Material Processes in Philippine Department of Health’s English Press Releases on COVID-19: A Transitivity Concordancing Analysis

The COVID-19 pandemic might be considered as a disruptive moment in history. This small-scale study was motivated by the preponderance of this pandemic. It attempted to determine the roles and goals of the Philippine DOH as reflected in its complete set of 30 official press releases published during the peak of the pandemic from February 2020 to March 2020. The relatively short and early period of the COVID-19 pandemic could largely speak about crisis management of the Philippine’s Department of Health (DOH). The study employed the theoretical and analytical grounding of Material Processes and transitivity concordancing under Systemic Functional Linguistics and Critical Discourse Analysis. With the aid of AntConc and UAM Corpus Tool, results showed that the Philippine DOH painted itself as the Ensurer, the Monitorer and the Receiver. Its goals focused on the ‘Strategic Moves’ in combatting the pandemic. The foreground of these ‘Strategic Moves’ and the ‘Person/Public-Related’ goals might mean that it intentionally painted and privileged itself as a pro-people department. Such linguistic choices might have significantly mitigated public anxiety during the height of the crisis. I offer recommendations in terms of comparative studies of crisis management within the different spheres of world Englishes. The paper hopes to provide readers with the insights into how a government uses its linguistic resources in crisis management

Leveraging Machine Learning to Enhance Road Safety: A Social Marketing Approach

Road safety remains a critical concern worldwide. This research aims to investigate the use of Explainable AI (XAI) techniques, particularly SHAP (Shapley Additive Explanations), to identify key factors influencing road accident severity and create a social marketing campaign encouraging people to change their behavior in relation to road safety. Several machine learning models were developed using data from Thailand’s Ministry of Transport. The results show that the Light Gradient Boosting Machine (LGBM) model achieved the highest accuracy of 0.85 and an F1 score of 0.83. SHAP analysis revealed that the most significant contributing factors were the number of motorcycle involvements, road code, and the total number of vehicles and people involved in the accident. A practical framework for promoting sustainable road safety was proposed, focusing on raising awareness, delivering emotionally impactful communication, and fostering immediate behavioral change. This research provides valuable insights for strategic road safety initiatives and demonstrates the effectiveness of integrating machine learning with XAI. The findings can guide government authorities, policymakers, insurance companies, and social marketing planners in improving road safety

MISSIO AD GENTES IN THE CHINESE CONTEXT: FROM MAXIMUM ILLUD TO THE PROVISIONAL AGREEMENT

Pope Benedict XV, who is often known as the "missionary pope" or the “unknown Pope,” developed a missiological approach which was especially significant for the Far East, especially China. His focus on missionary work or missio ad gentes is a reflection on the very nature of the Church itself. In his apostolic letter Maximum illud he describes it according to three principles. The first is on the obligations of the laity to act as 'missionary disciples.' The second stresses the non-political nature of mission. An the third describes the local nature of mission. While the political, economic and missiological situation has changed since these documents, these three principles still remain relevant. The obligations of missio ad gentes, both in relation to faith within the Church (ad intra) and in relation to local communities (ad extra) remains important for the whole Catholic Church, and especially for the Chinese Catholic Church. This essay will explore the relevance of mission ad intra and ad extra for the Catholic Church in China

EDITORIAL

The Scholar: Human Sciences, a journal encompassing the fields of humanities and social sciences, has earned acclaim in the Thailand Citation Index (TCI) as a prominent publication since 2015. It currently holds the esteemed TCI: TIER1 classification. We take great pride in presenting the latest issue, which features a collection of manuscripts that have undergone rigorous evaluation. Each submission has been meticulously reviewed through a blinded review process by three specialized reviewers from different institutions, both internal and external to the authors. This peer-reviewed accreditation ensures the scholarly quality and integrity of the published articles. This  issue  covers  thirty  articles.  The  first  article  titled “Blended Learning Satisfaction Among Art Students in Local Universities in Sichuan, China” explored the influencing factors of art students' satisfaction with blended learning in local colleges in Sichuan. The  second  article  titled “An Analysis of Influencing Factors of Entrepreneurial Intentions and Behavior of Undergraduate Students at a University in Guangxi, China” aims to examine the factors that influence undergraduate students' entrepreneurial intentions and behavior at Guangxi University of Science and Technology. The  third  article  titled “Measuring Self-Efficacy and Job Satisfaction of Full-Time Art Teachers in Chengdu, China” aims to investigate the factors influencing the self-efficacy and job satisfaction of full-time art teachers in Chengdu, China. The  fourth  article  titled “Factors Underlying Behavior Intention to Use Online Education of Art College Students in Xi’an, China” aims to investigate the key factors affecting the online education behavior intention of fine arts students in three specific universities in Xi'an, China. The fifth articled titled “Measuring Satisfaction and Behavioral Intention to Use Online Learning Among Junior Students in a Public University in Yunnan, China” investigates factors impacting third-year student satisfaction and behavioral intention to use online learning in a public university in Yunnan, China. The  sixth  article  titled “Factors Impacting Behavioral Intention to Use Online Learning of Junior College Students in a Private Vocational University in Chengdu, China” aims to determine factors impacting behavioral intention of students painting majors in a private vocational university in Chengdu, China. The  seventh  article  titled “Factors Impacting Intention to Use and Satisfaction with Blended Learning of Students in Business English Major in Guangdong, China” investigates the factors impacting intention to use and satisfaction with blended learning business of students in business English major in Guangdong, China. The eighth article titled “Assessment of Satisfaction and Continuance Intention of Art Major Students at Sichuan Fine Arts Institute towards Cloud-based E-learning Systems” investigates the determinants of satisfaction, and continuance intention to use CELS among undergraduate students specializing in art at the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute (SFAI) in Chongqing, China. The ninth article titled “Exploring Antecedents of Japanese Major Students’ Behavioral Intention to Use Japanese Language Learning Apps in Chengdu, China” investigates the determinants influencing the behavioral intention of Japanese major students to utilize Japanese language learning apps in Chengdu, China. The  tenth  article  titled “Determinants of Student Satisfaction with Online Courses Delivered via Cloud-Based Platforms in Educational and Training Institutions, Chongqing, China” aims to investigate the influencing factors that affect the students’ satisfaction cloud-based online courses of educational and training organizations among college students in Chongqing, China. The  eleventh  article  titled “Factors Impacting Satisfaction and Continuance Intention with E-Learning of Students Majoring in Radio and Television Director at Private Art Schools in Western China” study aims to explore the factors impacting student satisfaction and continuance intention to use online learning among Radio and Television Directing majors in private art schools in western China. The  twelfth  article  titled “Measuring Determinants of Satisfaction with Online Courses of Adult Higher Education Among Junior College Students in Chengdu, China” aims to investigate adult higher education junior college students' levels of satisfaction with online course instruction in Chengdu. The  thirteenth  article  titled “Factors Impacting Undergraduate’s Attitude, Use and Satisfaction Towards Social Media During COVID-19 in Shanghai Institute of Visual Art, China” investigated the variables influencing undergraduates’ attitudes toward, use, and contentment with social media during COVID-19 at the Shanghai Institute of Visual Art. The  fourteenth  article  titled “Investigating Factors Influencing Athletes' Intention to Use Timing and Scoring Systems: A Case Study of the 2023 Track and Field League in Northern China” explores the factors influencing athletes’ satisfaction, and behavioral intention to use the timing and scoring system in 2023 Athletics Association Traditional Sports Programme School Athletics League (North Zone) in China. The fifteenth article titled “Factors Influencing on Gen X Consumers’ Attitude and Purchase Intention of Wine Products in Sichuan, China” paper aims to evaluate the influence on wine Gen X consumers’ attitudes and purchase intentions in Sichuan, China. The  sixteenth  article  titled “Factors Influencing College Students’ Use Behavior of Online Learning Platforms in Sichuan, China” investigates the factors that affected the college students’ use behavior when applying to online learning platforms in Sichuan, China, including perceived ease of use, usefulness, attitude, social influence, facilitating conditions, behavioral intention, and use behavior. The  seventeenth  article  titled “Predicting Social Science Undergraduate’s Behavioral Intention to Use Online Library’s Full-Text Resources in Chengdu” analyzed the factors affecting the behavioral intention to use of full-text digital library resources by social sciences students to provide a new perspective for constructing digital libraries in Chinese colleges and universities. The eighteenth article titled “Developing Students’ Self-Leadership and Students’ Creativity in Zhanjiang, China” investigates the influence of five independent variables (Behavior Focused, Natural Reward, Constructive Thought, Self-Punishment, and Self-Talk) on two dependent variables (Self-Leadership and Creativity). The  nineteenth  article  titled “Exploring the Determinants of Postgraduate Students' Satisfaction and Loyalty Toward Art Museums in Chengdu, China” studies the determinants of university students' satisfaction and loyalty toward art museums in Chengdu, China. The twentieth article titled “An Investigation on Science Students’ Behavioral Intention and Self-Learning Attitude of Internet Base E-Learning in Chengdu, China” investigates the factors influencing the behavioral intention and attitude toward self-learning among science students in Chengdu, China. The twenty-first article titled “The Influencing Factors of Satisfaction with Learning Management System of Students Majoring in Environmental Design: A Case Study of Normal Universities in Sichuan Province” aimed to explore the satisfaction and attitude of environmental design students in Sichuan Normal universities when using the superstar learning system in a blended learning environment. The twenty-second article titled “A Quantitative Approach Assessing Students' Attitude Towards Entrepreneurship and Entrepreneurial Intentions in a Private University in Zhanjiang, China” proposes hypothetical relationships among variables through previous theories and literature to investigate the factors impacting attitudes towards entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial intentions of students in a private university in Zhanjiang, China. The twenty-third article titled “Determinants of Purchase Intent and Behavior of Male Generation Y Consumers in Fast Fashion Sector in Chengdu, China” establishes a conceptual framework that elucidates the interconnections among brand, perceived quality, attitude, loyalty, trust, purchase intention, and purchase behavior. The twenty-fourth article titled “A Study on the Driving Factors of Satisfaction and Continuous Intention to Use Online Learning Among Vocational Students in China” aims to explore the factors influencing the online learning satisfaction and continuous intention of the students majoring in folk music and dance at Rongjiang Secondary Vocational School, China. The twenty-fifth article titled “Influential Factors on the Quality of E-banking Services and Loyalty Among University Students in Baoshan, China” examines the factors impacting e-banking service quality and loyalty for university students in Baoshan, China. The twenty-sixth article titled “Factors Influencing the Behavioral Intention of Business Major Undergraduates in Blended Learning: A Case of a Private University in Chengdu, China” promotes the development of blended learning, university administrators, teachers, and students need to consider various elements of the adoption of blended learning among students. The twenty-seventh article titled “Measuring Satisfaction and Purchase Intention of Art Major Students Towards Mobile Games: A Case of Public Universities in Chongqing, China” explores the factors impacting the purchase intention of mobile games for art major students in Public Universities in Chongqing, China. The twenty-eighth article titled “Measuring College Graduates’ Career Satisfaction in Hangzhou, China” aims to explore the key influences on the career satisfaction of Hangzhou college graduates. The twenty-ninth article titled “Factors Influencing Students’ Satisfaction and Continuance Intention to Use B2C Online Shopping Platform in a University in Sichuan, China” aims to explore the factors that influence the satisfaction and continuous intention of Chinese college students using B2C shopping platforms. The thirtieth article titled “Semantics of Cardinal Directions in Benguet Cultural Practices” aimed to identify the cultural practices of Indigenous Peoples in Benguet that incorporated cardinal directions and revealed the meanings of the cardinal directions in these cultural practices

Investigating Factors Influencing Athletes' Intention to Use Timing and Scoring Systems: A Case Study of the 2023 Track and Field League in Northern China

Purpose: This study explores the factors influencing athletes’ satisfaction, and behavioral intention to use the timing and scoring system in 2023 Athletics Association Traditional Sports Programme School Athletics League (North Zone) in China. The seven variables were positive environmental impact, player performance, refereeing, e-service quality, satisfaction, security and behavioral intention. Research design, data, and methodology: Questionnaire was distributed to 500 athletes participating in the China 2023 Athletics Association Traditional Sports Programme School Athletics League (North Zone). Sampling methods include purpose sampling, convenience sampling, and stratified sampling. The index of item-objective congruence (IOC) and Cronbach's Alpha pilot test were used to test the validity and reliability of the questionnaire before sending out the questionnaire. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were used to analyze the data, verify the model's fit, and determine the causal relationship between variables. Result: The results show that the six hypotheses are supported. Environment, Player performance, Referees, and E-service quality have a significant impact on satisfaction and Satisfaction; Security has a significant impact on behavioral intention. Conclusions: The originality of this study is to determine the effectiveness of electronic timing to enhance better satisfaction and behavioral intention, and provide insights for better system improvement

Factors Underlying Behavior Intention to Use Online Education of Art College Students in Xi’an, China

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the key factors affecting the online education behavior intention of fine arts students in three specific universities in Xi'an, China. The conceptual framework proposed includes perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, attitude, facilitating condition, social influence, effort expectancy, and behavioral intention. Research design, data, and methodology: The researchers employed quantitative assessment techniques to conduct a statistical survey with a sample size of 502 undergraduate students from the three target universities in Xi'an, China. The survey data was obtained using a multi-stage selection method, which involved purposive, quota, and convenience sampling. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were used for quantitative analysis, including assessing model fit, testing correlation validity, and evaluating the reliability of each component. Results: Most latent variables exhibited significant effects on behavioral intention, except for facilitating condition and effort expectancy. Notably, Perceived usefulness had the greatest impact on behavioral intention. Conclusions: The study successfully validated six hypotheses, thus achieving the research objectives. Consequently, it is recommended to emphasize and promote these aspects throughout the entire online education process to enhance the online education behavior intention of fine arts students in the target university in Xi'an

Blended Learning Satisfaction Among Art Students in Local Universities in Sichuan, China

Purpose: This study explored the influencing factors of art students' satisfaction with blended learning in local colleges in Sichuan. The conceptual framework proposes a causal relationship between faculty services, academic aspects, reputation, heritage, trust, service quality, and students’ satisfaction. Research design, data, and methodology: The researcher used quantitative methods (n=500) to survey undergraduate art students in local ethnic colleges and universities in Sichuan. Three target universities were selected. The sampling techniques are judgmental, stratified random and convenience sampling. The index of item-objective congruence (IOC) and Cronbach’s alpha reliability were used before the data collection. This study used structural equation modeling (SEM) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) for data analysis, including model fit, reliability, and validity. Results: Faculty services, academic aspects, reputation, heritage, trust, and service quality have a significant impact on students’ satisfaction. In addition, trust has a significant impact on reputation. However, service quality has no significant impact on reputation. Conclusions: Therefore, it is recommended that institutions of higher learning and administrators should pay attention to faculty services and trust to improve student satisfaction and increase the competitiveness of schools. The results imply that universities should prioritize enhancing faculty service as a fundamental element of their strategy to boost student satisfaction

The Effect of Loneliness on Short Video Addiction Among Chinese University Students

Previous research shows the widespread and excessive use of short video apps among Chinese university students, which impairs their academic performance, relationship quality, and physical and mental health. However, the contributing factors behind short video addiction remain underexplored. Therefore, this study aims to establish a conceptual framework for understanding this addiction, particularly by theoretically examining the effect of loneliness on short video addiction among Chinese university students, with boredom as a mediator and emotion regulation as a moderator. Methodology: A narrative review of related literature sources was conducted to explain the concepts and interplay of loneliness, boredom, emotion regulation, and short video addiction among Chinese university students. Results: The theoretical framework suggests that loneliness positively predicts short video addiction among Chinese university students. Boredom can play a mediator in this dynamic in which users with greater loneliness experience increased boredom, which in turn results in short video addiction. Furthermore, emotion regulation can moderate the relationship between loneliness and boredom among Chinese university students. Conclusion: The findings contribute to the literature on the effect factors of short video addiction, paving the way for further research in this critical area and building a theoretical foundation for future empirical research

A Study on the Driving Factors of Satisfaction and Continuous Intention to Use Online Learning Among Vocational Students in China

Purpose: This study aims to explore the factors influencing the online learning satisfaction and continuous intention of the students majoring in folk music and dance at Rongjiang Secondary Vocational School, China. The research framework included seven variables: teachers’ technical readiness students’ technical readiness, self-efficacy, autonomy, quality of learning experience, learning satisfaction, and continuous intention. Research design, data, and methodology: The questionnaire was used to collect 500 sample data from the target population in this study. Purposive, quota, and convenience sampling were adopted. Before distributing the questionnaire, item-objective congruence (IOC) and a pilot test of Cronbach’s Alpha were adopted to test the content's validity and reliability. The data were analyzed by confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation models to verify its fit and determine the causal relationship between variables. Result: The results show that the six hypotheses are supported. Teachers’ technological skills, students’ technical skills, students’ self-efficacy, students’ autonomy, and quality of learning experience significantly impact learning satisfaction. Learning satisfaction has a significant impact on continuous intention. Conclusions: To guarantee a high rate of learner engagement and satisfaction with e-learning, policymakers, practitioners, and educators should consider crucial variables such as offering efficient communication, innovative online courses, and training for existing and new users

Factors Impacting Behavioral Intention to Use Online Learning of Junior College Students in a Private Vocational University in Chengdu, China

Purpose: This study aims to determine factors impacting behavioral intention of students painting majors in a private vocational university in Chengdu, China. The conceptual framework contains perceived ease of use, responsiveness, reliability, perceived usefulness, e-learning quality, hedonic motivation, facilitation condition, social influence, and behavioral intention. Research design, data, and methodology: Quantitative methods were employed to survey a cohort of 500 participants. Prior to data collection, the study ensured the validity and reliability through the assessment of the Item-Objective Congruence (IOC) index and the calculation of Cronbach's Alpha during a pilot test involving 50 participants. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) were to assess and conduct statistical data processing. Results: perceived usefulness emerges as the most influential factor affecting behavioral intention. Furthermore, it is observed that perceived ease of use significantly contributes to perceived usefulness. Additionally, the study affirms the substantial impacts of reliability and responsiveness on the quality of the e-learning experience. Lastly, hedonic motivation, facilitating conditions, social influences, and the perceived quality of e-learning all collectively affect students' behavioral intentions in the online learning environment. Conclusions: The author elaborates on the relevant factors that affect the online learning behavior intention and how to improve their behavior intention, e-learning quality, and perceived usefulness