Reader’s Response

Hello!

Here is my reader’s response to “The Double Edge of Globalization” by Chanda:

Chanda(2007) argues that consumption is a key player in environmental degradation. Increased consumption has been brought about by forces such as consumerism. The effects of consumerism has led to increasing consumption of raw materials attained from the environment.

I agree with Chanda that consumption degrades the environment.  To further substantiate on his point, consumers’ and producers’ attitude towards environmental protection affects the feasibility and effectiveness of environmental protection policies. According to Morgan (2013), environmental laws against burning of forest has been implemented in Indonesia but it persists annually. This is attributed to the illegal burning of forests which reflects producers’ prioritising cost-effective production over efforts to save the environment. Reason being, burning is more cost-effective as compared to other environmentally friendly but more expensive ways of clearing land. This is a cheaper way of meeting the increasing demand of consumers today, as producers are able to provide more at a lower cost.

Producers’ profit maximization mentality and consumers’ utilitarian objective will result in utilising cost-effective methods of production. To minimize the use of these methods, a change in attitude is required. Such a change may potentially resolve or slowdown environmental degradation.

To conclude, the onerous of environmental protection lies in producers and consumers commitment and attitudes to resolve environmental degradation.

Thesis on “The Double Edge of Globalization”

Hello!

Here is my thesis for the article on “The Double Edge of Globalization”:

The lack of co-operation and commitment by nations will pose as a major hindrance to international efforts to protect the environment.

Summary Exercise on “The Double Edge of Globalization” [Draft 2]

Here’s the second draft on the summary of “The Double Edge of Globalization”.

In “The Double Edge of Globalization”, according to Chanda(2007), globalization affects the environment both positively and negatively. Globalization is a bane to the environment as it increases trade volume which assumes to have encouraged firms to carry out production in countries with little environment-related laws. However, little proof can be found to support that statement. Rather, foreign owned factories seems to produce less than their domestic counterparts. Another culprit is the World Trade Organization, who is held liable for environmental destruction as a result of pollution, deforestation and increased fishing. Although non-profit organizations have highlighted the disadvantages of increasing interconnectivity, little improvement has been made by nations and international bodies. The root cause of ineffectual environmental protection policies is due to the lack of cooperation between global powers. On the other hand, globalization is beneficial. Through increasing global interconnectivity, it raises awareness of the consequences of environmental problems.

Have a happy elearning week everyone! See you in class next week! (:

Summary Exercise on “The Double Edge of Globalization” [Draft 1]

Hey! Hope everyone’s weekend has been going well! Here’s my summary on “The Double Edge of Globalization” by Nayan Chanda.

In “The Double Edge of Globalization”, according to Chanda(2007), globalization affects the environment both positively and negatively. Globalization is a bane to the environment as it increases trade volume which assumes to have encouraged firms to carry out production in countries with little environment-related laws. However, little proof can be found to support that statement. Rather, factories that are not locally owned seemed to produce less than their domestic counterparts. Another culprit is the World Trade Organization, who are held liable for environmental destruction as a result of pollution, deforestation and increased fishing. Although non-profit organizations have highlighted the disadvantages of interconnectedness, little improvement is seen. The root cause of ineffective environmental protection policies is due to the lack of cooperation by nations and global powers. On the other hand, globalization is beneficial as it raises global awareness on environmental problems and its consequences through increasing interconnectivity globally.

Hope everyone had a good Saturday and a good Sunday ahead! (:

Summary exercise on Declan Butler’s “Nuclear Power’s New Dawn”

Here is my summary on the paragraph we were given: 

According to Butler(2004), improvements have been made to increase the productivity of the reactors. This includes high temperatures and safety systems that have been made easier. These systems are mainly machine-operated and can decrease the temperature in the reactors quickly in times of emergency. They are also low in cost, as stated by professionals. Features of the latest reactors should include low radioactive discharge, which are disposed near places with residents. This is to reassure the general population, who are disinclined to the use of nuclear products. 

Second draft on “My Meaningful English Experience”

An experience I had was when I planned a trip to a village in Vietnam with a group of my friends in January 2013. The aim of the trip was to improve the standard of English among the students living in the village through organising daily lessons for 2 weeks.

During the first few days of teaching, the students appeared bored in class due to the language barrier. Also, many of them left class halfway as they were disinterested in the lesson. Despite being disappointed by their reactions, my group and I were determined to improve their English standards in our 2 week stay. Thus, we began reflecting on how we carried out our lessons, the teaching methods used as well as how we interacted with the students. After much reflection, we realised that our main problem was in engaging the students due to language barrier. Also, as the students were of a younger age group, they had a shorter attention span. This resulted in them losing interest through the classroom style teaching.

With that, we began modifying our teaching methods. For example, we included actions to go with the words we taught them like acting out how the different animals behave. This allowed the students to better understand the words taught.

The English teaching experience broadened my perspective of how English can be taught. This is because past experiences of learning English involved the heavy use of textbooks and examinations as well as conversing in English. In addition, I have learnt that we have often neglected other forms of communication like action which can be used to enhance our learning.

Survey Questions for “The Double Edge of Globalization”

Here are the questions I have regarding the article by Nayan Chanda on “The Double Edge of Globalization” :

1. In what way is the World Trade Organization accused of destroying the globe?
2. What are the causes of environmental destruction?
3. How does globalization encourage and discourage habitat destruction?
4. Why do countries not want to partake in environment protection treaties like the Kyoto Protocol?
5. Why are countries a major factor in deciding the outcome of global movements, like humanitarian disasters and environmental protection?

That’s all and hopefully everyone will have a good weekend ahead! (:

Assignment 1: Meaningful English Experience

An experience I had was when I planned a trip to a village in Vietnam with a group of my friends in January 2013. The aim of the trip was to improve the standard of English among the students living in the village through organising daily lessons for 2 weeks.

During the first few days of teaching, the students appeared bored in class due to the language barrier. Also, many of them left class halfway as they were disinterested in the lesson. Despite being disappointed by their reactions, my group and I was determined to improve their English standards in our 2 week stay. Thus, we began reflecting on how we carried out our lessons, the teaching methods used as well as how we interacted with the students. After much reflection, we realised that our main problem was in engaging the students due to the presence of a language barrier. Also, as the students were of a younger age group, they had a short attention span which results in them being easily bored by classroom style teaching.

With that, we began modifying our teaching methods. For example, we included actions to go with the words we taught them like acting out how the different animals behave. This allows the students to better understand the words taught.

The English teaching experience broadened my perspective of how English can be taught. This is because past experiences of learning English involved the heavy use of textbooks and examinations as well as conversing in English. In addition, I learnt that we often neglect other forms of communication like action which can be used to enhance our learning.