Australia info Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Australia info - Essay Example Australia has very high scores for both ‘starting a business’ and â€Å"Getting credit† (World Bank). Australia has the world’s 12th largest economy, sustained by a relatively low population of just 23,608,400 people, most of whom are concentrated in a few, highly developed urban centers. Their comparatively geographically isolated location and a small domestic market means that the Australian government is concerned about their future economic growth and local businesses are increasingly looking towards international markets for business prospects (World Business Culture). Australia’s culture has been influenced by their history as a British colony and the lifestyle, language and social ethics of Caucasian migrants who eventually settled in the area. As a group, Australian’s are considered to be down-to-earth people, who appreciate hard work and do not give much regard to a person’s status or position. Modesty, sincerity and authenticity are important in the workplace as well as in personal interaction. There is a sense of humor in their interactions, the humor is often directed at themselves but may be too caustic for someone not used to the Australian culture (Kwintessential). Even though the English is the primary language in use in the country, for outsiders the local dialect and slang language may also be a difficult to grasp as it is uniquely Australian. For business relations, Australians focus on efficient and effective communication which emphasizes punctuality and practicality. It is a low-context culture so negotiations and business meetings are straight forward, with a very low emphasis on building long term, informal relationships between business partners on any kind. However, the brusque manner of business may be unsuitable as an international strategy given cultural differences between Australia

Language Learning Autobiography Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Language Learning Autobiography - Essay Example On reflection, I realize that my first strategy was to imitate. Although I did not completely understand the teacher’s instructions, I was able to follow by imitating and taking the lead from peers. The English teacher would usually teach a new language point and then start with class choral work before moving on to a small group, pair work and then individual responses. This allowed me the opportunity to imitate the other students and thus not only improve my language knowledge but to improve my pronunciation. My experience, therefore, provides evidence to Skinner, who states that imitation through repetition is important in the early stages of acquiring a first language and learning a second language. I learnt and acquired English not only by study but by social interaction with teachers and peers (both local and ESL students) which necessitated me to pull on or extract the language I already knew and manipulate it for the situation at hand; in other words it provided me the opportunity of having to use English for communicative purposes rather than for classroom intent. Different cultures and curriculum proved difficult for me at first but I was able to catch up with other studies because my ESL teachers and other proficient English speaking peers helped me to adapt to the new curriculum. The school also provided similar conditions for me to work with more proficient peers in the classroom and I know that this interaction helped me in first learning and then acquiring my second language. Vygotsky (1978) (cited in Coelho, 2004) states that when a child is acquiring their first language they learn best by interacting with peers that are at a higher level in language development than themselves they will learn better. He calls this the child’s proximal development zone, which is defined as the level just beyond where the child is at. I now know that a similar process is evident in acquiring a second