Global Cooperation

There is a Chinese proverb that says, “One chopstick is easily broken, but ten pillars chopsticks firmly hold dough.” This reveals a simple rule that unity is much stronger than individuals, and if you do not want to be beaten, you should unite and cooperate against enemies together. This proverb can also be used internationally. Global cooperation is important to maintain economy, and improve safety, peace and the environment. Different countries’ economies are linked together, and influence one another in many ways.

Hence, in the globalized economies people always worry more about the economic growth and crisis. Trade is the activity of exchanging goods and services. There are many trades, for example, to exchange fish for beef or to pay a taxi for its driving. One of the economic principles is that trade makes everyone better off.

International trade is essential in these days because each country cannot provide the product it needs to serve the whole society, or it will cost more opportunity cost such as time and money in some productions.

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In this case, global trade is required. According to the World Trade Organization (WTO), 2013 annual exports valued $18,784,000 million in total merchandise, and valued $4,623,710 million in commercial services (2014). These massive amounts of numbers show the significant value of international trade in the world. China is the largest exporter, and had valued $2,209,626.0 million, which is 11.7 percent of total world merchandises trade in 2013. Also, it had become the world second large economy according to WTO Database.

However, it was only exporting $5,790 million goods and 1.

0 percent of total world trade in 1973 (WTO, 2014). China has an unbelievable growth, and the biggest reason is that China started to switch the closed economy into more tradable market economy and trade much freely with other countries since 1978 (Chinese economic reform). The international trade provides more job opportunities, attracts investments and brings advanced technology, and these are the basic elements in order to gain economic growth. Unfortunately, the drawback of collapsing a big international bank Lehman Brothers is unimaginable – crash the global financial system, credit crunch, and economic regression.

Because of the Asian Crisis in 1997, the Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN) had been more careful against crises such as no risky loans and strengthened nations cooperation. China decided to set up a $ 10 billion total fund in order to support China-ASEAN work and offer $39.7 million aid to help Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar in financial troubles (Yan, W. 2009). International cooperation is needed for people’s safety such as natural disasters. Disasters are extremely powerful and destroy millions of lives. According to America, the Indonesia tsunami, which is caused by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake in the sea near Banda Aceh in 2004 had killed over 150 hundred of people and created millions of homeless among Southern Asia countries and Africa. However, the number was continuously increasing due to injury and disease.

Governments provided about $2 billion to support those countries in the disaster. This was a global cooperation – many organizations such as Catholic Relief Services, the Red Cross, Oxfam, Caritas and Doctors Without Borders helped to save lives from diseases and water pollution. Because the transportations are damaged the supplies were delivered by helicopters and ships, which were supported by United State Military. Meanwhile, individuals’ donations around the world were greater than the governments’ total amounts, and these would be used in future recovery (2005). These international saving was successful and helped for countless people. Peace is a big issue for people because there are still numerous shouting and wars going on. In addition, the most thing that cause these dangerous issues are weapons.

Weapons are made to protect people, however, they have become more and more powerful especially the nuclear weapons. The total nuclear weapons in the world are enough to destroy the earth! Also the negative effect of nuclear bombs not only it can destroy a city immediately but also spread the radiation, which has decades, even different generation influences after exposure. Since 1945, the statistics show that the total war and violent has diminished. However, this kind of weapon is still being produced in many nations. Safety of citizens is questing because of threats of terrorisms.

They can buy or make nuclear weapons and expose “dirty bombs” (Lifton, R. 2013). In this case, terrorists should be stopped; people should be protected and no nuclear weapons’ threat. Non-nuclear weapons are very important and hard to achieve. In addition, it needs global cooperation – every government does their duty to increase the world level of peace. Most importantly, the global environment affects all lives on the earth, and countries should avoid ruining it. First is the global warming issue, it is a big issue that is caused by human activities and has the additional effect of climate change. In 2009, United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen had failed to make a worldwide agreement about emissions reduction (Nordhaus, D. 2011).

This is because the disagreement about the distribution of reducing greenhouse gases and its costs. The decrease in temperature is essential because it would affect everyone on the earth. Nevertheless, without governments’ cooperation this goal cannot be achieved efficiently because different places and regions have different situations and meet variable difficulties. For example, if the cost for imposing a high carbon dioxide emissions tax will generate the decline of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and the influence of economy may even promotes a financial crisis, a government will not choose to do that.

Also, when a country with smaller population but higher per person green house gas emission but another nation which has the opposite situation, their will be conflict when ask them to produce the same amount of emission. These are complicated and hard to negotiate an agreement. However, as the future cost for climate change is too high – decrease in general’s life span and quality, international cooperation cannot stop and require to be done more successfully. Besides, climate change also affects other organisms such as animals and plants. Human activities such as travelling may cause many animals and plants in danger. Decrease in animals and plants will damage the ecological chain even influence the whole planet.

To protect those animals and plants, the Washington Conversation has established in1975, July 1st and called the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, and it goal is to ensure the safety of wild species not dangerous because of international trade (CITES). Because the trade is worldwide and every country will affect neighboring countries, CITES needs to make sure every country does their work to stop threat other species in other countries. In general, many things include economy, human lives and other species are interacting with each individual and country. They will promote different but widespread effects. Because of these facts it needs global cooperation to enhance the quality and safety in these fields. Governments should keep improving international action in order to provide a better world for all of lives.

References

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Crash course. (2013, Sep 7). The Economist. International trade and market access data. (2014). World Trade Organization (WTO). Lifton, R. (2013). The dimensions of contemporary war and violence: How to reclaim humanity from a continuing revolution in the technology of killing. Bulletin Of The Atomic Scientists, 69(4), 9-17. Nordhaus, D. (2011). The architecture of climate economics: Designing a global agreement on global warming. Bulletin Of The Atomic Scientists, 67(1), 9-18. Tsunami. (2005). America.

Yan, W. (2009, April 23). Crisis-Driven cooperation. Beijing Review.

Cooperative Learning

What is cooperative learning? Cooperative learning can be characterized in the following Chinese proverb: Tell me, and I’ll forget Show me, and I’ll remember Involve me, I’ll learn. Cooperative learning can be defined as a strategy for the classroom that is used to increase motivation and retention, to help students develop a positive image of self and others, to provide vehicles for critical thinking and problem solving, and to encourage collaborative social skills (Calderon 1987) Assumptions about cooperative learning 1. Cooperative skills must be learned.

Humans are not born instinctively knowing how to cooperate with others. In the classroom, students will not automatically start cooperating as soon as you put them into small groups. Cooperative group skills must be taught – just like skills in math, reading, writing. Because most students have not been taught to work effectively with others, they can not do it. Traditional forms of education do not encourage cooperative activity; students work independently and compete for recognition with their peers (Slavin 1979). 2. The physical and spatial arrangement of the classroom affects cooperative work.

If students in EFL classes are to cooperate, activities must be structured so that students can cooperate and talk to each other. If they want to have a conversation with someone, they can’t talk facing back-to-back or front-to-back. They need to talk face-to-face. 3. Peer support and group dynamics are the keys to successful group work. The members in the group are the ones who determine how well the group will function. • Will the group share responsibilities or will some group members monopolize the time? • Will they respect each other? • Will low-performing group members be included?

These are all problems that must be solved with the cooperation and support of peers in the group and through well-structured teacher guidance. There must be a careful balance between pressure for learning cooperative skills and support for doing so. The earlier students can be taught these skills, the easier it will be for them to learn how to cooperate (Johnson and Johnson). Strategies for group dynamics Christison and Bassano (1987) have identified 6 strategies for helping teachers understand group dynamics and promote peer support in the second/foreign-language classroom.

Strategy 1: Restructuring. Restructuring activities usually require students to interact physically as a group. Students are given specific instructions for carrying out the task. There is minimal participation by the teacher. These activities help students adjust to future small-group, cooperative experiences by breaking down student expectations for the traditional teacher-controlled classroom. Strategy 2 : One-Centered. These activities put one student in the ‘spotlight’ for a few minutes. Activities are structured so that each student is given individual attention for a limited period of time.

For aggressive students, this “spotlight focus” reaffirms their importance to the group. They are less apt to “steal show” from he other group members when their position has been reaffirmed. For shy students, these successful, one-centered experiences increase the likelihood of contributions in the follow-up discussions and in additional activities later on. Strategy 3: Unified Group. Unified-group activities promote cooperation in the group. Students begin to think about group goals instead of individual goals. Praise and positive reinforcement are given to promote group success.

These activities require the participation of each group member. No members may “bow out”. If someone chooses not to participate, the group can not be successful. Strategy 45: Small group. Small-group activities are more loosely structured than pair activities. They require patience, motivation, and good listening habits. The teacher acts only as a facilitator, so the responsibility for success lies with the group itself. These activities help students develop techniques for fair group interaction. Strategy 5: Large Group. Large-group activities are similar to small group activities in their objectives and structure.

The only difference is the inclusion of a larger number of students requires more skills among group members in fair group interaction. Strategy 4: Dyad. These activities give students the opportunity to work one-to-one with others in the class. Through these activities, students become better acquainted with each other and begin to feel more comfortable sharing personal ideas and views. Almost any activity can be structured . for pair work. Steps in teaching cooperative skills There are four steps that teachers must follow in teaching cooperative skills. 1.

Students need to understand why it is they are doing things differently and how it will help them reach their goals. • Explain why they are doing cooperative work • Do brainstorm session on the possible value of a cooperative group work • Place posters around the room to remind learners of the benefits of cooperative group work. 2. Students must be aware of the necessary skills for successful group work in order to know what they are supposed to do. The teacher should demonstrate and model the skill to further clarify the points to the students. Concentrate on one skill at a time. 3. Students must practice the skill.

The major responsibilities teachers have in cooperative learning are to design and set up practice situations. 4. Students need to process the skills they have practiced. Processing means that students need to become aware of what exactly it is they have practiced and to evaluate how successful they have been in the practice of the skills. Levels of cooperative skills In cooperative learning, setting up practice sessions is the chief responsibility of the teacher. According to Johnson and Johnson (1975), there are 4 levels of cooperative skills that teachers can focus on. These skills can be categorized in the following way.

1. Forming. Forming skills are directed towards organizing the group and establishing behavioral norms. Groups who have mastered the skills of forming can move into their groups quickly and quietly, use quiet voices, stay with their groups for the duration of activity, encourage participation within the group, use group members’ names. Teachers who claim that cooperative group work is too noisy or takes too much time are working with students who have not been allowed to master the skill of forming. 2. Functioning. Functioning skills are directed to completing tasks and maintaining good relationships within a group.

Groups must understand, f. e. , what the time limits are and how the activity should be carried out within their groups, step by step. Activities that focus on the skill of functioning give learners a chance to ask for help, paraphrase previous comments, clarify, explain, and express support. 3. Formulating. The skill of formulating is directed towards helping learners to develop a deeper understanding of the material being studied and to develop better reasoning strategies. Activities that focus on the skill of formulating help learners develop the following strategies: • Summarizing out loud.

• Adding important information to the summary • Pointing out information that may not have been summarized properly • Relating material from a previous activity to the one being focused on 4. Fermenting. The highest-level skill for cooperative groups is fermenting. This skill involves helping learners explore more thoroughly the material the material they have been exposed to. When students can begin to challenge each other’s ideas, to explore different ways of looking at the material and reconceptualize these ideas, they are using the skills of fermenting. Benefits from using cooperative techniques.

• Academic achievement. Most studies that high, average, and low achievers gain equally from the cooperative experience. Wheeler (1977) found that the student affect weighed heavily on the results. Studies also supported the concept that the more tightly structured methods of cooperative group work will have the largest effects on basic skills. Higher-order cognitive skills are best improved by the more open-ended methods used in cooperative learning. • Self-esteem. Through cooperative learning techniques, students can become real partners in the learning enterprise.

Since most consequential problems are solved via collaboration, students who learn to work together in an educational setting are better prepared to meet life’s obligations. Through cooperative learning techniques learners are asked to do things in FLT classroom that they are asked to do in real life - take charge of and responsibility for their own learning. Co-operative learning occurs when students work collaboratively towards a common goal (Panitz, 1996) Achievements are positively correlated with the other cooperating students. Students work together in small clusters or groups.

Effective co-operative learning promotes--positive interdependence - a feeling of connection with other members of the group as they accomplish a common goal - individual accountability - every member of the group is held accountable for the group's achievements - face to face interaction - group members engage at close range and are influenced by each other's verbal communication - social skills - students become aware of the human interaction skills involved in effective group cooperation - group processing - groups may reflect and discuss how well they are functioning as a unit and how effective their working relationships are developed.

Recommended literature: 1. Teacher development making the right moves (Selected articles from the English Teaching forum 1989-1993) Thomas Kral 2. Jean Brewster and Gail Ellis. The Primary English Teacher’s Guide. (Penguin English, 2003). 3. Opal Dunn. Beginning English with young children. Macmillan publishers LTD, 1993 4. Daniel A. Prescott, Ed. D. The child in the educative process, McGraw-hill book company, inc. , 1957. 5. Diane Phillips, Sarah Burwood and Helen Dunford, Oxford University Press, 2005.