Evaluating the quality of foreign language training based on test translation of culture specific linguistic units

The article analyses the quality of foreign language training among international relations students, necessary for professional communication in a multicultural environment, with regards to different historical and cultural backgrounds of the contacting languages. The article aims to provide criteria for evaluating the quality by assessing test translation of culture specific linguistic units with focus on linguistic, social and cultural differences of the source and target languages. The study involves such methods as the analysis of theoretical literature, polling, a questionnaire survey as well as the use of quantifiable data for the analysis and classification of the findings. Fifty-seven MGIMO master program students participated in the study. Authentic specialized texts containing 56 culture specific linguistic units including non-equivalent lexicon and realia, served as test materials. The quality of translation was evaluated according to a 100-point grading scale conventionally used in MGIMO- University. The article summarizes the basic skills acquired during foreign language training as described in Russian and foreign theoretical literature, and analyzes methods for evaluating the levels of expertise. The study proposes and empirically tests criteria for assessing the quality of foreign language training among international relations students. The study found that the quality of foreign language training depends on the proficiency in translating culture specific linguistic units (realia and non-equivalent lexicon) from foreign language into Russian, with regard for social and cultural differences of the two languages. The findings indicate the relevance of the given indices and show the necessity to elaborate clear criteria for assessing the quality of professional foreign language training.

The degree of Arabic language teachers' practice of constructivist teaching methods in Jeddah: درجة ممارسة معلمات اللغة العربية لأساليب التدريس البنائي بمدينة جدة

The aim of the study is to know the degree of practice of Arabic teachers in Jeddah for structural teaching methods at various educational stages, and the researcher followed the descriptive curriculum survey in this study, and to achieve the goal of the study the researcher built (questionnaire) By referring to previous studies and theoretical literature, the questionnaire in its final form was made up of two parts: the first contains the basic information of the study sample of 46 teachers The second consists of (27) irrigated practices of structural teaching methods, and the results have resulted in the fact that the degree of practice of Arabic teachers of structural teaching methods was 3.26 in a very high category; this indicates a high degree of study sample practice of structural theory methods. The study recommended several recommendations, including: encouraging teachers to practice structural teaching methods while teaching them.

Post-socialism: conceptual evolution and future perspectives. A critical analysis

Burawoy (1999), Eyal (2001), Berdahl (2006), Cervinkova (2012) and others have proposed the concept of „postsocialism” as a way of describing the gap between socialism and capitalism. But, in a world marked by “rearrangements, reconfigurations and recombinations that yield new interweavings of the multiple social logics” (Stark, & Bruszt, 1998) what does postsocialism entail? This article aims to provide an overview of the different perspectives regarding the meaning of postsocialism, by bringing together and examining ideas represented in the theoretical literature. Starting from the idea of reframing the understanding of the past, this analysis explores postsocialism, as a process, from four perspectives: imitation, involution, emergence or zombie socialism. The critique serves as a starting point for future directions in postsocialism conceptualisations, in order to better understand the present based on the past.

Publishing Non-Empirical Papers

This chapter provides guidance on publishing theoretical, literature review, and policy papers. A primary theme of the chapter is that these papers are more difficult to publish than empirical papers because they have is no set structure, and because non-empirical papers do not rely directly on empirical data. Authors are advised to stay extremely close to existing empirical work when proposing a new theory or when reviewing literature. Differences between scoping and integrative reviews, and between theoretical and policy papers, are also outlined. The chapter suggests that authors provide clear justification for why their theory, review, or position is needed and for how it advances the literature. Common reviewer criticisms of non-empirical papers are also provided.

What is an emancipatory peace?

There has been frequent reference to the concept of an emancipatory peace in the critical academic literature on peace and conflict studies in IR, much of it rather naive. It has developed an ecosystem of its own within debates on peace without drawing on wider disciplinary debates. Terms such as ‘emancipation’ and its relative, ‘social justice’ are widely used in critical theoretical literature and were common parlance in previous ideological eras. It was clear what such terms meant in the context of feudalism, slavery, imperialism, discrimination, a class system, nuclear weapons and racism over the previous two centuries. Now it is less clear in the context of changing peace praxis.

Differential object marking in Modern Hebrew: from definiteness to partitivity

This paper investigates the change in differential object marking (DOM) currently exhibited in Modern Hebrew. To date, the consensus in the theoretical literature on Hebrew has been that the object marker 'et' is only licensed in the context of definite DPs. We observe, however, that in Modern Hebrew partitive indefinite DPs may also be preceded by 'et'. Here, we experimentally investigate this change in the distribution of 'et'. Using a judgment task, we asked 41 native Hebrew-speaking adults to rate sentences with 'et'-marked indefinite object DPs on a 5-point acceptability scale. Our results reveal that partitive items received a considerably high acceptance score, with an overall average of 3.6/5. In addition, we found a main effect for object-position and quantifier-type. In particular, acceptability of 'et'-marked partitives increased significantly for topicalized DPs and for DPs that contained proportional quantifiers (as opposed to cardinals). These data support the analysis of 'et' as a DOM marker. We propose that Modern Hebrew is currently undergoing a process of change, whereby the distribution of its object marker is shifting in the direction of the Turkish DOM pattern, along the Definiteness Scale proposed by Aissen (2003). Further, the Hebrew facts provide novel evidence for the relevance of this scale not only in a synchronic, but also in a diachronic investigation of DOM. Moreover, they point to a special status of partitivity among specific DPs, suggesting that it should be distinguished as a separate category on the Definiteness Scale.

Politics and conflicts

By exploring some of the diverse theoretical literature on domestic politics and conflict, this research makes a first step toward bridging this divide. It looks at the link between national characteristics and war behavior, the possibility of democratic and non-democratic governments going to war, Marxist and liberal ideas on the role of economic structure, the impact of nationalism and public opinion, and the scapegoat theory. But first, this essay examines how political scientists and historians handle domestic origins of conflict.

Practice Theory and the Opening Up of International Organizations

Scholars researching international organizations’ (IO) inclusion of transnational and local civil society organization (CSO) have provided compelling insights; however, according to their self-evaluation, many of these insights remain at a general level. Against this backdrop, I propose two complementary claims. First, I identify a bias in the literature that has focused on large, Western IOs. What non-Western or small IOs do and how their practices interact with CSO inclusion in different localities is often missed. Second, based on bourgeoning practice theoretical literature on IOs and CSOs, I claim that practice theory can add to research on IO-CSO. In spite of internal pluralism, practice theory refines constructivist methodologies for zooming in on IOs’ internal dynamics, daily practices, and performances of the practice of CSO inclusion, including in IO country offices. On the basis of my own field research, I also suggest that the practice of CSO inclusion interacts with power, gender, and race dynamics. In sum, practice theory can inform research on marginalized and often power-ridden specificities among and within IOs in relation to IO-CSO interaction.

The Headscarf as a Discursive Battlefield Positions of the Current Discourse on Muslim Veiling in Austria and Germany

Practices of Muslim female veiling are a frequent object of concern in the political debate in Austria and Germany. Reviewing current empirical and theoretical literature on the issue, I will try to trace relevant positions of the current debate employing a theoretical framework based on poststructuralist discourse theory. As I want to show, dominant discursive positions frequently refer to the oppressive element of the headscarf, understand it as opposed to shared ‘Western’ values or interpret it as an element of a process of Islamisation. Other, often marginalised speakers try to constitute veiling as a matter of freedom of religion, as a spiritual endeavour or as an act of resistance. Many of the positions represented in the public discourse, I argue, tend to overlook the variety of experiences Muslim women face at the intersection of various forms of dominance, and make invisible some of the multiple layers of meaning the practice of veiling is imbued with.