Search results for 'tag:IELTS tag:Genders' matching tags 'IELTS' and 'Genders'

Essay-2: Correction

Summer3 — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 10:42:55 GMT

Hi, I am posting another essay. Again, it is for my personal improvement for my future IELTS exam. My exam is scheduled on March 31, 2007. So I am describing some tables, graphs etc. Hope you will understand my request and check my essay for any grammatical mistakes. If you were an examiner, what score would you give?

This table is given on page no. 125 of IELTS preparation book by Wendy Sahanaya and two more writers. I am describing it below.
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The table shows the average incomes of male and female scientists who work for the National Institute of Health. Scientists working for the institute are divided in to two broad categories â MDs and PhDs. Table also shows the salary difference between male scientists and female scientists.

There are total 483 male MDs in comparison to 71 female MDs. The average salary of male MDs is slightly higher than the average salary of female MDs. The number of male PhD scientists is 473, whereas the number of female PhD scientists is 118. The average salary difference between male and female PhD scientists is about 2.5 times greater than the average salary difference between male and female MD scientists.

The number of male lab chief MD scientists is 20 times greater than the number of female lab chief MD scientists. But female lab chief MD scientistsâ average salary is higher than the male lab chief MD scientistsâ average salary. Female scientists of only this category have higher salaries than their male counterparts. The average salary of male and female lab chief PhD scientists is almost similar.

The number of male section chief MD and PhD scientists is several times greater than the number of female section chief MD and PhD scientists. The average salary difference between male and female scientists in these categories is almost same as the average salary difference between male and female MD scientists. The staff fellow PhD scientists, both males and females have the lowest salaries of all.

From this table, we can conclude that females working at same positions are getting lower salaries than their male counterparts. Furthermore, the number of male scientists having MD and PhD is much more than females. It is a surprising fact that there is still gender discrimination even in highly educated positions and departments.

Time â 24 mins, length = 300 words

Re: Inferior dialects?

Randy_Tam — Mon, 19 Dec 2005 09:36:48 GMT

I am not quite close to 'homeless'. I am living at my aunt's home because my granny invited 3 of her siplings to stay... aiya, according to my parents this is going to last 2 weeks or more. I am currently using my uncle's PC just to get here and take a look at what you say. Though I cannot come here as frequently as I used to.

Looking at dictionaries for meanings, phonetic representations whatever does not mean you are forming rules of some sort. I am sorry I didn't include this in describing what a native speaker's going to do with a dictionary... lol. This is especially true with languages belonging to the Sino family, the orthography of which is ideographic, for which reason the phonological form can hardly be guessed just from its shape (I remember I read a passage during my F3 Chinese lessons called <æ¼¢åççµæ§>, in which the author asserted that there's a kind of Chinese letters, the å½¢è²å, whose pronunciations could be guessed. I can hardly agree with this. Even an L1 speaker of Chinese, without prior training, can hardly succeed in this.). This is also true, to a certain extent, of English because of its hybrid source of etymons (... um... I mean the root of a lexical item. I don't really remember the English jargon for it): French, Old English, German, Irish, Greek, Latin... all contribute to the English language as it is today, leading to the lack of consistency between the orthographical and phonological forms of English words. These little 'cracks' of course can not be formulated by the human cognitive system (simply by means of conjecture, etc).

Language is of course not a science, but the STUDY into it can be, just as one may well argue whether translatology is an art or a science.

I am not really sure whether university English courses lay more stress on the scientific side of languages than on the cultural side thereof. To the best of my knowledge, this is not the case. Both are given equal stress. I come to this conclusion from information available to me. Lingnan University, where I am taking my undergraduate yr1 course in Contemporary English and Education, and Chinese University, where a friend of mine is currently a yr2 student in English, both have introductory courses into 'English Grammar', as well as introductory courses into literature in English. The workload is virtually the same for the 2 parts, at least in yr 1. But as the course goes on, more such courses as 'language and culture' or 'sociolinguistics' are available, making the curriculum more relevant to the relationship between language and social factors.

But your statement is true in that Hong Kongers are culturally more and more illiterate, being ignorant not only in foreign cultures but also in their own. Their ignorance in local culture being irrelevant here, I'd like to suggest some plausible reasons why language education from a cultural perspective is losing its ground.

1. It appears students are less motivated (in their learning) these days. What I mean by this is that days at school become more and more dreary: schooling is more or less a long toil, against which students devise one of the most primitive countermeasures known to man --- go have some sleep and look for your Juliet in your dream, handsome Romeo.

But this 'countermeasure' has its roots in that at night students have to attend tutorial classes, which they deem even more useful than classes at school. They having had such classes head back home have their dinner, do some homework and perhaps some reading as well, and, hey mama, I need time to play and relax a while. Voila, time to sleep puppy, it's already 0300 in the midnight. Frankly last year when I was having my A Level, I spent almost 7 hours everyday after school just to revise and read something more (I didn't take tutorial classes, save for economics), it was already 1200 when I returned home from the self - study facilities. It was hell. All this lead to a persistent fatigue in students.

So, the consequence is that, even if the cultural side of language is come across at school, there could hardly be anyone listening (lol.... reminds me of my UE class. Almost 2 / 3 of our class were sleeping if no assignments were given).

2. One may well ask an old question, 'why do students opt for tutorial classes instead of school?' To this old question I give an old answer, 'because students think tutorial classes are more useful, in that they cut the craps and just get straight to the point.' ---> I didn't take tutorials so don't blame me for that. But from what I hear, from my ex - gf (...), my friends, and my classmates, this is the case.

What is meant, then, by 'craps'? ie. anything that is not relevant to the examinations ahead. Examinations, strangely enough, dominate students' minds. My classmates may well think that I am good at linguistics, and so they will immediately conclude, without exception, 'so you must score a high GPA'... Sadly, the thing that is immediately associated with 'good or bad' is a score.

Your suggestion about IELTS (that I took 2 years ago lol without attending any tutorial classes or doing preparations of any sort... just fulfilling your 'minimum requirement' when I was a 6th former) therefore, in this context, does not really render any use in determining the (always abtract) 'language standard' of English teachers. IELTS has nothing about 'culture'. Given that absurd formula (good / bad = score), and given the fact that actually there are tutorial classes given on this test available in Hong Kong, IELTS is simply another UE.

3. These lead to the 3rd possible cause: All that Hong Kong (as a physiological identity separated from its people) wants about English is to make it a little utility: the current English curriculum is concerned with how to use English (as the name of the subject suggests: Use of English), not how to appreciate English as a language or, as Sapir - Whorf's hypothesis suggests, a fruit of a culture. Think about the writing assignments: Letter to the editor, Letter of complaint, Informal letter to a friend (sharing students' own experience perhaps), and essays (on the sheer knowledge on some current social issues). Listening is more or less to make students a 'phono - type', write whatever you hear. (of course, that needs some thought... but what is needed in a real dialogue: any puns suggested? the attitude of the speaker? 'slips of tongue'? all these are absent). Oral~ haha, that's a joke. Just keep talking and make your points understandable to your partners to score high. If this is not enough, sham having some 'foreign accents'. What is the most 'important part' in English exams in Hong Kong, as an interviewee in a programme produced by TVB (name really forgotten, but the programme is great!) pointed out, is 'comprehension', not how to express oneself, accounting for the 'deteriorating English language standard' these days.

4. What makes the situation even worse is the availability of such 'lures' as PC games, movies, and the Internet (-_-... am I not surfing the net?). Students 20 years ago may take pleasure in reading fictions: Le Docteur Pascal, Women in Love, the God of Small Things (I didn't take AL E. Lit.; I really read it for pleasure), Sybil (by Benjamin Disraeli), these are all fictions that I like. But as other forms of leisure can be more easily reached today, reading (to learn from the 'experience of another person': a 'function' of literature) becomes a hefty burden from which every students wants to escape.

So... the entire 'English pedagogic machine' becomes a miserable thing brewing students who treat English as nothing more than a tool to show their 'erudition', as is observed from the fact that complaint letters written in English to the Government or to such other authorities as concerned are paid more attention to, even if the author thereof is a Hong Konger. I do not mean Hong Kongers are in their nature 'inferior' to non - Hong Kongers. What I am trying to bring out is that there exists a sort of 'linguistic discrimination', even if the government has declared equal legal status of Chinese and English. Discriminations of this sort conduce to English being treated the utilitarian way. Actually I was writing an essay on this attitude toward English when the semester started. But the 'study' was halted by the profs, on the grounds that I am but a yr1 student, so that I should leave the topic to my yr 3 (actually yr 4) final paper. Anyway, I don't give a damn anymore.

Your suggestion relative to the English curriculum is good... but I wonder if it would be possible even in the university, as the topics suggested are each already a large topic. Or are you actually suggesting it as a framework that is to be followed through during the 16 years (university years inclusive) of schooling?

I love linguistics not really because I treat language in a parochial scientific way. I am limiting 'language' to the 'essence' (leaving this undefined) because I am more interested in the common traits shared by ALL human languages. Culture... yes, that sounds great, and in my literature studies I remember I once looked into the relationship between 'gender roles' and why Alice Munro's <Boys and Girls> is written that way. But still, linguistics studied in the way I mentioned before is what I am most interested in, for which reason I am not really ok with the course I am taking and am therefore applying by non - JUPAS for CU linguistics... to see if I have a chance.

Please help with checking of my English in CV

Apvit — Wed, 03 Aug 2005 19:11:59 GMT

Can anyone with English as mothertongue, preferrably working in medicine, make a professional check of my CV and covering letter? I am from non-English speaking country, want to work as a doctor in Great Britain. Although I tried to make the best I can, I am not sure that all mistakes in grammar, spelling and punctuation were found and corrected. I would appreciate your help greatly, even can pay a reasonable amount of money via paypal for example, if your help will be really of high quality.
Al
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Covering letter
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Dear Sir or Madam!

My name is Dr Aliaksei Papou, I am a Clinical Lecturer in Vitebsk State Medical University, Vitebsk, Belarus. I would like to ask your advise on medical training in the UK. If my request is not within your responsibilities, please let me know where I should send it.

My aim is full-time position at Specialist Registrar post in rheumatology in the UK.
I have 6 years of postgraduate experience in Medicine, including 4 years of work in the Department of Rheumatology. In June 2004 after defending thesis I have been given the scientific degree Candidate of Medical Sciences (PhD equivalent in Belarus). The detailed list of qualifications is given in my CV which is attached to this email.

Currently I do not have General Medical Council registration. I would like to consult with you do I have chances to be exempted from PLAB on the basis of completion of Basic Specialist Training. After graduating from university instead of 12-months internship I had 2 years of medical residency in Belarus (training course called clinical ordinature, 'klinicheskaya ordinatura' in Russian language, it is developed in our country for the best postgraduates). I would like to know can it be accepted as Basic Specialist Training (according to the data I found on your site, it fits the criteria - 2 years, admission and early follow up of acute emergencies, exposure to acute unselected medical take).

In June 2005 I took IELTS test with total band score 8, Listening/Reading/Writing/Speaking Modules 9/9/6/7, respectively. Unfortunately, IELTS writing module result was not so good as I thought, so, if my training can be accepted as General Professional Training, I want to take IELTS once again and receive minimum 7.0 in each band. If the training cannot be accepted, I will probably take PLAB test without retaking IELTS.

And one more question. Probably I must seek only Senior House Officer position in the UK, not Specialist Registrar. In this case, which I do not prefer and may be I will not follow, I ask your advise whether there are any other routes for Higher Specialist Training in the UK (via sponsorship, ISS, Training in Academic Medicine, or other routes). Although I have heard that to get job in a university is very hard, I am interested in Academic Medicine route also because I would like not only to have medical training but to continue research work.

My CV is attached to this email as PDF-file. If you need any additional information, please contact me.

Thank you for your time and consideration, I appreciate your help!

Dr Aliaksei Papou,
Clinical Lecturer,
Vitebsk State Medical University,
Vitebsk, Belarus
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CV
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Dr A. Papou PhD

OBJECTIVE
Full-time position at Specialist Registrar post in Rheumatology, with opportunities to conduct medical research.

QUALIFICATIONS
November 2004 Qualification of Rheumatologist, Belarussian Medical Academy
of Post-graduate Education, Minsk, Belarus.
June 2004 Candidate of Medical Sciences degree (PhD equivalent), Belarussian Medical Academy of Post-graduate Education, Minsk, Belarus.
June 1999 Physician qualification, Medical Faculty, Vitebsk State Medical University, Vitebsk, Belarus.

PERSONAL INFORMATION
Full name: Aliaksei Papou
Date of Birth: 16 February 1976
Nationality: Belarussian
Country of current residence: Belarus
Gender: Male
Marital Status: Single
Children: No

WORK EXPERIENCE
April 2004 - to date
  Rheumatologist, Professorial Consultative Medical Diagnostic Center, Vitebsk.
Outpatient management (part-time position in private patient care institution).
September 2001 - to date
  Clinical Lecturer, the Department of Internal Medicine II, Vitebsk State Medical University.
Treatment of patients in the Department of Rheumatology of Vitebsk Regional Clinical Hospital, tutorials with 5th and 6th year students of Vitebsk State Medical University (full-time position).
August 1999 - August 2001
  Senior Laboratory Assistant, the Department of Internal Medicine II, Vitebsk State Medical University.
Part-time job with simultaneous study in medical residency. Scientific, teaching work, tasks in support of the department's activities.

EDUCATION
August - November 2004
Advanced training course "Rheumatology", the Department of Cardiology and Rheumatology, Belarussian Medical Academy of Post-graduate Education, Minsk, Belarus.
2000 - 2004 Candidate of Medical Sciences thesis, the Department of Internal
Medicine II, Vitebsk State Medical University.
Thesis "Clinical and instrumental diagnostics of lumbar spine lesions in rheumatoid arthritis and primary osteoarthritis", defended in Belarussian Medical Academy of Post-graduate Education
10 June 2004.
May 2004 Training course "Ultrasonographic Diagnostics in the Internal Medicine", the Faculty of Improvement Professional Skills with Refresher Course, Vitebsk State Medical University.
June 2003 Training course "Selected Issues of Internal Medicine", the Faculty of Improvement Professional Skills with Refresher Course, Vitebsk State Medical University.
September 1999 - August 2001
Medical Residency, the Department of Internal Medicine II, Vitebsk State Medical University.
Residency in General Internal Medicine, training in departments of Vitebsk Regional Clinical Hospital in all subspecialities of internal medicine, on call duties weekly, theoretical education.
1996 - 1999 Advanced Course of Medical English, Vitebsk State Medical University, qualification of Translator.
1993 - 1999 Medical Faculty, Vitebsk State Medical University, Vitebsk, Belarus.
6 years of basic medical degree course, including practical training. Grade point average - 4.73 (out of 5.0, top 10%).

PROFILE AND SKILLS

Patient management
4 years of rheumatologic practice in the Department of Internal Medicine II, located in Vitebsk Regional Clinical Hospital (1200 bed district general hospital covering all major specialties). Approximately 500 hours of inpatient management a year - usually 6 patients, male and female, daily visits. Outpatient practice - on average 10 patients a week. Participations in hospital ward rounds, consultations, case conferences in the Departments of Rheumatology, Cardiology, Endocrinology, Haematology, Allergology, Gastroenterology and Pulmonology in Vitebsk Regional Clinical Hospital (weekly ward rounds, 1-2 consultations a week).
Personal experience in wide spectrum of rheumatic disorders: rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, osteoarthritis, crystal-mediated articular diseases, systemic lupus erythematosus, antiphospholipid antibody syndrome, scleroderma, mixed connective tissue disease, inflammatory myopathies, Sjogren's syndrome, ankylosing spondylitis, Reiter's syndrome and reactive arthritis, temporal arteritis and polymyalgia rheumatica, Wegener's granulomatosis, Churg-Strauss syndrome, polyarteritis nodosa, Takayasu's arteritis, Henoch-Schonlein purpura, Behcet's disease, relapsing polychondritis, Lyme disease, rheumatic fever, osteoporosis, osteonecrosis, back pain, fibromyalgia, regional disorders of joints and related structures, etc.
Investigation, diagnosis, management and rehabilitation of patients, work in multidisciplinary team. Interpretation of laboratory investigations, imaging techniques. Aspiration and injection of joints and soft tissues (2 years' experience). Ultrasonography of liver and biliary system, pancreas, spleen, kidneys, joints and soft tissues (3 years' experience). Treatment of concomitant internal diseases of in- and outpatients. Emergency care, including on call duties on Vitebsk region.

Teaching experience
4 years of tutorials (approximately 400 hours a year) for fifth- and sixth-year medical students in Rheumatology, Internal Medicine (covering all subspecialities), the Basics of Clinical Ultrasonography. Development of manuals, tests, exercises for students, other training aids.

Other
English - IELTS total score 8.0, Russian and Belarussian - mother tongue.
Computer skills: competent with wide range of software, Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Office, Statistica, SPSS, Adobe Photoshop, Intranet, Internet, multimedia programs; typing, desktop publishing, website design etc.
Psychotherapy and psychology (2000-2003 studying in Moscow Gestalt Institute, Certificate of Gestalt-psychotherapist). Special interest in psychosomatics and rheumatic diseases as psychosomatic disorders.

PUBLICATIONS AND PRESENTATIONS
22 publications to date in Belarus and abroad. 12 presentations of research work, clinical cases at local, external and international professional meetings, congresses and workshops. Detailed information is available upon request.

OUTSIDE INTERESTS
Intellectual Brain Games (IQ Score 148, MENSA Certificate, captain of team), Eastern martial arts, music, reading.

REFERENCES
Professor A.Litvjakov MD PhD, Head of the Department of Internal Medicine II, Vitebsk State Medical University.
Professor T.Tjabut MD PhD, the Department of Cardiology and Rheumatology, Belarussian Medical Academy of Post-graduate Education, Minsk, Belarus.
Dr A.Sychev, General Manager of Professorial Consultative Medical Diagnostic Center, Vitebsk.
Dr T.Sapego, Chief of the Department of Rheumatology, Vitebsk Regional Clinical Hospital

Re: Please check my essay for the IELTS preparation

sherif_fam — Mon, 08 Nov 2004 08:23:24 GMT

Hi Julie,

Thanks for your reply. I am trying to get ride of paraphrasing (my french teacher said the same as you).

I re-wrote the essay. Please let me know if it is better. Thanks

Best regards
Sherif

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Nowadays, researches play a critical role in most industries.

Should employers concentrate their researches into the products or into the employeesâ working conditions? This topic represents a challenging argument.

Employers tend to allocate most of their researches into the products. Analysing the causes for such approach, I discovered them obvious. First of all, the customersâ interest is into the end-product, rather than the efforts in producing it. Another factor is the international unemployment, forcing the majority of the employees to accept any working conditions, regardless how poor they are. In the mean time, the allocated budgets for researches are generally limited, not providing the employers enough chance to research both fields. Employees always come last priority.

Numerous examples highlight the negligence of the employersâ responsibilities toward their employees. As an example, there is no minimum wages in most countries. Extended working hours are another form of working stress. Discrimination based on gender, religion and race still exist in some companies. Working in confined areas became the standard model for modern establishments. Poor levels of illumination and aeration are disregarded by many employers. Employers stress on the starting working hour, not paying any attention to the difficulties of transportation.

Consequences of such attitude are quite critical. It has a negative impact on the whole society, as the majority of the population are employees not employers. Working under stressing working conditions may result on strikes. Air France pilotâs strike (due to low wages), which lasted three days is a sample of the most standing strikes. It is not uncommon to hear news about railroad and mine laboursâ strikes, due to the tough working conditions. The most interesting point about these strikes, is that most employers fulfil the strikersâ demandsâ¦
Government employees who in most countries are the most exposed to poor working conditions, usually delay unnecessarily public services.

In conclusion, the employers should pay more attention to their employees; to reach a balance point of interest between products and employees. I believe that governments should enforce laws to guarantee minimum working conditions for the employees.
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