Comparing a Skills-Focused English Test Against a Lexico-Fluency English Test for International Students in Higher Education
International students need to establish that they have sufficient language skills to commence their university degree in countries like Australia, USA, New Zealand, etc. Two formats of English test, the skills-focused IELTS and the lexico-fluency test C-test, will be introduced and their differences explained. The talk will then ask the question of which test is …
The Value of Yunnan-Vietnam Railway As an Urban Industrial Heritage: Historical Analysis of Its Landscape Changes
Yunnan-Vietnam Railway, also named Indochina-Yunnan railway, as a historical corridor between China and Southeast Asia, constructed in 1900s according to the development plan of French Indochina, is one of the earliest built railways, the first international railway, as well as the longest narrow gauge and single-track railway in China. This study focuses on the area …
Sacred Springs and Military Bases: Tangible Cultural Asset Protection in an Okinawan Context
Surrounded by sparkling coral seas with a distinctive local culture and history, Okinawa prefecture is a popular tourist destination for mainland Japanese and foreigners alike; however, Okinawa is also a colonial possession and the location of 70% of the American military bases in Japan. Unlike cultural heritage protection emergencies in times of war or natural …
The Magic of Belgrade: A City Where Heritage Meets the Modern
The capital of Serbia, Belgrade, is a city with a lengthy history dating back to the seventh millennium BC. In the third century BC the Celts named it Singidunum, whereas since the ninth century AD it has been known as Beligrad, meaning The White City.. Strategically located on the crossroad between the Occident and the …
Pop Culture in Arabian Peninsula Cinema
Culture is characterized as cumulative deposit of knowledge, experience, beliefs, values, traditions, and lifestyle shared by a group of people in the same society, which are transmitted from generation to generation. There is no doubt that the tribal societies formed over the centuries in the Gulf region and the Arabian Peninsula have succeeded in creating …
Marmaray Project Sirkeci Rescue Excavations in the Case of Stratification as an Urban Archaeology Example and Its Effects on City Planning
The Marmaray Project was prepared to connect Asian and European parts of the Bosphorus as the biggest transportation project in Istanbul whereby it emerged a great opportunity to connect archaeological dots of the city’s history and even surprised with a lot of new discoveries. Rescue excavations of the three major sites in Marmaray, were held …
From Indraprastha to Delhi: The Cityscape as Sediment of Memories
Urban centres evolve due to the convergence of large swathes of people in search of better opportunities; or cataclysmic events in the history of a nation may transform the demography of a place, leading to mutation in its culture. Cities become melting pots for diverse cultures and tend to be more cosmopolitan and eclectic in …
Re-Inventing Panthalayani Kollam: An Investigation on Heritage Tourism Potential of Panthalayani Port
Panthalayani Kollam is a forgotten medieval port town situated at present day Koyilandi of Kozhikode in Kerala. The place was found to be a trade center of Moorish people, Chinese people, and others with influence of the port. It is mentioned as Pandarani by Portuguese writers, the Flandarina by Friar Odoric, and Fandreeah by Rowlandson’s …
Linguistic Landscapes and Superdiversity in Istanbul – A Focus on Kumkapı, “Istanbul’s Mogadishu”
This presentation reports on superdiversity in Istanbul from the perspective of a linguistic landscape analysis. Superdiversity is a term recently coined to indicate the qualitatively different demographic and social conditions of today’s migrant communities in urban metropolises. Throughout its 2000 year history, Istanbul had played host to diverse ethnic communities, but the last decades of …
Does the New ‘FIX’ Fit? Adaptive Building Reuse Affecting Local Sustainable Development: Preliminary Results
Adaptive building reuse constitutes a major factor for the city resource exploitation, to wit the local sustainable urban development. Economic potential and sustainability in the wake of an adaptive reuse project, given the several variables involved, is an important subject of study. In particular, the adaptive reuse of industrial buildings of cultural heritage is considered …
Heritage’s Meaning in New Towns of Modern Era: Defining “Urban Heritage” Starting from the Case Study of Italian’s New Towns
With the reclamation of the Pontine Marshes – known all over the world as the main unresolved Italian heritage – and the construction of the New Towns during the 1930’s, the Fascist Party achieves its most significant territorial project. This project becomes the first Regime’s propagandistic instrument concluding, in less than ten years, the reclamation …
Preservation and Conservation of Grooves and Sacred Trees: A Form of Cultural Heritage in Selected Towns in Lagos State, Nigeria
Traditionally, the south Western (Yoruba) people appreciate and hold their traditional heritage in high esteem. In an attempt to keep it, efforts are made to protect it through taboos, signs and symbols to scare people either from entering it incessantly to break the rules that guides it or destroy some of the artefacts or materials …
Hospital as a City: Reorganization of Future Healthcare Environments in the Context of Twenty-First Century Civilization Challenges
The twenty-first century is a time of tremendous technological breakthrough. Simultaneously with finding ourselves in the innovative world, we have to face the reality of major shifts and social problems on the global scale. Comparing to the last century, the most essential problems are demographic changes and the complexity of population. Staggering density increase in …
Temporal and Regular Placemaking: A Stimulating Tool for Reinforcing Local Identity and Pride
Placemaking has been one of the attempts by grassroots communities to improve the aesthetic appeal of kampung urban informal settlement in Indonesia, in hopes of creating new opportunities for the residents to develop creative output relevant to their historical value of the place and cultural speciality. Hence, they will be able to strengthen and use …
Bucharest: Towards a Rethinking of the Urban Heritage
Bucharest is an ‘exotic’ city at the juxtaposition of the Oriental world and the Central-Eastern influences. Its fascinating urban tissue is composed out of palimpsest-like layers that reveal an almost organic evolution of the city. From Byzantine sediments to Modernist compositions, from Postmodern interventions to contemporary ‘small gestures’ on urban heritage, Bucharest can be read …
The Establishment of an Enduring City: From the Perspective of “Sakuteiki”
From the Asuka to Heian Period, the location of the city changed several times in Japan. The planning of cities was made with reference to old Chinese cities and their concepts. In this study, we look at these transitions as an overview. Heian-Kyo, meaning “tranquility and peace capital,” was a city that was built on …
The Influence of Teacher’s Role, Autonomous Learning Method and Student’s Engagement on Student’s Learning Outcomes in a Vocational High School in Jakarta, Indonesia
To create the quality of human resources and achievers, the learner is required to have a good learning outcome. A learning outcome is the highest benchmark that person achieves after a learning activity during a given time. A learning outcome is not only determined by one’s intelligence capabilities but also by the other factors. Sometimes, …
A Solution for the Educated Cosmetic Choice to Reduce Cosmetics Waste and Replacement Cycle
There are increasing international concerns in reducing plastic waste. Although cosmetic companies proclaim environment-friendly marketing strategies, it seems to be still hard to replace the plastic cosmetic containers with dissolvable materials. Also if the purchased cosmetics do not fit for customer’s demands, they are likely to be thrown away. Eventually it causes significantly shorter life …
Does English Work as the Universal Language? – Judging From the Current Trend of World Englishes
Japan has faced numbers of foreign national suspects, defendants and/or witnesses (criminals and civil cases) along with the globalization. Not only major-spoken language speakers such as English or Spanish but also minor-spoken language speaking suspects/defendants have increased in Japan. When the suspects, defendants and/or witnesses are those language speakers, it is quite difficult or impossible …
The Effect of Gamification Elements on Engagement and Achievement in Calculus 1 and 2
Gamification is increasingly being used in educational contexts to attempt to increase both student engagement and achievement. In this study, gamification elements were added to pilot course offerings of post-secondary Calculus 1 and Calculus 2. The online courses were offered in the overarching form of a pirate quest to retrieve sunken treasure. Gamification elements included …