A Pro Drop Parameter English Language Essay

A Pro Drop Parameter English Language Essay Pro-drop parameter is such a parameter for whether the declarative sentence in universal grammar can omit the subject. It is also known as null subject parameter, non-subject parameter. The so-called pro-drop phenomenon refers to the subject can be deleted in the declarative sentence (White, 1986). The pro-drop parameter (null subject parameter) proposed is based on the phenomenon of omitted subject pronouns in some language. The empty synonymous is commonly known as pro, the language of the subject can be omitted due to the pro appears only in subject position, or the language with no main statement can be called as pro-drop language. Whether the subject can be omitted constitutes a parameter in universal grammar, known as pro-drop parameter. Pro-drop parameter is a universal grammar parameter which is the most discussed (Chomsky and Lasnik, 1991). It is an important parameter to examine the second language acquisition effect in the study of the second language learning. Pro-drop parameter assumption studies the adult null subject phenomenon to show the object-drop in the childrens language, the basic premise of the theory is for the most grammar provides null subject parameter for language learners (White, 1986). This default parameter allows null subject, so only when the childs language environment provides them with clear evidence to prove their language cannot be null subject, it will lead them to reset the parameters. Different languages à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹have different pro-drop parameter values, that is, to determine whether the declarative sentence can omit the subject. Chomsky (2000) argues that the sentence has two levels, one is the deep structure (d-structure) to express the sentence vocabulary meaning, it is the concept structure in the brain before the people to talk; the other is the shallow structure (s -structure) to express the moving relationship of sentence elements, it is the sound people speak. Principles and parameters theory claims that empty synonymous pro only appears in d-structure, and does not appear in s-structure (Ouhalla, 2000). In the d-structure of the implied subject sentence, the subject is existed, invisible pro is taken as the subject, the main word syntactic component does not disappear, and it is still present in the speechs heart and brain syntax with psychological reality. In the s-structure of the implied subject, the subject is existed in the form of null, the subject form of this null is called pro. It knows that the pro is implied in s-structure. Although many studies have tried to explain second language learners like children acquisition native-like to set the open parameters, since the early 1980s, people found that the initial stage of the second language learners will transfer the parameters set in mother tongue (Gass and Schachter, 1989; Lydia, 1989, 1991). Here, taking the implied pro parameters for illustration here carries out a brief description of the similarities and differences in setting of this parameter in the native language. In addition, it will also explain the potential advantages are of the assumption there is a pro drop parameter. In childrens brain, the setting of the language parameter can be considered a switch: children adjust each parameter value according to their heard language material. Chomsky (2000) suggests that the transition from the initial state to a stable state is actually the process of setting switch direction (Cook and Newson, 2000, pp.110). Acquisition of English syntax means setting the all parameters in universal grammar according to the English habit, and the parameter settings are activated relying on linguistic evidence. Usually there are three linguistic à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹instances: positive evidence, direct negative evidence and indirect negative evidence. Positive evidence refers to the language heard by children. The linguistic instance heard by British children enables them to find English is a non-implicit pro parameter language. Spanish children will find that Spanish is the implicit pro parameter language. Direct negative evidence, also known as direct correc tion, is directly from the adult corrections. However, the direct correction is limited. Even if corrected directly, children also tend to ignore, thus the direct correction cannot be the main source for the children to obtain the language skills. Indirect negative evidence is such a language form for the children cannot hear. British children are impossible to hear such as Sits. statement, or reversed predicate word order, such as Sits he. So, some studies suggest that the indirect negative instance contributes to the setting of parameters. Hyams (1981) specifically studied the implicit pro parameter setting in the native language acquisition. She found that the British children could speak many sentences without subject like the Spanish, such as: Play it. Or No go in. At the same time, in their language they will leave the words such as it and there. Gradually, they began to understand that the English needs the lexical subject and added the function words it and there in sentence s. While the Spanish children in the beginning thought that Spanish is the language of the implicit parameter, and does not need to change. Hyams (1981) believes that in the acquisition of the mother tongue, the children regard the implied pro parameters as a default, it is, regardless of their language, always speak the sentences without subject, the children eventually found the parameter values à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹from the positive evidence. Non-implied pro parameters language English uses impersonal Indefinite pronoun it in the sentences expressing weather: Its raining. In the presence of the sentence, there is used: Once upon a time, there were three bears. The emergence of expletive subject makes the British children were aware of the English is a non-implied subject language. Cook (2000: 90) argued that the basis for the universal grammar to explain language acquisition lies in the positive evidence plays a key role. Children are mainly from the positive evide nce rather than negative evidence to acquisition of the mother tongue. According to the universal grammar, the mother tongue acquisition process is language input principles and parameters native language syntax, and then whether the process of second language acquisition is the second language input principles and parameters second language syntax? It is found that: 1) the second language learners language knowledge is not enough, and the vast majority of people cannot achieve the equivalent level of mother tongue; 2) for children, the difficulty of acquisition of any language is the same, as long as language input, any language can perfectly be of acquisition. For second language learning, the situation is not the case, such as the native English people is much easier learning French than learning Chinese; 3) the development of the second language tends to occur fossilization phenomenon at some stage; 4) the second language learners ultimately achieve different levels of the language, their learning methods are also different (Towell and Hawkins, 1994). Therefore, we have reason to believe that second language learners indirectly used the universal grammar through the knowledge of the mother tongue. They took the parameter field of their native language as a starting point, gradually shifted the parameter field of the second language, and the essence is transfer. People conducted a large number of researches on the mother tongue as the second language acquisition of the implied subject or non-implied subject. The purpose for the study by White (1986) is to investigate whether the foreign students are influenced by the mother tongue parameter values in setting of the non-implied pro parameter values of English. The objects of study include two sets of intermediate English level of students: one group is 37 French students, and the other group is 32 Spanish students and 2 Italian students. French and English are the language of non-implied pro parameter, that is, to select a negative value in the subject parameter omitted, while the Spanish and Italian select a positive value. The two groups of subjects receive the test of English grammar judgment and conversion questions. The results showed that the Spanish and Italian students are easy to mistakenly accept the English sentences which omitted the subject. French students are rare to wrongly accept the English sentences which omitted the subject. Phinney (1987) carried out the bidirectional test to study the parameter settings. The subjects include the Spanish students learning English and the British students learning Spanish. By analyzing the composition of their foreign language, Phinney draw two important results: first the British students learning Spanish can correctly use the Spanish sentences which omitted the subject, and will not be wrongly used the filled subject; Second, the Spanish students learning English can easy to wrongly use the omitted subject pronoun in clause and the filled subject in English. The objects of the study by Liceras (1989) are the students learning Spanish, including 2 French students and 32 British students. She found that even primary level of Spanish students correctly judged incorrectly filled subject of Spanish sentences, and can understand Spanish can omit the subject. While the students with advanced Spanish level performed even better. We can draw from the above empirical studies that the pro-drop parameter settings in foreign language acquisition are summarized as follows: 1) When the implicit pro parameter values of mother tongue and foreign language à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹are the same, the mother tongue can facilitate the acquisition of foreign language. English and French must not omit the subject, the French students in acquisition of English are rarely false acceptance subject of English sentences, native parameter values à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹take place the positive transfer; 2) A non-native language is non-implicit pro parameter language, that is, the selected parameter value is negative, while the foreign language is an implicit pro parameter language, that is, the selected parameter value is positive, the mother tongue parameter values à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹will be negative transfer to the foreign language learning, but the effect is temporary, and the re-setting of the parameter values is not very difficult; 3) The mother tongue selected the positive value of subject omitted parameter, and the foreign language selected the negative value of subject parameter; the mother tongue will produce more lasting negative impact on foreign language learning, while the foreign language learning is prone to be rigid. However, it should be noted that studying from the view of the theory of universal grammar is bound to focus on access to knowledge in grammar, in particular the acquisition of knowledge of the syntactic structure. The limitations of the universal grammar theory prevent people to examine the language use level. This is because, according to Chomskys (2000) views, language behavior is the actual use of these rules by a person listens to or speaks, that is also called as the language ability and performance. Language behavior is just an indirect and incomplete reflection on the language skills, which is often influenced by many factors and does not reflect the true language ability, it is hard to be through language skills or language behavior performance to understand the language ability, the study of language should point directly to the language ability of dominant language behavior (Yip, 1989). Therefore, the scope of pro-drop parameter assumption is only limited to the acquisitio n of language structure, namely the establishment of parameters, which shows a very micro level, many of the indicators associated with the second language learning are unable to insight. In addition, linguists Fillmore (1991) argued that universal grammar and general cognitive mechanisms are associated with second language acquisition. In the acquisition process of second language, the role of universal grammar cannot be ignored, but the second language learning is different from the native language acquisition. With young children grew older, general cognitive ability and strategy increasingly play a more important role compared to UG. From psychology, especially psycholinguistic perspective to explore childrens second language learning may well be another important avenue of research. Thus, the single perspective of study makes people get the above conclusions, multi-angle and multi-channel study will receive more comprehensive and objective conclusions and will get more in-depth, substantive understanding of English education mode.

Black Boy :: essays research papers

Black Boy   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Black Boy is a story written in first person through the black boy’s eyes. The story opens with the black boy cleaning eyeglasses at the sink during the morning hours before lunch. As the boy washed eyeglasses this day as all other days, Mr. Olin, a white man who ordered the black boy around hovered over him. While striking up conversation with the black boy, Mr. Olin asks a ridiculous question if the black boy is his friend. This question in the story is the first step in developing the plot. The black boy, fearful of the Mr. Olin and the power he has over him, decides to lie to him and tell him that he is his friend. Mr. Olin begins to trick the black boy in thinking that another black boy named Harrison wants to fight him because of words that were taken the wrong way. The black boy gets worried because he does not remember saying anything insulting to Harrison, and he wants to talk to him and make things right. Mr. Olin tells the black boy that he will go and speak to Harrison for him. During the black boys lunch break he goes and talks to Harrison himself about the situation, but soon they realize that they are being set up to fight each other in order to entertainment to the white men. Both black boys keep their mouths shut about speaking to each other and knowing the truth that neither of them wants to fight. Mr. Olin and Harrison’s boss both keep egging them on for weeks to fight each other and finally bribe them with five dollars to box fight. Harrison is interested because he wants a suit and this money will help, but the other black boy knows that this is shameful and does not want to fight no matter what the bribe is. For days Harrison and the black boy dispute whether to box or not, and they finally decided to box but to pretend. The day comes to fight and both stare each other in the face realizing that they do not have enough knowledge about fighting to fake the whole scene. The fight begins and the two boys angr y at themselves, each other, and their authority begin to fight and shed blood. After their fight both boys feel shame and degraded and never fight again although they are egged on many times after.

An Explication of Sylvia Plath8217s 8220Daddy8221 Essay -- essays pape

An Explication of Sylvia Plath8217s 8220Daddy8221 It tends to be the trend for women who have had traumatic childhoods to be attracted to men who epitomize their emptiness felt as children. Women who have had unaffectionate or absent fathers, adulterous husbands or boyfriends, or relatives who molested them seem to become involved in relationships with men who, instead of being the opposite of the â€Å"monsters† in their lives, are the exact replicas of these ugly men. Sylvia Plath’s poem â€Å"Daddy† is a perfect example of this unfortunate trend. In this poem, she speaks directly to her dead father and her husband who has been cheating on her, as the poem so indicates. The first two stanzas, lines 1-10, tell the readers that Plath, for thirty years, has been afraid of her father, so scared that she dares not to â€Å"breathe or Achoo.† She has been living in fear, although she announces that he’s already dead. It is obvious that she believes that her father continues to control her life from the grave. She says that she â€Å"has had to kill† him, but he’s already dead, indicating her initial promise to forget him. She calls him a â€Å"bag full of God,† telling us that she considers her father a very strong, omnipotent being, someone who is superior in her eyes. In the middle of the poem, she begins to refer to herself as a Jew, and her father the German, who began â€Å"chuffing me off like a Jew†¦to Dachau, Auschwitz, Belson.† What Plath’s intent here is to allow us to understand that her father was a German, and she relates his behavior as a person to a Nazi. But later, she becomes more enraged, and strips the title of God from her father, and labels him a swastika and a brute. â€Å"Every woman adores a Fascist† is Plath’s way of ... ...r husband were monsters in her life, destroying her, but that she has just noticed. â€Å"Daddy, daddy, you bastard, I’m through† is the last line in the poem. It is not until the end that we realize that not only is she through with the memories of her dead father and the adulterous behavior of her husband, but she is through with herself. This last line is clear – Plath has just announced to her readers that she will be committing suicide again, and plans on being successful at it. So, instead of this poem being Plath’s victorious confession to the horrible men in her life, and finally allowing closure, the poem is an outline of her promising death. Plath is still pained by these men, and cannot completely go on being alive. She believes that death is her only solution, and maybe in a way it was. Perhaps she is finally free, and finally able to â€Å"breath† and â€Å"Achoo.†

The Controversial Issue of Affirmative Action :: Affirmative Action Racism Racist Essays

The Controversial Issue of Affirmative Action Considering the subject of affirmative action the following questions frequently are raised: Is there a clear understanding of affirmative action roles/goals? What are the pros/cons of these programs? What are the "loop holes" in the system? Does seniority play a role in affirmative action? Addressing these key questions may help us all in our daily routine, as administrators and/or potential administrator in the public/private sector. Affirmative action programs throughout the United States have long been a controversial issue particularly concerning employment practices (public/private) and university student and/or staff recruitment. Most public agencies have some type of instituted affirmative action program. According to Cheryl Perry-League, Director of Equal Opportunity of the Port of Oakland, every business operating on Port of Oakland owned land must have a standing affirmative action program on record and businesses bidding to do work for the Port of Oakland must have an acc eptably diverse workforce. BACKGROUND To understand the role and/or goals of affirmative actions programs we should define what the broad definition of what affirmative action is and what caused its development. The phase "affirmative action" was used in a racial discrimination context. Executive Order No. 10,925 issued by President John F. Kennedy in 1961. The order indicated that federal contractors should take affirmative action to ensure job applicants and employees are treated "without regard to their race, creed, or national origin." A person could define this statement as an order to imply equal access and nothing else. Subsequently, Executive Order 11246 issued by President Johnson in September 1965, "mandated affirmative action goals for all federally funded programs and moved monitoring and enforcement of affirmative action programs out of the White House and into the Labor Department." Affirmative action "refers to various efforts to deliberately take race, sex, and natio nal origins into account to remedy past and current effects of discrimination. Its primary goal is to ensure that women and minorities are widely represented in all occupations and at all organizational levels" (Tompkins, 1995, p.161). Another definition of affirmative action according to Barbara Bergmann is "planning and acting to end the absence of certain kinds of people-those who belong to groups that have been subordinated or left out-from certain jobs and schools" (1997 p.7). Tracing the history of affirmative action, laws against racial discrimination have proved inadequate for workplace integration because they often provide remedies only after the fact.

Questionnaire On Marketing In Branded Clothing

The company was established in the year 1994 as a small design studio in a 200 sq. Ft. Space in Chennai; today derby makes its presence through 33 exclusive stores & 238 multibrand outlets across the southern states.Until 2008, the brand’s presence was confined to a single outlet in Chennai. Post 2008, the brand has spread its wings methodically not only in geographic spread but also in its product profile.The brand’s journey to its present size is in fact a mirror image of its promoter’s vision of life- positive, never-say-die & full of life. Mr Vijay Kapoor, the 37 year old managing director of the company, started life in a very humble way as a salesman selling concepts. Today, his vision has turned a phenomenal success that â€Å"derby† is.STORY OF THE COMPANYIn 1994, Vijay Kapoor wanted to launch a strikingly different menswear brand. He was looking for a stand-out name. He chose DERBY. Because the name sounded international. And it cued adventure, fu n, competitiveness, a daring spirit and above all was very macho. The ground rules were very clear. Instead of being all things to everybody, DERBY decided to stay focused on men who seek the very best in whatever they do, whatever they buy. When DERBY entered the fashion market, the field was crowded. But there was no brand offering choice and class in the semi-format segment at an affordable price. DERBY plugged this gap. When it was fashionable for apparel brands to be available at multi-brand outlets, DERBY chose the Exclusive Store route. And consequently, the DERBY Flagship Stores were born. In multi-brand outlets, DERBY opted for a shop-within-a-shop strategy to maintain the air of exclusivity.Derby does not just sell a commodity. It welcomes every new member into a community that stands for freedom & success. Derby Jeans Community is the only brand in the world that works on adding believers rather than just selling to customers. The brand believes in creating the best commu nity around and this community will make a difference in every sphere of life. Freedom & success for everyone!Chennai-based, fast fashion retailer – Derby Clothing, has major expansion plans on the anvil, which include unveiling stores in major fashion capitals across the globe. Plans also include opening flagship stores in Delhi, Mumbai and Pune. It is also open to the idea of opening stores even in smaller towns like Ranchi, Siliguri, Vijayawada, etc.Derby is foraying into all major cities and smaller towns across the country. It is looking to increase the number of stores from the present 34 to 70 by the end of the year. The brand will be present in a number of premium malls and high streets in cities like Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Chandigarh, Kolkata, Bangalore Durgapur, Bhopal, Jamshedpur, etc.Derby offers varied ranges of denim jeans with fits like slim, slim straight and comfort and in shirts they provide fits like comfort, muscle and slim, mainly targeted at the youngsters . Alongside, Derby is also adding certain product ranges to the current collection to differentiate its offerings, considering that it is expanding in to various parts of the country. Its Autumn/Winter 2011 collection will compromise of a comprehensive collection of jackets, sweatshirts and waistcoats along with fashion denims, shirts, t-shirts, trousers and accessories.Explaining the rational, behind opening stores in smaller towns and cities, Vijay Kapoor, MD – Derby Clothing said, â€Å"Small towns have increasingly developed a higher level of acceptance, for fashion apparel especially in the men’s wear segment. We have been pleasantly surprised by the response we have received in the towns that we currently operate in. This gives us an opportunity to tap other small towns across the country as part of our expansion process†.Revealing their marketing and promotional strategies, he informed, â€Å"Marketing and promotional activities will be directly focused on the youth of the country. Being in a country that has the highest population of youngsters has proven to be an advantage to a youth-centric brand like Derby Jeans Community. On ground activities, rock shows, college cultural functions, fashion shows etc. are part of the marketing strategy that we follow to reach out to the fashionable youth†.Explaining the rationale behind Derby products being branded as fast fashion, he said, â€Å"On an average most jeans wear brands in the country offer 20% fashion products and 80% basic or core products. Derby Jeans Community, on the contrary, offers 80% fashion apparel and only 20% basic or core products. This essentially makes Derby Jeans Community the only truly fashionable men’s Jeans wear brand in the country†.Position of the CompanyThe company recorded a turnover Rs 6 crore in 2000 from its four outlets in Chennai. As part of its expansion plan, the company is planning to take up premium multi-brand concept apart fro m enhancing its network.After the inauguration of the new outlet of Derby Fashion Wear in the city today, the company’s fifth outlet and first in the state, Vijay Kapoor, the managing director of Derby Clothing, said: â€Å"There is a room for value-plus brand and we are on the way to exploit the branded segment. Today’s consumer is fully aware of quality and our product range has been designed for the 22-35 age groups. We will open two more outlets in the city in the next two months. We are aiming at Rs 2 crore turnover in the first year of operation,† he said.Giving details about the future plans, Kapoor said that the company would expand to Karnataka and Kerala next year and the national marketing would also be taken up in 2005. The company has two units at Tirupati and Bangalore with a total capacity of 1,400 garments per day. â€Å"The current requirement is at 1,500 garments per day and we are meeting the extra demand by outsourcing,† Kapoor said.Th e other name for style and sophistication, Derby Clothing is a premium casual and formal wear brand for men renowned for its trendsetting ready to wear collection. Paradise for the ultimate and die hard shopaholics, it offers a wide spectrum of casuals and formal wears made from avant garde fabrics, available in a diverse range of styles and patterns. Largely catering to the city's ever so choosy fashion savvy junta, this Derby Clothing store is housed within the premises of Spencer Plaza in Anna Salai. This 10 years old store, besides its impressive and exclusive line up of clothing has an eye catching array of funky accessories that include belts and ties which you can club with your attire. You can indulge into its staggering collection of apparels and accessories on any day of the week from 9:45 AM to 9 PM. Derby Clothing also accepts all major credit cards.

Tata Nano †a Study on Business Challenges in India

TATA NANO – A STUDY ON BUSINESS CHALLENGES IN  INDIA Introduction Tata Nano, pet project of the chairman of the Tata Group Mr. Ratan Tata was a car which was expected to change the face of automobile sector in India. In the highly competitive small-car market of India, Tata Nano promised to set the bar so high that it would become extremely difficult for the competitors to match. The dream of owning a car for as little as Rupees 1 lakh (Rs. 100,000 – roughly USD2500) was too tempting for millions of Indians who cannot afford even a small car.The kind of extensive media coverage Tata Nano received right from the day it was announced through the entire period until the first units were handed over to the owners was something that its competitors dreamed of. However, after two years of launch, the Tata Nano manufacturing plant at Sanand in Gujrat, India is running at around 20% utilization. People’s Car- It is a common sight in india to see an entire family of fou r travelling on a two-wheeler in heavy traffic and bad road conditions all through the year. Car Ownership across countries – Present and FutureAs can be seen from the IMF report above, car ownership in India is expected to grow exponentially in the coming decades. India’s Growth in GDP Per Capita Combining the predictions about car ownership in India with the growth in GDP per Capita in India, we can clearly see why the automobile sector, especially the small car market is one of the most competitive sectors in India at present. In a market like this, a car like Tata Nano had the potential to sell like hot cakes. But it didn’t. Let us now try and understand why Tata Nano was not able to meet industry expectations. Reasons for SetbacksTata Nano (Photo credit: Wikipedia) Too Many Crises – Since its launch with great fanfare in 2009, the Nano has survived from one crisis to another. There was opposition to Tata’s original plans to site the factory in West Bengal, as discussed later, forcing a last-minute scramble to switch the site to Sanand. It opened last summer, but not enough cars came off the production line to fulfill the early orders. To make matter worse, a few cars catching fire on road, raising fears about the Nano’s safety. Price –Nano’s price, which was supposed to be its USP, is apparently one of the major reasons behind its low sales.For majority of Indians, owning a car is not about utility or mobility; it is a dream, ambition and status symbol; just like a house. So, the low price of Nano does not turn it into an asset. It becomes more like a commodity. Also, the initial marketing and promotion of Nano gave the average consumer the idea that owning a Nano would somehow be a confirmation of their poverty, and not a way to get out of it. Ironically, a big number of Nano’s buyers buy Nano as their second or third car after already owning another car. This segment is not the segment initi ally targeted by Tata.Resale-The re-sale car market gives stiff competition to the Nano. A 3-4 year old used car originally costing 3-4 lakh in on-road price (like Chevrolet Spark and Maruti Alto) can pose a stiff challenge to Nano given the relative price-parity that emerges when it comes to re-sale. For instance, Nano’s Mumbai on-road price for Std BSIII model pegged at 1. 51 lakhs is a few walks away from the Rs. 2 lakh plus used-car-version ‘Spark’. People, who may go for the advanced model Nano Cx BSIII, may consider opting for ‘Spark’ or ‘Alto’ given that the said Nano model costs around 1. 2 lakh rupees. In fact, Nano seems to have failed to pose a challenge to the market players in this re-sale car niche segment. Needless to say, there is not much value extracted from a Nano upon resale either. Rescuing Nano – To improve Nano’s market performance, Tata motors is trying to expand to other regions searching new market s for Nano. Given its modular design, Nano can be assembled and manufactured in practically everywhere on the planet. Hence, Tata is looking at SAARC nations, Latin America and other regions, where the economic conditions are similar to India.Also, Tata is contemplating coming up with Nano electric models and even a Nano diesel version After suffering setbacks with the initial market response, Tata Motors hired Carl-Peter Forster, a former boss of General Motors Europe as head of Tata Motors in February 2010. After taking charge, Forster realized that he will have to reinvent the Nano business model. There was no real national distribution scheme, very little marketing and advertising, and no effective system of consumer finance. The irony was that many rural Indians never got to hear bout or have the opportunity to see the car that was supposed to help transform their lives. Issues with Nano The Nano’s marketing problems began with its product positioning. The price crept up by around 15%, putting it out of the reach of first-time buyers with no regular employment or payslips to back an application for credit. And by emphasising its cheapness rather than its basic but appealing qualities, it deterred slightly better-off consumers who could afford one but aspired to more sophisticated vehicles, such as those from Tata’s biggest rival, Maruti, the leader in India’s small-car market.Political Controversies – Nine months after the Tata Nano was unveiled to much fanfare, and with only weeks before the first car was scheduled to roll off the assembly line, Tata announced it was pulling out of West Bengal where work was near complete on the assembly plant. Company Chairman Ratan Tata noted that Tata Motors had already invested 15b rupees (US$343m) in the small car project. But they had forgotten a vital detail which is a must for big investors looking to start big-idea investments on land owned by poor, mostly illiterate peasants in devel oping countries.At the bottom of the Singur peasant resistance was the need for a land reform that enables peasants to have real choices on whether to continue farming or do something else. For Tata Nano, the government of West Bengal persuaded more than 10,000 peasants in Singur to accept compensation for 1000 acres of farmland on which the Nano plant would be built. However, almost right from the start, as many as 2000 peasants refused the compensation, and demanded their land back. Farmers complained that the state communist government forcibly took their land to give to Tata.With the help of the opposition parties, peasants opposed to the land acquisition filed petitions in court. In January, a Calcutta High Court threw out all the complaints, ruling that there was â€Å"no violation of the Land Acquisition Act or any other regulation† by the West Bengal government in acquiring the land. But never ever underestimate the tenacity of angry peasants. When legal avenues were shut, Singur peasants took to the streets, organising daily protests and roughing up workers employed of the Nano factory.As the protesters grew more menacing, Ratan Tata was forced to acknowledge the possibility of never seeing a single Nano roll off the plant in Singur. While Tata was contemplating the future of his pet project, ad one of the most audacious projects in the history of Tata Motors, Narendra Modi – the Chief Minister of the Indian state of Gujrat approached him and promised to provide all support needed for Tata to move the plant form Singur to Sanand. Finally, Tata decided to move to Sanand and the first Nano rolled off the assembly lines at Sanand soon after.Yet, even as it managed to relocate and hit the market with slight delay, Tata needs to reflect on what happened in Singur to avoid running into the same problem elsewhere. Part of the problem was lack of clear and transparent negotiation between peasant representatives, Tata and the government of West B engal. Although the West Bengal government gave peasants compensation package that was way above the going rate, the lingering perception among the peasant was that a huge chunk of the money was creamed off by corrupt government officials.To avoid this perception, true or false, Tata should have negotiated directly with peasants, by-passing the West Bengal government. Secondly, even as Tata boasted of an initial start-up of 250,000 Nanos from the Singur plant, providing thousands of jobs to residents, it failed to make Singur residents take ownership of the plant. To the people of Singur, wealthy Tata was coming to grab their land to make billions of dollars for itself. Nano on Fire –  To make matters worse, three Nanos have caught fire because of some reason or the other since its launch raising serious questions about its safety and severely damaging its Brand Equity.Though Tata Motors has not commented on the reasons behind the fires, there has been strong word-of-mouth negative publicity towards the car. Recommendations Tata Nano has been a very interesting case about studying business in India and other emerging markets. It has seen some very interesting highs and lows which are unique to the Indian market. However, following recommendations can be made: 1. Clean up the Brand Image – Nano first of all needs to re-establish itself as a credible brand. This might be the hardest thing to do given the beating the brand image has taken because of the fires.Nano would need to aggressively work on its PR and show how the accidents are not because of flaws in Nano’s design but because of some unfortunate external factors. 2. Define a clear Marketing Strategy – Nano needs to have marketing strategies to target its real consumer segment which is the masses of India and showcase the Nano as an aspirational product for them instead of coming across as an accessory for the rich. 3. Focus on Other Countries – Export Nano to Indonesi a, Eastern Europe and also Brazil as well as Southeast Asia where it can be sold without the bad name it has earned in India. . Use Shareholder base of Tata – Tata Motors have a shareholder base of around 350,000 right now. It could be utilized to boost Nano sales through discounts etc. 5. Rework on Pricing – when Nano started, a major challenge was to prove whether it was possible to manufacture a car which can be sold at the price of Rs. 1 lakh. That point has been proven. The real challenge now is creating profitable car business. If Tata starts pricing its Nano in a range where it is more cost-effective, it would first, reduce the losses Tata incurs per car, as well as give the brand a facelift.

Why Pakistani People Have Lost a Sense of Nationality

Identity may be defined as a distinctive characteristic of an individual or a particular group of individuals. For one’s survival in this world it is very crucial to maintain his identity. If we expand the criterion of ‘identity’ to national level it is of utmost importance because it is nation’s identity which distinguishes its people from the rest of the world. The importance of national Identity can be better analyzed by the fact that it is the base of all the policies, i. e. domestic and foreign policy and hence the social. economic cultural and ethical development of any country partly depends upon its national identity. In other words actions of a nation are determined by its identity. As far as Pakistan’s identity is concerned, it may be divided into three phases, i. e. pre-partition, post partition and present day. The term ‘identity crisis’ is used to denote a particular situation where by an individual, group of individuals or a nation faces conflicts regarding its identity. These conflicts occur when one’s ideological basis and prevailing circumstances contradict in such a way that the prevailing circumstances dominate the ideological basis. . With reference to Pakistan the history of ‘identity crisis’ have its roots in the late Mughal dynasty. The comfort-loving attitude of the rulers, bloodsheds for the throne, abandoned faith, mismanagement of domestic economic and political matters, absence of updated foreign developments and other moral, ethical and social weaknesses were the major forces which contributed in the identity crisis of the Muslims of South Asia. In pre partition era where by Muslims of south Asia have lost their regime and British rule tighten the span of their social , cultural and political life. Actually they lost their rule just because of the ‘lost identity’. After a half century of submissive life they began to find the ‘lost identity’ and they succeeded. The second phase of identity crisis began very after the inception of Pakistan. The Shia/Sunni crisis at the time of partition was the first of all. But luckily at that time, the crisis was pragmatically resolved by Quaid-e-Azam, so it was buried in a hatchet at that time but later on it burst up from different grounds. The second case of identity crisis in the chronology is the crisis of East and West Pakistan. At the time of inception, Pakistan inherited East and West Pakistan with one and four provinces respectively. Population of East Pakistan alone was more than that of the total population of the four provinces of West Pakistan. The seeds of identity crisis were sown with the ‘language controversy’, where by Urdu was declared as the national language of Pakistan while Urdu was the influencing language only in West Pakistan. This language controversy and some other strategies which lead to the deprived feelings among the natives of East Pakistan and the ultimate consequence was an identity crisis in the form of separation of East Pakistan in 1971. Not only the separation of East Pakistan but, a variety of identity crisis cases stood in the post partition era. The list contains delayed constitutional development, unstable political conditions (due to personal likes and dislikes and lust of power), Social injustice and negative image of Pakistan on international screen. Constitution is the base of any new born state but in case of Pakistan this base couldn’t be established even after about a decade of the inception of Pakistan. So when there was no base for people, the process of identity development started very late. Latterly the termination of 1956’s and 1962’s constitutions fulfilled the remaining part of delayed identity development. All these factors further participated in corruption, national disharmony, rigid attitudes, misconceptions about the religion (partly the role played by ‘mullas’), blind practices on unnecessary customs and a list of moral dilemmas. The identity crisis after the partition threw Pakistan in an ignominious status both at domestic and at international arena. Domestically we couldn’t achieve the social status which we’ve dreamt during the Pakistan movement. Economically we stood at the back end of the global economic stage. And above all we were entitled as a ‘terrorist state’ due to some mismanaged and scattered groups. Even some of them really didn’t have the basic knowledge of their ideological agenda. In present day Pakistan, the situation is more hazardous than that of one discussed in the previous phase. Today’s identity crisis is ‘giant’ in nature aiming to nip our ideology form the bud. Now with changing global environment and with the changing role of Pakistan at international level, the nature of identity crisis has become more complex. The present day crisis may be classified as political, social religious and economic identity crisis. The social and religious crisis work in collaboration. On the religious part, the extremist group has developed misconceptions about the religion. On the other hand the society is facing the ‘cultural war’ through different media. In such a situation the nation, preferably the youth has contradictions with religious implications which is making them unaware of their ideological basis. In the second step the attractive evil (the weapon of cultural war) is becoming dominant. So the nation’s ideological basis is being deployed by the prevailing circumstances, creating identity crisis. In this case we can’t blame the young mind (as he’s not getting the proper guideline and he has not been trained in such a way that he can find the roots the purpose of his existence, secondly the so called knowledge of religion he gets is not authentic). The second type of present day identity crisis in Pakistan is political in nature. In fact our political system has always been ruled by reigns in hands of few influencing groups. No such political platforms were built for the coming generations, to ensure their participation in national or international affairs. It is very necessary to train the youth for the participation in national affairs because they are the people who have to run the country in the future. Unluckily our youth didn’t get any such training at any stage of our 59 years history. The ultimate result was that, the administrators belonged to a specific group, making others so annoyed that others even don’t care to have a look at the mismanagement. This imbalance in the political infrastructure restricted the educated youth to participate in the national policies and ultimately the process of policy making enjoyed the influence of un-educated and narrow minded policy makers, who couldn’t devise the identity goals of the nation till yet. At international political arena we are still facing the vicious circle of ‘terrorism’. Even our government ensured Pakistan’s contribution in the ‘war against terrorism’, but being an Islamic state we become the suspect of any international terrorist act. Here the policy of state is ambiguous, which aims to satisfy the western world but the integration of Muslim world is not to be seen any where. In my opinion we don’t know that where we are standing right now, where we have to go and where we are going? On the part of economy, no doubt our economy grew with in last half decade but only at macro level. The poor is still standing on the place where he was a decade ago. Increasing Unemployment, inflation, and poverty etc are not only contributing in social imbalances but because of these factors, a common man is not able to find the basis of his identity. The identity of a nation is its image, and our image today is ‘a tree whose roots have been cut’. This situation is actually showing our lost identity. We have become much concerned about our outer look but we have forgotten the basis on which we have to develop our inner self. If this process keeps on going with the same velocity, the time is not far when the existence of our identity will vanish. It is very crucial to have a breach of the peace against identity crisis. In this regard the most important step is identity education. The identity education should be provided at educational institutions as well as in temporarily organized seminars (seminars should be accessible for general public). Identity education will not work till we present a difference between different cultures. Media censorship should also be there in order to lessen the possible damages of cultural war. Media should also spread the knowledge of values among the common men. And last but not least we all should play our part to improve our religious image at international level. In this connection we can spread the true essence of our religion which is peace.