Monday, February 17, 2020

What are the main features of British conservatism Essay - 2

What are the main features of British conservatism - Essay Example In chorus, the ideology of a well- established central governing authority that was proposed by early traditional conservatives became an important aspect of the liberal mind. Secondly, there exists an internal heterogeneity in the political philosophy of conservatism that entails a number of aspects but is summarized under one feature that is the stabilization and justification of strong social structures. Those that bear the ideology of conservatism are the social groups and classes that concentrate on preserving the customary social order or its establishment. There are two philosophical formations in the structure of conservatism. One focuses on the opposing political trends and forces while the other focuses on preservation of the social structure in its original form. In this situation conservatism is a political philosophy that justifies the present order and appeal to the lost (Clarke, 1996:18). Various directions of conservatism share common features. For instance, the existence of well- established social structures and institutions, recognition of global morals and religious beliefs, belief in the natural equality of men, the flawed human nature and the limited capabilities of the human mind. Many individuals consider British conservatism as a British national characteristic that is likened to everything English. Conservatism is characterized by the highest expression and perfection and it is basically a conventional political ideology in Britain. The English parliament is known to have come up with a number of political definitions such as the popular difference between right and left (Clarke, 1996:78). British conservatism understands that human nature is imperfect for political institutions and is implemented in the following important approaches. Firstly, the mentality of conservatism is the same as that of traditionalism. Secondly, preference of incremental is radical changes.

Monday, February 3, 2020

Impact of Pinyin on Chinese people's ability to learn foreign Research Paper

Impact of Pinyin on Chinese people's ability to learn foreign langauges - Research Paper Example It is now possible for Pinyin speakers to connect sounds to written forms of words. This knowledge is helpful in acquisition of a phonetic based language like English. As far back as the 1930s, Chinese leaders like Mao Zedong noted that the traditional systems of writing Chinese, such as Zhiyin, Fanqie, and Zhuyinfuhao, were too difficult to learn. Because of its dependence on characters, most of the population could not learn sufficient characters to develop a rich vocabulary. Therefore, Latinisation was regarded as a mechanism for quickly eradicating illiteracy in China (DeFrancis, 2006). Difficulties in reconciling differences between written and oral Chinese also motivated the introduction of Pinyin. Chairman Mao stated that the Chinese language had several contradictions, as written Chinese came from symbols yet spoken Chinese did not (DeFrancis, 2006). It was thus difficult to learn the language and transmit knowledge in written forms. Prior to the 1950s, people who supported this movement held key positions in government. Therefore, political will existed to reform the language. However, after the 1950s, a different group known as Mao Zedong took over the government, and was dedicated to the suppression of the Pinyin movement. Regardless of this opposition, intellectuals persisted in pushing for reforms until Pinyin was finally adopted in 1958. Learning a new language is often easier when the second language has elements of one’s primary language. For a language such as Chinese, these similarities are particularly imperative in facilitating the learning process. In the United States, Chinese is regarded as one of the most difficult languages to learn. The US government has established a categorisation system in which they classify languages according to their ease of acquisition. Chinese, Arabic, Korean, and Japanese are all category IV languages, meaning that they take the longest to master. These