Financial Regulation in the UK and Ireland Essay -- Finance Business E

Financial Regulation in the UK and Ireland There has been considerable changes in the regulation of financial markets in the UK and other countries. Why is this? Financial markets tend to be more highly regulated than other markets. Explain why. In May 1997, the British Chancellor of the Exchequer made the decision to move the responsibility of supervision of financial institutions into the hands of a new regulatory authority, the Financial Services Authority (FSA). This new authority replaced the Securities and Investments Board and took over responsibility for the supervision of banks, listed money market institutions and clearing houses from the Bank of England. (Blake, 1999). Overall responsibility for regulation of financial markets lies with HM Treasury and is then divided up between the Bank of England and the FSA. Now, the Bank of England’s remit is the operation of monetary policy and ensuring the stability of the financial system. The FSA has five primary functions: Authorisation of market participants; Prudential supervision of banks, insurance companies, securities firms and fund managers, and regulation of their conduct of business; Investigation, enforcement and discipline; Regulation of investment exchanges and clearing houses; Regulation of collective investment schemes. The change has been a move away from largely self-regulation to a combination of self-regulation and government interventionist regulation. Before 1997 the UK relied ‘primarily on private regulation (by the stock exchange and, to an increasing extent, by the institutes of chartered accountants).’ (Benston, 1985). The regulation of the financial system in the UK however is not as explicit as the system in the US where the Securities and Exchange Commission holds some of the most extensive regulations, which are viewed by some as being excessive. "The more complex and formal US rules and procedures do not permit as much flexibility and speed" (Benston, 1995). So the UK’s new system is a compromise between the best of self regulation and statutory regulation to ensure the financial markets work in an efficient and orderly manner. The FSA reinforces the orderly operation of the UK markets. For example, when a firm wishes to list on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), they must satisfy requirements of the previously self-regulatory LSE as well as ... ...es it has come in the form of strict regulation, for others in relatively flexible regulation. The challenges now come from the increasing need for harmonisation of regulations in the EU and also the need to react to the effect that technology can have on financial markets, something that many current financial regulatory systems have yet to tackle. Works Cited: Benston, G.J. ‘Towards a Cost/Benefit analysis of the SEC: Have the British a Better Way?, Midland Corporate Finance Journal, 1985. Blake, D. ‘Financial Market Analysis.’ Wiley, 1999 Goodhart et al. ‘Financial Regulation Why, How and Where Now?’, Routledge, 1998. Labate, J. ‘Senate Banking chief Phil Gramm orders overhaul of legislation’ Financial Times, Dec 27 2000. Leader, ‘Neuer Markt’ Financial Times, Jan 3 2001 London Stock Exchange, ‘Admission and Disclosure Standards’ May 2000. Quinn, T.P. ‘The Economics of Financial Regulation: A Survey.’, Central Bank of Ireland. 1992 Stewart, J. ‘The Changing Nature of Financial Regulation in Ireland’ , Journal of Financial Services Research , 1996. Stewart, J. ‘The Effects of BIS Capital Adequacy Ratios on Bank financing, Irish Accounting Review,

Women Sport Athlete Injuries Essay -- essays research papers

The number of girls and women participating in all levels of sports has risen greatly in recent years, and the way they play has changed too. Women's sports used to be played by a slow defensive style. Today, the sports are played with speed, precision, and power. With these changes have come increased injuries, and female athletes have higher injury rates than men in many sports. Knee injuries have been rising in female sports. Anterior crutiate ligament (ACL) injuries have become the most common injury in the knee to female athletes. Females are four times more susceptible to injury then men.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The ACL is a dynamic structure whose main function is to provide primary restraint to anterior tibial subluxation. It provides secondary restraint limiting internal rotation and restraint with the knee in full extension. Along with the posterior crutiate ligament, it provides the axis for knee rotation and links rotation with flexion and extension.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The ligament is primarily made up of two bands, the anteromedial and posterolateral, and an intermediate band sometimes present. The ACL runs from the posteromedial portion of the lateral femoral condyle in an inferior, anterior, and medial orientation to an area just lateral to the medial tibial eminence. The posterolateral band is tightest when the knee is in extension, and the anteromedial band is tightest with the knee in flexion.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The majority of ACL injuries suffered during athletic participation are of the noncontact variety. Three main noncontact mechanisms have been identified planting and cutting, straight-knee landing and one-step stop landing with the knee hyperextended. Pivoting and sudden deceleration are also common mechanisms of noncontact ACL injury. Basketball, soccer, and volleyball consistently produce some of the highest ACL injury rates across various age groups. Other activities with a high rate of injury are gymnastics, martial arts, and running. In most sports, injuries occur more often in games than in practice. Many injuries have occurred during the first 30 minutes of play. One-reason physicians are seeing more ACL injuries in female patients that more women play sports, and they play more intensely. But as they continued to do more studies, they are finding that women's higher rate of ACL is probably due ... ...tead of one big one. Building your leg muscles, especially your hamstrings can help prevent ACL injury. Be thoroughly warmed up before jumping and pivoting hard. It is a good idea to be actually sweating when you are warming up. When you are exhausted, you shouldn't be playing. Never play in pain and if the pain continues to return when you begin to play again after resting. Some shoes are too good for playing. If there is too much traction, your foot won't give way on fast stops, and the resulting torque on your knee can rip the ligament. Lastly, stick to a sport you love. If you think you are insecure about the sport you are in, and feel that it is too risky, then go into something that makes you feel comfortable.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Females have taken great strides to be able to accomplish as much as males in a male dominant world. Women are more competitive and are able to play at great intensity that was thought impossible several decades ago. It is sad that women have many factors against them, making them more susceptible to injuries. Injuries occur all the time. Although there are many suggestions as to how to prevent ACL injuries, we cannot control everything.

The Pearl :: essays research papers

The Pearl by John Steinbeck   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In The Pearl by John Steinbeck, Kino, the main character, did not succeed in his dreams of a luxurious life. There where many reasons why Kino did not succeed. One may believe that it was a combination of fate, the pearl buyers, and his own greed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Fate was a major aspect to why Kino did not succeed in his dreams of having a luxurious life. When Kino discovered the Pearl he thought that it would take him out of poverty and into a life of happiness. â€Å"But the pearls were accidents, and the finding of one was luck, a little pat on the back by God or the gods both†(Chapter 2). This quotation occurs when Kino is about to go pearl diving for the Pearl of the World. This quotation also shows that certain things happen that we have no control over, therefore one can feel that Kino’s downfall is not entirely his own fault. The Pearl ended up bringing ultimate unhappiness to Kino and Juana.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The pearl buyers were also major reasons to why Kino did not succeed. If the pearl buyers had given Kino a fair price for the Pearl, then Kino would have sold the Pearl. If Kino sold the Pearl then Coyotitio would have never been shot. This would give Kino a chance to succeed in his dream of a luxurious life. This did not happen. The pearl buyers did not give Kino a fair price, they said that the pearl was fools gold and worth nothing. This caused Kino to decide not to sell the pearl to them . This leads to Coyotitio eventually being shot by the gunfire between the trackers and Kino. This ultimately destroys Kino’s dreams.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Kino not succeeding was also partly his own fault. Kino’s desire for the Pearl was a major conflict in the parable. If Kino wasn’t greedy and gave up the Pearl when he found out his family was in danger, his son wouldn’t have been

Compare the 1st and 2nd Great Awakening Essay

There are many factors that triggered the religious revivals known as the Great Awakenings. These awakenings encouraged citizens to partake in religious ceremonies and activities. Some agreed and joined the bandwagon, some refused. The awakenings had aspects that resulted in great long term benefits in government, education, and society. During the 1730s it was apparent that most colonies had established their own religions. Some strict churches preached that we are all sinful and that only a faithful few would be saved. The increase in production and manufacturing of goods increased colonial wealth, but led most colonists astray from their religion and influenced their temptation to live less godly lives. That is when the Great Awakening began. The Great Awakening was a Protestant religious revival movement that taught â€Å"rebirth† and that God was forgiving. Churches became amplified, preaching the need to become a new and better person of faith, which was said to be the ultimate religious experience. Preachers said that followers should accept that they are sinners and ask for salvation. Many religious men contributed to the Great Awakening. Two of the religious men were George Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards. Whitefield was a young Anglican preacher, everywhere he went he brought an ample amount of people and converted them. Whitefield claimed that God was lenient and forgiving, rather than telling people they were all going to hell because they were sinners. Edwards was the beginning of the revival, he emphasized the power of an extant and intimate religious experience. Like Whitefield, Edwards attracted large crowds with his powerful sermons. The Awakening was divided into two major groups called the â€Å"Old Lights† and the â€Å"New Lights.† The â€Å"New Lights† were one of the religious groups that grew as a result of the Great Awakening, they were Baptist. The â€Å"Old Lights† challenged authority and hierarchy and were a make-up of Congregationalists and Anglicans. With these new groups came religious diversity, but helped colonists become more aware of life beyond their town or church. In the 1790s, during a great migration west, the Second Great Awakening began. This revival saw converts in the thousands. It sparked numerous reform and social movements, as Christians began working to perfect society and bring fair treatment for all. One of the major influential religious leaders was Charles Finney. Finney was known as â€Å"The Father of Modern Revivalism,† he made significant innovations in preaching and religious meetings. Finney tended to be very outspoken and a hardcore criticizer of other Christian teachings. Another influential religious leader was James McGready. McGready became significant in sparking the Second Great Awakening. He hosted loose organized church meetings called frontier camps, which were meetings where preachers delivered informal sermons to large congregations. There was a major site where the largest Protestant revival movements happened, it was called Cane Ridge. At the Cane Ridge Revival a Presbyterian preacher named Barton Stone led the conferences. Stone wasn’t always the only speaker, at any given time 3 or 4 preachers would be delivering sermons. Also men weren’t the only ones that could participate in the Second Great Awakening revival. Due to women’s’ complete exclusion from politics, women jumped at the chance to participate in Christian work. Women became exceedingly important in the spreading of the religious teachings. Some other effects of the Second Great Awakening would include Crusaders fighting for women’s rights, abolition of slavery, temperance, education reform, etc. Although these two religious revivals seemed virtually the same, there are many key differences between the two Great Awakenings. One major difference would be the fact that the Second Great Awakening influenced social reform. Crusaders, who were just citizens, fought for the rights of not only women, but rights for blacks too in the Second Great Awakening. The first Great Awakening influenced more of a personal reform for ones’ self. Allowing colonists to see that there was light beyond their darkness. One similarity the two shared would be the emphasis of morality and religious teachings. Another difference would be that George Whitefield, a significant leader from the very first Great Awakening, tried to prevent slaves from attending religious teachings, while the Crusaders, a group of rebels fighting for social reform for women and slaves, wanted to include slaves and women in not only the religious ceremonies, but introduce them more in society also. One more similarity they shared was the influence of new Protestant based divisions including: Mormons, Seventh-Day Adventists, Presbyterianism, Methodism, and more. Both of the Great Awakenings were influential in many different ways, but the Second Great Awakening provided more diversity within society. The Second Great Awakening made people question government and society and inspired groups like the Crusaders to fight for peoples’ rights. The Crusaders fought deeply for the rights of enslaved black men and women and white women. They also fought for temperance and education reform. Alcohol became a major problem in the 1800s. People were getting drunk and wreaking havoc in the streets and causing disruption. That’s when the Temperance Movement began, the goal of this movement was to teach the evils of drinking, and ultimately get rid of drinking or limit it, but that all depended on the government and if the citizens would choose not to drink. In conclusion the historical legacy of these two movements paved the way for open-minded thinking and multiple reforms that shaped the way the nation is now. From the blacks being able to mingle with the whites, to the women of our nation being able to vote and drive. The Great Awakening left different footprints on all of the colonial religions and divisions. Its legacy was an urgent concern with individual salvation and faith, defining religious beliefs for oneself rather than accepting them from government authorities, selecting a minister for his charisma and preaching style rather than for his wealth and social status, and accepting those who shared a similar style and concerns no matter what the religion. Women became more influential in many congregations which believed that, if females were converted, they would lead their children and husbands to salvation. Responsibility for multiple congregations became more common among the smaller congregations that resulted from the divisions in churches. Both the Old and New persuasions formed intercolonial and interdenominational networks that helped to break down brutality and confinement, and prepared Americans for accepting the religious diversity that was on the horizon.

Kindertransport †Identity Essay

Do you ever think about what you represent in this world? Do you ever think about how people, as a whole, perceive your personality, your background, your style, your language, and your opinion? I’ve been thinking a lot about how my individuality is recognized by others and how I can change it within one moment’s decision. The definition of identity is truly vague to my knowledge but I think it has to do with everything in your existence that relates to your physical, psychological, and cultural persona. The people that surround my life label me as they see me yet I label myself through experience. My brain cannot obtain a sample of your history and digest through to create a perfect overlook yet it can take in the information that I witness and an idea of who you truly are can start to grow. When I think of Michael Marcel, the words, â€Å"funny†, â€Å"strong-minded†, and â€Å"caring† illuminate. When your father thinks about Michael Marcel, variation among traits will occur. When you think about your way of living, how do you relate yourself to the rest of the world? Usually, the nationality of a person is a red flag for certain stereotypes and pre-judgmental observations. To one’s own self, this might represent a certain uniqueness and pride yet it can, also, provoke a sense of shame and anger. I know that you, as a Dominican/Italian, take great pleasure in voicing your quirked cultural way of living. Kobenhavn and Roskilde will forever morph my character. These two cities within the tiny country of Denmark are home to my relatives, my genetics, and the roots of my place in society. I can remember many instances of being reminded about the pleasant haven. The death of my Mormor (Grandma) sucked all of the energy from my limbs and left me for dead. I realized that her passing shouldn’t be brought downward with sorrow but rather glazed over with past feelings of happiness. She went through hours of pain to produce Diana Rasmussen and in turn, Diana gave her a little baby girl named, â€Å"Freja†. A wave of change rose over my body and I understood that I would always be Diana’s daughter. I am confident within my fair, Danish skin. I can remember how effected I was throughout my time in America concerning my cultural background and my cultural interests. People would widen their eyes as I spoke about my past in Denmark; to them, I was like an alien from a strange planet. In the now, I am criticized for my newly found triple life. I say triple because one part of me is Danish and I have an entire past within my motherland, one part of me is Italian but I don’t have a big affiliation with the country, and one part of me is very tied into the Hispanic lifestyle. I am ridiculed on a daily basis for the last part and I am identified differently because of it. By the Caucasian community, I am insulted on (almost) a daily basis. By the Hispanic community in our school, I am subjected to the label of â€Å"Latina Wannabe†. By the Hispanic community outside of school, I am seen as a very good person and willing to accept and try anything new within their country’s ways. By my parents, I am given odd looks as I sing along to â€Å"Mariposa Tracionera† and they wonder why their little girl suddenly turned Hispanic. Recently, I have been subjected to an act of immaturity and ignorance. There is a guy in my grade that hates my lifestyle more than his own selfish loneliness; when I chat with the so-called â€Å"skin head†, I can hear him saying that my hands are grimy from touching the hands of Mexicans. It hurts my entire body to hear something so harsh come out of a human being’s mouth; he takes the media’s image of crossing the border, the drug cartel wars, and the unpaid taxes, and spits them back into my face. The other night, I was talking with David and he posted on my wall, â€Å"stop being so sad†. That was an inside joke between him and I; it had no concern with â€Å"skin-head†. The ignorant â€Å"skin-head† commented on the post and said, â€Å"Go back to Mexico†. I called you, crying a river upon the keypad, and complained about the words that had left a mark in my mind. Lack of knowledge can drive the process of identity onto a cruel p ath. Every single piece of matter that inhabits the personal world around you has an effect on your identity. The tiny room in which your soul takes life form has an effect. The soil that sticks to the bottom of your feet as you take your first steps has an effect. The way you represent yourself is a lifelong process; you begin to mold your life as soon as your lungs fill with newly found oxygen. The cries that are let out during your first hours on the outside of the womb might travel through time and find themselves spewing out of your mouth thirteen years later because of ridicule over your skin color, musical taste, family situation, etc. Identity is everything and everything is identity. Is it really that simple? Yes, I think so.

A Piece of Art

I am choosing this piece of art because it reminds me of the original one, the Napoleon Crossing the Alps, by the French Neoclassical painter Jacques-Louis David, and also because that I am quite like this Mario game very much. This artist had turned my childhood hero into a very good piece of art, that to me, can capture every aspect of him and his loyal pet, although Yoshi does not look that fiercely. The original work of Jacques-Louis is about a mighty general, who is bravely charges in the front of the army toward the enemy. Napoleon proportion show that he is the real commander, not just any soldier or any captain, but the great Napoleon Bonaparte himself. Calmly sitting on his fiery horse, finger points toward the Alps, Napoleon leading his people to victories. To sum up, this painting express Napoleon as the hero of the peoples of France, the one who freed them from the hands of Louis the sixteenth. The Mario Crossing the Mushroom Kingdom shows a quite similar meaning. Instead of crossing the dangerous Alps, Mario just crossing the Mushroom Kingdom. Now, what we all know what Mario do in the Mushroom Kingdom: fighting evils, rescue the princess, and freed the kingdom from the tyrant's hands, so that makes Mario a hero too, right? Yes! Yes, it is! Mario is the hero of the Mushroom Kingdom. Although Mario just a plumber, he has fought for the Kingdom with all he has, his running skill as you can see in the games, and he freed them from the tyrant.The painting is very accurate in some ways, the costume, Mario's beer belly, his clothes, and all, Mario did not really wear gloves until recently, but that can be pretermit. What is different from the original painting is that, instead of pointing his finger toward the Kingdom, Mario holds a mushroom. Funny, I would say, because in the game, Mario power up by eating special mushrooms from the mystery boxes scattered around the kingdom, they can make him bigger, and stronger depends on what mushroom he eats, and that is very interesting to see the mushroom in the painting. The Mario Crossing the Mushroom Kingdom resembles most detail from the original one: Mario's proportion, Yoshi front legs, and back legs positions, the harness, and the cape. There is one interesting thing is that Yoshi left eye is glancing backward just like Napoleon's horse eye position, glancing backward. His attention to the small details like that amuse me a lot, it makes me to look for other version of Napoleon Crossing the Alps, just to look at their eyes, although I don't see the name carved in the rock anywhere in the picture, but that is not important. There is something about Naburanja version of the dinosaur Yoshi that keeps me wonder. You see, normally, Yoshi's appearance is a cute little green dinosaur, with a frog like tongue that can swallow enemies. But here, all I see is probably the grow up version of Yoshi. He is bigger, looks more muscular, his green skin looks fade a bit, perhaps to shows old age. Yoshi normally is seen wearing brown boots, but now the boots were completely torn by his claws, like Yoshi had grown up suddenly, so suddenly that he could not take off his boots, so he had to let them be torn. Naburanja usage of colors to describe the gloomy, sad atmosphere of the scenario, where the Kingdom is invaded, and overran by monster, the princess being kidnapped with no hope to rescue her, and so on, is incredible. Naburanja use the dark, gray color to describe it. What more, is that when Mario and Yoshi showed up, light breaks through the darkness, to shine upon our heroes, where ever they go. The colors where Mario stands, are bright colors, red, blue, light dirt yellow, green, and white. It shows that Mario is going to be the savior of the Mushroom KingdomOverall, the painting is magnificent to me, its capture the picture of the hero of my childhood quite correctly, using the Napoleon Crossing the Alps style of drawing. Naburanja colors usage is wonderful, it described the scenario of Mushroom Kingdom correctly, and he depicted Mario like a saint, light shine bright where ever he goes. This painting of Naburanja has many interesting aspect that I love very much, and this is the way I mostly see it, also it makes me chuckle every times I come across it.

Pre-Linguistic Development Essay

As linguistic development designates the stage when children are able to manipulate verbal symbols, it should be apparent that pre-linguistic development refers to the stage before the child is able to manipulate such symbols. Consequently, this stage is sometimes called the pre-symbolic stage. Pre-linguistic development, therefore, concerns itself with precursors to the development of symbolic skills and typically covers the period from birth to around 13 months of age. Four stages can be identified: * Vegetative sounds (0-2 months): the natural sounds that babies make, e.  g. crying, coughing, burping, and swallowing. * Cooing and laughter (2-5 months): these vocalizations usually occur when the baby is comfortable and content. They are typically made up of vowels and consonants. * Vocal play (4-8 months): the infant engages in longer and more continuous streams of either vowel or consonant sounds. * Babbling (6-13 months): at least two sub-stages are identified – reduplicated babbling, in which the child produces a series of Consonant-Vowel (CV) syllables with the same consonant being repeated (e.  g. wa-wa-wa, mu-mu-mu) and non-reduplicated babbling, consisting of either CVC vocalizations (e. g. mom, pip) or VCV vocalizations (e. g. ama, ooboo). [See Speech Development] Up to this stage of development much of what the child produces is really no more than a sort of verbal play. The child is practicing individual sounds, and sound sequences, and gaining the motor skills necessary to produce what will eventually be considered as actual adult words. So, young children make various sounds and others then assign meaning to these. So, for example, a child may reach for an object whilst at the same time saying ‘m’. An adult may interpret this as the child wanting help to get the object. The child, having realized that this combination of physical gesture (reaching) and articulating ‘m’ prompts an adult to pass the desired object, may go on to repeat this behavior. The child is learning that certain actions that he or she performs can be used to control his or her environment. These changes come about because the child’s ability to focus their attention on their caregiver and on objects becomes more refined as they mature. For example, from 0-2 months there is shared attentiveness in which only the baby and caregiver form part of any interactive event – all other elements are ignored. From 2-6 months there is interpersonal engagement when the baby is conceptually able to differentiate their own self from the caregiver and focus attention on each other and on the ‘message’ of the communicative event. Then, from about 6-15 months there is a shift such that the child is now able to focus attention on objects (e. g. cups, toys, books) and understand that the communicative event is focused on these. This is sometimes called joint object involvement. It is, however, the emergence of words from about 12 months onwards that signals the onset of linguistic development. This is the stage when there is symbolic communication emerges. Linguistic Development Linguistic development occurs at what is called the One Word Stage. It is at this stage that we can properly talk about a child’sexpressive language, i. e. the words used to express emotions, feelings, wants, needs, ideas, and so on. This should not be confused with the child’s understanding or receptive language. The two are, of course, closely related. However, a child will typically understand much more than he or she can actually express and a child’s expressive language, therefore, lags behind its comprehension by a few months. Early One Word Stage (12-19 months) Before the emergence of the first ‘adult’ words the child will use specific sound combinations in particular situations. The sound combinations are not conventional adult words but they appear to be being used consistently to express meaning. For example, if the child says mu every time he or she is offered a bottle of milk then this may be considered to be a ‘real’ word. Similarly, if the child says bibi each time he or she is given a biscuit then, even though the sound combination does not represent an exact adult word, it would still be considered an early word. These early words are called protowords. The child will also be using gesture together with these specific vocalizations in order to obtain needs, express emotions, and so on. The important point is that the child is consistent in his or her use of a particular ‘word’. Later One Word Stage (14-24 months) The words used by the child are now more readily identifiable as actual adult words. A variety of single words are used to express his or her feelings, needs, wants, and so on. This is the stage at which, amongst other things, the child begins to name and label the objects and people around them. Examples include common nouns such as cup dog hat proper nouns such as Dad Sarah Rover and verbs such as kiss go sit The child may also use a few social words such as no bye-bye please The child will not yet have developed all the adult speech sounds and so the words used are unlikely to sound exactly as an adult would say them. However, they are beginning to approximate more closely to an adult model and they are beginning to be used consistently. At the end of the One Word Stage the child should have a much larger vocabulary, should be able to sustain a simple conversation, be using several adult speech sounds appropriately, and be conveying meaning through the use of single words in combination with facial expression, gesture and actions. These single words will express a variety of meaning. The next stage in the child’s development of expressive language is that he or she begins to combine two words together into simplephrases. Two Word Stage (20-30 months) It is at this stage that the child begins to produce two-word combinations similar to the following. daddy car shoe on where Katie Note that a variety of different word classes may be combined: * For example, daddy car involves the combination of two words from the same word class of nouns one noun (daddy) with another noun (car). * However, shoe on consists of two words from two different word classes, nouns and prepositions: one noun (shoe) plus a preposition (on). * Also, where Katie uses a so-called interrogative pronoun (where) together with a proper noun (Katie). In fact, a high percentage of these two-word combinations incorporate nouns. This is not surprising, as the child has spent a lot of time learning the names of objects and people. These are the important things in his or her environment and the things that are most likely to be manipulated, talked about, and so on. They are often the concrete, permanent things to which the child can most readily relate. In addition, at this Two Word Stage there is also prolific use of verbs (e. g. go, run, drink, eat). Three Word Stage (28-42 months). As its name implies, at this next stage of development children extend their two-word utterances by incorporating at least another word. In reality children may add up to two more words, thereby creating utterances as long as four words. The child makes greater use of pronouns (e. g. I, you, he, she, they, me) at this stage, e. g. me kiss mummy you make toy he hit ball It is at this stage that the child also begins to use the articles the, a and an. At first their use is inconsistent but as the child approaches 42 months of age they become more consolidated in their utterances, e. g. me kick a ball you give the dolly he throw an orange. In addition, it is common for the prepositions in and on to be incorporated between two nouns or pronouns, e. g. mummy on bed you in it Sarah in bath Four Word Stage (34-48 months) From about 34 months the child begins to combine between four to six words in any one utterance. There is greater use of contrast between prepositions such as in, on and under and adjectives such as big and little, e. g. mummy on little bed daddy under big car daddy playing with the little ball Complex Utterance Stage (48-60 months) This stage is typified by longer utterances, with the child regularly producing utterances of over six words in length. It is at this stage that the concept of past and future time develops and this is expressed linguistically in a child’s utterances, e. g. we all went to see Ryan yesterday [past time] Daddy is going to get a shoe [future time] Robert stopped and kicked a good goal [past time] Some of the more conceptually difficult prepositions such as behind, in front and next to also become established at this stage. The child will also be using the contracted negative, e. g. can’t rather than can not, didn’t rather than did not, won’t rather than will not, and so on. Example utterances include the following. Helen can’t go to granddad’s house Connor didn’t stop crying he won’t eat up all his dinner for mummy There is a lot of controversy about just when the Complex Utterance Stage is completed. Some researchers claim that at five years of age a child has developed all of the major adult linguistic features and that the only real progression beyond this stage is the further acquisition of vocabulary items. Other researchers, however, argue that children up to the age of 12 years are still developing adult sentence structure. As indicated, our overview of language development has focused on how the child develops longer and longer utterances, i. e. it has concentrated on expressive language. It should be noted, however, that there is a parallel development of comprehension, or receptive language. So, for example, at the Early One Word Stage the child is capable of understanding a few single words spoken by others as well as speaking a few words. Similarly, at the Three Word Stage the child can also comprehend the four to six word utterances spoken by others as well as producing such utterances themselves. In summary, the child will need to be able to comprehend utterances at least at the same level as those that he or she is able to construct and use expressively. In reality, we find that a child’s level of understanding actually precedes their level of expression. That is to say, a typically developing child will always understand more than they can express. The extent to which the development of receptive language precedes expressive language is highly variable and it is not possible to define any precise norms. The following table summarizes the stages of early development of expressive language. Precursors to Language (Pre-linguistic)| 0-2 months| 2-5 months| 4-8 months| 6-13 months| reflexive crying and vegetative sounds| cooing and laughter| vocal play| babbling – reduplicated – non-reduplicated| (Symbolic) Language| 12-19 months| 14-24 months| 20-30 months| 28-42 months| 34-48 months| 48-60 months| Early One Word Stage(protowords)| Later One Word Stage| Two Word Stage| Three Word Stage| Four Word Stage| Complex Utterance Stage| Table 1. Early Development of Expressive Language.