Research and academic review related to the strategic importance of Essay

Research and academic review related to the strategic importance of knowledge and the different approaches organisations take to - Essay Example Knowledge and Information Knowledge generally refers to the practical use of information. On the other hand, information refers to the general data expresses by words, images, sounds and number. Information can be shared, stored or transported. On the other hand, knowledge does not have these characteristics. Global retail industry has been considered for the study in order to determine the importance of knowledge in the business process of several organizations within the industry. Only gathering information about advanced process or a new process cannot help an individual or an organization to get success through it. The organizations need to significant level of expertise and knowledge how to implement these applications or tools (Schnedlitz, Morschett and Rudolph, 2010, p.109). It is true that knowledge as opposed to information has become the competitive driver over recent years. Global retail industry has become highly competitive due to the presence of several leading organiza tions. Organizations like Tesco, Walmart, Morrison’s, Sainsbury and others are trying to implement significant strategies in the business process to ensure positive business growth. ... It is true that information about some business tools and strategies help the organizations to think about further strategy development process. But, knowledge about these tools and achieved information can help the organization to make effective decisions that will ensure organizational goal. Knowledge as key source of wealth Earlier, capital, land and labour were considered as the source of wealth and business profit. Now-a-days, knowledge is considered as source of wealth for several business organizations. The major challenge of the knowledge based economy is to ensure and foster innovation. Several leading organizations within the retail industry are trying to capitalize on the potential opportunities that have been created due to globalization and technological revolution (Varley, 2013, p.19). It is true that organizations can adopt and implement advanced technological process in business operation but, cannot get success without effective knowledge about the implementation pro cess. Several leading and popular retail chains around the globe are trying to implement advanced technology in each and every business function, such as manufacturing, logistics and supply chain, finance and human resource management. Competitive success is based on how strategically the organizations intellectually manage the capital. Effective knowledge management is considered as an important strategic instrument. The organizations within the retail industry are implementing differentiated technical instruments to enhance business process. It is true that implementation of advanced technology in logistics and supply chain management helps the leading retail chains to reduce business operation time and cost

Communication Sources of Education Essay Example for Free

Communication Sources of Education Essay The objective of education should be to encourage the search for answers, since it is the only way to advance. Within the aim of advancement in knowledge, various facets incorporated within the teaching portfolio ensure the success of professional educators. To achieve success, educators have to lean on certain ideals to enable them better perform their duties as required. One of the main inclinations that would be crucial to the success of an educator would be showing concern about students. Apart from just teaching them, educators must show interest on aspects such as social, physical, emotional, and cognitive well-being (Capuzzi, 2012). Being alert to these facets not only help the educator teach effectively, but also enables the learning process to be smooth for students. In addition, students can better their current knowledge in given subjects, especially with support from their individual educators. Moreover, the practice accords the educators the opportunity to look in to, in an explorative manner, and challenge the existing educational policies. Literature Review A number of learning theories offer information, which can be quite instrumental in understanding the ability of students to learn within a classroom setting. Social cognitive theory by Albert Bandura was developed purposely with the aim of comprehending how students learn (Murphy, 2010). He felt that initial belief of rewards and behaviorism could not provide an understanding of the full process of human comprehension. His feelings were that people could learn through observation of actions of the others in certain situations. It was realized that his beliefs affect the modern classroom. The modern classroom is full of many factors, which affects students learning. The social cognitive learning theory by Bandura states that a student’s personality is modeled by the environment, thought and behavior. Educators should attempt to identify themes that emerge from teaching and make a decision on whether these themes a coherent pattern. Evidently, at the outset, that by way of example than percept, educators impart more (Capuzzi, 2012). Students are extremely perceptive in recognizing when the instructor does not put into practice what he preaches. Both in actions and in words, educators should always teach several values students. These include; importance of preparation, organization, and homework; respect for people’s view; and the value of effective and clear exchange of information both in written and  oral  form. To cater for more than just teaching the students, educators should come up with strategies to incorporate other aspects of life into the class. Students may become defensive if they feel that the teacher is prying on their privacy. In this, an educator should approach this subject with care, otherwise he or she may risk losing the trust altogether. The theme of inclusiveness ensures diversity is taken into account in all teaching. According to (Gould, 2010), educators should attempt to create a positive atmosphere. When students are called upon to answer questions, mistakes should be treated as opportunities in exploring misconceptions, rather than a reflection of the abilities of the students. Educators should create a fair playing field to teach students that, in their current world, there is no easy way out. With a class of almost many students, it is hardly easy to know each student by their names, let alone know about their emotional, physical, or cognitive experiences. To coun ter this, Capuzzi (2012) suggests that educators work with the policy of an openness, where they are available for consultation and assistance at working hours. There exists a gap between students and educators needs to be bridged if the educators are to effectively teach and guide their students. Koshy Koshy (2010) realized that a modified approach that teachers use in teaching from question-answer to answer-question approach provides a bridge between teachers and learners, and fosters self-evaluation and self-efficacy. Self-evaluation and self-efficacy provide the perfect opportunity for the educator to get to know his or her student on a personal note. In this, the educator is now able to evaluate the student’s emotional, physical, and cognitive aspects of life. Bandura, a renowned theorist, attained fame after his social-cognitive learning theory. The theory is based on individual self-efficacy and modeling. Despite having a number of ideas on learning, Bandura chose social cognitive learning theory. Through the process of modeling, students were required to account for diverse forms of learning. It was Bandura’s belief that through modeling, students are capable of making significant gains in self-motivation, action, and thought. Psychologists, until that time, had exclusively focused on learning through the consequences of actions. Bandura demonstrated that through the hazardous and tedious process of trial and error learning could be a short cut through modeling of competencies and knowledge exhibited by a variety of model (Murphy, 2010). Bandura’s belief was that students’ learn through experiences of watching others, which lead to self-efficacy or self-motivation. The theorist is credited for developing the social cognitive learning theory. While applying this theory, educators should guide their students by being role models, and by observing their behavior as Bandura suggest. Murphy (2010) observes that at that point in time, educators are able to mentor, advice and teach their students more effectively. Knowing the students’ is emotional, cognitive, and physical situation can be very instrumental in understanding the problems facing them or better still, the methods one can use as an educator to teach them effectively. The important part of advising, mentoring, and teaching student, is caring. Being attached to students begins by caring for them and what they are to become in the future. They have strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes, wants and needs, hopes and dreams. Educators should be party to these dreams and hopes, since they facilitate the learning process that they have factored into their futures (Zunker Osborn, 2012). What becomes on them and the leap-of-faith on their part should increase i nterest regarding their futures. Conclusion In conclusion, having better and more knowledge of students than just their classroom performance make educators better mentors, better teachers, and better persons. Educators should share reality with students to ensure they feel they are relating to a genuine person, who is willing expose his/her values, feelings, and distinctive perception about the world and the society. It is imperative to increase skills and knowledge in the application of instructional techniques to teaching philosophy by aiming at professional development in the subject matter. Additionally, educators should enhance their knowledge on how problem-solving strategies are related to student assessment. They should voluntarily sit in on their school training meetings to compare results with those of other educators. Educators should target increasing the abilities of students in all aspects of life, since it is an important part of the national, local, and state dialogue on educational achievement. References Capuzzi, D. (2012). Career counseling foundations, perspectives, and applications (2nd ed.). New York: Routledge. Gould, J. (2010). Learning Theory and Classroom Practice in the Lifelong Learning Sector. Exeter: Learning Matters. Koshy, V., Koshy, V. (2010). Action research for improving educational practice: A step-by-step guide (2nd ed.). Los Angeles: SAGE. Murphy, M. (2010). Habermas, critical theory and education. New York: Routledge. Zunker, V., Osborn, D. (2012). Using assessment results for career development: Career counseling: A holistic approach (8th ed.). Belmont, Calif.: Brooks/Cole Cengage Learning. Source document

The History Of English Language Vocabulary English Language Essay

The History Of English Language Vocabulary English Language Essay English is one of the most important languages of the world. Today it is being spoken almost in every part of the world. It is the native language of America, Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Ireland. Currently, nearly two billion people around the world understand it. It is the official language of some countries like Pakistan, India, China and Singapore. It is the language of commerce, trade, internet, diplomacy and science. It is also the language of United Nations and many other organizations. Now is has become a connecting language worldwide. In this paper I will discuss the history of English vocabulary. In the study of English vocabulary, it is essential to know about the history of English. In this paper we will look at the foremost past events that have formed the English language. This paper will pay special consideration to the development of the native Germanic vocabulary, and also to the factors that introduced a large number of foreign words into English, mai nly from Latin, Greek, and French. I choose this topic because we use English in every walk of life. It has cosmopolitan vocabulary and many languages of the world have barrowed words from English, like in Urdu table, pen, glass, car, ambulance, TV, radio etc. English has barrowed many words from other languages like Latin, French and German which I will discuss in this paper. It is considered as universal language. Most of the universities worldwide include English as one of their major subject and it is used as a medium of instruction in colleges and schools. It holds a key place in the culture, political and economic affairs in countries all over the world. So it is important to know about the history, development and the origin of English language particularly its vocabulary. History of English vocabulary is multipart and complex. English belongs to Indo-European group of languages. ( Barbara A.Fennell. year of publishing). It can be divided into four periods: Old English, Middle English, Early-Modern English, and Late Modern English. Old English (500 1100AD) In the fifth century, the three West Germanic tribes Anglo, Saxon and Jutes from Jutland and southern Denmark invaded and occupied the eastern part of the British island. These tribes spoke a Germanic Language, which is near to modern Frisian. Anglo, Saxon and Jutes introduced four major dialects, e.g. Northumbrian in the north of England, Merican in the Midland, West Saxon in the south and west, and Kentish in the Southeast. They occupied the greatest part of the country and brought Germanic civilization, often called Anglo Saxon that emerged in Britain. These tribes gave England its name, language and culture. Before these tribes occupation, the Celts were the real inhabitants of Britain. After the occupation Celts were pushed out of England into Scotland, Wales, Cornwell, and Ireland. At the time of King Alfred, only the land south and west remained in Anglo Saxon hands. The Danish invasion and subsequent settlement had a considerable influence on English language, and many words were borrowed into English, especially into the dialects of the north. (Knowles 1997) Alfred the Great encouraged English literacy all over his territory. During the sixth century, St. Augustine the head of Roman missionaries brought Christianity to these Germanic tribes specially the Saxon. The English language adopted numerous words from Latin, the representative language of the church. Latin provided religious vocabulary e.g. abbot, alter, disciple, hymn, nun, mass, pope and priest. Latin also provided a significant number of what are now everyday words e.g. candle, cap, school and spend. During ninth and tenth centuries and into eleventh, Norwegian and Danish Vikings made an important impact on English language. Many North Germanic words entered into English during that period. Large number of Norse invaders settled in northern and eastern part of Britain in the middle of ninth century. Many words beginning with SC and sk were entered into English at that time from Scandinavian languages, e.g. score, scorch, skill, skin, skirt, sky. This formed an interesting combination, because Old English was very alike to this close Germanic. For example, Old English Norse loan shrub scrub lend loan rear raise shirt skirt craft skill Old English adopted several hundreds Norse words, among them till, flat, they, skin, egg, birth, bull, gap, quest, leg, egg, sister, skin both, some, their, them, they, are, call, die, drown, get, give, lift, raise, take, etc. The North Germanic speech had a significant influence on English which added basic words like that, they and them. (Bragg 2003) The words that represent Modern English do not come from Old English root but about one sixth of known Old English words have descendants existing today. Most commonly used words in modern English have Old English roots. Like water, strong, the, of, a, he and no. Some other basic words that are uses in modern English are derived from Old English (Bragg 2003). One of the significant works in Old English is the epic poem Beowulf, which is one of the best examples of Old English literature (McCrum, 1986). The Old English period ended with the Norman Conquest in 1066. Middle English (1100-1500) William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy conquered England in 1066. After the conquest, the Norman kings and the aristocratic class spoke a dialect of Old French as Anglo-Norman. At that time common people spoke English language. This class distinction can be seen still in Modern English words like, beef and cow, pork and pig. The upper class generally ate beef and pork and used these words while the common people, who tended the cattle and hogs, retained the Germanic and ate cow and pig. The Norman Conquest can be seen as yet another Germanic assault. But there was a difference this time. The Normans had prior been given the control of a huge part of land along the northern coast of France. Now they were the French subject and they adopted French culture and French language. The language they spoke at that time was not Germanic, but French. This was a Norman dialect of French which was the language of upper class and English language lost its importance. English was only used by the peasants and people of the working class. This resulted in an enormous borrowing of French words into English vocabulary. During this period, English barrowed many words from Old French. This conquest has influence on Church, government and military. Crystal (1988:174) gives the following list of barrowed word of French; Government: liberty, majesty, minister, peasant, parliament, prince, realm, sir, tax, tyrant, trial, government, crown, country, baron, duke, court Religion: virgin, trinity, solemn, miracle, immortality, sermon, salvation, saint, abbey, baptism, pity, prayer, religion, mercy, confess, charity, cathedral Military: ambush, captain, defend, guard, retreat, spy, soldier, navy, battle, army, moat, arms, enemy, peace. There are some general words too that are; wait, joy, music, romance, city, easy, emerald, diamond, feast, robe, gown, savory, sugar, age, paper, foreign, hour, people, real, reason, river, special, use. Geoffrey Chaucer (1387-1400) a great English poet is regarded as the pioneer of Middle English. He wrote The Canterbury Tales first writing in English language and gave a birth to English literature. He is considered as the fore father of English literature. Before Chaucer the Latin and the French were the languages of literature. He broke this ice and wrote his first book in English which is regarded as the greatest and most renowned work in Middle English. He took words from French like, chivalrye (chivalry),honour, courteisye. He used mostly English words some are difficult to pronounce and different from Modern English like, tyme(time), bigan (began), fredom (freedom), trouthe (truth) ,loved, knight, worthy, man etc. The Middle English period came to an end around 1500 with the rise of Modern English. Early-Modern English (1500-1800) This is considered to be most important period in the history of English language because of the Renaissance, the revival and rebirth of knowledge. During this period many scholars translated literature from Latin and Greek into English. Many words from Latin and Greek entered into English division from Old English to Modern English as books become more widespread and literacy increased. Among the borrowed words from Latin were exterior, appendix, contradict, exterminate, temperature. Greek also provided catastrophe, anonymous, lexicon, skeleton and so on. Publishing books became noticeable occupation and books written English were more popular than books in Latin. The printing press also gave a standard and an identity to English language. The written and spoke language of London began to spread to the entire country, and with the influence of printing press, London English began to flourish. London English was widely accepted in written and spoken. Due to this English spelling and grammar were fixed and first dictionary of English was published in 1604 (Bryson 1990). In fifth century, the Great Vowel Shift a series of change in sounds also changed English to the great extent. These changes in vowels of English still characterize many languages today. Due to this linguistic change, most long and short vowel sounds were lost. The Great Vowel Shift was impulsive and most changes occurred within a century. This shift is still in process and vowel sounds are shortening. This shift occurred due to excessive Romance loanwords so that English vowels started to sound more like French loanwords (Bragg 2003). The vocabulary which William Shakespeare used at that time set trends in Early Modern English. Firstly, the lexicon expands distinctly, introducing many new words which are quite common, even very significant today e.g. agile, critical, demonstrate, emphasis, horrid, impertinency, modest, prodigious, accommodation, apostrophe, assassination, dexterously, frugal, misanthrope, obscene, pendant, premeditated, reliance, vast. (Fennel B.A.2001) Late-Modern English (1800-Present) The pronunciation, grammar, and spelling of Late-Modern English are essentially the same as Early-Modern English, but Late-Modern English has significantly more words due to several factors. First, discoveries during the scientific and industrial revolutions created a need for a new vocabulary. Scholars drew on Latin and Greek words to create new words such as oxygen, nuclear, and protein. Scientific and technological discoveries are still ongoing and neologisms continue to this day, especially in the field of electronics and computers. Just as the printing press revolutionized both spoken and written English, the new language of technology and the Internet places English in a transition period between Modern and Postmodern. Second, the English language has always been a colonizing force. During the medieval and early modern periods, the influence of English quickly spread throughout Britain, and from the beginning of the seventeenth century on, English began to spread throughout the world. Britains maritime empire and military influence on language (especially after Late Modern English has many more words, arising from two principal factors: firstly, the Industrial Revolution and technology created a need for new words; secondly, the British Empire at its height covered one quarter of the earths surface, and the English language adopted foreign words from many countries

Ambrose Bierces’ An Occurence At Owl Creek Bridge Essay -- Occurence O

Ambrose Bierces’ Story â€Å"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ambrose Bierces’ story â€Å"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge† tells the story of a confederate secessionist, who is being hanged by Union troops. At the time of the hanging, the soldiers drop him from the bridge. Luckily, just as he falls the rope snaps and the man dives into the â€Å"sluggish stream†. He miraculously takes off his ropes and swims away. When he reaches the bank of the creek, he runs for what seems like forever. He finally reaches home, where his family is waiting so anxiously for him. However, Bierce chooses to surround this intriguing tell with elements that carry visual, concrete, and intangible symbolism. The symbolic elements of â€Å"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge† imply that the protagonist, Peyton Fahrquhar, is out of touch with reality, which evidently leads to the added twist at the end of the story.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Many of the symbols in the story have to do with visual representation. For example, Bierce focuses on one specific color, which is gray. Gray is the color of the Confederate soldiers’ uniforms. It is the also the color the Union soldier wears to deceive Fahrquhar. Gray is the color of the figures he sees in the distance in his delusion. It is also the color of the sharpshooter that misses him. Since gray is mentioned so often, the reader can assume that it has a meaning outside its visual representation. First, the color gray is used to describe the mood of the story. Generally, when one think of the color gray, a poignant feeling arouses. Linking the two, the mood of the story is therefore also distressing. Secondly, the color gray is used to symbolize Fahrquhars’ role: a middle man without much sense or direction. In the story, the first mention of the color is used to describe him. â€Å"He wore a moustache and pointer beard, but no whiskers: his eyes were large and dark grey†¦ † The reader should also notice that Fahrquar is the only one who sees gray, which means the color, represents him. Gray is the intermediate in character and position. Like Fahrquar, who is considered to be in the middle of the situation, only trying to do what he believes is right.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Bierce use of symbolism is far great than the actually concept of the story. He also uses solid or concrete objects to convey his hidden messages. For example his constant mention of the Bridge. Obviously it... ...ot so bad; but I do not wish to be shot. No; I will not be shot; that is not fair.† In Fahrquars’ hallucination, he gets mad at the thought of being shot after he managed to escape his hanging. Depression kicks in when Bierce says â€Å"By nightfall he was fatigued, footsore, and famished. He knew it (his neck) had a circle of black where the rope had bruised it.† Fahrquar is tired and confused. This is a clear sign that death is near, leading him into depression, which sheds light on his impossible endurance. Acceptance occurs when Bierce says, â€Å"†¦he has merely recovered from a delirium†¦ and sees home†¦ all bright and beautiful†¦ † This clearly shows that Fahrquar has accepted what is happening, almost as if he has given up. He finally enters the last stage of his symbolic dying process. Bierce says, â€Å"†¦then all is dark and silent†¦Peyton Fahrquar was dead†¦Ã¢â‚¬    Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge† is riddled with symbolic meaning. Bierce creates a realistic disguise of events until the very end of the story, where he allows the reader to realize that Fahrquars’ escape did not actually occur. He uses symbols to convey the true meaning of this breathtaking story: Perception is Reality.

Stage Fright

Miguel Barvosa-Martinez ENGL 1301-192 Mooney Essay # 2 Final 2/22/13 Stage Fright I know, first hand, that being onstage about to perform in front of a big audience is not as many expect. I started doing stand-up comedy over two years ago. The first time ever being on stage, I felt nervous. I felt jittery my fingers were shaking, but it wasn't as bad as having my body paralyzed from nervosity. Fear can bring your body some unexpected responses. I had those butterflies in my stomach, like I was weightless, as if I were floating.After my first show I discovered stage fright wasn't a problem. I learned that stage fright will come with unpreparedness, and the lack of repetition. The longer I prepared and the more I practiced my material the better I was off with a successful show. For me to know and be comfortable with my material, I would go over it repeatedly, as if I were at the gym doing sets on the bench press. The more prepared I got myself, the more confident I felt. Performing my skit with my friends sitting in front of me as if they are the real audience helped my preparedness.Others listening to my material gave me a better feel for my jokes. I would have a list, the bad jokes I would cross out the good ones I would circle. I would ask my friends for feedback, I used it as a way to prepare for the real audiences reaction. My ways of preparing for the event were time consuming. The fact that my performance brought a lot of laughs to the audience, I felt like i was immune to nervosity. Additionally, experience tells me that I need to give myself time to gain confidence. I worked on my material, preparing for a long time, for a show that was months away.Its a long and frustrating process, but in the end I felt proud of myself. The confidence I felt when I first went up on stage was impressive. I felt powerful, like a star, making the audience laugh with well-revised and practiced material. Conclusively, preparation is key, as is practice. The more prepared I was, the more confident , and the more guided I was through the show. Stage fright is something that can happen to just about anyone, but from my experience it can be dodged. Just prepare, and practice.

Organisation on learning Essay

Background: Previous research suggests that the organisation of information is integral to its storage in and recall from memory. Aim: Differences with regard to the use of categorisation of information have been observed between cultures and age groups, so the aim is to find out the degree to which categorisation affects the learning of information in 16-18 year olds. Method: 20 participants aged 16-18 had 60 seconds to learn as many words as they could from a grid containing 24 words. The grid contained 6 words in 4 different semantic categories and was either categorised (control) or randomised (experimental). Participants then recalled as many of the words as they could. The amount of words that they recalled was observed. Results: The difference in the number of words remembered between the two conditions was found to be insignificant when put to the independent t-test and tested at the 0.05 level. In fact, participants in Condition B (randomised) recalled more words on average than those in Condition A (organised). However, participants in Condition B showed 68.83% categorisation upon recall, compared with 0.5% that would have been shown if participants recalled the words in the order that they appeared on the radomised grid. Conclusion: The results suggest that the degree of organisation of information upon presentation does not affect the amount of information remembered. However, the actual process of mentally organising the information may be a significant factor in the amount of information remembered. Individual differences may affect the way the information is organised, but this study found that categorical organisation was the most common form of this. Introduction Much evidence suggests that information in memory is highly organised, and that we remember large amounts of information by associating it with other similar pieces of information already stored. It may even be that the organisation of information is a prerequisite for information to be stored; for example, Mandler (1967) stated that memory and organization are not only correlated, but organization is a necessary condition for memory. From this viewpoint, it follows that, by definition, any information stored in the memory must be organised somehow. It may also be that the organisation of information upon presentation facilitates its storage, and that if information is not organised, people will attempt to create their own methods of organisation (Tulving, 1968). Categorical clustering is a term coined by Bousfield (1953) in order to describe one type of organisation in learning. In his research, he presented participants with a list of 60 words (15 from 4 different categories: animals, anthroponyms, professions and vegetables) and asked participants to free-recall the list. He found that, despite not having been told what the categories were, participants tended to recall the words according to their category and thus demonstrated the phenomenon. Bower et al. (1969) presented participants with words which were arranged into conceptual hierarchies. For one group, these were arranged in hierarchical form, and for the other they were listed randomly. The participants who were presented with the words in hierarchical form recalled almost 31/2 times as many words as those to whom they were presented randomly, suggesting that the organisation of the words upon presentation facilitated their storage in memory. A similar trait has also been observed with naturally occurring stimuli. Rubin and Olson (1980) asked students to recall the names of as many members of staff in their school as they could, and found that students showed a strong tendency for the members of staff’s names to be recalled by their respective departments. This also shows evidence for categorical organisation. They further found that students who re-arranged word cards into more categories remembered more words on average than those who created less categories, and that those who were not told to actively remember the words, instead just sort them, remembered the same amount as those asked to remember them. These indicate that not only does categorisation increase the amount of information remembered, but the active process of organisation may even cause the information to be remembered. More support that organisation and learning are intertwined comes from Kahana and Wingfield (2000), who found that the relation between organisation and learning remained the same even after significant differences between participants’ mnemonic abilities had been taken into account.  One case study which suggests that memory is highly organised comes from Hart et al. (1985). Having almost made a complete recovery from a stroke two years previously, M.D. experienced no problems except that he was unable to name different types of fruit and vegetable or sort them into categories. However, he was able to name and sort types of food, for example, and vehicles, which suggests that his inability to carry out these tasks was limited to specific semantic categories. Aims The findings of this previous research suggest that organisation does play a large role in the storage, structuring and restructuring of information in memory. However, organisation does not necessarily imply categorisation, which is what will be tested here. Also, in a similar way that Gutchess et al. (2006) found that age and culture affected the way in which categorisation was used in memory, it may be that young people in turn use it differently. So, the following experiment aims to investigate the effects of organisation on learning in 16-18 year-olds. More specifically, it will investigate the degree to which organisation of information upon presentation affects the storage and recall of words presented in a randomised grid. Following on from research by Bower et al. (1969) and Rubin and Olson (1980), two hypotheses have been drawn:  Experimental hypothesis  Participants will recall, on average, fewer words when the words given are listed randomly, than will the participants for whom the words are listed categorically.