Comcast Marketing Strategy

|Marketing Strategy | |Comcast Corporation | | | | | | | | | | | EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Comcast Corporation is facing strong new competition in markets where it used to have none. Comcast has been losing analog cable television customers while at the same time seeing reduced growth of subscribers for its new services. For example, Comcast added 247,000 digital cable subscribers in the 4th quarter of 2008, which is less than half of the 530,000 subscribers they added at the same time the previous year (businessinsider. com). Comcast is the largest cable company in the United States. In most of the regions that they operate, they are almost a monopoly. In Maryland alone, they command 82% of the cable market (allbusiness. om). Unfortunately, Comcast has taken the attitude of a monopoly when it comes to customer service and pricing. In 2004 and 2007, Comcast had the worst customer satisfaction rating of any company in the country (wikipedia. org). Comcast's legacy of terrible customer service has their customers ready to jump to a new company's service as soon as it becomes available. Telecommunications companies have begun to capitalize on this by implementing new technologies to provide digital television, high speed internet and internet telephony services over their existing networks in order to compete directly against Comcast. In order to fulfill Comcast's mission of offering the best products and the most customer-friendly and reliable service in the market, we are proposing a new Customer Service initiative as well as a Total Content Distribution strategy. This involves acquiring media content providers in order to provide exclusive content and to offer a one-stop shopping experience for consumers for all their entertainment and communication needs. Market Definition and Opportunity Comcast identifies its target market size as 50. million homes, located in 39 states and the District of Columbia, which can be connected to its distribution system without further extension of transmission lines. Currently, Comcast has 24. 2 million video customers (47. 8% penetration), 14. 9 million high-speed internet customers (29. 7% penetration), and 6. 5 million phone customers (13. 9% penetration). Comcast generates approximately 95% of its consolidated revenue from its Cable segment. Its cable systems simultaneously deliver video, high-speed internet and phone services to its customers (2008 Annual Report). Appendix A: Example Customer Satisfaction Survey In your most recent customer service experience, how did you contact the representative? ( )In Person ( )By Telephone ( )Internet ( )Other About how long did you have to wait before speaking to a representative? ( )I was taken care of immediately ( )Within 3 minutes ( )3-5 minutes ( )5-10 minutes ( )More than 10 minutes Did our representative†¦ (Select all that apply) ( )Quickly identify the problem ( )Appear knowledgeable and competent ( )Help you understand the cause and the solution to the problem ( )Handle issues with courtesy and professionalism About how long did it take to get this problem resolved? )Immediate Resolution ( )Less than a day ( )Between 2 and 3 days ( )Between 3 and 5 days ( )More than a week ( )The problem is still not resolved How many times did you have to contact customer service before the problem was corrected? ( )Once ( )Twice ( )Three Times ( )More than Three times On a scale of 1 to 5 where 1 represents â€Å"Extremely dissatisfied† and 5 rep resents â€Å"Extremely Satisfied,† please answer the below questions and provide any explanation that could help us to improve our customer service. How satisfied are you with the customer service experience? Overall, how would you rate your level of satisfaction with Comcast? If you were less than totally satisfied, what could have been done to serve you better? WORKS CITED â€Å"Comcast. † Wikipedia. org. Wikipedia. org, 2009. Web. 24 November 2009. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Comcast Comcast Corporation. Annual Report, 2008. Philadelphia, PA: Comcast Corporation, 2008. Frommer, Dan. â€Å"Comcast Beats Street, But Growth Hits the Wall. † The Business Insider. Silicon Valley Insider, 2009. Web. 18 February 2009. http://www. businessinsider. com/comcast-beats-street-but-growth-hits-the-wall-2009-2 â€Å"HD Market Penetration at All-Time High. † Afterdawn. com. AfterDawn Ltd, 2009. Web. 19 October 2009. ttp://www. afterdawn. com/news/archive/16014. cfm/ Herman, Josh. â€Å"Consumers on the Move. † Direct, 1 June 2006: pp 30-31. Mello, John P. â€Å"DVR Market Penetration: Riding a Provider-Powered Wave. † TechNewsWorld. com. E-Commerce Times, 2007. Web. 19 October 2009. http://www. technewsworld. com/story/media-conver gence/59497. html. â€Å"New Verizon Wireless Advertising Campaign Introduces the People Behind the Nation's Most Reliable Wireless Network. † World’s Technology News. Technology News, 2009. Web. 25 November 2009. http://www. mirror99. com/20060514/new_verizon_wireless_advertising_campaign_introduces_the_peo le_behind_the_nation_s_most_reliable_wireless_dfjg. jspx O’Donnell, Jayne. â€Å"Gen Y Sits on Top of Consumer Food Chain. † USA Today, 11 October 2006: p. 3B â€Å"Research: Internet connected TVs the trend for 2009. † Copypaste. nl. Copypaste Media, 9 August 2009. Web. 19 October 2009. http://www. copypaste. nl/788/research-internet-connected-tvs-now-officially-the-trend-for-2009. Waddell, Ray. â€Å"Comcast Center Title Deal Is One For Record Books. † AllBusiness. AllBusiness, 2000. Web. 24 January 2000. http://www. allbusiness. com/services/amusement-recreation-services/4560069-1. html

Closing the Gap Between Science and Ethics Essay

The rapid development of nanotechnologies has already become the distinctive feature of the postmodern technological reality. Societies live in the atmosphere of the rapid technological advancement, and new technological achievements and small revolutions are no longer a surprise. Nanotechnologies have a potential to become the source of revolutionary waves in contemporary society. The effects of such revolutions, however, will depend on how well the existing scientific, political, economic, and social institutions can mediate the society-nanotechnology relationships and whether they can promote public acceptability and positive expectations regarding nanotechnology. The current state of science is characterised by the growing gap between nanotechnologies and ethics. Equity, privacy, security, and environmental aspects remain the issues of the major scientific concern. Today, professionals in nanotechnology need to reconsider the basic standards of their scientific performance and develop effective cooperation frameworks, which will help societies meet their ethical needs and will speed up the integration of nanomaterials with all spheres of human development and growth. In his article, Douglas Parr asserts that nanotechnologies are likely to produce a revolutionary wave of innovations in society. That nanotechnologies are breaking the ice of scientific illiteracy in the postmodern society cannot be denied. To a large extent, nanotechnologies mark the beginning of a new stage in the society’s movement toward scientific and human perfection. Recent advancements in nanotechnology confirm the need for the scientific community to develop effective cooperation ties with the rest of non-scientific population, and there are several reasons for that. First and foremost, research and advancement in nanotechnologies have resulted in the major advances in material science, microscopy, and better understanding of the borderline between quantum and classical physics, which produce significant effects on society. Second, nanotechnologies will lead to a major revolution and produce serious scientific and social shifts in society. Third, the most developed countries readily integrate nanotechnologies with their innovation systems and consider nanotechnologies as the basic driver of wealth creation. Fourth, numerous nanotechnology applications will be introduced into the market. In this atmosphere, society must familiarise itself with the recent advances in nanotechnology. Moreover, society must realise that nanotechnologies can be equally good and bad. As a result, the question is in how to obtain the good of nanotechnologies without the bad and whether it is possible at all. Unfortunately, the current state of nanotechnologies makes it difficult for scientists and society to distinguish the good effects of the nanotechnological revolution from its negative implications. The problem is not only in that â€Å"debates about nanotechnology from governments have been dominated by the simple metric of the amount of money being put into nanotechnology for international competitiveness reasons. † The problem is in that a large gap between ethics and nanotechnologies exists and influences negatively the development of the postmodern science. The number of scientific publications on nanotechnologies rapidly increases, but the number of publications that discuss ethical and social implications of nanotechnologies is at least scarce. The funds available for ethical research in nanotechnology are not being used. The lack of effective dialogue between granting bodies, research institutes and the public may turn nanotechnologies into the source of devastating effects on society. More often than not, research institutes and public bodies do not realise that nanotechnology is associated with a whole range of ethical issues. These issues cover equity, security and privacy, ethical implications, and even metaphysical questions. One of the first questions is who will benefit from nanotechnologies and how these benefits are to be distributed among society members. Nanotechnologies have a potential to reduce and resolve the most difficult social controversies, including poverty and animal species extinction; however, this is possible only in case the products of scientific evolution are managed properly. Security and privacy are also among the issues of serious scientific concern. Nanotechnologies will contribute to the development of radically new weapons and surveillance systems; and people must decide how it will protect individual privacy against the presence of near invisible surveillance mechanisms. The effects of nanotechnologies on the environment are yet to be discovered. The incorporation of artificial materials into human systems requires profound ethical and social analysis. To ensure that nanotechnologies work for the benefit of the whole society, a close dialogue must exist between research institutions and the public. Such dialogue will allow prioritising the most important areas of technological research. Such dialogue will also let scientists justify the choice of the most important research areas against direct determinations of societal and public aspirations in these areas. Social and ethical implications of NT research are easy to address through appropriate funding, the development of large-scale interdisciplinary research platforms, intersectional approach, the involvement of developing countries in NT research, as well as the continuous engagement of the public in all major aspects of NT evolution. These changes will reduce the negative potential of nanotechnologies and will turn them into a successful instrument of meeting the most sophisticated society needs. Conclusion The rapid development of nanotechnologies has already become the distinctive feature of the postmodern reality. Unfortunately, the current state of nanotechnological research is characterised by the growing gap between science and ethics. Society lacks resources needed to familiarise itself with the bad and good sides of nanotechnologies and to reduce their negative potential. Today, scientists must engage in a close dialogue with the public and actively engage the public into NT evolution and research. Appropriate funding, interdisciplinary research platforms and intersectional analysis will help to reduce the existing gap between nanotechnologies and their ethical implications. BIBLIOGRAPHY MNYUSIWALLA, A. , DAAR, A. S. & SINGER, P. ‘Mind the gap’: Science and ethics in nanotechnology. Nanotechnology, 14: 2003: R9-R13. PARR, D. Will nanotechnology make the world a better place? Trends in Biotechnology, 23(8): Aug. 2008: 395-398.

Drilling Engineering Lab Report

Lab Report: DRILLING FLUID (MUD) DENSITY Objective: The aim of this experiment is to determine the mud density, specific gravity and hydrostatic pressure gradient for water-based-mud, WBM (Drilling fluid) using the OFITE mud balance. Theory: Drilling fluids are used during the drilling of boreholes, either for oil wells or water boles holes. One of the major functions of a drilling fluid includes providing hydrostatic pressure to prevent formation fluids from entering the wellbore. To ensure that the hydrostatic pressure balances out with formation pressure and that the wellbore is stable, the mud density has to be taken into consideration. Higher formation pressure require higher mud density (this can be achieved by adding more barite to the drilling fluid) and vice versa. Using an incorrect drilling fluid (in terms of its mud density), can result in a formation damage thereby leading to a well blowout. Equipment and Materials: The mud density is determined using the mud balance shown in Fig. 1. This 4-scale instrument provides an accurate way to measure some parameters which are: Fig. 1 * Density in ppg and pcf * Specific gravity * Pressure gradient in PSI/1000ft) The balance uses the cantilever design (fixed somewhere on the lever arm). The cup is attached to one end and the counter weight on the other end. The lever arm is calibrated, the rider also acts as a counterweight and there is a level glass to determine when the instrument is balanced. A thermometer is also required to measure the temperature of the drilling fluid to be tested. Procedure: The instrument was wiped down and then place in the carrying case. * The temperature of the first drilling fluid (water) was noted down * The mud cup got filled up with the drilling fluid and covered. It got wiped down due to the overflowing liquid from the sides and the opening on the lid. This overflowing shows that the trapped gas/air bubbles, if any, have been expelled and the cup is properly full. * The rider is then moved on the arm to find the equilibrium position i. e. when the bubble in the level glass is in the middle. * The readings are then taken. The cup is rinsed out and wiped down, ready for the next drilling fluid. * The procedure is repeated again, to find the details of the drilling fluid and all results are recorded in a table. Table of Results: | WATER| MUD SAMPLE| Temperature, ? | 19. 60| 17. 00| Specific Gravity | 1. 00| 1. 04| Density, lbm/ft3 (pcf)| 62. 00| 65. 00| Density, lbm/gal (ppg)| 8. 30| 8. 70| Density, Kg/m3| 1000. 00| 1043. 00| Pressure gradient, psi/1000ft| 430. 00| 455. 00| Mud gradient = 8. 7 x 0. 052 = 0. 45 psi/ft Density in g/cm3= 8. 7/8. 345 = 1. 04 g/cm3

Ethics and Society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Ethics and Society - Essay Example It involves doing what you consider ethical in the society. In other words, ethical life involves doing the right thing as obliged by the society. The right and good are two different ideas that expound on moral values. These two ideas are very common in our society, and many people tend to interchange them in their communication as well as reference of some things in the society. However, the two are very distinct in what they mean. The idea of the right is related to something obligatory, something that one has to do or follow. In other words ‘right’ defines a moral duty. The idea of good, on the other hand, refers to whatever is desirable. It refers to whatever is worth doing in the society or something that is worth to have. In other words, ‘good’ enhances one’s life mainly when it is part of the life (Timmons, 2012). From the definitions, one can deduce that obligatory and the desirable are totally different things. For instance, pleasure that arise as a result of somebody’s success cannot be regarded as obligatory even though it is morally admirable. Observing social norms is regar ded as a right. Every person is obliged to follow the social norms of oneself society. The activities taking place in the world are a reflection of individual acts. Every person’s act contributes immensely to the way we perceive the world. In other words, the happenings in the world are the products of individual thoughts as well as decisions. My theory can be regarded as an ethical intuitionism because it expounds on the existence of moral beliefs that are determined through not only intuition, but also via intuitive awareness. According to my theory, it is the responsibility of an individual to determine the wrongness or rightness of the decision through referring to these moral beliefs and values. Ethical intuitionism is a value-based theory that is more act-centered that agent-centered (Padilla, 2012). This is evidenced by the responsibility an individual

Feminine Mystique Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Feminine Mystique - Essay Example These changes were an enormous development over their earlier chatteldom, and were a facilitator to additional advances to complete human figure and dignity. WW2 and its outcomes enhanced a comprehensive setback, brought about by the author as a counter change not in favor of women (Friedan 56). The gone astray women were the self-governing ones fascinated in science and politics and occupied in careers away from the relatives’ sphere. In the position of bright, inspired, public-spirited women came the innovative representation of the â€Å"feminine† woman — the stupid homemaker comfortable inside the â€Å"cozy† surroundings of a beautiful home. Since the Mystique gained energy, domesticity turned into a religion, a model by which every woman ought to exist at the present or denies her feminist. Something that began as a trail back to the aged corral became a charge during the success of the 1950s. To activate women in the wake of their own crush, particulars about the lead the way advocators for women’s rights were indistinct. Although a good number of the feminist crusaders had husbands, kids and homes, they were depicted as resentful sex hungry unmarried women not sufficiently proficient in satisfying their femaleness as wives and mothers (Friedan 70). In the midst of the inexcusable personality of these determined women was their satisfaction of involvement in the move violently for social transformation. A successful propaganda piece of equipment was positioned into action to pay tribute to housewifery and smother women’s needs for something further than a husband, residence and kids. Starting with the sex-influenced educators in the education centers and higher schooling institution, this movement has gone into each opportunity of mass programming (Friedan 90). The major expression in this method of thought management as efficient as a blackjack

Describe the role that played in making politics and culture in Essay

Describe the role that played in making politics and culture in Sparta, Athens and the Roman Republic different from Sumer and Egypt - Essay Example Firstly, every community depends upon its irrigation and cultivation patterns. Talking about Greeks, it was marked that initially, there were many difficulties in undertaking harvesting and cultivation because of the poor state of the soil. It was one of the reasons that the people remains poor. Therefore, labor skills were preferred as a mean of making money. It was noted that the weather of Greek suited the population by large as they were less sick and active in their routines. Furthermore, Greek was surrounded by high ranges and mountains. It was due to this reason that Greek did not have the threat of enemies who wanted to conquer the land through the mountains. At the same time, there was a need of effective irrigation method for which support of different groups was required. Small groups played their part in such a way that the native people got adherence to the democrat way of control. Athens is considerably known for its access to the water system including rivers, seas and islands. It is due to this reason that Athenians were known for trade and exploration. It should be noted that the city-state system of Athens allowed the politics of the region relatively stronger and effective. It was because there was equal representation given to the people from each group rather than control of one individual over the masses with no suitable proficiency of governance. On the other hand, Sparta was in the south where it did not get the access to the water systems. It was due to this reason that the political connections in Sparta were based upon strict foreign policies. It was in the shape of authoritative stance on the public policies for which representation was centralized. It meant that the centralized representation had to undertake decision concerning relations with other communities or the nations. People of Sparta are well-known in the history for being extremely s trong soldiers. They provided

Application and Impact of Financial Reporting Standard 5 Essay

Application and Impact of Financial Reporting Standard 5 - Essay Example The best advantage is that this FRS does not affect a majority of transactions; however, it has an effect on complex transactions whose substance is not very apparent. Objective: The aim of Financial Reporting Standard 5 is to make sure that the substance of the transactions of the business is reflected clearly in the financial statements. Moreover, it intends to cover the honest representation of the commercial impacts of the transactions on the profits, losses, liabilities as well as assets of the business so that the accounting statements do not just consider the legal form of a specific transaction but also its commercial form. A chief point in concluding on the substance of the transaction is to note whether the transaction has resulted in an increase or decrease in liabilities or assets of the business. The definition of assets and liabilities has been clarified in the FRS 5. Once the identification of a liability or asset is done, the inclusion needs to happen in the balance sheet subject to the condition that there is adequate evidence of the existence of the liability or the assets. Moreover, the monetary value of these should be measurable. The asset or liability respectively should be included only if the transaction does not significantly alter rights of the benefits to the entity or its exposure of risks. If the transaction does not do so, it is appropriate to make amendments in the monetary value of the asset/liability. The FRS takes into consideration several transactions and gives a detailed disclosure and measurement guideline regarding transactions with specific features including consignment stock, repurchase contracts, loan transfer, securitization, factoring, revenue recognition, and private finance initiatives. Presentation and Disclosure FRS 5 takes a view of the problems of financing off-balance sheet items. The problem of understatement is solved due to the presentation and disclosure guidelines of FRS 5. A specific type of presentation known as "linked presentation" is suggested for financial arrangements that are non-recourse in nature. Such a presentation shows the deductions of finance from the gross amount of the particular item that is financed. Sufficient disclosure is vital for the transaction for having a clear idea of the commercial effect of the same. The disclosure requires detailed explanation when the recognition of the asset or liability is different from that found under the related headings in a balance sheet. (FRS 5, Accounting Standard Board) Thus, FRS 5 has a clear and structured approach for reporting the substance of the transactions. FRS 5 has a noteworthy effect on the reporting of financial statements. However, it is clarified that it does not affect a vast majority of a transaction, but certainly has an impact on complex transactions. Here, we take into consideration the impact and application of FRS 5 on various transactions.

Explication of the global social issue mini documentary Research Paper

Explication of the global social issue mini documentary - Research Paper Example d in the Middle East as well as criticism that the war targets the Islam community whereby Islamic religion is practiced in the region (Felicity & David, 2004). The war in Afghanistan has been criticized for lack of strategic clarity and over-generalized objectives. Most war analysts believe that the US military administration may learn the significance of strategy from the movie â€Å"300:Rise of an Empire†., the US military department must identify the appreciation for tactical prowess and the insurgency and the significant role of multinational organizations provision of intelligence information (Brad, 2014). Understanding the financial impact of the military strategy on the war against terror has significant benefits, especially to military policy makers in the US and other nations. In this regard, the US military has implemented unique military strategies and limited terrorism fighting objects may annihilate terrorism and promote global peace. However, economics scholars have acknowledged the significance of technology, and adequate funding of the military in the war against terrorism adequate research on the significance of adequate war strategies has often been ignored (Soni, Robin & Janet, 2003). The main objectives of this research are to identify the correlation between adequate military strategies and war success based on the film â€Å"300:Rise of an Empire†. Additionally, the research will also seek to determine the application of the strategies learn in the film about the US war against terrorism. The United States government has initiated several policies in dealing with constantly increasing trade deficits. Recently the president announced that the government would improve the morale and productivity of its employees by maintaining the social safety net for the next twenty years, a step that strains the current and retired employees. Policy that ensures the stabilization of the trade debt through the aging of all baby boomers and individuals

Humanistic View Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Humanistic View - Essay Example He also put forward that a person could not reach to a next higher need in the hierarchy until her or his current needs were significantly or completely satisfied. Many enterprises have been influenced by these theories and changes brought about in the structure of the organization have yielded excellent results (Maslow, 1943). According to Abraham Maslow, 'needs' can be classified in a hierarchal format where the needs are ranked according to their importance. The basic needs have to be fulfilled before a higher need takes priority. The first level is the basic existence needs which include the physiological needs such as food, water, shelter and clothing. These are the most common needs that most people have except for those who live below the poverty line. Once an individual gets these, the person requires social security needs. These include the security in terms of a person feeling secure from robbery, theft as well as the feeling of insecurity in terms of having a job or having a house. As a person moves upwards to the next level, lower level needs are no longer prioritized. However if lower set of needs is no longer being met, the individual will temporarily re-prioritize those needs by focusing attention on the unfulfilled needs. Next, come the need for love and belonging with friends, families, co lleagues, communities and the society. When they are satisfied, a person requires esteem needs with self-respect. When these four levels are met, a person reaches the self-actualisation level where a person needs to realize one's own potential. Self-perfection is required to fulfil this need which may never come. (Srensen, 2006) Example When the needs of a social care user are matched against Maslow's need theory, the two lowest levels of need seem to be supported by the social care providers. Food, shelter, security and clothing are provided by the social care company satisfying the basic two levels of Maslow's hierarchy. It is at this second level where most users of the social care find themselves after being through with the social care. However, love and belonging is not at all the manifesto of social care providers hence a person is stuck at this level as a lower need has to be largely satisfied before the next can come into play. Esteem and self-actualisation needs may never be reached by the users of social care service and is impossible until they stop depending on the service and stand on their own feet. Where the social care providers are providing the basic two needs, they should also focus on creating such a strong base for their users that the users can progress from there on their own and not fall bac k to attain a lower need. (Srensen, 2006) Conclusion So from the point of Abraham Maslow about the humanistic view, it can be said that humans are ungrateful creatures who always want more no matter what. As one need gets fulfilled, another need comes up and this cycle continues onwards until a person attains self-actualization and this is the nature of all humans. Works Cited 1. H. Maslow (1943). A Theory of Human Motivation.

Proposal on Energy Audit Essay Example for Free

Proposal on Energy Audit Essay Proposal Energy Audit: An energy audit is an inspection, survey and analysis of energy, flows for energy conservation in a building, process or system to reduce the amount of energy input into the system without negatively affecting the output(s). Energy audit identifies opportunities for financial savings by elimination of wasteful use of electricity, coal and fuel oil, without affecting the process or quality of product. Need for Energy Audit: It has been established that Energy savings of the order of 5 to 20% are possible by optimizing use of Energy with better house keeping, low cost retrofitting measures and use of Energy efficient equipment at the time of replacement, renovation or up gradation. Pakistan Electrical Energy Scenario: Electrical power is indeed the blood supply to the muscles of our industrial and informational societies. We take the ready availability of electricity for granted as a source of light, propulsion, heat and refrigeration and only seem to notice its importance if it is suddenly unavailable. Our information and telecommunications systems, our transport systems and modern medicine all depend on electricity as an energy source. The economic engine and the wheels of industry, agriculture and business need energy to move forward. On the social aspect, energy consumption per capita is a key indicator of the quality of life of the citizens and community. Unfortunately in Pakistan, in spite of all claims and rhetoric by all governments, real solutions to meet the energy equirements of the nation have never been formulated or achieved. As a consequence, Pakistan’s economic, industrial and social growth has been greatly constrained. Due to an increasing gap in energy demand versus capacity. The crisis, of course, needs long-term energy generation solutions. But it also needs immediate energy conservation. And one important way of doing this is through Energy audit HESCO Profile HESCO is a public utility company, providing electricity to the entire Sindh province, except for Karachi and parts of the Thatta district. HESCO was incorporated in 1998 under the Companies Ordinance 1984. My research leads to Energy Audit of particular Industry that comes in Hyderabad Circle of Hesco. Area of Operations of HESCO Hyderabad Circle-I (5 Divisions, 22 Sub-Divisions) Hyderabad Circle-II

Inter-lingual Interference in the Usage of Prepositions

Inter-lingual Interference in the Usage of Prepositions Inter-lingual Interference in the Usage of Prepositions in the English of Syrian Students Abstract In recent years, studies of foreign language acquisition have tended to focus on learners errors since they allow for prediction of the difficulties involved in acquiring a foreign language. In this way, teachers can be made aware of the difficult areas to be encountered by their students and devote special care and emphasis to them. Prepositions, on which this dissertation focuses, are one of these difficult areas. Thus, the main objective is to investigate whether the English preposition errors of the Syrian university students come more from inter-lingual interference or from other sources and whether classical or colloquial Arabic has the dominant influence on this interference. It also investigates which category of error in inter-lingual interference is the most frequent in the students using the prepositions in, on, at, of and to. The data is samples consisting of the answers of a diagnostic test by 38 Syrian first-year students of law. The diagnostic test was designed as a mu ltiple choice test and took by the students online. This investigation showed that preposition errors come mainly from inter-lingual interference, which is attributed more to standard Arabic here. It also showed that the students seem to have a serious problem in first language interference errors, especially substitution errors. This has implications for curriculum change and teachers method of teaching. 1. Introduction 1.1. Background of the study Language difficulty is often determined by how far or close the target and mother languages are. â€Å"Contrastive analysis is one of the areas of linguistics which elude a clear, unequivocal, and simple definition† (Vizmuller-Zocco, 1990:466). Errors in a certain area of grammar in the second language are often compared with an area of grammar in the first language. One of the most challenging things in learning English as a second language is using prepositions, â€Å"Among those who teach or learn the English language, prepositions have earned a reputation for difficulty if not downright unpredictability.† (Pittman, 1966) â€Å"As any English teacher well knows, our prepositions are a particularly troublesome lot to the non-native speaker of English† (McCarthy, 1972). When we, non-native speakers of English, speak English, we usually hesitate over choosing the correct preposition or whether a certain verb needs a preposition or not. This matter has always interested me, as many Arabic-speaking learners of English complain about it. Thahir (1987) indicates that prepositions can cause a problem for Arabic learners of English. For instance, an Arabic speaker would say this sentence *Fast trains can travel at a speed of 300m in hour. This is because per hour is expressed as in hour in Arabic. This transfer from Arabic into English is what makes Arabic learners English seem broken. Moreover, some linguists say that the mastery of prepositions in English is a late stage in native-language learning as well (Scott and Tucker, 1974). Therefore, this dissertation intends to look into the differences of preposition aspects between Arabic and English: are their distributions the same? Do all the Arabic words that need prepositions also need prepositions in English? If the words that need prepositions in Arabic also need prepositions in English, are these prepositions the same or different? From these general questions more specific questions will be formulated in the ‘Methodology chapter. 1.2. Grammar of English and Arabic prepositions â€Å"Arabic has a wealth of prepositions†¦with both verbs and adjectives. Many of these do not coincide with their direct English translations† (Swan and Smith, 1987:152). Nevertheless, Arabic prepositions are more limited in number than those of English. Abbas says that there are only twenty prepositions in Arabic (1961:320), while in English, there are fifty seven (Hayden, 1965:171-176). This, as a matter of fact, makes it harder for Arabic learners of English to have a command of English preposition usage. Grubic says: Non-native speakers of English tend to have three types of problems with prepositions: 1. Using the wrong preposition, e.g.: *My grandfather picked the name on me. (for) 2. Omitting a required preposition, e.g.: *I served the Army until 1964. (in) 3. Using a superfluous prepositions, e.g.: *I studied in Biology for three years. (2004:22) Despite all the efforts made by grammar book writers and teachers, learners of English still make mistakes in the usage of prepositions. So, what makes EFL learners make these errors? There is no doubt that Arabic learners of English translate grammar from Arabic into English, ignoring the rigorous grammatical structures of the English language. However, are all preposition-usage errors related to L1? Prepositions are words or groups of words that typically come before a noun phrase and indicate syntactic relations (Matthews, 1997). v My fathers plane arrives after midnight. v We have got a tree in front of the house. v There are no snakes in Ireland. One important feature of prepositions is that they cannot stand alone, regardless of how many words they are combined with (Downing and Locke, 1992). Since prepositions are not independent, they form meaning when combined with nouns or noun phrases, for example: after midnight, in front of the house, in Ireland. â€Å"Prepositions can be divided into three categories, i.e. basic prepositions, systematic prepositions and idiomatic prepositions: v standing on the table. v come on Friday. v comment on speech.† (Karlsson, 2002) In expressing time, on is used with days, such as on Friday, on Saturday and on January 30th. At, on the other hand, indicates a specific part or time of the day, such as at 12 oclock, at noon and at midnight. While in is used with years, months and seasons or main parts of the day, for example in 2001, in summer, in April. For explains a period of time, and by and within indicate limitation of a period of time, such as for six years, by next year and within two hours (Hewings, 2005). The Arabic preposition fee ( »Ã¢â‚¬Å" »Ã‚ ²), which is equivalent to the English in, is used in almost all of the above cases, but for within Arabic uses khilal ( ºÃ‚ »Ã‚ ¼Ã‚ »Ã‚ ). By and for have no equivalents in Arabic and they are expressed in phrases. As for prepositions of movement and place, in is used when indicating a certain position and on when talking about the surface, as in: v The keys are in the drawer. v The keys are on the table. At is used when pointing at a certain place which is close to the object, for example: v Im waiting for you at the bus stop. Inside is used to indicate the inner place of a certain object, while outside is the opposite. v There is a scorpion inside my room. v Outside the Palace, there were crowds of people waiting for the Queen to show up. Also, from and to are opposite prepositions. From indicates the origin of the movement, but to indicates the target of the movement (ibid), as in: v My plane ticket is from London Heathrow to Damascus International Airport. All of the prepositions of movement and place have their equivalents in Arabic:  § in → fee ( »Ã¢â‚¬Å" »Ã‚ ²)  § on → ala ( »Ã¢â‚¬ ¹Ã‚ »Ã‚  Ã‚ »Ã‚ °)  § at → inda ( »Ã¢â‚¬ ¹Ã‚ »Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ª)  § inside → dakhel ( ºÃ‚ ªÃ‚ ºÃ‚ Ã‚ ºÃ‚ »Ã… ¾)  § outside → kharej ( ºÃ‚ ºÃ‚ Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ®Ã‚ ºÃ‚ )  § from → min ( »Ã‚ £Ã‚ »Ã‚ ¥)  § to → ila ( ºÃ¢â‚¬ ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚  Ã‚ »Ã‚ °) 1.3. Study aims The prepositions in, on, at and to are the most commonly used prepositions in English. Therefore, my research study is going to focus closely on these four prepositions in the English of Syrian university students. I will see whether the first language interference kind of error is more effective than the other kinds. I will identify the errors that have to do with L1 interference and see if the interference comes from classical or colloquial Arabic. I will also look at the categories of L1 interference errors and see which one is the most frequent: substitution, addition or omission. This will, hopefully, help Syrian university students improve their written and spoken English. 2. Literature review 2.1. Error analysis One way for identifying errors in preposition usage is error analysis. First of all, it is important to define the word ‘error. An error is â€Å"an instance of language that is unintentionally deviant and is not self-corrigible by its author† (James, 1998:78). Brown considers the errors as either ‘overt or ‘covert (1994:208). According to Ellis (1987) Error analysis was considered as an alternative to contrastive analysis, and it is considered of value in the classroom research (Brown, 1994: 214). It also predicts the difficulties of acquiring a second language (Richards, 1974: 172). Error analysis shows â€Å"the significance of errors in learners inter-language system† (Brown, 1994:204). Ellis and Richards et al say that error analysis can be conducted for pedagogical purposes (1994:51; 1993:127). At the level of pragmatic classroom experience, error analysis will continue to provide one means by which the teacher can assess learning and teaching and determine priorities for future effort (Richards, 1974:15). When we analyse errors, we should give a detailed explanation for each type of error that corresponds to the different processes that Selinker (1992) reported as central to second language learning: language transfer, transfer of training, strategies of second language learning, strategies of second language communication, and overgeneralization of TL [Target Language] linguistic material. Error analysis helps teachers overcome the difficulties learners of English face in learning the language through figuring out the sources of errors and, consequently, taking some precautions towards them. It can be said that error analysis can be used to determine the learners need in learning. 2.2. Language transfer The â€Å"study of transfer depends greatly on the systematic comparisons of languages provided by contrastive analyses† (Odlin, 1989: 28). Odlin goes on to say that although many contrastive analyses provide useful and sometimes highly perceptive information about languages they compare, none comes close to meeting in full the criteria of descriptive and theoretical adequacy. There is no doubt that interference constitutes a major problem and obstacle in language usage amongst learners of a second language. They cannot help letting their mother tongue interfere in the target language. Therefore, some errors are tolerable to native speakers of English. Even native speakers of English have problems with certain preposition structures. Over-generalisation or intra-lingual transfer is said to have a considerably negative effect on learner English. Learners of a second language sometimes transfer some features of grammar to apply it on other inappropriate features. This certainly results in errors in the target language. Almost all the research that has been done so far indicates that preposition misuse is mainly caused by linguistic interference, inappropriate learning and wrong application of rules. Some views contradict this saying that errors of prepositions are due to the complexity of the English language itself. Others go so far as to say that the misuse or errors of a language could be related to bad teaching and resources, ignorance, lack of practice and carelessness. In fact, attitudes vary considerably. The first attitude represents the feeling that errors are undesirable and, therefore, should be avoided, but the second says that errors are inevitable in an imperfect world (Corder, 1981). In behaviourism, errors are depicted as sins that should be avoided and bad habits that should not be tolerated, while in cognitivism, errors are perceived as part of the learning process. The main focus of behaviourism followers methods is on preventing errors, whereas the focus of the methods of cognitivists is on intellectual analyses of the causes of errors and ways of dealing with them. This supports Frenchs argument (1989) that â€Å"errors are oddities that are not evidence of carelessness or of unwillingness but of growing pains and a desire to learn, not punishable offences because they are accidents† (French, 1989). Actually they are part of the language learning process. Humans cannot learn without making errors to err is human. Krashen and Terrell (1983) argue that the errors made by learners are a natural process in learning, and learners will get over this stage of inter-language interference and develop naturally. L1 interference is one of several types of errors learners of a second language make (ibid, 1988: 64-69). When learners of a second language use this language, they have no way but to submit to the grammar of their first language. In the case of English prepositions, when Arabic learners of English are not sure which preposition to use, they literally translate from Arabic into English. As Arabic and English prepositions seldom have one-to-one correspondence, this results in inter-language interference errors. An Arabic preposition may be translated by several English prepositions, while an English usage may have several Arabic translations (Scott and Tucker, 1974: 85). 2.3. Studies on language transfer The processes of language transfer and over-generalisation receive considerable attention. Jain (in Richards, 1974) and Taylor (1975) reported that over-generalisation errors are an application of the generalisation strategies of the learners second language to produce this same second language. Brown states that inter-lingual transfer is the negative influence of the mother tongue, and that intra-lingual transfer is the negative transfer within the target language (1980:173-181). Swan and Smith give a detailed account of errors made by speakers of nineteen different first language backgrounds (1995:ix). Also, Diab (1996) conducted a research on error analysis showing the interference of the mother language, Arabic, in the English writings of EFL students at the American University of Beirut (1996). The transfer of Arabic structures in the Lebanese students writings resulted in a number of errors. However, they made more errors where they felt English and Arabic were similar (articles, prepositions and choice of diction). James indicates that â€Å"the clearest proof of L1 interference is where L1 nonstandard dialect gets transferred to L2† (1998:179). Dulay et al (1982) defines language interference as the automatic transfer from the surface structure of the first language to the surface structure to the second language, while Lott (1983) defines it as errors in learners foreign language that can be attributed to the mother tongue. Ellis also comments on interference saying that it is â€Å"the influence that the learners L1 exerts over the acquisition of an L2† (1997:51). ‘An Analysis of Interference Errors in the Written English of Sudanese Students is a study made by Tadros (1966) in order to analyse the errors of language interference in the writings of Sudanese students. He looked into 472 scripts written by 236 students in their seventh year of English learning. The students were first given different exercises about relative clauses and had to follow explicit instructions. Then they were asked to write a paragraph about their school, using relative clauses. This research made the writer come up with the conclusion that this is an effective way to apply what they have already learnt. I think the conditions were helpful for the students, so their writings were not an indication of their true proficiency level in English. The students were asked to write paragraphs immediately after they had been taught. Scott et al (1974) also made a study in Beirut called â€Å"Error Analysis and English Language Strategies of Arab Students†. This study examined samples of Arab students speech and writing both at the beginning and the end of the semester in an intensive English course; compared the types of error in speech and writing, the frequency of these errors and the relative frequency of the errors made at the beginning and the end of the semester; identified the sources of errors; considered both inter-language interference and intra-language interference in the English learning strategies of Arab students and identified some rules that represent early and late acquisition of a second language. This researcher made this study on 22 Arab students in the first semester of a lower intermediate intensive English course at the University of Beirut. Those students had already completed their school education, where the medium of instruction was Arabic. They had also studied some English as a foreign language. This study revealed that verbs, prepositions and articles are the areas where the students often made errors. It also showed that the error frequency in the usage of prepositions was similar in writing and speech and that the preposition errors at the beginning and the end of the semester ranked after the number of verb errors. Verb errors Preposition errors Beginning of the semester 80 61 End of the semester 60 51 Half of the errors in writing and speech at the beginning of the semester were due to inter-language interference and the other half due to intra-language interference. About two thirds of the errors at the end of the semester were due to inter-language interference and one third due to intra-language interference. Since the larger number of errors was made due to inter-language interference at the end rather than at the beginning of the semester, this means that the students were making more progress in overcoming intra-language interference confusion than in solving the problem of the first language transfer. The interference of Arabic was most obvious in the frequent omission of auxiliaries and copulas, in preposition and article errors and in the repetition of subjects and objects. However, at the end of the semester, the students made a great progress in almost all areas except in prepositions and articles; the interference of the mother language continued to be a dominant feature in the usage of prepositions and articles. The preposition errors fell into three groups: 1. Interference from Arabic. 2. Interference from English. 3. Errors without identifiable source. The preposition errors were reduced by one third during the semester. Although the larger proportion of these errors was attributed to the interference of the first language, it was thought that the students would make progress in the usage of prepositions since it is a late acquisition in native language learning (Scott et al, 1974:95). The researcher suggested that other studies should investigate the errors made by Arab students at both lower and higher levels of English proficiency and if inter-language interference comes from formal or colloquial Arabic. She suggests that â€Å"interference in writing comes from classical Arabic but interference in speech from colloquial Arabic.† (ibid: 96). Mukattash made a pilot project in common grammatical errors in Jordanian English (1981: 250-291). The broad objective of his research â€Å"Common Grammatical Errors in Jordanian English† is to get a general idea of the areas in English syntax which are problematic to Jordanian students at university. The specific objective of his research was to calculate and analyse the different types of errors in the written English of Jordanian university students. The subject students were 200 first-year students at the University of Jordan. They were graduates of public secondary schools, where they had received eight years of English language teaching. They were also from different parts of Jordan and some of them were from the West Bank in Palestine. The students were given a comprehensive test in comprehension, structure and vocabulary. All the 200 essays contained errors, but the detailed analysis was made on only fifty essays, which were chosen randomly. The errors in the usage of prepositions ranked fourth in the order of the total occurrence of errors. This study disagrees with Scotts study, which ranks preposition usage errors second after verb errors. Here the ranking order is as follows: verbals, articles, nominals and prepositions. The percentage of the preposition errors was 15% of the overall number of errors in the fifty essays. Although we cannot compare the results of the two studies due to the fact that Scott did not state precisely what percentage the preposition usage errors constituted in the writings of her subject students, we can say that preposition errors are still a serious problem for Arabic learners of English. In Scotts study, the percentage of interference from Arabic was 67%, while in this Study, it is 78%. However, the interference of Arabic in the usage of prepositions is still significant in the results of both studies. Also, Kerr (1970) made a study on the common errors in the English writings of a group of Greek learners of English as a foreign language. The research study purpose was to show the teachers of English in Greece the serious problems their students have in writing. Teachers find certain types of errors which they have previously ignored, and so find indications of the kinds of preventive and remedial teaching that would prevent the growth of bad language habits by using clearer explanations and more effective practice at the more elementary stages of learning. The errors also indicate the areas of language on which tests and examinations would be based. (Kerr, 1970: ix). Kerr based his study on over a thousand compositions written by adult students at an advanced level of English proficiency. The causes of the errors found were ignorance of words and constructions to express an idea, carelessness of the students, the interference of the mother language and making false analogies within the target language. Between 20% and 30% of the grammatical errors made by the Greek students involved errors in the usage of prepositions of all types (ibid, 1970: 22). Handrickson (1979) made another research study on error analysis and error correction at Ohio State University called ‘Error Analysis and Error Correction on ESL Learners at Ohio State University. The subject learners were adults of intermediate level studying English as a second language. His study aimed at identifying the most frequent communicative and linguistic errors in the compositions of intermediate ESL learners. It also aimed at determining the effect of the teachers direct correction on the English writing proficiency of students. He found that most of the communicative errors were as a result of inadequate lexical knowledge, incorrect use of prepositions and pronouns or misspelling of lexical items. On the other hand, the linguistic errors were caused by inappropriate lexical choice, lack of subject-verb agreement, the omission and misuse of prepositions, incorrect word order or misspelling of words. The effect of the teachers direct error correction on the students English proficiency in writing came out to be statistically insignificant. Another study was made in the United States on EFL learners, but this time on Iranian students. The research was conducted by Henning (1978) at the University of California and is called ‘A Developmental Analysis of English Errors Made by Iranian Students. He analysed the developmental error patterns of the Iranian learners of English as a second language. The subjects of this study were 22 Iranian women in the second semester of their first year at Damayand College in Tehran, Iran. The students had already had an average of six years of English learning and were, at the time of the research, enrolled in an intensive course where 20 hours of English language teaching was being given to them. The medium of instruction was also English. â€Å"The conclusion reached was that†¦mastery in the usage of English prepositions according to their meanings is one of the most sensitive indicators of the degree of English proficiency† (Henning, 1978:396-397). Zarei (2002) also found that, for Iranian EFL learners, the collocations of prepositions are among the most problematic collocations in English. Khampang (1974) also made a research study at the University of California. This Research study is called ‘The Difficulties in Using English Prepositions, and it focused on the difficulties facing Thai learners of English in using English prepositions. The research was conducted to investigate what the prepositions that Thai learners of English found difficult to learn were and whether there was a big difference between the prepositions that Thai learners of English chose and those chosen by learners of English from other L1 backgrounds. It also investigated whether the problem of using English prepositions was universal, shared with non-Thai learners of English, or Thai learners had specific problems. He wanted to know if this problem was due to first language interference and, consequently, predictable from contrastive analysis. The study was only on 8 simple prepositions of time and place: in, on, at, for, to, from, by and the empty form ∅. ‘The subject students in this research were 169 students from different L1 backgrounds: 40 from Thailand, 48 from Japan, 38 from Spain and 43 from countries of different language backgrounds (Persian, Italian, Chinese, Korean, Portuguese and Arabic). The levels of the students were both intermediate and advanced, and they were in adult schools in the area of Los Angeles. The students were tested on the 8 prepositions of time and place by a diagnostic test. This test was in three parts: multiple choice, error correction and close test. Each part consisted of 15 items. The 45 questions included the repetition of each preposition 4 times in random order. The results came up with the fact that: there was no evidence of significant difference between the language groups based on total test scores. Neither was there any evidence found for interaction effects between the language groups and the factors selected. There was only one factor, previous educational level, which showed significant difference between high school and college subjects. (Khampang, 1974: 218). Different language groups did not affect the subject students performance in the usage of English prepositions. Again, age, sex or the number of years or hours per week allotted for learning English were not important factors in mastering the usage of English prepositions. As for the question about whether certain prepositions were more difficult or easier for certain language groups, the writer had to use the criterion of difficulty in order to answer it. If a group had less than 50% of the responses correct, then the test item was considered difficult. 16 out of the 45 items were considered difficult, and the data showed that not all the four groups had the same responses for the test items. Khampang gave some statements that, as he said, are applicable to ESL teaching. He said that of the three test parts, the close test seemed to be more effective than the other parts in testing the usage of English prepositions. He also argues that to teach them English, there is no need to separate students of English by age, sex, or number of years or hours allotted for learning English. Diagnostic and placement tests came out to be more effective than considering the students L1 backgrounds. Moreover, for a heterogeneous language group, the way of teaching English prepositions of time and place should be the same for all students, along with emphasising the areas of difficulty in English language learning for a particular language group. This last statement is the real objective behind error analysis. Im researching Syrian university students preposition errors in order to see if the errors are as a result of the interference of their first language, Arabic. This will help us devel op strategies to teach those students. An investigation on the grammatical errors made by Swedish 16-year-old learners of English was made by Kohlmyr (2003). She analysed errors in around 400 compositions from two national assessment programmes, and she found that preposition errors accounted for 12% of all the grammatical errors. The preposition errors that were mainly found with to, in, at, of and for included substitution, omission and addition. The most frequent type of error was actually substitution. According to this research, the preposition errors were caused by first language transfer, over-generalisation and simplification. About 50% of the errors were caused by over-generalisation, 40% by first language transfer and 10% by simplification. Gabrys-Biskup argues that interference is the prime cause of the learners second language (in Arnauld Benjoint, 1992). All of the above research articles focused on learner English. Some of them also focused on the usage of English prepositions by EFL learners; for instance, the research done by Scott and Khampang. Scott, in her research, found that the usage of English prepositions was a serious problem for Arabic learners of English (1973). While Khampang said that different language groups did not have effect on the students performance in using English prepositions (1974). That suggests that the usage of English prepositions are a serious problem for learners of English as a foreign language. In Scotts research, preposition errors ranked second after verb errors, and in Mukattashs, they ranked fourth. In both cases, preposition errors are problematic for Arabic learners of English. Also, in Kerrs research study, the preposition errors constituted between 20% and 30% of the overall grammatical errors. Some of the above researchers gave some recommendations and suggestions for dealing with errors. Kerr (1970) said that preventive and remedial teaching had a good and positive effect. This can be done by using clearer explanations and more effective practice at the elementary stage. However, Tadros (1979) suggested intensive drilling. On the other hand, Scott suggested that further investigations should be made on the errors that are committed by Arabic learners of English at their lower levels of English proficiency (1973). She also suggested that researches should look into the influence of classical and colloquial Arabic on Arabic students written English. These suggestions, in addition to my interest, have urged me to conduct a research study into this problematic area for Syrian learners of English, especially since there have not been many studies on this topic, as far as I know. Even at more advanced levels of English proficiency, Syrian learners of English still make errors in the usage of prepositions. The kind of error they make is due to the mother tongue, and since Arabic has two varieties (formal and colloquial), it is worth investigating which one the learners take their English grammar structures from. Scott (1974) says that the English production of Arabic learners is affected by both formal and colloquial Arabic. Nevertheless, we do not know which variety is dominant and to what extent. 3. Methodology and research procedures 3.1. Research questions In this research study, I will look into the preposition usage errors made by Syrian university students and try to answer the following questions: 1. Which kind of error is more effective in using the English prepositions in, on, at, of and to: inter-language interference or other kinds of error? 2. Which variety of Arabic has the influence on the usage of English prepositions of Syrian university students and w Inter-lingual Interference in the Usage of Prepositions Inter-lingual Interference in the Usage of Prepositions Inter-lingual Interference in the Usage of Prepositions in the English of Syrian Students Abstract In recent years, studies of foreign language acquisition have tended to focus on learners errors since they allow for prediction of the difficulties involved in acquiring a foreign language. In this way, teachers can be made aware of the difficult areas to be encountered by their students and devote special care and emphasis to them. Prepositions, on which this dissertation focuses, are one of these difficult areas. Thus, the main objective is to investigate whether the English preposition errors of the Syrian university students come more from inter-lingual interference or from other sources and whether classical or colloquial Arabic has the dominant influence on this interference. It also investigates which category of error in inter-lingual interference is the most frequent in the students using the prepositions in, on, at, of and to. The data is samples consisting of the answers of a diagnostic test by 38 Syrian first-year students of law. The diagnostic test was designed as a mu ltiple choice test and took by the students online. This investigation showed that preposition errors come mainly from inter-lingual interference, which is attributed more to standard Arabic here. It also showed that the students seem to have a serious problem in first language interference errors, especially substitution errors. This has implications for curriculum change and teachers method of teaching. 1. Introduction 1.1. Background of the study Language difficulty is often determined by how far or close the target and mother languages are. â€Å"Contrastive analysis is one of the areas of linguistics which elude a clear, unequivocal, and simple definition† (Vizmuller-Zocco, 1990:466). Errors in a certain area of grammar in the second language are often compared with an area of grammar in the first language. One of the most challenging things in learning English as a second language is using prepositions, â€Å"Among those who teach or learn the English language, prepositions have earned a reputation for difficulty if not downright unpredictability.† (Pittman, 1966) â€Å"As any English teacher well knows, our prepositions are a particularly troublesome lot to the non-native speaker of English† (McCarthy, 1972). When we, non-native speakers of English, speak English, we usually hesitate over choosing the correct preposition or whether a certain verb needs a preposition or not. This matter has always interested me, as many Arabic-speaking learners of English complain about it. Thahir (1987) indicates that prepositions can cause a problem for Arabic learners of English. For instance, an Arabic speaker would say this sentence *Fast trains can travel at a speed of 300m in hour. This is because per hour is expressed as in hour in Arabic. This transfer from Arabic into English is what makes Arabic learners English seem broken. Moreover, some linguists say that the mastery of prepositions in English is a late stage in native-language learning as well (Scott and Tucker, 1974). Therefore, this dissertation intends to look into the differences of preposition aspects between Arabic and English: are their distributions the same? Do all the Arabic words that need prepositions also need prepositions in English? If the words that need prepositions in Arabic also need prepositions in English, are these prepositions the same or different? From these general questions more specific questions will be formulated in the ‘Methodology chapter. 1.2. Grammar of English and Arabic prepositions â€Å"Arabic has a wealth of prepositions†¦with both verbs and adjectives. Many of these do not coincide with their direct English translations† (Swan and Smith, 1987:152). Nevertheless, Arabic prepositions are more limited in number than those of English. Abbas says that there are only twenty prepositions in Arabic (1961:320), while in English, there are fifty seven (Hayden, 1965:171-176). This, as a matter of fact, makes it harder for Arabic learners of English to have a command of English preposition usage. Grubic says: Non-native speakers of English tend to have three types of problems with prepositions: 1. Using the wrong preposition, e.g.: *My grandfather picked the name on me. (for) 2. Omitting a required preposition, e.g.: *I served the Army until 1964. (in) 3. Using a superfluous prepositions, e.g.: *I studied in Biology for three years. (2004:22) Despite all the efforts made by grammar book writers and teachers, learners of English still make mistakes in the usage of prepositions. So, what makes EFL learners make these errors? There is no doubt that Arabic learners of English translate grammar from Arabic into English, ignoring the rigorous grammatical structures of the English language. However, are all preposition-usage errors related to L1? Prepositions are words or groups of words that typically come before a noun phrase and indicate syntactic relations (Matthews, 1997). v My fathers plane arrives after midnight. v We have got a tree in front of the house. v There are no snakes in Ireland. One important feature of prepositions is that they cannot stand alone, regardless of how many words they are combined with (Downing and Locke, 1992). Since prepositions are not independent, they form meaning when combined with nouns or noun phrases, for example: after midnight, in front of the house, in Ireland. â€Å"Prepositions can be divided into three categories, i.e. basic prepositions, systematic prepositions and idiomatic prepositions: v standing on the table. v come on Friday. v comment on speech.† (Karlsson, 2002) In expressing time, on is used with days, such as on Friday, on Saturday and on January 30th. At, on the other hand, indicates a specific part or time of the day, such as at 12 oclock, at noon and at midnight. While in is used with years, months and seasons or main parts of the day, for example in 2001, in summer, in April. For explains a period of time, and by and within indicate limitation of a period of time, such as for six years, by next year and within two hours (Hewings, 2005). The Arabic preposition fee ( »Ã¢â‚¬Å" »Ã‚ ²), which is equivalent to the English in, is used in almost all of the above cases, but for within Arabic uses khilal ( ºÃ‚ »Ã‚ ¼Ã‚ »Ã‚ ). By and for have no equivalents in Arabic and they are expressed in phrases. As for prepositions of movement and place, in is used when indicating a certain position and on when talking about the surface, as in: v The keys are in the drawer. v The keys are on the table. At is used when pointing at a certain place which is close to the object, for example: v Im waiting for you at the bus stop. Inside is used to indicate the inner place of a certain object, while outside is the opposite. v There is a scorpion inside my room. v Outside the Palace, there were crowds of people waiting for the Queen to show up. Also, from and to are opposite prepositions. From indicates the origin of the movement, but to indicates the target of the movement (ibid), as in: v My plane ticket is from London Heathrow to Damascus International Airport. All of the prepositions of movement and place have their equivalents in Arabic:  § in → fee ( »Ã¢â‚¬Å" »Ã‚ ²)  § on → ala ( »Ã¢â‚¬ ¹Ã‚ »Ã‚  Ã‚ »Ã‚ °)  § at → inda ( »Ã¢â‚¬ ¹Ã‚ »Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ª)  § inside → dakhel ( ºÃ‚ ªÃ‚ ºÃ‚ Ã‚ ºÃ‚ »Ã… ¾)  § outside → kharej ( ºÃ‚ ºÃ‚ Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ®Ã‚ ºÃ‚ )  § from → min ( »Ã‚ £Ã‚ »Ã‚ ¥)  § to → ila ( ºÃ¢â‚¬ ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚  Ã‚ »Ã‚ °) 1.3. Study aims The prepositions in, on, at and to are the most commonly used prepositions in English. Therefore, my research study is going to focus closely on these four prepositions in the English of Syrian university students. I will see whether the first language interference kind of error is more effective than the other kinds. I will identify the errors that have to do with L1 interference and see if the interference comes from classical or colloquial Arabic. I will also look at the categories of L1 interference errors and see which one is the most frequent: substitution, addition or omission. This will, hopefully, help Syrian university students improve their written and spoken English. 2. Literature review 2.1. Error analysis One way for identifying errors in preposition usage is error analysis. First of all, it is important to define the word ‘error. An error is â€Å"an instance of language that is unintentionally deviant and is not self-corrigible by its author† (James, 1998:78). Brown considers the errors as either ‘overt or ‘covert (1994:208). According to Ellis (1987) Error analysis was considered as an alternative to contrastive analysis, and it is considered of value in the classroom research (Brown, 1994: 214). It also predicts the difficulties of acquiring a second language (Richards, 1974: 172). Error analysis shows â€Å"the significance of errors in learners inter-language system† (Brown, 1994:204). Ellis and Richards et al say that error analysis can be conducted for pedagogical purposes (1994:51; 1993:127). At the level of pragmatic classroom experience, error analysis will continue to provide one means by which the teacher can assess learning and teaching and determine priorities for future effort (Richards, 1974:15). When we analyse errors, we should give a detailed explanation for each type of error that corresponds to the different processes that Selinker (1992) reported as central to second language learning: language transfer, transfer of training, strategies of second language learning, strategies of second language communication, and overgeneralization of TL [Target Language] linguistic material. Error analysis helps teachers overcome the difficulties learners of English face in learning the language through figuring out the sources of errors and, consequently, taking some precautions towards them. It can be said that error analysis can be used to determine the learners need in learning. 2.2. Language transfer The â€Å"study of transfer depends greatly on the systematic comparisons of languages provided by contrastive analyses† (Odlin, 1989: 28). Odlin goes on to say that although many contrastive analyses provide useful and sometimes highly perceptive information about languages they compare, none comes close to meeting in full the criteria of descriptive and theoretical adequacy. There is no doubt that interference constitutes a major problem and obstacle in language usage amongst learners of a second language. They cannot help letting their mother tongue interfere in the target language. Therefore, some errors are tolerable to native speakers of English. Even native speakers of English have problems with certain preposition structures. Over-generalisation or intra-lingual transfer is said to have a considerably negative effect on learner English. Learners of a second language sometimes transfer some features of grammar to apply it on other inappropriate features. This certainly results in errors in the target language. Almost all the research that has been done so far indicates that preposition misuse is mainly caused by linguistic interference, inappropriate learning and wrong application of rules. Some views contradict this saying that errors of prepositions are due to the complexity of the English language itself. Others go so far as to say that the misuse or errors of a language could be related to bad teaching and resources, ignorance, lack of practice and carelessness. In fact, attitudes vary considerably. The first attitude represents the feeling that errors are undesirable and, therefore, should be avoided, but the second says that errors are inevitable in an imperfect world (Corder, 1981). In behaviourism, errors are depicted as sins that should be avoided and bad habits that should not be tolerated, while in cognitivism, errors are perceived as part of the learning process. The main focus of behaviourism followers methods is on preventing errors, whereas the focus of the methods of cognitivists is on intellectual analyses of the causes of errors and ways of dealing with them. This supports Frenchs argument (1989) that â€Å"errors are oddities that are not evidence of carelessness or of unwillingness but of growing pains and a desire to learn, not punishable offences because they are accidents† (French, 1989). Actually they are part of the language learning process. Humans cannot learn without making errors to err is human. Krashen and Terrell (1983) argue that the errors made by learners are a natural process in learning, and learners will get over this stage of inter-language interference and develop naturally. L1 interference is one of several types of errors learners of a second language make (ibid, 1988: 64-69). When learners of a second language use this language, they have no way but to submit to the grammar of their first language. In the case of English prepositions, when Arabic learners of English are not sure which preposition to use, they literally translate from Arabic into English. As Arabic and English prepositions seldom have one-to-one correspondence, this results in inter-language interference errors. An Arabic preposition may be translated by several English prepositions, while an English usage may have several Arabic translations (Scott and Tucker, 1974: 85). 2.3. Studies on language transfer The processes of language transfer and over-generalisation receive considerable attention. Jain (in Richards, 1974) and Taylor (1975) reported that over-generalisation errors are an application of the generalisation strategies of the learners second language to produce this same second language. Brown states that inter-lingual transfer is the negative influence of the mother tongue, and that intra-lingual transfer is the negative transfer within the target language (1980:173-181). Swan and Smith give a detailed account of errors made by speakers of nineteen different first language backgrounds (1995:ix). Also, Diab (1996) conducted a research on error analysis showing the interference of the mother language, Arabic, in the English writings of EFL students at the American University of Beirut (1996). The transfer of Arabic structures in the Lebanese students writings resulted in a number of errors. However, they made more errors where they felt English and Arabic were similar (articles, prepositions and choice of diction). James indicates that â€Å"the clearest proof of L1 interference is where L1 nonstandard dialect gets transferred to L2† (1998:179). Dulay et al (1982) defines language interference as the automatic transfer from the surface structure of the first language to the surface structure to the second language, while Lott (1983) defines it as errors in learners foreign language that can be attributed to the mother tongue. Ellis also comments on interference saying that it is â€Å"the influence that the learners L1 exerts over the acquisition of an L2† (1997:51). ‘An Analysis of Interference Errors in the Written English of Sudanese Students is a study made by Tadros (1966) in order to analyse the errors of language interference in the writings of Sudanese students. He looked into 472 scripts written by 236 students in their seventh year of English learning. The students were first given different exercises about relative clauses and had to follow explicit instructions. Then they were asked to write a paragraph about their school, using relative clauses. This research made the writer come up with the conclusion that this is an effective way to apply what they have already learnt. I think the conditions were helpful for the students, so their writings were not an indication of their true proficiency level in English. The students were asked to write paragraphs immediately after they had been taught. Scott et al (1974) also made a study in Beirut called â€Å"Error Analysis and English Language Strategies of Arab Students†. This study examined samples of Arab students speech and writing both at the beginning and the end of the semester in an intensive English course; compared the types of error in speech and writing, the frequency of these errors and the relative frequency of the errors made at the beginning and the end of the semester; identified the sources of errors; considered both inter-language interference and intra-language interference in the English learning strategies of Arab students and identified some rules that represent early and late acquisition of a second language. This researcher made this study on 22 Arab students in the first semester of a lower intermediate intensive English course at the University of Beirut. Those students had already completed their school education, where the medium of instruction was Arabic. They had also studied some English as a foreign language. This study revealed that verbs, prepositions and articles are the areas where the students often made errors. It also showed that the error frequency in the usage of prepositions was similar in writing and speech and that the preposition errors at the beginning and the end of the semester ranked after the number of verb errors. Verb errors Preposition errors Beginning of the semester 80 61 End of the semester 60 51 Half of the errors in writing and speech at the beginning of the semester were due to inter-language interference and the other half due to intra-language interference. About two thirds of the errors at the end of the semester were due to inter-language interference and one third due to intra-language interference. Since the larger number of errors was made due to inter-language interference at the end rather than at the beginning of the semester, this means that the students were making more progress in overcoming intra-language interference confusion than in solving the problem of the first language transfer. The interference of Arabic was most obvious in the frequent omission of auxiliaries and copulas, in preposition and article errors and in the repetition of subjects and objects. However, at the end of the semester, the students made a great progress in almost all areas except in prepositions and articles; the interference of the mother language continued to be a dominant feature in the usage of prepositions and articles. The preposition errors fell into three groups: 1. Interference from Arabic. 2. Interference from English. 3. Errors without identifiable source. The preposition errors were reduced by one third during the semester. Although the larger proportion of these errors was attributed to the interference of the first language, it was thought that the students would make progress in the usage of prepositions since it is a late acquisition in native language learning (Scott et al, 1974:95). The researcher suggested that other studies should investigate the errors made by Arab students at both lower and higher levels of English proficiency and if inter-language interference comes from formal or colloquial Arabic. She suggests that â€Å"interference in writing comes from classical Arabic but interference in speech from colloquial Arabic.† (ibid: 96). Mukattash made a pilot project in common grammatical errors in Jordanian English (1981: 250-291). The broad objective of his research â€Å"Common Grammatical Errors in Jordanian English† is to get a general idea of the areas in English syntax which are problematic to Jordanian students at university. The specific objective of his research was to calculate and analyse the different types of errors in the written English of Jordanian university students. The subject students were 200 first-year students at the University of Jordan. They were graduates of public secondary schools, where they had received eight years of English language teaching. They were also from different parts of Jordan and some of them were from the West Bank in Palestine. The students were given a comprehensive test in comprehension, structure and vocabulary. All the 200 essays contained errors, but the detailed analysis was made on only fifty essays, which were chosen randomly. The errors in the usage of prepositions ranked fourth in the order of the total occurrence of errors. This study disagrees with Scotts study, which ranks preposition usage errors second after verb errors. Here the ranking order is as follows: verbals, articles, nominals and prepositions. The percentage of the preposition errors was 15% of the overall number of errors in the fifty essays. Although we cannot compare the results of the two studies due to the fact that Scott did not state precisely what percentage the preposition usage errors constituted in the writings of her subject students, we can say that preposition errors are still a serious problem for Arabic learners of English. In Scotts study, the percentage of interference from Arabic was 67%, while in this Study, it is 78%. However, the interference of Arabic in the usage of prepositions is still significant in the results of both studies. Also, Kerr (1970) made a study on the common errors in the English writings of a group of Greek learners of English as a foreign language. The research study purpose was to show the teachers of English in Greece the serious problems their students have in writing. Teachers find certain types of errors which they have previously ignored, and so find indications of the kinds of preventive and remedial teaching that would prevent the growth of bad language habits by using clearer explanations and more effective practice at the more elementary stages of learning. The errors also indicate the areas of language on which tests and examinations would be based. (Kerr, 1970: ix). Kerr based his study on over a thousand compositions written by adult students at an advanced level of English proficiency. The causes of the errors found were ignorance of words and constructions to express an idea, carelessness of the students, the interference of the mother language and making false analogies within the target language. Between 20% and 30% of the grammatical errors made by the Greek students involved errors in the usage of prepositions of all types (ibid, 1970: 22). Handrickson (1979) made another research study on error analysis and error correction at Ohio State University called ‘Error Analysis and Error Correction on ESL Learners at Ohio State University. The subject learners were adults of intermediate level studying English as a second language. His study aimed at identifying the most frequent communicative and linguistic errors in the compositions of intermediate ESL learners. It also aimed at determining the effect of the teachers direct correction on the English writing proficiency of students. He found that most of the communicative errors were as a result of inadequate lexical knowledge, incorrect use of prepositions and pronouns or misspelling of lexical items. On the other hand, the linguistic errors were caused by inappropriate lexical choice, lack of subject-verb agreement, the omission and misuse of prepositions, incorrect word order or misspelling of words. The effect of the teachers direct error correction on the students English proficiency in writing came out to be statistically insignificant. Another study was made in the United States on EFL learners, but this time on Iranian students. The research was conducted by Henning (1978) at the University of California and is called ‘A Developmental Analysis of English Errors Made by Iranian Students. He analysed the developmental error patterns of the Iranian learners of English as a second language. The subjects of this study were 22 Iranian women in the second semester of their first year at Damayand College in Tehran, Iran. The students had already had an average of six years of English learning and were, at the time of the research, enrolled in an intensive course where 20 hours of English language teaching was being given to them. The medium of instruction was also English. â€Å"The conclusion reached was that†¦mastery in the usage of English prepositions according to their meanings is one of the most sensitive indicators of the degree of English proficiency† (Henning, 1978:396-397). Zarei (2002) also found that, for Iranian EFL learners, the collocations of prepositions are among the most problematic collocations in English. Khampang (1974) also made a research study at the University of California. This Research study is called ‘The Difficulties in Using English Prepositions, and it focused on the difficulties facing Thai learners of English in using English prepositions. The research was conducted to investigate what the prepositions that Thai learners of English found difficult to learn were and whether there was a big difference between the prepositions that Thai learners of English chose and those chosen by learners of English from other L1 backgrounds. It also investigated whether the problem of using English prepositions was universal, shared with non-Thai learners of English, or Thai learners had specific problems. He wanted to know if this problem was due to first language interference and, consequently, predictable from contrastive analysis. The study was only on 8 simple prepositions of time and place: in, on, at, for, to, from, by and the empty form ∅. ‘The subject students in this research were 169 students from different L1 backgrounds: 40 from Thailand, 48 from Japan, 38 from Spain and 43 from countries of different language backgrounds (Persian, Italian, Chinese, Korean, Portuguese and Arabic). The levels of the students were both intermediate and advanced, and they were in adult schools in the area of Los Angeles. The students were tested on the 8 prepositions of time and place by a diagnostic test. This test was in three parts: multiple choice, error correction and close test. Each part consisted of 15 items. The 45 questions included the repetition of each preposition 4 times in random order. The results came up with the fact that: there was no evidence of significant difference between the language groups based on total test scores. Neither was there any evidence found for interaction effects between the language groups and the factors selected. There was only one factor, previous educational level, which showed significant difference between high school and college subjects. (Khampang, 1974: 218). Different language groups did not affect the subject students performance in the usage of English prepositions. Again, age, sex or the number of years or hours per week allotted for learning English were not important factors in mastering the usage of English prepositions. As for the question about whether certain prepositions were more difficult or easier for certain language groups, the writer had to use the criterion of difficulty in order to answer it. If a group had less than 50% of the responses correct, then the test item was considered difficult. 16 out of the 45 items were considered difficult, and the data showed that not all the four groups had the same responses for the test items. Khampang gave some statements that, as he said, are applicable to ESL teaching. He said that of the three test parts, the close test seemed to be more effective than the other parts in testing the usage of English prepositions. He also argues that to teach them English, there is no need to separate students of English by age, sex, or number of years or hours allotted for learning English. Diagnostic and placement tests came out to be more effective than considering the students L1 backgrounds. Moreover, for a heterogeneous language group, the way of teaching English prepositions of time and place should be the same for all students, along with emphasising the areas of difficulty in English language learning for a particular language group. This last statement is the real objective behind error analysis. Im researching Syrian university students preposition errors in order to see if the errors are as a result of the interference of their first language, Arabic. This will help us devel op strategies to teach those students. An investigation on the grammatical errors made by Swedish 16-year-old learners of English was made by Kohlmyr (2003). She analysed errors in around 400 compositions from two national assessment programmes, and she found that preposition errors accounted for 12% of all the grammatical errors. The preposition errors that were mainly found with to, in, at, of and for included substitution, omission and addition. The most frequent type of error was actually substitution. According to this research, the preposition errors were caused by first language transfer, over-generalisation and simplification. About 50% of the errors were caused by over-generalisation, 40% by first language transfer and 10% by simplification. Gabrys-Biskup argues that interference is the prime cause of the learners second language (in Arnauld Benjoint, 1992). All of the above research articles focused on learner English. Some of them also focused on the usage of English prepositions by EFL learners; for instance, the research done by Scott and Khampang. Scott, in her research, found that the usage of English prepositions was a serious problem for Arabic learners of English (1973). While Khampang said that different language groups did not have effect on the students performance in using English prepositions (1974). That suggests that the usage of English prepositions are a serious problem for learners of English as a foreign language. In Scotts research, preposition errors ranked second after verb errors, and in Mukattashs, they ranked fourth. In both cases, preposition errors are problematic for Arabic learners of English. Also, in Kerrs research study, the preposition errors constituted between 20% and 30% of the overall grammatical errors. Some of the above researchers gave some recommendations and suggestions for dealing with errors. Kerr (1970) said that preventive and remedial teaching had a good and positive effect. This can be done by using clearer explanations and more effective practice at the elementary stage. However, Tadros (1979) suggested intensive drilling. On the other hand, Scott suggested that further investigations should be made on the errors that are committed by Arabic learners of English at their lower levels of English proficiency (1973). She also suggested that researches should look into the influence of classical and colloquial Arabic on Arabic students written English. These suggestions, in addition to my interest, have urged me to conduct a research study into this problematic area for Syrian learners of English, especially since there have not been many studies on this topic, as far as I know. Even at more advanced levels of English proficiency, Syrian learners of English still make errors in the usage of prepositions. The kind of error they make is due to the mother tongue, and since Arabic has two varieties (formal and colloquial), it is worth investigating which one the learners take their English grammar structures from. Scott (1974) says that the English production of Arabic learners is affected by both formal and colloquial Arabic. Nevertheless, we do not know which variety is dominant and to what extent. 3. Methodology and research procedures 3.1. Research questions In this research study, I will look into the preposition usage errors made by Syrian university students and try to answer the following questions: 1. Which kind of error is more effective in using the English prepositions in, on, at, of and to: inter-language interference or other kinds of error? 2. Which variety of Arabic has the influence on the usage of English prepositions of Syrian university students and w

Purpose Of The External Audit Report Accounting Essay

Purpose Of The External Audit Report Accounting Essay This assignment is going to include a discussion on the perception of the external audit report, an explanation how and why wording in the external audit report has evolved, as well as an explanation and discussion on the IAASBs proposals and a comment on possible future developments. Purpose of the external audit report When dealing with the purpose of the external audit report it comes down to who is being asked the question as there are many perceptions as to what exactly the purpose actually is. The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia believe The objective of the financial statement audit is to add credibility to managements financial statements. (The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia 2008). They also go on to say how an audit allows different user groups to feel more confident in an entitys financial statements because there is reasonable assurance that a true and fair view is present. (The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia 2008) However some users of accounts see things differently Others felt that the auditor should not only provide an audit opinion, but also interpret the financial statements in such a manner that the user could evaluate whether to invest in the entity (McEnroe Martens, 2001: 347). Looking at things from yet another angle the law also has an opinion on the purpose of auditors and audit reports, in the famous case of Kingston Cotton Mills Co. (1896) Lord Justice Lopez stated An auditor is not bound to be a detective, or, as was said to approach his work with suspicion, or with a foregone conclusion that there is something wrong. He is a watchdog, not a bloodhound. (Court of Appeal 1896) Basically meaning the audit report can never be guaranteed to have zero errors. To summarise things a just definition that probably would be accepted by a majority of parties is that the purpose of an external audit report is to express an opinion as to whether or not the information presented in the financial statements reflects the financial position of an organisation at a particular date, thereby providing reasonable assurance of a true and fair view. However different users will most likely always perceive the purpose slightly differently to each other, removing the expectations gap is easier said than done. Public accounting professions will have to react and evolve fast enough to keep up to pace with the changing business and social environment to completely eliminate the gap. (Sherer Turley, 1997) How and why the wording in the external audit report has evolved One reason as to why the wording of external audit reports evolved was the fact that terminology in the reports was not always interpreted the same way, existing audit reports are misunderstood by many readers (Bailey, Bylinski Shields, 1983: 355) (McEnroe Martens, 2001: 348) The table above shows how the phrase present fairly was perceived in different ways not only by investors but also by auditors themselves. Although there were proposals to have this phrase removed from the audit report strong resistance from the financial community meant it was never enacted. Terminology being interpreted differently led to an information gap and to counter this as well as enhance overall communication between auditors and financial statement users, the Cohen commission and Treadway commission made many recommendations. One proposal which was successful and lead to a change was the addition of a paragraph explaining the scope of the audit (PCAOB 2011). Another reason for change is the planned global harmonisation of standards. With the ASB and IAASB planning on converging U.S GAAS and the International Standards on auditing there became a need to provide more consistency across international borders. (Morris Thomas, 2011) One way to ensure the wording is clearer and easier to understand is the new definitions section, The Definitions section defines any terms or expressions that are being introduced in a standard for the first time. (Morris Thomas, 2011: 2) The wording of the external audit report has evolved because what is being demanded has changed. Users want greater clarity along with more transparency because more than ever individuals want a deeper insight in to an audited firms financial statements, which is probably a result of the recent financial crisis which hit the global business world with no clear warnings. (Bussiere Fratzscher 2006) However the difficulty lies in finding cost effective solutions which still enable some form of commonality to maintain consistency internationally. IAASBs proposals The IAASB has proposed the inclusion of an Auditor Commentary section. This would help users of the statements understand more what exactly the auditor is doing and the processes he carries out to develop an opinion, meaning there may be a reduction in the expectations gap. However the commentary relies on the auditors judgement on what is most likely to be important, meaning different auditors may reach different conclusions, which could in turn lead to differences of opinion; this may affect the harmonisation of audit reports and comparability. Also the commentary would be provided at the discretion of the auditor, meaning more time and effort would have to go in to each audit but with no extra fee, one may question the cost effectiveness. However other entities such as investors may benefit because increased understanding may lead to greater usefulness when it comes to decision making. An alternative could be a universal section explaining audited financial statements or the audit ; even though no two audits are exactly alike this approach could still help develop basic understanding and would also ease the auditors tasks. One may expect investors and shareholders would be in favour of the proposal whilst auditors may not be as pleased unless fees also increase proportionally. Another proposal is to assess managements assumptions in a conclusion. A conclusion including the appropriateness of the going concern assumption and whether material uncertainties have been identified may help point out early issues that need to be dealt with, this could in fact prevent future unexpected financial crisis from occurring and may also increase financial statement transparency. However the report should be neither overly optimistic or pessimistic. One may also expect a reduction in the information gap. Its fair to say most stakeholders would be in favour of this proposal, apart from managers of course. Also proposed was a statement as to whether any material inconsistencies between the audited financial statements and other information have been indentified, this may enhance the report providing a clearer and maybe even a more complete picture of a firm and operations. An issue is that not all future events can be predicted accurately and so a statement about the absence of material uncertainties is not a guarantee, users may misinterpret this which would widen the expectations gap. Prominent placement of the auditors opinion and other entity- specific information along with further suggestions to provide transparency were also proposed. This may help assist when it comes to navigating through complex financial statements and will also help point out specific areas were the auditors effort was focused. A narrowing of the information and expectation gap may be the outcome however one could argue changes to the audit report alone may not be enough and that information outside of statements also has to improve to provide a more meaningful change. A possible alternative could therefore be to provide authoritative educational material maintained by the IAASB, in a sense helping users navigate through reports more freely although the problem which arises here is a general guide may not be specific enough. Possible future developments Users of financial statements seem to be in agreement that audit reports need to improve and welcome the fact that the IAASB has sought improvement I am fully supportive of your current initiative (Robert Mednick, 2012), however not all users believe the suggestions made are appropriate we do not agree with the proposals (Roger Harrington, 2012). To summarise some stakeholders believe the proposals given would just lead to a duplication of information provided by managers and that the report would become prone to boilerplate commentary. (WESTWORTH KEMP, 2012) Although they may provide more information to underpin the pass or fail opinion there may be potential for increased audit costs. It may be appropriate to not make some aspects of the improvements mandatory and instead include a voluntary element. Also any going concern commentary should be clear and evident to users so that comments are not taken out of context. However a lot of users agreed with the proposed changes and with a few minor adjustments believed they would be affective, in general, the suggested improvements are appropriate( ACCA, 2012), so in the near future one may see the suggestions made put in to effect. Conclusion To conclude my research suggests that audit reports need to evolve and improve to keep up with the changing business and social environment and the IAASBs proposals are a step in the right direction. Although the suggestions made could have an inverse impact the potential for benefit vastly outweighs this. The proposals target a number of issues such as transparency and usefulness and have the capability to be operated internationally. However one may be concerned by users misunderstanding comments which would then widen the expectations gap. Word count: 1541 References Journal Article McEnroe Martens, JEM SCM, 2001. Auditors and Investors Perceptions of the Expectation Gap. American Accounting Association Accounting Horizons, Vol 15 No. 4 , 345-358. Journal Article with two authors Bussiere Fratzscher, MB MF, 2006. Towards a new early warning system of  ¬Ã‚ nancial crises.  Journal of International Money and Finance, vol 25 issue 6, 953-973. Journal Article with three or more authors Bailey, Bylinski Shields, KEB, JHB MDS, 1983. Effects of Audit Report Wording Changes on the Perceived Message.  Journal of Accounting Research, vol 21 No. 2, 355-370. Electronic Journal Article Morris Thomas, JTM CWT, 2011. Clarified Auditing Standards: The Quiet Revolution Redrafting brings both significant and subtle changes.  Journal of accountancy, [Online]. vol 212 no. 6, 1-5. Available at: http://www.journalofaccountancy.com/Issues/2011/Jun/20113792.htm?action=print  [Accessed 21 December 2012]. Book with two authors Sherer Turley, MS ST, 1997.  Current Issues in Auditing  . 3rd ed. SAGE. Website ACCA. 2012.  IFAC. [ONLINE] Available at:  http://www.ifac.org/sites/default/files/publications/exposure-drafts/comments/TECH-CDR-1134.pdf. [Accessed 24 December 12]. Court of Appeal. 1896.  in Re Kingston Cotton Mill Company. [ONLINE] Available at:https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=vq=cache:es7g__ZhMQcJ:oxcheps.new.ox.ac.uk/new/casebook/cases/Cases%2520Chapter%25203/In%2520Re%2520Kingston%2520Cotton%2520Mill%2520Company.doc+hl=engl=ukpid=blsrcid=ADGEESi-yvPPgWKz2uXlc1x-nczMt8_8SwD5LS3GUKqD91xzDPjpel3Wb3jz5wuRbcvvLuSbU0n-hrVB219b2nbSDucvGe6M1_zbbPDznPNgySGRthAbob0hPvSfUxDOxNyqw7joD4sig=AHIEtbSArCbzy46PFrwiGFwW9sR4r4_q_Q. [Accessed 20 December 12]. WESTWORTH KEMP. 2012.  IFAC. [ONLINE] Available at:  http://www.ifac.org/sites/default/files/publications/exposure-drafts/comments/%20Response%20to%20IASB%20cover%20letter.pdf. [Accessed 24 December 12]. PCAOB. 2011.  Auditors Reporting Model. [ONLINE] Available at:  https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=vq=cache:zgMg6vjULngJ:pcaobus.org/Rules/Rulemaking/Docket034/Concept_Release.pdf+hl=engl=ukpid=blsrcid=ADGEEShbtsssuJKbqau2HByCha6ceGn0TerZkO2rSZIgCwab7oP3VrEKByouZvO5KNp9GelZwSr4yKTLA0ifzzYvyCaUZqC5io_C4hw_kIFbqFRqW0B0-VZD-BRfFPv4BXPWyp30WLq4sig=AHIEtbSRPJv8F4PlAwjESC9_dYMb5zV2hA. [Accessed 21 December 12]. Robert Mednick. 2012.  IFAC. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.ifac.org/sites/default/files/publications/exposure-drafts/comments/Bob%20Mendick.pdf. [Accessed 24 December 12]. Roger Harrington. 2012.  IFAC. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.ifac.org/sites/default/files/publications/exposure-drafts/comments/IAASB%20auditor%20reporting_BP%20final%20letter.pdf. [Accessed 24 December 12]. The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia. 2008.  The role and function of external auditors  . [ONLINE] Available at:  https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=vq=cache:-a3oYjL5QZMJ:www.charteredaccountants.com.au/~/media/Files/Students/Educators/The%2520role%2520and%2520function%2520of%2520external%2520auditors.ashx+purpose+of+external+audit+reporthl=enpid=blsrcid=ADGEESjNR071rP0bdpjegrZugcckMQf624dKlOBe-5k2KXxKGtEIrcAzex4Tu9z9SCvvTW940KbpqVjrb5AEk6dCGHv1y5yirgdDrDKbnnP2OSuT3p89CjCFN7TPDlCQuIxIam7VQjCxsig=AHIEtbT1FCvNCrztdhXarps3bxYVpP3b2w. [Accessed 19 December 12].