Improving College Student’s English Competence by the Application of CLEC Corpus

It is known to us that writing, a fundamental part of language learning skills, is a crucial part in language output. This paper, based on Chinese Learner English Corpus (CLEC) , aims to discuss the effect of application of corpus to China’s English writing education. Moreover, by using some real teaching examples, the present study is intended to illustate the advantages of corpus as a strategy to improve English as foreign language learning in China

Rows-of-houses Preservation in Maniwa City of Katsuyama Area, Okayama Prefecture

The aim of the study is to explain the present condition of the rows-of-houses preservation policy of Okayama Prefecture and to examine the samples in Maniwa city, Katsuyama area. Besides, the interview investigation was mainly conducted for residents in the rows-of-houses of preservation area in Katsuyama for giving the concluding remarks about the findings. The traditional private houses in Katsuyama preservation area were partially restored in the 1985-89 and 1993-97 fiscal years by the subsidy from the prefecture. Furthermore, Katsuyamacho at that time founded the subsidy system for maintaining rows-of-houses preservation area (about 25.3 ha) independently in 1993, restored 9 private houses, and made and updated the shop curtains; "Noren". In the point of the observable items, the ground warehouse of structures with gable tile-roofing is visible and it is also in use. Moreover, a latticed window structure, a white wall, and a sea cucumber wall constitute the charm of new rows-of-houses. A stone pavement follows on the riverside at the site facing the Asahi River. There are the remains of an arrival-and-departure place of a flat boat and a brewery, etc. According to our investigation in 2002, the residents were satisfied with "It is easy to live quietly", "the beauty of a natural landscape", "harmony of rows-of-houses and a shop curtain", and "a historical atmosphere", but the recognition of "the creation of active rows-of-houses" was unexpectedly low. Therefore, cooperation between residents and informational sharing are much more required. Consequently, since both the visitors and the residents are satisfied very much with each facilities, such as the whole rows-of-houses, a samurai residence, a brewery, and a restaurant etc., town planning is well organized and attained the priority targets

Decomposing the observation-based coaching process:The role of coaches in supporting teacher learning

Coaching is increasingly emphasised as a promising feature of professional development, yet concrete understanding of this complex process is lacking. This study investigates an observation-based coaching process by interviewing coaches and teachers from a three-year longitudinal PD programme. Findings indicate that coaches often supplemented their pedagogy by establishing coaching culture and credibility, which were embedded in four general coaching phases. Depending on how a coach chose, stressed and shifted among coaching phases, the coaching process can vary mainly between prescriptive and collaborative coaching pathways, with multiple routes to shift between them. Findings also suggest that these pathways require different combinations and intensity of coaching culture and coaching pedagogy to be effective. Lastly, the coaching pathway framework not only illuminates different coaching pathways but also helps coaches differentiate their coaching in the future (i.e., shift between and stress different phases), corresponding to the needs of individual teachers related to specific topics in their unique school context

Guangzhou as livable city: Its origin, inheritance, and development

This article intends to explore the ideas and concepts that dominate the landmark versions of planning in a historical survey on the development of urban planning for the construction of Guangzhou. From the Late 17th C. to the Mid-19th C. Xiguan in Guangzhou witnessed the booming of the Thirteen-hong characterized by gardens and buildings in Western architectural styles. These characteristics constituted the architectural features and urban spatial patterns on both sides of the Pearl River, and caused the moving westward of the ancient city center to the Thirteen-hong Business District. After The Second Opium War Western merchants began their planning and construction of Shameen with Western planning techniques, which, together with the model of the Thirteen-hong, led to the urban modernization of Guangzhou urban planning. During the years from 1911 to 1948, the urban planning and construction in Guangzhou underwent a sequence of processes from simplicity to complexity, and from part to whole. There was also a process from the simple imitation of Western ideas and concepts of urban planning in Dashatou Island to the renovation of Guangzhou urban planning marked with road and park construction, This process includes the dismantle of the city walls for road construction in 1912, the prelude of modern urban planning of Guangzhou in 1914, the planning for network and city-round road and park construction in 1918, the idea of “Traffic First” in 1921, the regional studies and planning in 1923, the concept of functional division in 1932, the idea of implementing urban function division in 1920s and 1930s, and the transference from the initial techniques and measures to land management in 1937. After that there was the adoption of the "zonal cluster layout" along the Pearl River in 1984, the idea of the Planning of Urban Agglomeration of the Pearl River Delta in 1995, and the continuation of the “four land usage modes” in 2003. The idea and concept of urban planning for Guangzhou, thus derived localized from the practice of Western urban planning in the Thirteen-hong and Shameen, later underwent the municipal planning of Dashatou, the idyllic residential districts. The innovated regional green space in 2006, followed by the livable urban and rural planning in 2016, and up to the lately ecological city in 2018, all bear the marks of the early ideas and concepts realized in the Thirteen-hong, Shameen, and Dashatou. Therefore, it can be further concluded that the urban planning of Guangzhou, developed from the initial function of landscape beautification to the regulation of regional green environment of the Pearl River Delta, underwent finally a full process of imitation, learning, transformation, and innovation, resulting in an idea of green, open, and shared urban construction