My Fair Lady Study Guide free essay sample

My Fair Lady Alan Jay Lerner acquaintance, Colonel Pickering, that after six months of lessons with him, he could teach Eliza to speak with such a pure upper-class accent that no one would be able to tell where she came from. Chapter 2: Elizas father, Alfred Doolittle was thrown out of the pub as he hasnt got enough money to pay for his drinks. Eliza gives him some money. About the author My Fair Lady was originally a stage musical based on the play Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw. Alan Jay Lerner adapted George Bernard Shaws play for he musical My Fair Lady. Alan Jay Lerners words for the songs use many of the spoken words in Shaws play. This was partly because Lerner, by law, had to stay as close as possible to the original. The Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) was born In Dublin, but moved to London when he was twenty, and soon began publishing articles and reviews in London magazines. We will write a custom essay sample on My Fair Lady: Study Guide or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page After writing five unsuccessful novels. he turned to play writing in the 1890s, but did not achieve popular success until 1904. His plays surprised theatre audiences of the time because of their serious attention to philosophical deas, moral questions and current social problems. Many of them such as Caesar and Cleopatra, Man and Superman, and Saint Joan, as well as Pygmalion † are still very popular today, and many have been filmed. Shaw was a socialist who believed in equality of income and the abolition of private property. He also supported womens rights. He believed that many of the worlds greatest problems could be solved by rational, scientific tnlnKlng . He recelvea tne Nonel Prlze Tor Llterature In 1925. Summary My Fair Lady tells the story of Eliza Doolittle, who is a poor girl selling flowers on London streets until she meets Henry Higgins, a professor of linguistics. Chapter 1: Higgins hears Eliza shouting in her harsh Cockney accent in Covent Garden. He says to his new c Pearson Education Limited 2008 Chapter 3: Eliza finds her way to the professors house and offers him money to give her lessons. Pickering is intrigued and offers to pay for the cost if Higgins can really back up his claim. Higgins is interested in the experiment, and agrees. An intensive makeover of Elizas speech, manners, and dress begins in preparation for her appearance at the Embassy Ball. Chapter 4: Elizas father comes to Higgins to extract some money from him. Higgins is impressed by the way he speaks. Meanwhile, Eliza goes through many forms of speech training. Just as things seem hopeless, Higgins softens his harsh attitude and she suddenly gets it. Chapter 5: Higgins takes her on her first public appearance to Ascot Racecourse. She makes a good impression, but shocks everyone by her Cockney accent and slang when she gets excited. She captures the heart of a young man named Freddy Eynsford-Hill. Chapter 6: Finally, Higgins takes Eliza out to the Embassy Ball, where she stuns everyone. After the ball, Higgins is so excited about his triumph and his pleasure that the xperiment is now over. Eliza feels used and abandoned. Chapter 7: She walks out on Higgins and goes back to Covent Garden, but nobody recognises her now. She sees her father there and finds out that hes getting married. Chapter 8: After Eliza is gone, Higgins soon realises that he has grown accustomed to her face. Higgins finds Eliza at his mothers house, and he attempts to talk her into coming back to him. Eliza rejects him and leave. Chapter 9: Higgins makes his way home, missing Eliza very much. He plays his recordings to listen to Elizas voice. To Higginss great delight, Eliza returns to him. About the film I ne IY04 Tllm 0T tne muslcal was enormously popular all over the world and won eight Oscars, including those for Best Picture, Best Actor (Rex Harrison), Best Director (George Cukor) and Best Costume Design. Alan Jay My Fair Lady Teachers notes of 3 Lerner was nominated for an Oscar for his adaptation of George Bernard Shaws play. The costume design was the work of Sir Cecil Beaton (1904-1980), who was one of the most fashionable photographers and designers in Britain in the 1950s and early 60s. He was particularly famous for his elegant photographs of the most beautiful women of his day. Audrey Hepburn who did not receive an Oscar or even a nomination for her performance as Eliza Doolittle was a world famous star when the film was made, and probably remains one of the best-loved Hollywood actresses of all time. She was born in 1929 in Belgium, of Irish-Dutch parents, and brought up in Holland. She had small roles in films in England from 1948 to 1951, but then moved to the US, where she became a star with films such as Roman Holiday (1953), sabrtna (1954), Funny Face (1957) and Breakfast at Tiffanys (1961). Audiences fell in love with her charm and beauty, and she was one of the greatest nfluences on womens fashion of the 1950s. When she got older she gave much more of her time to charity than to acting. She died in 1993. The musicals unforgettable songs were of course one of the greatest attractions of the film. Although Rex Harrisons singing voice is heard throughout, Audrey Hepburns songs were only partly sung by the actress herself. The producer, Jack Warner, would not let her sing, and a professional singer Marni Nixon was brought in to dub her own voice over that of Hepburns. Background ana tnemes Pygmalion was first performed in 1913 in Vienna, and published and performed in London in 1916. The story is very much the same as it appears in My Fair Lady, except that the musical version made the relationship between Eliza Doolittle and Professor Higgins more romantic. In the play, as the musical, Eliza grows in confidence and independence and finally wins Higginss respect. But in a postscript to the play, Shaw said that Eliza went on to marry Freddy Eynsford-Hill, not Higgins. Shaw partly modelled the character of Higgins on a real linguist, Henry Sweet (1845-1912), who was one of the first people to study phonetics in England. Accent: At the time of this story, speaking with a proper ccent meant a higher social status. If Eliza can speak with an upper-class accent, she would be able to leave the street and find a respectable Job. Relationship between Eliza and Higgins: Speaking without a very strong London accent is not the only goal Eliza is after. She has another battle on her hands: to make Higgins see her as a person, not Just as an interesting experiment. Men vs. women: The story shows the caring attitude of women, such as Mrs Pearce and Mrs Higgins. Higgins, however, doesnt appreciate it and says, Why cant women be more like men? Discussion activities Chapter 1 Before reading 1 Discuss: Talk about musicals. Ask students if they have seen Pygmalion or My Fair Lady. If they have, put them into groups and tell them to discuss the good and bad things about them. If they havent, ask them to discuss good and bad points of musicals at the theatre and on film. After reading 2 Retell: Have students work in small groups. They look at the pictures on pages 3 and 5, and take turns to retell the story of Chapter 1. Encourage them to describe the characters, e. g. how they look, how they talk, what they are doing, etc. Palr work: ell students aoout tne Internatlonal Phonetic Alphabet (PA) if they dont know it. Get them to look in their dictionaries. Do some dictionary work to practise phonetics. See the examples below: a Give students some phonetic symbols, e. g. /o/, /a/,/a/JT/, etc. Then have students look for the words with those symbols. b Give students some words and have them look them up in their dictionaries. Ask some individual students to write the words with phonetic symbols on the board. c Write some words using the phonetic symbols on the board. Have students guess what the words are. Chapters 2-3 4 Discuss and predict: Talk about Alfred Doolittle. Have students look at the picture on page

Recent Legal History of the Death Penalty in America

Recent Legal History of the Death Penalty in America While capital punishment – the death penalty – has been an integral part of the American judicial system since the colonial period, when a person could be executed for offenses like witchcraft or stealing grapes, the modern history of American execution has been shaped largely by political reaction to public opinion. According to data on capital punishment collected by the federal government’s Bureau of Justice Statistics, a total of 1,394 people were executed under sentences handed down by federal and state civilian courts from 1997 to 2014. However, there have been extended periods in recent history during which punitive death took a holiday. Voluntary Moratorium: 1967-1972 While all but 10 states allowed the death penalty in the late 1960s, and an average of 130 executions per year were being carried out, public opinion turned sharply against the death penalty. Several other nations had dropped the death penalty by the early 1960s and legal authorities in the U.S. were starting to question whether or not executions represented cruel and unusual punishments under the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Public support for the death penalty reached its lowest point in 1966, when a Gallup poll showed only 42% of Americans approved of the practice. Between 1967 and 1972, the U.S. observed what amounted to a voluntary moratorium on executions as the U.S. Supreme Court wrestled with the issue. In several cases not directly testing its constitutionality, the Supreme Court modified the application and administration of the death penalty. The most significant of these cases dealt with juries in capital cases. In a 1971 case, the Supreme Court upheld the unrestricted right of juries to both determine guilt or innocence of the accused and to impose the death penalty in a single trial. Supreme Court Overturns Most Death Penalty Laws In the 1972 case of Furman v. Georgia, the Supreme Court issued a 5-4 decision effectively striking down most federal and state death penalty laws finding them arbitrary and capricious. The court held that the death penalty laws, as written, violated the cruel and unusual punishment provision of the Eighth Amendment and the due process guarantees of the Fourteenth Amendment. As a result of Furman v. Georgia, more than 600 prisoners who had been sentenced to death between 1967 and 1972 had their death sentences commuted. Â   Supreme Court Upholds New Death Penalty Laws The Supreme Courts decision in Furman v. Georgia did not rule the death penalty itself to be unconstitutional, only the specific laws by which it was applied. Thus, the states quickly began to write new death penalty laws designed to comply with the courts ruling. The first of the new death penalty laws created by the states of Texas, Florida and Georgia gave the courts wider discretion in applying the death penalty for specific crimes and provided for the current bifurcated trial system, in which a first trial determines guilt or innocence and a second trial determines punishment. The Texas and Georgia laws allowed the jury to decide punishment, while Floridas law left the punishment up to the trial judge. In five related cases, the Supreme Court upheld various aspects of the new death penalty laws. These cases were: Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U.S. 153 (1976)Jurek v. Texas, 428 U.S. 262 (1976)Proffitt v. Florida, 428 U.S. 242 (1976)Woodson v. North Carolina, 428 U.S. 280 (1976)Roberts v. Louisiana, 428 U.S. 325 (1976) As a result of these decisions, 21 states threw out their old mandatory death penalty laws and hundreds of death row prisoners had their sentences changed to life in prison. Execution Resumes On January 17, 1977, convicted murderer Gary Gilmore told a Utah firing squad, Lets do it! and became the first prisoner since 1976 executed under the new death penalty laws. A total of 85 prisoners - 83 men and two women - in 14 U.S. states were executed during 2000. Current Status of the Death Penalty As of January 1, 2015, the death penalty was legal in 31 states: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wyoming. Nineteen states and the District of Columbia have abolished the death penalty: Alaska, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. Between the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976 and 2015, executions have been carried out in thirty-four states. From 1997 to 2014, Texas led all death penalty-legal states, carrying out a total of 518 executions, far ahead of Oklahoma’s 111, Virginia’s 110, and Florida’s 89. Detailed statistics on executions and capital punishment can be found on the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ Capital Punishment website.

Biography of Strom Thurmond, Segregationist Politician

Biography of Strom Thurmond, Segregationist Politician Strom Thurmond was a segregationist  politician who ran for president in 1948 on a platform opposed to civil rights for African Americans. He later served 48 years- an astonishing eight terms- as a U.S. Senator from South Carolina. In the later decades of his career, Thurmond obscured his views on race by claiming that he had only ever been opposed to excessive federal power. Early Life and Career James Strom Thurmond was born December 5, 1902 in Edgefield, South Carolina. His father was an attorney and prosecutor who was also deeply involved in state politics. Thurmond graduated from Clemson University in 1923 and worked in local schools as an athletic coach and teacher. Thurmond became Edgefield Countys director of education in 1929. He was  tutored in law by his father and was admitted to the South Carolina bar in 1930, at which point he became a county attorney. At the same time, Thurmond was becoming involved with politics, and in 1932 he was elected as a state senator, a position he held in 1938. After his term as state senator ended, Thurmond was appointed a state circuit judge. He held that position until 1942, when he joined the U.S. Army during World War II. During the war, Thurmond served in a civil affairs unit, which was charged with creating governmental functions in newly liberated territories. The position was not a sedate one: Thurmond landed in Normandy aboard a glider on D-Day, and saw action in which he took Germans soldiers prisoner. Following the war, Thurmond returned to political life in South Carolina. Running a campaign  as a war hero, he was elected governor of the state in 1947. Dixiecrat Presidential Campaign In 1948, as President Harry S. Truman moved to integrate the U.S. military and embark on other civil rights initiatives, southern politicians responded with outrage. The Democratic Party in the South had long stood for segregation and Jim Crow rule, and as Democrats gathered for their national convention in Philadelphia, southerners reacted fiercely. One week after the Democrats convened in July 1948, leading southern politicians gathered for a breakaway convention in Birmingham, Alabama. Before a crowd of 6,000, Thurmond was nominated as the groups presidential candidate. The splinter faction of the Democratic Party, which became known in the press as the Dixiecrats, pledged opposition to President Truman. Thurmond spoke  at the convention, where he denounced Truman and claimed that Trumans program of civil rights reforms betrayed the South. The efforts of Thurmond and the Dixiecrats posed a serious problem for Truman. He would be facing Thomas E. Dewey, a Republican candidate who had already run for president, and the prospect of losing the electoral votes of southern states (which had long been known as The Solid South) could be disastrous. Thurmond campaigned energetically, doing all he could to cripple Trumans campaign. The strategy of the Dixiecrats was to deny both major candidates a majority of electoral votes, which would throw the presidential election into the House of Representatives. If the election went to the House, both candidates would be forced to campaign for the votes of members of Congress, and southern politicians assumed that they could force candidates to turn against civil rights. On Election Day  1948, what became known as the States Rights Democratic ticket won the electoral votes of four states: Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Thurmonds home state of South Carolina. However, the 39 electoral votes Thurmond received did not prevent Harry Truman from winning the election. The Dixiecrat campaign was historically significant as it marked the first time the Democratic voters in the South began to turn away from the national party over the issue of race. Within 20 years, Thurmond would play a role in the major realignment of the two major parties, as the Democrats became the party associated with civil rights and the Republicans veered towards conservatism. Famous Filibuster After his term as governor ended in 1951, Thurmond returned to private law practice. His political career seemed to have ended with the Dixiecrat campaign, as establishment Democrats resented the danger he had posed to the party in the 1948 election. In 1952, he vocally opposed the candidacy of Democratic nominee Adlai Stevenson. As the issue of civil rights began to build in the early 1950s, Thurmond began speaking out against integration. In 1954 he ran for a U.S. Senate seat in South Carolina. Without support from the party establishment, he ran as a write-in candidate, and against the odds, he won. In the summer of 1956, he received some national attention by once again urging southerners to split off and form a third political party that would stand for states rights, which meant, of course, a policy of segregation. The threat didnt materialize for the election of 1956. In 1957, as Congress debated a civil rights bill, southerners were outraged but most accepted that they did not have the votes to stop the legislation. Thurmond, however, chose to make a  stand. He took to the Senate floor on the evening of August 28, 1957 and began speaking. He held the floor for 24 hours and 18 minutes,  setting a record for a Senate filibuster. Thurmonds marathon speech brought  him national attention  and made him even more popular with segregationists. But it did not stop the bill from passing. Changing Party Alignments When Barry Goldwater ran for president in as a Republican in 1964, Thurmond broke from the Democrats to support him. And as the Civil Rights Movement transformed America in the mid-1960s, Thurmond was one of the prominent conservatives who migrated from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party. In the election of 1968, the support of Thurmond and other new arrivals to the Republican Party helped  secure the victory of Republican candidate Richard M. Nixon. And in following decades, the South itself transformed from a Democratic stronghold to a Republican bastion. Later Career Following the tumult of the 1960s, Thurmond forged a somewhat more moderate image, leaving behind his reputation as a segregationist firebrand. He became a fairly conventional senator, focusing on pork barrel projects that would help his home state. In 1971, he made news when he became one of the first southern senators to hire a black staff member. The move, his obituary in the New York Times later noted, was a reflection of increased African American voting because of legislation he had once opposed. Thurmond was easily elected to the Senate every six years, only stepping down a few weeks after reaching the ago of 100. He left the Senate in January 2003 and died soon after, on June 26, 2003.   Legacy A few months after Thurmonds death, Essie-Mae Washington-Williams came forward and revealed that she was Thurmonds daughter.  Washington-Williams mother, Carrie Butler, was an African-American woman who, at age 16, had been employed as a domestic worker at Thurmonds family home. During that time, the 22-year-old Thurmond had fathered a child with Butler. Raised by an aunt, Washington-Williams only learned who her real parents were when she was a teenager. Though Thurmond never publicly acknowledged his daughter, he provided financial support for her education, and Washington-Williams occasionally visited his Washington  office. The revelation that one of the Souths most ardent segregationists had a  biracial daughter created controversy. Civil Rights leader Jesse Jackson commented to the New York Times, He fought for laws that kept his daughter segregated and in an inferior position. He never fought to give her first-class status. Thurmond  led the movement of southern Democrats as they  migrated to the Republican Party as an emerging conservative bloc. Ultimately, he left a legacy through his segregationist policies and the transformation of the major U.S. political parties.   Strom Thurmond Fact Facts Full Name: James Strom ThurmondOccupation: Segregationist politician and U.S. Senator for 48 years.Born: December 5, 1902 in Edgefield, South Carolina, USADied: June 26, 2003 in Edgefield, South Carolina, USAKnown For: Led the Dixiecrat revolt of 1948 and embodied the realignment of the two major  political parties around the issue of race in America. Sources Walz, Jay. Carolinian Sets Talking Record. New York Times, 30 August 1957, p. 1.Hulse, Carl. Lott Apologizes Again on Words About 48 Race. New York Times, 12 December 2002, p 1.Clymer, Adam. Strom Thurmond, Foe of Integration, Dies at 100. New York Times, 27 June 2003.Janofsky, Michael. Thurmond Kin Acknowledge Black Daughter. New York Times, 16 December 2003.James Strom Thurmond. Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2nd ed., vol. 15, Gale, 2004, pp. 214-215. Gale Virtual Reference Library.

Eassy of <A Thousand Splendid Suns> Essay

Eassy of - Essay Example Miriam had lost her baby 7 times, giving Rasheed reason to treat her as a worker and violate her frequently. In addition, the author develops the story of Laila; she has a nice and unbroken family, and she learns lots of knowledge from school and from her father. However, a rocket destroys her house and family when they decide to leave Kabul. Her parents die and she is also wounded. Consequently, she has to get married to Rasheed to earn a living because she finds that she is carrying her childhood lover’s child, Tariq. In general, the author depicts Mariam and Laila as poor Afghan women, who have similar experiences living with Rasheed. However, they become best friends after Aziza’s birth. From the analysis of the novel, it can be concluded that although life is unbearable for both Mariam and Laila, only Laila is able to make the decision to leave Rasheed and seek a better life. Mariam is not able to take a risk because she has a broken family. Mariam grows up only with her mother. She does not feel her father’s love even though her father comes to see her once a week. Nana says to Mariam, â€Å" Like a compass needle that points north, a man’s accusing finger always finds a women.( Hosseini, 7). However, she thinks Jalil is a very nice father although he visits only once a week. She used to expect her father’s visiting because he brings gifts to her and his voice is gentle and soft. Nevertheless, everything changes on Mariam’s fifteenth birthday. Mariam insists on watching movies with her siblings, so she goes into the Herat alone. Jalil does not receive her and even lies to her that he is not there. On the next day, Mariam goes back disappointed and then she is shocked because her mother commits suicide under the tree in front of her kolba. Mariam reckons that she lost her parents in one day, and the reason is her leaving Nana . After she gets married to Rasheed, she does everything Rasheed requires of her because he is the only one that she can

Contemporary issues in HRM Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Contemporary issues in HRM - Essay Example The human resource management requires fighting for the values, ethics, culture, in their organizations, especially in case of diversified working environment which takes place due to globalisation. Fluctuations in the economy, global advancement, workforce diversity and rapidly transforming business as a result of globalisation tend to generate many new challenges for human resource management. Recruitment and management of diversified workforce and checking the availability of skilled labour is another challenge faced by the human resource management. The objective of the study is to analyse how globalisation is leading to adopt standardised human resource management (HRM). The aim is to study the extent of national differences in human resource management as explained by culture and institutions and then draw a conclusion to the study. There lies a significant relationship between globalisation and standardisation. Standardisation of the human resource practices are considered much important and are considered as one of the most critical elements at workplace in the area of globalisation. The concept of globalisation existed for the past several years, but in recent scenario introduction of various technologies has led to the acceleration of globalisation (Friedman, 2007). In order to survive in the global competitive market human resource management is considered to be necessary. The requirement of structuring human resource systems worldwide has mandated the adoption of standardised policies and practices in the global businesses. There exists a lack of awareness in the field of awareness. In discussing issues relating to standardisation in the global organizations, it becomes very obvious for the executives to exhibit lack of awareness in understanding the critical needs of standardisation. Standardisation is e valuated as the vital component in the foundation of globalisation

Decline Catholicism :: essays research papers

Picture this if you will. In the beginning (being 1945) god created a shepherd (the Catholic Church) in which we the sheep followed blindly. Everywhere the shepherd took us, we would follow without complaint. A sheep dared not question the Shepherd or stray from the flock in fear of being labeled a bad sheep (catholic) and suffering the consequences of eternal damnation. But as time went on and the sheep modernized, however the shepherd was stubborn and conservative in his ways and refused to change. So the sheep began to stray from the shepherd with little fear, scattering, going to other pastures and other flocks with other Shepherds. The Shepherd realized his flock was depleting so he began to modernize as well and changed his ways. With this now modern shepherd, the modern sheep began to gradually come back. But living in a modern pasture the relationship between the two had changed. Mr. Houston fellow students, â€Å"What were the reasons for the decline of Catholicism in America since 1945†, this has been the topic of my research for the previous three terms. The previous analogy, although being far fetched, if you put it into perspective outlines my opinion on the development of Catholicism since 1945 to the present day. That initially we followed the Catholic Church unquestionably and devoutly, mass on Sundays, fish on Fridays (etc). But as society modernized and became increasingly secular in education, the media and politics, people began to question some of the church teachings and the church authorities. Though the church, lead by conservatives initially would not change. As Catholics began to move away, the church realizing the situation reassessed their position at Vatican 2, which resulted in the modernized Catholic Church. Consequently from here catholic membership began to increase, however the nature of Catholicism changed. This leads me to my hypothesis: In our modernized secular society, catholic membership began to drop initially, due to the conservative views of the church. As a result of Vatican 2 Catholicism was modernized and membership within the religion was re-established. Although the nature of Catholicism has changed in this age of materialism and consumerism, this does not necessarily indicate direction of decline. Before I begin my findings I would like to define the nature of secularism which is a word you will hear throughout my research. Secularism: rejection of religious and sacred forms and practices in favour of rational assessment and decision-making, and civil institutions of government

Chapter One: Introduction

United States of America, with its rich history of immigrants, is a land of diverse cultures and civilizations. Classrooms have students from many different racial and linguistic groups like White Americans, African Americans, Caucasians, Hispanics, Vietnamese etc. According to the various analysis done by the National Centre for Educational Statistics, the academic performance of the minorities continue to be below standard. Illiteracy or poor schooling background is a common phenomenon not only in rural areas but also in urban areas in many Latin American countries. Although there has been a rise in the number of such students being enrolled in public schools, but as a group they have the lowest level of education and highest dropout rate. Let’s view the present status of the Hispanic students. They make up 15% of the elementary school-age people and will possibly comprise 25% of the total school-age population by the year 2025. It is noticed that over past 20years, their enrollment have risen by 150 %( U.S. Department of Education, 2000). The U.S. Hispanic population is varied in terms of their countries by birth, economic and social status, language skills, family background and education. They have different academic needs as well. They make up 75% of all the students enrolled for limited English proficiency program (LEP), including English as second language program (ESL) and bilingual educational program. As for their academic achievements, the 1996 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) shows that 17 year old Hispanic students were quite below in comparison to other White students in science, mathematics and reading (National Centre of Educational Statistics, 1996). It also brought to light that their drop out rate was very much high as compared to other minority groups and ranked lowest in the comparison of high school completion rate. Furthermore, Baker & Hakuta (1998) state that the number of English language learners (ELL) in the U.S. has grown dramatically in the last decade. According to a 1991 national study, over 2,300,000 students in grades K through 12 are English language learners. This number has grown by over 1,000,000 since 1984. The majority of these students are Spanish-speakers (73%), followed by Vietnamese-speakers (3.9%). Because of the overwhelming proportion of ELL students is Spanish speakers, the issue of bilingual education is largely a Latino one. No other language group makes up more than 4% of limited English proficient students. This fact makes education a complicated issue for language minority students with low socioeconomic status. Most educators and school administrators in American classrooms overlook that English language learners with minimal formal schooling have difficulties managing information input, organizing learning material, following verbal and written instructions, and processing large chunks of new language. Thus, the findings of Ramirez (1991) indicate that Latino students who received sustained L1 instruction throughout elementary school have better academic prospects than those who have not received instruction in their first language or those who received instruction only in English. Consequently, first language illiteracy in Spanish speaking students has negative consequences in the United States as it retards economic and social development. According to the 1993 U.S. Census Bureau, many Hispanic children living in the United States are likely to be from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, particularly those whose families have recently arrived and are depending in minimum-wage jobs. Approximately 40% of Hispanic children live in poverty, compared to the 13% of non-Hispanic white children (Holman, 1997). Similarly, data from the 2003 U.S. Census Bureau shows that 58.4% of Hispanic students have completed high school level compared to 85.8% of White and 80.6% of Black population. Eighty percent of ELL are poor and most attend schools where the majority of students also live in poverty and are English language learners. Such schools are poorly maintained due to lack of funds and fail to provide technologically updated class room environment and well qualified teachers. Poverty and socio economic status have many implications for educational achievement on Hispanic students. For example, parents' income levels and parents' educational achievement is highly linked to that of their children's. They belong to families where the parents themselves are not educated, and therefore lay less importance to schooling and education of their children. Inadequate participation by parents in their child’s education has many other reasons too. They have less time to spend with their family due to heavy load of work taken up to make both ends meet and inability to communicate in English themselves Lack of proficiency in English is another important hurdle for Hispanic students. This is assumed to be the major reason why they fail to graduate from the high school. In typical classrooms, Hispanic students fail to understand the course taught due to the inability to understand the medium of instruction. Thus, their performance always remains low and at times such negative educational experience acts as a reason for their early dropouts and absenteeism .There are various programs installed for teaching English as second language (ESL) in schools yet the dropout rate is on a rise. Terrence (1997) says that state and federally funded bilingual education programs reach only a fraction of eligible students. Three quarters of limited English proficient students receive ESL instruction, while only one-third to one-half of these students receives any instruction in their native language. After working with ESL Hispanic students 9-12 grades at Vance High School in Charlotte, NC for two years, I became aware of the academic underachievement some students were experiencing even after being in the same grade in some cases for up to three consecutive years. Even though the teachers, administrators have put in a lot of effort, but their situation doesn’t seem to be improving. This scenario touched me very much and i developed a particular interest in finding out the causes behind their failures in the classroom and the methodologies which could be implemented to improve the situation. My research will examine and analyze in depth the weaknesses these students bring to the classroom based on the causes of their illiteracy. In addition, I will describe the negative effects of illiteracy in relation to the alarming increase of the growth of Hispanics in the U.S. It is worthwhile to cite Huntley (1992) as she says, â€Å"The problem of illiteracy seems to be increasing and programs to remedy that situation are still inadequate.† Spanish speaking students are not well versed in their native language. Most of the programs already being used don’t stress the importance on reducing first language illiteracy. This in turn has a great influence in learning English as a second language. Illiteracy in the first language causes hurdles in learning a second language. Polishing the first language itself will support and ease the process of learning a second language. There are basically four types of literacy in the first language (L1), which has an impact in English learning (Huntley, 1992). These include literate learners, semi-literate learners, non-literate learners and pre-literate learners. Such kind of L1 literacy backgrounds are usually overlooked by teachers. This research explains the different levels or types of illiteracy in detail and their relative importance in learning English as a Second language for Spanish speaking students. One can say that learning a second language is hard, but it is even harder when there is a lack of literacy skills in the first language. McGee (1978) says, â€Å"We acknowledge that being an adult learner is difficult, that being an adult second language learner is even more difficult, and that being a pre-literate adult second language learner must be nothing short of a painful situation.† Difficulties arising in an individuals' second language learning cannot be properly understood without simultaneous attention to the socio linguistic and socio cultural framework within which learning a second language is occurring. Another major cause of illiteracy in Hispanic students in the United States is attributed to the rate of dropout; this document includes an analysis of a study done by Crawford & Egemba (2003), about the factors that contribute to abandon school on Hispanic students of grades 9-12. They based their analysis on demographic factors, academic ability, family background, school experiences and social influence factors. The variables in this research include academic ability, family socioeconomic status, student gender, employment status, repeating a grade, citizenship status, English proficiency, truancy, urbanicity, gender, friends’ and siblings’ status, substance use, and pregnancy/fatherhood. It is also noticed that the drop out students eventually take part in criminal activities. According to Cassel (2003), â€Å" Today in America one million of the two million prison inmates are high school dropout students and the primary reason for their dropping out of school is a general lack of personal development† (p. 1). This shows how much of a serious issue this ESL drop out learners pose. In addition, this part describes the alarming statistics of Hispanic youth as the fastest growing minority segment in America. It is since 1960s, that many researches have been done to identify the main causes behind such a high drop out rate of Hispanic students. The researches were based on the logic that once the core issue is identified, it would become lot easier to devise measures to resolve it. This theory was termed as deficit theory and has guided much work in this field. The theory assumed that the cultural differences were a reason behind their academic failures. However, in 1970s the trend shifted and many more reasons were highlighted and worked upon. Many researches have been carried out to see what will prove helpful in improving this scenario. Most of the educators believe that such educational crisis can be dealt with the help of better teachers and teaching methods. My research explores the different methodologies to teach preliterate or limited formal schooling ESL Spanish speaking students grades 9-12. Although there are several programs designed to teach English as a Second Language, they mostly promote the use of English as a media of instruction. Few programs neither consider the capacity for literacy in the students’ first language nor promote the study of the student’s native language. Therefore, it is necessary to take into account that English language learners have different literacy levels and come from a diverse socioeconomic background. The research brings to light what could be effective for improving the situation. It will explain how teachers should be educated about the need and use of various teaching tools, seeing which helps the learning better. Curriculum should be designed in a way that provides equal opportunity for such minority students to read and write. It explains how and why the teachers should understand the cultural difference, and use it positively while imparting education. More resources and effective language teaching practices should be adopted for the students who have limited knowledge of English language. It will prove how the adoption of technologically updated teaching methods may go long way in facilitating teacher in meeting the special learning requirements of such students. This includes the usage of visual aids, computers and multimedia, recorders, audio tapes and language masters while teaching students. It is also important that primary or native language is used for the purpose of instructions. Such method, if adopted, would help in concept development and better understanding. It is only through their primary language that the students will effectively learn how to read and write well. This method will also ensure that students don’t fall behind academically while they learn English. For this the teachers themselves have to be fluent and bilingual. Not only this, they also need to be certified to teach ESL students. Only the possession of certificates like BCC (Bilingual Certificate of Competence) or B.-C.L.A.D. (Bilingual-Cross-Cultural, Language and Academic Development Certificate) makes them eligible to teach such students. Teachers with other certificates like L.D.S. can team up with fully certified bilingual teachers to help such students. Overall, this study underscores the importance of L1 instruction as a crucial tool for illiterate Spanish-speaking students in U.S. schools and the need to master literacy skills in their native language before they acquire a second language in order to achieve academically in the mainstream classroom.   According to Cummins (1981), the capacity for literacy in the first language affects in a dramatic fashion the ability to acquire a second language because metacognitive skills are transferred across languages. For the purpose of this research, I present the two main methodologies Bilingual Education and English-Only instruction and their effects in learning a second language being a preliterate in the native language. In bilingual classrooms, interaction is split between the primary language and English language, whereas, in English-only classes English is the only medium of instructions. Various studies have proved that students in such bilingual classrooms are at various academic and linguistic benefits as opposed to the other method. Especially if such method is used for students in pre-school and lower grade levels. This paper discusses in depth the advantages and disadvantages of both methods of instruction. Eventually, my study shows that good bilingual programs should be designed for illiterate ESL learners so as to provide literacy in native language first, so that the input they provide in the target language is comprehensible for them. Being a very controversial topic, its importance deserves more research to determine the effectiveness of each methodology, considering all the variables and the students’ needs. It also shows that Transitional programs (where primary instruction decreases the more English students learn) or Developmental programs (where primary language instruction continues throughout the entire study program) can be used according to the requirement of the students. This research also shows that parental involvement in a child’s education is of utmost importance. This can be done by meeting parents regularly to discuss the academic progress and performance of their child. Not only this, they should also be convinced to encourage their children for higher studies. This will help in reducing the premature dropouts and may also guarantee higher attainment of education. It was proved through various researched how the lack of involvement was a reason behind early drop outs of such students. Thus, if parents become more aware about their role as their child’s partner in learning, they would themselves become the first teachers of their children. It also shows how government can play their role in improving the situation. It can help in establishing special schools for Hispanics, where the fee structure is affordable. Monetary and technological funds can be provided to such schools. Teaching program there should be designed with special care to address the needs and issues of students. At such schools, proper career guidance should be provided and scholarship programs should be introduced. Moreover, government should allocate more funds for the continued research in this area so that better methodologies can be formulated. But it should be remembered that the success of all of these programs depends upon their proper implementation. Not only this, they need to be monitored and upgraded as and when required. Then only can they help in increasing academic achievements of Hispanic ESL students. Improvement in their situation will allow them to make meaningful contribution towards the society. It will prove helpful in social interaction and boost up their confidence. Not only this, better education would open many earning opportunities for them with which they can improve their economic status. English is an official language through out the nation, and having a good command over it means better position to work in. Moreover, know how of another language brings along with it many intrinsic advantages. Various changes come within one’s personality. It gives a better insight to life, brings about tolerance for different life styles, and gives a better ability to express  well. It provides ability to comprehend other cultures. Second-language skills help in providing maximum enjoyment while traveling as well. However, there have been researchers and educationalists have pointed out few drawbacks of bilingualism. But they in no way outstrip its benefits. Being literate doesn’t only mean to possess the ability to read, write, listen and speak. But it means doing all this to a certain adequate level. Certain educationalists go as far as including the abilities to face and solve daily problems and make some contribution towards the society as important requisites of being a literate person.   Standard for what actually is literacy vary from society to society. Literacy rate determines the standard of living and progression of any state. Thus, it is important for all states to address the educational needs and issues of its minorities so that they add up to the success of the nation. References: National Center for Educational Statistics. (1996). NAEP 1996 long-term summary. Washington, DC. Alexander, D., Heaviside, S., & Farris, E. (1999). Status of education reform in public elementary and secondary schools: Teachers’ perspectives. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Huntley, H. S. (1992). 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