Evidence Of Core Components Of Academic And Literacy Skills, Critical Thought, Self-Analysis, And Brexit's Global Impact

1) Show evidence of core components of academic/ literacy skills.
2) Apply critical thought to a range of tasks and do so with minimal external guidance in particular situations. 
3) To reflect, analyse and discuss strengths, weaknesses and opportunities personally and academically. 
4) Use appropriate technologies to facilitate the completion of self-analysis/reflection

Brexit and Its Impact

The referendum vote taking away the United Kingdom from the European Union came as a surprise and with mixed reactions. Having been formed in 1951 as the European Coal and Steel Community and a move by the six nations to help them heal from the effects of World War II by engaging in duty- free trade among the six nations, The United Kingdom’s decision to leave the union marked one of the major surprises of the world in modern history (Meardi, 2007, pp.503-523). The United Kingdom has been a very instrumental member of the European Union since joining it in 1973.

The results of the referendum led to widespread demonstrations across Europe with many calling the move a confused decision meant to make the United Kingdom to be doomed and to be locked out of the international arena in matters trade and development (Ciupijus, 2011, pp.540-550). To demonstrate further the gravity of the matter, the United Kingdom’s Prime Minister, David Cameron, stepped down. Countries like Scotland isolated themselves from the results of the referendum and even threatened to quit the United Kingdom and fight for their independence.

The move to break away from the European Union was branded Brexit from the historical Grexit which refers to the historical Greek debt crisis which is still felt to date. The reactions to Brexit are still on going to date as demonstrated by the recent widespread anti-European sentiments and the anger that is shown towards European Union migrants across the world (Williams, 2013, pp.479-494).

During the referendum campaigns, major world financial bodies such as IMF in an attempt to stop the UK’s exit from the European Union, had warned in their analysis that Brexit would have big implications both regional as well as global. According to IMF, Brexit would cause a disruption to the already established trade relations between Britain and other countries and as a result pausing challenges not only to the United Kingdom but also to the entire world since the world is like a global village. Despite the warnings, the people of the United Kingdom voted in favour of an exit from the European Union (Lazowski, 2012, pp.523-540). Those arguing in favour of the exit in the UK parliament maintained that the United Kingdom needed to exit the needed European Union for their parliament to claim back its sovereignty.

The argument had been held by some legislators since 1973 when the United Kingdom joined the European Union. For instance, in 2001, Anthony King questioned why the United Kingdom’s parliament had surrendered all her parliamentary sovereignty to the European Union. Others arguing in favour of leaving the European Union pointed out that the United Kingdom has changed significantly when it comes to the size as well as access to fundamental ideals such as democracy and bureaucracy (Bercusson, 2007, pp.279-308). Similarly, it was widely argued that the United Kingdom had diminished in its global influence while at the same time its sovereignty was at stake.

To the majority who voted in favour off the exit, the UK should put her interests first before the interests of others in the world. Nonetheless, those who argued against the exit from the European Union maintained that as a medium-sized island, it would be of great benefit to the United Kingdom if they remained part and parcel of the larger community of who shared similar visions and experiences as Britain (Hallack & Vazquez, 2013, pp.23-32). Remaining in the Union according to them would maintain and improve the influence of the UK in the world when it came to matters of importance such as security as well as trade. Moreover, isolating herself would put her at security risks and at the same time it would be economically costly. Among the notable persons in support of a stay in the European Eunion was the former Prime Minister, David Cameron supported by most members of the Conservative government, Liberal Democrats as well as the all-time pro-Europe strong party, the Scottish National Party (Oliver & Williams, 2016, pp547-567). Among world heads against Brexit was the US president, Barack Obama, Germany’s Chancellor, Angell Markel, China’s Xi Jinping among others. Those in support of Brexit were led by Michael Gove who was supported by the former London Mayor, Boris Johnson and members of the United Kingdom’s independent party. Among the foreign nations in support of Brexit were France led by Marine Le Pen, the French National Front leader, Netherlands.

Reasons for/against Brexit

It was widely speculated that Brexit would spell economic doom for Britain. For instance, the IMF prospected that growth in Britain would fall to 1.9% from the previous year’s 2.2%. This according to IMF would be as a result of the UK’s inability to negotiate trade deals with other nations due to the likely financial market volatility (De Rynck, 2016, pp.119-135). Most notable economists prospected that Brexit would weaken the economy of Britain severely as it would lead to a cut in the economic growth, make the pound weak as well as hurt the economy of the city of London which serves as the financial centre of Britain. Moreover, even those in favour of Brexit concurred that the economy would be affected though only in the short run.

Due to the fear created as a result of the numerous warnings and prospects, immediately after the vote exiting Britain from the European Union, the Pound fell to a record low rate (Kroll & Leuffen, 2016, pp.1311-1320). However, the economy, contrary to the expectations of many seems to have picked faster than expected. For instance, in towards the end of October 2016, Philip Hammond, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, stated that 0.5% growth rate in the gross domestic product recorded in the year meant that the country was moving in the right direction.

Throughout the ten weeks of my study I have covered ten tutorials which have proved very instrumental to my career growth and contributed to the development of academic and literacy skills. When I joined the class, there are a lot of skills I never knew anything about. I was very weak in literacy and academic skills. For instance, my communication and writing skills were very poor. However, along the way as I went through the ten tutorials, I acquired a great deal of knowledge on these skills.

The teaching techniques used by my lecturer were very effective. For instance, through group discussions, I had the privilege to present before my classmates boosting my confidence. Today, I can easily present before an audience with a lot of ease. Similarly, my literacy and academic skills were poor initially especially in the areas of academic research, problem solving as well as in communication. Moreover, my writing and argumentative skills were greatly enhanced. Today I can write an academic piece of work without making grammatical mistakes. For instance, using the skills I acquired throughout the ten weeks of learning, I was able to write the above essay using good grammar, correct sentence structure, coherent flow of ideas and thoughts as well as coming up with a conclusion after presenting an argument.

Through the argumentative essay, I demonstrate the skills I learned throughout the ten weeks in the ten tutorials that to right a good argumentative essay, you have to present an argument in both the negative and the positive case. After comparing and contrasting the positive and negative scenarios, you then come up with a conclusion which serves as the inference. I look forward to improving my academic and literacy skills further by reading materials in this field as well as attending seminars and conferences on academic and literacy skills. By so doing, I believe I will be the best academic writer there has ever been.

Bercusson, B., 2007. The trade union movement and the European Union: Judgment day. European Law Journal, 13(3), pp.279-308.

Ciupijus, Z., 2011. Mobile central eastern Europeans in Britain: successful European Union citizens and disadvantaged labour migrants?. Work, Employment and Society, 25(3), pp.540-550.

De Rynck, S., 2016. Banking on a union: the politics of changing eurozone banking supervision. Journal of European Public Policy, 23(1), pp.119-135.

Hallack, M. and Vazquez, M., 2013. European Union regulation of gas transmission services: Challenges in the allocation of network resources through entry/exit schemes. Utilities Policy, 25, pp.23-32.

Kroll, D.A. and Leuffen, D., 2016. Ties that bind, can also strangle: the Brexit threat and the hardships of reforming the EU. Journal of European Public Policy, 23(9), pp.1311-1320.

?azowski, A., 2012. How to withdraw from the European Union?. European Law Review, 37, pp.523-540.

Meardi, G., 2007. More voice after more exit? Unstable industrial relations in Central Eastern Europe. Industrial Relations Journal, 38(6), pp.503-523.

Oliver, T. and Williams, M.J., 2016. Special relationships in flux: Brexit and the future of the US–EU and US–UK relationships. International Affairs, 92(3), pp.547-567.

Pisani-Ferry, J., Röttgen, N., Sapir, A., Tucker, P. and Wolff, G.B., 2016. Europe after Brexit: A proposal for a continental partnership. Bruegel External Publication, Brussels.

Williams, C.C., 2013. Evaluating cross?national variations in the extent and nature of informal employment in the European Union. Industrial Relations Journal, 44(5-6), pp.479-494.