A glance at Grammar

Grammar

1. Reporting verbs:

In her latest article, Morton explained how information technology was changing society.

Schmidt described the process of language change.

Kon suggested that all poets were influenced by their childhood.

Uvarov claimed/asserted/contended/maintained/declared that the causes of the revolution can be traced back to the 18th century.

Van Ek implied that other historians have misinterpreted the period.

Patel argued that governments should continue to fund space research.

Greenberg emphasised/highlighted/stressed the importance of taking a liberal approach.

Levack observed/noted/commented/pointed out that there were contraditions in Day's interpretation of the poem.

Kim demonstrated/showed how Bach' music drew considerably on earlier conposers work.

Gray proved there was a link between obesity and genes.

In the book, Dean mentioned some new research in the field.

McIntosh pinpointed the key features of the period in question.

Vaz advanced/put forward/proposed a new theory.

Davidson casts doubt on previous research in the field.

Gerhard questioned previous interpretations of the play.

2. Reporting nouns:

Morton provided an explanation as to how information technology was changing society.

Schmidt gave a description of the process of language change.

Kon's suggestion that poets were influenced by their childhood was uncontroversial.

Lee's statement that problems arose earlier than previously thought had been challenged.

Uvarov's claim/assertion/contention that the causes of the revolution could be traced back to the 18th century was worth considerting in some depth.

Van Ek's implication that other historians had misinterpreted the period had caused some controversy.

Patel's argument that goverments should continue to fund space research.

Greenberg's emphasis/strees on the importance of taking a liberal approach was not new.

Levack's observation that there are contraditions in Day's interpretation of the poem had been supported by a number of other scholars.

Kim's demonstration of the way in which Bach's music drew on the work of earlier composers' was fancinating.

Gray's proof of the link between obesity and genes was of considerable interest.

3. Verb + ing

3.1. Common Verb + ing

Eg: As manufacturers consider automating their distribution channels, they should not lose sight of the effectiveness of personal contact.

Auto manufacturers are concerned consumers will postpone buying cars until after next July, when the current 22% sales tax on auto is expected to fall.

Van der Hoeve, CEO of Royal Ahold, spends 50 per cent of his time traveling and getting onto the sales floor as much as possible. As he explains: "I usually get a good feel for the store as I walk around".

6 groups of verbs and phrase + verb-ing

- Admit, consider, deny, describe, imagine, mention, suggest.

- Dislike, enjoy, fancy, (not) mind, like

- Carry on, give up, keep on, put off.

- Can't help, can't bear, can't stand, can't resist, can't face.

- Avoid, delay, finish, involve, keep, miss, postpone, practise, risk.

- It's not worth... Spend/waste time/money....
It's no use/good... There's no point (in)...

3.2. Some verb + ing or can be followed by nouns

Verbs: Admit, deny, imagine, suggest, dislike, enjoy, fancy, keep, mind, practise.

E.g: The Minister admitted taking a bribe.
The Minister admitted his mistake.

3.3. MIND is used in questions and negative sentences

Eg: Do you mind waiting a moment?
No, I don't mind.

3.4. GO and COME + ing form

E.g: Go skiing in the winter.
Come shopping with me.

3.5. Verbs with TO as a preposition

Look forward to, Object to, Get used to, Be used to, Respond to

E.g: I am looking forward to meeting you this afternoon.
After a few months in the UK, I got used to driving in the left.

4. Verbs + To + infinitive

4.1. Some verbs are followed by TO + INFINITIVE

E.g: PCCW has openly stated that it wishes to become the biggest broadband player in Asia... That means it can not afford to stand still.
We are managing to improve the local supply base for all of us.

These verbs include:

- Aim, arrange, choose, decide, intend, plan, prepare

- Demand, deserve, expect, hope, want, wish, would like

- Fail, guarantee, offer, promise, refuse, threaten

- Agree, can/can't afford, learn, manage, pretend, seem, tend, train, wait.

5. Verb + object + to + infinitive

These include: Advise, allow, ask, cause, encourage, expect, forbid, force, help, invite, order, pay, prefer, persuade, remind, teach, tell, train, want, warm

6. MAKE and LET

E.g: I make them check everything very carefully.
They let us have all these free samples.

7. Verb + that clause

E.g: I suggested that we could speak to Eliza about it.
We decided that we could cancel the meeting.
They told us that we should wait.

These verbs include:

- Admit, consider, deny, imagine, mention, suggest

- Decide, plan, demand, promise, expect, hope, wish, agree, learn, pretend, seem.

- Advise, remind, teach, tell, warn

8. Cause and effect

8.1. Verb relating cause and effect

Common verbs relating cause and effect are: Make, cause, create, do , produce, force

Other useful verbs relating cause and effect include: Influence/have influence on; determine, motivate, facilitate, provoke, trigger, account for, spring/stem from, give rise to, contribute to, stimulate, generate, induce, inhibit, derive.

8.2. Nouns relating cause and effect

- CHAIN REACTION: The incident set off a chain reaction which affected us all.

- CONSEQUENCE: The war had major consequences.

- EFFECT/IMPACT: The effect/impact of the film on the audience was very powerful.

- END: Does the end justify the means?

- ORIGIN/SOURCE: The accident was the origin/source of her later problems.

- OUTCOME: We hope for a positive outcome to the discussions.

- PRECEDENT: There are several precedents for taking such a decision.

- REASON: What was the reason for his success?

Presentation: Globalisation at Farmers’ expense

Globalisation at Farmers’ expense

It would appear that Globalization has not done the same with farmers in my country; their situation is different from my suffering. As far as my understanding, more than 20 years ago, farmers led a simple, but happy life; they were satisfied with their low living standard because they could do nothing to help themselves get out of the bad situation. Then, Globalization came to our country when the open economic policies were applied. As a result, foreign investment and technologies have been transferred to my nation at a very rapid pace. Our country’ face is changing.

The farmers’ land which used to be their only means to earn a living has been taken away for national industrialization and modernization such as to establish thousands of industrial zones and manufacturing sites. In order to take the land for that purpose, the government has to compensate farmers for their loss by paying them some money. With money in hand, farmers may have thought of buying something to improve their living quality such as motorbikes, bigger houses, but they forget that they need some training for their future.

As soon as they spent all their compensation, how you think they can earn a living? It is very difficult for them to do that because they have nothing in hand. So are there any ways out for them? Of course, yes:
1) Farmers can make long-term investment for their children to get higher education with a hope that their next generations will have a better position in the society;
2) Some young people may find jobs and work for companies, both domestic and international, in the lands they sold before. They also have to accept to be exploited with long working shifts, from 12 up to 16 hours a day and low payment;

3) Some older people have to join a long queue of unemployment and go to cities to search for seasonal or part-time jobs like baby-sitting, construction works… and whatever to make money.
In my point of view, more or less, globalization has made a number of farmers in my country become paid employees in their lands. However, I do hope they will be paid back when my country move into a better stage of development and this is the light at the end of the tunnel.

Thank you very much. And any questions?

Self-study: Clues to present in public

You are going to have a presentation in public? I will have one on Tuesday next week with the subject: Globalisation. You should remember:
- You always have the audience with you, they stand besides you. Listeners will forgive you if you make mistakes in your presentation.
- You should remain eye contacts with the audience and get audience involved.

There are some following clues for you:
1. Remember to do:
- Speak loudly enough and use visual material to make sure every listeners can hear you and follow your presentation.
- You can ask question.
- You sometimes ask the audience whether you need explain something with them, it is a good signal.
- Joking is good and useful.
- Keep you smiling.
2. Remember not to do:
- Vulgar and inappropriate humour,
- Swearing and blasphemy,
- Telling weak jokes and laughing out loud at them,
- Appear to be bored or otherwise, show disrespedt to listeners,
- Overstay your welcome or talk too much.
3. Structure of presentation:
- 10% - 20% introduction,
- 60% - 80% main body,
- 10% - 20% conclusion or summary.
4. Preparation:
- Prepare the content of presentation,
- Practice once at least.
- Prepare Visual aids;
- Check grammar and spelling.
- Keep youself calm, walk, point at things, speek and do things in natural ways.
- Time for questions at the end of presentation.

Steps to write an essay

- Analysing the essay question;
- Carrying out a research for sources of information;
- Read/listen and take notes in your own words;
- Planing the essay;
- Rewriting the essay by editting and proofreading it;
- Submiting the final draft of the essay.

Self-study: one-to-one tutorial

We had one-to-one tutorial on the first Firday of Pre-sessional Academic English course. My tutor asked me 3 questions relating my study and my dificulties:
- Why was it hard for you to decide to study abroad here in London MET university?
I answer: Because I am married and have 2 little boys, 4 years old and 1 year old. I had to leave them all at home, so that it is a heavy responsibility for my wife to look after my kids without my help.
- What was your job before you go to study abroad?
I was a businessman in service sector, but I want to change my job after studying here.
- What do you expect to improve or get after the course?
I answer: I am expecting to get used to studying in the English way, I need to get used to the study and teaching methods here. I used to learn in a different way in our country, I mean the culture of education between our country and England is quite different.


3 point plan to improve English skills


- I set up a self-study blog for me: I write as many writing posts as possible in the blog, I try to write a diary to practice English.

- I wake up early in the morning and listen to BBC News, especially the BBC 4 today, so that I can keep myself updated with news and my listening skill is improving day by day.

- I am trying to do homework and complete all requirements of the Pre-sessional Academic English course.

Final essay: Summarise the main effects of globalisation and discuss to what extent they are beneficial to your subject area

The Doha round appears to resemble a dark-bright coloured picture (Guardian, 2008). In the meeting, world economic leaders were discussing a number of global economic issues related to "trade liberalisation". At the same time, hundreds of thousand protestors gathered outside in an attempt to send warning messages to those leaders. This picture proves a double-faced globalization. On the one hand, more foreign investment and technology transfer have provided developing countries with new jobs and skills, and supported their economic development. According to the World Bank, an extra trade of £145 billion could be generated by 2015, helping to lift some developing countries out of poverty and end the food crisis (Balakrishnan, 2008). On the other hand, workers in these countries have been exploited dramatically with more hours and bad working conditions, but the wealth has been brought back to multinational companies (Pilger, 2006). It would appear that this system has negative impacts mainly on working people in developing countries. Moreover, this has created a wider gap and inequality between the rich and poor, developed and developing countries. In this essay, I will discuss the costs that globalisation has brought to developing countries and also its effects on international relations.

In the globalisation process, developing countries have been continuously requested to further open markets, making their industries vulnerable to foreign competitors. In fact, their newly-established manufacturing industries are likely to face difficulties in competing with giant foreign partners. It is clear that domestic products are less competitive in price, quality and post-sale service due to the low productivity. This can be proved by the US Department of Labour’ statistics (USDL) that hourly compensation costs for production workers in 2006 are $0.1 in the USA, compared with $7.3 in Canada, $17.8 in Brazil, $5.3 in the UK, $17.1 in Singapore and $16.2 in the Philippines (USDL, 2006). Consequently, domestic companies have been forced to merge into foreign companies; therefore, they lost homeland markets.

Another problem is that developing countries are becoming a dumping ground for out-of-date and dirty technologies. Firstly, most transferred technologies should suit these countries’ low standard of production and are beneficial to developed countries; therefore, they have been accepted for granted. Secondly, these technologies may be parts of package aids and investment projects. This is a common way of transferring dirty technologies by developed countries in order to prolong the production circle for more benefits. This case was mentioned by Mr. Phan Dang Tuat, Director of the Institute for Industrial Policies and Strategies of Vietnam, that Vietnam has been transferred and will import many toxic industries, specifically those relating to steel and cement (Vietnamnet, 2008). As a result, this prevents developing countries from improving their productivity and makes them lag behind technologically.

It would appear that not only developing countries are lagging behind, but also considered as lucrative baits to exploit by multi-nationals. On the one hand, they have moved their business to these countries to multiple benefits by paying low wages. They have also had preferential treatment from developing countries’ governments when they first established manufacturing factories. Another thing they expect is to use cheap raw materials in these countries. On the other hand, they have opportunities to exploit workers with longer hours and bad working conditions. GAP is an outstanding example of this kind as it built textile factories in Indonesia where people worked under the heat of 40oC or more with 12 to 18 hour shifts (Pilger, 2006). It would appear that the promising wealth brought by Globalisation is not for working people.

It can be seen that the working people are not beneficial from the investment flows which have been poured into developing countries with several irrefutable conditions. As a matter of fact, these countries need foreign investment, so they may accept unexpected imports of well-paid skilled labours and specialists, even assigned contractors. Otherwise, governments in developing countries are likely to be in a position to make concessions to foreign investors in order to attract more capital for national development. This point was described by Martin Khor that governments of developing countries had no choice for their policies on foreign investments, but had to accept the rules of multilateral investment (Khor, 1998). Even unintentionally accepting these rules, developing countries are considered losing “sovereignty rights” inside their land.

Another example is that the relationship between developing countries and their creditors has changed much more than ever before. According to Mohan Malik, “Multilateralism is a multi-player game played in a spirit of give-and-take” (Malik, 2006). Therefore, the foreign creditors like Japan, China and the USA… will be looking forwards to getting something back after they offer AIDS, ODA or low interest loans to developing countries. In fact, China has been considered a Saviour in the eye of African countries with its “cheque-book diplomacy” in recent years (Mail & Guardian online, 2007). It is not surprised that a rising China will be able to take over the US position in Africa. Otherwise, there is a rumour that in the race to be a permanent UNSC member, instead of India, Japan may have been chosen by many developing countries in the Asia-Pacific due to its long ODA history. Perhaps, it is only a political game to which investment loans have made no small contributions.

In contrast, there are some positive views on benefits that globalisation brings to developing countries. Firstly, many jobs have been created for people in these countries. Secondly, developing countries have extended markets to export their domestic products at relevant prices. Thirdly, their consumers profit from lower prices and more choice of goods, especially consumer products. And last but not least, the investment and capital flows are freely put into circulation by developed countries, making great contributions to the rest of the world’ development.

In conclusion, globalisation has caused a number of negative impacts on developing countries because it requires them to further open markets, making domestic industries uncompetitive with foreign partners. Moreover, these countries have the out-of-date technologies transferred and working people exploited. They also accept some conditions against their will and resign themselves to worse international positions. However, it is undeniable that globalisation has created some favourable conditions for these countries to reach targets of national development. Based on the above findings, we need further investigate the solutions that help developing countries to protect themselves and integrate well into the world economy.




REFERENCE:
1. Balakrishnan A., “The Doha round of WTO talks”, viewed 10th Jan, 2009
www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/jul/21/globaleconomy.wto
2. Khor M., “The need to regulate foreign investment” (Third World Resurgence No.90/91, Feb-March 1998), viewed 16th January 2009
http://www.twnside.org.sg/title/mai1-cn.htm
3. Mail & Guardian online, 2007, “China denies cheque-book diplomacy in Africa”, viewed 16th January 2009
http://www.mg.co.za/article/2007-01-09-china-denies-chequebook-diplomacy-in-africa
4. Malik M., “Multilateralism Shanghaied”, July 14th 2006, viewed 21st January 2009
http://www.strategycenter.net/research/pubID.115/pub_detail.asp
5. Pilger J., “The New rulers of The World”, August 7th 2006, BBC - viewed 10th Jan, 2009
http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=-7932485454526581006&ei=WB1nSa_IO4nojgKqz-DBCg&q=john+pilger
6. Vietnamnet, “Vietnam accepts “dirty” industries” 28/11/2008 (GMT+7), viewed 15th January 2009
http://english.vietnamnet.vn/tech/2008/11/815859/
7. United States Department of Labour (USDL), “International comparisons of hourly compensation costs in manufacturing, 2006”, viewed 15th January 2009
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/ichcc.pdf
8. Wagner H., “Implications of Globalisation for Monetary Policies”, viewed 15thJan 2009
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/2001/wp01184.pdf


Word count: 1053

Self-study: "Internet Detective" Tutorial

For the homework tasks of "Internet Detective" Tutorial, I visited the website of Internet Detective at the following address: http://www.vts.intute.ac.uk/detective/index.html and found a number of interesting techniques of Internet searching the academic study purposes.

The website tries to introduce a good lesson for using internet effectively in the University. It said, a number of common errors that lead to students' failed examinations or assignments are: (i) Students sometimes obtain needed information for their assignments unintendedly in untrusted websites; (ii) Students do not get all necessary sources of information; (iii) Students got into a trouble called as plagiarism.

To solve the above problem, students should learn to use appropriate internet information for their study by getting to know which website is useful, valuable, up-to-dated, some internet tools to check the quality of internet website, what students need to avoid when searching for information in internet, what students need do to check the content of information and the origin of information and how to do all these things by students themselves. All the things mentioned above will be shaping good skills of Internet searching for students and they are very helpful for students in the University.

The "Internet Detective" also introduces some tips of what students learn by websites' address, plagiarism & copyright, citation & referencing as well as some practice exercises to check students' newly learned lessons, all of which are needed and important for every student in the University.

All the strategies of internet searching mentioned above are not new, but again I find them interesting, useful, helpful and worthy for my University study now and in the future. I will apply this widened knowledge of internet searching to avoid the most common mistakes that the failed students mentioned above committed and this helps me to improve my study results afterward.

Self-study: Reflecting writing on the Pre-sessional course and university study

Reflecting writing on the Pre-sessional course and University study

Maybe, it is so early to talk about my experience on the Pre-sessional English course because I have gone through the mill for only 2 weeks. However, it is enough for me to say: it is great, more than expected, that helps me to understand I have made a right decision of "studying abroad". I feel like turning back an energetic stage of my life more than 10 years ago when I just left the University for a new start. So far, I think, I have been here hopeful to learn something new and useful for my future, and I am right. What I have received after two weeks is a new academic thinking: New access to problems. The education system here is quite different from my country's. Here, I have to work creatively on my own ability and what I have achieved is an improvement in the study method and style.

The Pre-sessional English course is quite different from an IELTS course that I thought I would attend here. I need something beneficial to my knowledge rather than a higher level in IELTS. And I have found it here in the pre-sessional course. Academic writing is difficult for me, but it may be easier after I would have caught the course's meaning which I have tried to obtain so far. I am impressed with the ways my two teachers here give lectures, easy to understand and help students feel very closed and confident. All of above mentioned signals encourage me to learn and also force my brain to work more diligently, and this exprerience is I think very valuable for me and other students in the future study terms in the University. One more thing I have learned is straight or direct expression, and in writing: simple and direct. I wish I had been here more than two weeks and I would have a longer pre-sessional course to be prepared for my MA study. However, I feel more confident to overcome the difficulties in the target course and my experience in this course will be applicable later in the University study. Academic reading is challenging for me as I am expecting to do a lot of intensive readings in the next course. In short, this Pre-sessional English course is very helpful for me.

What does an introduction need to include in the essay about "Globalisation"?

Essay's introduction is expected to include:

1. What your main idea about globalisation is (are you for it, or against it; if you're for it, you still need to present the argument against which we call 'the counter-argument').

2. At the end of the introduction, you have to introduce what you will be arguing, and what will be the structure of your essay.

3. You need put citations for any facts or arguments that you present that are not obvious (Everyone is worried at the moment about the recession - OBVIOUS, 99.9% of us believe this to be true, doesn't need a citation).

4. Your writing and arguments are clear (sentences not too long).

5. One sentence should be linked to the next sentence (a logical argument).

6. The language you will be writing in the essay must be academic (no slang, no personal words like 'I think', 'I feel').

7. Words are spelt correctly.

8. Your writing must not have anything to be plagiarised.

An example of essay introduction

Introduction

Most economists would agree that due to the credit crunch, global markets are facing potential collapse (Stiglitz, 2008; Monbiot, 2007). As we know, our current recession began in the USA where banks got into the habit of granting mortgages to lenders unable to pay them back. This created a liquidity crisis in the country which banks and government were unable to resolve, and soon these economic difficulties spread to the rest of the world (BBC News, 2008). In this context, the international relations have been affected dramatically. On the one hand, economic relations would be promoted more closely to curb the further recession, except the international investment. On the other hand, political relations would experience a better phrase with eased differences. In every corner of the world, people are to discuss the need of co-operation rather than confrontation at the time of crisis. In this essay, I will argue that we have to radically assess the 20th Century philosophy of free trade and globalisation due to the failures we've experienced recently in global markets. I will begin by looking at how this philosophy was based on an erroneous logic and then go on to describe the ways in which it has set us back with regard to financial efficiency and growth. I will then go on to discuss the ways in which I think this current crisis will affect future research in my subject area - International Relations.

Essay: Summarise the main effects of globalisation and discuss to what extent they are beneficial to your subject area

INTRODUCTION

Doha is well known to people in every corner of the world not for its geographical location, but a WTO trade negotiation round. This round appears to resemble a dark-bright coloured picture. In the meeting, world economic leaders were discussing a number of economic issues related to "the global trade liberalisation". At the same time, hundreds of thousand protestors gathered outside in an attempt to send warning messages to those leaders. This picture proves a double-faced globalization. On the one hand, more foreign investment and technology transfer have provided developing countries with new jobs and skills for people, financing their economies and supporting local development. According to the World Bank, an extra trade of 145 billion pounds could be generated by 2015, helping to lift some developing countries out of poverty and end the food crisis (Guardian, 2008). On the other hand, workers in these countries have been exploited dramatically with more hours and bad working conditions, but the wealth has been brought back to multinational companies (John Pilger - BBC, 2006). It would appear that this liberal trade system has negative impacts mainly on working people in developing countries. Moreover, this has created a wider gap and inequality between the rich and poor, developed and developing countries. In this essay, I will discuss the costs that globalisation has brought to developing countries and also its effects on international relations.

THE OUTLINE OF MY ESSAY
My essay would be divided into 3 main parts as follows:

1. INTRODUCTION (as above)

2. COSTS OF GLOBALISATION FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
Before I start my argument, I will give some ideas on what globalisation is.

P1: Developing countries have been requested to open their markets more, so that putting their domestic industries under threat.
- Newly-established domestic industries are facing huge foreign competitors;
- Products are less competitive in price, quality, post-sale service…
- Domestic companies might be forced to merge into foreign companies; therefore, they are losing domestic markets.

P2: The countries may become a dumping ground for out-of-date and dirty technologies.
- Due to the low standard of production, they have to accept these technologies;
- These technologies are parts of package aids or investment projects;
- Being imported suspiciously.

P3: Multi-nationals have considered developing countries as lucrative baits to exploit
- Low wages;
- More initial preferential treatment;
- Easy to exploit workers by longer hours and bad working conditions, even being maltreated.
- Exhausting their natural resources.

P4: Flows of capital and technologies have been with conditions:
- Forced imports of well-paid skilled labours and specialist; even loans are made with assigned project contractors.
- To be squeezed more concessions in their policies and regulations;
- Losing their “sovereignty” inside their land

P5: Many social problems have been rising:
- Increasing unemployed farmers;
- Bad cultural habits have been borrowed, undermining the traditional culture.
- Giving a rise to prostitutions, transmitted diseases, and child workers.

P6: Relationship between loans receiving countries and lending countries has changed
The nature of multi-lateral fora is negotiating and compromising or in another word, “give and take” rules, so loans receiving countries are supporters of landing countries for granted; E.g: If India or Japan to be a UN Security Council permanent member, Japan may have been chosen by many developing countries in Asia-Pacific.

3. CONCLUSION
In the last part, I will present some conclusions and then go on to make some recommendations for further study on the subject after having done this research on globalization.

Self-study: Summary for the lecture on Globalization's negative effects

We are observing the most serious crisis since Great Depression (1929-1930). Mr. Steve explained the whole banking process by which a bank lend a person as much as 5 times his salary for him to buy a flat. The bank sells debt to other for a shared interest and risk that we call CDOs (collateralized debt obligations), CDOs was traded globally. If the house prices fall and other thing is increasing interest rate, people can not pay back their loans and they lose trust in CDOs, therefore the negative effects contagion quickly in the global market. It is the time for Governments to step in, trying to save the banks. In fact, governments may not have enough money for this liquidity crisis, leading to bankruptcy/unemployment. Banks run and the stock markets fall.

Who is blamed? Globalization. The philosophy of Globalization is liberalization in trade, finance, people, free movement, free cross border activities. Therefore, the economic borders have been reduced and old rules have been removed for that kind of liberalization. So freedom for WHO? Only Multi-national company are beneficial to exploit outsources and pay low wage for local workers like GAP in Indonesia. However, Globalization is now not working - the question is whether we need a new philosophy?

Self-study: Notes on Globalization

1. Globalization is defined in many ways, depending on the prospects that it is. Generally, Globalisation is about economic integration and liberal trade around the world with which there have been 2 flows of contrary ideas:
- Supporting idea: Globalisation has some positive impacts as rapid growth and poverty reduction on world development, specially developing countries.
- Oppose idea: Globalisation has some negative effects on developing countries' development as increased inequality and environmental degradation.

2. Globalisation has been promoted by rapid development of technologies, communications, transportation and computer. Globalisation is considered as liberalisation of trade, therefore, it eliminates rules and regulations, undermines local and national politics, creates new markets and wealth. Otherwise, it causes loss, suffering, social disorder and chaos.

3. Globalization can be understood as "a process of interaction and integration among the people, companies, and governments of different nations, driven by international trade and investment and aided by information technology, making effects on environment, culture, political systems, economic development and prosperity and human physical well-being".

Globalisation has created a new face for the world econmy, but the factors that help increase liberal trade are: Open policies and technological development, which make cross-border trade, investment and migration so easy in order to create a favourable environment for developing countries to develop their economies nationally and internationall. However, globalization is a controversial subject: it promotes economic development for poor countries and their citizens, so that they have higher and higher standard of living. It creates "an unfettered international free market" that benefits multinationals at the expense of local enterprises, local cultures, and common people.

4. Globalization can be defined as "an inevitable phenomenon in human history that's been bringing the world closer through the exchange of goods and products, information, knowledge and culture". Globalisation has been driven faster by unprecedented development of technology, communications, science, transport and industry. However, the process of globalization needs to be adjusted and controlled to bring into full play its positive effects and limit its negative impacts on developing countries and their people's life.

Self-study: MA Subject of International Relations

To who are not subject specialists, the International Relations (IR) may be confined to be the relationships between the world's national governments, conducted by politicians at the highest level. However, the subject of International Relations is something much more complicated than that, the academic subject of International Relations is interdisciplinary, reminding you and me of many related issues, which are, but not limited to, economics, politics, security and history. So IR is not as quite simplistic and narrow as the above definition.

The question you are likely to raise in your mind is whether the IR subject is important for our world. I can not tell you exactly how important it is in our world, however, it includes many internationally concerned issues such as the world peace and war, the traditional and non-traditional security matters, the international co-operation or competition, the relationships between and among two nations. Hereafter, some issues should be mentioned as a part or a related part of International Relations:
- Economics - more specifically, International Political Economy (IPE), what we are studying here is the politics of economic relationships. This involves considering and understanding the trade and financial relations between nations, regions, organizations and North-South issues such as economic dependency and debt, oversea AIDS and investment. The economics or others within IR are not a single matter, it should be considered in a more complicated relationship and they are always interconnected closely with each other. E.g.: The gas transaction between Russia and Ukraine is an international trade matter if considered in the normal perspective, but the recent gas cut is another problem in the International Relations.
- Politics - within the field of IR this covers the political relations between nations and the rising number of international organizations such as UN, EU, NATO, ASEAN, SCO... And now the world is entering a new stage of development where countries are interdependent, therefore, we should look at a political relation between any two or more countries and organizations in a larger context where every relationship is inter-related.
- Security - this involves the traditional IR issues such as war, peace and diplomacy but now increasingly covers many more areas and issues such as economic and environmental security. Especially, after the 11th September terrorist event, countries in the world mention more security issues which even we have never heard before, e.g.: food security, maritime security, container security, air security, terrorism, natural disasters or in short, we can say non-traditional security issues.
- History - in many ways, understanding the main events in international history is integral to the study of IR. Regional and international conflicts were highlighted in the twentieth century, making this period of time unforgettable in the world history and the question is whether or not this trend will continue into the twenty first century. Why is the history still relevant to the understanding of international relations? Simply, it is a basic foundation as in the cause-and-effect relations you should understand first before you go further.

The world is now facing many serious challenges and problems which the subject of International Relations has to deal with, but the most important and also the most controversial issue is the national sovereignty. It is clear that the national sovereignty is the one that countries have taken care of the most and the national sovereignty is forever immutable or untouchable in the International Relations. The first principle in IR is about the national sovereignty. Whatever countries want to do with each other may be OK, but the first exception, among others, is SOVEREIGNTY. It is sensitive enough to be the first to understand when you are studying the subject of International Relations.

In the next few years, the world will change dramatically as it is changing now and of course, the relations within it will be changing as well. Geographical map will be considered with some more key players such as Russia, India, Japan and maybe EU as a united block. Multi-national companies will play a part in the International Relations as the company mergence is becoming a clear trend. The financial crisis which broke out in the United States will be deepened in 2009 and a number of following years, this will cause serious consequences for the world with many more jobless and homeless people. The war and peace continue to be mentioned in the international fora, especially some hot spots such as the Gaza strip, Middle East, Korea peninsula, the South China Sea and maybe the Taiwan Strait will be discussed in many important international conferences. International co-operation will be an important key to success; therefore, no countries should stay alone while the globalization process continues. The mentioned above characteristics will shape our world in the next few years and basically, the IR will develop more or less with them. In short, the subject of International Relations is developing continuously from time to time, dependent on the context and our will.

For further study, please have a look at websites of The Foreign Policy Centre, IMF, Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, International Institute for Strategic Studies, International Monetary Fund, International Relations Theory, International Security Policy & Military Affairs information sources, World Bank, US Army Foreign Military Studies Office, US Institute of Peace, Institute of International Strategic Studies...

And you can read some books: "The Middle East in International Relations: Power, Politics and Ideology" by Fred Halliday; Social Theory of International Politics by Alexander Wendt; Understanding the International Relations by Christ Brown; Introduction to International Relations: Theories and Approaches by Robert Jackson; The Globalization of World Politics: an Introduction to International Relations by John Baylis; World Politics: Trend and Transformation by Charles Kegley.

Interview CH Tung about China

The 2008 Olympic Games and the earthquake have made China and the world closer with much assistance and encouragement for China.
In 2009, China will continue to reduce the interest rate to stimulate the economy. Otherwise, China will support many programmes such as infrastructure, investment in education, health care and social welfare.

Self-study: Summary for BBC Today, 7h13, 6th Jan, 2009

Dr. Musa told the reporter that on 5th Jan, 2009, Tony Blair headed a convoy to Gaza strip, increasing the diplomatic activities and international efforts here, but the whole challenges have remained and the fighting continues. The Hamas militia and Israel forces exchanged fire and try to catch each other in Gaza. Hamas Islamic fighters were said to use anti-tank weapons, motars to fire with machine guns and they said they would force Israel to pay a heavy price. The casualies are difficult to count, depending on which side's declaration. Hamas said to kill 10 Israel soldiers over night, but Israel dismissed and in contrary, Israel stated to kill more than 130 Hamas fighters over 2 days and captured 100 others, in fact, many civilians wounded to be taken to the hospital.

As a witness saying, the fighting is more serious with many explosions, bombing, especially at night, he heard people call for help. Nothan, representative chief of Gierusalem Bureau assessed that Israel troops tried to reach Hamas military positions and infrastructure, they are now in dangerous situation. They are difficult to know exact targets because they confused Hamas fighters with citizens. Gaza can be discribed as a combination of Iraq and Afghanistan./.

Triumphs and tragedies in 2008

In 2008, Vietnam maintained a attractive and rather comparative economic environment with the growth rate of 6.23 percent, a stable political situation, however, it suffered much from a historical big flood and a castle epidemic. Together with the world economy, Vietnam economy will be affected by the world financial crisis with an expected economic growth rate of about 5.5 percent.Vietnam political environment will be firmly stable and its multi-faceted and multi-lateral co-operation with the world will also be promoted.

A short paragraph for myself

I can tell, in short, about the year 2008 that it is a success for me. Firstly, my family was cozy and happy. My mother was previously sick in the year 2007, I mean the whole year 2007, but she recovered strongly in 2008 to be pretty good in 2008. My second son, who was born in late 2007, experienced a happy year with no health matter, that I considered a great triumph, because he was predicted by doctors to be not strong enough. And my first son was unexpectedly more obedient and wiser as compared with his age of more than 4 years. As a result, my wife and I have been well motivated with much spirit encouragement to promote in our work. Secondly, after a year of preparation, I was successfully accepted to be a student of London Metropolitan University, one of the biggest and famous universities in the United Kingdom. As far as you know, I am here in London for a new stage of my ups and downs life – a student./.