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Listening to the Urbanocene. People - Sounds - Cities

Nasłuchiwanie Urbanocenu. Ludzie - Dźwięki - Miasta

Author(s): Marek Jeziński,Edyta Lorek-Jezińska / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 3/2020

Keywords: the Urbanocene; listening; urbanism; city; sonosphere;

This introductory article discusses selected aspects of sound in the Urbanocene. Beginning with the concepts of the Urbanocene and urbanism, the authors draw upon research conducted by Geoffrey West and other urban scholars to point to the strong interdependence between the city and the wellbeing of people and the entire planet. Situating the urban soundscape in the Urbanocene, the article presents audial practices of the city as defined by ecological awareness and demanding a different kind of perception, alternative to visual culture and fostering new experiences and perspectives. Listening to the city also refers to researching the environmental acoustics as a positive study programme (R. Murray Schafer) and concerns everyday practices of attending to both accidental and deliberate production of urban sounds.

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Social and Linguistic Potentials of Counterhegemony: Feminist Case Studies

Społeczne i językowe potencjały kontrhegemoniczne Feminatywy jako pole walki i negocjacji

Author(s): Anna Adamowicz / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 3/2020

Keywords: feminine job titles; language; speech acts; hegemony; infrastructure; counterhegemony; performativity; agency;

The purpose of this paper is to examine what conditions must be met for a given action to be considered potentially counter-hegemonic. The concept of hegemony is understood througout the optics of ethnographical based infrastructure. The question of how a change within the ideology understood as infrastructure tool can lead to the expected social change is the analytical axis of this article. The text is divided into two parts. First one, theoretical, in which the philosophical and sociological foundations are present and the second one that contains choice of case studies described by the ethnographic method. The analysis of language as both a tool and a performance is based on a feminist correction of the philosophy of language.

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Collective Understanding - A conceptual defense for when groups should be regarded as epistemic agents with understanding

Collective Understanding - A conceptual defense for when groups should be regarded as epistemic agents with understanding

Author(s): Sven Delarivière / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2020

Keywords: cognition; collective understanding; group agents; epistemic stance; emergence;

Could groups ever be an understanding subject (an epistemic agent ascribed with understanding) or should we keep our focus exclusively on the individuals that make up the group? The way this paper will shape an answer to this question is by starting from a case we are most willing to accept as group understanding, then mark out the crucial differences with an unconvincing case, and, ultimately, explain why these differences matter. In order to concoct the cases, however, we need to elucidate what it means to be attributed with understanding and what makes up an epistemic agent. I shall argue that it is abilities, above all, that guide our attributions of understanding. While it is true that understanding must go beyond single acts, this is not going beyond as in going behind them (to private occurrences which are impossible to discern and don’t themselves contribute anything of value), but beyond as in considering what people could and would do: their discernable and valuable abilities. To conceptualize whom the abilities belong to, I will specify what it means to be an epistemic agent. I shall argue that it is being a successful target of the epistemic stance. The epistemic stance (heavily inspired by Dennett’s intentional stance) forms an instrumental abstraction by attributing epistemic properties (i.e., beliefs, epistemic aims, problem-solving tactics) to an entity to explain or predict its behavior. Macro-systematicity (a higher-level pattern which a theory can exploit) is what makes the epistemic stance’s abstraction an explanatory powerful one (regardless of how that macro-systematicity is realized) and emergence (the lack of a straightforward mapping-relation between the micro and the macro) is what makes its power unique to a particular level of explanation. To end, I suggest two kinds of mapping-relations and walk through the shift from reducibility to emergence.

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Teleworking During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Determining Factors of Perceived Work Productivity, Job Performance, and Satisfaction

Teleworking During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Determining Factors of Perceived Work Productivity, Job Performance, and Satisfaction

Author(s): Loredana Mihalca,Tudor Irimiaș,Gabriela Brendea / Language(s): English / Issue: 58/2021

Keywords: teleworking; COVID-19; productivity; workload; self-management; job satisfaction; teleworkers;

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, telework has been adopted extensively as a way to ensure business continuity. However, its effects on important employee outcomes such as work productivity, job performance, and satisfaction are unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the factors previously identified as important determinants of telework effectiveness are also relevant in the context of the pandemic. Drawing on Baruch and Nicholson’s Model of Teleworking, the relationship between individual, home/family, job, and organizational factors and adjustment to telework during COVID-19 was examined. Survey data was collected from 482 employees who worked from home on a full-time basis during the pandemic. Results indicated that individual factors (i.e., self-management tactics) and home/family factors (i.e., the need for adequate telework conditions) are important predictors for employee productivity, performance and satisfaction while teleworking during COVID-19. Furthermore, workload (i.e., job factor) was a significant predictor for work productivity and satisfaction with telework. Surprisingly, organizational support for teleworking was not related to any of these outcomes. Implications for research and practice concerning telework during the pandemic are discussed.

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The Impact of Hybrid Workplace Models on Intangible Assets: The Case of an Emerging Country

The Impact of Hybrid Workplace Models on Intangible Assets: The Case of an Emerging Country

Author(s): Milenko Radonić,Valentina Vukmirović,Miloš Milosavljević / Language(s): English / Issue: 58/2021

Keywords: hybrid workplace models; flexible working; teleworking; intangible assets; human capital; relational capital; structural capital; intellectual capital;

As part of a safety-first principle during the COVID-19 pandemics, the vast majority of companies have enabled flexible working environments, reducing the number of employees in the premises. The global best practices have firstly been recorded among the ICT companies which offered teleworking to their employees, empowering safety and flexibility through remote work policies and flexible working hours. Although hybrid working models might become a standard in many industries, only a paucity of papers has examined the relationship between novel working environments and various classes of intangible assets. The aim of this paper is to present the effects of hybrid working models (telework and flexible working hours) on intangible assets (human, relational, structural and intellectual capital). While the existing hybrid work principles have already shown mixed effects on corporate outcomes, its impact on intangible assets remains unrevealed. To address this research gap, we conducted an empirical study. Primary data were collected in the Serbian ICT sector (N=122) using a structured questionnaire developed for this purpose. Data was analyzed with the OLS regression. The results confirm the positive effects of the hybrid working model on intangible assets of ICT companies, which could further propel the financial success of these companies. In general, these results imply that hybrid working models, which are becoming a standard for many industries, would not jeopardize the creation of intangible assets – the ultimate resource of modern companies.

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The Effect of Education and R&D on Tourism Spending in OECD Countries: An Empirical Study

The Effect of Education and R&D on Tourism Spending in OECD Countries: An Empirical Study

Author(s): Beata Gavurova,Jaroslav Belas,Katarina Zvarikova,Martin Rigelský,Viera Ivanková / Language(s): English / Issue: 58/2021

Keywords: tourism; innovation; spending; education; tertiary education; research and development (R&D);

The aim of the presented study was to evaluate the effects of education and research and development (R&D) on tourism spending in a sample of OECD countries. The analyses were performed on the basis of data on tourism spending and data on education and R&D. The research included 36 OECD countries, which were analysed for the period 2010-2019. Robust estimation was used in the panel data models. The results revealed the effect of R&D on leisure tourism spending (R&D→LTS) and the effect of R&D on visitor exports (foreign spending) (R&D→VEFS) with positive coefficients. On this basis, it can be concluded that improvements in R&D can lead to increased leisure tourism spending as well as foreign spending. The countries such as Latvia, Chile, the Slovak Republic, Mexico, Lithuania, Turkey, Poland, Greece, Estonia, and Hungary have a great potential for an improvement in R&D, which may also result in a growth of tourism spending. The research was focused on the macroeconomic perspective of education and R&D and their effect on tourism spending as key economic indicators. The study provides interesting findings that are useful for policy makers in revitalizing the tourism sector through the effective implementation of policies and strategies aimed at increasing tourism spending. The study also enriches and contributes to the knowledge about the relationships between economic development and the development of the tourism sector.

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An Unrealistic Account of Moral Reasons

Nierealistyczne ujęcie racji moralnych

Author(s): Susana Cadilha / Language(s): English / Issue: 66/2019

Keywords: John McDowell; practical rationality; moral reasons; virtue ethics; second nature

In this paper I will analyze John McDowell’s broad account of practical rationality and moral reasons, which he mainly puts forward in his articles “Are moral requirements hypothetical imperatives?” (1978) and “Might there be external reasons?” (1995). My main aim is to argue that from a philosophical perspective, no less than from an empirical one, McDowell’s account of practical rationality is not a realistic one. From a philosophical point of view, I will argue that his intellectualist account is not convincing; and if we consider his virtue-ethical ideal of practical rationality in light of the model of human cognition, we also realize that moral behavior is not immune to cognitive biases and does not always flow from robust traits of character like virtues. At the same time, this puts at stake his strong thesis of moral autonomy – the idea that with the ‘onset of reason’ moral beings are no longer determined by ‘first nature’ features.

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Exit God: Border Crossings in Jīrṇoddhāra Procedure

Exit God: Border Crossings in Jīrṇoddhāra Procedure

Author(s): Libbie Mills / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2020

Keywords: jīrṇoddhāra; saṅkocana; niṣkrāmaṇa; sūtracchidā; Tantrasamuccaya; Piṅgalāmata;

Jīrṇoddhāra, the disposal and replacement of an old idol or temple, necessitates the temporary departure of the deity from that place. The ritual for this departure will be followed as it is reported in two texts: the Piṅgalāmata and the Tantrasamuccaya. The Piṅgalāmata is useful in understanding the process of jīrṇoddhāra: the text defines the process, explains the need for it, rationalises the ritual procedure, and gives a brief account of it. The description in the Tantrasamuccaya gives finer detail on how the procedure should be carried out. Unlike other records of the subject, that of the Tantrasamuccaya does not glide over the most important moments of transition for the deity, but stops to consider them in depth, giving attention to his displacement in terms of saṅkocana (contraction), niṣkrāmaṇa (expulsion), and sūtracchidā (the severing of the cord). While this pair of texts offers the material in contrasting forms, the two sets of teaching are found to be congruent one with the other, making them companion pieces that give us a good view into what it means to invite the deity to leave. We find that in order for the deity to cross concentric borders to leave his base, the human ritual officiant must make a crossing too, and, indeed, the borders themselves will be moved around.

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Failed Attempt to Break Up the Oligopoly in Sovereign Credit Rating Market after Financial Crises

Failed Attempt to Break Up the Oligopoly in Sovereign Credit Rating Market after Financial Crises

Author(s): Alicja Malewska / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2021

Keywords: Credit rating agencies; oligopoly; sovereign ratings; financial crisis;

For decades, the credit rating market has been dominated by three major agencies (Moody's, S&P and Fitch Ratings). Their oligopolistic dominance is especially strong in sovereign credit ratings industry, where they hold a collective global share of more than 99%. Global financial crisis and the Eurozone sovereign debt crisis exposed serious flaws in rating process and forced public authorities to act. This study investigates effectiveness of new regulations adopted in the United States and in the European Union after financial crises in terms of reducing oligopolistic dominance of the “Big Three” in sovereign credit ratings market. The study applies descriptive statistical analysis of economic indicators describing concentration rate in a market, as well as content analysis of legal acts and case study methodology. Analysis shows that the Dodd-Frank reform and new European rules on supervision of credit rating agencies were not effective enough and did not lead to the increased competition in the market. The evidence from this study is explained using two alternative perspectives – economic theory of natural oligopoly and hegemonic stability theory coming from international relations field.

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Investigating multilingual contexts in the Nigerian advertising space: A domain of intellectual stimulation

Investigating multilingual contexts in the Nigerian advertising space: A domain of intellectual stimulation

Author(s): Taofeek Olaiwola Dalamu / Language(s): English / Issue: 02 (29)/2020

Keywords: advertising; intellectualism; mood system; morphology; multilingual context;

This study examined advertising, exhibiting multilingual structures to reach the Nigerian audience. Halliday’s mood system and morphological processes served as the theoretical configurations for analyzing textual elements of advertisements. These contextual terminologies permitted quantitative and qualitative approaches to thrive in order to culminate the investigation. Thus, the analysis showed political motifs, religious spheres, royal domains, musical settings, and friendship environment, as the fascinating panaceas to motivate readers. English, Yorùbá, and Hausa languages were functional facilities to mesmerize consumers. However, the advertisements displayed textual interruptions: FEBUHARI, FELABRATION, OBIdiently, and ATIKUlating, being strong prerequisites in persuasive designs. Creativity indicates the logically-minded behavior of publicists in blending grammatical structures of different languages together, yielding a unified whole, generating novel semantic values for regurgitation. It seems indisputable that such textual constructs have the capability to influence lexicographers, increase word-stock(s) of languages, and projecting the advertising industry as possessing cerebral proficiencies in linguistics’ advancement.

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Stimulating educational growth through vision and self-efficacy: a case study of adult users of English as a foreign language

Stimulating educational growth through vision and self-efficacy: a case study of adult users of English as a foreign language

Author(s): Arkadiusz Pietluch / Language(s): English / Issue: 04 (27)/2019

Keywords: self-efficacy; vision; motivation in an L2 context; performance; behavioural issues; linguistic proficiency;

The present study focuses on scrutinising the congruence between the two concepts which are currently at the forefront of the motivational research, namely self-efficacy and the mental representation of a future state which, in the literature, is referred to as vision. To this very end, the first part of the paper offers a concise summary of the theoretical underpinnings behind both constructs. The latter sections of the examination are exploratory and interpretative in their nature and are dedicated to the empirical analysis of the correlation between vision and the sense of personal agency as well as the discussion of the answers stemming from the semi-structured interviews employed for the purpose of the study. The outcomes of the investigation provide satisfactory evidence to account for the presence of a reciprocal interaction between the adopted variables and prompt various noteworthy implications, for example, the positive impact of the notions on inducing a long-term, motivated action, the ability of vision to substitute efficacy beliefs in the initial stages of agency growth, and the stimulating influence of pre-experiencing emotional arousal related to a future state on a student’s language proficiency. This, in turn, creates an opportunity for inspiring the motivational gain in a variety of settings, including a foreign language classroom.

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Exchange Rate Movements and Structural Break on China FDI Inflows

Exchange Rate Movements and Structural Break on China FDI Inflows

Author(s): Jung Wan Lee,Tantatape Brahmasrene / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2020

Keywords: exchange rates; foreign direct investment; cointegration; vector error correction; impulse responses; China;

The aim of the study is to explore the short-run and long-run dynamic relationships between exchange rate fluctuations and foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows in China. The justification is that the undertaken topic is preeminent for devising strategies to promote economic development, thus, a course that carries much at stake not only for China but also for other developing countries. Methodology used in the study consists of co-integration tests, vector error correction models, Wald tests and impulse responses. Monthly time series data from the National Bureau of Statistics of the People’s Republic of China are analyzed. The main empirical results indicate that a change in exchange rates negatively affects FDI inflows in the long run while there exists no evidence of short-run dynamics and reciprocal feedback between exchange rate fluctuations and FDI inflows. Furthermore, a structural break occurs during the 2007-2009 global financial crisis shock to FDI inflows in China. In conclusions, this research expands knowledge of factors that affect FDI inflows. To generalize the results obtained from this study, recommendations for future research include studies encompassing different economies where data are available. Such research will contribute towards improving our understanding of exchange rate systems and responses in each market.

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Language choice as discourse: A transitivity approach to MTN® and ETISALAT® advertising communicative webs in Nigeria

Language choice as discourse: A transitivity approach to MTN® and ETISALAT® advertising communicative webs in Nigeria

Author(s): Taofeek Olaiwola Dalamu / Language(s): English / Issue: 02 (25)/2019

Keywords: advertising; discourse; ideational metafunction; language choice; system;

Advertising texts are significant to manufacturers to promote and skyrocket products’ consumption. This study examined kinds of textual choices in advertising, accounting for their frequencies. Two advertisements each from MTN® and Etisalat® - of the Nigerian advertising universe - were chosen for sample analysis, employing Transitivity and word-formation procedures, as the conceptual frameworks. Transitivity allowed tables and graphs to compute the recurrence of textual components. The research revealed Material Processes of has offered, go rock (MTN); and get, pick up (Etisalat) as pronounced choices. Circumstances of Location such as This week… (MTN); and on weeknights… (Etisalat) are choices of communicative augmentations. The investigation further recapitulated creative over-generalization (yous), word play fragmentation (Y’ello), and alphanumeric code (9javaganza) as communicative facilities of MTN and Etisalat constructs. Hence, the researcher suggested that an extensive study of language choice in advertising domains can strengthen government policies to benefit, among others, readers, researchers, manufacturers, and advertising practitioners.

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The nostalgic landscape of Miami in Susanna Daniel’s Stiltsville

The nostalgic landscape of Miami in Susanna Daniel’s Stiltsville

Author(s): Małgorzata Martynuska / Language(s): English / Issue: 02 (25)/2019

Keywords: Stiltsville; Florida; marine environment; Hurricane Andrew; landscape; nostalgia;

The article examines the nostalgic landscape of Miami depicted in Susanna Daniel’s debut novel Stiltsville (2010). The setting of the novel is the actual community named in the title of the book and it refers to a group of houses built on pilings about a mile offshore in Biscayne Bay. The analysis proceeds according to methodology presented by the literary theorist Hana Wirth-Nesher in her article titled “Impartial Maps: Reading and Writing Cities”, published in Handbook of Urban Studies (2001), in which she identifies four aspects of cityscape in the representation of the city in narrative: the built, the ‘natural’, the human, and the verbal. The paper discusses the nostalgic construction of the past in the novel. Nostalgic notions of preserving the past have been linked with the concepts of cultural heritage and the preservation movement.

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Should we teach first language grammar in compulsory schooling at all? Some reflections from the Spanish perspective

Should we teach first language grammar in compulsory schooling at all? Some reflections from the Spanish perspective

Author(s): Xavier Fontich / Language(s): English / Issue: 01 (24)/2019

Keywords: school; language use; grammar; reflection; metalinguistic activity; instructional sequence;

This text explores the controversial issue of grammar teaching in Language Arts. It considers the importance of grammar in schooling based on the learners’ reflection on language (i.e., their “metalinguistic activity”), and some of the features of such a reflection. A model of intervention is presented as well as its particularities, especially the goal of establishing new dimensions with regard the methodology of teaching, the conception of grammar, and the final objectives of grammar instruction. The text ends by referring to some of the challenges for the future.

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A contribution to the implicit/explicit debate on grammar learning: the case of contrast connectors

A contribution to the implicit/explicit debate on grammar learning: the case of contrast connectors

Author(s): Ana Luísa Costa / Language(s): English / Issue: 01 (24)/2019

Keywords: grammar learning; grammar teaching; implicit knowledge; explicit knowledge; metalinguistic knowledge; language acquisition; language development;

In this paper, studies on language acquisition and development are seen as most relevant to grammar teaching and learning. Grammar teaching may be conceived as a process of building awareness of the language used from the earliest stages, as well as a process of scaffolding knowledge depending on later language development. In this perspective, grammar instruction (including curricular orientations) must take into account what belongs to spontaneous linguistic knowledge, and which linguistic knowledge crucially depends on the richness of discourse experiences at school. Data on the acquisition of contrast connectives in European Portuguese will support the idea that, even assuming that some innate principles rule early language acquisition, linguistic proficiency depends on language learning experiences accumulated through years of schooling. Furthermore, language development is not entirely accomplished by linguistic mastery: the ability to explain language through language may be considered a later stage of linguistic accuracy, associated with formal instruction.

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The Social Marginalization of People Living with a Mentally Ill Label–Family, Friends, and Work

The Social Marginalization of People Living with a Mentally Ill Label–Family, Friends, and Work

Author(s): Kateřina Maloušková,Martin Fafejta / Language(s): English / Issue: 3/2021

Keywords: mental illness;labeling;impairment;disability;organized deviant group;deviant career;family; friends;employment;marginalization;psychiatry

This paper is based on qualitative research among people diagnosed with a mental illness who voluntarily attend a mental health center. Such individuals are given a degrading “mentally ill” label, which transforms them into a “new” person. This study showed that—due to their label—research participants are often socially marginalized—not only in the public but also in the private sphere. As members of an “organized deviant group” (the mental health center), they follow a “deviant career” and find a job outside the regular job market. Their marginalization is not only caused by their health problems (by their impairment), but they are also disabled through social reactions to these problems. Psychiatry based on the biological model of the disease cannot, therefore, help them without the cooperation of social science approaches dealing with social marginalization.

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Economic Growth and Investment in R&D: Contemporary Challenges for the European Union

Economic Growth and Investment in R&D: Contemporary Challenges for the European Union

Author(s): Rūta Banelienė,Borisas Melnikas / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2020

Keywords: economic growth; R&D investment; European Union; sustainable development;

This paper presents new approaches to investigating economic growth and innovation activity as well as analyzing investment in R&D needs and efficiency in the context of contemporary challenges for European integration. Our research modeled the impact of R&D investment on GDP growth under broad conditions of globalization. In addition to capital and labor factors, we took into account factors that influence climate change, keeping in mind their relation to economic activity. Additionally, we paid particular attention to other factors driving sustainable economic growth, such as consumption of scarce resources as well as inequality and poverty. Herein, we proposed new modeling conceptions for evaluating the impact of R&D investment on economic growth. The suggested method was adapted to analyze the case of development processes in the European Union. Our research confirmed the hypothesis that R&D expenditure has a positive impact on economic growth, and the impact is much higher in well-developed EU economies under conditions of sustainable economic development and globalization. The research was based on the case of the European Union economies. The panel least squares method was applied for the modeling and estimations.

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Linguistic and extralinguistic problems in the Spanish and Italian translations of the novel L’élégance du hérisson by Muriel Barbery. A case study

Problemas lingüísticos y extra lingüísticos en las traducciones española e italiana de la novela L’Élégance du hérisson de Muriel Barbery. Estudio de caso

Author(s): Esther Gracia Palomo,Giorgia Marangon / Language(s): Spanish / Issue: 3/2020

Keywords: related languages; translation; contrastive grammar; French; Italian

Ever since Translatology became a discipline of its own, separated from Linguistics, the philologist-translator relationship, which we consider essential in the task of translation, has been split. This worrying lack of collaboration is what has led us to carry out this research, with which we intend to highlight the importance of working together in order to produce a translation. In this respect, our study focuses on the philological analysis and the translation results in Spanish and Italian of the novel L’élégance du hérisson (2006) by Muriel Barbery. After carrying out a comparative and a translatological analysis of some chapters of the novel, in order to observe how they have been adapted to the language and culture of the countries of arrival, we believe that it is essential to underline the importance and obligation on the part of the translators, especially when dealing with related languages, of a previous, detailed and philological study of the source text. The purpose of this work is to identify the obstacles, analyze the solutions provided by the translators, and finally offer alternative proposals in order to improve the target texts.

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Information Quality and Management Support as Key Factors in the Applications of Continuous Auditing and Continuous Monitoring: An Empirical Study in the Government Sector of Indonesia

Information Quality and Management Support as Key Factors in the Applications of Continuous Auditing and Continuous Monitoring: An Empirical Study in the Government Sector of Indonesia

Author(s): Slamet Soedarsono,Sri Mulyani,Hiro Tugiman,Didik Suhardi / Language(s): English / Issue: 3/2019

Keywords: Management Support; Information Quality; Continuous Auditing; Continuous Monitoring; Structural Equation Modeling;

The objective of this research was to verify the effects of information quality and management support as critical contributors to the successful application of continuous auditing and continuous monitoring in the government sector. This study utilized survey research that was conducted in the Line Ministries (LMs) in Indonesia. The research data was collected through questionnaires, face-to-face interviews, and focus group discussions. The structural equation modeling (SEM) approach was used for data analysis with the assistance of Lisrel 8.8 statistical software. The result shows that there is a strong influence of information technology and management support on the applications of continuous auditing and continuous monitoring. Another finding is that an improved application of continuous monitoring results in an improved application of continuous auditing in the Line Ministries in Indonesia.

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