Keywords: Literacy; Visual literacy; Education; Art education
The article deals with the topic of literacy and visual literacy in the context of theoretical anchoring and characteristics. We adhere to generally accepted definitions of literacy and further develop our theory at the level of visual literacy as a new, contemporary concept of visual arts education at the present times.
More...
Keywords: sociology;Alain Touraine;theory of modernity;obituary
The French sociologist Alain Touraine passed away on 9 June, aged 97. He leaves us with a vision of the world and societies in constant transformation through the action and ideas of the actors and social movements. He won international recognition for his work on the post-industrial society and the new social movements and was a keen theoretician of modernity. He remains one of the most influential sociologists in many European countries and across Latin America. Through his personal (his wife Adriana Arenas was Chilean) and intellectual life, Alain Touraine was closely linked to Latin America. They were in Santiago during Salvador Allende's government and witnessed Pinochet's coup in 1973. Fifteen years later, his major work on Latin America, „The Word and the Blood“, portrayed the continent a few years after the fall of the military dictatorships.
More...
Keywords: endogenous money supply; domestic credit; global liquidity; financial transactions; quantity theory of credit;
Research background: Endogenous money creation is an inherent feature of today?s economies and widely accepted phenomenon. As the various theories of money rely on the money quantity equation, most empirical research is heading towards the analysis of the two-way relationship between the quantity of money and nominal GDP. In today's world, with the extraordinary development of the financial sector, money is used not only for transactions in the real economy, but increasingly also for purchasing financial assets. This observation was absorbed by Werner in the quantity theory of disaggregated credit.Purpose of the article: The aim of the paper is to join the debate on endogenous character of money supply by tasting a disaggregated equation of money. It assumes that the domestic money supply is positively determined not only by growth in GDP-based transactions but also by growth in non-GDP-based transactions (financial transactions). Additionally, it is assumed that in the age of globalization it can be also positively influenced by the global liquidity. Methods: Testing of the above-mentioned hypotheses takes place with the use of panel unit roots tests, panel Granger causality test and panel estimations (OLS, models with fixed/random effects, GMM). In the study, annual data from 2002 to 2018 for OECD countries were chosen for statistical research.Findings & value added: The article confirms the hypothesis that real and financial economic activity together with global liquidity positively influence domestic credit and thus money supply. As the amount of money in an economy is driven not only by the real economy but also by the financial economy, prudential regulations that restrict leverage (and thus control the amount of credit) and limit risk-taking during price bubbles periods should be therefore considered. In the research, the reaction of domestic money supply to the changes in US money supply is positive. It confirms the importance of spill-over effect of expansionary policy in major economies to other economies.
More...
Keywords: invoicing currency of trade; dominant currency paradigm; dollar; export; inflation; exchange rate;
Research background: Most transactions in world trade are invoiced in several international currencies. The changes in the distribution of the great economic powers and the strengthening of the position of developing countries make it necessary to consider the factors determining the choice of trade invoicing currency and to assess the prospects of the dollar as an invoicing currency and the possibility of strengthening the position of developing countries' currencies in this function.Purpose of the article: The aim of the paper is to assess the factors influencing the choice of invoicing currency for international trade in 2000?2019.Methods: The analysis of factors influencing the choice of international trade invoicing currency is based on panel data modelling. The study is conducted for a group of 55 countries. It is assumed that the following variables may influence the currency position in the trade invoicing function: the share of the issuer's country in the bilateral trade, inflation and exchange rate.Findings & value added: The analysis showed that despite the decreasing share of the United States in world trade, the U.S. dollar remains the most important export invoicing currency. The main factors influencing the dollar's dominance are the U.S. share of countries' exports, inflation in developing countries, and the exchange rate in advanced economies. The great significance of trade share as a determinant of the position of the trade invoicing currency is an important indication of the strengthening position of developing country currencies, particularly the Chinese yuan. The obtained results confirm, with the use of more complete data, the validity of the dominant currency paradigm and enrich the still underdeveloped analysis in the area of international macroeconomics using panel data analysis.
More...
Keywords: equivalence scale; lognormal distribution; inequality aversion; subjective welfare;
Research background: In the actual sizable populations of households, the standard microeconomic concept of equivalence scales is intractable since its necessary condition of equality of household welfare levels is unlikely to be fulfilled.Purpose of the article: This paper aims to develop a concept of an equivalence scale, which can be suitable for continuous distributions of expenditures in the population.Methods: Using household welfare intervals, we get the random equivalence scale (RES) as the ratio of expenditure distributions of the compared populations of households.Findings & value added: We derive the parametric distribution of RES for the lognormal distributions of expenditures. The truncated distribution of RES is applied to account for possible economies of scale in the household size. A society?s inequality aversion can be helpful when selecting a single equivalence scale. We estimate RES for Poland using microdata on expenditures and subjective assessments of household welfare intervals. The estimated equivalence scales turned out to be very flat and dependent on welfare.
More...
Keywords: COVID-19; risk attitude; loneliness; depression; economic hardship; general strain theory; GST; PLS-SEM;
Research background: The research has two objectives and employs a serial mediation approach. First, using the general strain theory, it examines the mediating role of negative feelings and impact of economic adversity on people's risk tolerance and prudent financial behavior. The second is determining the various categories' variations according to age.Purpose of the article: The study's main objective is to evaluate financial behaviour of people with lower and medium incomes after the second wave of COVID-19 in India, and to contribute to the body of knowledge on general strain theory.Methods: The study examined the proposed framework and tested the serial mediation model based on the general strain theory used as a survey method for data collection, targeting lower and middle-income individuals in India's most populated state. The study applied PLS-SEM to test the framed hypotheses. Furthermore, the Kruskal Wallis test was applied to identify the difference in the various groups classified based on age.Findings & value added: The results reveal that economic hardship significantly influences improved financial behavior. Risk aversion attitude, loneliness, and depression mediate the relationship between economic hardship and financial behavior. Moreover, the study found quite a few significant differences between the different age groups. The present study will add to the existing literature on financial behavior under the scope of general strain theory and probably be among the few that test general strain theory with financial variables impact on lower and middle-income group individuals from a developing nation in post-COVID-19 period.
More...
Keywords: sustainable development; sustainable supply chain; sustainable development initiatives; corporate sustainability; k-means method;
Research background: The idea of sustainable development, in the face of the challenges encountered by contemporary society, is gaining increasing popularity. Currently, it recognizes the substantial role that companies play in its successful implementation. Initiatives in the field of sustainable development may be undertaken by companies independently as part of their own activities, or together with entities forming the supply chain as an element of sustainable supply chain management.Purpose of the article: Identification of groups of companies that are characterised by a different approach to cooperation in the field of sustainable development in the supply chain.Methods: The quantitative research was conducted in September 2020 with the use of the CATI (Computer-Assisted Telephone Interview) technique and a standardised survey questionnaire. A total of 500 randomly selected companies located in Poland participated in this study. The respondents were representatives of top management of the companies. In order to identify various groups of companies, a cluster analysis was performed using the k-means method in SPSS.Findings & value added: Based on the literature analysis, 3 areas of sustainable development have been identified, in which companies can become involved ? green design, sustainable operations, and reverse logistics & waste management. For each of the 3 areas, 3 clusters of companies were identified: companies that are not involved in sustainable development at all (1), companies that carry out most of the sustainable development initiatives independently (2), companies that carry out most of the sustainable development initiatives jointly with supply chain partners (3). The article also shows that the companies in different cluster differ in terms of perceived economic benefits achieved thanks to the implementation of sustainable development initiatives. This may suggest the need to develop separate sustainability solutions for such groups of companies in the future.
More...
Keywords: immigrant entrepreneurship; causal relationship; pull and push factors; the Decision- Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) method;
Research background: Immigrant entrepreneurship remains a key issue for researchers, politicians, and policymakers. It has been widely discussed from different angles among various researchers in recent studies ? particularly in Europe. However, there is a lack of studies to present the motivation of the causal relationship between immigrant entrepreneurs.Purpose of the article: This study aims to fill the gap and analyze the causal relationship between the motivations of Asian immigrant entrepreneurs in Germany.Methods: The study was conducted through a face-to-face interview using a predesigned questionnaire from Asian business owners in Germany and the Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) approach was applied to analyze the data.Findings & value added: The results show that capital acquisition, employment, financial problems in the family, and existence opportunities in the market are the factors that have higher priority, and may highly impact the Asian immigrant entrepreneurial decision. On the other hand, relatives or social networks remain the lowest priority factor that encourages Asian immigrants towards self-employment. The study has also found that entrepreneurship in the family, the state support policy for immigrants, low level of education, unfamiliarity with the local language, and dissatisfaction with the previous job belong to the cause group. However, some of the motivating factors relate to the effect group, such as capital acquisition, opportunity in the market, immigrant community ties or social networks, unemployment, and financial problems in the family. The most affected factor among the effect group is unemployment, while immigrant community ties or social network is the least affected factor. This study includes a novel interpretation of the DEMATEL approach that researchers have not yet addressed; therefore, it is highly relevant for policymakers, especially those interested in migration studies. Finding out the main driving forces behind Asian immigrant entrepreneurs in a developed European nation like Germany and how these drivers affect cause-and-effect interactions between them are the contributions that add value to the field.
More...
Keywords: saving; inheritance tax; bequest; overlapping generation; life cycle;
Research background: The paper investigates the impact of bequest taxation on saving and transfers when parents and children make decisions consistently. It complements the predictions of Gale and Perozek's life-cycle modeling (2001) when decisions of parents and children are set independently and can be time-inconsistent. Purpose of the article: The paper strives to answer the question of whether taxation of bequest harms savings and inter vivos transfers. The previous results indicated that this is possible for some bequest motives. Our results show that this is not likely for the most typical values of parameters. Methods: The analysis involves economic modeling of four bequest motives: altruistic, paternalistic, accidental, and exchange. The method is based on the overlapping generation approach and life-cycle approach in the case of a paternalistic bequest. The results are supplemented with numerical simulations. Findings & value added: For the altruistic motive, savings are smaller if interest rates are low relative to the tax rate and the utility of one's consumption is more valuable than the utility of the next generations. For the accidental motive, savings decrease with small interest rates, high taxation and long-life expectancy. For the paternalistic motive, savings decrease when the interest rate and the value of future utility are low. For the exchange motive, savings are higher after a tax increase, but it depends on the value of attention and life expectancy. The general conclusion is that higher bequest taxation hamper saving behavior and may disturb the intergenerational exchange process. The bequest tax should, therefore, be set low, especially for aging populations, in order to induce higher savings and force the young to provide the elderly with higher attention.
More...
Keywords: human capital; convergence; NUTS 2 region; sectoral structure of employees;
Research background: The role of human capital in modern economy development is as important as that of material growth factors. According to the three-sector model theory, economic growth is associated with the process of labour force leaving the primary sector. The research issue addressed in this paper was the human capital level estimation in European NUTS 2 regions and the relationship between the human capital level and sectoral structure of the economy.Purpose of the article: The article aimed to verify the hypotheses of absolute and conditional human capital convergence in European NUTS 2 regions. The analysis covered the 2005-2020 period for European NUTS 2 regions and two subgroups: the CEE regions and the Western European regions.Methods: A composite indicator approach was adopted to measure human capital levels in NUTS 2 regions. In order to verify the absolute and conditional b-convergence hypotheses, dynamic panel data models were estimated. The Blundell and Bond system-GMM estimator with parameter standard errors robust to heteroscedasticity was used.Findings & value added: The study positively verified the hypotheses of absolute and conditional convergence in each group of regions. Percentages of employees in sectors proved to be the steady-state determinants. The time needed to reduce differences occurring in human capital levels by half (a half-life) was about 11 times greater for the CEE regions than for the Western European ones. The value added of the article lies in proving the relationship between the sectoral structure of employees and the pace of human capital convergence in European NUTS 2 regions.
More...
Keywords: road transport; expenditure of tourism visitors; transport indicators; competitiveness of countries; sustainable transport systems;
Research background: Transport represents a dynamic element in the tourism system. In recent decades, transport has been a subject of research mainly from the point of view of the sustainability of the economic systems and the environmental aspects.Purpose of the article: This study aimed to quantify the relationships between the selected indicators of road transport development and the expenditure of tourism visitors in the selected European countries in the context of the development of their competitiveness.Methods: The road transport indicators were applied in the research trajectories: density of road (DNST), hare of road infrastructure investment (SH INF), share of motorways (SH MWY), and indicators of visitor expenditure for business (BTS), leisure (LTS), domestic (DTS) and foreign (VEFS) tourism. In the first phase of the analyses, the countries of the European part of the OECD (N = 27; period of 2010-2018) were divided into two clusters based on the development index (HDI) and the innovation index (GII) through the cluster analysis. The two groups were created - more and less developed countries. The results of the analysis of differences declare that there are differences between these groups in the DNST, SH INF, BTS, LTS, and DTS indicators. The correlation and regression analysis methods were applied to quantify the relationships between the variables.Findings & value added: The difference between the groups of the countries was also shown in the relationships between the road transport development indicators and visitor spending. In more developed countries, the relationship between the traffic indicators on BTS and DTS was significant. In less developed countries, significant relationships were identified with LST and VEFS. This finding underscores regional disparities and cautions against assuming that what policy guidelines from developed countries will be effective in less developed ones. Therefore, when designing improvement policies, it is vital to consider countries in terms of their level of development.
More...
Keywords: mobility; tourism; Google mobility data; Apple mobility data; Europe; COVID-19 pandemic;
Research background: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented disruptions to the global tourism industry, resulting in significant impacts on both human and economic activities. Travel restrictions, border closures, and quarantine measures have led to a sharp decline in tourism demand, causing businesses to shut down, jobs to be lost, and economies to suffer.Purpose of the article: This study aims to examine the correlation and causal relationship between real-time mobility data and statistical data on tourism, specifically tourism overnights, across eleven European countries during the first 14 months of the pandemic. We analyzed the short longitudinal connections between two dimensions of tourism and related activities.Methods: Our method is to use Google and Apple's observational data to link with tourism statistical data, enabling the development of early predictive models and econometric models for tourism overnights (or other tourism indices). This approach leverages the more timely and more reliable mobility data from Google and Apple, which is published with less delay than tourism statistical data.Findings & value added: Our findings indicate statistically significant correlations between specific mobility dimensions, such as recreation and retail, parks, and tourism statistical data, but poor or insignificant relations with workplace and transit dimensions. We have identified that leisure and recreation have a much stronger influence on tourism than the domestic and routine-named dimensions. Additionally, our neural network analysis revealed that Google Mobility Parks and Google Mobility Retail & Recreation are the best predictors for tourism, while Apple Driving and Apple Walking also show significant correlations with tourism data. The main added value of our research is that it combines observational data with statistical data, demonstrates that Google and Apple location data can be used to model tourism phenomena, and identifies specific methods to determine the extent, direction, and intensity of the relationship between mobility and tourism flows.
More...
Keywords: organizational resilience; public service; impact assessment; structural equation modeling;
Research background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, public sector entities encountered extraordinary difficulties in maintaining the delivery of public services. They were ill-equipped to operate in the unpredictable circumstances of the pandemic, causing a significant impact on the accessibility and quality of public services. This scenario also highlighted the importance of the resilience of the public sector, which entails an organization's capacity to function in a crisis setting and uncover opportunities that might not have been evident during normal circumstances.Purpose of the article: This study aims to assess development trends within public sector resilience and their impact on the quality of public services. As resilience is realized through a three-phase prism - i.e., Planning, Adaptation, and Enhanced Learning - we hypothesize that Adaptation is endogenously interrelated with Planning and positively affects Enhanced Learning, which in turn positively impacts Service Quality.Methods: Two successive surveys were carried out to examine the links between organizational resilience and Service Quality in the public sector. The first involved interviewing 401 senior managers of the organizations that provide public services in Lithuania to assess their level of organizational resilience. The second survey involved questioning individuals aged 18 and above who had used the services of the previously surveyed organizations. In total, 3,609 public service users were interviewed to gather data on Service Quality. Structural equation modeling was performed to analyze the data collected.Findings & value added: The results of structural equation modeling revealed that Enhanced Learning positively and significantly affects Service Quality. The findings of this study suggest that the bounce-back stage of organizational resilience, i.e., Adaptation, indirectly affects Service Quality through the bounce-forward stage, i.e., Enhanced Learning. Thus, Enhanced Learning acts both as an accelerator of Service Quality and as a moderator of the effect that other stages of organizational resilience have on Service Quality. The primary contribution of this article is its discovery that Service Quality develops from Enhanced Learning, implying that the optimal approach to service provision is based on both newly acquired knowledge and experience gained during challenging times. This enables organizations to transform their service delivery in response to the realities of changing circumstances, thereby creating opportunities to prepare for future challenges from the standpoint of a new equilibrium.
More...Keywords: authentic learning; authentic tasks; EFL; virtual reality; VR-integrated tasks;
For language learners situated in contexts where there is limited exposure to the target language, an authentic learning environment is important. Virtual Reality (VR) has been increasingly used in education to simulate realistic scenarios; however, little is known about whether VR can enhance the nature of authentic learning for learners of English as a foreign language (EFL). Motivated by that reason, this study was conducted to examine the affordances of VR when integrated with language tasks to facilitate authentic learning for EFL learners. Herrington et al.’s (2010) model of authentic tasks was adopted to evaluate the VR-integrated tasks. Twenty-four students participated in the VR technology intervention and were followed up with individual interviews. The results showed VR has the potential to enhance many of the ten attributes of Herrington et al.’s (2010) authentic tasks. Suggestions are provided to further extend the model to be more applicable in EFL contexts, alongside implications for practice and future research.
More...Keywords: ChatGPT; Artificial Intelligence; Large Language Models; language education; CALL;
Large Language Models (LLMs) are a powerful type of Artificial Intelligence (AI) that simulates how humans organize language and are able to interpret, predict, and generate text. This allows for contextual understanding of natural human language which enables the LLM to understand conversational human input and respond in a natural manner. Recent examples of this, such as the Generative Pre-Trained Transformer (GPT) model, popularized by OpenAI’s web application, ChatGPT, are able to complete an astounding variety of tasks when provided with simple language input. For education, LLMs can alleviate teacher curriculum and grading workloads and even perform specific tasks such as generating creative ideas for activities. Specifically for language learning, LLMs can draw on their immense corpus of language content to generate learner-centric materials to aid teachers in delivering targeted, personalized language instruction. The aim of this paper is to provide the reader with examples of how LLMs can be utilized for materials development, classroom activities, and providing feedback. After giving specific examples and explanations, the paper will conclude with a discussion of how this technology can provide teachers with new innovative ways to streamline the teaching process to focus on learner needs.
More...Keywords: games; augmented and virtual reality; simulation; mobile learning; vocabulary acquisition and retention; EAL learners;
Despite being a building block in language learning, vocabulary can be a learning obstacle for some learners. This study explores the effects of virtual reality (VR) games on English as an additional language (EAL) EAL learners’ content-based vocabulary acquisition and retention. Six Year 9 Middle Eastern students from an independent school in Western Australia were randomly selected to experience this VR approach. A Google Cardboard headset was utilised to immerse players in a 3D environment, enabling them to acquire target vocabulary while exploring the content in VR games. Data was collected through a pre-test (to screen pre- existing vocabulary knowledge), post-test (to measure vocabulary acquisition via VR games) and delayed post-test (to measure vocabulary retention). Marked differences were found between pre- and post-tests (p = .021) and pre- and delayed post-tests (p = .033), suggesting that the gamified VR environment can stimulate content-based vocabulary acquisition and enhance its retention. This 3D approach to vocabulary learning implicates the pedagogical benefits of VR games for struggling EAL learners.
More...Keywords: Flipped Learning; grammar course; microlearning; microflipped learning;
This research employed microlearning and flipped teaching approach, both together and separately, to examine EFL learners’ grammar achievement and motivation. The design of this study was quasi-experimental by employing three intact classrooms as experimental groups (i.e. microlearning, flipped learning, and microflipped learning) and one intact classroom as a control group (N = 25 for each group). The data was collected through pre- test and post-test that were administered to experimental and control groups, as well as motivated strategies for learning questionnaire (MSLQ) that was filled by the participants from experimental groups. The results showed that microlearning, flipped learning, and flipped learning approaches could help EFL learners to achieve significantly higher grammar skill. Besides, it was depicted that EFL learners revealed higher motivation in experimental groups for learning when compared with the control group. At the end of this study, the researchers provided recommendations on how to use flipped learning and microlearning methods, both together and separately. Findings suggest that the use of microlearning, flipped, and microflipped teaching/learning can be considered as an alternative model of teaching, as opposed to the traditional method, to motivate EFL students to better learning.
More...Keywords: English for Academic Purposes (EAP); explicit instruction; lexical collocations; academic writing;
This study investigated the efficacy of explicit lexical collocation instruction via the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA). To improve competence in lexical collocation and writing performance and to examine whether collocational competence and writing performance have a linear interrelation, 16 international English for Academic Purposes students received training on the use of the COCA interface. They were asked to first analyze the lexical collocations used in an academic paper, then search COCA for collocations to see how they are used pragmatically, and, finally, write an academic research paper on their own. A dependent t-test measured significant differences in performance, and the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient identified the strength of the correlation between lexical competence and writing performance and their association with each other, respectively. The results showed that when students are given explicit instruction on how to utilize COCA to identify lexical collocations and their use in various contexts, both their lexical collocational competence and writing performance improves and, furthermore, these improvements correlate with each other. Implications for teaching lexical collocation are also discussed.
More...Keywords: ePortfolios; collaboration; reflection; English for academic purposes (EAP);
This article reports a study that examined the use of ePortfolios to facilitate collaborative learning and reflection in an undergraduate English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course at a university in New Zealand. The article offers new insights into the advantages of using a socio- cultural theoretical approach to the use of ePortfolios in an EAP context, with a particular focus on the assessments in the course. Drawing on online surveys, semi-structured interviews with students and ePortfolio analysis, the findings demonstrate that learners appreciate the affordances of ePortfolios and the collaborative nature of the assessment tasks in them.
More...Keywords: Artificial Intelligence; Language Education; Materials Creation; Language Assessment;
With recent public access to large language models via chatbots, the field of language education is seeing unprecedented levels of interest in how AI will affect language learning and teaching. As attention is primarily focused on student misuse of the technology, the potential affordances of generative AI tools may often be overlooked. In this paper we highlight potential affordances of AI generative tools, such as ChatGPT, for creating language learning and teaching materials and assessments. We offer suggestions on crafting prompts as well as provide example prompts and the materials and assessments generated by ChatGPT in response. We also present a framework for evaluation that combines both of Hubbard’s (1988) framework for CALL evaluation and The Douglas Fir Group’s (2016) transdisciplinary framework that may assist language educators in determining when it is appropriate to leverage generative AI tools. We then briefly illustrate how the framework has been used in our own evaluations. Finally, we suggest language educators consider how the concerns and opinions of using AI- based tools held by individuals and institutions within their own micro, meso, and macro sociocultural levels align or conflict with those of the individuals and institutions of their students’ micro, meso, and macro sociocultural levels.
More...
