Childhood obesity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Childhood obesity - Essay Example n body mass and the risk of acute and long-term morbidity and mortality, in the case of children and adolescents, acute medical complications of obesity are less common. (Schwarz, 2012). Evidence points out that low levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) results from sedentary lifestyle, leading to hypertension and premature coronary artery disease. â€Å"Insulin resistance† in the liver and adipose tissues, and skeletal muscles occur from body fat build-up which â€Å"predispose to glucose intolerance and hypertriglyceridemia†. Lower life expectancy resulting from the predisposition to type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, can be attributed to the combination of high levels of insulin, hypertension from fat accumulation and dyslipidemia. High insulin levels in the body and high blood pressure also leads â€Å"androgen production from ovarian and adrenocortical cells with dysmenorrheal and virilization† in females, and the â€Å"aromatization of adrenal androgens to estrone that leads to gynecomastia in males† (Schwarz, 2012). â€Å"fatty liver, independent of visceral fat and intramyocellular lipid content (ICML), has a central role in insulin resistance in obese adolescents. Patients were divided into 2 groups: 23 obese adolescents with and 20 obese adolescents with low HFF were matched for age, Tanner stage, BMI score, and percentage of body fat, visceral fat, and IMCL. The group with a high hepatic fat fraction (HFF) had lower whole-body insulin sensitivity index and lower estimates of insulin secretion, as well as a significantly lower glucose disposal rate, than the group with low HFF† (Schwarz, 2012). Schwarz (2012) stated that several genetic syndromes associated with childhood obesity have been determined to include the Prader-Willi syndrome, pseudohypoparathyroidism, Laurence-Moon-Biedl (Bardet-Biedl) syndrome, and the Cohen, Down and Tuner syndromes. Hormonal disorders like growth hormone deficiency and resistance, hypothyroidism, leptin deficiency

Hispanic American Diversity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Hispanic American Diversity - Essay Example People of Mexican origin are Mexicans either for the reason they are born in Mexico or of Mexican heritage. "The majority of Mexican Americans live in urban areas which comprise the three agricultural migrant streams that flow from the south to the north across the country, often twice annually. Historically, Mexican Americans have been both an urban and rural population. Since the 1600s, Mexicans were the first Americans to establish homesteads in the territories that became Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas. Since before the turn of the century, Mexican Americans literally built the great southwestern cities of Los Angeles, San Diego, Tucson, Albuquerque, Dallas, and San Antonio" (2006b) Mexican culture is influenced by folk art, which exhibits in major American museums, and "the great Mexican muralists like Rivera, Siquieros, and Orozco were invited to paint frescoes on the walls of American institutional sites such as universities and even within such edifices of capitalism as Rockefeller Center in New York" (Limon, 1998, p. 26) Local Mexican cultural life involves the participation of ranches, they used to gather for parties and seasonal balls and dutifully attend Sunday gatherings. With respect to linguistics, "Mexican America... Others, speaking perfect English, have completely forsaken the tongue of their ancestors". (Gonzalez, 1969, p. 16) A few, usually among the more educated intellectual class, have made a point of learning to speak both English and Spanish well, but they are, very rare. It has been found that the majority of the members of this population still learn English as a second language, however Spanish-American leaders recognize that in order for individuals to raise their socioeconomic level they must speak English well. Puerto Ricans The cultural heritage of Puerto Rico is among the richest in the world. Traditionally, the Puerto Rican people speak Spanish; it is their language of loyalty, romance, passion, patriotism, business, negotiation, and defiance-it is their cultural language. Their ancestors inherited this language from the Spaniards through conquest, and yet it is not the language that the Spaniards spoke when Puerto Rico was under Spanish colonial rule, and it is not the Spanish that Spaniards speak today. In addition, for those who are fully bilingual in Spanish and English, a linguistic phenomenon called "Spanglish" has arisen. The Spanish conquest of Puerto Rico, and the rest of Latin America, for the most part guaranteed that the people would become Roman Catholic. Under colonial rule, it was forbidden to practice any religion but Catholicism. "In Puerto Rico there seems to be a combination of the practices of Santeria and Spiritism, and there are times when the people themselves are not certain o f the origin of a particular custom; they practice it because their ancestors did, not because they are active followers of Santeria or Spiritism". (Perez, 2000, p. 17) Politically, "Puerto Ricans have always received lower levels of Federal

Courage In Little Women And Treasure Island

Courage In Little Women And Treasure Island Little Women was written in the 19th Century in the time of the American Civil War. Many men were away fighting the war or supporting their cause, so women were often left to await their return and run their lives without the support of their husbands and fathers. Treasure Island was written in Britain nearly 20 years later, at a time when the British Empire was at its zenith and British citizens felt invincible. In both books the children are affected by financial issues and it is this that ultimately brings out the courage in the children. Courage is defined as the quality that makes a person able to meet dangers without fear†¦.Bravery. I do not believe that any of the children faced their lives without fear, but they managed to control it to allow them to cope with their own dangers. In this context we must look at how they meet dangers, deal with consequences of their actions and face adversity. We must also look at how their courage, or lack thereof, affects the outcomes in certain scenarios. Courage can be shown both physically and psychologically, but it is the mind that drives a person to show courage; for instance people who show acts of physical bravery are only able to carry the act out with a strength of mind and in turn a psychological courage. The first book I will look at is that of Little Women. The four March sisters, Jo, Meg, Beth and Amy, are left in the care of their mother Marmee when their father goes off to the American Civil War, after losing the majority of their wealth, Mr March lost his property in trying to help an unfortunate friend. Each of the sisters has a different personality and this is no less apparent in the way in which their individual courage is portrayed in the story. The story is set in a difficult period in American history and the author bases the book on her own childhood. The story touches on the fight for independence amongst women at the time and portrays a story that captures courage, love and adversity. It is also very much written for girls as it appeals to the sort of life girls would have recognised in the mid-nineteenth century. The sisters show solidarity through the adversity and one word that crops up frequently, when the author describes the girls change in lifestyle, is Pilgrim. This is an example of courage; the fact that they are prepared to try to make changes in their personalities in time for their fathers return in one year. They face challenges to rid themselves of their flaws and although this is not always a complete success, they show great resolve and strength of mind not to be beaten. This form of courage may not be as colourful as the more obvious, physical courage that is shown in Treasure Island but it has many qualities and gives the readers a belief that they can improve their own lives. Courage is an inspiring trait and it is what makes great leaders; it is the reason that the readers can become engrossed in and involved with the main characters of both the books we are looking at. Courage for the girls is of enduring, of patience and conquering their fears for their father and overcoming their own personality defects. Fetterley suggests that the girls take on this model of womanhood not from choice or out of virtue, but from necessity. This is certainly true of Jo, who longs to break the mould and become a writer, but she knows it is her fathers wish that his little women will do their duty faithfully, fight their bosom enemies bravely and conquer themselves beautifully. She remains true to herself, although her task is to control her temper and try to overcome her dislike of housework. She gets into dreadful scrapes, but has a wonderful enthusiasm for life, which is viewed by the others in varying degrees of disapproval or wistfulness. Alcott gives Jo a steadfast friend and admirer in the shy and retiring Beth. All their striving to improve is worthwhile when Beth gets better and their father returns safely to them. Meg finds love and a future husband, Beth has her health and her father and Jo and Amy are satisfied with their lot. Jo has Laurie, which the reader hopes will blossom successfully in another book. At the last it is Jo who we feel has the courage to step out of the system Jo lounged in her favourite low seat , with the grave, quiet look which best became her. She offers us the most promise for the future, she has the most courage. It is courageous to live in society as a poor relation, to follow their mothers strong moral code in the style of John Bunyons Pilgrims Progress. It is not exciting courage, where the enemy is an evil person, but it is the mundane courage to improve and strive to be good. Marmee allows the girls to make their own mistakes. When they are given 3 months vacation, they ask if they can take their break following their own desires. Marmee agrees to this, but wisely says You may try your experiment for a week and see if you like it. I think by Saturday night you will find that all play and no work is as bad as all work and no play. Of course Marmee is quite right and the girls realise what a peculiar and uncomfortable state of things was produced by the resting and revelling process. The narrative utilised in each of the books is also a determinant of how the various areas of courage are shown and paint different pictures from the simplistic view of what courage is. In Treasure Island Jims narrative of his heroic acts is valuable because he records them modestly, giving us an insider view of heroism that is not very glamorous. Jim is not arrogant, but instead is humbled by his mistakes and successes. He takes full responsibility for his errors rather than finding excuses for them, and he confesses to moments of panic, indecision, and regret rather than bragging exclusively of his successes. Jims remarkable honesty and sincerity often make the heroic or noble claims of the grown-ups, pirates and honourable citizens alike, seem like empty bluster. Jims inclusion of both his follies and his fortunes make his narrative seem more genuine and the adventure more real. If we look back at what defines courage and in particular at the statement that acts of bravery are wit hout fear, we can see that everyone experiences fear even if their ultimate act is one of courage and heroism, it is how ones mind deals with the fear, that creates the courage, as is depicted in the quote from Treasure Island; My curiosity, in a sense, was stronger than my fear we can understand a little of his personality and how he overcomes his natural instinct to be afraid. Although he is courageous, Jims impetuous individualism reminds us that he is still a youth. His tendency to act on his whims and his growing self-awareness also shows that he is caught between two worlds-between childhood and adulthood, and between the lawful, rational world and the lawless pirate world. Jims story is therefore not merely a fanciful adventure tale but also a narrative about growing up. The fact that it is written in the first person allows the reader to enter the world of Jim Hawkins and allow themselves to become the character, incorporating their personalities and in turn understanding th eir strengths and weaknesses fully. Both books look at the growth of the individuals, in Little Women each of the girls sets out to better herself, by losing her least endearing traits and growing into a finer woman because of this. In Treasure Island Jim starts out life as a scared boy who is frightened easily and runs to his mother when he is. As the story continues after the death of his father, Jim becomes more assertive and courageous. In both stories, it is the courage of their convictions that allows them to mature and become what they desire. They all possess strong will-power and a strong understanding of what is wrong and right. In order that they live their lives in this way they must each possess courage. The role that the courage plays in each of the books is creating a hero and keeping the reader interested. Jims physical bravery and heroic acts were aimed at inspiring the boys of that generation. The book was written in a time when men were expected to be brave and courageous and the story of Jim Hawkins taps into the mind of boys who were going through an unsure stage in their lives. The fact that Stevenson made Jim a timid, frightened boy at the beginning of the book and then took him trough a journey of growth and maturity, shows that he was understanding of how many boys of that age were feeling and was hoping that this would inspire and show them the way to become a man. It is believed that Stevenson based the story about his own feelings as he grew up; his 12 year old son was also a major influence on how Jim should be portrayed. In Little women we see a similar influence that the role of courage has on the reader. The book was aimed at young teenage girls who were growing up in a time of expectation. The expectation that you must marry well, not be outspoken, and be a devoted wife. Little women breaks this mould and shows girls in a different light. Jos courage to be outspoken and wilful showed the reader that life didnt have to mean conforming and Beths bravery through illness would show them that courage through times of adversity is a positive attribute. It gave teenage girls in this time another outlook on life and the courage shown by the little women could be related to their own lives in some way. Both books show various forms of courage in children and the historical element plays a large part in the authors choice of character. War affected countries and traditional values made for hard times for many children of the era. The authors were able to free the children from their normal lives and enter into lives of children they could relate to and if they chose to, emulate. Although Treasure Island is a fantasy tale, it again incorporates realistic virtues and traits, it interests the children of the time and is understood by many boys of the era, who lost their fathers . Although the death of Jims father is not a major part of the story, it is the turning point for Jim as he begins to find his courage and maturity. Books are often written to give children role models and the most successful have characters that they can relate. This is still true of todays writing and character inspiration for many of todays leading childrens novels has come from the realisation that the need for a courageous, brave main character is paramount to encouraging children and young teenagers to read so they can live their own lives through these people and take on their qualities. I believe that the role of courage of the children in both Little Women and Treasure Island is the overriding reason for the success of the books. As has been mentioned above, the historical reasons, the need for children to read about their peers acting in a courageous way and the inspiration that the characters produce for the reader are all reasons for the success of the books. The courage and bravery of the children has been so powerful that it has led to future authors trying to reproduce the characters in their stories. They may be extremely different characters, but if you look at how Pullman created Lyra or Rowling created Harry Potter they all share one trait in particular, courage.

Othello Comparison of Themes :: essays research papers

Themes Envy and jealousy are the catalysts for Hugo’s desire to hurt Odin and Mike. Hugo envies Mike for Odin choosing him over Hugo to share the coveted Most Valuable Player award (MVP). At the presentation Hugo’s own father, Coach Duke Goulding states boldly, â€Å"†¦And I’m not ashamed to say this in public but, I love him like a son.† The camera shows the dismay displayed on Hugo’s face. From this point on Hugo envies both Mike and Odin and pledges to do whatever required of him to ruin both their lives. Just as Othello prefers Cassio as his lieutenant rather than Iago. Iago also mentions in a soliloquy that, â€Å"  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I hate the Moor, And it is thought abroad that ‘twixt my sheets He’s done my office. I know if’t be true.† Iago is suspicious of his own wife being unfaithful and is jealous of Othello, even though it is only rumour not truth.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Hugo’s plan is to fill Odin’s mind with doubts of infidelity about Mike and Desi’s relationship. Hugo first mentions his suspicions in the gym where the two are alone. He tells Odin, â€Å"If there’s one thing I know it’s white girls, they’re like horny snakes.† Hugo asks if there’s anything going on between Desi and Mike and if Odin trusts Mike. If Hugo hadn’t of warned Odin, the thought would’ve never have occurred to him as he said to Mike, â€Å"What I’m gone a few hours and you’re already stealing my girl big Mike?† This was said sarcastically by Odin after he was admitted to hospital after retaining an arm injury playing basketball. Iago questions Cassio and Desdemona’s relationship just as Hugo did.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"†¦I speak not yet of proof. Look to your wife, observe her well with Cassio; Wear your eyes thus; not jealous, nor secure.† Eventually Odin becomes so envious and jealous of Mike and Desi’s supposed affair he is so motivated to kill Mike. â€Å"How can I kill this mother fucker Hugo?† But Hugo mentions Desi, which only places the idea in Odin’s mind, and shows Hugo’s powers of manipulation. â€Å"But what about Desi.† He replies. Othello reacts in the same manner as Odin. â€Å"†¦Within these three days let me hear thee say That Cassio’s not alive.† Iago’s agreeingly replies but also manipulates Othello by mentioning Desdemona.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"My friend is dead; ‘Tis down at your request. But let her live.† â€Å"Damn her, lewd minx! O, damn her, damn her!† Also included in this cycle of envy and jealousy is Roger who is envious of Desi and Odin’s relationship and is ever willing to help Hugo in his plan to break them up.

Marine Iguana

The marine iguana, scientifically known as Amblyrhynchus cristatus, is the only lizard in the world that takes to the sea.   Markedly different in appearance, size, and physical attributes, than its land-living cousin.   As one of the many varieties of iguana that Darwin observed in the Galapagos Islands, the marine iguana demonstrates an evolutionary response to a particular set of environmental challenges and has offered marine and land biologists alike the opportunity to study one of the true cross-over species. The discovery of this iguana variant was part, clearly, of the evidence that led so many scientists to immediately see the logic and accuracy of what Darwin had â€Å"discovered†.  Ã‚   Understanding the marine iguana’s habitat, diet, behavioral patterns, survival techniques, and outlook is the purpose of this examination. It is intended to gain a broad understanding of how the marine iguana lives, breeds, and survives. First discovered by Charles Darwin, aboard the Beagle, while touring the Galapagos Islands,   the marine iguana, or Amblyrhynchus cristatus became one of the most remarkable finds of that journey. The marine iguana is distinguished from other iguanas by â€Å"their short, blunt snouts and slightly laterally compressed tail that efficiently moves this lizard along the surface   or beneath the water,† (Amblyrhynchus cristatus, Marine Iguana – MarineBio.org. Retrieved Monday, April 9, 2007, from http://marinebio.org/species.asp?id=165.) The marine iguana is of a similar length to the full-grown land iguanas (reaching two to three feet from nose to tail) and can weigh up to eight pounds.   The color of the marine iguana is quite closely matched to the black volcanic rocks in which it lives.   While there are no natural predators of the marine iguana on land, thus making the evolutionary argument for the coloring of the creature to be necessary for camouflage, there are very specific benefits – primarily being that of heat absorption.   In the water, however, predators abound. The marine iguana, living both on land and in the ocean, and being a cold-blooded creature, requires an adjustment time when going from hot to cold and heat-absorbing coloring, such as the dark black dominant color on the marine iguana helps to reduce that shift in temperatures and helps to return the iguana to normal speed of functioning faster.   The marine iguana, like all reptiles, does not have the ability to thermoregulate which also accounts for the dark coloring as a necessary boost in the absorption of heat from the sun. This ability is absolutely critical to the marine iguana’s pursuit of food.   All reptiles will physically slow down to a near halt the colder they get.   Therefore, in order to prevent an absolute cessation of movement during a dive, the marine iguana must raise its body temperature to combat the nearly 10degree-Celsius loss that comes from an average dive. In fact, heat is a very significant part of the marine iguana’s life. They must warm themselves to dive, but they also must maintain a consistent temperature or risk getting too hot. (Rothman, p1). The marine iguana’s adaptations also include a nasal gland that excretes the excess salt taken in while in the ocean.   All of these factors, and more, contribute to making the marine iguana a most fascinating creature. The habitat of the marine iguana is not just limited to the Galapagos Islands but that is the only place it is naturally found (there are many marine iguana exhibits in zoos.   The Galapagos Islands are generally characterized by a variety of   both high and low and scrub or cling-vegetation.   Each island is unique in its combination of vegetation and animal life.   The marine iguana does not appear on all of the Galapagos islands, but, as has been previously stated, it is only found there which shows that it, as a unique creature, came to be what it is as a result of living in its particular habitat.   Interestingly, there are also variations in average size depending upon which island you find the marine iguana upon. Those found on Isabela and Ferdinandina are the largest and the smallest are found on the island of Genovesa.  Ã‚   How the marine iguana found its way to the Galapagos islands (and the marine iguana is the only iguana species on the islands) is unknown.   But, the prevailing theories center on the idea that the iguanas crossed on a land-bridge that sank long ago, or that they were transported from the mainland of Argentina or elsewhere in South America. Regardless, because of their distance from their origins, their unique environment that other iguanas had not been exposed to, and the relative lack of traditional iguana food (which is, actually, just about anything) but on these islands, the iguanas were either too slow to catch prey, or the natural vegetation was simply not nutritious enough for their needs. So, faced with this, the iguanas adapted to their environment and found that algae, one of the worlds most nutrient-rich foods, was a better and more consistent source of food than any other. There are thousands of insect varieties that other lizard species feed upon on the islands, but for the marine iguana, it is the algae growing on the rocks under the ocean surface that provides their food. Getting the algae does not require a great deal of hunting or foraging.   As algae is exceptionally abundant.   Because of this, the marine iguana has an average dive depth of up to 15 meters (with most only needing to be in the 1.5-5 meter range) and can remain under water for three to five minutes (with a notable few observed dives of up to 30 min), (marinebio.org). The day of the marine iguana is spent doing predictable reptile behavior: sunning to absorb heat in order to have a more successful dive for food, diving for food, and, reproducing.   The reproduction cycle for the marine iguana begins in December and goes through March.   The nesting season follows immediately after breeding, which takes place in the January to April time frame.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Breeding begins when females hit three to five-years of age and when the males are within the 6 to 8 year range. As is the case with only a few reptiles, the male marine iguanas have nothing to do with the guarding of the eggs.   But, the females will do so for up to a week (Rubenstein & Wikelski, â€Å"Seasonal Changes in Food Quality: A proximate cue for reproductive timing in marine iguanas†, 3013).   After that period, they leave the eggs on their own to incubate under two to four feet of sand.  Ã‚   Hatchlings weigh an average of 55 grams and are geared for survival from the moment they emerge from the shell. The challenges to the survival of the marine iguana are many, but they are no more so than those facing every other species of plant and animal on the islands or, indeed, anywhere else in the world.   Pollution, climate change, environmental shifts (such as El Nino), and human encroachment all play a part in determining the long-term survival of the marine iguana.   Fortunately, though, for this species at least there is relatively little industrialization or human colonization of the Galapagos. This results in much lower amounts of land and ecosystem loss.   But, as is the case for any creature that can’t make its own food, the marine iguana’s challenge is to eat enough to survive each day.   As long as ocean pollution does not find a way to kill off the algae, the marine iguana will continue to thrive in the Galapagos. The marine iguana is, indeed, a unique and special animal.   Referred to derogatorily as being â€Å"ugly†, the marine iguana is uniquely suited (adapted) to its environment through a series of evolutionary shifts that took it away from the land iguana to one that can   swim under water, expel salt through a nasal gland, and gets nearly all of its food underwater.   These creatures eat primarily algae found on the rocks and reefs below the ocean surface and, in order to make these dives to get that food, must raise their core temperature to as to have quick reflexes even as their body temperature is going down. Found on many of the Galapagos islands, the marine iguana even shows variations in body size from island to island.   Breeding takes place in the summer months (of the Southern Hemisphere) and nesting follows shortly.   The marine iguana provides a look into the deep biological past (one can see the dinosaurs in the background) for its appearance which is designed to assist with the absorption of heat.   While the marine iguana is not currently under environmental threat, but can be greatly affected by a host of events both locally and globally. References Amblyrhynchus cristatus, Marine Iguana – MarineBio.org. Online. Internet. Avail.   http://marinebio.org/species.asp?id=165. Info acc 8 March, 2007. Rothman, Robert. â€Å"Marine Iguana†. RIT.edu. Online. Internet. Avail: http://www.rit.edu/~rhrsbi/GalapagosPages/MarineIguana.html. Access: 8 March, 2007. Rubenstein, Dustin R. and Wikelksi, Martin. Seasonal changes in food quality: a proximate cue for reproductive timing in marine iguanas. Ecology 84.11 (Nov 2003): p3013.

Japanese course for teachers in Elementary Schools Essay

What are the minimal Japanese language competencies for our team teachers working in Japanese Elementary schools? Through this question I hope to make explicit and test methods of data collection, diagnostic testing, and needs analysis; and determine if these methods transfer to another language. This data will be used as a basis for collecting authentic materials to prepare a Japanese for Specific Purposes language course. Setting We have 12 British Council teachers team teaching in 24 Japanese junior high schools and one elementary school This is a completely Japanese environment (e.g. dress, code of conduct, meetings are all done in Japanese). Primarily our teachers rely on our team teachers to translate important information such as scheduling, written messages, problems with the photocopier, dealing with disruptive students, etc. In the future we would like to expand into Tokyo elementary schools, however, the board of education has expressed reservations about our Japanese ability and that our British Council teachers need to be linguistically self reliant in the schools Objective. I would like to look at creating a series of Japanese language competencies similar to the CEF guidelines for our British Council teachers teaching in elementary schools such as: â€Å"I can read instructions on a photocopier† or â€Å"I can interact in a simple way dealing with a change of school schedule†. By collecting feedback, writing competency guidelines and finally creating a diagnostic test, I hope to examine the methods of data collection and analysis that I have read about studying for this module. I would like to compare my journey from data collection to course objectives to similar cases of TESOL course design such as Johan Uvin when he designed workplace ESOL (Graves ed. , 1996). Furthermore I believe that by using native English speakers as the students, I can examine more closely what our needs are (without interference from the native language). Then I can compare it to data collection methods and needs analyses that we use for our TESOL students. I am considering this as a sub-aim (the differences and similarities of data collection from L1 to L2 informants). To determine the competencies I must resolve these questions: 1. What situations our teachers find themselves in an Elementary school context where written or spoken Japanese is needed or used? 2. What expectations the Japanese team teachers or schools have in regards to what their needs are regarding communication with our staff? 3. What expectations our teachers have and what they would like to know how to say, write or read? Data collection I propose three ways for data collection, which would be done concurrently 1. Diaries: British Council teachers in both elementary schools and JHS will note down situations and times when they needed Japanese or would have liked to know how to say something in Japanese. (Long, 2005) 2. Interviews with our team teachers and elementary teachers on what they would expect our teachers to be able to do or say. These interviews/ questionnaires might have to be done in Japanese. (Anderson, 1998) 3. Questionnaire or survey of what BC teachers would like to learn in a course (Hinkel, 2005) I believe that using three ways of data collection will bring me a fuller and more varied sample of information. This will also give me more access to the differing stakeholders. Research Plan 1. I propose first to identify current and leading ideas of needs analysis and data collection. 2. Then I will test and verify these methods using both native speakers and Japanese team teachers to create the diaries and questionairres. 3. From this data collection, I will write minimum guidelines for Japanese linguistic competency in Elementary schools. 4. With this, I will write and send out a diagnostic test based on these results. 5. Finally, I will collect authentic materials to use in a Japanese language course. Issues I realise that developing a Japanese language course falls outside of the TESOL area. However, I believe integration in the country or work atmosphere is an overlooked area of our work. I would also say that it falls under the area of Educational Management in TESOL and therefore I believe it is a valid area of study. Furthermore, data collection and analysis methods that I have covered in my reading for this module should be universal and apply to any language. I believe that by using native speakers for some of the actual needs analysis allows me to communicate with the students (in this case the BC teachers) in a way that can test or validate certain presumptions of language learning and needs analysis. Background Reading Anderson, G. and Arsenault, N. 1998. Fundamentals of Educational Research. London: Routledge Farmer. Graves, K. (Ed. ) 1996. Teachers as Course Developers. Cambridge: CUP. Hutchinson, T. and Waters, A. 1987. English for Specific Purposes: a learning centred approach. Cambridge CUP: Chapter 8. Nunan, D. 1992. Research Methods in Language Learning. Cambridge: CUP. Nunan, D. 1988. Syllabus Design, OUP. Skilbeck, M. 1982 â€Å"Three educational ideologies† in T. Horton & P. Raggat (eds) Challenge and Change in the Curriculum, Hodder & Stoughton. Long, M. 2005. Second Language Needs Analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Wallace, M. 1998. Action research for language teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Hinkel, Eli. (Ed. ) 2005. Handbook of research in second language teaching and learning. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.