Throughout the years, I’ve found that running away from my problems seems to be the easiest way out for me.  I hate confrontation, so the thought of actually telling somebody how I actually feel kills me if I feel like they’ll react in a negative way.

My last relationship started out absolutely perfectly.  We hadn’t known each other for long, and neither of us were looking for a relationship.  However, all of the time we spent together just made our unanticipated connection stronger.  Anytime one of us was bothered by something, we were honest about it.  We communicated with each other about everything and that helped to build the strongest bond of trust I had ever shared with someone.

When family problems arose for him, I started feeling guilty about sharing things with him.  I didn’t want to put more worry or stress on him than he already had.  Big mistake.  Not only did all of my stress and frustration from my final weeks of school start building up, but not feeling like I could share anything with him started pulling me away from him.  When my communication with him decreased, his trust for me decreased.  While I wasn’t doing anything untrustworthy, (i.e. cheating – I could never do something like that to someone. ever.) our lack of communication turned our relationship sour.

It got to the point where heated arguments were the only ways we could figure out how to tell each other things. (Sure that is communication, but when anger is the main source, it totally cancels out the positive effect.) If we could have gone back to the way things were before (telling each other things when they arose) instead of letting things build up, things could have turned out a lot differently.  Instead, more petty arguments full of misunderstandings and things that should never have been said, followed by tearful apologies became daily habits.

Despite the heartbreaking turn of events, I prefer to note the part in our relationship that was unlike any other I had ever had before him.  For the first time in my life, I had truly experienced what it was like to 100% trust somebody with my life.  It was the most amazing feeling in the world.  I know now, that the only way that, that can be achieved is by communication.

I’ll still admit that I loved this guy, but sometimes things just aren’t meant to work out.  However, if you’re able to turn your relationship back into the “happy days” then congratulations.  That is something I’m still trying to learn how to do. 

The one piece of advice I’ll give to anyone in a troubled relationship: If it comes to the point in your relationship when you feel like you have no more fight left in you & you find yourself very unhappy & not yourself, wanting to give up doesn’t mean you don’t love that person.  It just means that you might love them in a different way then you thought you did. Also, NEVER settle if you have any doubt.  It might hurt their feelings, but that’s a time when you have to be a little selfish and do what’s best for you.

“Love is joy.  Don’t convince yourself that suffering is a part of it.” – Paulo Coelho 

Sometimes the closest people to us are the hardest to communicate with.

We want so much to help them that we don’t realize our well meant advice is perceived as criticism.

Communication is a two way street. A message is sent and received and then sent back as it was perceived.

But have we really understand the meaning of their message.

Written communication is also easy to misunderstand. For example;

If I write a comment on someones serious article and then put LOL, they may be offended.

They don’t realize something in their article has made us sad andtrying to cheer myself up.

If all parties could always say, I am sure they only had the best of intentions, then hurt feelings would cease.

Human nature sometimes makes us think the worst of others rather then giving them the benefit of a doubt.

Good communication is effective if it is two way both the one listening and the one speaking.

must be accountable in making their words clear and free of stress.

Each person must listen actively by using open ended questions or feedback because,

without feedback there is no effective communication. Verbal communication also includes;

tone, pitch and the pacing or speed of our speech. There is also non verbal communication.

By this I mean attitudes and physical gestures, such as rolling of the eyes or frowning etc.

Lets really hear with a caring attitude and listen in a non judgmental way.

Improving communication skills is directly beneficial in nearly every career field, not to mention with personal relationships. As such an important aspect of our lives, we should seek to become more effective at listening to others and expressing ourselves. Robert Bolton can be considered an expert of highly effective communication. He spent six years managing a consulting firm that specialized in communication skills workshops. His research during that time laid the foundation for his work, People Skills: How to Assert Yourself, Listen to Others, and Resolve Conflicts, which provides useful guidance and tips to becoming a better communicator. 

The first area Bolton covers is refining listening skills. There is a clear distinction between listening and simply hearing another person. Studies have shown that “up to 75% of oral communication is ignored, misunderstood, or quickly forgotten.” There are many parts of listening that need to be engaged in order to fully capture and understand another. Attending to the speaker is crucial to facilitate effective listening. One’s mind and body (including body language) must signal that their full attention is on the speaker. This can be further reinforced by paraphrasing the speaker to confirm understanding and to provide reflective responses to show engagement while also allowing the speaker to elaborate. The combination of these skills allows for more attentive and engaged listening which will allow for greater understanding. 

Assertiveness skills are the complement to good listening skills. With poor communication skills, most people will resort to forms of nagging or aggression to get something they want. These attempts are often met with hostility or are ignored, either way demonstrating an ineffective way to express one’s wants. A more effective technique is verbal assertiveness. While practicing assertiveness, a person who wants something (a change in attitude, a physical object, etc.) can remain expressive in his emotions by the way he speaks without directly displaying any aggression or nagging behavior. This allows the receiving party time to respond to the request more positively since they do not feel threatened or frustrated by ineffective nagging or aggression. 

The final chapters of People Skills deals with conflict resolution skills. Most people are observed to think of a problem in terms of it’s solutions. For example, two siblings are both planning to go out for the weeknight (to different places) but fight over who gets to use the family car. Currently, both siblings are thinking in terms of solutions, namely the family car. Bolton argues that this is not effective, and this type of thinking actually excludes possible solutions. The way to best accommodate everyone’s needs in a dispute is to directly state a person’s needs. In this case, each sibling has a need of transportation. By assessing the problem in terms of needs, the siblings can more effectively work out an agreement to satisfy both person’s transportation needs rather than bicker about who gets the car for the night. 

Overall, Bolton provides a seminal work on effective listening, assertiveness, and conflict resolution skills. The greatest think about this type of improvement is that it does not require changing one’s personality or way of thinking–it simply provides tools for more effective communication. Better communication allows for stronger relationships and quality of life. 

Sources: Bolton, Robert. People Skills: How to Assert Yourself, Listen to Others, and Resolve Conflicts. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1986. Print.

Many experience frustrations throughout their lives and have no clue how to deal with it. They may even go so far as to try and take their life or the life of another. Its very important to deal with the problems with a clear head and talking them through will help a great deal. make a list of what makes you frustrated and why so that you’ll prioritize which ones to deal with first. Make a habit to take breaths in and out when you feel over whelmed or down right frustrated. Always make an attempt to relieve the cycle of frustration.

A cluster at Nämforsen called Lillforshällan, dated to an early period, around 4000 BC, when the elk image was the most common in use. 

A Bronze Age version of Facebook has emerged from granite rocks in Russia and northern Sweden. Employing computer modelling, Cambridge University Ph.D. archaeology student Mark Sapwell, analyzed thousands of the rock art images discovered both in Northern Swedish Nämforsen and Western Russian Zalavruga.

Though documented from the early 1900s this rock art, carved from around 4000 B.C. up to Bronze Age times, it shows a huge variety of animals, people, boats, hunting scenes, and even things as unlikely as very early mermaids and centaurs – all art produced by generations of semi nomadic people – living in Winter more inland for hunting elk, and in warmer seasons, for fish, closer to coasts and rivers.

Located, on river crossroads, in important and prominent locations, these rock art landscapes were positioned to be seen by passing travellers, who would add their own marks, so that what we see today is the a culmination of repeated acts of carving over generations, every individual responding to other carvers with their own etchings.

Profusely etched into the granite rocks, images ranged in size from one to two images to panels of rock art holding more than 500, the larger clusters representing more responses and conversations between people of those ancient times. Most popular images of that time – around 4000-3500 B.C. – appeared to be silhouette style elk images, mostly seen among large clusters.

A computer model of that rock art panel, showing aggregation

Preference for popular images changed through time, as in the change from elk to boat images, as the apparent centre of interest shifted from land to water, around 2000-1800 B.C., a period in which travel between communities was becoming more important. Unique forms of hybrid imagery -  like the man-elk or man-boat – became less popular from around 3500 B.C.

What can be seen in these images is a very interesting dialogue of those times in prehistory when particular themes in everyday life were commented upon, in the fashion of  Facebook interaction in this modern day society, topics seemingly falling in and out of favour as times go by.

The enormous natural canvases, bedecked by stories that passing visitors left behind, attracted so much interest because their social network power was well understood by early Bronze Age people, just as Facebook is today, in our age of electronic communication, simply because people have always wanted to feel connected to each other, and these painted messages were expressions of identity for these very early societies, before proper written language came along.

Image from Nämforsen, of the only occasion where we see an elk actually pierced by an arrow. 

Researchers from the University of Michigan have found that people are more likely to disclose sensitive information via text messages than in voice interviews. They say their findings are surprising because the common perception is that people are more coy when texting – as exemplified by shorter word forms and limited space.

With text, the researchers also found that people were less likely to engage in ‘satisficing’ — a survey industry term referring to the common practice of giving good enough, easy answers, like rounding to multiples of 10 in numerical responses, for example. “We believe people give more precise answers via texting because there’s just not the time pressure in a largely asynchronous mode like text that there is in phone interviews,” say the researchers. “As a result, respondents are able to take longer to arrive at more accurate answers.”

Texting may reduce some respondents’ tendency to shade the truth or to present themselves in the best possible light in an interview — even when they know it’s a human interviewer they are communicating with via text. The researchers say they cannot yet be sure of is who is most likely to be more open in text. Is it different for frequent texters, they wonder?

IPhone Used in Tests

For the study, the researchers recruited approximately 600 iPhone-users on Craigslist, through Google Ads, and from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk, offering them iTunes Store incentives to participate in the study. Their goals were to see whether responses to the same questions differed depending on several variables: whether the questions were asked via text or voice, whether a human or a computer asked the questions, and whether the environment, including the presence of other people and the likelihood of multitasking, affected the answers.

Among the questions that respondents answered more honestly via text than speech: In a typical week, about how often do you exercise? During the past 30 days, on how many days did you have five or more drinks on the same occasion?

And among the questions that respondents answered more precisely via text, providing fewer rounded numerical responses: During the last month, how many movies did you watch in any medium? How many songs do you currently have on your iPhone?

According to the researchers, changes in communication patterns and their impact on the survey industry prompted the study. About one in five U.S. households only use cell phones and no longer have landline phones. These households are typically not surveyed even though cell-only households tend to differ in important ways from households with landline phones. More people are using text messages on mobile phones, with texting now the preferred form of communication among many people in their teens and 20s in the U.S. Texting is extremely common among all age groups in many Asian and European nations.

The researchers also found that people are more likely to provide thoughtful and honest responses via text messages even when they’re in busy, distracting environments such as shopping or walking.

OMG – this is really interesting stuff!

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With the rise in enthusiasm and struggle about the academic freedom, good governance comes with proliferation of kaleidoscopic scenario from different personalities and from all walks of life, including the teaching populace with unity, peace and mutual respect –tackling the same about the themes in indefatigable day-to-day activities.

Life gives out the eminent passion and freedom. It rationalizes the potentialities of one’s actuation and approval to steer and do something prolific for the sake of the student-and-teacher populace and to affirm the indispensability of human aspirations and dreams. The aspirations, according to Madame X, her vision and mission are the priority and prima facie counter example to any hypothesis, perception or manipulation.

The teaching performance with the so-called targeted Mean Percentage Score is a big thing to stamp on: what happens, when it happens, how it happens and when it initiates unfathomably. It’s up to the teacher to excogitate in order for her to take cognizance of the inevitable events.

The principal should be firm in her decisions. She must do something great for the improvement of a learning institution that she steers or she wields over.  The designation serves as the evidence to prove her worth to her subordinates that she is very serious in resolving conflicts and problems in school. The new strategies will apply from time to time to run smoothly with great pace and success.

Madame X is a thought-provoking name-phrase that supports justice and obedience to everyone. Whatever laws in the land or directives given by the higher officials in the Department of Education to all concerned, this Madame X stands out and speaks for everyone on behalf of all public secondary school heads. This Madame X is no other than Madame Eutiquia S. Alday. Do you know her? Let’s find out who she is as a school administrator.

Madame Eutiquia S. Alday is one of the principals who never said ‘no when it comes to challenges.’ In fact, she likes challenges. Being an administrator of a public science high school, it is inevitable for her to experience the ups and downs of life, but it is normal to have the dreary experiences as the school head.

“Dreary experiences in the sense that an administrator encounters some teachers who are so obstinate, and most of them have made decisions without the knowledge of the principal. And most of them are contradicting to the principal’s ideas, and they don’t conform to the final decision just for the sake of everyone,” Madame Alday quipped.

She said despite the opposing ideas from different savvy quarters, the school administration is also a factor in discipline. It is not amiss to speak or utter that sometimes the principal and teacher encounter disciplinary problems because of unfortunate administrative policies, regulations or practices. Laxity in enforcing school regulations can develop bad habits among teachers and students. Teachers and students learn to be careless about observing regulations, respect for authority, and assuming responsibility. Regulations relative to tardiness, attendance, and interruptions of classwork, etc. should be clearly stated and strictly followed.

As the lead principal in all public secondary high schools such as Tungkop NHS, Camp 7 NHS, Lipata NHS, Guindaruhan NHS, Tulay NHS, Tubod NHS, Tungkil NHS and Minglanilla National Science High School, Madame Eutiquia S. Alday stressed and shared insights into improving school discipline among the principals of said public secondary schools.

She emphasized that the school heads must maintain better discipline and composure among the subordinates, even though some of them are very antagonistic, and despite all odds or stumbling blocks that the principal has badly encountered. It is suggested that the best approach should be positive rather than negative. The best measures should be preventive rather than remedial. There’s a saying “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” This adage is exactly what should guide the school administrator and what should strive to eliminate them.

Madame Eutiquia S. Alday who has been tagged as Madame X is the busiest principal in Cebu South. Her function does not limit to the school alone, but also to all the schools within the Municipality of Minglanilla. Here in this town, she has implemented the imposed general rules and regulations for the forthcoming school year as they are found or reflected in the school directives or memorandums, both local and national, as approved by the schools division superintendent in Cebu Province Division.

Effective this school year, a school memorandum is hereby directed and enforced strictly to all concerned, exclusively for the teaching and non-teaching personnel of Minglanilla National Science High School, and other public national high schools.

The research proposal is intended not only Minglanilla National Science High School but other public high schools, in full support and special participation of Dr. Adolfo as the main researcher of this study, thus exerting effort and time to research the aforementioned research problems of textbooks and computers just for the benefits of students.

In the remaining part, it said and it categorically quoted as saying that this article has given emphasis to the importance of Quality of Secondary School Science and Research in Education through Advanced Textbooks and Technology. And here is the extract:

“This Action Research Proposal Will Evaluate the Effectiveness of Improving the Quality of Secondary School Science and Research in Education Through Advanced Textbooks and Technology. It will evaluate the effectiveness of improving the quality of secondary school science and research in education through advanced textbooks and technology.

Specifically, the study will seek a solution to the problem in order to improve the quality of education with the objective of helping all of our students increase their MPS (mean percentage score) performance every year such as DAT (division achievement test), RAT (regional achievement test) and NAT (national achievement test), as well as ameliorate their quality of learning through advanced textbooks and technology which is geared towards focusing on one-on-one multi-classroom textbooks and materials as their peers. The objective is that by the end of the year the students will have at least doubled their learning speed in every subject and will have tremendously improved their 6 facets of understanding, 5 macro-skills, including verbal and non-verbal skills.

The Advanced Textbooks and Technology program is based on the latest science and research assessments as the best panaceas for effective learning instruction in the classroom and effective solution to ease out problems, especially in some subjects with low MPS performance. Funding, just to have acquired one-on-one multi-classroom books and materials, is requested for student learning and teacher training: to purchase the required books, and to technologically equip the students with computer’s software and hardware for the school’s benefit in order to increase MPS with 75% passing percentage per subject every year.

To elaborate further based on the preceding texts, the quality of research education, textbook and technology needs to be raised. It has been observed by the concerned principal that there is much to be desired in a secondary level research in education, along with textbooks and technology. I think this poor quality stems from lack of textbooks and computers inside the classrooms. Education is one of the major means which society employs to carry out its national policies. That’s why this learning institution as a science high school in Cebu south, Division of Cebu Province, must equip the students with advanced textbooks, including computers in order for them to be competitive and could be able to cope with the quality of secondary school science and research in education.

One of the problems of continuing gradual decrease of MPS results in some subjects every year and stagnation of professional secondary science research and technology in education of MNSHS teachers and students is lacking of one-on-one prescribed textbook, including technological and methodical guides, special science and research lectures and reviews. Their peculiarities are determined by the fact that they are designed for those who have taught research and technology in a science education, have mastered 6 facets of understanding and thus, need not to be taught systematized fundamental knowledge. On the other hand, now the work of a science high school teacher requires a continuing mastering of new operations and processes, renewed theoretical knowledge, especially under the attack of new information technologies.

Believing that every individual can contribute to achieve the level of information, technical and technological base in the majority of teaching standards no matter how small it is, I introduced and created a firm base to put to practice one the mostly dynamic technologies using the advanced textbooks, along with computers to make the students equip with caliber of intelligence and vast repertoire of science and research experiences.

A textbook and a computer, as well as the systems of its delivery serve as a lever, which will allow the research and science of the 21st century to make a decisive step towards the dream of all enlightened teachers and students: to have an access to any advanced textbook with written research document in any point on the globe. Realizing this perspective makes the learning institution of continuing quality of secondary school science and research in education pay special attention to training those teaching and non-teaching personnel in this new technology.

Knowledgeable and skilled teachers of Minglanilla National Science High School recognize the significantly greater side effects due to lack of textbooks and computers inside the classroom that commonly occur when the subject teachers are recommended solely based on the diagnostic tests, division achievement test, regional achievement test and national achievement test. However, due to the inadequacy of textbook, research and technology analysis skills and the difficulty in teaching these skills well, many science high school teachers revert to this dangerously simplistic method of choosing old DepEd textbooks and textbook formulas.

With regard to computer problems, as what Dr. Carbonell (2009) states “Computer technology explores the use of computer-aided learning to develop skills among learners in differential assessment and decision-making, which are crucial to effective technological practice. Acquiring computers and updating them will tremendously help a lot, thus, making “self-study software” incorporate computer-aided learning and interactive databases” (p. 136). Part of advanced planning to be fully equipped with capabilities of such software includes training users on how to:

Make intelligent and wise decisions on the basis of programs and unlimited information.

Identify when available information is inadequate for making reliable decisions.

Assess and single out the best available solution among a limited set of options.

Identify complex patterns (textbooks and computer-related problem clusters) having probabilistic rather than deterministic structures.

Recognize the significance of a wide range of possible solutions and subsets of the textbook definitions and patterns.

The study has significance because both teachers and students will benefit when the students become more responsible in their actions, and equip them with caliber of intelligence and vast repertoire of learning experiences. Students who spend time to reflect on their actions have possibility to change their self-concept, and fight for what they think is right to have been supplied with 1 textbook per student, furnished with 1 computer per student, and taught through advanced textbooks with science and research approaches in education for the betterment of the school.

Our public education system has a lot of problems, dilapidated classrooms and lack of teachers among them. But I believe that if there is one thing we ordinary Filipinos can solve, it is the availability of quality textbooks. In a science high school like Minglanilla National Science High School, we need quality textbooks and every student must have 1 textbook and 1 computer. How can we make quality textbooks available to every school child in this learning institution? Normally, if you want to write a book, you agree with a publisher on the topic and sign a contract with them.

You, the author, are in charge of writing the content, while the publisher assigns a team composed of editors, illustrators, and proofreaders to make sure that the final manuscript is correct before it gets printed. During the creation phase, only you and the publisher’s team have access to the manuscripts. When the manuscript is ready, it is given to the printing team who turns it into a book. For public school textbooks, a little more care is applied. To ensure the quality of textbooks, the Department of Education (DepEd) has a four-step evaluation process, involving a few more evaluators and authorities.

This was already in place before a schoolteacher Antonio Calipjo Go discovered. After 10 years of studying textbooks, Mr. Go came to the conclusion that half of the public school textbooks in English, Filipino and Social Studies were “defective.” In 2002, he found 400 errors in a single public science high school textbook. And only June of last year, he again uncovered a lot of errors in seven Social Studies textbooks. Mr. Go came out with his findings. DepEd’s process is failing and we need a different approach to ensure the quality of public textbooks.

In order to solve these emerging problems regarding lack of quality textbooks and computers, as the principal of this learning institution, I have to source out funds from the PTA, LGU and the rich people in the community to purchase computer-units for computer lab, including quality textbooks. Aside from this, in order to have quality of education, in-service retraining should likewise be upgraded from time to time in order for the teacher to be fully equipped with caliber of intelligence. The program is a must since computer science teacher certification is a recent development, thus, most of these teachers were trained in another field. This project is composed of a sequence of courses which will teach the core principles of computer science to these MNSHS teachers.

Finally, according to Dr. Buenaventura (2003), “A teaching framework extends the traditional problem textbook-solving method in computer science education in order to increase student motivation. It replaces textbook-computer problems by so-called challenges and in particular emphasizes the learning situation and inspiration of the students. Furthermore it combines several pedagogical principles and applies them in a process of how students learn in a motivating and self-regulated way. In order to justify the necessity of a new concept, problems in the traditional textbook-problem solving approaches in a science high school education are significant” (p. 45).

In order for addressing students’ motivation changes are necessary, the ensuing change in students may eventually lead to important changes as well in the country and in the world, for it is these students who will one day dictate the course of events in the future. The principal and teacher preparations, the teaching facilities, equipment and materials, and the teaching strategies are among the necessary factors to the quality of instruction, thus improving the quality of secondary school science and research in education through advanced textbooks and technology.

On the other hand, to pave the way for theoretical framework, and to improve the quality of secondary school science and research in education through advanced textbooks and technology, it is categorically stated that the present study is anchored on the theory of Lado and Orleans (2000) that the technologically-adapted-structured lessons based on macro-skills learning performance can attain more developments in intellectual aspects and acquisition of language.

This is a valuable resource in assimilating with peers and adults in developing a sense of personal growth and in finding a place in social, technological and economic life adapted to this capacity and personal preference. Attaining the language skill requires the mastery of a system that takes literally years to learn.

It has become an established fact that the language facility can raise student’s intelligence as measured by intelligence tests. This is so because of the language facility can be determined through speaking and writing. The teacher has to find ways to teach all his students properly because if they are taught properly, the latter can learn technological skills and concepts necessary to effectively function in modern society.

The difference between excellent teaching and acceptable classroom performance is no more than the ability to take advantage of opportunities which develop in the context of the classroom, and which cannot be anticipated by even the most talented and skillful authors. The teacher who can make the most of these opportunities will be the one to dominate the materials he/she teaches and to implement a vast repertoire of techniques and procedures for classroom management. The language program should take into account the cognitive and socio-cultural needs of the students, the community in which the school is located, the training, language ability and personality of the teacher, and the present and foreseeable future needs of the society in which our learners are living or planning to live (Makalinao, et al., 2001).

In English for Special Purposes (ESP), the desirable goal to strive in language teaching is general communicative competence. Language teaching has a definite purpose, teachers of ESP teach only the requisite for a particular purpose, be it an occupation (business English), or a domain (English for Science and Technology). Thus, before English is done, the baseline experiment on needs analyses is imperative, specifically doing analysis of situations where pilot students will likely find themselves and carefully selecting the English necessary for them to meet the language demands of these restricted domains and contrasting approaches to education (Widdowson, 1998).

Learning is indispensable on the part of students who undergo rigid studies of the language, but teaching involves much more than knowledge of methods. However, a well-versed teacher maybe in psychological and linguistic theories, in techniques and methodologies, this knowledge alone will not assure success. And even more basic ingredient of good teaching is the teacher’s attitude toward his students and his work. More than ever, we must recognize the teacher’s compassionate, intelligent, individual approach to his work as the essential factor in successful language teaching.

According to British Education theorist Peter Newsam (2005), the essential factor in successful language teaching as well as a considerable diversity of views exists among analytic and linguistic philosophers regarding the nature of conceptual or linguistic analysis. Some are primarily concerned with clarifying the meaning of specific words or phrases as an essential step in making philosophical assertions clear and unambiguous.

Others are more concerned with determining the general conditions that must be met for any linguistic utterance to be meaningful; their intent is to establish a criterion that will distinguish between meaningful and nonsensical sentences. Still other language analysts are interested in creating formal, symbolic lingua francas that are morphological in nature. Their claim is that philosophical problems can be more effectively dealt with once they are formulated in a rigorous logical language.

Alcantara, et al. (2002) quoted the importance of speech improvement as saying that in teaching, skill in oral communication is recognized as a very important part of the qualification of a teacher. It is axiomatic that instruction can be efficiently and effectively carried out only within the context of effective communication. Hence, good speech, which is basic in communication, is an important concern of every teacher not only as a practical tool but also as a fine art. By implication, speech improvement is both desirable and imperative in teaching, and for that matter, in every human endeavor.

The kind of speech improvement designed to achieve good speech, is that which takes into consideration not only linguistic principles but also makes use of corrective techniques firmly based on scientific facts and principles. In the Philippines, every vowel in the Visayas dialect is stressed. This explains why children read in a sing-song manner. There are only five (5) sounds for the five vowels. In English, there are various sounds for each of the five (5) vowels. For a alone, a varies in sound in words: can, star, lake, chair. There are strong stresses at regular intervals. The weak-stressed syllables are observed and the final sound of each word is blended with the initial sound of the one following within the same unit. These differences call for sufficient aural-oral preparation before actual speaking of English is done.

In teaching English, many teachers make their student commence with the language activities at the same time in their desire to follow the minimum requirements without considering the children’s developmental stage. They fail to realize that some students develop slower than the others. For example, writing for training is similar to writing for reinforcement, but it differs in that it is not limited to the reinforcement of grammatical structures (Marquez, 1999).

According to Lado, et al. (2000), for purposes of training, writing presents students with patterns of linguistic and rhetorical forms that might be new to them and gives them practice in using and manipulating these new patterns: for instance, “students may be asked to change a general statement: “Thermometers measure temperature,” into a definition “Thermometers are instruments which measure temperature.” The speed and frequency of international communication have outstripped the speed of teaching and learning languages and demand more effective methods of teaching. With the need for more effective teaching of language goes the need for more effective testing of their use.

Communication Arts in English is not taught in a vacuum. Although its objective is to develop in the students the language skills in listening, speaking, reading and writing, the teacher uses content materials in the pursuance of the skills’ objectives. In teaching English, the teacher is guided by the assumption that language is trimodal. This means that language is composed of three components or hierarchies which interlace with one another.

There are three components of language: phonology, structure and lexicon. The first component is phonology. Phonology is the science that deals with sounds. It has two divisions, namely: phonetics and phonemics. Phonetics deals with separate sounds or phones. Its three branches are articulatory phonetics which deals with speech production, auditory phonetics which deals with speech reception, and acoustic phonetics which deals with speech transmission. Phonemics is that branch of structural linguistics which has for its subject matter the organization of phones with groups of faculties of sounds called phonemes (Preece, 2005).

Leon-Ladera, et al., in their Speech Communication and Creative Expression for English Teachers (2005), emphasize the importance of aspects of linguistics. There are many different ways to examine and describe individual languages and changes in languages. Nevertheless, each approach usually takes into account the language’s sounds (phonetics and phonology), word structure (morphology), and sentence structure (syntax). Most analyses also treat vocabulary and the semantics (meaning) of a language. Any human being learns language starting with the use of mind but he hears the sounds first before he uses them. Listening is very important in learning a language, for learning them at the start wrongly, the individual gets a shaky foundation of the language he is speaking. Learning

is seen to be a natural, gradual process, through which student’s progress at their own rates. At first it is expected that students will speak or write imperfect English. Through a combination of sensitive error-correction strategies (such as the teacher repeating correctly a student’s faulty utterance) and continued practice, the learner’s interlanguage will increasingly conform to the target language.

The choices of teachers remain to be like those of the artists. Artists’ choices are not at random. They are driven by what artists are trying to achieve and they are assessed by the artists every step of the way to assure that the choices being made are congruent with their purpose. Art teachers can help art students become aware of the options they have by having them study art history to review the choices others have made. They can also help by making their students perfect their technique. But it is incumbent upon the artists themselves to create their unique blend that is their own special contribution to others (Mu±oz, et al. 2000).

It is similar with teaching, according to Patron (2002), teachers must be familiar with the various methods, approaches, and techniques in the teaching and learning not only of language but also of literature to bring out the potential benefits of literature–linguistically, culturally, and aesthetically. Only those who are intimately acquainted with the situation, with the students and with themselves can have the choices they are uniquely suited to make. It is, after all, only the teachers who will be there to assess the outcome of the choices they make. It is only the teachers who are there to make sure that they know why they are doing what they are doing.

Simultaneous in learning the sounds of the language the learner uses structure. This is the second component, otherwise known as grammar. This has something to do with structural patterns. A language works in a pattern. It has its own structure which is meaningful to its own speakers. It operates within its own recurring patterns or arrangements which are meaningful to its speakers. In English the sentence structure begins with the subject, followed by the predicate. It is exactly the opposite of Cebuano-Bisaya-sentence that begins with the predicate followed by the subject (Gurdiel, 1992).

There is a need to comprehend the ways to teach the English (the target language must be associated with technology-driven skills for the students), particularly in first year High School at Minglanilla National Science High School, Poblacion Ward I, Minglanilla, Cebu. It is important that teachers should provide their students with authentic examples of language to study. It appears clearly that one aspect of authenticity resides in natural, spontaneous speech which has normal irregularities, hesitations and simplifications so that the students are trained to listen for cues that will be present in normal speech and not just in that particular brand of speech spoken only to foreigners.

According to Pahang (1995) in her dissertation entitled “A Correlative Study of the Mental Ability and Language Achievement,” this study has something to do with the freshman’s actual needs in English. The question is how students can later on develop essays and other literary forms after attending English classes. Some of them will later enjoy reading newspapers and write letters. But others will become tourists, immigrants, hotel clerks, and stewards on cruise ships, journalists, and diplomats, participants in domestic and foreign conferences. Such people will need to be able to communicate orally, write legibly, read with comprehension and understand with other when he speaks. If speech is unintelligible, the act of communication has failed; the person who is supposed to receive the message would fail to respond or if ever a response is made, this may be inappropriate.

It is also supported by Gabison (1991) in her study entitled “A Correlative Study of the Mental Ability and Language Achievement,” it is worth-noting that these structural lessons are dependent upon the data gathered from the language inventory tests responded to by the learners. For theoretical specificity, these structural lessons consider the four (4) areas of English language teaching, namely: listening, speaking, reading and writing as sequenced in the lessons. The lessons are more on the difficulties and needs of the freshmen as identified by the students and their teachers. Those studying English may be aware of the importance of oral and written communications. The students who are second speakers of the English language expend their efforts to acquire proficiency in this particular language.

Students need to be able to communicate orally. That is, a learner needs to comprehend the other fellow when he speaks and vice versa. If speech is unintelligible, the act of communication, needless to say, has failed. The student who is to receive the message fails to respond inappropriately. Thus, it is very important that one should learn to speak as intelligible as possible–not necessarily like native speakers–but well and clear enough to be understood. Communication needs constant practice despite the barrier of the language made culturally diverse from the others. Difficulty of the language is inevitable on the learner who is not native speaker of the language. That is why structured English lessons are a must in the step-by-step study and in-depth analysis done by the students themselves in order to pan out both in oral and written communications in English (Navarro, 2001).

There are some techniques suggested to improve the teaching of English language among non-English speakers. A few include 1) the grammar translation approach, which teaches the learner using the mother tongue, 2) the direct approach, which attempts to integrate more use of the target language instruction, 3) the reading approach, which is intended for people who do not travel abroad and reading is the one usable skill in a foreign language, 4) the audio-lingual method, which uses the principles of the direct method, 5) the community language learning, which is patterned after the counseling technique, 6) the silent way, which uses verbal commands, 7) the functional-notional approach, which breaks down the global concept of language into units of analysis in terms of communicative situations in which they are used, and the total physical response, which combines information and skills through the use of the kinesthetic sensory system (Jordan, 2001).

Gurdiel (1992) said that English is one of the learning areas that develop the learners’ confidence and ability in using the language for effective communication and critical thinking. The macro-skills to be developed are listening, speaking, reading and writing in English.

Briones (2003) compared the oral and written English proficiency of the senior secondary students of the University of Southern Philippines, Lahug Campus and found out that the students who are good at oral communication may not at all times be good at written communication. In the same school but in a different campus, Bandajon, et al. (2003) found out that among the first year secondary students, the girls have higher scores than boys in literal comprehension and application in the English subject.

Widdowson (2003) assessed the communication skills need of the high school students and found out that speaking and listening skills, together with related micro-skills such as conversational, oral presentation and telephone conversational skills are most useful and applicable in the job setting and recommended for reinforcement of English communication skills in major subject areas.

The foregoing literature has clearly shown the factors that facilitate the learning of English language for non-speakers of English–learning said language must be associated and supplied with advanced textbooks and provided with computers in order for the students to become computer-literate. Besides, the teacher preparation, the teaching facilities, equipment and materials, and the teaching strategies are among the necessary factors to the quality of instruction.”

There are times that women will choose to overlook the fact of the matter even when the reality manifests blatantly. These women are maybe afraid to face the truth but determining the signs your man is cheating is something that women should learn. This does not mean that you will hound every activities of your husband or boyfriend but it pays to be vigilant, before it is too late. You do not want to wake up one morning wondering why he suddenly left you for another when all you could think about was that you were actually okay, or so you thought. So when you observe some particular activity or behavior or changes in your man, it might be the best time to assess the situation. If you are vigilant and observant enough, you will be able to read several signs your man is cheating on you. It is not only what he does but what he is not doing anymore that you should also look into. Read on to know more.

1.    Communication bog-down. If he used to call and text you several times a day but lately, does not even reply to most of your messages and calls, his attention might be engaged anywhere else. Of course, he may be busy with work but if you can verify that he is not busy at work or with some other engagements, then he is probably involve with someone else. Meeting someone new is always exciting and if he is just starting an illegal liaison with someone else, he would be naturally  too excited for anything else.

2.    Mr. Sweet suddenly. If he is extra-nice and sweet to you recently, when he was not like that before is something to look into too. Men who cheats and who does not want to be found out, acts extra nice to his wife or girlfriend so that they would not be suspected. They also do this because they feel guilty cheating their partner but don’t want to stop the cheating either.

3.    Mr. Critic. If he always find fault with you, always noting your bad points without any instigation from you, is also one of the signs that your man is cheating. If he has not acted like that before and then suddenly finds yourself at the butt of his “criticism” frequently, he is maybe comparing you with his new interest. This may not always be one of the signs your man is cheating but you could explore on this to know the truth.

4.    Telltale signs. If you find telltale signs in his wallet, clothing that he cannot explain such as ticket to a cinema when he is not fond of going to cinemas, lipstick mark on his shirt, unfamiliar perfume on his clothes and the likes.

5.    Suspicious cell phone usage. If he is becoming secretive about his text messages and calls, grabbing his cell phone the moment it rings and running to another room to answer it or guarding his cell phone and bringing it anywhere he goes, can also be one of the signs that your man is cheating. Late night calls which he attributes to some emergencies or officemates can be another indication.

6.    Unaccounted for. When you call him at the place where he says he is suppose to be, he is nowhere near there and he always has lame excuses that he was at the comfort room when you called or he was just walking through the foyer when you called. Of course, you should not take this as one of the surefire signs your man is cheating on you.

7.    Suspicious computer activity. He suddenly blacks out his laptop or minimizes the window of his laptop when you go near him. He spends longer hours on his computer than before and closes the door to his study when he is doing so.

8.    Unavailability. He used to spend time with you but now it is becoming less and very infrequent. He might tell you he is busy at work or some other important function, even during the weekends, holidays and yes, at night. Chances are, he uses this time spending with someone other than you. This is perhaps one of the sure signs your man is cheating on you. When he says that he is spending time with a male friend, and this has become more frequent, either he has turn gay or the male friend has magically turned into the sex siren of his dreams.

9.    Infrequent or absence of sex life. He has become a stranger in your bed, only engaging in sex with you as if it is his duty and only by appointment. When you get the urge and start showing him signs, he has so many excuses that often leave you feeling unwanted and cold. He does not hold your hand anymore, hug, cuddle or his kisses are as perfunctory as his greetings where it used to be so hot, it almost always drives you mad with desire for each other.

10. Changes in grooming preference. Men are generally stickler for things that they are used to. If your man had been using specific cologne, deodorant or a certain fashion style ever since you met him and then he suddenly prefers something he used to dislike and abhor, then it is telling you something. Of course, he may be on a self-discovery journey and changing his lifestyle and grooming habits might be part of that. However, if you can prove that he is not into a self-development quest or some other similar endeavor, this is perhaps one of the signs your man is cheating.

Hey, everybody. After I ran my week of promotional activity on amazon kindle, which led to nearly 600 free downloads of my three books, I thought I would start to get the requested reviews on my kindle author page, or indeed on the pages of the books themselves, but this has not yet started to happen – apart from just one – so i wondered if any of you who had taken advantage of the offer and downloaded them has actually read any of them YET?

PLEASE do respond to this and let me know, because I find it hard to believe that they have been read without the person reading them feeling the need to comment, so feedback on this point would be very welcome. Just in case you need reference points – Dancing with the devil and other twisted tales - http://www.amazon.com/Dancing-Devil-other-twisted-ebook/dp/B005MXAZX2  

 Eternity and more(Sci-Fi) - http://www.amazon.com/Eternity-and-more-ebook/dp/B006KXE4O4 

 We Aim To Please (Co-wriiten with Erin Miller) - http://www.amazon.com/WE-AIM-TO-PLEASE-ebook/dp/B007GMNVRE

Obviously, I am hoping that as many of you as possible will get writing those all-important reviews for me very soon. In the meantime, I feel it once again important to stress how great an opportunity wikinut offers to triond readers for extra views and earnings. I have had well over 4000 views there in the past ten days, and that just from re-posting content previously published on triond.

It really is a win-win situation, because the site is higher ranked in google than triond is and the administrators there are much more approachable and friendly. Just go to this url for your free sign-up, then get publishing on there because you have nothing to lose and everything to gain by so doing - http://www.wikinut.com/in/ughfl/

Another great way of getting more views to your posts, and more earnings of course, is to take advantage of the free sign-up at the brilliant new social site matesgate –  http://www.matesgate.biz/refs?tonyleather

because there, if you create a triond account through their link, then for each post you publish you earn 1000 credits, and you get guaranteed extra views – because your posts get included among the must-click links, so you get views for each click, and in my case it works out around 80-100 views a day. It really is a friendly site, and you can earn money there without spending hours on the site, so it is well worth it.

ll I ask, for those who enjoy good fiction, is that – if you have not yet obtained a copy of one or more of my great books, which are real bargains at the price – then please consider doing so, because it will be the best buy you’ll ever make in terms of a cheap night’s entertainment. Knowing how the readers feel about one’s work is very important for any writer, so I really do urge you all – who have read any of my books – to please leave some comments on the relevant page.

Interestingly, 38% is based on the emphasis of their voice. 55% of the acceptation comes from the body emphasis of the being that is speaking. This aphorism comes from analysis that was published in the backward 1960’s. Some now anticipate that the percentages from this research ability be hardly different. Nevertheless, the basal band is still the same. If you don’t apperceive the basics of physique language, you are missing a admired apparatus for learning how to acquaint better. We allege body language on a brainy level, without actually acumen that we are communicating through physique talk.

1. Face

The a lot of alive allotment of your physique is your face. If you access a allowance if you feel nervous, your announcement ability accomplish you look aloof or unfriendly. Smiling at the allowance is a cinch way to remove anyone’s doubts about your approachability. Smiling makes us attending warm, open and confident.

2. Eyes

They say the eyes are the windows to the soul. They absolutely accord humans clues about what we are feeling. A absolute boring arise anyone can show interest- absolute staring on the added duke can mean an acute dislike. Actual little eye contact can appearance that you are shy.

3. Hands

Have you anytime watched someone’s hand gestures if they are talking? Open hand gestures tend to accomplish a being arise open and honest. Bringing easily calm to a point can emphasis the point you are making. Wringing your easily or badly moving your fingers and easily will accord away nervousness. It can even accomplish anyone look dishonest- are they aggravating to adumbrate something?

4. Posture

If you angular arise anyone you are showing an absorption in that person. If we are activity low in confidence, we tend to slouch our shoulders and attending down. Men and women use altered physique language. For instance, women will angle abutting to each other, authority eye acquaintance with the being they are talking to and use gestures.

Men accomplish little accomplishment to advance eye contact and don’t await on the use of gestures to communicate. Men and women can apprentice how to acquaint bigger by celebratory the differences in their use of physique language.