Exploring pedagogical and curricular practices in translation programs in Qatar : towards the development of a localized competency-based approach

The number of translation programs within a university context has multiplied in many countries worldwide, which led to the need to question their quality (Gambier, 2012). In the Arab world, especially in the Gulf region, translator education is an emerging practice. For instance, in Qatar, the first translation programs were launched in 2012 at both Qatar University (BA minor in translation ) and the MA programs in translation studies at the Translation and Interpreting Institute (College of Humanities and Social Sciences; Hammad bin Khalifa University). Arabic scholars in the field of translation have highlighted the ongoing curriculum and pedagogical issues at the regional level. Many university programs in the Gulf region prefer to import foreign curriculum packages rather than invest in creating localized programs (Badry & Willoughly, 2015); hence, there is a need for programs relevant to the local and regional communities and contexts (Taibi, 2016). This could only be done through ground exploratory research to identify the problems and address them through a consensus process between the various stakeholders: academia, society and the profession. This doctoral thesis is a result of an exploratory and descriptive study carried out on the two existing translation programs in Qatar (a postgraduate program at the translation and interpreting Institute at Hammad Bin Khalifa University; and an undergraduate program at Qatar University) to identify the type of pedagogical and curricular practices in these institutions and align them with the findings from the practices in the translation and interpreting professions as well as translation professionals' perceptions in the state of Qatar. The present study has focused on the following objectives: 1) the identification and description of the professional translator profile in the Qatari context; 2) the identification of the pedagogical (teaching and learning) practices used in translation programs at Arabic universities in the Gulf region, such as Qatar; 3) knowledge required according to the opinions of professionals working in the field, and the competencies that these professionals believe should be developed in a translation program; and 4) a description of the necessary conditions to integrate such professional requirements in these types of professionally-oriented programs. The findings obtained from the study suggest that a knowledge of the working environments of translators and the required knowledge, skills and abilities to exercise the translation profession is crucial to a translation instructor as well as to a translation or interpreting curriculum developer. Such an awareness would result in the transfer of a different meaning of translation and translator status in society than the one it carries at present in Qatar. Also, there is a need to update the pedagogical and curriculum practices within a university context in Qatar to further integrate professionally oriented types of content, and adopt innovative pedagogies to educate multilingual service providers in the country. Although participants claimed that they are willing to integrate dynamic teaching practices, at the same time they also declared that they would keep the same curricular practices privileged by the institutions. The Interviewees from the profession reported the poor students’ performance in an internship in the local context. Other interviewed practising translators - who graduated from one of the translation programs in Qatar- suggested that the current modes of instruction need to be revised and that more situated, project and problem-based types of activities need to be implemented in the classroom. The results may be useful for teaching staff, instructors, administrators, and the management to improve and reconsider their existing curriculum and pedagogical practices within a university-based program by including the integration of research-based professional practices in the initial design of courses. The positive and consensus-based partnership between academic instances and the professional practitioners is a key solution in this regard. The addition or deletion of courses in a program and the focus on the importance of textbooks without diagnosing the social and community needs, as well the lack of a clear framework to assess faculty or instructor competency and eligibility to educate and train translators, has led to quality issues in existing programs

7th International Conference on Higher Education Advances (HEAd'21)

Information and communication technologies together with new teaching paradigms are reshaping the learning environment.The International Conference on Higher Education Advances (HEAd) aims to become a forum for researchers and practitioners to exchange ideas, experiences,opinions and research results relating to the preparation of students and the organization of educational systems.Doménech I De Soria, J.; Merello Giménez, P.; Poza Plaza, EDL. (2021). 7th International Conference on Higher Education Advances (HEAd'21). Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAD21.2021.13621EDITORIA

Factors Influencing Customer Satisfaction towards E-shopping in Malaysia

Online shopping or e-shopping has changed the world of business and quite a few people have decided to work with these features. What their primary concerns precisely and the responses from the globalisation are the competency of incorporation while doing their businesses. E-shopping has also increased substantially in Malaysia in recent years. The rapid increase in the e-commerce industry in Malaysia has created the demand to emphasize on how to increase customer satisfaction while operating in the e-retailing environment. It is very important that customers are satisfied with the website, or else, they would not return. Therefore, a crucial fact to look into is that companies must ensure that their customers are satisfied with their purchases that are really essential from the ecommerce’s point of view. With is in mind, this study aimed at investigating customer satisfaction towards e-shopping in Malaysia. A total of 400 questionnaires were distributed among students randomly selected from various public and private universities located within Klang valley area. Total 369 questionnaires were returned, out of which 341 questionnaires were found usable for further analysis. Finally, SEM was employed to test the hypotheses. This study found that customer satisfaction towards e-shopping in Malaysia is to a great extent influenced by ease of use, trust, design of the website, online security and e-service quality. Finally, recommendations and future study direction is provided. Keywords: E-shopping, Customer satisfaction, Trust, Online security, E-service quality, Malaysia

An explorative study of Malaysian television content in the mobile environment

This thesis discusses television’s online content distribution on mobile platforms in Malaysia. It focuses on broadcast strategy of local television stations for mobile platforms; and comprehensively studies the development of regulatory policies in Malaysia during the past decade. It also explores the challenges faced by the local television industry, such as limited media freedom and fierce competition from global online content providers. The thesis aims to understand the strategies that have developed to meet demand for online content on mobile platforms within the current climate of Malaysian broadcasting. This thesis examines television content distribution strategies by analysing twenty-four one-to-one, open-ended interviews and two focus groups with key personnel in the industry. These personnel consist of operational teams in the main television stations, the heads of relevant government agencies, and content creators in Malaysia. All data collection sessions were conducted and transcribed in Malay before being translated into English. The analysis reveals the emergence of three major themes: the inconsistent development of Malaysia’s television industry, despite global advancements in media technology; a monopoly on sports content due to the ownership structure of Malaysian media; and the disorganised management of regulatory policy for online content in the Malaysian media landscape. The thesis concludes by offering significant insights on, and suggested improvements to, policies surrounding online content distribution on mobile platforms and best practice for sourcing state of the art television content. It argues that the establishment of an independent media gatekeeper is essential for the proper regulation of Malaysian media. Finally, it emphasises that there is an urgent need for the Malaysian government to establish competitive industry guidelines for a broad range of online content; policy which will benefit local television stations in the long run

Project based-learning based on I-STEM (Islamic, Science, Technology, and Mathematics) to facilitate the development of geometric critical thinking skills of first middle students

In line with the 21st century, mathematics learning innovations continue to be developed to facilitate students' critical thinking skills by adjusting the context of their religious life. The purpose of this study is to provide ideas that teachers can do to implement Project Based Learning (PjBL) with a STEM (I-STEM) approach that is used to facilitate the development of students' critical thinking skills. The pattern of integration that is designed lies in the flat plane geometry material with the integration of the verses of the Koran and the internalization of Islamic values, with the hope of being able to create meaningful learning activities for students. This research is a qualitative research with library research. Data collection techniques are carried out through reviewing the literature, both from articles, books, and other documents that can be used to describe theories and information needed in research. The data analysis technique used is content analysis (content analysis). The results of this study are the I-STEM-based PjBL syntax includes 1) basic questions (integration with the verses of the Koran presented in the LKPD); 2) designing project plans (miniature Kaaba); 3) draw up a project completion schedule; 4) monitor project progress; 5) test project results (and compare with other problems); and 6) evaluate the learning experience. I-STEM-based PjBL was developed to facilitate the development of students' critical thinking skills through syntax and LKPD which were developed adapted to the context of Islamic life and the Koran at the junior high school level

Project based-learning based on I-STEM (Islamic, Science, Technology, and Mathematics) to facilitate the development of geometric critical thinking skills of first middle students

In line with the 21st century, mathematics learning innovations continue to be developed to facilitate students' critical thinking skills by adjusting the context of their religious life. The purpose of this study is to provide ideas that teachers can do to implement Project Based Learning (PjBL) with a STEM (I-STEM) approach that is used to facilitate the development of students' critical thinking skills. The pattern of integration that is designed lies in the flat plane geometry material with the integration of the verses of the Koran and the internalization of Islamic values, with the hope of being able to create meaningful learning activities for students. This research is a qualitative research with library research. Data collection techniques are carried out through reviewing the literature, both from articles, books, and other documents that can be used to describe theories and information needed in research. The data analysis technique used is content analysis (content analysis). The results of this study are the I-STEM-based PjBL syntax includes 1) basic questions (integration with the verses of the Koran presented in the LKPD); 2) designing project plans (miniature Kaaba); 3) draw up a project completion schedule; 4) monitor project progress; 5) test project results (and compare with other problems); and 6) evaluate the learning experience. I-STEM-based PjBL was developed to facilitate the development of students' critical thinking skills through syntax and LKPD which were developed adapted to the context of Islamic life and the Koran at the junior high school level

The 45th Australasian Universities Building Education Association Conference: Global Challenges in a Disrupted World: Smart, Sustainable and Resilient Approaches in the Built Environment, Conference Proceedings, 23 - 25 November 2022, Western Sydney University, Kingswood Campus, Sydney, Australia

This is the proceedings of the 45th Australasian Universities Building Education Association (AUBEA) conference which will be hosted by Western Sydney University in November 2022. The conference is organised by the School of Engineering, Design, and Built Environment in collaboration with the Centre for Smart Modern Construction, Western Sydney University. This year’s conference theme is “Global Challenges in a Disrupted World: Smart, Sustainable and Resilient Approaches in the Built Environment”, and expects to publish over a hundred double-blind peer review papers under the proceedings

Measuring knowledge sharing processes through social network analysis within construction organisations

The construction industry is a knowledge intensive and information dependent industry. Organisations risk losing valuable knowledge, when the employees leave them. Therefore, construction organisations need to nurture opportunities to disseminate knowledge through strengthening knowledge-sharing networks. This study aimed at evaluating the formal and informal knowledge sharing methods in social networks within Australian construction organisations and identifying how knowledge sharing could be improved. Data were collected from two estimating teams in two case studies. The collected data through semi-structured interviews were analysed using UCINET, a Social Network Analysis (SNA) tool, and SNA measures. The findings revealed that one case study consisted of influencers, while the other demonstrated an optimal knowledge sharing structure in both formal and informal knowledge sharing methods. Social networks could vary based on the organisation as well as the individuals’ behaviour. Identifying networks with specific issues and taking steps to strengthen networks will enable to achieve optimum knowledge sharing processes. This research offers knowledge sharing good practices for construction organisations to optimise their knowledge sharing processes

Fast forwarding higher education institutions for global challenges

This book addresses various 21st century questions and challenges, especially the role of technology in upgrading teaching and learning in today’s society, and the role of higher education institutions in improving standards of living, economics, society and sustainability. It shares with readers the challenges of globalization to higher institutions concerning the issues relating to value creation management, branding and the impact on leadership in higher institutions

Recovering indigenous inscriptions of meaning from the colonial novel: A re-reading of the spatial archetypes in Joseph Conrad’s Lord Jim

This paper discusses an alternative reading practice of the colonial novel (Zawiah 2003) that puts the re(-) presentation of space in such novels under scrutiny. Informed firstly by Jungian archetypal criticism and secondly, by Gayatri Spivak’s concept of ‘worlding’ (1999), it examines the re-presentation of Malaya’s geospatial features – the sea, mountains, forests – as archetypes in the novel Lord Jim (1900) by Joseph Conrad. These archetypal images, I argue, erase the indigenous meanings already inscribed onto Malaya’s geospatial features, in the colonial project of worlding Malaya. However, by peeling away the layers of Western inscriptions of meaning onto Malaya’s geospatial features, the contemporary, post-colonial reader might recover the various meanings endowed on Malaya by its native inhabitants. This alternative reading practice thus enables the reader to discover the diversity of meanings that can and have been given to geospatial features, as opposed to the West’s unilateral act of worlding other worlds