Eliminating white spots

This article reflects on the construction of Curt Nimuendajú's “Ethno-historical map”, an exhaustive work that sought to map the native groups of South America. This map was one of the most widely-used representations by researchers since its creation in 1944. The theoretical framework adopted in this paper stresses maps as rhetorical constructs that should be read as texts. The article also discusses the limits and possibilities of a visual vocabulary to understand explicit and implicit theoretical and methodological decisions in cartography. Digital cartography will be employed to bring out the differences between what the author of the project intended and what was presented in the "Ethno-historical map". The text starts with a description of the work and its most evident options, showing a relative selectivity in Nimuendajú's choices. In the last part, technical procedures will be abandoned to interpret the results considering the new critical cartography and ethno-geography positions.

Cognition of Graphical Notation for Processing Data in ERDAS IMAGINE

This article presents an evaluation of the ERDAS IMAGINE Spatial Model Editor from the perspective of effective cognition. Workflow models designed in Spatial Model Editor are used for the automatic processing of remote sensing data. The process steps are designed as a chain of operations in the workflow model. The functionalities of the Spatial Model Editor and the visual vocabulary are both important for users. The cognitive quality of the visual vocabulary increases the comprehension of workflows during creation and utilization. The visual vocabulary influences the user’s exploitation of workflow models. The complex Physics of Notations theory was applied to the visual vocabulary on ERDAS IMAGINE Spatial Model Editor. The results were supplemented and verified using the eye-tracking method. The evaluation of user gaze and the movement of the eyes above workflow models brought real insight into the user’s cognition of the model. The main findings are that ERDAS Spatial Model Editor mostly fulfils the requirements for effective cognition of visual vocabulary. Namely, the semantic transparency and dual coding of symbols are very high, according to the Physics of Notations theory. The semantic transparency and perceptual discriminability of the symbols are verified through eye-tracking. The eye-tracking results show that the curved connector lines adversely affect the velocity of reading and produce errors. The application of the Physics of Notations theory and the eye-tracking method provides a useful evaluation of graphical notation as well as recommendations for the user design of workflow models in their practice.

Guatemalan Churches: The Maya Legacy in Organic Façades

Located in the center of Maya civilization and tradition, Guatemala features some of the world’s most spectacular archaeological sites, with extensive pre-Hispanic remains. The Maya of pre-Contact times believed in a pantheistic religion with many gods, and despite violent Spanish subjugation beginning in 1524, many of those traditions still survive. Coerced conversion had mixed results, as the Maya in certain territories often did not replace or abolish their beliefs in favor of Christianity, but rather added this new faith as another layer. This allowed Mayans to participate in their own rituals while maintaining Christian identity, blending religious cultures in a syncretic situation that saw art, music, festivals, and other events as unique and genuine dialogue. Today, contemporary Mayans in Guatemala maintain their linguistic dialects, along with traditional clothing and ceremonies of ancient rituals. The tenacity of the Maya people in upholding their longstanding customs and beliefs is reflected in the architectural embellishments that adorn Guatemala’s many churches. From small parishes to cities, a profusion of organic details is evident on the façades of even newly built Catholic churches. These flourishes exhibit relationships to Mayan glyphs and produce a unique visual vocabulary based on the ancient beliefs that connected man’s relation to nature as inherent to daily life. Disguised within these Christian landmarks, the adornments uncover the Guatemalan people’s enduring commitment to Mayan beliefs, despite waves of forced evangelization throughout their territories.

COVID-19’s impact on digitalization of education: incorporating visual vocabulary learning application to foster vocabulary knowledge

PurposeCOVID-19’s attack on the system of education left the learning of many students in limbo. For minimizing this effect, the current study sought to probe how Mobile-Assisted Language Learning (MALL) can facilitate English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners’ vocabulary knowledge. In so doing, a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest research design was adopted to check the effect of a newly developed application (i.e. visual vocabulary learning, hereafter VVL) in an EFL classroom.Design/methodology/approachTo complying with the objective, a number of intermediate students (N = 40) were considered to participate in the study. They were assigned into a visual learning group (VLG) and a nonvisual learning group (NVLG) comprising 20 students in each. The VLG was directed to learn vocabulary by a VVL, and the NVG, a conventional method was employed for vocabulary instruction. An independent samples t-test was run to screen the efficacy of the intervention.FindingsThe finding revealed that participants in the VLG outperformed significantly in the posttest. The finding is beneficial for EFL teachers, syllabus designers, and material developers to take advantage of mobile applications in teaching vocabulary.Originality/valueThis study was conducted during COVID 19 between two groups in Iran.

Shang Belief and Art

This chapter identifies Shang religion as based on a belief in yi異 metamorphism and analyzes this in connection with the Great Settlement Shang at ancient Yinxu (Anyang), Henan. The chapter analyzes why the Shang may be identified with a religio-social system of “institutionalized shamanism,” theocratic hegemony, and sifang (four-directional) cosmology, in addition to identifying standardized rules for representation in art. The chapter discusses how Shang belief and religious practice reveal themselves in both visual formats and oracle bone terminology, and how the Shang embraced metamorphic belief, worshipped an empowered dead, and created a visual vocabulary of mnemonic royal power symbols. The chapter approaches data from a holistic point of view, including written, archaeological, and visual materials.