The Role of Translation in Foreign-Language Teaching

La traducció, un mitjà bàsic de comunicació, ha estat desfavorida i fins i tot ignorada en l’ensenyament de les llengües estrangeres. Aquesta recerca explora fins a quin punt les persones que participen a l’ensenyament de llengües estrangeres a Turquia utilitzen la traducció a classe, què pensen de la traducció, i si les activitats de traducció milloren les habilitats lingüístiques dels estudiants. S’utilitza un qüestionari per identificar les creences inicials sobre la traducció que tenen 30 estudiants i 32 professors en formació, i una enquesta virtual per determinar les creences inicials de 224 professors turcs. Els resultats del qüestionari indiquen que els estudiants i els professors en formació acceptarien relativament bé l’ús de la traducció, mentre que els professors tendeixen a evitar-la a classe. Un grup experimental de 16 estudiants participa en activitats de traducció durant 8 setmanes, mentre que un grup de control de 14 estudiants realitza activitats només en anglès. Al final d’aquest període es torna a administrar el qüestionari. Els resultats indiquen que no ha hagut canvis significatius en les creences dels estudiants. A més de les creences, l’èxit dels estudiants també es considera indicador important de l’impacte de les activitats amb traducció. Es comparen les notes pre-prova i post-prova dels estudiants per descobrir si hi ha hagut alguna millora en les habilitats d’escriptura i orals en anglès. La comparació indica una millora significativa en les notes d’escriptura dels estudiants, mentre que les activitats de traducció semblen no haver millorat significativament les notes de parla. Tenint en compte aquests resultats, es pot concloure que les activitats de traducció no s’han d’evitar quan s’ensenya o s’aprèn un idioma estranger en aquestes condicions, ja que és probable que els estudiants es beneficiïn d’ella, sobretot respecte a les seves habilitats d’escriptura.La traducción, un medio básico de comunicación, ha sido desfavorecida e incluso ignorada en la enseñanza de lenguas extranjeras. Esta investigación explora hasta qué punto las personas que participan en la enseñanza de lenguas extranjeras en Turquía utilizan la traducción en clase, qué piensan acerca de la traducción y si las actividades de traducción mejoran las habilidades lingüísticas de los estudiantes. Se utiliza un cuestionario para identificar las creencias iniciales de 30 estudiantes y 32 profesores en formación en una escala Likert de cinco puntos, mientras que una encuesta en línea determina las creencias iniciales de 224 profesores turcos. Los resultados de esta administración inicial del cuestionario indican que los estudiantes y los profesores en formación están relativamente bien dispuestos al uso de la traducción, mientras que los profesores tienden a evitarla en clase. A continuación, un grupo experimental de 16 estudiantes participó en actividades de traducción durante ocho semanas, mientras que un grupo control de 14 estudiantes realizó actividades sólo en inglés. Al final de este período se volvió a administrar el inventario de creencias. Los resultados indican que no ha habido cambios significativos en las creencias de los estudiantes. Además de las creencias, el éxito de los estudiantes también fue considerado como indicador importante del impacto de las actividades con traducción. Las notas pre-prueba y post-prueba de los estudiantes fueron analizadas para averiguar si había alguna mejora en las destrezas escritas y orales en inglés. La comparación indica una mejora significativa en las notas de destreza escrita de los estudiantes, mientras que las actividades de traducción parecen no haber mejorado significativamente las notas de destrezas orales. Teniendo en cuenta estos resultados, se puede concluir que la traducción no debe evitarse cuando se enseña o se aprende un idioma extranjero en estas condiciones, ya que es probable que los estudiantes se beneficien de ella con respecto a sus destrezas de escritura.Translation, a basic means of communication, has been disfavored and even ignored in the teaching of foreign languages. This research explores the extent to which people involved in foreign-language teaching in Turkey use translation in class, what they think about translation, and whether translation activities improve students’ language skills. A 33-item beliefs inventory was used to identify the initial beliefs of 30 learners and 32 student-teachers on a five-point Likert scale, while an online survey was used determine the initial beliefs of 224 teachers. The results obtained from this initial administration of the belief inventory indicate that learners and student-teachers are relatively well disposed to the use of translation, whereas teachers tend to avoid it in their teaching. An experiment group of 16 learners was involved in translation activities for eight weeks, while a control group of 14 learners did English-only activities. At the end of this period the beliefs inventory questionnaire was administered again. The results indicated no significant change in the beliefs of the learners. In addition to their beliefs, the success of learners was also considered as an important indicator. Thus, the pre-test and post-test scores of the learners were analyzed to find out whether there was any change in their success at writing and speaking in English. The comparison shows that there is a significant improvement in the writing performances of the learners, whereas the translation activities seem to have not improved their speaking performance significantly. Given these results, it can be concluded that translation need not be avoided while teaching or learning a foreign language under these conditions, as learners are likely to benefit from it with respect to their writing skills

Brinquedos tradicionais na turquia: comparação entre cenários rurais e urbanos

The interaction between children and adults through playful activities creates possibilities for reciprocal spontaneous and demanded influences and for the development of reciprocal positive feelings. The main aim of this study was to find out the present situation of traditional toys by comparing the rural and urban settings - a mountain village and city center of Bursa (Northwest Anatolia), Turkey. It was questioned, if industrial toys were sold in villages, how village children effected this change. Data was collected by interviews in the houses of the participants, with the answers record permited by the parents. Interviews passed by content analysis. Results show that traditional hand made toys are going to disappear even in villages. This may happen because of the imitations of original toys and their cheap prices but at the same time because of the attractive nature of modern toys have the big impact as well.A interação entre crianças e adultos em atividades lúdicas cria possibilidades para trocas espontâneas e necessárias de influências e para o desenvolvimento de sentimentos positivos recíprocos. O objetivo principal deste estudo foi traçar um panorama da atual presença de brinquedos tradicionais, comparando cenários urbanos e rurais, - uma aldeia de montanha e o centro da cidade de Bursa (Anatólia de Noroeste), Turquia. Pesquisaram-se se brinquedos industrializados eram vendidos nas aldeias e como as crianças dela reagiram a esta mudança. Os dados foram coletados através de entrevistas nos domicílios dos participantes e as respostas registradas com a permissão dos pais. As entrevistas passaram por análise de conteúdo. Os resultados mostram que os brinquedos feitos a mão estão em via de extinção, até nas aldeias, o que deve ser causado pela produção de imitações de brinquedos originais a preços baratos, mas também, pelo aspecto atraente dos brinquedos modernos, que têm um grande impacto

Goal-oriented hierarchical task networks and its application on interactive narrative planning

Two of the most commonly used AI architectures in digital games are Behavior Tree (BT) and Goal-Oriented Action Planning (GOAP). The BT architecture is script based, highly controllable but barely expandable. On the other hand the GOAP architecture is planner based, barely controllable but highly expandable. This thesis proposes a hybrid AI architecture called Goal-Oriented Hierarchical Task Network (GHTN); combining planner based approach of GOAP with script based approach of BT. GHTN modifies the Hierarchical Task Network (HTN) architecture by replacing its iterative planner with a goal oriented planner, while maintaining the BT-like scripting capabilities of HTN. GHTN's iterative-planner hybrid architecture is suitable to be used for Interactive Narrative Planning. Using GHTN with a previously crafted domain, it is possible to obtain a non-repetitive and continuous narrative flow which can also be directed by external goals. The user is presented with choices that are intelligently chosen to push the narrative towards the goal; then, depending on the answers new choices are generated. The initial state of the world and the goals are specified by a Scenarist who has the knowledge of the domain. The proposed architecture is tested on Interactive Narrative Planning task with an example domain set in the Lala Land universe, and the architecture is tested with several initial world states and goals

Evaluation of Parks in Bartin-Turkey: Need for Green Infrastructure Approach

Due to rapid increase on population and construction for urbanization, cities of 21 century change rapid and dynamically. As the lands in different characters of cities change and spoil the character known is also changing. At this point landscape features which affect the infrastructure within green spaces and waterscapes have important limiting role on urban development. Recent years climate change became an important topic and it brought the discussions on water management and green infrastructure issues. Green infrastructure (GI) approach is a trending subject for experts of urban development, landscape management and urban health. The European Landscape Convention (ELC) seeks to embody the protection of landscapes in law. The ELC defines landscape as ‘…an area, as perceived by people, whose character is the result of the action and interaction of natural and/or human factors’. Through provision of landscape character and place orientated design principles, green infrastructure can contribute to achieving the objectives of the Convention and related tools such as landscape character assessments and landscape strategies. As such, a green infrastructure approach can assist in delivering landscape visions and guidelines, and landscape quality objectives. In this research benefiting from the values of ecological corridors of protected Bartin River and vicinity, green infrastructure approach and its contributions to urban ecosystem focusing on parks listed by Bartin Municipality was evaluated. Within the proposed management approach increase on the resilience via natural systems with economy of the city struggling floods anytime is examined. Bartin River as a whole is a passive recreation area of an ecological importance with biological richness of flora and fauna. Findings in the research shows the requested connection of green spaces with active recreational areas has not been supplied with corridors, so the parks and open public spaces of the city could not serve as an input of green infrastructure element. The findings and comparisons with many case studies within Europe shows actual green spaces which are called parks by the local authorities do not cover permeable pavements and roads, rain gardens, green roofs and roof gardens, rain harvesting systems, road plantations, maintenance of landscape designs and wetland formations. There is also misuse of plant material especially at some of the parks designed. GI approach is an important solution for cities living with floods such as Bartin

Engineering of electromagnetic interactions in three-dimensional plasmonic metamaterials

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston UniversityField of nanoplasmonics study the interaction of light with nanoscale metallic structures and it possesses the great potential of being the key element in future, highly integrated, on-chip nanophotonic aevices. Several major breakthroughs have been demonstrated in the past decade regarding the utilization of plasmonics for purposes ranging from optical nanoantennas to enhanced biochemical sensing platforms. So far, studies are generally focused on two-dimensional (2D) arrangement of plasmonic nanostructures. However, engineering of materials in three dimensions (3D) by integrating different kinds of plasmonic resonances in multi-layers, offers additional degrees of freedom in our design space, resulting in remarkable effects This thesis research investigates the outcomes of the tailoring of electromagnetic interactions between multiple plasmonic structures in three-dimensions. We are mainly focused on a coherence phenomenon termed as Farro resonance. Farro resonances are generally studied in atomic physics, which occur due to an interference between multiple excitation pathways where a discrete resonant state is coupled to a broad continuum. Fano resonances are inherently linked to an atomic physics concept termed as Electromagnetically Induced Transparency (EIT). Recently, a plasmonic analogue of the EIT effect was proposed and drew great attention. Plasmon Induced Transparency (PIT) enables one to mimic the extremely dispersive spectral characteristics of EIT, on-chip and without any stringent requirements. In the first two parts of this work, we show that by a precise engineering of the near-field interactions of plasmonic elements, PIT effect can be carried simultaneously to multiple spectral domains. This effect has many potential applications ranging from enhanced non-linearities to novel optical communication systems. In the third part, we investigate a multi-spectral Fano resonant plasmonic structure's non-linear response by embedding a nanoscale Kerr medium to the design. We show that a unique set of effects can be achieved through the interplay of Fano resonances and embedded optical non-linearity. In the last part, we develop a unifying theory to describe Fano resonances in both purely plasmonic structures and also in other systems which are comprised of plasmonic structures coupled to molecular resonances. The developed theory provides an invaluable intuition to Fano resonances and their utilization in applications such as biosensing and spectroscopy

The Relationship between the Real Effective Exchange Rate and Industrial Production in the Turkish Economy

The industrial sector is one of the key sectors for the Turkish economy in terms of production, employment and exports. The volatility in the exchange rate in the Turkish economy has important effects on industrial production, as well as many economic variables. The main purpose of this study is to empirically analyse the effects of real effective exchange rate on industrial production for the Turkish economy in the 2009M08-2022M01 period. According to the results of the study, the real effective exchange rate adversely affects the industrial production in the Turkish economy. Other things being equal, the depreciation of the domestic currency increases the foreign demand for industrial products, in line with the economic theory. Considering these relations between real effective exchange rate and industrial production while designing economic policies is important for sustainable economic growth.

The Relationship between Financial Literacy and Finance Education: A Resarch for University Students of the Sütlüce Region

Financial literacy is a feature that has been stripped of privilege and has become a necessity in today's society. When proliferation of financial markets, the increase in the variety of financial instruments, the use of internet technologies in financial markets, and that bank clients have started to execute their transactions through online channels instead of the face-to-face branch visits are taken into consideration, the need for financial literacy can be recognized more clearly. Today, the most basic way to develop financial literacy is through education in this field. In this context, either individuals will catch up with the recent developments through their own research efforts or they will receive education from relevant external institutions.This study, which investigated the effect of financial education on financial literacy, the students from the finance and economics departments of the universities located in Sütlüce, Istanbul were compared with the students who did not receive such education. The study was conducted over 110 students. While 77 percent of these students received education in economic and financial fields, 23 percent did not. Our analyses showed that students who received economics and finance education displayed higher average financial management and accounting capability, financial literacy sub-dimensions, compared to ones who did not have these educations. On the other hand, the financial calculation success levels of respondents were found inadequate with respect to the significantly large size of the group who received financial education. Only 1.8% of the participants were able to successfully answer all of the questions

The Relationship between Credit Interest, Credit Volume and Net Profit in the Turkish Banking Sector

In the last two decades, foreign capital investments in the financial sector of emerging markets have increased tremendously. Foreign direct investment is now important for every country. With the development of globalization, foreign capital investments have started to take place more in the financial sector. Turkey, which is among the developing countries, is among the preferred countries for foreign direct investments. The regulations that took place after the crises in the banking sector in 2000 and 2001 and the growth trend in the world economies made the banking sector attractive. It cannot be denied that foreign investments have positive contributions to the current account deficit, employment, gross domestic product, and raising quality standards with competition rules. In addition, the indirect effect of foreign capital is a larger increase in the deposit and loan volume of the banking system due to the increase in production, and an increase in trade volume and profit. The secondary effects of foreign capital investments on the sector are that it creates a multiplier effect on service standards, product variety and profit margin together with developing market conditions. This study describes the tests and analyzes on the effect of loan interest net profit and volume of the Turkish banking sector on the net profit of public and private banks. The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of non-performing loans on banks' profits. Since profitability is a very broad concept, models covering the return on assets ratio and return on equity ratio, which are widely used in studies in the literature, have been established. Unlike other studies, the effect of non-performing loans on the net profit margin is also examined. The study is carried out on banks with at least 100 branches operating in Turkey. In practice, the relationship between the net profit margin of non-performing loans, return on assets and return on equity is analyzed using the data for the period 2012-2021

Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence Technologies for Balanced Foreign Trade: Replacing Exchange Function of Money

Today, the capitalist economy has entered into a dead end. Unemployment is expected to reach an unprecedented level due to the rise of automation and artificial intelligence technologies. The creation of excess fiat money will not be a remedy for the collapse of the capitalist economy. In the future, a new economic model open to government intervention will be needed. Moreover, if global monetary system collapses, government should find a solution to continue foreign trade in order to meet the needs of their citizens. Trade unions are classical means that increase trade among the member countries, but they cause imbalance in mutual trade volumes. The advent of blockchain and artificial intelligence technologies will bring an end to the obsolete and outdated foreign trade methods. These technologies will also lead to the emergence of balanced trade unions across countries. This paper focuses on defining a new system known as intelligent trade matrix, suggesting that this system will allow barter transactions between two countries without imposing any customs duty