Monday, September 30, 2019

Childcare: Child Development

Unit 1 – Understanding and promoting children and young people’s development Learners Declaration: I certify that the work submitted in this assignment is my own. Student Number.. eb1257620 Full Name †¦Mrs Debbie England Address†¦.. 1,Woodlands Residential Park Quakers Yard, Treharris CF46 5AR L/601/1693 Unit 1 NCFE LEVEL 3 EARLY LEARNING AND CHILDCARE Debbie England EB1257620 Q1a, Explain the sequence and rate of each aspect of development from birth – 19 years? 1a.All areas of development are important as each other, but children do not always develop at the same rate, but as soon as your bundle of joy is born they are their own little person. Areas of development from birth – 19 are : PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT including movement skills gross motor skills, fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination, from 0-6 months a child will turn head towards sounds and movement ,try to put everything in mouth, hold and reach out for things and reach to hold th eir feet whilst on back and when they are being fed they watch you and smile at a familiar face. Accompanying material: Explain the Reasons Why Children and Young People’s Development May Not Follow the Expected PatternBy the age of one a child has the ability to sit alone unaided. They are also getting inquisitive by looking for things that have been hidden, behind you or in your hand. Children also want to be picked up, so they lift arms up, they also want to stand up so they pull or push against adults or furniture, and not all children can crawl by this time but they might get around by shuffling on bottom or rolling around. Children also know their name by now and turn towards you when they are called, they like to play by passing objects from hand to hand and examine them by poking or prodding.By the age of two, a child has many talents, such as walking with or without toys, bending to pick up things from floor. Children have started to do a lot more with their hands such as Waving, pointing to what they want, building towers out of bricks, banging objects together and also feed themselves. And the ability to say no by shaking their head. You will also start to notice that they have a preference to which hand they want to use.By three years of age children are able to kick or throw a ball, kneel down to play with things and can build larger towers. Children also like water, so playing pouring with different shaped things is enjoyable for them . Between the ages of three and seven, children are more adept, they have mastered climbing stairs and gained more confidence to climb, walk on tiptoes and jump , also gained control of eating with cutlery which in turn should help with holding a crayon or pencil to draw.Throwing and kicking a ball with aim, using safety scissors and copying shapes and letters. As children get closer to seven they are climbing, jumping catching, skipping and riding a bicycle and are able to write. Between seven and twelve years of age children are experiencing the art of taking part in team games such as football, athleti cs etc. From twelve onwards we reach puberty. Not all girls and boys reach puberty at the same time, some are slower than others.Puberty can cause a lot of upset and anguish. For boys, at this age,, start getting taller, muscles start to grow, along with facial hair, their voice may break, they may experience acne due to oilier skin and it does not get any better because some boys experience slow pubertal growth so they feel different from the rest of their friends and causes upset and worry, so as a parent you need to be there to reassure them that their rate of development is not related to the final physical potential.For girls,, by the age of thirteen periods would have started, their breasts have developed and their bodies are fuller and rounder and by 15 it is likely that she has grown to her full height, some girls develop as early as eight, but some do not show changes until late teens. Sometimes it is hard for teenagers, they become totally preoccupied with their developmen t. They feel awkward and sometimes feel embarrassed. SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT: includes forming relationships , learning social skills, self reliance, making decisions, caring for others and developing self-confidence and dealing with emotions. -3months, children of this age concentrate on an adults face when being fed and smiles, they respond to adults especially mothers face and voice and also very dependant on adults for comfort and reassurance when cuddled. Six -nine months children show affection to people they are used to ,but shy with strangers, they also like to play games like peek-a-boo. One to two years, children like to please people and like to be centre stage and perform, play along with other children, they can be cooperating but then can be istracted by unwanted behaviour and may become distressed if separated from a known adult, so they may need use a comfort object, e. g toy or blanket. Between two and three, a child will develop sense of own identity and s tart to be independent, act impulsively ,prone to bursts of emotional tantrums and demanding things, wanting things NOW, and craving attention. Three to four years, at this stage children become more caring to others, they like to share and they become more cooperative and want to help with everything. They also become more independent and more secure in unfamiliar places.Four to seven years, This age group need structure and routine to feel safe, when behaviour is bad they need limits to be set , they enjoy helping others. Often make friends but need a hand in resolving situations. They will learn a lot about the world and how it works , about people and relationships and develop understanding of rules. Seven to twelve years of age, Children start to form special relationships at about eight, they usually like to mix with children of same sex, because they become aware of own gender, they become less reliant on adults for support unless they need an adult to help sort out an argume nt.They enjoy being in groups of their own age but are strongly influenced by peers and want to fit into their rules. Children can be either arrogant, bossy or shy but they do develop an understanding that certain behaviour is not acceptable and why. Teenagers, teenagers become self-conscious as they notice changes to their body, they need reassurance more than anything else. Their body is going through emotional turmoil , they are tossed back and for between childish needs and adult desires, they are also being prepared for independence from their parents and closer to friends and relationships.Teenagers also get embarrassed and feel awkward and worry about making mistakes. INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT. Between 0 and three years of age, realise others are separate from themselves, they imitate and try different ways of behaving in play and they become more confident but still need reassurance. Three to four year olds are able to sort objects by size, shape , colour and type, e. g anima ls . They can also understand two or three things to do at once e. g ` fetch that beaker of water, give it to your brother and take empty beaker back to kitchen. Five to seven year olds .At this age children begin to understand differences can exist side by side, and about sameness and difference in various aspects of life and are able to see that the same amount of porridge can look different in another container. Seven to twelve year olds, are able to do things for themselves, read, and take interest in certain things. Twelve to sixteen, At this age, children turn to their friends, they are less concerned about adult approval, they want to follow their peers, dress the same, have the same games, behave the same way even wear the same clothes.LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT. Between 0 and three months , babies start to make happy sounds, they watch peoples faces and try to copy, and enjoys music and other sounds. Babbling sounds begin between six and twelve months, they will laugh or chuckle and feel pleasure by making squealing noises, they turn their head towards sounds. At one children start to put words together and understand key words. By two they start to understand the art of speech and start to copy and by two they can use thirty to one hundred and fifty words.Between two and three, children are able to put words into a sentence, they can join in with songs or nursery rhymes, scribble on paper and by the time they are three can be using several hundred words and like all children they start to ask what? , when? And why? Three to four year olds start to use pitch and tone, their vocabulary can be up to fifteen hundred words by now and including past tense, also their scribble becomes more controlled. Four to five year olds can steadily copy shapes and some letters, recognise their own name and words that are used regularly.They are also more able to use language to communicate ideas and grammar is more accurate. By using picture books children are able to follow , understand and enjoy the story. Questions that they ask becomes more complex. Five to seven years of age are fluent and able to make up stories, they handle books well, recognise more and more letters linking them to sounds and understand that text carries meaning. Seven to twelve years of age usually need help with spelling, adults introducing new words will help their vocabulary.Children can also read out loud and know the different tense and grammar and speak fluently explaining complicated happenings. Twelve to sixteen year olds can be quite irritating by using sarcasm and trying to be witty, but they are just testing their new sophisticated mental abilities. Their logical thinking is maturing and may enjoy a debate, it helps to practise verbal skills. Q1b, Explain how theorie s of development and frameworks to support development influence current practice? 1B.Theories related to child development, such as social and emotional skills can be divided into three schools of thou ght. 1. Biological – Genetic make up 2, L earning – Result of contact with others 3. Psychoanalytic – Combination of both biological and learning Each of the above has many theories supporting them. PIAGET.Jean piaget was a psychologist and philosopher and spent his professional life listening and watching children, his research found that children don’t think like adults and he suspected tha behind illogical statements were thought processes that had their own kind of order and logic. His background of biology and philosophy influenced his theories and research of child development. Piagets theory is based on the idea that children develop cognitive structures( mental maps ) for understanding and responding and their cognitive structure increase as they get older.He identified development stages. 1. Sensorimotor 2. Pre-operational 3. Concrete operations and 4. Formal operations. BRUNER Jerome Bruner is one of the best known psychologists and developed t he theory of cognitive growth, he looked at environmental and experimental factors that affect intellectual growth . He believed that children need to move more freely and be involved in their own learning, his ideas were based on catergorisation and believed that adults could support their children in their learning experiences.Bruner had a profound effect on education, his work is still influential to scientific studies today. He indicated four key themes in the process of education (1960). 1. Readiness for learning 2. Motives for learning 3. Intuitive and analytical thinking 4. The role of structure in learning. VYGOTSKY. Says that a child is brought up by culture which has two contributions to a child`s intellectual development 1st their knowledge , 2nd what to think.Cognitive development – children learn by problem solving. Language is a learning process and interacting contribute to a childs development. HOWARD GARDNER, stated that there at least seven intelligences whi ch link our individuality they are. 1. Verbal – linguistic 2. Musical. 3. Logical. 4. Spatial 5.Bodily kinaesthetic 6. Interpersonal. 7. Intrapersonal. MONTESSORI. Dr Maria Montessori, a scientist had a unique opportunity to study the thinking and learning skills in children and developed specific learning apparatus to help and including children who learn differently. She stated that the secret of good teaching is to regard the childs intelligence as a fertile field in which seeds may be sewn to grow under the heat of flaming imagination.Her theories and ways of educating children are used today e. g using music, language, hands on educational materials, games and muscle movements etc. Current child development theories, are that the first three years of life are critical to laying down the foundations for future learning. Babies need to be sung to, cuddled, touched, talk to and kept warm. There are three styles of learning Visual, Kinaesthetic and Auditory. In the early ye ars of life most children experience rapid and physical, emotional, intellectual and social growth.There are systems in place to intervene and identify signals that may cause future concerns. Practitioners work with parents and primary carers to listen to views so as to build on children`s experiences, knowledge and understanding and provide opportunities to develop in all areas. Q1c, Explain how to monitor children and young people`s development using different methods? 1C. To monitor a child`s development starts with, 1. Observation 2. Assessment 3. Planning 4. Implementation and 5. Evaluation.Observation, – observing children is an important role for a childcare practitioner to practise it is essential that they are able to assess progress and plan for the childs future. Observation can help identify any issues with the child, identify strengths and weaknessess, monitor development and how to respond in situations, and to add any improvement where needed, also share with p arents, collegues and specialists. By conducting observations you can learn more about a child, some characteristics on display maybe: 1.Skills and accomplishment 2. Personality and temperament 3. Interests and preferences 4. Level of cognitive and social development 5. Strategies for creating desired effects. Always obtain permission before using observation.Different methods are; Time sampling – at pre-planned times . Event sampling – Behaviour forms of Structured – create a particular activity. Naturalistic – usual routines Participative – be engaged in activity together Longitudinal – detailed observations Target child – use in groups to find out if they are getting worthwhile experiences.The skills are to be able to obtain information about the child Look – Know what you are looking for Listen – Take notice how conversations are with others Record – make accurate notes.Think – consider what you se e and what assessment would you make . Assessment,- is the process of analysing and reviewing what you currently know about the childs development. When you assess, you are making a judgement or decision on the childs progress. To make a valid assessment you must collect all relevant information needed, this should include the childs development, learning, health, behaviour, academic progress and the need for special services.Once information has been collected any assessment should be carried out by a childcare worker and based on Thorough knowledge of child development , Parents observations of their childs development and other practitioners observations who has worked with the child and analysis of observations of milestones and expectations. The results of the assessment can then be used for planning the individual care. Planning,- For the next steps in a childs development should be done on the information you obtained from the assessment.Any concerns should be discussed with the parents and collegues to identify any intervention that maybe required. Planned activities are experiences and opportunities that are thought about and planned in advance. Unplanned activities are some of the most important and effective learning opportunity arise spontaneously. In these instances you have to make the most of the opportunities. All childcare settings have a curriculum, even if they don’t use that word to describe the activities they provide for children. Child-centred planning is important because it focuses on the needs of the child.Allows children to take lead in learning based on own interests and helps to practice and develop old and new skills. Enables parents and staff to take time out to think and be in agreement what development needs individual children want. Plans are always based on the knowledge of the stage of development reached by the child concerned. Appropriate goals are set for the next stage of the childs development. Implementation, â €“ A long term developing plan should be put in place to lay out aims for learning over a year.It should represent the purpose behind the childcare worker`s practice and contain brief summary of what they want children to achieve. Short term plans are put in place to help practitioners plan activities weekly , it helps children to have a choice, either to have or try a new experience or activity that will encourage them in developing, and the plan should be adaptable for children at different stages of learning. When writing a short term plan it should outline; something to progress the developmental and learning needs of all children.Something of interest and supply enjoyment for all children. All the areas of learning in the early years foundation stage are covered. Do not discriminate against any child. And that setting has or can access the required resources. By creating a plan a childcare worker will be able to organise the environment List equipment and materials needed Identify the activities they want children to participate in.Set out their own participation in activities and set timing ( when and how long ) When creating an individual plan both child and parents can be involved, a child can contribrute can say what they like and what they don’t, and parents can contribute by given information about their childrens interests, experiences and activities at home .When creating plan the careworker must include the seven stages, which are : Assessing current stage in learning and development. Identify needs for further learning and development. Setting clear targets for achievement. Identify strategies for achievement. Intergrating plan into other plans of the setting. Implementing plan. Review plan.Individual plans should include ; Childs name Key workers name Date of plan Aims of plan Targets Strategies to help child achieve targets Date of next review Date and comments when aims and targets are reached. Evaluation – All plans n eed evaluating, reviewing or even re-planning. Everyone involved with the children play a part and staff should get together regularly to discuss plan in question and if anything needs re-thinking. 1. Do plans enable everyone working in setting to know what they are doing and how to do it? 2. Are plans enabling setting to be effective in progressing the childrens achievement in learning and development. If planning is not enabling one or both of these things to happen, it will have to use evidence collected to decide on appropriate changes to its plans , format or content.An important part of the evaluation plan is to inform parents how things are and for parents to explain their findings . Feedback creates good practice. Q1d,Explain the reasons why children and young people`s development may not follow the expected patterns? 1d,Children do not develop at the same rate as each other. Many children have growth spurts followed by a lull, their development may also not progress evenly across all areas. All children are individuals. Girls and boys going through puberty experience different things. Girls – If going through puberty early, her social development may not be keeping up with her physical growth, some girls can look grown up but still a child underneath. yet some girls are reaching full physical maturity and some are only beginning. Boys – some boys move into mid- puberty while others worry about their development. Their emotional state is constantly all over the place, their bodies are experiencing drastic changes which can cause emotional turmoil, all teenagers going through this could potentially cause disruption to development pattern. Some factors that can influence younger childrens development pattern are: Environmental and economic which consist of poor housing, lack of play facilities, low income families, lack of resourses and frequent changes in environment.Social – poor parenting, difficult family circumstances, few oppor tunities for one-to-one and few good role models. Emotional – conflict with family or peer group, family break up, moving house, death of a pet or family member, changes of childminder or a new arrival of a baby brother or sister. Medical – Long stays in hospital, illness of family member, ADHD, disability or frequent illnessess. Or in General – personality, immaturity, poor speech, temperament or becoming more independent. Most children experience rapid physical, emotional, intellectual and social growth, but for some children have major issues, and it is important to put systems in place where we can help children.Practitioners should work closely with parents and carers to listen to their views and to build on previous experiences, knowledge, understanding and skills and to provide opportunities to develop. Monitoring children is essential, when a child show signs of slow development, it is necessary to present different opportunities to use alternative appro aches to learning. Ongoing difficulties may indicate that they need extra help and support above what is normally offered. Early education settings are perfect for observing any changes in children`s development pattern because everything is recorded. Sometimes concerns are not noticed fully until later when a child is in formal education.Settings will determine what issues there are and able to set up programmes of support which the child may benefit from . Practitioners need to assess and assist the child in developing further in any area of their development. Disability can disrupt the development pattern also. A disabled child who cannot think or react or talk for themselves have to be assessed for specific needs and if they don`t get what they need interfere with their development pattern. Help childrens developing pattern by giving them what they need, that is by : Providing space, equipment, materials and activities for physical development .Giving praise, guidance , support, listening , supervision, provide opportunities to share in decisions and to take responsibility, be warm and affectionate and attentive and let them express themselves, for social and emotional development. And for intellectuall development, talk to them play I spy and dressing up , look and touch things, provide art and craft activities and include them in things like question and answers and laying the table etc. Language development includes asking questions, talking, discussing books, objects and ask them about themselves. Without these things the development wont follow the expected pattern. Q1e, Explain how disability may affect development?The early support programme is for families who have a disabled child under five, it is there to support families who leave hospital with a child with medical and physical needs and significant factors that could affect development. Long stays in hospital and long illnessess can also affect development. So can the lack of facilities. Carer s should obtain as much background information as possible to help to understand what the child needs. Disability may affect development if you do not provide the environments and resourses that they need, these include; Brightly coloured and textured toys . Toy`s and equipment with lights and moving parts. Large play and safety equipment. Painting with bright colours. Large print books and large print letters on computer keyboards. Mirrors and magnifying glasses and sensory activities. , for visual impairment.The other considerations are: Have good lighting. Encourage orderly movement around the school. Supervision in activities such as P. E , cooking and craft. Children with hearing impairment should be provided with : Music, movement, drama and dance activities. Craft and art. Story tapes and headphones. Reading, one to one stories and specialist computer programmes. Other considerations are: Look at the child when talking to them. Speak clearly and repeat yourself if they hav e not heard. Use visual aids, avoid distractions and use body language.Children with behavioural difficulties should be provide with: Quiet story times. One to one individual attention. Toys and activities that promote concentration. Large outdoor play area with lots of equipment. Sand and water for relaxing and dough for releasing aggression. Other considerations are: Give rewards. Minimise distractions. Make eye to eye contact. Speak clearly and give direct instructions. Avoid clutter. And distract children with an alternative activity ot toy. Ativities such as : Construction toys. Jigsaws. Sand and water play. Songs and rhymes. Music and instuments.Specialist computer programmes. Reading and looking at books. Painting will help with self-expression for children with autism, other considerations are: Be patient. Have a structured daily routine, children with autism cannot adjust to changes easily. Do not expect to keep eye contact but try to encourage it. Keep verbal instruction s brief. And provide activities for children to play individually. Children with physical disabilities, should be provided with: Stories. Role play. Sand, water, painting and dough all stimulate physical motor skills.Floor toys such as, cars, farm and large construction toys. Table-top activities such as crayons and paper. Painting. Sensory activities. And interactive play encourages other children to accept differences in other children. Other considerations are: Consider classroom layout. Install ramps, lifs and special toilets. Ensure chairs, tables and equipment are at a suitable height. And specialist equipment may be purchased such as special bicycles, scissors and triangle shaped pencils. Children with dyslexia should be given any activity or toy that does not need to use memory or organisation skills.Children with dysphasia should avoid music or movement activities. They may have low levels of concentration and may have difficulty doing jigsaws, sorting games and holding a pencil. Without all these things a disabled childs developed may be affected. Q1f,Explain how different types of interventions can promote positive outcomes for children and young people where development is not following the expected pattern? Early intervention is important because some children experience problems in the developmental process, and it is also important that there are systems in place to intervene and identify signals that may cause concern. Graduated response.Monitoring of a child`s progress is essential, if a child shows signs of slow development it may be necessary to present different opportunities or use different methods to learning, and or the child needs more support above what is normally available for children of same age. Early education settings are perfect to observe patterns of development, the settings determine what the issues are and set up programmes of support from which the child benefit. The early support programme – was developed by car ers practitioners and parents and it is used for families with disabled children and gives families and people working with children support, guidance and resourses . It promotes multi-agency working and the consistency of approach to the care and well-being of the child .Common assessment framework – is a key part of the governments aim of delivering frontline services that are focused on and around the needs of children and young people. It helps to identify needs and promotes coordinated service provision. Children with additional needs often require support from more than one agency or more than one local authority and they pull together the information they gather to identify aspects of the childs learning and development. Observation, – observing children is important for a childcare practitioner to practise because it is an essential element of being able to assess a childs development. It can be used to strengthen virtually every aspect of an early childhood pr ogramme.Methods of observation are: Time sampling Event sampling Participative observation Longitudinal â€Å" Taget child â€Å" Naturalistic â€Å" Structured â€Å" In order to make the most of any observation the observer should record what they have witnessed, and every child should have their own file, and only be used in ways to maintain confidentiality. Observation is how you find out the specific needs of individual children and you can then plan the next steps in the childs development and learning. Assessment – is the process of analysing and reviewing what you know about the childs current level of development and learning.When you assess you are judging what the next step will be for the child to improve. There are two types of assessing, formative and summative. Profiling – is a system of recording a childs personal achievements in all areas of development. There are now computer systems available that record childrens profiles and analyse many more options. After making observations and assessments you must use the results to identify learning priorities and plan relevant and motivating learning experiences for each child. Any concerns about a childs progress should always be discussed with parents and colleagues to identify wheather intervention may be required.Planning includes : Planned activities Unplanned activities Child-centred planning Long term development plan Short term development plan Individual development plan Whaever the plan is, they all need evaluating, reviewing and maybe re-planning. The childcare setting should monitor the progress of each childs learning and development, it is important because it will enable the childcare worker to establish how far the child has moved the settings long term objectives for the child. Whether the learning and development of the child is moving towards achievement . Whether the settings planning and implementation of the EYFS is being effective in progressing the chil drens development.Apart from all of the above we have to provide the right environment so children can learn and develop , children thrive best in an environment that supports their active and learning development. Debbie England EB1257620 R/601/1694 Q2a, Explain the factors that need to be taken into account when assessing development? Observing a child at work or play will help you assess and provide evidence of the range of the childs work, progress and attainment over time. It will also enable you to find out about the specific care and learning needs of each child and subsequently plan the next steps in the childs development and learning.To make an assessment you should gather together all relevant information about the child. This information should contain observations over a period of time. Development Learning Health Behaviour Academic progress and need for special services Any assessment carried out should be based on: Thorough knowledge of child development. Parents obse rvations of their childs development during the time.Observations of other practitioners who have worked with the child. Analysis of observations of the child against milestones and approximate expectations. The result of the assessment can be used to develop or amend plans for a childs individual care, learning and development and gude any curriculum decisions. This may include any of the following actions: Plan for the childs next steps for learning in an individual learning plan. Set goals for individual children that are realistic and within their capabilities. Provide appropriate play activities to stimulate the next stage of development.Set realistic expectations for the childs behaviour. Identify any developmental delay and, in conjunction with the parents, consider the need to seek help from specialists. Provide individual help in a specific aspect of development where it has been observed as necessary. Suggest introducing a behaviour modification programme. Leave the curren t plans for a child unchanged because the setting is satisfied with the childs progress or development. The assessment should always be discussed with the parents and that the parents share the same views about their childs stage of development. Q2b. Explain the selection of the assessment methods used to assess children?Formative assessment – is based on observations, which inform or guide everyday planning. When performing a formative assessment you need to ask yourself. What do your observations and any other evidence of learning you have collected tell you about the childs learning and development? ( examples of art work, information from parents or a photo you took. ) What was new- was there something yoy had not observed before? When you do this regularly, you will gain evidence of the childs progress over time and you will gain insights into his/her learning, development and their future needs.It is important that a childs parents are included in the assessment proces s, so they can share their views and observations about the childs development and being involved in planning what opportunities and experiences should be offered to the child. Assessments might be required in different formats :eg Filling in a checklist Answering a series of questions or writing a free and unstructured description. You must know what format you are to record achievements, difficulties, behaviour, physical performance and comment on whether the child has reached the agreed targets. And make sure theres confidentiality. Summative assessment – Is a summary of all formative assessments carried out over a long period of time.The EYPS profile is the summative assessment completed by practitioners, it summarises childrens progress towards the early learning goals. Within the final term of the EYPS providers must provide the parent of each child with:- A copy of EYPS profile if requested by parent. A written summary reporting childs progress against the early learni ng goals and the assessment scales. Details of the arrangements under which the EYFS profile and its results may be discussed with the parent. Planning for the next step in a childs development should be done on the information you have collected from your own observations , assessments and information from parents.Debbie England EB1257620 L/600/8782 Q3aExplain each of the areas of learning and development and how these are interdependent? Learners use all their sense to receive information. One or more styles is normally dominant. This dominant style defines the way a person learns new information. The learner may prefer one style of learning for one task, and a combination for another task. Carers should present information using all three styles of learning, it allows a learner to be presented with the other two methods as well, they all help children learn faster by reinforcing the material.Auditory learners often talk to themselves, they also move their lips and read aloud, th ey may have difficulties with reading and writing tasks. Many people assume reading is a visual action, although we see words, most of us process information by hearing ourselves say the words. Auditory learners fall into two categories. 1. The less understood auditory learners need to hear their own voice to process the information, they are those who need to talk it out. In a class setting when the instructor is not asking questions, auditory-verbal processors tend to mutter to themselves. 2. Some auditory learners prefer to listen both to themselves and others. Listeners are more likely to do well in school.Visual learners – linguistic and spacial, Visual learners prefer to see what they are learning, pictures and images help them understand ideas and information better than explanations, they may create a mental picture of what is being described. They may watch a speaker talk as well as listen. Visual – linguistic learners like to learn through reading and writin g tasks, they remember what has been written down. They also like to write down directions and pay better attention to lecturers if they watch them. Learners who are visual-spatial have difficulty with written language but do better with charts, videos, demonstrations and other visual materials. Kinaesthetic or tactile learners do best when touching or moving. Tactile learners want to touch.Kinaesthetic learners want to sense the position and movement of what they are working on. Even if they don`t get much from discussions or written materials , they may catch up by working through scenarios. Most classrooms don`t offer enough opportunities to move or touch. Sometimes we can sense the way they process information by what they say. A visual learner may say â€Å"I see your point† An auditory learner may say â€Å"I hear what your saying†. A kinaesthetic learner may say â€Å" I feel we are moving in the right direction†. All areaof development are important and all impact on one another.Physical development includes all movement skills and can be supported by providing Space Materials Equipment and Activity Social development include learning social skills, emotions, caring for others, self reliance, decision making, developing self confidence and forming relationships and can be supported by providing Praise Guidance Giving children chance to spend time with others Activities Encouragement Opportunities Listen to children Supervision Emotional development can be supported by Being warm and affectionate Opportunities to express how they feel Making them feel safe , secure and valued Giving them time and attention Intellectual development includes attention span Reasoning Developing memory Logic thinking and questioning Understanding information and can be supported by providing Games like I spy Getting children to help you Asking and answering questions Activities Playing make-believe Looking at plants, animals etc Talk about what they have seen Look at computers with them.Language development includes understanding and aquiring language, vocabulary and body language and can be supported by Asking questions Discussions about books, pictures etc Ask children to give information about themselves Ask children to recall something from the past. By using all these learning and developing methods , which work interdependently, help the child learn by experience, contact with others and environment.Adults who support this learning and developing process play a crucial part in ensuring that children gain maximum benefits. Children learn by doing, imagining what they have been doing and then turning what they know into symbols such as speech, drawing and writing. Q3b. Describe the documented outcomes for children that form part of the relevant early years framework? Documented outcomes should consist of a short discription of how the child demonstrates the three characteristics of effective learning. Playing an d exploring Active learning Creating and thinking critically.These discriptions must reflect on going observations of the child within formative assessment processes and should take account of all relevant records held by the setting and include information from the child, their parents and other relevant adults. Playing and exploring – engagement . Finding out and exploring is concerned with the childs open-ended hands-on experiences which result from innate curiosity and provide raw sensory material from which the child builds concepts, tests ideas and finds out. Using what they know in their play describes how children use to play to bring together their current understandings, combining, refining and exploring their ideas in imaginative ways. Representing experiences through imaginative play supports the development of narrative thought, the ability to see from other perspectives and symbolic thinking.Being willing to have a go refers to the child finding an interest, in itiating activities, seeking challenge, having a `can do ` orientation, being willing to take a risk in new experiences, and developing the view of failures as opportinities to learn. Active learning – motivation Being involved and concentrating describes the intensity of attention that arises from children concentrating on following a line of interest in their activities. Keeping on trying refers to the importance of persistence even in the face of challenge or difficulties an element of purposeful control which supports resilience. Enjoying achieving what they set out to do refers to the reward of meeting one`s own goals,building on the intristic motivation which supports long-term success, rather than relying on the approval of others.Creating and thinking critically – thinking Having their own ideas covers the critical area of creativity – generating new ideas and approaches in all areas of endeavour. Being inventive allows children to find new problems as they seek challenge, and to explore ways of solving these. Using what they already know to learn new things refers to the way in which children develop and link concepts, find meaning in sequence, cause and effect and in the intentions of others through both narrative and scientific modes of thought. Choosing ways to do things and finding ways involves approaching goal-directed activity in organised ways making choices and decisions about how to approach tasks, planning and monitoring what to do and being able to change strategies. The following etails listed below are the ares of learning of the early years foundation stage 1. Listening and attention 2. Understanding 3. Speaking 4. Moving and handling 5. Health and self-care 6. Self-confidence and self awareness 7.Managing feelings and behaviour 8. Making relationships 9. Reading 10. Writing 11. Numbers 12. Shape,space and measures 13. People and communities 14. The world 15.Technology 16. Exploring and using media and mate rials 17. Being imaginative. During final year of the early years framework practitioners must undertake ongoing (formative) assessment to support each childs learning and development. There is no requirement that this is recorded in any specific manner or at specified points in time, practitioners should be mindful of their professional responsibilities for the learning and development of every child in their care and plan the provision needed to enable children to take the next steps in their learning .In the final term of the EYFS practitioners must make a judgement for each child using information from all sources to make a judgement for each ELG. Practitioners must make a judgement for each ELG as to whether the childs learning and development is best described by:- The description of the level of development expected at the end of EYFS (expected) Not yet at the level of development expected bt the end of the EYFS(emerging) and Beyond the level of development expected by the end of the EYFS (exceeding). Q3c. Explain how the documented outcomes are assessed and recorded? PLEASE UPLOAD YOUR ASSIGNMENT ONTO THE VLC IN THE UNIT 1 SUBMISSION AREA Learning OutcomesAssignment question 1 L/601/1693 1-3 a. Explain the sequence and rate of each aspect of development from birth – 19 years. b. Explain how theories of development and frameworks to support development influence current practice. c. Explain how to monitor children and young people’s development using different methods. d. Explain the reasons why children and young people’s development may not follow the expected patterns. e. Explain how disability may affect development. f. Explain how different types of interventions can promote positive outcomes for children and young people where development is not following the expected pattern. 2 R/601/1694 1-2 a.Explain the factors that need to be taken into account when assessing development. b. Explain the selection of the assessment metho ds used to assess children. 3 L/600/8782 1,3,5 a. Explain each of the areas of learning and development and how these are interdependent. b. Describe the documented outcomes for children that form part of the relevant early years framework. c. Explain how the documented outcomes are assessed and recorded. d. Explain how practitioners promote children’s learning within the relevant early years framework. e. Explain the importance of engaging with a child to support sustained shared thinking. f. Reflect on own practice in supporting learning and development of children in their early years.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Discuss the role of Lady Macbeth in the play Essay

Lady Macbeth takes a leading role in the play. From the very first sighting, that we encounter her, her strong powerful character over powers us. I will be focusing on the role of Lady Macbeth, whom is married to the main character Macbeth. Lady Macbeth plays and important role in the play, as she influences events that take place to a large extent. As the play develops, we see Lady Macbeth displaying many aspects and qualities of her personality. Lady Macbeth by nature I believe is a manipulative woman; she has a goal in her sights and seems to use everything in her power to reach it. Her involvement in the murder of King Duncan is dominating; she formulates and directs the whole plan. Lady Macbeth is the person who gives the impetus to Macbeth to do what she believes he must do. The first time we come into contact with her is in Act 1 Scene 5 of the play. We see her performing a soliloquy. Here she makes an immediate impact, performing on her own centre stage, reading a letter from Macbeth. The letter informs her of Macbeth’s and Banqo’s meeting with the witches. It tells her of the witches prophecies to him – the prophecy that one day she and her husband would become King and queen of Scotland. This idea seems to kindle a fire in Lady Macbeth. Immediately she seems to be forming a scheme, putting plans together to fulfil the witch’s forecast of Macbeth’s life. This shows how determined and ambitious Lady Macbeth is. ‘Glamis thou art, and Cawdor: and shalt be what though art promise.’ She promises that what the witch’s predicted will be fulfilled. She indicates that she has immediately formulated the idea of a murder. This straight away creates a first impression on the audience – evil personified! â€Å"I fear thy nature, is too full of the milk of human kindness to catch the nearest way†. Lady Macbeth knows he knows he is a man of honour and that she believes that he deserves the status of a king. Lady Macbeth realises it will be a hard decision or Macbeth, perhaps shocking idea that killing Duncan would be to ‘catch the nearest way’, to becoming a royalty himself. She knows it is an extremely tempting offer and he will suffer greatly over his final decision. She feels that he has a soft personality, and does not have it in him to fight for this position. He is too decent a man to take advantage of this opportunity. Lady Macbeth thinks he has the ambition but lacks the courage. She feels he is a kind, generous, noble man and cant go ahead with what she has in mind for him. Lady Macbeth feels as though only she can persuade Macbeth to Initially Lady Macbeth seems to have the stronger ambition of the two. She appears to be an individual who is totally devoid of moral conscience; she has the appearance of an unstoppable woman. She has strong beliefs that will power/courage are the only two things that should dominate Macbeth’s mind, ‘Screw your courage to the sticking place!’ – Someone who encapsulates evil. The audience comes to realise that Macbeth, who is very tempted by the notion of kingship, has no chance against this self-created monster. He is affect – damned. The witches’ prophecy is something that Lady Macbeth is obsessed by and is determined to will into fruition. Her second soliloquy now shows the igniting of this wicked plan. She realises that Duncan is actually coming to visit her at the castle. Her first few lines are probably spoken in total amazement. ‘He brings great news’; She would probably exclaim this quite joyfully. This works on two levels though. It is a great honour to have the king himself staying the night. It is also her big chance, in her mind, not to be missed! Lady Macbeth makes a decision that he will not be leaving alive. She is fully confident that she is making the right decisions and that the chance that she has awaited has arrived. Lady Macbeth decides to take the opportunity and make sure that Duncan is killed. This shows that Lady Macbeth has no pity what so ever. She isn’t going to let anyone come in her way. Lady Macbeth has clear ideas, and has planned exactly what has to be done. ‘The raven himself is coarse, That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan’. Since her first soliloquy, the audience has established that she has more ambition, and craves more domination than a woman (particularly at that time) is thought rightly to have. The notions that she has conjured up do not seem to be likely of a particularly feminine personality. She shows very little compassion or worry. Now, she (by the power of magic) wants to get rid of any womanly nature at all, ‘Come you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here’. She would deliver these lines as if calling to a divine power. She calls to the ‘spirits that tend on mortal thoughts’ – these are the spirits that tend on any murderous thought or ambition. Lady Macbeth wants the sympathetic nature of a woman to be taken away from her so that any feelings that stop her from doing this deed are got rid of. She asks them to, ‘Stop th’access and passage to remorse’. She wants to be separate as possible from ‘the milk of human kindness’. She wants her breasts to be instead full of bitter poison. She probably desires to get rid of most human qualities, and, instead be on a par with these ‘magic murdering ministers’ – The spirits of evil and murder. Lady Macbeth becomes very impatient and wants time to pass quickly so that she can proceed with her plans. ‘You wait on nature’s mischief! Comes thick night.’ She wants the night to fall quickly so that it can hide the murder she is planning in the shadow of its darkness. ‘That my keen knife sees not the wound it makes.’ After she says this, it is clear to the audience that he is serious about killing Duncan and will go ahead with the deed. Lady Macbeth at this point has herself very excited. When her husband finally enters, we see him and her together for the first time. In her excitement Lady Macbeth addresses him as ‘ Great Glamis’, ‘Worthy Cawdor’ and then, ‘All hail thereafter’ – The king! This excitement would cause her, I believe, to change the way she speaks This excitement and more importantly the will power she derives from it seems to overtake her husband. This again reinforces the audiences’ suspicion that Lady Macbeth is pushing herself further than is appropriate. When she learns that Duncan will be coming the next day, she tells Macbeth that Duncan will not be seen on the face of the earth after tomorrow. ‘O, never Shall sun that ‘morrow see.’ She clearly states to Macbeth her feelings and what she believes needs to be done, in a straightforward manner. Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth that he needs to change his personality, and that he needs to put on an act. ‘To beguile the time, Look like the time; bear welcome in your eye, Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t.’ Lady Macbeth wants her husband to act innocent but have an evil soul. All of this shows how she enjoys dominating situations and people. Lady Macbeth likes to be in control of everything that happens. She is trying to persuade Macbeth to do the deed. Then also enjoy the end, which is becoming Queen herself. ‘The night’s great business into my dispatch.’ ‘Leave all the rest to me.’ Lady Macbeth believes that she can sort everything out herself, as she knows what needs to be done, and how she is going to do it. She likes taking control of things. This shows she is single minded. In Act 1 scene 6, Duncan finally arrives. Lady Macbeth now proves how deceptive and two faced she really can be. Duncan arrives with nothing but compliments for the castle and its hosts, ‘ This castle hath a pleasant seat’, ‘See our honoured hostess’. Lady Macbeth shows herself as the perfect hostess, ‘All service in every point twice done, and then done double’. Then she leads him triumphantly, almost as a trophy, into the castle and to his dreadful fate. In act 1 scene 7 Lady Macbeth has her work cut out for her. She constantly has to reinforce her husbands’ resolve, pushing him on. Macbeth’s resolve fails him, in his soliloquy, he is in agony with his doubts, and he decides against following through with the plot. We see her talking to Macbeth about killing Duncan. He thinks of all the reasons why he cannot kill his king. – He sees him as an honourable king, an honourable man. He is ‘His Kinsman’, And Macbeth was his ‘subject’. Macbeth had been honoured by Duncan, being made ‘Thane of Thife’. He also worries what will happen, ‘Tears shall drown the wind’. He reaches his final decision; the murder will not go ahead. Macbeth seems to wake up, he doesn’t ask his wives permission, and he seems to have regained control from her dominating influence. Lady Macbeth enters asking why Macbeth, as expected of a host, was present at the table, Macbeth asks ‘hath he asked for me?’ Lady Macbeth replies, ‘Know you not he has?’ I believe she would ask this question quite firmly; she wants Duncan to be oblivious to any negative feelings Macbeth may have. Macbeth goes straight to the point and out lines his reasons, ‘We will proceed no further in this business’; ‘He hath honoured me of late†¦Which would be worn in its newest gloss, not cast aside so soon’. Lady Macbeth is somewhat taken aback – staggered by her husbands’ decision. Here she thought she had the cat in the bag, her husband was prepared to take this amazing opportunity to grasp kingship. Her willpower had spurred him onto it. Now she saw she wasn’t as powerful and influential as she originally thought she was – She turns on Macbeth. In a moment she realises her willpower had not had its desired affect. Lady Macbeth changes, her tactics switch from ‘unsexed’ to using her feminine powers. As a woman, she will now humiliate and manipulates Macbeth as a man. Lady Macbeth knows that it will sting Macbeth if she taunts him. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth had been mentioned to be, ‘A worthy bridegroom for the goddess of war herself!’ He has been honoured for his great roles in battle by the king himself. Naturally, it will provoke Macbeth if his honour or ‘masculinity’ is challenged. She taunts him: ‘Was the hope drunk wherein you dressed yourself? Hath it slept since?’ Lady Macbeth I believe would utter this in mock disbelief. She would be sounding as if to be appalled at the lack of confidence in Macbeth’ conviction. It makes a fool of him, she asks, ‘Were the hope drunk Wherein you dressed yourself?’ She is saying, was your hope drunk? And now, wakes with a hangover – regretting what it had said? She uses the words, ‘pale and green’ to pictorially describe colours and shades that are normally associated with weak, and sickliness. She then continues, using her feminine power, to question his love for her, saying, ‘Such I account thy love’. Meaning his love to her is as one of his drunken promises. These are not words that Macbeth is accustomed to having directed at him. He is not used to having his courage mocked. He perfectly knows he is not a coward. He is one of the bravest men around. Lady Macbeth expects him to retort this way. He continues though, he puts his finger right on it, ‘Who dares do more is none’. Macbeth means whoever dares to do anything more daring, dangerous or maybe wicked, isn’t human; they are supernatural, probably monstrous. Macbeth is defending himself, he is suggesting that anything more brave wouldn’t make him a man, it would make him monster; and that is the truth. Macbeth knows it’s the truth, Lady Macbeth knows it is the truth, and importantly the audience realise this is the truth. He is prepared to do ‘all men can do’, but he draws the line at becoming a monster. Lady Macbeth would perhaps falter at this. Yet again though, she picks up the offensive, though in a slightly weaker position perhaps. She takes a risk by replying ‘What beast was’t then, that made you break this wicked enterprise to me?’ Lady Macbeth shifts the blame back onto Macbeth, claiming he was the one to hatch the plan, the crucial words being ‘you break this†¦to me’. The audience will pick up on this, realising that it was never Macbeth who ever originated the idea, it was in fact Lady Macbeth. Macbeth fails to see this though and she carries on. She reasons that when he (Macbeth) had proposed this ‘enterprise’ to her, then he ‘were a man’. Lady Macbeth tries to change Macbeth’s perception of what is manly. She tries to change what Macbeth perceives as man, being brave and daring to do ‘all that may become a man’, to a man being almost a killing machine. She does this by saying ‘When you durst do it, then you were a man’. Lady Macbeth thinks that a man is someone who would do anything to make himself bigger, stronger or more powerful. Lady Macbeth then uses a slightly different tack; she uses shock tactics to demonstrate how she feels about following through with the murder. Lady Macbeth brings to mind the most grotesque image that she can think up. She says she would take a child, hers, and ‘while it was smiling in my face†¦and dashed the brains out, had I so sworn as you Have done this’. By this, Lady Macbeth reveals a side to her to her audience. She is evil and she will stop at nothing. What she meant by killing her child like this was to show her strength of conviction and willingness to carry out her word ‘had I so sworn to you [Macbeth]’. It appears to work, and Macbeth falters saying (indicating a change of heart) ‘If we should fail?’ Lady Macbeth has now re-engaged him, and Macbeth is curious again. Again Lady Macbeth shows her strength of conviction and will, ‘Screw your courage to the sticking place – and we’ll not fail’, Lady Macbeth I think hits these words with a real sense of belief, urging Macbeth to think about it. Failing? – Lady Macbeth declares that this is impossible. She proceeds to outline her plan, believing she now has Macbeth back onboard. She will make Duncan’s guard’s drunk and she and Macbeth will commit the murder, leaving the guards to take the fall for it. The plan is ruthlessly simple and cowardly. The audience cannot help but realise this; Lady Macbeth has thought this through non-stop and has made her plan as efficient and as fool proof as possible. Lady Macbeth makes it so safe, and has reconfirmed Macbeth’s original intentions – but still Macbeth will know in the back of his mind, this is all wrong. Lady Macbeth has powerfully changed Macbeth, using his moral weaknesses exposed by his ambition, to change his mind. Macbeth has let his wife’s iron will destroy his conscience and his somewhat ‘sophisticated’ moral sense. Again though, the audiences are left with sub-conscience doubts about Lady Macbeth’s appearance of unshakeable strength. In Act 2-scene 2 there is more talking between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, about killing king Duncan. Here she displays he having controlled and authority over Macbeth’s mind and actions, but also how support she can be towards him. One of the things that particularly stood out was her inability to commit the murder herself. For all the boasting and the character she built up of herself, Lady Macbeth cannot do any of which she said she was so sure of. Lady Macbeth was supposed to commit the murder herself, but she goes in and comes straight back out again, being startled by a bird’s cry as she stands there. Macbeth comes up the stairwell and sees Lady Macbeth there; she seems to make some excuses for her being there saying, ‘I am afraid they have awaked’, then she admits, ‘ And ’tis done. Th’ attempt and not the deed’. Lady Macbeth has faltered, and she cannot bring herself to the deed she swore she would do even if she had to dash her own child’s brains out. She came into the chamber and almost I would imagine shouts the line, ‘Hark! I laid the daggers ready’. Lady Macbeth is angry I think with herself, as if she is ashamed. She makes the excuse that she entered, saw Duncan and saw he was like her father in his sleep – and could not kill him baring in mind she was prepared to kill her own child. Macbeth nevertheless has killed Duncan. Macbeth is almost immediately feeling the consequences; he recounts it as if he suffered immediate guilt whilst he was doing the murder. Macbeth has started to crack; he is breaking down, saying that he heard voices saying he would no longer be able to sleep. What Lady Macbeth now faces is what ultimately destroys her. She has now to bear up to Macbeth’s faltering conscience amidst her own despair. Lady Macbeth tries to silence Macbeth, trying to drive the thoughts of guilt out of her mind – trying to remain strong saying ‘A foolish thought to say a sorry sight’. A few lines on Lady Macbeth prophetically says, ‘These deeds must not be thought. After these ways; so, it will make us mad’. It is here that Lady Macbeth’s character has its biggest and final test. Lady Macbeth now reverts into a controlling wife, as she tries to distract her mind from what has happened by snapping into gear and sorting out what has happened. She is practical and tells her husband to go and wash himself of blood, and then she summons whatever courage she may have left to go and put the daggers with the guards to ensure that they have the blame. Again Lady Macbeth is practical, there is a knock at the door of the castle and she restrains her husband from answering it. Lady Macbeth’s mind is in full gear with this murder. She sees that it would be strange if they were to answer the door at this hour of the night saying, ‘Get on you’re night-gown†¦And show us to be watchers’. Lady Macbeth is in full control of her faculties at this point, whereas her husband is starting to really break down, already wishing he’d not done it ‘Wake Duncan with thy knocking. I would thou couldst’. Lady Macbeth is not the strong person she appears to be though. Following on in Act 2 scene 3, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth perform an amazing drama to dupe them, and prove their innocence. Macduff arrives at the gate and goes to see the king in his chamber, and returns with the news of his death. The blame obviously falls upon the guards and Macbeth convincingly puts up a show that he loved Duncan so much that he kill the guards on the spot, Thus, removing any ability for them to defend themselves. Now, this does temporarily shift suspicion towards Macbeth, but he gives such an intricate and heartfelt speech, that combined with Lady Macbeth swooning and starting to faint, â€Å"Help me hence, ho!† She draws the attention away from Macbeth, it is enough to convince the others of their innocence at least for the moment. The murder also frightens Duncan’s sons; they fear that they might be next; this is probably true, since in order for Macbeth to have a good chance to become King, both of them must be killed. Therefore, they flee, and this puts them under suspicion. It could be reasoned that they might have killed their father in order to quicken their ascension to the throne. Again, all of which are complete lies. Such harmonious co-operation when under pressure shows that Lady and Lord Macbeth do indeed work well together, and have an excellent relationship. In Act 3-scene 2 Macbeth is crowned King, one of the first things Macbeth does, is have Banquo assassinated. It is important to note that he does this independently of his wife; his coronation seems to have given him new courage. We see Lady Macbeth being impatient. Lady Macbeth is again telling Macbeth to put his past behind him, ‘What’s done is done’, Putting more strain on their relationship. Macbeth obviously however has taken over, he hints to Lady Macbeth that he has a plan in action and she should be, ‘Innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck’. Lady Macbeth knows something is going on, however see isn’t fully aware of it. She thinks this after a conversation with Macbeth as he means to be unsettled and sneaky. Lady Macbeth tried to lighten things with Macbeth by telling him not regret anything. â€Å"Things without all remedy â€Å" She is telling him not to think about something that can’t be corrected. Lady Macbeth is the opposite however; she is at heart a weaker woman than Macbeth is the stronger man. She does start to feel guilt and consequences for her actions; she cannot keep the ruthless monster image up. Lady Macbeth wants to know what Macbeth is planning behind her back, however he refuses to tell her that he is plotting to kill Banquo. â€Å"Whats to be done† Lady Macbeth shows that she is curious and dislikes being left out with Macbeth’s plans. Macbeth even teasingly knows this, saying in affect that she would prefer not to know the details of his plan. Lady Macbeth herself however, is doubtful in her new found power; she is troubled by their present state. However, she does tell Macbeth this, who is already worried, almost to the point of suicide by his speech. Instead, she comforts him again, advising him not to brood on the past. However, he is still deeply concerned. He tells his wife of his plan to kill Banquo, and for a change, she asks him what to do. He tells to do as she has told him; to put on a false face, and pretend nothing has happened. Macbeth does however, suggest his discontent about his deceitfulness, but recognises its necessity. This switching of roles due to Macbeth’s increased confidence and Lady Macbeth’s lack of is perhaps quite important. It shows that their relationship is changing. The Lady Macbeth of Act-1 has lost its initiative in evil. Act 3 Scene 4 Lady Macbeth becomes increasingly worn down by her husbands’ own mental deterioration. Macbeth makes quite a scene at his feast, holding a party to celebrate his title of king. It starts with him not sitting at the table and instead having a furious conversation with one of the murderers of Banquo. Lady Macbeth hurries in saying that ‘You do not give a cheer. The feast is sold’, Macbeth is acting strangely to his guests, but this is not the strangest thing to happen yet by far. Macbeth becomes hallucinated and colour drains from his face and he begins to shout because of seeing a ghost, only visible to himself – a ghost of Banquo. Lady Macbeth immediately covers for him, â€Å"Sit worthy friends† Lady Macbeth realises that Macbeth is about to give the whole game away and has to desperately rescue herself and her husband. She tells the guest that Macbeth is having a fit, but he will soon recover. She calms Macbeth down, by calling him out the room to ensure he doesn’t say anything he shouldn’t. You have displace†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬  Lady Macbeth is totally confused to why he is acting like this; she then goes on by asking the guests, with a complete lack of ceremony, to leave immediately. â€Å"Stand upon the order†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.† Lady Macbeth is very rude in telling the guest to go, as she fears that Macbeth might say something he shouldn’t. This surely wears her down and worries her of what the guests may think. Lady Macbeth tries to pull Macbeth together, but it has no effect. She is undergoing along with her husband a state of intense mental, physical and emotional exhaustion. This is the last time the Macbeth’s are seen together as one working unit. Lady Macbeth says little at this point and cannot seem to match her husbands’ vigour. Macbeth says, ‘I am†¦o’er’ Meaning he admits that he is too far-gone, it is simpler to carry on his bloody ways than to turn back now. Lady Macbeth urges him to stop, telling him he lacks sleep and needs to go to bed. Macbeth’s range of evil has outstretched Lady Macbeth’s, she is beyond it all. This is the last time that Lady Macbeth is seen as sane. In fact, Lady Macbeth is not present in any of Act-4, not appearing until into Act-5. Scene I is where the most obvious change of Lady Macbeth unfolds. The long absence of Lady Macbeth until Act-5 reinforces her appearance as the mad, delusional woman in scene ii. Her mental stability reaches its terminal point and this once monster, becomes nothing but a nervous wreck. The human traits of guilt, conscience and common human feeling all catch up with Lady Macbeth. She could not run from them forever, and now they have reduced her to a pitiful state. Lady Macbeth walks around her bedroom, shuffling nervously, crying out when she cannot remove a figurative spot of blood – or guilt. Lady Macbeth recounts her guilty deeds but as a sign of her mental disarray, she cannot tell them in any chronological order. I would imagine an actor playing the part of Lady Macbeth telling each incident that she calls to mind, as if it cuts her mentally – breaking up her mind. The agony that Lady Macbeth passes through will eventually lead to the last part of her deterioration. Her agony will drive her to despair and ultimately, she is mentioned to have committed suicide. In act 5 scene 5, we learn that Lady Macbeth is dead. This is a bad end for Lady Macbeth; though, a woman of powerful ambition and driving force, and a person in an influential position – she dies pathetically. This end runs parallel to the events of the play and reflects on the outcome of the theme of evil throughout. Lady Macbeth thought she was as evil as she could wish to be, as unconnected from other womanly and human qualities as she might choose. She believed ambition and will power were everything – yet it was all these things that ultimately lead to her end. Lady Macbeth thought that her ambition and worldly success would justify any move she made. Lady Macbeth would not accept that evil is self-destructive. Her impressions of overpowering evil were in the end of a day – only an impression. Her conscience first shows its greater power when she is unable to kill Duncan herself. Her next step was when she had to come to terms with her and her husbands reality of evil. The mounting guilt becomes heavier and heavier on her, with the killing of Banquo and the guards. She has to continue to keep up her appearances and her husbands resolve, excusing his behaviour, supporting him, all whilst keeping on top of her own mental condition until he overtakes her in evil. This has its obvious end; she has no way of escape, which further tortures her mental condition. The only way out of her self-created downward spiral was her own death.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Advise Brian as to the application of EU law on the free movement of Essay

Advise Brian as to the application of EU law on the free movement of goods to this situation - Essay Example According to the case presented, Brian is a recognized trader in these items and has dealt them for years. Having sold the products for ten years, one would judge Brian as an experienced manufacturer and supplier of these materials. The free movement of goods treaty aims at restricting limitations to trade between member states of the European Union and compliance is key for a good relation for the different states. France as a state is part of the treaty and is bound by the treaty to comply and eliminate any restrictions that are developed either by its domestic suppliers of Power Saws or by legislation that seeks to create a discriminatory effect to the trade aspects of the EU. A number of cases exist on the aspects of discrimination in trade because of legislative effects of member states of the European Union. These include the following. According to a case as per Schmidberger, case Case C-112/00 on free movement of goods vs. protection of fundamental right1. According to this case, respect of fundamental rights of persons in the different states is part of the responsibility that the states have. The free movement of goods into and out of France needs not affect the livelihood of the people especially their health. Considering the health aspect attached to the case, the rights of protection on health aspects for the people is the mandate of the government that limits the exposure as per the goods in relation to the PSs. The free movement of goods relates to the removal of barriers from the market free trade to exist2. Brian is a manufacturer within the UK, which is part of the European Union. He manufactures goods that qualify for sale on the European Union and that explains the reasons why he has for ten years supplied the goods in UK and Germany markets and all these have appreciated his products. Among the facts involves the position of France as one of the European Union members,

Friday, September 27, 2019

Jewish Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Jewish - Essay Example The participation of Jews in the 20th century entertainment industry contributed to this concept and has led into assertions that continue to create a sense of popularity over specific Jewish cultural stereotypes. The stereotypes that have been created in entertainment began with the third generation of Jews from the immigration that took place. After this time, there was an alteration in how Jews were looked at, specifically which combined the Americanization of Jews and the traditional identity that has been added into the identity of how Jews are looked at within popular culture today. The concept of Jewish culture before the entertainment began to be a part of mainstream America was one that was separate from other parts of America. The first and second generation Jews came from Eastern Europe and other areas that had different traditions and concepts of lifestyle. More important, most of the immigrants that were a part of the melting pot were restricted to ghettos and had difficulty in basic earnings and the ability to reach the American dream. Stereotypes were created from this developed from contrasts within America specifically because of the expectations and assumptions of how Jews lived within American culture. There were different aspects that were associated with what it meant to be Jewish as well as the inability to accept Jews into the American culture because of the contrasting traditions, cultures, festivities and language (Gold, 12, 1996). The problem with Jews in America was based on the marginalization of the minority, specifically because there wa s a belonging of being in the ghettos and having traditions that were not American. Many looked at this as a separate idea of what it meant to be American, which created boundaries and barriers with the American identity. The stereotypes that were created were first based around the economic situation of Jews. Living in the ghetto and taking jobs that were mediocre because of the

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Starbucks Research Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Starbucks Research Paper - Essay Example (Chris, 2006, 84) ThÐ µrÐ µ Ð °rÐ µ diffÐ µrÐ µnt Ð °Ã'€Ã'€rÐ ¾Ã °chÐ µs tÐ ¾ Ð ¾rgÐ °nizÐ °tiÐ ¾nÐ °l bÐ µhÐ °viÐ ¾r, which is bÐ µst fÐ ¾r Ð °ll Ð ¾rgÐ °nizÐ °tiÐ ¾ns; instÐ µÃ °d, cÐ ¾mÃ'€Ð °niÐ µs must Ð µvÐ ¾lvÐ µ thÐ µ systÐ µm, which wÐ ¾rks bÐ µst fÐ ¾r thÐ µm with thÐ µ hÐ µlÃ'€ Ð ¾f Ð µffÐ µctivÐ µ Ã'€lÐ °nning, Ð °nd tÐ µchnÐ ¾lÐ ¾gicÐ °l suÃ'€Ã'€Ð ¾rt, which chÐ °ngÐ µs Ð ¾vÐ µr timÐ µ Ð °s thÐ µir Ð µnvirÐ ¾nmÐ µnt Ð °nd thÐ µ individuÐ °ls within thÐ °t Ð µnvirÐ ¾nmÐ µnt chÐ °ngÐ µ. OrgÐ °nizÐ °tiÐ ¾nÐ °l bÐ µhÐ °viÐ ¾r dÐ µÃ °ls with thÐ µ tÐ ¾Ã'€ mÐ °n tÐ ¾ thÐ µ bÐ ¾ttÐ ¾m mÐ °n, Ð µvÐ µryÐ ¾nÐ µ nÐ µÃ µds tÐ ¾ bÐ µ invÐ ¾lvÐ µd Ð °nd knÐ ¾w thÐ µ right Ð °ctiÐ ¾ns Ð °nd Ð °ttitudÐ µs fÐ ¾r Ð °n Ð ¾rgÐ °nizÐ °tiÐ ¾n tÐ ¾ sky rÐ ¾ckÐ µt Ð °nd Ð µxcÐ µl in thÐ µ futurÐ µ StÐ °rbucks CÐ ¾rÃ'€Ð ¾rÐ °tiÐ ¾n is thÐ µ wÐ ¾rlds numbÐ µr Ð ¾nÐ µ sÃ'€Ð µciÐ °lty cÐ ¾ffÐ µÃ µ rÐ µtÐ °ilÐ µr. It Ð ¾Ã'€Ð µrÐ °tÐ µs mÐ ¾rÐ µ thÐ °n 8,700 cÐ ¾ffÐ µÃ µ shÐ ¾Ã'€s in mÐ ¾rÐ µ thÐ °n 30 cÐ ¾untriÐ µs. ThÐ µ cÐ ¾mÃ'€Ð °ny is cÐ ¾mmittÐ µd tÐ ¾ Ð ¾ffÐ µring thÐ µ highÐ µst quÐ °lity cÐ ¾ffÐ µÃ µ Ð °nd "ThÐ µ StÐ °rbucks ExÃ'€Ð µriÐ µncÐ µ" whilÐ µ cÐ ¾nducting its businÐ µss in wÐ °ys thÐ °t Ã'€rÐ ¾ducÐ µ sÐ ¾ciÐ °l, Ð µnvirÐ ¾nmÐ µntÐ °l Ð °nd Ð µcÐ ¾nÐ ¾mic bÐ µnÐ µfits fÐ ¾r cÐ ¾mmunitiÐ µs in which it dÐ ¾Ã µs businÐ µss. (Chris, 2006, 84) "StÐ °rbucks Ã'€urchÐ °sÐ µs Ð °nd rÐ ¾Ã °sts high-quÐ °lity whÐ ¾lÐ µ bÐ µÃ °n cÐ ¾ffÐ µÃ µs Ð °nd sÐ µlls thÐ µm Ð °lÐ ¾ng with frÐ µsh, rich-brÐ µwÐ µd, ItÐ °liÐ °n stylÐ µ Ð µsÃ'€rÐ µssÐ ¾ bÐ µvÐ µrÐ °gÐ µs, Ð ° vÐ °riÐ µty Ð ¾f Ã'€Ð °striÐ µs Ð °nd cÐ ¾nfÐ µctiÐ ¾ns, Ð °nd cÐ ¾ffÐ µ Ð µ-rÐ µlÐ °tÐ µd Ð °ccÐ µssÐ ¾riÐ µs Ð °nd Ð µquiÃ'€mÐ µnt -- Ã'€rimÐ °rily thrÐ ¾ugh its cÐ ¾mÃ'€Ð °ny-Ð ¾Ã'€Ð µrÐ °tÐ µd rÐ µtÐ °il stÐ ¾rÐ µs." (HÐ °mbrick, 2007, 20) StÐ °rbucks CÐ ¾rÃ'€Ð ¾rÐ °tiÐ ¾n Ã'€urchÐ °sÐ µs Ð °nd rÐ ¾Ã °sts whÐ ¾lÐ µ bÐ µÃ °n cÐ ¾ffÐ µÃ µs Ð °nd sÐ µlls thÐ µm Ð °lÐ ¾ng with brÐ µwÐ µd cÐ ¾ffÐ µÃ µs, ItÐ °liÐ °n-stylÐ µ Ð µsÃ'€rÐ µssÐ ¾ bÐ µvÐ µrÐ °gÐ µs, cÐ ¾ld-blÐ µndÐ µd bÐ µvÐ µrÐ °gÐ µs, Ð ° vÐ °riÐ µty Ð ¾f fÐ ¾Ã ¾d itÐ µms, Ð ° sÐ µlÐ µctiÐ ¾n Ð ¾f tÐ µÃ °s Ð °nd Ð µvÐ µn Ð ° linÐ µ Ð ¾f cÐ ¾mÃ'€Ð °ct discs. "ThÐ µ Ð ¾riginÐ °l StÐ °rbucks, fÐ ¾undÐ µd in 1971, wÐ °s Ð ° cÐ ¾mÃ'€Ð °ny Ã'€Ð °ssiÐ ¾nÐ °tÐ µly cÐ ¾mmittÐ µd tÐ ¾ wÐ ¾rld-clÐ °ss cÐ ¾ffÐ µÃ µ Ð °nd

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Social Media Users in Finland and Poland Assignment

Social Media Users in Finland and Poland - Assignment Example In July 2012, during the 16 International Christian Internet Congress staged in Munich, the attending church representatives unanimously agreed there was need for Christian organizations to boost their internet connective and interaction through social media. The outcome of the Munich conference was later discussed by Christian leaders in Finland in their annual meeting. Although only 35% of Finnish Christians use Facebook and other social sites, churches had lost more forty thousand faithful in less than four months. This served as an indication of how important social media are in wooing loyalist including fundamentalist. Churches therefore saw the need to retain their flocks by going socially online. It is from then that religious institutions adjusted their marketing strategy. Churches went ahead to appoint a team of delegates to investigate the role of social media in the modern society and also respond onslaught of social media criticisms. Instead, churches in Finland and the r est of Europe proposed new ways of positively using social media to preach the gospel and win new converts. Churches therefore launched an interactive social websites where their followers can post comments, videos, blogs, and pictures which would encourage other website followers. However, because of increasing cases of hacking, churches were forced to deploy experts and administrators to manage and integrate their sites (Scott, & Scott, 2011, p.63-4). The increasing use of online and digital communication technologies.... From political, corporate, to religious, all the organizations currently embrace social networks or media. Churches across Finland and Poland were surveyed on their how active to they use social media as a marketing base. The result polled by Buzzplant marketing agency revealed that these institutions often used social media to popularize themselves. Even millennium old institutions were found to have joined social network train. The survey covered about 250 churches in Finland on their position towards social media. Surprisingly, the finding of the survey established that religious institutions strongly believed on the effectiveness of social media form of outreach (Scott, 2010, p.89). Over forty six percent of the respondents indicated their preference of social media as an effective way of reaching out to their followers with only 25% of them preferring knocking on the door, and 6% indicating that TV is a better way of gaining numbers. Similar to Poland, Facebook and twitter were the most popular social networks for a large number of religious followers. This was evidence by the frequency at which these churches updated their Facebook or twitter pages on a daily account (Armfield, & Holbert, 2003, p.129). In July 2012, during the 16 International Christian Internet Congress staged in Munich, the attending church representatives unanimously agreed there was need for Christian organizations to boost their internet connective and interaction through social media. The outcome of the Munich conference was later discussed by Christian leaders in Finland in their annual meeting. Although only 35% of Finnish Christians use Facebook and other social sites, churches had lost more forty thousand faithful in less than four months. This served as an indication of how

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Resource Based Analysis of Marks & Spencer Plc Essay

Resource Based Analysis of Marks & Spencer Plc - Essay Example The present research has identified that clothing stores of Marks & Spencer are the leading retailers in the UK market and specialize in providing women’s wears, lingerie, and menswear. Their food stores are also leading in the UK market due providing fresh foods which are of high quality. The marketing and distribution of their products into the various markets and stores is done by utilizing the service of huge wholesalers, online stores and through a telephone. The company’s stocks are registered in the London stocks exchange. This paper will first assess the importance of capabilities and how they contribute to the competitive advantage of the organization. Then, analyze Marks & Spencer plc resources and capabilities using ratio analysis, value chain and VRIN. Resource-based view (RBV) is a business model which holds that business can attain a massive competitive advantage over the rival businesses by utilizing their resources and capabilities properly in alignment with the environment of the business. This implies that the business should possess resources and capabilities which are superior to those of their rivals in order to attain the competitive advantage over them. This will prevent the rival businesses from replicating the resources and capabilities of the company thus declining their competitive advantage. Capabilities are used in resource-based view to indicate the ability of a firm to apply its resources effectively and efficiently with the sole aim of gaining the competitive advantage over the market. Strategies of a company are formulated to address the future productivity of the company. Strategies of a company are formulated to address the future productivity of the company. Strategies are formulated to address any occurrences and incidences in the market and how to respond to changes in the market due to pressures or influences which appear from time to time in the market. The first strategy utilized by M&S was the brand name.

Monday, September 23, 2019

CANTERBURY v SPENCE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

CANTERBURY v SPENCE - Essay Example After the fall another surgery was done on him so that he could recuperate and at this time his condition improved. Canterbury sued the defendant for lack of disclosure and the hospital for negligence for lacking to place the bedrail to avoid the fall. The question that arose in this case was whether the doctor has a right to inform or disclose information to the patients about their medical condition for purpose of their treatment. It was held that the any patient has a right to know the physician’s diagnosis because of the risks that attaches to the surgery, also to ensure the patient understands the proposed surgery. Although it was decided that the doctor has a right of disclosure there are circumstance that these rule is exempted for instance; if a patient is unconscious and a greater harm would occur to the patient if the surgery was not carried out. Secondly, if disclosing the patients illness would cause a threat to his or her well

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Poetry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

Poetry - Essay Example The last line is broken down â€Å"so-long-lives-this-and-this-gives-life-to-thee.† So quatrain or couplet within â€Å"Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day† has 10 syllables. This qualifies the poem as a sonnet. The rhyme structure of this poem is a-b-a-b, c-d-c-d, e-f-e-f, g-g. An example is the first quatrain has the rhymes â€Å"day† and â€Å"May† in the first and third lines. The second and fourth lines rhyme with â€Å"temperate† and â€Å"date†. The second quatrain rhymes â€Å"shines† and â€Å"declines† in the fifth and seventh line. The sixth and eighth line rhymes â€Å"dimmed† and â€Å"untrimmed†. The ninth and eleventh line rhymes with â€Å"fade† and â€Å"shade†. The tenth and twelfth line rhyme with â€Å"ow’st† and â€Å"grow’st†. The final two lines rhyme with â€Å"see† and â€Å"thee†. This rhyming pattern is a-b-a-b, c-d-c-d, e-f-e-f, g-g patterning. Finally, Shakespeare’s â€Å"Shall I Compare Thee to a Summers Day† has the topic of beauty and love. Although it is not a requirement to have a love sonnet, Shakespeare use the technique. â€Å"Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day† is in the style of a Petrarchan Sonnet. The Petrarchan Sonnet is the Italian formed. The English, especially Shakespeare, used this typical technique subject of love. The Petrarchan Sonnet usually spoke of love, beauty, or love not requited. â€Å"Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day† also contains a volta. A volta is a shift in topic in the third quatrain. In the beginning Shakespeare is declaring undying love and comparison to life. However, in the third quatrain the subject leads to death and fading. For

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Drama Comparison Essay Example for Free

Drama Comparison Essay I am going to compare the scenes in which we have studied for She Stoops to Conquer and Guys and Dolls, I am going to discuss the similarities and differences between the two chosen sections. The sections that I am going to discuss are Act 1 scene 2 in Guys and Dolls, and In She Stoops to Conquer the section between Marlow and Miss Hardcastle as a maid. The time period that Guys and Dolls by Damon Runyon is set is in the 1950s, New York, this is shown through the accents of the characters on stage and also through costumes. In this scene Sky would be wearing a full suit and Sarah would be wearing an old Salvation Army suit. This is vastly different then She Stoops to conquer by Oliver Goldsmith, which is set in the 18th century, in the English countryside. The period is conveyed through costume, Marlow would be wearing breeches, and a cravat, a short jacket with a tail underneath wearing a colourful waistcoat the men would have long hair tied back with a ribbon. Miss Hardcastle would be wearing a maids outfit in this section; this would be a long brown dress with long sleeves and a square neck front and would also be wearing a white apron. They also convey this through language, which is Shakespearian. Another difference between them is that Guys and Dolls is a Musical and She Stoops to conquer is a restoration comedy. There are some major similarities between these two sections one of these is that its between a guy and a girl, and in both the guys are going for the girls. Even though this is a major similarity the woman react in different ways. In She Stoops to conquer Miss Hardcastle is playing hard to get so actually does like Marlow but does not want him to take her to bed, whereas Sarah just does not like Sky and does not want to talk to him. Both of the girls reactions are similar in the way that they are both rude and talk back to the men, both woman are supposed to come through as being innocent. Another similarity is that it is both dramatic irony this is because in She Stoops everyone knows that the maid is actually Miss Hardcastle, and in Guys and Dolls everyone in the audience knows that Sarah and Sky are going to fall in love. The guys in both performances are bold, Sky asks Sarah to go to Havana with him and Marlow implies to Miss Hardcastle that he wants to go to bed with her. Both plays are also deceiving this is because Miss Hardcastle is pretending to be a maid to Marlow, and in Guys and Dolls Sky is only talking to Sarah because he has bet that he can take her to Havana. A difference between them is movement, in She Stoops to conquer the movements are very over exaggerated this is because at the time it was the fashion in theatre to do this, the audience would find these movements amusing and made the story easier to follow. In Guys and Dolls the movements are much more naturalistic in this scene and this also helps to convey the period. An example of over exaggerating in She Stoops is that when she meets Marlow for the first time she would do a big curtsy, but over the top this would be amusing for the audience because they would be able to see that she was trying too hard to act like a maid. A similarity between them too is that they both use the whole stage this is because in She Stoops the large movements make the actors use more space and in Guys and Dolls the actors use a lot of space because Sarah is almost trying to get away from Sky. The status of the characters is different, in She Stoops Marlow thinks that he has the higher status but Miss Hardcastle actually does I would show this by Marlow sitting down for quite a lot of it, showing he has a lower level. In Guys and Dolls the status changes at the start Sarah has the highest status but when she says Isaiah the status changes and Sky then has the higher status. The set is different in both sections because of the different periods and the contexts. In She Stoops I would set it out as in a small area I would use a similar idea as what I saw in the production Othello were the walls fluctuated according to the mood of the play. I think that this should be a very small space this would show intimacy towards the two characters. The furniture should be set out as rich 18th century home e.g. a chez lounge chair in deep red and oak tables. In Guys and Dolls I would have this in a big space this would show the emptiness of the room and also reflect how far Sky and Sarah were away from each other in class. The design of the room would be that with 10 rows of chairs and 5 seats horizontally across the front. The use of Lighting would be very different this is because in She Stoops it is older so the light would be in sepia, or the light dimmed like it was candlelight, this would convey the period and show that it was old. In Guys and Dolls the lights would be bright at colourful to show that it was exciting and have a happy mood. The Music in Guys and Dolls is similar in the way that it tells a part of the story, in She Stoops when we acted out when the music came on we would do movement to what would be happening next. The emotional impact of She Stoops is that the audience find it very amusing and there is tension because the audience do not know weather Miss Hardcastle will pull it off. In Guys and Dolls the audience find it funny because Sky is so persistent and will not take no for an answer this is similar because for both the audiences reaction should be to find it funny. In Conclusion I think that they are very similar and different in lots of ways they both have similar ideas about a boy trying to get a girl, but the way in which the girls react is different. The way in which I would set out each of the sections would be completely different because of the time period and the intensity of the characters. Overall they both use different techniques to show that they are different e.g. making gestures big.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Effects of Fungicide Iprodione and Nitrification Inhibitor

Effects of Fungicide Iprodione and Nitrification Inhibitor Effects of fungicide iprodione and nitrification inhibitor 3, 4-dimethylpyrazole phosphate on soil enzyme and bacterial properties Manyun Zhang a, b, à ¯Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃƒ ¯Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ªÃƒ ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ , Weijin Wang a, c, Yaling Zhang a, Ying Teng b, à ¯Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃƒ ¯Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ªÃƒ ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ , Zhihong Xu a, à ¯Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃƒ ¯Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ªÃƒ ¯Ã‚ Ã‚  a Environmental Futures Research Institute, School of Natural Sciences, Griffith University, Brisbane, Queensland 4111, Australia b Key Laboratory of Soil Environment and Pollution Remediation, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China c Department of Science, Information Technology and Innovation, Dutton Park, Queensland 4102, Australia Abstract Agrochemical applications may have unintended detrimental effects on soil bacteria and soil health. However, limited studies have been conducted to evaluate the effects of repeated fungicide applications and interactive effects of different agrochemical applications on soil bacteria. In this study, an incubation experiment was established to evaluate the potential influences of fungicide iprodione and nitrification inhibitor 3, 4-dimethylpyrazole phosphate (DMPP) on soil enzyme and bacterial properties. Weekly iprodione applications decreased the activities of all enzymes tested, and single DMPP addition inhibited soil ÃŽ ²-glucosidase and urease activities. Compared with the blank control, bacterial 16S rRNA gene abundance significantly decreased following repeated iprodione applications, but increased after DMPP application. After 28 days of incubation, the treatment of iprodione and DMPP applications had higher bacterial 16S rRNA gene abundance than the counterpart with i prodione applications alone, and the similar trends were also observed in the Shannon index. Repeated iprodione applications significantlyincreased the relative abundance of Proteobacteria, but decreased the relative abundances of Chloroflexi and Acidobacteria. The combined applications of iprodione and DMPP increased the number of members of Gaiellaceae, Microbacteriaceae, Nocardioidaceae and Methylobacteriaceae. Simultaneously, bacterial community structure was significantly changed by repeated iprodione applications, alone or together with the DMPP. These results showed that repeated iprodione applications exerted negative effects on soil enzyme activities, bacterial biomass and community diversity. Moreover, relative to iprodione applications alone, extra DMPP application had the potential to alleviate the toxic effects of iprodione on soil bacterial biomass and community diversity. Keywords: agrochemicals; soil enzyme; 16S rRNA gene; bacterial community diversity and structure Introduction Fungicides play important roles in ensuring the crop quality and yield in modern agriculture (Maltby et al., 2009; Sabatier et al., 2014). The infections and phytopathies caused by fungi are the major problems and threats in agricultural production, which leads to the intensification in applications of fungicidal agrochemicals (OMaille, 2015). Previous research has shown that in some developing countries, fungicide application dosages were as high as 8 kg ha-1 y-1 (Liu et al., 2015). Iprodione, as a broad-spectrum fungicide, has been widely used in the intensive agriculture to control phytopathies of cash crops, and iprodione residuals have already been detected in water (Goewie et al., 1985; Sauret et al., 2006), soils (Leistra and Arrià «nne, 2004) and vegetable and fruit (Picà ³ et al., 2004; Juanà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Garcà ­a et al., 2005; Angioni et al., 2012). According to a report of the Pesticide Data Program, U.S. Department of Agriculture (2014), the detected amount of iprodion e was the highest among all agrochemicals, and iprodione was the only fungicide detected in baby food. Besides the crop phytopathies caused by fungal pathogens, the lower utilization efficiency of nitrogen (N) fertilizer and nitrous oxide (N2O) emission are also worldwide problems in agricultural production (Clough et al., 2007; Menà ©ndez et al., 2012). As a result, nitrification inhibitors are sometimes applied to enhance the utilization efficiency of N fertilizer. The most widely used nitrification inhibitor in recent years is 3, 4-dimethylpyrazole phosphate (DMPP) (Menà ©ndez et al., 2012; Florio et al., 2014). The fungicide iprodione and nitrification inhibitor DMPP may be simultaneously applied into soils in some circumstances. Fungicides are designed to control fungal pathogens, but their lethal effects are not constrained to fungi only (Duah-Yentumi and Johnson, 1986; Muà ±oz-Leoz et al., 2011; Schnug et al., 2015). Once entering into agricultural soil, fungicides and their degradation metabolites may have detrimental effects on soil bacteria and, hence, the overall soil environment. There have been increasing research interests in the impacts of iprodione on environmental safety (Leistra and Matser, 2004; Verdenelli et al., 2012; Morales et al., 2013), because the iprodione is widely applied into agricultural soils at high dosages. Previous studies generally focused on the impacts of a single iprodione application, whereas few studies paid attention to the effects of repeated iprodione applications which occurs in intensively managed cropping systems. Furthermore, iprodione and other agrochemicals (such as DMPP) may be applied into agriculture soils simultaneously. To the best of our knowledge, few stud ies have been conducted to evaluate the interactive effects of different agrochemicals. Researches are, therefore, required to better understand the effects of combined iprodione and DMPP applications on soil bacterial properties. In this study, the iprodione and DMPP were applied into an agricultural soil. Soil enzyme activity, bacterial 16S rRNA gene abundance and bacterial community structure were determined. The main objectives were to (1) assess the effects of iprodione and DMPP on soil enzyme activities; (2) evaluate the impacts of agrochemicals on soil bacterial biomass via determining bacterial 16S rRNA gene abundance; (3) reveal the responses of soil bacteria at different taxa to the agrochemical applications; and (4) compare the potential impacts of iprodione and DMPP applications on soil bacterial community structure. This study will improve our current understanding of the ecological risks of iprodione and DMPP applications, alone or together, on soil nutrient cycling and bacterial properties. 2. Materials and methods 2.1. The chemicals and soil samples A commercial wettable powder formulation of iprodione (Bayer Crop Science, Hangzhou, China) and a chemical reagent DMPP (purity > 97.0%; CIVI-CHEM, Shanghai, China) were used for soil treatments. Soil samples were taken from a farmland (36.78†² N, 118.67†² E) located in Shandong Province, China. The surface soil (0-20 cm) was collected, air-dried at room temperature, mixed thoroughly and sieved (< 2 mm) prior to use. The selected physical and chemical properties of the soil were as follows: sand (50-2000 ÃŽ ¼m), 31.4  ± 1.4%; silt (2-50 ÃŽ ¼m), 36.9  ± 0.8%;   clay (< 2 ÃŽ ¼m), 31.7  ± 0.6%; soil pH (in water), 7.19  ± 0.05; organic carbon (C) content, 10.0  ± 0.1 g kg-1; total N content, 0.93  ± 0.01 g kg-1; Olsen-P, 28.8  ± 0.2 mg kg-1;   NH4OAc-K, 69.9  ± 1.5 mg kg-1; cationic exchange capacity,   16.9  ± 0.4 cmol kg-1. All treatments were added with urea at 200 mg N kg-1 dry soil before the iprodione or DMPP application so that enough substrate ( NH4+-N) was available for soil nitrification (DMPP is generally applied with the urea in agriculture). 2.2. Experimental design Four treatments were used in this study: Treatment 1 (CK), without any iprodione or DMPP applications; Treatment 2 (IPR), weekly iprodione applications at 1.5 mg kg-1 dry soil (the frequency followed the instructions); Treatment 3 (DAA), nitrification inhibitor DMPP application at 2 mg kg-1 dry soil (equivalent to 1% of applied urea-N) at commencement; and Treatment 4 (I+D), weekly iprodione and initial DMPP applications as described in treatments 2 and 3. Each treatment was prepared in triplicates. The chemicals were dissolved in double distilled H2O (ddH2O) and then applied into the test soil. Sixty glass bottles (4 treatments 5 sampling time 3 replications) were filled with the treated soil at 150 g dry weight per bottle. Soil moisture was adjusted to 60% of the water holding capacity and was maintained by the additions of ddH2O. The soil samples were then incubated at 28  °C in the dark, and after 0, 7, 14, 21 and 28 days of incubation, soil samples were collected after mixin g thoroughly in each bottle for analyses of soil enzyme and bacterial properties. 2.3. Soil enzyme activity and geometric mean of assayed enzymes activities Soil ÃŽ ²-glucosidase activity was determined using a soil enzyme assay kit (Catalogue No. HK000218, Toyongbio Company, Shanhai, China). The analytical method was based on that soil ÃŽ ²-glucosidase can hydrolyze p-nitrophenyl-ÃŽ ²-D-glucoside to generate p-nitrophenol. The determination method followed the manufacturers protocol, after treated with toluene, soil samples were incubated with the p-nitrophenyl-ÃŽ ²-d-glucoside and citrate-phosphate buffer (pH = 6.0) for 1 h at 37  °C. The reaction product (p-nitrophenol) concentration was determined with a spectrophotometer at 410 nm, and the results were expressed as ÃŽ ¼g p-nitrophenol g-1 dry soil d-1. Soil urease and phosphatase (acid phosphatase and alkaline phosphatase) activities were determined with the commercially available quantitative analytical kits (Jiancheng Bioengineering Institute, Nanjing, China). In the analytical kit of soil urease (Catalogue No. T017), urea was used as the substrate that can be hydrolyzed by soil urease to generate NH 4+-N. Prior to the urease determination, the test soils were treated with the toluene, and then they were incubation with the urea and citrate buffer (pH = 6.7) for 24 h at 37  °C. The concentration of NH4+-N generated from urea hydrolysis was determined via the indophenol blue method, and soil urease activity was expressed as ÃŽ ¼g NH 4+-N g-1 dry soil d-1. Soil phosphatase activity was determined with disodium phenyl phosphate as the enzyme reaction substrate. Soil phosphatase could hydrolyze the disodium phenyl phosphate at different pH conditions, and in the analytical kits of soil phosphatase and alkaline phosphatase (Catalogue No. T008 and T009), the buffers were acetate buffer (pH = 5) and borate buffer (pH = 9.4), respectively.   After 24 h of incubation at 37  °C, enzyme actions were terminated, and released phenol was determined at 660 nm. Soil phosphatase activities were expressed as ÃŽ ¼g phenol g-1 dry soil d-1. Soil arylsulphatase activity was determined according to the method of Floch et al. (2009) with minor modifications. P-nitrophenyl-sulfate was used as the reaction substrate, and the buffer was 0.5 M acetate (pH = 5.8). After 1 h of incubation, the reaction was halted by the additions of 0.5 M CaCl2 and 1 M NaOH, and the p-nitrophenol concentration was measured with a spectrophotometer at 410 nm. The soil arylsulphatase activity was expressed as ÃŽ ¼g p-nitrophenol g-1 dry soil d-1. The geometric mean of assayed enzymes activities (GMEA) was calculated to integrate data from variables that have different units and variation range. The calculations were made by following Hinojosa et al. (2004). where Glu, Ure, AcP, AlP and Ary were soil ÃŽ ²-glucosidase, urease, acid phosphatase, alkaline phosphatase and arylsulfatase activities, respectively. 2.4. Soil DNA extraction and real time quantitative PCR (qPCR) The genomic DNA of soil samples was extracted from approximately 0.5 g of soil with a Fast DNA SPIN Kit for Soil (MP Biomedicals, Cleveland, OH, USA). Soil bacterial biomass was revealed via determining bacterial 16S rRNA gene abundance, and qPCR was performed to assess bacterial 16S rRNA gene abundance with the universal primers 515F (5-GTGCCAGCMGCCGCGG-3) and 907R (5-CCGTCAATTCMTTTRAGTTT-3). The standard curve of qPCR was obtained by performing serial dilutions of the plasmid containing bacterial 16S rRNA gene. Each qPCR reaction was prepared in a 20.0 ÃŽ ¼L of solution consisting of 10.0 ÃŽ ¼L of SYBR ® Premix Ex Taqâ„ ¢ (TaKaRa Biotech, Dalian, China), 7.6 ÃŽ ¼L of sterile ddH2O, 2.0 ÃŽ ¼L of soil template DNA and 0.4 ÃŽ ¼L of universal primers. The thermocycling conditions were as follows: 95  °C for 3 min, followed by 45 cycles at 95  °C for 10 s, 56  °C for 30 s, 72  °C for 30 s, and then plate reading. The melting curve analyses were conducted by gradually heatin g the PCR mixtures from 65  °C to 95  °C with the determination of SYBR green signal. Negative control was run with sterile ddH2O as the template. After testing the diluted soil DNA suspension, there were no inhibitions detected for the qPCR, and the amplification efficiency of the target gene was 114.52%, with R2 > 0.995. 2.5. The Illumina MiSeq and sequenced data analysis At the end of incubation, soil bacterial community was also analyzed with the Illumina MiSeq platform. After amplifying the V4 region of bacterial 16S rRNA gene with the primers 515F/907R, the PCR products were purified and then subjected to the Illumina Miseq platform (Majorbio Bio-Pharm Technology Co., Ltd., Shanghai, China) to sequence nucleic acid bases of PCR products. The raw reads were de-multiplexed and filtered via the QIIME (version 1.17) with reference to the following standards: (1) The approximately 300 bp reads were truncated at the end side, receiving an average quality score of < 20 over a 10 bp sliding window, and shorter sequence reads (truncated length < 50 bp) were discarded; (2) raw reads with vague bases were discarded; and (3) only sequences with > 10 bp overlap were assembled with reference to the overlapped sequences, and the unassembled reads were unwanted. Operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were clustered within a 0.03 difference via the UPARSE (version 7.1 http://drive5.com/uparse/) for assessing community richness (Ace and Chao1 richness estimators) and community diversity (Shannon and Simpson indices). The richness estimators Ace and Chao1 were nonparametric and abundance-based estimators, which could predict the true value of taxa based on the proportion of rare taxa in a sample and were suitable for community richness ana lysis (Sogin et al., 2006; Gihring et al., 2012). The Shannon and Simpson indices were used for heterogeneity assessment, and the main difference between them was in the calculation method of taxa abundance. 2.6. Statistical analysis Two-way analysis of variance was conducted to detect significant differences among treatments, sampling times and their interactions, and Duncans multiple range test was used to compare statistical significances (P < 0.05) of the means among different treatments at each sampling time and among different incubation time in a specific treatment. Linear discriminant analysis effect size (LEfSe) method (http://huttenhower.sph.harvard.edu/galaxy/root) was employed to reveal biomarkers of soil bacteria among the treatments. The sequencing data were further processed to assess similarities and discrepancies of the whole bacterial community structure among different treatments using the principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) and the unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA). 3. Results 3.1. Soil enzyme activities and GMEA Soil enzyme activities were significantly affected by the treatments, but the interactions between treatments and sampling time were not significant for the ÃŽ ²-glucosidase and alkaline phosphatase activities (Table S1). The ÃŽ ²-glucosidase, urease and arylsulfatase activities in the CK treatment increased significantly during the first 7 days of incubation (P < 0.05, Fig. 1). By the end of the incubation, the soil enzyme activity in the CK treatment rose from 1004  ± 51 to 1278  ± 133 ÃŽ ¼g p-nitrophenol g-1 dry soil d-1 for ÃŽ ²-glucosidase, from 60.9  ± 4.9 to 323.0  ± 19.6 ÃŽ ¼g NH4+-N g-1 dry soil d-1 for urease, from 698  ± 129 to 802    ± 76 ÃŽ ¼g phenol g-1 dry soil d-1 for acid phosphatase, from 2.21  ± 0.12 to 2.23  ± 0.13 ÃŽ ¼g phenol g-1 dry soil d-1 for alkaline phosphatase, and   from 20.9  ± 2.7 to 28.8  ± 2.3 ÃŽ ¼g p-nitrophenol g-1 dry soil h-1 for sulphatase. After 7 days of incubation, there were no significant differences in soil enzyme a ctivities between IPR and CK treatments, with the exception of acid phosphatase activity. However, soil enzyme activities in the IPR treatment decreased after repeated iprodione applications. DMPP application had no significant effects on phosphatase and arylsulphatase activities during the whole incubation period, but ÃŽ ²-glucosidase and urease activities were consistently inhibited by the DMPP application (89.8% and 76.5% % of the control after 28 days of incubation, respectively). It is interesting to note that, after 28 days of incubation, the activities of soil enzymes in the I+D treatment tended to be higher than those in the IPR treatment (Fig. 1). As shown in Table 1, the GMEA in the CK treatment increased significantly during the first week and remained relatively stable during the following three weeks of incubation. However, compared with the CK treatment, the GMEA was negatively affected by repeated iprodione applications, and the GMEA in the DAA treatment also tended to be lower than their counterparts from 7 days to the end of the incubation (88.9% of the control after 28 days of incubation). Consistent with the trend presented in Fig.1, the GMEA in the I+D treatment was significantly higher than its IPR counterpart after 28 days of incubation (P < 0.05). 3.2. Soil bacterial 16S rRNA gene abundances Both the treatments and sampling time could significantly affect soil bacterial 16S rRNA gene abundances (Table S1). The gene abundances in the CK treatment increased from 3.89-109 to 1.64-1010 copies g-1 during the 28 days of incubation (Fig. 2). A single iprodione application generated negligible effect on soil bacterial 16S rRNA gene abundance after 7 days, but repeated iprodione applications significantly (P < 0.05) decreased soil bacterial 16S rRNA gene abundance, relative to the CK treatment. At the end of the experiment, the bacterial 16S rRNA gene abundance in the IPR treatment was 6.55-109 copies g-1 dry soil, which was the lowest of the four treatments. The gene abundances in the DAA treatment tended to be higher than those in the CK treatment, especially from 14 days onwards. Relative to the iprodione applications alone, extra DMPP application at the commencement increased the gene abundances, after 28 days of incubation, bacterial 16S rRNA gene abundance in the I+D treatm ent was significantly (P < 0.05) higher than that from the IPR treatment. 3.3. Soil bacterial community diversity A total of 624067 raw sequences (> 200 bp) was obtained from the four treatments, and the average length of valid sequences was 396.71. The similarities and differences among OTUs of the four treatments were demonstrated in a four-set Venn diagram (Fig. 3). The unique OTUs were 12, 16, 13 and 22 for the CK, IPR, DAA and I+D treatments, respectively, and the four treatments shared 1653 OTUs. After 28 days of incubation, the Ace and Chao1 estimators, and Shannon index of the CK treatments were 1863  ± 37, 1853  ± 24 and 5.55  ± 0.15, respectively (Table 2). The IPR treatment had the lowest estimator Chao1 (1772  ± 17) and Shannon index (5.40  ± 0.05) among the four treatments, while the I+D had the highest estimator Chao1 and Shannon index. The Simpson index showed no significant differences among the four treatments. Relative to the CK treatment, DMPP application did not exert adverse effects on richness estimators and diversity indices, and DMPP applications had the potential to increase the Shannon indices. 3.4. Soil bacterial community structure The OTUs could be assigned into 11 predominant phyla which were in the following ranking orders: Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Gemmatimonadetes, Chloroflexi, Firmicutes, Acidobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Planctomycetes, Nitrospirae, Saccharibacteria and Verrucomicrobia, and the relative abundances of these phyla varied among the different treatments (Fig. 4A). The phylum Proteobacteria was the most abundant, comprising approximately 37.2%, 45.9%, 36.4% and 39.8% OTUs for the CK, IPR, DAA and I+D treatments, respectively. The phylum Actinobacteria was the second most abundant, and the proportions varied from 14.5% to 21.9%. There were no significant differences of relative abundances across all the predominant phyla between the CK and DAA treatments (Fig. 4B). However, compared with the CK treatment, repeated iprodione applications significantly (P < 0.05) increased the relative abundance of phylum Proteobacteria, but decreased the relative abundances of Chloroflexi and Acidobacteria. A t the genus level, the genera Micromonospora, Gemmatimonas, Haliangium and Bacillus accounted for large proportions in the twelve soil samples (Fig. 5). 3.5. Comparison of bacterial community structure LEfSe analysis demonstrated that there were significant associations among predominant bacterial taxa in the four treatments (Fig. 6). The predominant bacterial taxa were the Opitutaceae and Xanthomonadales families in the CK treatment, the Xanthomonadaceae, Erythrobacteraceae, Sphingomonadaceae Sphingomonadales and Rhodocyclaceae families in the IPR treatment, the Streptomycetales Order and the Gemmatimonaceae and Cytophagaceae families in the DAA treatment and the Gaiellaceae, Microbacteriaceae, Nocardioidaceae, and Methylobacteriaceae families in the I+D treatment. The results of LEfSe analysis further revealed that, consistent with the relative abundances shown in Fig. 4, the phylum Protebacteria increased following iprodione applications. A two-dimensional PCoA plot of bacterial community structure explained 68.2% of the total variance, with the PCoA1 having a greater power of separation (accounting for 57.7%). The two-dimensional PCoA demonstrated that the treatments without iprodione applications (CK and DAA treatments) resulted in a shift to the left along PCoA1 (Fig. 7A). There was no significant difference in the PCoA values (both PCoA1 and PCoA2) between the CK and DAA treatments, and this suggested that soil bacterial community structure was not significantly altered by the DMPP application. However, iprodione applications alone (IPR) or together with the DMPP (I+D), shifted the bacterial community to the right side along PCoA1. The IPR and I+D treatments were located in the opposite directions of the origin, with the I+D treatment having lower PCoA2 values. Consistent with the trends presented in the PCoA plot, four clusters could be grouped for these twelve soil samples (Fig. 7B): Cluster 1 contained the samp les of the DAA treatment, CK_1 and CK_2, but the CK_3 sample alone was classified into Cluster 2; Cluster 3 consisted of the samples of I+D treatment, and the samples of IPR treatment were all grouped in Cluster 4. 4. Discussion 4.1. Effects of iprodione applications on soil enzyme and bacteria As a soil xenobiotic, the fungicide iprodione displayed toxicity to soil bacteria on various aspects including the activity, biomass and community diversity (Duah-Yentumi and Johnson, 1986; Verdenelli et al., 2012). Previous researches have also revealed that the principal degradation metabolite 3, 5-dichloroanniline is more biologically toxic and stable than its parent compound iprodione (Athiel et al., 1995). Consequently, both the fungicide and its degradation metabolites have the potential to inhibit the non-target bacteria. On the other hand, the broad-spectrum fungicide could inhibit the flourish of fungi, which can also exhibit the indirect impacts on soil bacteria community (Muà ±oz-Leoz et al., 2011; Verdenelli et al., 2012). The ÃŽ ²-glucosidase, urease, phosphatase, and arylsulfatase are essential in the cycling of C, N, P and S in soil, respectively (Muà ±oz-Leoz et al., 2011). The activities of these enzymes tended to decline after repeated iprodione applications, highlighting the severe impacts of repeated iprodione applications and perhaps the accumulations of its metabolites on soil nutrient cycling. The fungicides could negatively affect soil enzyme activities as a result of: (1) directly reducing the biomass of soil microbes that produce enzymes, (2) competing for the active sites of enzymes with substrates, (3) decreasing the substrate bio-availability through the reaction with substrates, and (4) reacting with the enzyme-substrate complexes (Wang et al., 2009). In the IPR treatment, soil enzyme activities and bacterial 16S rRNA gene abundances decreased concurrently. We postulated that the declines of soil bacterial biomass caused by iprodione applications might have resulted in the decreases of soil enzyme activity. Soil bacterial 16S rRNA gene (both the abundance and community diversity) has been used as an important ecophysiological index for assessing soil contamination (Sipilà ¤ et al., 2008; Bell et al., 2014). In this study, soil bacterial 16S rRNA gene abundance was not significantly affected by the first iprodione application, but decreased with repeated iprodione applications (Fig. 2). The result was consistent with earlier finding of Duah-Yentumi and Johnson (1986) that the impacts of iprodione on soil microbial biomass differed between single and repeated applications. The reasons for these phenomena might be that accumulations of the fungicides and perhaps their degradation products following repeated application increased its eco-toxicity (Trabue et al., 2001; Zhang et al., 2016). Direct measurement of soil bacterial community could reveal shifts in the diversity due to fungicide applications, which might not be detectable by measuring overall bacterial activities and biomass (Lupwayi et al., 2009). Repeated iprodione applications resulted in consistent reductions in the values of bacterial alpha diversity (Table 2). The result was in agreement with the finding of Verdenelli et al. (2012) that iprodione application had significantly negative impacts on microbial community diversity in both agricultural and grassland soils. Moreover, repeated iprodione applications led to declines in the relative abundances of phyla Chloroflexi and Acidobacteria (Fig. 4). The Chloroflexi is associated with the second step of soil nitrification and plays key roles in soil N cycling (Sorokin et al., 2012). As decomposers in soil environment, Acidobacteria could degrade torganic matters derived from plants and soil animals, maintaining soil nutrient cycling and energy flow (Ward e t al., 2009). These changes in the relative abundances of functional bacteria indicated that iprodione applications might slow down soil organic matter turnover and soil nitrification.In this study, we found that repeated iprodione applications, alone or together with the DMPP, caused significant changes in the soil bacterial community structure. In contrast, Wang et al. (2004) showed that a single iprodione application at lower dosage was not detrimental to the soil bacterial community. Given that iprodione was often repeatedly applied at high dosages in intensive agricultural systems, shifts in bacterial community as observed in this study could lead to a series of alternations in soil microbial communities and soil C and nutrient cycling. Therefore, more attention should be paid to the long-term ecotoxic effects caused by repeated applications. 4.2. Effects of DMPP application on soil enzyme activities and bacteria Compared with the CK treatment, DMPP application resulted in significantly lower soil urease activity, (Fig. 1), which was largely responsible for the decline in GMEA in the DAA treatment. It is interesting to note that soil ÃŽ ²-glucosidase, as a proxy for soil organic matter mineralization capacity, was also negatively affected by the DMPP application. Maienza et al. (2014) revealed that DMPP application had adverse impacts on the growth of soil heterotrophic bacteria and fungi. All these results suggested that DMPP might have the potential to slow down soil organic matter decompositions, and this could get supports from previous research results that DMPP could reduce soil carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) emissions (Weiske et al., 2001; Maris et al., 2015). The LEfSe analysis revealed that Gemmatimonadetes and Cytophagia families increased following DMPP application (Fig. 6). The Gemmatimonadetes containing photosynthesis genes could assimilate CO2 into organic material via phototrophic pathway and transform solar radiation into metabolic energy, which plays an important role in the increase of soil organic matter content (Zeng et al., 2014). Some strains of the Cytophagaceae family have the nifH gene and have the potential to increase soil N content by biological N fixation (Xu et al., 2014). Dong et al. (2013b) also reported that DMPP application could significantly increase soil nifH gene abundances. These results indicated that apart from inhibiting soil nitrification, DMPP application might have the potential to improve soil C and N contents via (1) decreasing CO2, CH4 andNOX emission;(2) slowing down soil organic matter decompositions; (3) promoting the flourish of some functional microorganisms; and (4) promoting activity of N-fixing bacteria. Consequently, although soil urease and ÃŽ ²-glucosidase were inhibited, the whole soil bacterial biomass increased following DMPP application (Fig. 2), and this is also one of the positive effects generate d by DMPP application. An increase in soil bacterial biomass is commonly found in parallel with increases in community diversity (Weinbauer et al., 2007; Torstensson et al., 2015). Based on the data presented in Table 2, we found that DMPP application promoted, rather than decreased, soil bacterial community diversity, which is consisted with the result of Dong et al. (2013a). Furthermore, both the PCoA and UPMGA indicated that a large proportion of soil bacterial community in the DAA treatment overlapped with that in the C