Search results for: global language
6408 From Waste to Wealth: A Future Paradigm for Plastic Management Using Blockchain Technology
Authors: Jim Shi, Jasmine Chang, Nesreen El-Rayes
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The world has been experiencing a steadily increasing trend in both the production and consumption of plastic. The global consumer revolution should not have been possible without plastic, thanks to its salient feature of inexpensiveness and durability. But, as a two-edged sword, its durable quality has returned to haunt and even jeopardized us. That exacerbating the plastic crisis has attracted various global initiatives and actions. Simultaneously, firms are eager to adopt new technology as they witness and perceive more potential and merit of Industry 4.0 technologies. For example, Blockchain technology (BCT) is drawing the attention of numerous stakeholders because of its wide range of outstanding features that promise to enhance supply chain operations. However, from a research perspective, most of the literature addresses the plastic crisis from either environmental or social perspectives. In contrast, analysis from the data science perspective and technology is relatively scarce. To this end, this study aims to fill this gap and cover the plastic crisis from a holistic view of environmental, social, technological, and business perspectives. In particular, we propose a mathematical model to examine the inclusion of BCT to enhance and improve the efficiency on the upstream and the downstream sides of the plastic value, where the whole value chain is coordinated systematically, and its interoperability can be optimized. Consequently, the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) goal and Circular Economics (CE) sustainability can be maximized.Keywords: blockchain technology, plastic, circular economy, sustainability
Procedia PDF Downloads 816407 An Exploratory Study of Preschool English Education in China
Authors: Xuan Li
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The English language occupies a crucial position in the Chinese educational system and is officially introduced in the school curriculum from the third year of primary school onward. However, it is worth noting that along with the movement to remove primary-oriented education from preschools, the teaching of English is banned in preschools. Considering the worldwide trend of learning English at a young age, whether this ban can be implemented successfully is doubtful. With an initial focus on the interaction of language-in-education planning and policy (LEPP) at the macro level and actual practice at the micro level, this research selected three private preschools and two public preschools to explore what is taking place in terms of English education. All data collected is qualitative and is gained from documentary analysis, school observation, interviews, and focus groups. The findings show that: (1) although the English ban in preschool education aims to regulate all types of preschools and all adult Chinese participants are aware of this ban, there are very different scenarios according to type of preschool, such that no English classes are found in public schools while private preschools commonly provide some kind of English education; (2) even public schools do not have an English-free environment and parents’ demand for English education is high; (3) there is an obvious top-down hierarchy in both public and private schools, in which administrators make the decisions while others have little power to influence the school curriculum; (4) there is a clear gap in the perception of English teaching between children and adults, in which adults prefer foreign English teachers and think English teaching is just playing, while children do not have a clear preference regarding teachers and do not think English class is just for fun; (5) without macro support, there are many challenges involved in preschool English education, including the shortage of qualified teachers and teaching resources, ineffective personnel management and few opportunities for speaking English in daily life. Hopefully, this research will not only highlight the interaction of LEPP at different levels and the importance of individual agency but also raise the awareness of how to provide qualified and equal education for all children.Keywords: individual agency, language-in-education planning and policy, micro context, preschool English education
Procedia PDF Downloads 1516406 Selecting Answers for Questions with Multiple Answer Choices in Arabic Question Answering Based on Textual Entailment Recognition
Authors: Anes Enakoa, Yawei Liang
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Question Answering (QA) system is one of the most important and demanding tasks in the field of Natural Language Processing (NLP). In QA systems, the answer generation task generates a list of candidate answers to the user's question, in which only one answer is correct. Answer selection is one of the main components of the QA, which is concerned with selecting the best answer choice from the candidate answers suggested by the system. However, the selection process can be very challenging especially in Arabic due to its particularities. To address this challenge, an approach is proposed to answer questions with multiple answer choices for Arabic QA systems based on Textual Entailment (TE) recognition. The developed approach employs a Support Vector Machine that considers lexical, semantic and syntactic features in order to recognize the entailment between the generated hypotheses (H) and the text (T). A set of experiments has been conducted for performance evaluation and the overall performance of the proposed method reached an accuracy of 67.5% with C@1 score of 80.46%. The obtained results are promising and demonstrate that the proposed method is effective for TE recognition task.Keywords: information retrieval, machine learning, natural language processing, question answering, textual entailment
Procedia PDF Downloads 1456405 Teacher-Scaffolding vs. Peer-Scaffolding in Task-Based ILP Instruction: Effects on EFL Learners’ Metapragmatic Awareness
Authors: Amir Zand-Moghadam, Mahnaz Alizadeh
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The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of teacher-scaffolding versus peer-scaffolding on EFL learners’ metapragmatic awareness in the paradigm of task-based language teaching (TBLT). To this end, a number of dialogic information-gap tasks requiring two-way interactant relationship were designed for the five speech acts of request, refusal, apology, suggestion, and compliment following Ellis’s (2003) model. Then, 48 intermediate EFL learners were randomly selected, homogenized, and assigned to two groups: 26 participants in the teacher-scaffolding group (Group One) and 22 in the peer-scaffolding group (Group Two). While going through the three phases of pre-task, while-task, and post-task, the participants in the first group completed the designed tasks by the teacher’s interaction, scaffolding, and feedback. On the other hand, the participants in the second group were required to complete the tasks in expert-novice pairs through peer scaffolding in all the three phases of a task-based syllabus. The findings revealed that the participants in the teacher-scaffolding group developed their L2 metapragmatic awareness more than the peer-scaffolding group. Thus, it can be concluded that teacher-scaffolding is more effective than peer scaffolding in developing metapragmatic awareness among EFL learners. It can also be claimed that the use of tasks can be more influential when they are accompanied by teacher-scaffolding. The findings of the present study have implications for language teachers and researchers.Keywords: ILP, metapragmatic awareness, scaffolding, task-based instruction
Procedia PDF Downloads 5846404 Francophone University Students' Attitudes Towards English Accents in Cameroon
Authors: Eric Agrie Ambele
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The norms and models for learning pronunciation in relation to the teaching and learning of English pronunciation are key issues nowadays in English Language Teaching in ESL contexts. This paper discusses these issues based on a study on the attitudes of some Francophone university students in Cameroon towards three English accents spoken in Cameroon: Cameroon Francophone English (CamFE), Cameroon English (CamE), and Hyperlectal Cameroon English (near standard British English). With the desire to know more about the treatment that these English accents receive among these students, an aspect that had hitherto received little attention in the literature, a language attitude questionnaire, and the matched-guise technique was used to investigate this phenomenon. Two methods of data analysis were employed: (1) the percentage count procedure, and (2) the semantic differential scale. The findings reveal that the participants’ attitudes towards the selected accents vary in degree. Though Hyperlectal CamE emerged first, CamE second and CamFE third, no accent, on average, received a negative evaluation. It can be deduced from this findings that, first, CamE is gaining more and more recognition and can stand as an autonomous accent; second, that the participants all rated Hyperlectal CamE higher than CamE implies that they would be less motivated in a context where CamE is the learning model. By implication, in the teaching of English pronunciation to francophone learners learning English in Cameroon, Hyperlectal Cameroon English should be the model.Keywords: teaching pronunciation, English accents, Francophone learners, attitudes
Procedia PDF Downloads 1976403 Immigration Of Language From Anatolia To Greenland
Authors: Onur Kaya
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Languages date back thousands of years of formation and journeys through the world. In these journeys and formations, they travel, reach and mixes to the very far corners and languages of the world. In this perspective, in order to analyze such language examples, the analysis of the formation, affection, travel, thus immigration of Anatolian Turkish and Inuit of Greenland is significant. Firstly, it is significant to analyze the historical connections between the Turks in Anatolia and the Inuit people in Greenland. So, the intersection of Turks and Inuit's immigrations in history and all these connections to Greenland and Anatolia will be revealed. Then, it is necessary to analyze the linguistic qualities of Turkish and Inuit languages. For this aim, the linguistic theories and linguistic features of the two languages and their common points will be emphasized. After all these explanations and analyses, the effects of the two languages two each other, common words, and the existence of all these in written and literary works of the two languages will be analyzed and exemplified. Finally, the lecture will focus on two different geographies as, Anatolia and Greenland. The two societies’ historical commonness will be revealed. The immigration and the intersecting locations of the two societies will be analyzed. By means of all this information and within the light of the linguistic theories, the commonness of the two languages, the affections caused by each other, the result of these affections, and their examples in written works will be revealed.Keywords: greenland, anatolia, turk, inuit, immigration
Procedia PDF Downloads 606402 Risk Assessment for International Investment: A Standardized Approach to Identify Risk, Risk Appetite, Risk Rating, Risk Treatment and Mitigation Plans
Authors: Pui Yong Leo, Normy Maziah Mohd Said
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Change of global economy landscape and business environment has led to companies’ decision to go global and enter international markets. As the companies go beyond the comfort zone (i.e. investing in the home country), it is important to ensure a comprehensive risk assessment is carried out. This paper describes a standardized approach for international investment, ensuring identification of risk, risk appetite, risk rating, risk treatment and mitigation plans for respective international investment proposal. The standardized approach is divided into three (3) stages as follows: Stage 1 – Preliminary Risk profiling; with the objective to gauge exposure to countries and high level risk factors as first level assessment. Stage 2 – Risk Parameters; with the objective to define risk appetite for the international investment from the perspective of likelihood and impact. Stage 3 – Detailed Risk Assessments; with the objectives to assess in detail any triggered elements from Stage 1, and project specific risks. The final output will include the mitigation plans for the identified risks for the total investment. Example will be given in this paper to show how comprehensive risk assessment is carried out for an international investment in power energy sector.Keywords: international investment, mitigation plans, risk appetite, risk assessment
Procedia PDF Downloads 3886401 Psychosocial Experience of Parents of Children with Conduct Disorder in Thulamela, South Africa
Authors: Constance Singo, Choja Oduaran
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Child mental disorders are strongly associated with different forms of challenges, including behavioural problems. The burden of care for children with a mental disorder is high and put primary caregivers, parents in particular, at risk of poor mental wellbeing. Understanding the experience of parents of children with mental disorders is crucial to developing a relevant intervention to assist them to attain optimal mental wellbeing. The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of parents of children with conduct disorder by focussing on the psychological and social stress experience of the parents in raising and caring for their children with conduct disorder. A qualitative research approach, using in-depth interview was utilized in this study. Purposive and snowballing sampling techniques were used to select 9 parents of children with conduct disorder in Thulamela Municipality, Limpopo Province of South Africa. Participants comprising of 2 males and 7 females aged between 30 years and 49 years were interviewed individually at scheduled appointment in-home setting. Interviews were conducted in both English and Setswana language. Data collected in Setswana language were translated to English by 'expert in language translation'. Ethical approval was obtained from appropriate authority before data collection. Thematic analysis was conducted to analyse the collected data. The findings identified anger, fear, depressive symptoms, denial, and suicidal ideation as predominant psychological experiences of the parents. Furthermore, deteriorated interpersonal relationships with family and community members, financial stress, and stigma emerged as social problems being the experience of the parents. It was concluded that parents of children with conduct disorder are highly traumatized by the challenges of caring for their children. We recommend professional engagement in terms of counselling service to support the parents. There is also a need for massive enlightenment programmes for members of the community in order to support the parents of children with child mental disorders.Keywords: conduct disorder, parents, psychosocial experiences, South Africa
Procedia PDF Downloads 1386400 Reading and Writing of Biscriptal Children with and Without Reading Difficulties in Two Alphabetic Scripts
Authors: Baran Johansson
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This PhD dissertation aimed to explore children’s writing and reading in L1 (Persian) and L2 (Swedish). It adds new perspectives to reading and writing studies of bilingual biscriptal children with and without reading and writing difficulties (RWD). The study used standardised tests to examine linguistic and cognitive skills related to word reading and writing fluency in both languages. Furthermore, all participants produced two texts (one descriptive and one narrative) in each language. The writing processes and the writing product of these children were explored using logging methodologies (Eye and Pen) for both languages. Furthermore, this study investigated how two bilingual children with RWD presented themselves through writing across their languages. To my knowledge, studies utilizing standardised tests and logging tools to investigate bilingual children’s word reading and writing fluency across two different alphabetic scripts are scarce. There have been few studies analysing how bilingual children construct meaning in their writing, and none have focused on children who write in two different alphabetic scripts or those with RWD. Therefore, some aspects of the systemic functional linguistics (SFL) perspective were employed to examine how two participants with RWD created meaning in their written texts in each language. The results revealed that children with and without RWD had higher writing fluency in all measures (e.g. text lengths, writing speed) in their L2 compared to their L1. Word reading abilities in both languages were found to influence their writing fluency. The findings also showed that bilingual children without reading difficulties performed 1 standard deviation below the mean when reading words in Persian. However, their reading performance in Swedish aligned with the expected age norms, suggesting greater efficient in reading Swedish than in Persian. Furthermore, the results showed that the level of orthographic depth, consistency between graphemes and phonemes, and orthographic features can probably explain these differences across languages. The analysis of meaning-making indicated that the participants with RWD exhibited varying levels of difficulty, which influenced their knowledge and usage of writing across languages. For example, the participant with poor word recognition (PWR) presented himself similarly across genres, irrespective of the language in which he wrote. He employed the listing technique similarly across his L1 and L2. However, the participant with mixed reading difficulties (MRD) had difficulties with both transcription and text production. He produced spelling errors and frequently paused in both languages. He also struggled with word retrieval and producing coherent texts, consistent with studies of monolingual children with poor comprehension or with developmental language disorder. The results suggest that the mother tongue instruction provided to the participants has not been sufficient for them to become balanced biscriptal readers and writers in both languages. Therefore, increasing the number of hours dedicated to mother tongue instruction and motivating the children to participate in these classes could be potential strategies to address this issue.Keywords: reading, writing, reading and writing difficulties, bilingual children, biscriptal
Procedia PDF Downloads 706399 Cognitive Linguistic Features Underlying Spelling Development in a Second Language: A Case Study of L2 Spellers in South Africa
Authors: A. Van Staden, A. Tolmie, E. Vorster
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Research confirms the multifaceted nature of spelling development and underscores the importance of both cognitive and linguistic skills that affect sound spelling development such as working and long-term memory, phonological and orthographic awareness, mental orthographic images, semantic knowledge and morphological awareness. This has clear implications for many South African English second language spellers (L2) who attempt to become proficient spellers. Since English has an opaque orthography, with irregular spelling patterns and insufficient sound/grapheme correspondences, L2 spellers can neither rely, nor draw on the phonological awareness skills of their first language (for example Sesotho and many other African languages), to assist them to spell the majority of English words. Epistemologically, this research is informed by social constructivism. In addition the researchers also hypothesized that the principles of the Overlapping Waves Theory was an appropriate lens through which to investigate whether L2 spellers could significantly improve their spelling skills via the implementation of an alternative route to spelling development, namely the orthographic route, and more specifically via the application of visual imagery. Post-test results confirmed the results of previous research that argues for the interactive nature of different cognitive and linguistic systems such as working memory and its subsystems and long-term memory, as learners were systematically guided to store visual orthographic images of words in their long-term lexicons. Moreover, the results have shown that L2 spellers in the experimental group (n = 9) significantly outperformed L2 spellers (n = 9) in the control group whose intervention involved phonological awareness (and coding) including the teaching of spelling rules. Consequently, L2 learners in the experimental group significantly improved in all the post-test measures included in this investigation, namely the four sub-tests of short-term memory; as well as two spelling measures (i.e. diagnostic and standardized measures). Against this background, the findings of this study look promising and have shown that, within a social-constructivist learning environment, learners can be systematically guided to apply higher-order thinking processes such as visual imagery to successfully store and retrieve mental images of spelling words from their output lexicons. Moreover, results from the present study could play an important role in directing research into this under-researched aspect of L2 literacy development within the South African education context.Keywords: English second language spellers, phonological and orthographic coding, social constructivism, visual imagery as spelling strategy
Procedia PDF Downloads 3596398 Impact of Terrorism as an Asymmetrical Threat on the State's Conventional Security Forces
Authors: Igor Pejic
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The main focus of this research will be on analyzing correlative links between terrorism as an asymmetrical threat and the consequences it leaves on conventional security forces. The methodology behind the research will include qualitative research methods focusing on comparative analysis of books, scientific papers, documents and other sources, in order to deduce, explore and formulate the results of the research. With the coming of the 21st century and the rising multi-polar, new world threats quickly emerged. The realistic approach in international relations deems that relations among nations are in a constant state of anarchy since there are no definitive rules and the distribution of power varies widely. International relations are further characterized by egoistic and self-orientated human nature, anarchy or absence of a higher government, security and lack of morality. The asymmetry of power is also reflected on countries' security capabilities and its abilities to project power. With the coming of the new millennia and the rising multi-polar world order, the asymmetry of power can be also added as an important trait of the global society which consequently brought new threats. Among various others, terrorism is probably the most well-known, well-based and well-spread asymmetric threat. In today's global political arena, terrorism is used by state and non-state actors to fulfill their political agendas. Terrorism is used as an all-inclusive tool for regime change, subversion or a revolution. Although the nature of terrorist groups is somewhat inconsistent, terrorism as a security and social phenomenon has a one constant which is reflected in its political dimension. The state's security apparatus, which was embodied in the form of conventional armed forces, is now becoming fragile, unable to tackle new threats and to a certain extent outdated. Conventional security forces were designed to defend or engage an exterior threat which is more or less symmetric and visible. On the other hand, terrorism as an asymmetrical threat is a part of hybrid, special or asymmetric warfare in which specialized units, institutions or facilities represent the primary pillars of security. In today's global society, terrorism is probably the most acute problem which can paralyze entire countries and their political systems. This problem, however, cannot be engaged on an open field of battle, but rather it requires a different approach in which conventional armed forces cannot be used traditionally and their role must be adjusted. The research will try to shed light on the phenomena of modern day terrorism and to prove its correlation with the state conventional armed forces. States are obliged to adjust their security apparatus to the new realism of global society and terrorism as an asymmetrical threat which is a side-product of the unbalanced world.Keywords: asymmetrical warfare, conventional forces, security, terrorism
Procedia PDF Downloads 2626397 Engineers’ Ability to Lead Effectively the Transformation to Sustainable Manufacturing: A Case Study of Saudi Arabia
Authors: Mohammed Alharbi, Clare Wood, Vasileios Samaras
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Sustainability leadership is a controversial topic, particularly in the engineering context. The theoretical and practical technical focus of the engineering profession impacts our lives. Technologically, engineers significantly contribute to our modern civilization. Industrial revolutions are among the top engineering accomplishments that have contributed to the flourishing of our life. However, engineers have not always received the credit they deserve; instead, they have been blamed for the advent of various global issues, among them the global warming phenomena that are believed to be a result of the industrial revolutions. Global challenges demand engineers demonstrate more than their technical skills for effective contribution to a sustainable future. As a result, engineering leadership has emerged as a new research field. Sustainable manufacturing is a cornerstone for sustainable development. Investigating the change to more sustainable manufacturing practices is a significant issue for all, and even more in the field of engineering leadership. Engineers dominate the manufacturing industry; however, one of the main criticism of engineers is the lack of leadership skills. The literature on engineering leadership has not highlighted enough the engineers' leadership ability in leading sustainable manufacturing. Since we are at the cusp of a new industrial revolution -Industry 4.0, it is vital to investigate the ability of engineers to lead the industry towards a sustainable future. The primary purpose of this paper is to evaluate engineers' sustainability leadership competencies utilizing The Cambridge University Behavioral Competency Model. However, the practical application of the Cambridge model is limited due to the absence of a reliable measurement tool. Therefore, this study developed a valid and reliable survey instrument tool compatible with the Cambridge model as a secondary objective. More than 300 Saudi engineers from the manufacturing industry responded to an online questionnaire collected through the Qualtrics platform and analyzed using SPSS software. The findings provide a contemporary understanding of engineers' mindset related to sustainability leadership. The output of this research study could be valuable in designing effective engineering leadership programs in academia or industry, particularly for enhancing a sustainable manufacturing environment.Keywords: engineer, leadership, manufacturing, sustainability
Procedia PDF Downloads 1586396 The Effect of Context in Eliminating Interpretation Problems of Screen Subtitles for the Promotion of Intelligible Film Language
Authors: Ezzeldin M. T. Ali
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Arguably viewers hardly benefit from screen subtitles due to the inconsistency between scenarios and their subtitles. Research in this area will provide an understanding of the association between these scenarios and subtitles via context. It attempts to eliminate the inconsistency existing between contexts and screen subtitles providing insights into the problem. Specifically, the study aims at examining the extent to which the understanding of screen subtitles largely depends on the force of linguistic and situational contexts. This is because the context is assumed to have a powerful effect on the interpretation of the source text. Both descriptive and experimental methods were adopted for data collection. These included a test and paper-pencil-questionnaires where participants provided their impressions about the role of context in eliminating interpretation problems of screen subtitles. Participants developed a good background about screen subtitles watching films. Results showed that context forms a powerful element in understanding screen subtitles. Results also revealed that communicative translation fits well screen translation boosting the contextual meaning. The association of context and communicative translation makes subtitles globally more economical and intelligible. Context forms a central element for film language to be intelligible.Keywords: communicative translation, context, scenario, powerful, intellgible
Procedia PDF Downloads 1636395 Urban Transformation as a Process for Inner-City Slums in Turkey the Experience of Gaziantep City, Turkey
Authors: Samer Katerji, Mustafa Ozakça, Esra Demircioğlu
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The inner-city slums become a global phenomenon problem. It is widely distributed in separate zones through the urban textures, threatens cities in physical, economic and social aspects. It often has illegal settlements with unsafe and unhealthy conditions. By the time, it grown up rapidly followed by growing in its problems. According to United Nations, in some cities, up to 80 percent of the population lives in slums. Fifty-five million new slum dwellers have been added to the global population since 2000. Both developed and developing countries started to figure out mechanics to find solutions, which is suitable to solve the inner-city slums problems. In turn, the planning agenda of Turkey has been focused on urban transformation as a solution for inner-city slums problems since the 2000s. The current laws after 2004 changed all of the statements on the urban transformation of the country. This paper come to explain the urban transformation approach as qualified presses in dealing with inner-city slums problems of turkey. After that, it highlights one of the earliest ongoing transformation projects in Gaziantep city, which is adopted by the local municipalities. The study includes assessment of the pros and cons of pursuing the project and identifying the potential consequences. This is more likely to keep up with the efforts of Gaziantep Municipality in developing and transforming slum areas.Keywords: transformation, urban, slums, Gaziantep
Procedia PDF Downloads 4996394 Decision-Making using Fuzzy Linguistic Hypersoft Set Topology
Authors: Muhammad Saqlain, Poom Kumam
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Language being an abstract system and creative act, is quite complicated as its meaning varies depending on the context. The context is determined by the empirical knowledge of a person, which is derived from observation and experience. About further subdivided attributes, the decision-making challenges may entail quantitative and qualitative factors. However, because there is no norm for putting a numerical value on language, existing approaches cannot carry out the operations of linguistic knowledge. The assigning of mathematical values (fuzzy, intuitionistic, and neutrosophic) to any decision-making problem; without considering any rule of linguistic knowledge is ambiguous and inaccurate. Thus, this paper aims to provide a generic model for these issues. This paper provides the linguistic set structure of the fuzzy hypersoft set (FLHSS) to solve decision-making issues. We have proposed the definition some basic operations like AND, NOT, OR, AND, compliment, negation, etc., along with Topology and examples, and properties. Secondly, the operational laws for the fuzzy linguistic hypersoft set have been proposed to deal with the decision-making issues. Implementing proposed aggregate operators and operational laws can be used to convert linguistic quantifiers into numerical values. This will increase the accuracy and precision of the fuzzy hypersoft set structure to deal with decision-making issues.Keywords: linguistic quantifiers, aggregate operators, multi-criteria decision making (mcdm)., fuzzy topology
Procedia PDF Downloads 976393 Healthcare Big Data Analytics Using Hadoop
Authors: Chellammal Surianarayanan
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Healthcare industry is generating large amounts of data driven by various needs such as record keeping, physician’s prescription, medical imaging, sensor data, Electronic Patient Record(EPR), laboratory, pharmacy, etc. Healthcare data is so big and complex that they cannot be managed by conventional hardware and software. The complexity of healthcare big data arises from large volume of data, the velocity with which the data is accumulated and different varieties such as structured, semi-structured and unstructured nature of data. Despite the complexity of big data, if the trends and patterns that exist within the big data are uncovered and analyzed, higher quality healthcare at lower cost can be provided. Hadoop is an open source software framework for distributed processing of large data sets across clusters of commodity hardware using a simple programming model. The core components of Hadoop include Hadoop Distributed File System which offers way to store large amount of data across multiple machines and MapReduce which offers way to process large data sets with a parallel, distributed algorithm on a cluster. Hadoop ecosystem also includes various other tools such as Hive (a SQL-like query language), Pig (a higher level query language for MapReduce), Hbase(a columnar data store), etc. In this paper an analysis has been done as how healthcare big data can be processed and analyzed using Hadoop ecosystem.Keywords: big data analytics, Hadoop, healthcare data, towards quality healthcare
Procedia PDF Downloads 4136392 A Study on the Effectiveness of Translanguaging in EFL Classrooms: The Case of First-year Japanese University Students
Authors: Malainine Ebnou
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This study investigates the effectiveness of using translanguaging techniques in EFL classrooms. The interest in this topic stems from the lack of research on the effectiveness of translanguaging techniques in foreign language learning, both domestically in Japan and globally, as research has focused on translanguaging from a teaching perspective but not much on it from a learning perspective. The main question that the study departs from is whether students’ use of translanguaging techniques can produce better learning outcomes when used at the university level. The sample population of the study is first-year Japanese university students. The study takes an experimental approach where translanguaging is introduced to one group, the experimental group, and withheld from another group, the control group. Both groups will then be assessed and compared to see if the use of translanguaging has had a positive impact on learning. The impact of the research could be in three ways: challenging the prevailing argument that using learners' mother tongue in the classroom is detrimental to the learning process, challenging native speaker-centered approaches in the EFL field, and arguing that translanguaging in EFL classrooms can produce more meaningful learning outcomes. If the effectiveness of translanguaging is confirmed, it will be possible to promote the use of translanguaging in English learning at Japanese universities and contribute to the improvement of students' English, and even lay the foundations for extending the use of translanguaging to people of other ages/nationalities and other languages in the future.Keywords: translanguaging, EFL, language learning and teaching, applied linguistics
Procedia PDF Downloads 586391 A Morphological Analysis of Swardspeak in the Philippines
Authors: Carlo Gadingan
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Swardspeak, as a language, highlights the exclusive identity of the Filipino gay men and the oppression they are confronted in the society. This paper presents a morphological analysis of swardspeak in the Philippines. Specifically, it aims to find out the common morphological processes involved in the construction of codes that may unmask the nature of swardspeak as a language. 30 purposively selected expert users of swardspeak from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao were asked to codify 30 natural words through the Facebook Messenger application. The results of the structural analysis affirm that swardspeak follows no specific rules revealing complicated combinations of clipping/stylized clipping, borrowing, connotation through images, connotation through actions, connotation through sounds, affixation, repetition, substitution, and simple reversal. Moreover, it was also found out that most of these word formation processes occur in all word classes which indicate that swardspeak is very unpredictable. Although different codes are used for the same words, there are still codes that are really common to all homosexuals and these are Chaka (ugly), Crayola (cry), and Aida (referring to a person with AIDS). Hence, the prevailing word formation processes explored may be termed as observed time-specific patterns because the codes documented in this study may turn obsolete and may be replaced with novel ones in a matter of weeks to month, knowing the creativity of homosexuals and the multiplicity of societal resources which can be used to make the codes more opaque and more confusing for non-homosexuals.Keywords: codes, homosexuals, morphological processes, swardspeak
Procedia PDF Downloads 1796390 Contested Visions of Exploration in IR: Theoretical Engagements, Reflections and New Agendas on the Dynamics of Global Order
Authors: Ananya Sharma
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International Relations is a discipline of paradoxes. The State is the dominant political institution, with mainstream analysis theorizing the State, but theory remains at best a reactionary monolith. Critical Theorists have been pushing the envelope and to that extent, there has been a clear shift in the dominant discourse away from State-centrism to individuals and group-level behaviour. This paradigm shift has been accompanied with more nuanced conceptualizations of other variables at play–power, security, and trust, to name a few. Yet, the ambit of “what is discussed” remains primarily embedded in realist conceptualizations. With this background in mind, this paper will attempt to understand, juxtapose and evaluate how “order” has been conceptualized in International Relations theory. This paper is a tentative attempt to present a “state of the art” and in the process, set the stage for a deeper study to draw attention to what the author feels is a gaping lacuna in IR theory. The paper looks at how different branches of international relations theory envisage world order and the silences embedded therein. Further, by locating order and disorder inhabiting the same reality along a continuum, alternative readings of world orders are drawn from the critical theoretical traditions, in which various articulations of justice impart the key normative pillar to the world order.Keywords: global justice, international relations theory, legitimacy, world order
Procedia PDF Downloads 3466389 The Influence of Concept-Based Teaching on High School Students’ Research Skills
Authors: Nazym Alykpashova
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This article is based on the results of the action research at Nazarbayev Intellectual School in Pavlodar, Kazakhstan. The participants of this research were high school students who study Global Perspectives and Project Work course. Intellectual schools are designed to become an experimental site that develops, monitors, studies, analyzes, approves, implements modern models of educational programs. Subjects in NIS aimed to develop skills that will be useful for students in their life. Students learn how to do projects, research credible information, solve different issues. Many subjects cover complex topics, and most teachers feel that they often have to deliver a lot of information within one hour. Many educators recognize Conceptual Teaching, as well as Conceptual Learning, has a lot of benefits for students in terms of developing their perception of the subject topics. This qualitative paper presents findings of two research questions which explored high school students’ perception of conceptual teaching and its impact on their academic performance. Individual semi-structured interviews and observations were conducted with Global Perspectives teachers and students. The results of this action research assist teachers reflect on their professional practice.Keywords: concept-based teaching, students’ research skills, teacher’s professional development, kazakhstan
Procedia PDF Downloads 1366388 The Financial Impact of Covid 19 on the Hospitality Industry in New Zealand
Authors: Kay Fielden, Eelin Tan, Lan Nguyen
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In this research project, data was gathered at a Covid 19 Conference held in June 2021 from industry leaders who discussed the impact of the global pandemic on the status of the New Zealand hospitality industry. Panel discussions on financials, human resources, health and safety, and recovery were conducted. The themes explored for the finance panel were customer demographics, hospitality sectors, financial practices, government impact, and cost of compliance. The aim was to see how the hospitality industry has responded to the global pandemic and the steps that have been taken for the industry to recover or sustain their business. The main research question for this qualitative study is: What are the factors that have impacted on finance for the hospitality industry in New Zealand due to Covid 19? For financials, literature has been gathered to study global effects, and this is being compared with the data gathered from the discussion panel through the lens of resilience theory. Resilience theory applied to the hospitality industry suggests that the challenges imposed by Covid 19 have been the catalyst for government initiatives, technical innovation, engaging local communities, and boosting confidence. Transformation arising from these ground shifts have been a move towards sustainability, wellbeing, more awareness of climate change, and community engagement. Initial findings suggest that there has been a shift in customer base that has prompted regional accommodation providers to realign offers and to become more flexible to attract and maintain this realigned customer base. Dynamic pricing structures have been required to meet changing customer demographics. Flexible staffing arrangements include sharing staff between different accommodation providers, owners with multiple properties adopting different staffing arrangements, maintaining a good working relationship with the bank, and conserving cash. Uncertain times necessitate changing revenue strategies to cope with external factors. Financial support offered by the government has cushioned the financial downturn for many in the hospitality industry, and managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) arrangements have offered immediate financial relief for those hotels involved. However, there is concern over the long-term effects. Compliance with mandated health and safety requirements has meant that the hospitality industry has streamlined its approach to meeting those requirements and has invested in customer relations to keep paying customers informed of the health measures in place. Initial findings from this study lie within the resilience theory framework and are consistent with findings from the literature.Keywords: global pandemic, hospitality industry, new Zealand, resilience
Procedia PDF Downloads 1016387 Role of Numerical Simulation as a Tool to Enhance Climate Change Adaptation and Resilient Societies: A Case Study from the Philippines
Authors: Pankaj Kumar
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Rapid global changes resulted in unfavorable hydrological, ecological, and environmental changes and cumulatively affected natural resources. As a result, the local communities become vulnerable to water stress, poor hygiene, the spread of diseases, food security, etc.. However, the central point for this vulnerability revolves around water resources and the way people interrelate with the hydrological system. Also, most of the efforts to minimize the adverse effect of global changes are centered on the mitigation side. Hence, countries with poor adaptive capacities and poor governance suffer most in case of disasters. However, several transdisciplinary numerical tools are well designed and are capable of answering “what-if questions” through scenario analysis using a system approach. This study has predicted the future water environment in Marikina River in the National Capital Region, Metro Manila of Philippines, using Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP), an integrated water resource management tool. Obtained results can answer possible adaptation measures along with their associated uncertainties. It also highlighted various challenges for the policy planners to design adaptation countermeasures as well as to track the progress of achieving SDG 6.0.Keywords: water quality, Philippines, climate change adaptation, hydrological simulation, wastewater management, weap
Procedia PDF Downloads 1056386 Migrating Words and Voices in Joseph O’Neill’s Netherland and The Dog
Authors: Masami Usui
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The 21th century has already witnessed the rapid globalization of catastrophes caused by layered political, social, religious, cultural, and environmental conflicts. The post 9/11 literature that reflects these characteristics retells the experiences of those who are, whether directly or indirectly, involved in the globalized catastrophes of enlarging and endangering their boundaries and consequences. With an Irish-Turkish origin, a Dutch and British educational background, and as an American green-card holder, Joseph O’Neill challenges this changing circumstances of the expanding crisis. In his controversial novel, Netherland (2008), O’Neill embodies the deeply-rooted compromises, the transplanted conflicts, and human internalized crisis in post 9/11 New York City. O’Neill presents to us the transition between Netherland to New York with a post-colonial perspective. This internalized conflicts are revised in The Dog (2014) in which a newly-constructing and expanding global city of gold, Dubai, represents the transitional location from New York City. Through these two novels, words and voices are migrating beyond cultural and political boundaries and discussing what a collective mind embodies in this globalized society.Keywords: American literature, global literature, cultural studies, political science
Procedia PDF Downloads 3676385 Triangular Geometric Feature for Offline Signature Verification
Authors: Zuraidasahana Zulkarnain, Mohd Shafry Mohd Rahim, Nor Anita Fairos Ismail, Mohd Azhar M. Arsad
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Handwritten signature is accepted widely as a biometric characteristic for personal authentication. The use of appropriate features plays an important role in determining accuracy of signature verification; therefore, this paper presents a feature based on the geometrical concept. To achieve the aim, triangle attributes are exploited to design a new feature since the triangle possesses orientation, angle and transformation that would improve accuracy. The proposed feature uses triangulation geometric set comprising of sides, angles and perimeter of a triangle which is derived from the center of gravity of a signature image. For classification purpose, Euclidean classifier along with Voting-based classifier is used to verify the tendency of forgery signature. This classification process is experimented using triangular geometric feature and selected global features. Based on an experiment that was validated using Grupo de Senales 960 (GPDS-960) signature database, the proposed triangular geometric feature achieves a lower Average Error Rates (AER) value with a percentage of 34% as compared to 43% of the selected global feature. As a conclusion, the proposed triangular geometric feature proves to be a more reliable feature for accurate signature verification.Keywords: biometrics, euclidean classifier, features extraction, offline signature verification, voting-based classifier
Procedia PDF Downloads 3786384 An Automatic Generating Unified Modelling Language Use Case Diagram and Test Cases Based on Classification Tree Method
Authors: Wassana Naiyapo, Atichat Sangtong
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The processes in software development by Object Oriented methodology have many stages those take time and high cost. The inconceivable error in system analysis process will affect to the design and the implementation process. The unexpected output causes the reason why we need to revise the previous process. The more rollback of each process takes more expense and delayed time. Therefore, the good test process from the early phase, the implemented software is efficient, reliable and also meet the user’s requirement. Unified Modelling Language (UML) is the tool which uses symbols to describe the work process in Object Oriented Analysis (OOA). This paper presents the approach for automatically generated UML use case diagram and test cases. UML use case diagram is generated from the event table and test cases are generated from use case specifications and Graphic User Interfaces (GUI). Test cases are derived from the Classification Tree Method (CTM) that classify data to a node present in the hierarchy structure. Moreover, this paper refers to the program that generates use case diagram and test cases. As the result, it can reduce work time and increase efficiency work.Keywords: classification tree method, test case, UML use case diagram, use case specification
Procedia PDF Downloads 1626383 China Pakistan Economic Corridor: A Changing Mechanism in Pakistan
Authors: Komal Niazi, He Guoqiang
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This paper is focused on ‘CPEC (China Pakistan Economic Corridor) a changing mechanism in Pakistan’. China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) activity under OBOR (One Belt One Road (OBOR) CPEC is a piece of the bigger umbrella and goes for giving another hallway of exchange for China and Pakistan and is relied upon to profit the entire of South Asian area. But this study reveals that significance of acculturation can never be overemphasized in the investigation of diverse impacts and the routes people groups of various ethnic personalities figure out how to adjust and acknowledge the social attributes of a larger part group in a multiethnic culture. This study also deals with the effects of acculturation which can be seen at multiple levels through CPEC for both Pakistani and Chinese people, who were working on this project. China and Pakistan exchanged the cultural and social patterns with each other. Probably the most perceptible gathering level impacts of cultural assimilation regularly incorporate changes in sustenance (food), clothing, and language. At the individual level, the procedure of cultural assimilation alludes to the socialization procedure by which the Pakistani local people and Chinese who were working in Pakistan adopted values, traditions, attitudes, states of mind, and practices. But China has imposed discourse through economic power and language. CPEC dominates Pakistan’s poor area’s and changes their living, social and cultural values. People also claimed this acculturation was a great threat to their cultural values and religious beliefs. Main findings of the study clearly ascertained that research was to find out the conceptual understanding of people about the acculturation process through CPEC. At the cultural level, aggregate activities and social organizations end up plainly adjusted, and at the behavioral level, there are changes in a person's day by day behavioral collection and some of the time in experienced anxiety. Anthropological data methods were used to collect data, like snowball and judgmental sampling, case studied methods.Keywords: CPEC, acculturation process, language discourse, social norms, cultural values, religious beliefs
Procedia PDF Downloads 2926382 Political Economy of Foreign Direct Investment: Literature Review of Domestic Interest Groups’ Preferences
Authors: Chaiwat Wuthinitikornkit
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Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inevitably affects the landscape of the political economy of the host country. It is, therefore, significant to review and uncover how and in what way(s) FDI shapes the preferences of the interest groups within the host country, as such preferences may, in turn, influence the policies of the host country. By conducting a review of relevant literature, this paper attempts to outline the key forces behind such preferences and identify potential gaps for future studies. This paper argues that while existing theories have specified endowment and political and institutional factors as key explanations behind the preferences of domestic interest groups, other qualitative attributes of the foreign investors' side, such as their nationalities, have yet to be adequately investigated empirically and may potentially also possess explanatory power. This is particularly important in the current global economic landscape, where key global investors hail from origins from both developed and developing countries with diverse political systems and business practices. This paper aims to provide the groundwork for future studies on these potential gaps, which may provide not only contributions to the academic sphere but also practical insight into policymaking and business communities.Keywords: foreign direct investment, interest groups, international political economy, political economy
Procedia PDF Downloads 906381 Web Quest as the Tool for Business Writing Skills Enhancement at Technical University EFL Classes
Authors: Nadezda Kobzeva
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Under the current trend of globalization, economic and technological dynamics information and the means by which it is delivered and renewed becomes out-of-date rapidly. Thus, educational systems as well as higher education are being seriously tested. New strategies’ developing that is supported by Information and Communication Technology is urgently required. The essential educators’ mission is to meet the demands of the future by preparing our young learners with proper knowledge, skills and innovation capabilities necessary to advance our competitiveness globally. In response to the modern society and future demands, the oldest Siberian Tomsk Polytechnic University has wisely proposed several initiatives to promote the integration of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in education, and increase the competitiveness of graduates by emphasizing inquiry-based learning, higher order thinking and problem solving. This paper gives a brief overview of how Web Quest as ICT device is being used for language teaching and describes its use advantages for teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL), in particular business writing skills. This study proposes to use Web Quest to promote higher order thinking and ICT integration in the process of engineers training in Tomsk Polytechnic University, Russia.Keywords: web quest, web quest in pedagogy, resume (CVs) and cover letter writing skills, ICT integration
Procedia PDF Downloads 3796380 The Effect of Voice Recognition Dictation Software on Writing Quality in Third Grade Students: An Action Research Study
Authors: Timothy J. Grebec
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This study investigated whether using a voice dictation software program (i.e., Google Voice Typing) has an impact on student writing quality. The research took place in a third-grade general education classroom in a suburban school setting. Because the study involved minors, all data was encrypted and deidentified before analysis. The students completed a series of writings prior to the beginning of the intervention to determine their thoughts and skill level with writing. During the intervention phase, the students were introduced to the voice dictation software, given an opportunity to practice using it, and then assigned writing prompts to be completed using the software. The prompts written by nineteen student participants and surveys of student opinions on writing established a baseline for the study. The data showed that using the dictation software resulted in a 34% increase in the response quality (compared to the Pennsylvania State Standardized Assessment [PSSA] writing guidelines). Of particular interest was the increase in students' proficiency in demonstrating mastery of the English language and conventions and elaborating on the content. Although this type of research is relatively no, it has the potential to reshape the strategies educators have at their disposal when instructing students on written language.Keywords: educational technology, accommodations, students with disabilities, writing instruction, 21st century education
Procedia PDF Downloads 756379 Free Shape Optimisation of Cold Formed Steel Sections
Authors: Mina Mortazavi, Pezhman Sharafi
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Cold-formed steel sections are popular construction materials as structural or non-structural elements. The objective of this paper is to propose an optimisation method for open cross sections targeting the maximum nominal axial strength. The cross sections considered in the optimisation process should all meet a determined critical global buckling load to be considered as a candidate for optimisation process. The maximum dimensions of the cross section are fixed and limited into a predefined rectangular area. The optimisation process is repeated for different available coil thicknesses of 1 mm, 2.5 mm and 3 mm to determine the optimum thickness according to the cross section buckling behaviour. A simple-simple boundary is assumed as end conditions. The number of folds is limited to 20 folds to prevent extra complicated sections. The global buckling load is considered as Euler load and is determined according to the moment of inertia of the cross-section with a constant length. The critical buckling loads are obtained using Finite Strip Method. The results of the optimisation analysis are provided, and the optimum cross-section within the considered range is determined.Keywords: shape optimisation, buckling, cold formed steel, finite strip method
Procedia PDF Downloads 399