rest of the verb shape remains the same. 4. There is a no change past tense form wherein the verb remains as it is. The irregular verbs have hardly any resemblance with the original form of the verbs and therefore their past form is unpredictable. 2.1.1 Infinitives matching and grouping The students are encouraged to match and group infinitives in a logical way. Hence, when they star dealing with the past simple tense, they have become familiar with the infinitives, so the primary barrier is eliminated. The list of irregular verbs with all three forms is then cat into pieces and the students are asked to categorize the irregular verbs on the basis of resemblance. This proceeds from a classification of irregular verbs as stated in a comprehensive grammar of the English language. The students are encouraged to create their own positive negative compound sentences, which they can as the fourth step- develop in stories. The fifth step is fixing phase, during which the students organize and reorganize the irregular verbs depending on how familiar the students are with them having learnt the infinitive, past and past- participle forms by heart, however, the students are found unable to recognize any of the forms if written in English, there is a method elaborated by: Jeremy Harmer, consists of the following elements: Engage, Study, Activate. In the engage phase, the teacher s effort is to awake the students interest, arouse their curiosity, and engage their emotions, employing numerous means, such as games, pictures, audio or video recordings, or dramatic stories. Most of us can remember lessons at school which were uninvolving and where we, switched off from what was being taught. We may also remember lessons where we were more or less paying attention, but where we were not really hooked. We were not engaged emotionally with what was going on; we were not curious, passionate or involved. Yet things are learnt much better if both our minds and our hearts are brought into service. Engagement of this type is one of the vital ingredients for successful learning. ¨ Harmer, (200:52). Hence, instead of being passively taught the infinitives of irregular verbs, students are encourage to play with them, in the activate phase, those exercises and activities are comprised, which gave been designed to make students use the language communicatively. The students are discouraged to focus on the language construction or practice of its particular patterns. On the contrary, the activities are to help the students to use their full language knowledge in the selected situation or task. The objective in the activate phase is, to use all and any language which may be appropriate for a given situation or topic. In this way students get a chance to try out real language use with little or no restriction, a kind of rehearsal for the real life. Story making is an activity typically employed within the activate phase. The students are assigned to create a story, being allowed to use limited or unlimited group of vocabulary. 2.1.2 Presentation, practice, production. This is a widely spread approach, in terms of which the teacher present the language and then encourages the student to practice it at first by means of highly controlled activities the p.p.p model is employed efficiently when most isolated grammatical items are being dealt with. From the teachers point of view, it is highly favorable since it allows the teacher to time each stage of the lesson fairly accurately and anticipate and solve the possible problems the students may encounter. 2.1.3 Unfamiliarity with Infinitives According to the structure of a elementary English course, students are expected to acquire the principles of the past simple tense and past forms of numerous irregular verbs, one difficulty the have is that the encounter approximately one hundred verbs fewer than half of which are irregular for example. Buy, come, cost, do, draw, drink, drive, eat, fall, find, fly, get, give, go, have, hear, know, leave, make, mean, meet, put, read, ring, run, say, see, sing, sit, sleep, speak, spend, stand, swim, take, tell, think, understand, wear, write. Then the biggest problem the students have is that they are not given enough opportunities to get familiar with them. When they have managed to learn the infinitives of hardly twenty irregular verbs, the students are confronted with both a new grammatical phenomenon the principles of making the past simp0le tense, and a flood of irregular verbs. They become showered with the infinitives and past forms of so many new irregular verbs that they star t drawing, losing their motivation 2.1.4 Infinitives Matching. Its a teaching aid that consists in encouraging students to match and group infinitives in a way which they find logical. This method is of double benefit to the students. First it makes the infinitives easy to remember, and secondly, it forces the student to enrich their vocabulary by looking up synonyms to the given verbs. Vocabulary cannot be taught. It can be presented, explained, included in all kind of activities, and experienced in all manner of associations, but ultimately it is learned by the individual. Language teachers must arouse interest in words and a certain excitement in personal development in this area. Teachers must help the students by giving them ideas on how to learn, but each will finally learn a very personal selection of items, organized into relationships in a individual way (1983). Wilga Rivers. 2.1.5 The present continuous tense as a matter of priority Dealing with the present continuous tense before starting to do the past simple one is another way how to imprint on students memory as many infinitives of irregular verbs as possible, before confronting the principles of making and using of the present continuous tense is considerably easier than the past simple. Describing various pictures, a method typically applied when teaching present continuous, encourages students to look up a considerable number of verbs in a dictionary. This method. By choosing appropriate pictures, the teacher can give the students the right direction towards irregular verbs without the students realizing that they are being controlled. Successful language learning in a classroom depends on a judicious blend of subconscious language acquisition and a kind of study activities. Harmer. The inquired system is according to krashen, A product of a subconscious process very similar to the process children under goes when they acquire their first language The learned system, on the contrary, is defined by krashen as a product of formal instruction, comprising a conscious process with results in conscious knowledge about the language. In other words learning is less important than acquisition with the method of describing pictures being applied, students are able to learn the infinitives of all the eighty or ninety most commonly used irregular verbs on cards, which they are encourage to employ when describing routines or making bubble diagrams. In this way, the students are able to get familiar with a substantial number of verbs in an easy, natural manner. Other problem when teaching irregular verbs is that having instilled the infinitive forms of the most commonly used irregular verbs into the students, teacher are sometimes confronted with another problem. They have to decide whether to involve past participles and teach all three forms at once, or to postpone teaching of the past participles until the present perfecto tense is being done. 2.1.6 Categorization of irregular verbs. The students are expected to memorize all three forms of the following eighty- six irregular verbs. Be, beat, begin, break, bring, build, burn, buy, catch, choose, come, cost, cut, deal, do, draw, drink, drive, eat, fall, feel, find, fly, forget, forgive, get, give, go, have, hear, hit, hold, hurt, keep, know, leave, lend, lie, lose, make, mean, pay, put, read, ride, ring, run, say, see, sell, send, sing, sleep, speak, spell, spend, stand, swim, teach, tell, think, throw, understand, wake, wear, win, wrote etcà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Irregular ones in that either the past inflection or the ed participle inflection, or both of these, are irregular. The irregular verbs either do not have the regular -ed inflection According to a comprehensive grammar of the English language irregular verbs differ from else. Irregular verbs typically, but not invariably, have variation in their base vowel; irregular verbs have a varying number of distinct formsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ The base form past and the ed participle. These are traditionally known as the principal parts of the verb- most irregular verbs have, like regular ones, only one common form for the past. The 250 or so irregular verbs can be, classified on the basis of criteria derived from similarities and differences. In other to make the irregular verbs easier to memorize, the students Endeavour to discover as many similarities and differences as possible. There is a method that consists in students creating positive negative questions triplets of sentences. This method is called reversing the students choose a card with the infinitive are asked to provide a triplet in the past simple tens. For example: see I saw Jane yesterday but I didnt see Bob Did you see Antonio? This method of reversing is possible to extend and apply later on when dealing with the present perfect tense. Not only do the students practice recalling the past form and past participle of the particular verb, they also learn to recognize the difference between the past simple tense and the present perfect one in terms of usage. Come: Pedro came to our house last Saturday but Jessica didnt come. Did Robert come? Pedro has come but Jessica hasnt come yet. Has Robert come? When learning irregular verbs other strategy very effective for learning them is creating story, employing the cards with the past forms of the irregular verbs on them. At the beginning, the students are preferably supposed to use verbs within a group or subgroup, in order to fix the patterns in their minds. Gradually, however, they are encouraged to introduce verbs from the other groups or subgroups. 2.1.7 Database Making and strategies to teach irregular verbs In order to conclude the process of intensive irregular verbs learning, the students are asked to create a database of the cards witch they made and used during the process itself. Such a card index is to be at the students disposal ever after while revising or when they are confronted with a new tense or grammar. There lots of useful programs teachers could use as a support for teaching irregular verbs. These programs focus on high frequency irregular verbs and train them in their base, present. Present progressive, past, and past perfect forms, some of the resource that these programs use are: Flash, multiple choice with sentences not read, spelling activity. In all activities, there are teacher choices to set interface, level of difficulty, speech and /or text options, response time, and background reinforcement animation. Games (to memorize form), there are several games that can easily be adapted to practice past tense verbs. Bingo: Students are asked to make a 33 grid on a piece of paper, look at their list of irregular verbs and to complete their grid with infinitive verbs. When they have finished, start reading student hears the past form of a verb they have on their grid, they cross it out. The first to cross out all the verbs on the grid calls Bingo and wins. Follow this up by asking students to work in pairs and to prepare a story using the verbs on their grid, in the past tense. Tennis or volleyball, this activity involves students calling out verbs to each other, as if they were passing a ball over and invisible net. Ex. Student I. Says the infinitive of the verb (Run) Student 2. Says the past form. (Ran) Student 3. Says the past participle (Run) If a student gets a word wrong (or pauses for more than 10 seconds), they lose. Students can do this in pairs, although with smaller classes you may set up two facing chairs in front of the class and have students come up and play each other in front of the others. The students who win stays (as the reigning champion) and another student come up to challenge. Permanism (or Memory), prepare a set of cars with the infinitive on them (set A), and a set of cards with the past tense on them (Set B). Put both sets face down on a table. Invite a student to pick up two cards. He / She must read the verbs aloud on the cards and decide if they match. If they match, he/she keeps them- If they dont match him /she shows them to the others and puts them back down. Another student comes up and tries to get a matching, pair in the same way. It could be done with large or small classes. With a large class put the students into groups of four and ask each group to prepare their own cards. Working with pronunciations: give students a list of irregular past tense verbs and ask them to group them according to the main vowel sound in each. If this seems too hard, you could give them verbs and find others that sound the same. For example, find the matching pairs of verbs in this list: wrote could taught read eat drank gave had waked went took bought. You could group the irregular verbs according to similar sounds and put them and a poster on the wall. Meaningful practice, Listen and recap: In this activity you give the students a list of irregular verbs in the students a list of irregular verbs in their infinitive form (on a worksheet, or written on the board). You then tell a personal story, incorporating the past tense of the verbs. Its best to prepared this ahead of time, bearing in mind what your students understands. As the students listen, they must number the verbs they hear in order. When you finish, tell the students to compare their order in pairs. They should then write the past form of all the verbs they heard. Check the answers with the whole class. Then ask the students to try and are tell the story together using the past tense verbs as cues. Finally ask students to tell a similar story based on their own experience. Monday morning conversation, one way of getting a lot of past simple verbs out of the students is to simply start an informal chat with them at the beginning of the class, The simple what did you do last weekend? On Monday morning should throw up some past simple verbs. You can also go around ask the students some questions and allow them to answer. Teaching English irregular verbs is indeed challenging. However the goal of grammar instruction is to enable students to carry out their communication purposes irregular verbs are verbs themselves. The fourth grade is when those verbs start getting hammered into kids brains so that they might not mess them up quite so much when they re older. Irregular verbs are verbs that dont follow normal conjugation rules as thy traverse temporal space. They are the source of a great deal of frustration if you let them, unfortunately the only way to learn irregular verbs is to memorize their freaky conjugation as you encounter them. The irregular verbs might be the hardest part of fourth grade grammar. Chapter III Presentation and Analysis of the datas of the investigation In this chapter are presented the results of the investigation carried out in the Educative Center Higà ¼errito basic School. The results of the interview to the principal of the School and the surveys applied to teachers and students of this Educative Center. 3.1. Interview Applied to the Principal of the Educative Center Higà ¼erito basic School. In this section are analyzed the answers obtained from the interview to the director of the school. The principal of Higà ¼erito basic School was asked if she supervises the English teachers while they are on duty and her answer was affirmative, but she specified, that is the teacher in charge of the grade who teaches English because they dont have a teacher for the area so far. She was also questioned if she has received any kind of complaints from the students for the lustration they receive, and she answer,54 not yet she was asked if the school trains the teachers in order to have better results during and after the process of teaching and learning She replied, no. She was also questioned about the resources that the teachers of English need as a complement to their teaching process and she said that is a teacher ´s responsibility because public Schools do not provide these resources, when she was asked how she evaluates the English teachers ´ work, her reply was, that she evaluates it very good, because they are not English teachers actually, and believe it or no t they have been teaching well taking in to considerations the limitations. Here ´s the key of the problems, as this Educative Center is Subsidized by the State and the fact that there arent languages teachers: The teachers in charge of the grade are obliged to mange to teach. In the project of center the principal States as an advantage the preparation of the teachers who work for this school but they dont have qualified English teachers, and this is a serious problem because either the teachers or the students might feel frustrated, the teachers feeling unable to do their job and the students getting drowned in their attempt for learning the language. 3.2 Survey elaborated for the English teachers of Higà ¼erito basic School. In this section are analyzed the answers obtained from the survey applied to teachers of English of Higà ¼erito basic School. I. Years of experience of Higà ¼erito basic school English teachers. Category Frequency % 1-5 3 60 5-10 2 40 10-15 0 0 Total 5 100 In this square it could be observed that 3 teachers have from 1-5 years of experience teaching and 2 teachers have from 5- 10 years of experience. These years of experience are a good indicator to guarantee the quality of teaching of the Educative Center Higà ¼erito. 2. Techniques used by teachers of the Educative Center Higà ¼erito to teach irregular verbs. Category Frequency % Participation in class Oral Practice 1 20 Home works Written Exams 4 80 All the previous Alternatives None of the Alternatives Total 5 100 According to what it seen in this chart, 20. % of the English teachers use as a teaching technique, the oral practice and 80 % use written ex

When Teen Abortion is Unsafe for Teen and Baby :: essays research papers

What would be your reaction if you had a teenager come home pregnant? Many teenagers fear their parents if they have to bring home a bad report card. Others may have a fear if they get into trouble at school. Although these fears are substantial, young women experience a fear that young men do not. Becoming pregnant is a serious fear for young women that engage in sexual intercourse. Often times a teen mother’s answer to this situation is abortion or an illegal abortion. Teen abortion can be somewhat difficult to get in many states without having parental consent or notification. These laws make it unsafe for the teen mother and unborn child. Teen abortion should be allowed without having to have parental consent. The mortality rate of teen mothers and babies would decrease significantly if this were the case. Sadly, each year in the United States the age of young girls who are sexually active decreases. At this rate there are many unwanted and unplanned pregnancies. â₠¬Å"One in three abortions in the U.S. are performed on teens† (Torr 91). That is a very high statistic that young women have created due to their adult decisions.† Teens are sometimes reluctant to practice birth control because it is not romantic† (Emmens 13). Teens tend to believe that they should not use birth control, because they do not think that they will get pregnant. The lack of birth control may result in pregnancy. Once a teenager gets pregnant she may not know what to do next. Teenagers usually become nervous and unsure of whether to tell someone or just keep the pregnancy a secret. When they keep the pregnancy a secret it puts them in danger as well as the unborn child. Planned Parenthood Federation of America is the nation's leading sexual and reproductive health care advocate and provider. â€Å"We believe that everyone has the right to choose when or whether to have a child, and that every child should be wanted and loved† (Suarez 2). Planned Parenthood allows a teenager to make safe decisions without including the teen’s parents. In many states where they have Planned Parenthood facilities the teenagers have more options. Teenagers that want birth control and/or an abortion can receive services, as well as information from a doctor. The doctors at this clinic encourage young women to tell their parents of their choice of abortion.

Competitive Strategy Southwest Airlines Essay

The domestic US airline industry has been intensely competitive since it was deregulated in 1978. In a regulated environment, most of the cost increases were passed along to consumers under a fixed rate-of-return based pricing scheme. This allowed labor unions to acquire a lot of power and workers at the major incumbent carriers were overpaid. After deregulation, the incumbent carriers felt the most pain, and the floodgates had opened for newer more nimble carriers with lower cost structures to compete head-on with the established airlines. There were several bankruptcies followed by a wave of consolidation with the fittest carriers surviving and the rest being acquired or going out of business. Analysis of the airline industry To determine the profitability of the airline industry, we will do an industry analysis using Porter’s five-forces framework. This industry analysis will help us in understanding the size of the Potential Industry Earnings (PIE), and how much of this th e different participants can extract. Rivalry among competitors There is intense rivalry among different airlines. In the pre-deregulation days, airlines competed mostly on things like service, meals and in-flight movies etc., since prices were mandated by the Civil Aeronautics Board. In the post-de-regulation era, this rivalry has taken on the form of severe price competition, with airlines ruthlessly undercutting each other with fare promotions. There are a number of airlines making the airline industry fairly crowded. Even though the 3-firm concentration in 1992 was 50%, and the 8-firm concentration was 92%, the fact that the airlines competed on price made the industry much more competitive than the numbers might suggest. The service the airlines sell (air transport) is pretty homogenous, and there is not much product (in this case, service) differentiation. The major differences between the services offered by different airlines include the total time spent on an airplane and the number of connections. While time-sensitive business travelers may prefer shorter, direct flights, most leisure t ravelers don’t see this as a big differentiator when the price is factored in. Buyers (both business as well as leisure travelers) have low switching costs and there is very little relationship-specific investment that travelers make. Although the airlines made an effort to create customer loyalty by offering frequent flyer programs, most of the competitive advantage this provided was quickly eroded by almost all airlines offering such programs. Moreover, leisure travelers are motivated to shop around for the best price. The airline industry is also characterized by very high fixed costs. The majority of the operational costs (labor, landing fees, cost of aircraft etc.) are fixed regardless of how full the planes are, and the marginal cost of adding an extra passenger is almost negligible (just the cost of food plus an insignificant amount of extra fuel). Thus, on the margin, every extra seat sold contributes directly to the bottom line. This motivates airlines to undercut each other till price approaches marginal cost. Intense competition also lead to excess s eat capacity in several markets. This, combined with periods of declining demand because of macro-economic factors, and the high fixed costs and low marginal costs make the airline industry very price competitive. Things like access to Computer Reservation Systems and innovative pricing coupled with yield management were competitive advantages for a little while before they become a staple of being in business as an airline. Entry Entry into the domestic airline industry is relatively easy since there are no significant barriers to entry. Inputs such as aircraft maintenance, food service, ground services, reservations etc., could be outsourced. Airplanes could be leased, thereby defraying large initial capital investments, and rights to use gates could be leased at market rates. The minimum efficient scale was not very high since airlines could choose to compete in a few markets, and costs were more or less proportional to the number of flights offered and the number of markets the airline wanted to operate in. The main consideration for profitable entry seemed to be the ability of airlines to fill their airplanes above the breakeven point. In an industry fraught with price competition, brand identity and reputation did not have significant value either. In the airline industry, exit costs are not very high either. Planes could be easily redeployed to other markets, or sold off, and gates and landing rights could be sub-leased to other carriers. Substitutes There are a number of substitutes to air travel, especially over short distances. These include taking other modes of transportation such as driving, taking the train etc., or not traveling at all. The use of technology (like WebEx, NetMeeting, video-conferencing etc.) that facilitates remote virtual collaboration is becoming a good substitute for business air travel as well. Supplier Power The primary inputs to the airline industry include airplanes, labor and fuel. There are only two major manufacturers (three at the time of the case – Boeing, Airbus and McDonnell Douglas) for large commercial aircraft. This, along with the relationship specific investment t hat the airlines make in the form of trained mechanics, existing stock of aircraft etc., is likely to give the aircraft manufacturers some supplier power. A mitigating factor for this supplier power is the lumpy nature of aircraft sales, where there are a few high-value orders placed by airlines with deliveries spanning several years. Labor such as pilots, cabin crew, ground personnel, gate agents etc. are typically unionized and have some bargaining power. However, many airlines especially in the post-deregulation era have used the threat of Chapter 11 bankruptcy to re-negotiate unfavorable labor contracts. Aviation fuel is a commodity and its prices are determined largely by market forces and geo-political factors. Buyer Power The power that airline customers have varies based on the options available to them and the origin-destination city pair. As the General Accounting Office report in 1989 found, fares were 27% higher in monopoly or duopoly hubs than at competitive airports. Sophisticated yield management techniques and competitive pricing have allowed airlines to extract significant consumer surplus in smaller remote markets whe re travelers don’t have much choice and for direct long-haul flights that are preferred by business travelers. Even though there are pockets where some airlines have pricing power, the overall airline industry in characterized by significant buyer power stemming from the intense price competition among airlines. Industry profitability Exhibit 1 provides a summary of this industry analysis. As highlighted by the preceding analysis, the domestic US airline industry is not very profitable. Even though the Potential Industry Earnings seem high (given the volume of air travel and the higher willingness to pay and inelasticity of demand of business travelers), airlines are not able to capture much of these potential earnings. Several factors including intense price competition, excess capacity, high fixed and low marginal costs, along with low barriers to entry and exit, moderate supplier power and significant buyer power contribute to low industry profitability. Southwest’s success for twenty years In spite of a rather gloomy industry outlook, Southwest Airlines has managed to be successful for over twenty years. Southwest has outperformed its competitors by pursuing an operational model that is very different from the traditional larger carriers. Southwest was able to create a differentiated product in an industry dominated by undifferentiated offerings. Southwest took a simple, no-frills approach to flying with no meals and no assigned seating. It flew out of secondary airports where landing fees and costs of operation were much lower. These secondary airports also typically had less traffic so passengers could get to and from the airport with greater ease. Southwest broke the hub-and-spoke model and instead opted to fly frequent flights point to point. By avoiding the hub and spoke model, Southwest did not have to make the massive infrastructure investments that a lot of its competitors had to make. Not having to wait for feeder flights at hub airports, along with the 15-minute turn-around time of aircraft allowed Southwest to better utilize its fleet by keeping its planes in the air for a longer time (11 hours per day as opposed to the industry average of 8.5 hours per day). Southwest also owned only one model of aircraft – the Boeing 737, and was therefore able to achieve economies of scale in stocking components, and training mechanics. All of these measures gave Southwest the lowest cost per Available Seat Mile of 7.1 cents. As a consequence, Southwest had a much lower break-even point than it’s competitors and was able to make money even at lower load factors. With this unique operational model, Southwest not only kept costs down, but also provided customers just what they were looking for – cheap, efficient, timely transportation with high-quality service from a cheerful, motivated staff and without having to wait for connecting flights at hub airports. Southwest offered the lowest prices to price sensitive airline passengers for whom cost was a significant decision criterion. Southwest’s culture Herb Kelleher leveraged one of Southwest’s key resources- its employees to create a set of organizational capabilities, which in turn gave Southwest a competitive advantage. Kelleher institutionalized a culture of having fun while working, and inspired a deep sense of loyalty to the company fr om his workforce. Southwest’s workforce is 90% unionized, but owns 11% of the company. This led to compatibility in incentives between Southwest and its employees. Southwest’s employees did a variety of jobs in contrast to the other major carriers where employees had designated jobs and were reluctant to do anything beyond their strictly defined duties. Having a motivated workforce helped Southwest turn an aircraft around in a record time of 15 minutes. The beauty of Southwest’s operational model was in how each of their steps reinforced the other. A simple, no-frills approach with short haul flights and standardized equipment leading to lower costs, which in turn lead to lower fares in an industry which was extremely price competitive. A well-compensated, highly motivated workforce whose incentives were aligned with those of the company also ensured that things were operating at peak efficiency. A huge part of Southwest’s success in the 20 years since its inception can be attributed to this simple, but remarkably effective model. Threats to Southwest’s continuing success Threats to Southwest’s continuing succ ess include the threat of entry from other low-fare airlines and spin-offs from major airlines that seek to imitate Southwest’s model. With the airline industry bleeding with red ink, the government might step in and start reregulating the industry. In general, regulation and price-setting by the government interferes with free market forces, and breeds inefficiency by creating misaligned incentives and dead-weight losses. Any such re-regulation and government mandated prices would severely hurt Southwest. Other threats to Southwest include the loss of its existing competitive advantages. In particular, any event that triggers the loss of employee morale might lower the operational efficiency at Southwest and erode its cost advantage. Southwest’s go-forward strategy Southwest has designed its strategy around its most important resources and capabilities. It should thus limit its scope to those activities where it has a clear competitive advantage. Southwest should try to grow by replicating its success to new markets and achieving greater economies of scale and organizational learning. Southwest should not try to change its model and try to compete with other traditional airlines by flying long-haul flights and setting up hubs. Doing so would dilute Southwest’s focus and prevent it from leveraging the competitive advantages that have served it well for over two decades. In order to continue to succeed and grow, Southwest has to be able to sustain and build upon its existing competitive advantages. Southwest must focus on making its resources and capabilities (that give it a huge competitive advantage) durable, difficult to identify / understand, and hard to transfer and replicate. Durability: Southwest must focus on making its capabilities more durable than its resources. The airline industry is notorious for its back-to-back boom and bust cycles, and long-lasting advantages such as brand recognition and reputation just do not exist in this industry. Thus, Southwest must constantly focus on making its existing first mover and other advantages durable by keeping its employees motivated and keeping its focus on offering simple, no-frills air travel. Transparency: This refers to the speed with which other firms can imitate Southwest’s strategy. While running an airline is not rocket-science, Southwest does seem to have cracked the code in terms of figuring out the right mix of operational procedures and employee motivation to run a successful profitable airline. To enhance its competitive position, Southwest must focus on capturing and codifying its learning so that its formula for success is harder to identify and understand. Transferability and Replicability: Southwest must focus on making its capabilities less transferable and replicable. Thus, even if a competitor were to acquire the same resources (airplanes, employees etc.) that Southwest has, its capabilities must be hard to transfer and replicate. Southwest has created a unique organizational routine, and has acquired the ability to motivate its people to operate with consistently outstanding cost efficiencies and high levels of service. To build on this, Southwest must continue to focus on its core competencies, reinforce its core values and must continue to align the incentives of its employees with those of the company. In an industry with cut-throat competition and limited profit-making potential, Southwest has successfully pursued a resource based approach to creating sustainable competitive advantages. To continue to succeed and grow, Southwest must focus on identifying and filling resource gaps and continue to offer a differentiated product by exploiting its past organizational learning and its unique characteristics.

Missing a Loved One These Quotes From Poems Add the Healing Touch

It could be a love song, a poem, or a soulful tune, or it could simply be the golden rays of the setting sun. Pangs of yearning will be felt in every heart that has loved. Have you been reminded of your lover, an ex-boyfriend, or a woman of your dreams, when you observed something magical and beautiful? Love, in its various complexities and avatars, also comes with the baggage of yearning. This sweet and sour pangs can leave you with frustration, impatience, and sadness, which can wreak havoc in your life. Some lovers claim that they miss their beloved every moment they are not together. Is that possible or is it just a false illusion of early stages of love? Missing someone is natural, especially if you have been in an intimate relationship with someone. The fact that you miss a loved one only makes you human. However, if you allow your pining heart to take control of your life, nothing will come of it. At best, you will be left brokenhearted; at worst you may become an alcoholic or run yourself down to destruction. The Telltale Signs of Missing Someone Much as you may want to deny the fact that you are missing someone, you will find the obvious symptoms. Here are some that are dead giveaways: Sad songs make you cry. Romantic songs make you cry louder. It is not that you don’t love songs, but a pining heart can take it no more. The melody rips your heart, and the lyrics feel like a thousand daggers stabbing at you. Suddenly, you discover that you are a big fan of Amy Winehouse’s There is No Greater Love. You would like to crawl back into your cave. Bright lights, loud music, and laughter are your enemies. You prefer to stay away from every sort of company. You find yourself alone, even in a crowd. There are days when you just want to watch the sunset on the horizon, let the breeze ruffle your hair, and gaze at the ripples caused by raindrops. You either love to eat or hate to eat. Bulimia and anorexia are fairly common among those who are missing their lover. Food takes on an entirely new meaning, and it does not seem to satisfy your heart’s desire. Alcohol is the new coffee in your lexicon, and it seems to be the only answer to life’s greatest problems. You have turned into a workaholic and number crunching has become your favorite pastime. Those who feel the burden of a pining heart, escape by diving into hard work. Working extra hard may be the only way to distract your thoughts from the deep sense of void you feel inside. Also, facts and figures are easier to deal with, than the probing questions of people. You can’t help checking your emails, text messages and status updates multiple times in a day. When you are missing someone dearly, you want to hear from them. You want to hear their voice, read their emails, or text message one last time. You seek closure for unrequited love, or you wish to say a proper goodbye to the person you loved. Healing Process If you are experiencing any or all of these symptoms of missing someone, it’s time to let the healing process begin. Here are 4 ways to help heal that hurting heart. Communicate Your Feelings. Bottling up your angst is the surest way to get yourself in a tangle of woes. When you suffer the pain of separation, you’d want to blame your object of affection for causing you much distress. Separation leads to anxiety, insecurity, and anger. Sometimes, this angst also leads to jealousy and mistrust. Do you really want to go through all this, when you can simply communicate your feelings? Deal With the Separation With a Mature Mind. This is easier said than done. But hurting yourself in the process of missing someone is no fun. If you are counting days until the next reunion, do something worthwhile and productive. Hit the gym. Learn a skill. Catch up with friends. Catch up with your reading list. Build a house. The opportunities are endless. You just need to get out of bed and spring into action. Write a Letter to Yourself. Trust me, it helps. Address an email to yourself and pour out your feelings. Don’t restrain your thoughts. Once you have poured out the venom, hit send. Now, sleep over it. The next day, read your email. You will find most of your feelings fairly irrational. Keep this as a memoir of your dark days. In the years to come, these letters will prove to be a great source for introspective learning. Say â€Å"I Miss You† With Grace You don’t lose face when you express feelings honestly. But instead of sounding like a whining, clingy friend, or a heartbroken lover, express your thoughts with graceful words. These poem extracts convey your melancholy feelings while keeping your dignity intact. Poetry touches you in ways that ordinary words cannot. When you miss your beloved, share these quotes from sad poems and cherish the sweet-sour hours of separation. Quote #1:Christina Rossetti:  I Loved You First: But Afterwards Your LoveI loved you first: but afterwards your loveOutsoaring mine, sang such a loftier songAs drowned the friendly cooings of my dove.Which owes the other most? my love was long,And yours one moment seemed to wax more strong;Quote #2:Angela Morgan:  ChoiceId rather have the thought of youTo hold against my heart,My spirit to be taught of youWith west winds blowing,Than all the warm caressesOf another loves bestowing,Or all the glories of the worldIn which you had no part.Quote #3:Sara Teasdale:  MayBeneath the apple blossomsI go a wintry way,For love that smiled in AprilIs false to me in May.Quote #4:Rainer Maria Rilke:  In Love SongAnd yet everything which touches us, you and me, takes us together like a single bow, drawing out from two strings but one voice. On which instrument are we strung? And which violinist holds us in the hand? O sweetest of songs.Quote #5:Emily Dickinson:  Heart! We Will Forget Him!H eart! We will forget him!You an I, tonight!You may forget the warmth he gave,I will forget the light.Quote #6:Pablo Neruda:  The Saddest PoemI can write the saddest poem of all tonight.Write, for instance: The night is full of stars,and the stars, blue, shiver in the distance.The night wind whirls in the sky and sings.I can write the saddest poem of all tonight.I loved her, and sometimes she loved me too.