Expectations Towards International Study Visits – Preliminary Research Findings
Abstract Objective: The objective of this paper is to present the preliminary research findings concerning the expectations towards international study visits undertaken by university students hailing from different higher education institutions around Europe on the canvas of internationalization as a concept. Methodology: The research was carried out on a group of 440 students from 5 European countries. The study covered the population of students of faculties whose graduates are preparing to work in business. The basic research tool was a questionnaire with dominating closed questions and the possibility for respondents to indicate more than one answer. The answers of the respondents were…
“Nature needs you”: discursive constructions of legitimacy and identification in environmental charity appeals
Abstract This study traces how discursive constructions of legitimacy and identification are enacted textually and visually with respect to environment-oriented causes, such as landscape or species restoration. Such conservation projects actually clash with human economic priorities typical of the Anthropocene. Drawing on models of social trust and assuming the discursive nature of legitimacy and identification, we explore how environmental charity organizations represent their conservation efforts, reproduce sustainability discourses and advocate self-regulatory practices. We use a sample of mission statements and donation appeals by six prominent environmental charities from the UK. Throu…
The Effectiveness of LDOCE Definitions for Concrete and Abstract Nouns in Headword- and Picture-Identification Tasks
Abstract LDOCE uses a defining vocabulary to make their definitions intelligible to the user. Critics claim this policy may result in imprecise definitions, something especially noticeable in certain concrete and abstract words that are difficult to define by a definition only. This paper examines to what extent LDOCE definitions of such words help learners identify the objects and words being defined. In our experiment on 381 learners of English as a foreign language, three groups of participants viewed different definition types: simplified definitions of LDOCE, unsimplified definitions of MWC, and definitions written in the learners’ mother tongue (UDPL/TR). The results show that the LDO…