Osaka Proceedings Ss Asmss, Isllle

Conference Proceedings
25-27 August, 2015

Osaka, Japan
ASMSS
Annual Symposium on Management and Social
Sciences
ISLLLE
International Symposium on Language,
Linguistics, Literature and Education
ASMSS
Annual Symposium on Management and Social Sciences
ISBN 978-986-90263-7-6
ISLLLE
International Symposium on Language, Linguistics, Literature and Education
ISBN 978-986-89844-7-9
Content
General Information for Participants ...................................................................................7
Conference Venue General Information ...............................................................................9
Conference Organization ....................................................................................................... 11
ASMSS International Committee Board ......................................................................... 11
ISLLLE International Committee Board ......................................................................... 12
Special Thanks to Session Chairs ........................................................................................ 13
Conference Schedule ............................................................................................................... 15
Social Science Keynote Speech ............................................................................................. 17
Oral Sessions –August 26 ....................................................................................................... 19
Management (1) ................................................................................................................... 19
ASMSS-2823 ............................................................................................................... 21
ASMSS-2871 ............................................................................................................... 22
ASMSS-2824 ............................................................................................................... 23
ASMSS-2930 ............................................................................................................... 29
ASMSS-2947 ............................................................................................................... 31
ASMSS-2996 ............................................................................................................... 43
Education (1)......................................................................................................................... 56
ISLLLE-1252 ............................................................................................................... 58
ISLLLE-1262 ............................................................................................................... 67
ISLLLE-1182 ............................................................................................................... 77
ISLLLE-1195 ............................................................................................................... 85
ISLLLE-1247 ............................................................................................................... 86
ASMSS-2852 ............................................................................................................... 87
ISLLLE-1226 ............................................................................................................... 95
Education(2).......................................................................................................................... 96
ASMSS-2860 ............................................................................................................... 97
ASMSS-2931 ............................................................................................................. 110
ASMSS-2827 ............................................................................................................. 118
ASMSS-2921 ............................................................................................................. 120
ASMSS-2917 ............................................................................................................. 130
Economics / Law /Politics ............................................................................................... 136
ASMSS-2826 ............................................................................................................. 137
ASMSS-2880 ............................................................................................................. 147
ASMSS-2923 ............................................................................................................. 154
ASMSS-2843 ............................................................................................................. 168
ASMSS-2889 ............................................................................................................. 180
ASMSS-3005 ............................................................................................................. 188
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Language / Linguistics / Literature (1) ....................................................................... 199
ISLLLE-1202 ............................................................................................................. 200
ISLLLE-1250 ............................................................................................................. 201
ISLLLE-1199 ............................................................................................................. 202
ISLLLE-1218 ............................................................................................................. 203
ISLLLE-1206 ............................................................................................................. 216
ISLLLE-1241 ............................................................................................................. 217
ISLLLE-1258 ............................................................................................................. 227
Oral Sessions –August 27 ..................................................................................................... 235
Management (2) ................................................................................................................. 235
ASMSS-2819 ............................................................................................................. 237
ASMSS-2820 ............................................................................................................. 239
ASMSS-2847 ............................................................................................................. 241
ASMSS-3014 ............................................................................................................. 250
ASMSS-2955 ............................................................................................................. 269
ASMSS-2989 ............................................................................................................. 279
Communication .................................................................................................................. 288
ASMSS-2972 ............................................................................................................. 289
ASMSS-2937 ............................................................................................................. 300
ASMSS-2987 ............................................................................................................. 301
ASMSS-2818 ............................................................................................................. 309
ASMSS-3018 ............................................................................................................. 322
ASMSS-3043 ............................................................................................................. 334
ISLLLE-1204 ............................................................................................................. 350
ISLLLE-1185 ............................................................................................................. 364
ISLLLE-1251 ............................................................................................................. 376
ISLLLE-1198 ............................................................................................................. 382
ISLLLE-1244 ............................................................................................................. 384
ISLLLE-1266 ............................................................................................................. 386
Culture / Society (1) .......................................................................................................... 391
ASMSS-2790 ............................................................................................................. 392
ASMSS-3036 ............................................................................................................. 393
ASMSS-2888 ............................................................................................................. 402
ASMSS-2975 ............................................................................................................. 409
ASMSS-2872 ............................................................................................................. 424
ASMSS-3024 ............................................................................................................. 425
ISLLLE-1236 ............................................................................................................. 436
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ISLLLE-1209 ............................................................................................................. 440
ISLLLE-1235 ............................................................................................................. 466
ISLLLE-1191 ............................................................................................................. 470
ISLLLE-1200 ............................................................................................................. 481
Education (3)....................................................................................................................... 482
ISLLLE-1257 ............................................................................................................. 483
ASMSS-2984 ............................................................................................................. 492
ASMSS-2938 ............................................................................................................. 501
ASMSS-2958 ............................................................................................................. 502
ASMSS-3034 ............................................................................................................. 503
Psychology ........................................................................................................................... 504
ASMSS-2878 ............................................................................................................. 506
ASMSS-2853 ............................................................................................................. 507
ASMSS-2892 ............................................................................................................. 508
ASMSS-3025 ............................................................................................................. 509
ASMSS-2995 ............................................................................................................. 515
ASMSS-3011 ............................................................................................................. 516
Finance .................................................................................................................................. 522
ASMSS-2924 ............................................................................................................. 523
ASMSS-2863 ............................................................................................................. 536
ASMSS-2848 ............................................................................................................. 546
ASMSS-3007 ............................................................................................................. 547
ASMSS-2861 ............................................................................................................. 549
ASMSS-3054 ............................................................................................................. 558
Education (4) / Society (2) .............................................................................................. 566
ISLLLE-1219 ............................................................................................................. 567
ISLLLE-1214 ............................................................................................................. 568
ISLLLE-1211 ............................................................................................................. 579
ISLLLE-1256 ............................................................................................................. 580
Poster Sessions–August 26.................................................................................................. 581
Poster Session (4) .................................................................................................................. 581
Management / Culture /Education /Finance / Psychology / Society / Language
/ Linguistics/Literature ................................................................................................... 581
ASMSS-2919 ............................................................................................................. 585
ASMSS-2908 ............................................................................................................. 587
ASMSS-2920 ............................................................................................................. 596
ASMSS-2986 ............................................................................................................. 598
ASMSS-2982 ............................................................................................................. 599
ASMSS-2946 ............................................................................................................. 605
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ASMSS-3000 ............................................................................................................. 606
ASMSS-3016 ............................................................................................................. 607
ASMSS-2945 ............................................................................................................. 609
ASMSS-3032 ............................................................................................................. 614
ASMSS-2997 ............................................................................................................. 621
ASMSS-2885 ............................................................................................................. 628
ISLLLE-1265 ............................................................................................................. 629
ISLLLE-1263 ............................................................................................................. 630
ASMSS-3017 ............................................................................................................. 632
ASMSS-2928 ............................................................................................................. 645
ASMSS-2898 ............................................................................................................. 646
ASMSS-2999 ............................................................................................................. 648
ASMSS-3027 ............................................................................................................. 658
ASMSS-2998 ............................................................................................................. 668
ASMSS-2802 ............................................................................................................. 677
ISLLLE-1221 ............................................................................................................. 679
ISLLLE-1260 ............................................................................................................. 680
ISLLLE-1233 ............................................................................................................. 682
ISLLLE-1232 ............................................................................................................. 683
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General Information for Participants
＊Information and Registration
The Registration and Information Desk will be situated on the 2F at the Osaka International
House Foundation during the following time:
08:00-17:30 August 26, 2015
08:15-17:00 August 27, 2015
Organizer
Higher Education Forum (HEF)
Tel: + 886 2 2740 1498〡www.prohef.org
＊Presentations and Equipment
All presentation rooms are equipped with a screen, an LCD projector, and a laptop computer
installed with Microsoft PowerPoint. You will be able to insert your USB flash drive into the
computer and double check your file in PowerPoint. We recommend that you bring two copies
of the file in case that one fails. You may also link your own laptop to the provided projector;
however please ensure you have the requisite connector.
＊A Polite Request to All Participants
Participants are requested to arrive in a timely fashion for all addresses, whether to their own,
or to those of other presenters. Presenters are reminded that the time slots should be divided
fairly and equally between the number of presentations, and that they should not overrun.
The session chair is asked to assume this timekeeping role and to summarize key important
issues in each topic.
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＊Poster Sessions & Poster Requirements
Materials Provided by the Conference Organizer:

1. X-frame display & Base Fabric Canvases (60cm×160cm)
2. Adhesive Tapes or Clamps
Materials Prepared by the Presenters:

1. Home-made Poster(s)
2. Material: not limited, can be posted on the canvases
3. Size: 60cm*160cm
A 60cm*160cm Poster Illustrates 1.Wider than 60cm (left)

the research findings.
2.Copy of PowerPoint Slides in A4 papers (right)
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Conference Venue General Information
Osaka International House Foundation

Contact Number:
Information Center Tel: 06-6773-8989 Fax: 06-6773-8421
Address: 2-6 Uehommachi 8-chome, Tennoji-ku, Osaka 543-0001 Japan
http://www.ih-osaka.or.jp/english/
Osaka International House Foundation is a public-service corporation founded by Osaka City

with permission from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with the purpose of contributing to the
internationalization of Japan. Based in Osaka, International House, Osaka (i-house) acts as a
focal point for international exchange activities within the Kansai Region. By exploring the
history, culture and other local aspects of Japan and other countries the Foundation strives to
help foster a mutual understanding and friendship between citizens, and deepen relationships
between Japan and other countries of the world.
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(2F Floor Plan)
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Conference Organization
ASMSS International Committee Board
Pedro Gardete, Stanford University

Pascal Paillé, Université Laval
Deniss Tsi Chung Yeung, Wintec University
Hui Du, Beijing Jiaotong University
Wan Khairuzzaman Wan Ismail, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
Xiang Yu, Huazhong University of Science and Technology
Ding Qing, Singapore University of Management
Yuntao Chen, Beijing Jiaotong University
David Ding, Massey University
Lee Kong Chian, Singapore University of Management
Jianwen Zhang, Beijing University of Chemical Technology
Sanjay K. Jain, University of Delhi
Sanhong Deng, Nanjing University
Gengmiao Zhang, Xiàn Jiaotong University
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ISLLLE International Committee Board
Abbas Gholtash, Marvdasht Branch

Adrian North. Curtin University
Armin Mahmoudi, Academic Member University
Cai Su, Beijing Normal University
Geoffrey I. Nwaka, Abia State University
Laura B. Liu, Ed.D., Beijing Normal University's Center for Teacher Education Development
Leela Pradhan, Tribhuvan University Kathmandu
Mahabbat Pernebaevna Ospanbaeva, Taraz State Pedagogical Institute
Napaporn Srichanyachon, Bangkok University
Li-Ling Yang, Roger Williams University
Young-Ok Kim, Chonnam National University
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Special Thanks to Session Chairs
Placide Poba-Nzaou University of Quebec in Montreal
Van Thinh Nguyen Seoul National University
Khairiah Jusoh Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
Chun-I Fan National Sun Yat-Sen University
Habibis Saleh Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
Chi Wai Chan The Open University of Hong Kong
Jui-Sheng Chou National Taiwan University of Science and Technology
Seong-Rin Lim Kangwon National University

Mackay Junior College of Medicine, Nursing and
Pei-Yu, Chou
Management
Muzaffar Syah Mallow Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM)
Magdalen Ki Hong Kong Baptist University
Jing-Chie Lin National Central University
Yih-Hwang Lin National Taiwan Ocean University
Abd Rahim Bin Romle Universiti Utara Malaysia
Ali M Algahtani King Khalid University
Suhsen Liu National Quemoy University
Noor Abidah Mohd Omar Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
Wan Ibrahim Wan Ahmad Universiti Utara Malaysia
Ramesh Babu Nimmagadda Indian Institute of Technology Madras
Norazizah Shafee Universiti Putra Malaysia
Ronda Jean Everson Korea Christian University
Henry Ma The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Sou-Sen Leu National Taiwan University of Science and Technology
Ming Hour Yang Chung Yuan Christian University
Iong-Zong Joy Chen Dayeh University
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Wan Ibrahim Wan Ahmad Universiti Utara Malaysia
Touraj Taghikhany Amirkabir University of Technology
Dayou Cheng Harbin Institute of Technology
Michiko Miyamoto Akita Prefectural University
Ester, S.M. Leung Hong Kong Baptist University
Ibtisam Mustafa Kamal Soran University
Michio Sanjou Kyoto University
Juhng Perng Su National Dong-Hwa University
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Conference Schedule
Tuesday , August 25
Committee Meeting (Executive Committee Only)
Wednesday, August 26
Oral Sessions
Osaka International House Foundation, 2F
Time Schedule Venue

08:00-17:30 Registration 2F
08:45-10:15 Management (1) Room A, 2F
10:15-10:30 Tea Break 2F
Social Science Keynote Speech – Dr. Huk-Yuen Law
10:30-12:00 “Teaching for Understanding: Theorizing What to Teach through Room A, 2F
Action Research”
12:00-13:00 Lunch Time 2F
13:00-14:30 Education (1) Room A, 2F
14:30-14:45 Tea Break 2F
Education (2) Room B, 2F
14:45-16:15
Economics / Law / Politics Room C, 2F
16:15-16:30 Tea Break 2F
16:30-18:00 Language / Linguistics / Literature (1) Room A, 2F
Wednesday, August 26
Poster Sessions
Time Schedule Venue
Poster Session (4)
14:20-15:20 Management/ Culture/ Education/ Finance/ Psychology/ Society Room D, 2F
Language/ Linguistics/ Literature
15
Thursday, August 27
Oral Sessions
Osaka International House Foundation, 2F
Time Schedule Venue
08:15-17:00 Registration 2F
Management (2) Room A, 2F
08:45-10:15 Communication Room C, 2F
Language/Linguistics/Literature (2) Room D, 2F
10:15-10:30 Tea Break 2F
Culture/ Society (1) Room A, 2F
10:30-12:00
Language/Linguistics/Literature (3) Room D, 2F
12:00-13:00 Lunch Time 2F
13:00-14:30 Education (3) Room A, 2F
14:30-14:45 Tea Break 2F
Psychology Room A, 2F
14:45-16:15
Finance Room D, 2F
16:15-16:30 Tea Break 2F
16:30-18:00 Education (4)/ Society (2) Room A, 2F
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Social Science Keynote Speech
Room A, 2F 10:30-12:00 Wednesday, August 26
Topic:
"Teaching for Understanding: Theorizing What to Teach through Action

Research"
Professor Huk-Yuen Law
Department of Curriculum and Instruction,
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Outline
More than a decade ago, I turned myself from teaching secondary students how to learn
mathematics as a school teacher into teaching prospective teachers how to teach mathematics
as a university mathematics educator. The fundamental question that has been lingering in my
mind is “How we as teachers can facilitate our students understand what they have been
taught?” As argued by Lawrence Stenhouse (1975), the issue of ‘teaching for understanding’
has significant implications in terms of how the teachers reflect on and react to the
interpretations over the pedagogical aim for curriculum development. As such, a teacher if he
or she takes this issue seriously will not just doing ‘teaching’ but engaging in ‘researching’
on what the teaching practice has actually gone through the induction process into knowledge
as acquired by the students. Drawn from the pragmatists’ (such as Dewey and Peirce)
perspectives, I argue (Law, 2013) that a teacher would have to ask “What changes does
teaching bring forth (to the students or to the teacher or to both) and what are exactly these
changes?” In doing such an act of asking, teaching will be ‘reinvented’ by undertaking
experimentation with the learners. The idea of reinventing teaching is to empower the teacher
himself or herself by creating and theorizing the possibility space in the learning situation.
Huenecke (1982) distinguishes three types of curriculum theorizing, namely, structural,
generic, and substantive theorizing. The first one is to examine the structure of decisions
involved in curriculum planning, the second is to liberate (both the teacher and the students)
what values as adhered to the desirability of what to teach and what to learn, and the third is
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to make inquiry into what constitutes the ‘person-ness’ if the teacher aims at preparing the
students for life in tomorrow’s world. Teaching for understanding entails, as I argue, that the
teacher needs to theorize what to teach by researching his or her own action in the classroom
so as to generate new insights through validation process of action hypotheses (see Elliott &
Norris, 2012).
References
Elliott, J. & Norris, N. (2012). The Stenhouse legacy. (pp. 137-152). In J. Elliott & N. Norris
(Eds.), Curriculum, pedagogy and educational research: The work of Lawrence Stenhouse.
London & NY: Routledge.
Huenecke, D. (1982). What is curriculum theorizing? What are its implications for practice?
Educational Leadership, 39(4), 290-294.
Law, H.Y. (2013). Reinventing mathematics teaching: Lesson study after a pragmatic
perspective. International Journal for Lesson and Learning Studies, 2(2), 101-114.
Stenhouse, L. (1975). An introduction to curriculum research and development. London:
Heinemann Educational.
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Oral Sessions –August 26
Management (1)
Room A, 2F
2015/8/26 Wednesday 08:45-10:15
Session Chair: Prof. Placide Poba-Nzaou
ASMSS-2823
Fans’ Purchase Intention on Facebook Fan Page: From Trust-Based Perspective
Li-Chun Hsu︱Da Yeh University
ASMSS-2871
A Study on Integrating the Innovation of Business Model into Service Design– The Case
of the Cloud Top International Ltd.
Shu-Che Chi︱Hwa Hsia University of Technology
Xin-Jian Lin︱Cloud Top International Ltd.
Po-Hsuan Wu︱Tamkang University
ASMSS-2824
Japanese Business Theory in Sociology -----
Taking the Theory of Professor Hiroshi Hazama for Example
Hsiung-Shen Jung︱Aletheia University
Shin-Fa Tseng︱Minghsin University of Science and Technology
ASMSS-2930
Effect of Climate on the Number of Visitors to National Parks Using Korea Tourism
Climate Index
Kim, Sang-Tae︱Hanyang Uinversity
Yoo, Kwang-Min︱Korea National Tourism Organization
Kim, Nam-Jo︱Hanyang Uinversity
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ASMSS-2947
The Moderating Effects of Islamic Work Ethic on the Relationship between Emotional
Intelligence and Leadership Practice
Abdul Shukor Shamsudin︱Universiti Utara Malaysia
Hamzah Abdul Rahman︱Universiti Utara Malaysia
Abd. Rahim Romle︱Universiti Utara Malaysia
ASMSS-2996
Electronic Health Record Adoption in European Public Hospitals: A Cluster Analysis of
Key Functionalities
Placide Poba-Nzaou︱University of Quebec in Montreal
Sylvestre Uwizeyemungu︱University of Quebec in Trois-Rivieres
20
ASMSS-2823
Fans’ Purchase Intention on Facebook Fan Page: From Trust-Based
Perspective
Li-Chun Hsu
Da Yeh University
lchsu@mail.dyu.edu.tw
Abstract
Currently, many firms have established brand fan pages on various social network sites
(SNSs). This study explored a dual-path trust perspective comprising the aspects of
consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer marketing as well as how this type of trust
influences community members in formulating purchase decisions. This study targeted
community members who have purchased tourist packages from travel agencies and have
joined the official brand fan pages of the agencies for at least 1 year. A total of 646 valid
samples were collected. Structural equation modeling was employed to conduct path analyses,
and the results show that the 7 hypothetical paths proposed in this study are supported by the
theoretical model. Finally, practical suggestions are offered for community managers.
Keywords: brand fan page, trust theory, value co-creation, community engagement, personal
reciprocity, purchase intention
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ASMSS-2871
A Study on Integrating the Innovation of Business Model into Service
Design– The Case of the Cloud Top International Ltd.
Shu-Che Chi*
Department of Business Administration, Hwa Hsia University of Technology,
Taiwan (R.O.C.)
s0370306@ntut.org.tw
Xin-Jian Lin
Cloud Top International Ltd., Taiwan (R.O.C.)
cloudtop101@gmail.com
Po-Hsuan Wu
Department of English, Tamkang University, Taiwan (R.O.C.)
paulpaul0704@gmail.com
Abstract
Nine elements of business model proposed by Osterwalder and Pigneur (2010) are employed
in this study to realize the customer segmentation, value proposition, channels, customer
relationships, revenue streams, key resources, key activities, key partners and the cost
structure of case company. According to the analyses based on data collection through
in-depth interview, this study makes the proposal to enhance case company’s competitive
advantage by appropriate and feasible innovative business models and operational strategies.
The service design of 4D is used in this study to realize Discover, Define, Development and
Deliver. The 4D processes are used to construct the nine building blocks defined in the
Business Model Canvas. These nine building blocks will be one by one and sequentially
integrated into each stage of the 4D design to generate a complete business model.
The traditional service model has been unable to create new business performance. The
innovative services create more value. In this study collected data from Cloud Top
International Limited Liability Company. We integrate business model (BM) design into 4D
service design. With this integration design, the service itself with the business model can
both be achieved while satisfying suppliers’ needs for the provided services. The business
model improved customer value and customer satisfaction. This case study offered a new
reference in traditional transactions pattern.
Keyword：Service Design、Business Model Canvas、Business Model、Service Modeling
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ASMSS-2824
Japanese Business Theory in Sociology -
Taking the Theory of Professor Hiroshi Hazama for Example
Hsiung-Shen Jung
Department of Applied Japanese, Aletheia University, Taiwan
au4210@mail.au.edu.tw
Shin-Fa Tseng
Department of Applied Foreign Languages, Minghsin University of Science and Technology,
Taiwan
sft@must.edu.tw
Abstract
The U.S. sociologist James C.Abeggren indicated that, lifetime employment system,
seniority-wage system, and enterprise labor union in approximately five decades ago were the
three magic tools of Japanese business management. These three magic tools contributed a lot
to the post-war reconstruction in Japan.
This study analyzed the theory of Japanese business management proposed by sociologist
Hiroshi Hazama of Waseda University in Japan. He pointed out that, lifetime employment
system, seniority-wage system, and enterprise labor union were the three magic tools of
Japanese business management. The pre-WWII idea of Japanese business management was
“business familism.” However, “business familism” was reorganized and transformed into
“business welfarism.” In addition, he indicated that the important factors affectin the history
(pre-and-post WWII) were collectivism and business communities.
Keywords: the three magic tools, business familism , business welfarism , collectivism ,
business communities
1. Introduction
The post-WWII war-torn Japan and Taiwan reconstructed themselves into economic powers
in a very short period of time. What were the reasons? In early days, western scholars mainly
focused on the psychological factors of the Japanese and their high loyalty to the enterprises
where they work. In 1958, the U.S. sociologist J.C.Abbeglen mentioned in his publication
[The Japanese Factory] that, lifetime employment system, seniority-wage system, and
enterprise labor union were the features of Japanese business management, and indicated that
they were the three magic tools of Japanese business management. The scholars studying
Japanese economy or Japanese business management generally divided Japan’s business
organizations into inter-organization system and intra-organization system.
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In general, the latter is called Japanese business management. The former and the latter are
closely related to the maintenance of uniqueness of Japanese enterprises. In recent years,
Japanese enterprises have aggressively implemented business management strategies and
models of business diversification and globalization, which has attracted global attention and
has made scholars re-inspect the nature of Japanese business management. Based on the
theoretical insight of Hiroshi Hazama, this study probed into the true essence of Japanese
business management.
2. Questionnaire and Analysis

Hiroshi Hazama’s theory focuses on personnel labor management and labor-management
relations in the aspect of personnel of management management, and centers on the concepts
of pre-WWII “business familism,” post-WWII “business welfarism” reorganized and
transformed from “business familism,” “collectivism” conveyed through history, and
“business community,” which is the core of Japan’s labor-management relations. He
attributed the action features of the Japanese existing in individuals and groups to
“collectivism,” and compared “collectivism” to “individualism” in the Europe and the U.S. to
conclude that, Japan’s business management is collective business management.
“Individualism” in the Europe and the U.S. is a loyal, moral and unselfish behavioral model.
Therefore, there is no opposition between “individualism” and “collectivism.” He also
suggested that, the historical background of both “business familism” and “business
welfarism” was formed by their ideologies. Ideologies change with the change in historical
background, which is based on the management idea that pre-WWII “business familism” was
transformed into post-WWII “business welfarism.”
Hiroshi Hazama’s studies on pre-WWII Japanese business management were initiated from
his publications [Japan’s History of Labor Management] and [Pedigree of Japanese Business
Management]. The important concept of the said publications is “business familism.” He
explained that, the pre-WWII business familism is the concept composed of management of
family business under the ideology of family business and specific measures of management
of family business. The business familism under the ideology of family business is managers’
family kindness for employees, and kindness is used to enhance employees’ corporate sense
of belonging. In other words, under the domination of operators (=parents), employees are
loyal and obedient to enterprises. In addition, at the request of managers, the main
responsibility of employees is the survival and prosperity of enterprises (=family). On the
other hands, the specific measures of management of family business are composed of four
major factors: business social orders with identity feature supported by business familism
under the ideology of family business, lifetime employment system of employment
relationship, seniority-wage, and intra-business welfare system of life guarantee.
Hiroshi Hazama’s interpretation of the relationship between business familism and
24
management of family business is as follows: “The business ideology of business familism is
closely related to the labor management method of family business management.” In other
words, the business ideology of business familism should be integrated with the labor
management method of family business management to eventually exert the effect. Relatively,
with the assistance of ideology, labor management measures also exert the effect of
integrated management measures. He suggested that, the management ideas of post-WWII
Japanese business management were “business familism” and “business welfarism.” They
both had their own historical background formed by their ideologies. In addition, ideologies
change with the change in ideology.
The post-WWII feature of “business welfarism” of Japanese business management was

reorganized and transformed from the pre-WWII “business familism.” The so-called
“reorganization” was that, the WWII and democratization policies of business familism failed
to meet the trend of the times. However, there were still many economic and social
foundations created under familism. Moreover, the past management method was almost the
same – succession. Therefore, the management measures of business familism were still
implemented in many enterprises. In other words, after the WWII, the management of family
business was not exterminated, but reorganized. In terms of the similarities and differences
between the reorganized post-WWII family business management and pre-WWII one, he
suggested that management measures did not change a lot. In other words, the basis of social
orders of business management was seniority-wage. Besides, the concept of identity system,
which should have been excluded, was still rooted in position-based organizations. On the
other hands, the implementation of lifetime employment system further increased the
seniority of employees. Although there was an urgent need for wage rationalization and
modernization, seniority-wage system was still the foundation of Japan’s wage system.
In terms of the differences before/after WWII, in addition to management measures, Hiroshi

Hazama also gave explanations on management ideas: Under business familism, the ideology
of labor-management relation was “labor and management are one.” The parent-child
relationship under pre-WWII family system was compared to labor-management relations.
After the WWII, labor-management relations were not authentically regulated. However,
laborers were provided with the materials for attacks. Therefore, at present, many enterprises
support the ideas of labor-management cooperation and coordination to pursue business
prosperity, improvement of employees’ quality of life, and contributions to society. On the
other hands, he also indicated that, if there is a need to separate post-WWII business familism
from pre-WWII business familism, the post-WWII “business familism” should be called
“business welfarism.”
The said are the theories of pre-and-post-Japanese business management proposed by

Hiroshi Hazama. Based on the above, these two Japanese business management concepts
25
were not discontinued before/after the WWII, but continued historically. He used
“collectivism”and “business community” to explain the historical continuity between theme3.
Hiroshi Hazama viewed the fundamental qualities of Japanese business management as the
action feature of the Japanese – “collectivism.” In addition, he suggested that Japanese
business management is collectivism management, and defined collectivism as follows: “The
so-called collectivism is a collective thinking which gives priority to collective interests than
to personal interests between individuals and groups.” He compared collectivism with the
individualism in the Europe and the U.S., and understood the features of Japan’s collectivism
based on this comparison. He demonstrated that, collectivism is the specific labor measure
feature continuously existing in pre-and-post-WWII Japanese business management.
However, the pre-WWII management idea was business familism, while the post-WWII
management idea was business welfarism, which is noteworthy. He also indicated that, even
though democratization reform was implemented after the WWII in Japan, Japan’s business
management fundamentally still was not switched to European and American
individualism-based management.
Based on the above: (1) Compared with the individualism in the Europe and the U.S.,
collectivism-based management is the main part of Japanese business management, and
remain unchanged before/after the WWII; (2) collectivism-based management as the main
part; although Japanese business management possessed hat (management idea) before the
WWII, this hat had to be taken off after the WWII. The new hat (business welfarism) was
reorganized by enterprises in the 1950s. Hiroshi Hazama mentioned in his publication
[Potential of Labor-management Cooperation in Japan] that, the core of Japanese
labor-management relations that possess lifetime employment, seniority-wage, and enterprise
labor union is “business community.” He firstly proposed the widely accepted and
representative idea about “three magic tools” mentioned in the OECD.
To sum up, Hiroshi Hazama suggested that, it is necessary to explicitly explain the core of
Japan’s labor-management relations. What is the core of Japan’s labor-management relations?
He pointed out that, the two parties, laborers and management, can for the “business
community” of a coordination relationship. The core of labor-management relation is life
community or business community. He suggested that, in terms of the features of Japanese
business management or Japan’s labor-management relations, the core is the business
community established by the subjective volition of business managers. For example, lifetime
employment and seniority-wage systems are both the features of business community.
The pre-WWII business management was “business familism,” while the post-WWII
business management was “business welfarism.” There are continuity and discontinuity
aspects between them.
26
The continuity aspect mainly was the lifetime employment system and specific personnel and
labor management measures of seniority-wage system. The discontinuity aspect was the
management measure-based management idea. Hiroshi Hazama indicated that, if the abstract
investigation on the two different management ideas, business familism and business
welfarism, is deepened, the traditional perspective converge on the commonality of
“collectivism.” Therefore, management ideas share a basic commonality.
3. Conclusions
As shown in Figure 1, Hiroshi Hazama’s theory focuses on personnel labor management and
labor-management relations in the aspect of personnel of management, and centers on the
concepts of pre-WWII “business familism,” post-WWII “business welfarism” reorganized
and transformed from “business familism,” “collectivism” conveyed through history, and
“business community,” which is the core of Japan’s labor-management relations.
Hiroshi Hazama, who spent his life on investigating Japanese business management, and
found that the origin was “family business,” suggested that the features of Japanese business
management are the same as the “pursuit of profit” and purpose and direction of
“sustainability of groups” of the European and American enterprises. He suggested that, the
pre-WWII managements (=parents) promoted the concept “laborers and management are one,”
in order to use the paternalism of family to increase employees’ (=children’s) corporate sense
of belonging. This pre-WWII business model is the concept viewing an enterprise as a big
family and is called “business familism.” On the other hands, the shattered post-WWII
business model of “business familism” where managements take into account employees’ life
and view it as corporate social responsibility is called “business welfarism.” Hiroshi Hazama
suggested that “business welfarism” is reorganized and transformed from “business
familism.”
Hiroshi Hazama attributed the action features of the Japanese existing in individuals and
groups to “collectivism,” and compared “collectivism” with “individualism” in the Europe
and the U.S. to conclude that, Japan’s business management is collective business
management. “Individualism” in the Europe and the U.S. is a loyal, moral and unselfish
behavioral model of individuals. Therefore, there is no opposition between “individualism”
and “collectivism.” He also suggested that, the historical background of both “business
familism” and “business welfarism” was formed by their ideologies. Ideologies change with
the change in historical background, which is based on the management idea that pre-WWII
“business familism” was transformed into post-WWII “business welfarism.”
According to the pre-and-post WWII Japanese business management theories proposed by

Hiroshi Hazama, Japanese business management before/after the WWII was not discontinued,
but highly continued instead.
27
The so-called most fundamental principle conveyed through the history of Japanese business
management is the “collectivism” and “business community” pointed out by Hiroshi Hazama.
These two concepts are used to emphasize the historical continuity of Japanese business
management.
4. References
H. Hazama, (1963), Pedigree of Management in Japan, Japan Management Association
H. Hazama, (197), Japanese Management —Merits and Demerits of Collectivism, Nihon
Keizai Shimposha
H. Hazama, (1979), Business Welfarism, Toyo Keizai Inc.
H. Hazama,(1984), A Study on the Japan’s History of Labor Management in Japan,
Ochanomizu Shobo
H. Hazama, (1989), Pedigree of Management in Japan, Bunshindo Shoten
H. Hazama, (1997),Management Sociology―Understanding for Modern Business, Yuhikaku
Publishing
H. Hazama, (1998), Long-term and Stable Employment, Bunshindo Shoten
Nippon Omuni-Management Association,(1963),Japanese Management, Moriyama Shoten
Nippon Omuni-Management Association,(1978),Various Problems Encountered in Japanese
Management, Chikura Shobo
Nippon Omuni-Management Association,(1990),Japan’s Business Administration and
Japanese Management, Chikura Shobo
Nippon Omuni-Management Association,(1990),Further Review on Japanese Management,
Chikura Shobo
Tetsuhiko Goto, (1965), Japanese Management and Culture, Gakubunsha
Kunio Odaka, (1965) Japanese Management, Chuokoron sha
28
ASMSS-2930
Effect of Climate on the Number of Visitors to National Parks Using Korea
Tourism Climate Index
Kim, Sang-Tae
Hanyang Uinversity, 222 Korea
stjh12@naver.com
Yoo, Kwang-Min
KNTO, Korea
ykm4458@hanmail.net
Kim, Nam-Jo*
Hanyang Uinversity, Korea
njkim@hanyang.ac.kr
Abstract
Climate affects the outdoor activities of tourists. Climate creates tourism demand and affects
the decision of tourists as to when, where and how long to stay. National parks in Korea are
representative natural tourist attractions and closely related to climate. Studies of climate and
tourism demand in national parks have been focused on the relationship between temperature
and the number of visitors and between temperature and precipitation and the number of
visitors. These studies used single variables for their analysis without considering the various
factors that affect outdoor tourism activities. De Freitas (2003) divided the climate condition
affecting the activities of tourists into thermal, physical and aesthetic aspects, suggesting that
the three factors affect tourists in combination and that studies of climate and tourism demand
need to consider the three factors.
The Tourism Climate Index developed by Mieczkowski (1985) is an index that takes the
thermal, physical and aesthetic aspects of climate into account. Goh (2012) analyzed the
international tourism demand model by adding TCI, suggesting that TCI affects the number
of inbound tourists. However, TCI has a number of limitations, although it is a useful index
that considers the thermal, physical and aesthetic aspects of climate. The thermal comfort
comprising TCI was calculated from westerners and the weightings and the rating system
were based on the subjective judgment of Mieczkowski (1985). That is, TCI has a limitation
in applying for the Asian countries, where climate zones and cultures are different. In this
respect, Kim and Kim (2014) presented the K-TCI that reflects the characteristics of Korean
climate. By applying K-TCI, which includes various climate variables and considers the
Korean climate condition, this study aims to analyze the effect of the index on the number of
visitors to national parks.
29
The findings of the analysis of the average annual growth rate are as follows: First the K-TCI
scores by season have been on the decline over time. Second, the number of visitors to
national parks by season has been on the rise over time.
The results of the regression analyses between the two variables showed that the regression
models for the weekday and weekend of 4 seasons in both Bukhansan and Seoraksan were
statistically significant. However, R2, which measures the explanatory power of a model, was
higher in Bukhansan than Seoraksan. In particular, the explanatory powers of summer, fall
and winter of Seoraksan were very low (summer weekday 1.5%, fall weekday 1.5%, fall
weekend 8.9%, winter weekday 3.7%). It was found that the regression coefficients of
weekday and weekend of 4 seasons for Bukhansan and Seoraksan were statistically
significant. Considering the explanatory powers of weekday and weekend of Seoraksan,
however, it can be inferred that social factors, such as vacation, are also involved, because the
likelihood of visitation becomes higher when a weekend is combined with a holiday, even if
the weather were not too good. Therefore, future studies need to improve the validity of the
model by adding social factors to climate variables.
30
ASMSS-2947
The Moderating Effects of Islamic Work ethic on the Relationship between
Emotional Intelligence and Leadership Practice
Abdul Shukor Shamsudin*

Universiti Utara Malaysia, Malaysia
shukor@uum.edu.my
Hamzah Abdul Rahman

hamzahd@uum.edu.my
Abd. Rahim Romle

abd.rahim@uum.edu.my
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to examine the moderating effect of Islamic work ethic on the
relationship of emotional intelligence and leadership practice among middle level
administrators in Malaysian public universities. Basically, the main challenges for the higher
education institutions are to ensure academic programs provided are market driven and able
to respond to the changing needs of various economic sectors. Thus, higher education needs
to function as an effective institution. Obviously, the recent challenges require the key
personnel of the said institutions to equip themselves with leadership quality in order to
achieve organizational goals. Previous studies have suggested that effective leadership was
influenced by several factors such as emotional intelligence. In the meantime, another
significant issue in leadership is ethical behaviors of the leaders. The respondents consisted of
middle level administrators in Malaysian public universities throughout the country. Using a
structured questionnaire, a total of 500 surveys were distributed to selected respondents. A
total of 289 usable questionnaires were obtained. The results indicated that Islamic work ethic
moderates the relationship between emotional intelligence and leadership practice.
Consequently, several plausible reasons were also discussed. The findings have some
contributions both to the practical and theoretical implications.
Keywords: Emotional intelligence, Islamic work ethic, Leadership practice
1. Introduction
The internationalization of the Malaysian higher education sector has grown remarkably over
the past few years. Malaysia is able to offer a relatively excellent international education at an
affordable cost (Lim, 2009).
31
Parallel with the growth in higher education, the Ministry has announced the Malaysian
Government decision to make the country as a center of higher education excellence
(Malaysia, 2006). Since then, the then Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE) had introduced
several reforms in higher education to promote the entry of international students in
Malaysia.
Initially the growth of Malaysian higher education can be observed for the last 40 years.
Numerous development has taken place, including the infrastructure development, faculty
enlargement and staff recruitment, substantial student enrollment and the diversity of
curricula. Meanwhile, according to Noran Fauziah and Ahmad Mahdzan (1999) the variety of
objectives and directions pursued in achieving socioeconomic development can be seen with
the introduction of several new academic programs in higher institutions.
However, the achievement of Malaysian public universities was seen to be inconsistent in the
past few years. For example, in 2006 the ranking of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM)
went up from 289 to 185 while the ranking of Universiti Malaya plunged from 169 to 192
(The Times Higher Education, 2007). In 2009 Universiti Malaya moved its ranking from 230
to 180 while none of the other public universities were listed in the top 200 world universities
(The Times Higher Education, 2010). Meanwhile, in 2013 UKM was the only university
listed in Asia University Ranking top 100 (Ghazaly, 2013). This report has caused
dissatisfaction in some quarters over the performance of Malaysian public universities.
The globalization process that reshape and change the global economic and social atmosphere
tremendously, inevitable affect the administration of higher education all over the world
immensely (Bumatay, 2007). The current environment of higher level which demands
transparency, accountability and quality awareness, especially in the public universities are
regularly under stakeholder scrutiny (Bolden, Petrov, & Gosling, 2008). The institutions are
required to deliver what have been promised as stated in their vision, mission and objectives.
Consequently, in order to undertake these tasks and coping with these challenges, public
universities need to function as an effective institution. Along with the recent challenges and
development in this new environment, the key personnel are required to equip themselves
with leadership quality in order to achieve organizational missions (Conger, 1999; Snodgrass
& Schachar, 2008). Hence, the purpose of this study is to examine the moderating effect of
Islamic work ethic on the relationship of emotional intelligence and leadership practice
among administrators in Malaysian public universities.
2. Literature Review
In spite of some important issues which have been addressed in higher education segment,
Bolden et al., (2008) strongly suggested that leadership is one of the critical success factors
(CFSs) in this transformation process all over the world.
32
While, recognizing the importance of this skill among higher education staff, the Malaysian
Ministry of Education (MoE) has listed leadership in the higher education sector as one of the
Critical Agenda Program (CAP) under the phase 2 Action Plan of the National Higher
Education Strategic Plan for the period of 2011 – 2015 (MoHE, 2011). The effort is in line
with the National Higher Education Strategic Plan objectives of transforming higher
education in Malaysia, particularly in promoting and developing quality human capital.
Besides the academic staff, the administrators also have been observed to have important
roles in administering the day-to-day activities of the public universities. Unfortunately, they
appear to be ignorant of their job, and in most cases their contributions were not recognized
appropriately (Szekeres, 2004). According to Johnsrud, Heck and Rosser (1998) the main
sources of middle administrators’ frustrations are the nature of their daily role, the lack of
recognition for their contribution, and very little opportunity for career development.
Meanwhile, several authors have addressed that only a small number of articles were
dedicated to this group nationally and internationally thus far (Abd. Rahim & Abdul Shukor,
2006; Szekeres, 2004; Johnsrud et al., 1998).
Essentially, the leadership idea can be observed for more than a thousand years ago.
However, due to its complexity, none of the single approach is satisfactory to illustrate the
leadership concept thus far. According to Zagorśek, Stough, & Jaklic (2006), currently, the
leadership theory emphasizes on followers’ abilities and working skills, encourage innovative
thinking of their followers, and promote rationality and creativity in problem solving the
work place. Meanwhile, the literature on effective leadership has suggested that
transformational leadership and visionary leadership, have gained wide acceptance among
scholars and practitioners as well (Sashkin, 1998). At the same time, some scholars suggested
that leadership practice is equated to transformational leadership (Zagorśek et al., 2006).
Consequently, numerous research findings indicated that effective leadership was influenced
by several factors such as emotional skills, leader’s attribute and demographic characteristics,
culture, and organizational business model (Anand & UdayaSuriyan, 2010; Barbuto &
Burbach, 2006; Barling, Slater & Kelloway, 2000; Schafer, 2010).
Meanwhile, emotional intelligence has attracted a vast interest over the decades years and is
an expanding subject in behavioral research (Fernàndaz-Berrocal & Extremera, 2006).
Initially, it was the work of Mayer and Salovey, and Goleman that started to emphasize on
the potential benefits of the emotional intelligence, which later rouse the interest of
management and practitioners (Anand & UdayaSuriyan, 2010). Emotional intelligence is
something to do with the ability to identify, manage and perceive emotions. For now, many
researchers have suggested that emotional intelligence is getting vast attention in the study of
leadership (Anand & UdayaSuriyan, 2010; Barbuto & Burbach, 2006; Salovey & Mayer,
1990; Groves, McEnrue & Shen, 2008).
33
Whereas, unlike natural intelligence (IQ), emotional intelligence can be learned and
strengthen over time (Mayer, Salovey & Caruso, 2004). Even though there are many models,
however an ability model and a mixed model are the two most common emotional
intelligence models used thus far (Fernàndaz-Berrocal & Extremera, 2006).
Judging from its popularity, this article will only highlight on an emotional intelligence
ability-based model. The model is widely used due to some reasons such as strong theoretical
foundation, uniqueness of the measurement, and its systematic appraisal and supported by
empirical data obtained from numerous researches (Fernàndaz-Berrocal & Extremera, 2006).
Many past literatures have indicated that a growing number of studies have been done on
emotional intelligence and leadership behavior which gave inconsistent findings on the
relationship between emotional intelligence and leadership (Batool, 2013; Langhorn, 2004;
Lindebaum & Cartwright, 2010; Tang, Yin & Nelson, 2010). Meanwhile, another substantial
issue in leadership research is ethical behaviors (Tang et al., 2010). According to Ali (2005)
ethical elements are also an important influence in public and private organization’s daily
business activities. The recent ethical misconduct which occurred all over the globe has
increased the awareness of the ethical issue in the community (Ali, 2009; Ali & A.
Al-Owaihan, 2008). Therefore, although there were extensive studies on emotional
intelligence and leadership (Anand & UdayaSuriyan, 2010; Barbuto & Burbach, 2006; Lam
& O'Higgins, 2012), there is still much unknown about the relationship between emotional
intelligence, ethic, (especially on Islamic work ethic) and leadership practice in Malaysian
public universities (Ali, Falcone & Azim, 1995; Abd. Rahim & Abdul Shukor, 2006).
Mostly many research on leadership attributes has emphasized on motivation, personality,

cognitive abilities, and social capabilities as major qualities that differentiate between leaders
and non-leaders (Zaccaro, Kemp & Bader, 2004). Lately, numerous researches in leadership
attributes have been using emotional intelligence constructs to examine leadership behaviors,
traits or competencies (Tang et al., 2004). Besides that, several previous studies suggested
that emotional intelligence was positively related to leadership practices (Anand &
UdayaSuriyan, 2010; Tang et al., 2004; Alston, Dastoor & Sosa-Fey, 2010). Barbuto &
Burbach (2006) suggested there were significant relationships between emotional intelligence
and transformational leadership behavior. Batool (2013) discovered a positive and significant
relationship between emotional intelligence and leadership style. Meanwhile, Alston et al.
(2010) found a significant predictive relationship between emotional intelligence and
transformational leadership practices. Similarly, Tang et al. (2004) suggested emotional
intelligence to be positively correlated with leadership practice.
Meanwhile, Baron and Kenny (1986) suggested that a moderator is a variable that modifies the
strength or the direction of the relationship between independent and dependent variables.
34
Numerous of previous study examined the relationship between emotional intelligence and
leadership (Anand & UdayaSuriyan, 2010; Barbuto & Burbach, 2006; Barling et al., 2000;
Weinberger, 2009; Alston et al., 2010; Batool, 2013), between emotional intelligence and
culture/values (Carmeli, 2003; Mesmer-Magnus, Viswesvaran, Joseph & Deshpande, 2008),
and between culture/value and leadership (Kennedy & Norma, 2000; Zagorśek et al., 2004).
Besides that, authentic transformational leadership supports high values of fairness, loyalty,
honesty, equality, justice, and human rights (Bass & P. Steidlmeier, 1999). Although this study
managed to support the relationship between the independent, dependent and the moderating
variables, however, the moderating effect of Islamic Work Ethic on the relationship between
emotional intelligence and leadership practice is little known.
3. Research Model
Based on the above discussion, the following research model is proposed.
Consequently, from the above mentioned research model, the following hypothesis is
developed.
H1 There is a significant relationship between emotional intelligence and leadership practice

among administrators in Malaysian public universities.
H2 Islamic work ethic moderates the relationship between emotional intelligence and
leadership practice among middle level administrators in Malaysian public universities.
4. Method
4.1 Samples and Data Collection
This study cross sectional study was conducted among public university middle
administrators. A total of 500 questionnaires were distributed to the respondents by simple
random sampling, and 289 usable questionnaires were obtained.
35
4.2 Measures
For the purpose of data collection, a survey instrument was developed. Three variables were
measured in this study, namely emotional intelligence, Islamic work ethic, and leadership
practices. Adapted from Law, Wong, and Song (2004), 16-item scale was used to measure
emotional intelligence. Five-item scale of Islamic work ethic was adopted from Norshidah,
Nor Shahriza, and Ramlah (2010) and finally Kouzes and Posner (1993) Leadership Practices
Inventory (LPI) was used to measure leadership practice. This scale has 25-item. The
reliability coefficient for emotional intelligence was .90, Islamic work ethic was 82, and
leadership practices was 0.95.
5. Findings and Discussion

5.1 Profile of the Respondents
Based on the data obtained, it was suggested that most of the respondents, 60.55% served less
than 11 years, 21.11% served between 11 - 15 years, 7.27% served between 16 - 20 years,
6.57% served between 21 - 25 years, and 4.5% served more than 26 years. Meanwhile, most
of the respondents are well educated, 70.90% have at least a bachelor’s degree, 24.60% with
a Masters degree and 4.50% with other qualifications.
In term of age, 15.60% respondents age were less than 30 years old, 30.80% were between
the ages of 30 - 35 years, 17.60% between 36 - 40 years, 17.60% between 41 - 45 years, 6.60%
between 46 - 50 years, and 11.80% above 51 years. Amazingly, this shows an emerging
number of generation Y workforce and they seem to become dominant in years to come.
About 60% of the respondents were female and 41% were male. Finally, 94.10% were
Malays, 1.40% was Chinese, and 4.50% were other races. A profile of the respondents is
presented in Table 1.
36
5.2 Hypotheses Testing
To examine the relationship between emotional intelligence and leadership practice, Pearson
correlation test was employed. Emotional intelligence was found to have positive significant
correlation as shown in Table 2.
Meanwhile, to investigate the moderating effect of Islamic work ethic on the relationship
between emotional intelligence and leadership practice, hierarchical regression analysis was
conducted. The results suggested that emotional intelligence (ß=.564, p < .01) influences
significantly leadership practices. However, Islamic work ethic does not moderate the
relationship between emotional intelligence and leadership practices. The results of
hierarchical regression analysis were presented in Table 3.
37
5.3 Discussion
A debate on the relationship between emotional intelligence continues over to what extend its
influences leadership effectiveness. The findings suggested that emotional intelligence has a
positive significance over leadership practices As such, it supported the previous finding
(Alston et al., 2010, Batool, 2013, Barling et al., 2000; Barbuto & Burbach, 2006). Another
interesting findings of this study is that Islamic work ethic does not moderate the relationship
between emotional intelligence and leadership practice. There are several plausible reasons
that could explain the findings. First, middle administrators at public universities are well
educated. Therefore, they not only aware the challenges faced by the higher education sector,
but also understand how to behave in doing their jobs in the workplace.
Second, perhaps methodological factor, whereas the results would be different if emotional
intelligence is tested as a multi-dimensions. In this study, emotional intelligence was tested as
a single dimension. Third, probably due to the historical notion of the strong colonial legacy
mix up with an economical factor such as foreign investment by Western and Eastern
countries has transformed the conventional management and leadership pattern of the country
(Sin, 1991). Besides that, national industrialization policy together with the growing number
of business joint ventures always have been connected with a westernization of several
management practices in Malaysia (Kennedy & Norma, 2000).
5.4 Implication
This study supported the previous findings on the significant relationship between emotional
intelligence and leadership practice. Recognizing the importance of emotional intelligence in
the workplace, the findings provide a good basis, especially for public universities to
formulate and implement an effective emotional development program. Numerous scholars
are suggesting that emotional intelligence is very important in social life and career
advancement.
5.5 Limitations and Future Research

First, since a self-rating scale was used in this study, which automatically raise an immediate
concern, because often it is very hard for the people to assess accurately their own behavior.
38
The results in this study strongly depend on the respondents’ honesty. The main disadvantage
of self-rating scales is that the researcher inability to guarantee the possibility of respondents
to overstate views of themselves nor hinder the subjects from giving desirable answers rather
than the most honest feedbacks (Bradberry & Greaves, 2003). Therefore the use of
multi-rater scales in conducting survey could have produced different result (Alston, 2009).
Initially, multi-rater is an alternative way of measuring human behavior.
Second, the generalization of the present findings could be questionable due to the nature of
the chosen sample. The sample was derived from public universities and all private
universities are neglected in this study. Subsequently, this limitation might restrict
generalization to the entire Malaysian universities. In the future, private universities could be
invited to take part in this study.
Ackowledgement
This study was funded by Grant RAGS from the Ministry of Education, Malaysia. We would
like to thank School of Business Management, and Research and Innovation Management
Centre, Universiti Utara Malaysia for the support and assistance during the writing of this
article. An earlier version of this article was presented at the JCIMT 2015 1 st in Seoul.
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42
ASMSS-2996
Electronic Health Record Adoption in European Public Hospitals: A
Cluster Analysis of Key Functionalities
Placide Poba-Nzaou*
University of Quebec in Montreal, Canada
poba-nzaou.placide@uqam.ca
Sylvestre Uwizeyemungu
University of Quebec in Trois-Rivieres, Canada
sylvestre.uwizeyemungu@uqtr.ca
Abstract
The potential of electronic health record (EHR) to support the delivery of health care and save
time, money and lives is well recognized. However, there has been little explicit research on
the configuration of EHR functionalities among hospitals, knowledge of which may generate
important insights on actual practices of hospitals. It will assist policy makers and healthcare
executives to consider basing their decisions on empirically grounded knowledge rather than
from purely normative discourses. We adopt a configurational approach and use factor analysis
and combine a hierarchical and non-hierarchical clustering algorisms followed by discriminant
analysis to characterize public hospitals according to EHR functionalities made available to
clinicians. Drawing on data from the European Hospital Survey - Benchmarking Deployment
of eHealth services (2012-2013) we empirically derive three well-separated clusters from a
data set of 711 European public hospitals. We find in addition that the three configurations
exhibit great heterogeneity with regard to their polarity; that is the number and the nature of
dominant categories of EHR functionalities within each cluster. The three hospital profiles -
unipolar, tripolar, and apolar - are distinct in terms of availability of key EHR functionalities
namely, medical documentation, results viewing and medication and prescription lists
functionalities available to their clinicians. Our results provide an empirically and conceptually
grounded taxonomy of public hospitals.
Key words: Electronic Health Record, Adoption, Functionalities, Public Hospital,

Configuration,
1. Introduction
In all European Union (EU) countries, health expenditure has grown faster than national
income for most of the second half of the 20th century and continues to rise in all EU countries
over the past decades (European Commission (EC), 2015a). The total health care spending rose
from around 5 % of GDP in 1970 to over 8 % in 1998 (EC, 2015b) then to about 10.2% in 2011
(EC, 2015c). The EC emphasises that, more expenditure does not ineluctably lead to better
43
results. It is in this context that the application of information and communication technologies
(ICT) to health and healthcare systems is seen as one of the priorities of the reforms of
healthcare systems within the EU, as indicated by the two successive eHealth action plans
adopted by the EC in 2004 (eHealth Action Plan 2004-2011) and in 2012 (eHealth Action Plan
2012-2020) (EC, 2015d). Now, it is important to note that Electronic health record (EHR) is at
the heart of good eHeath practice (Health Level Seven, 2004; WHO, 2012). EHR is defined as
an "electronic record of health-related information on an individual that conforms to nationally
recognized interoperability standards and that can be created, managed, and consulted by
authorized clinicians and staff across more than one health care organization" (National
Alliance for Health Information Technology, 2008, p. 6). It is considered a key piece of modern
healthcare systems as for instance several objectives of healthcare systems reforms such as
increasing accountability of healthcare organizations (Poba-Nzaou, Uwizeyemungu, Raymond
and Paré, 2014), better coordination of care provision (Blumenthal, 2011) and enhancing the
interoperability of healthcare organizations information systems (European Commission,
2015). All theses objectives are laborious to achieve without "well-functioning EHRs" (Bitton,
Flier and Jha, 2012).
In sum, while it is recognized that adopting EHRs is without doubt a vital and essential
foundation for realizing short-term and long-term healthcare systems' reforms goals
(Blumenthal, 2011), the actual availability of the key functionalities that underlie these systems
may vary greatly from hospital to hospital (Elnahal, Joynt, Bristol, and Jha, 2011) and our
knowledge of the actual practices is rather limited.
As more and more hospitals are adopting EHRs, the need to empirically categorize and classify
hospitals according to EHR functionalities is important for at least three reasons. First,
hospitals account for a substantial share of total health care spending. In fact, they account for
over one-third in the US (Martin, Lassman, Washington, Catlin and National Health
Expenditure Accounts Team, 2012) and between least 25% to 60% in the EU depending on the
country, and they are at the heart of ongoing reforms (Hope, 2009). Second patterns of EHR
functionalities adoption were found to differentiate between best and worst hospitals (Elnahal,
Joynt, Bristol, and Jha, 2011). Third, understanding patterns of availability of EHR
functionalities could provide important insights for clinicians, healthcare executives and
policymakers seeking to base their decision making on knowledge of actual practice but not on
purely normative arguments.
Thus, this paper aims to identify the primary EHR functionalities that are available to clinicians
within EU hospitals. Our second objective is to characterize these hospitals by uncovering
typical profiles or patterns of available EHR functionalities. Lastly, following previous work
(Jha et al., 2009; Elnahal et al., 2011), our third objective is to determine whether the
availability of these functionalities is influenced by hospital characteristics. We focus on public
44
hospitals because they differ considerably from private (either non-profit or for-profit)
hospitals, notably because of public hospitals’ soft budget constraints (Duggan, 2000).
2. Background
2.1 EHR Functionalities
Despite the importance of EHR functionalities, there still is no consensus on the functionalities
that are essential and necessary to define an electronic health record in the hospital setting (Jha
et al., 2009). Health Level Seven (2004) for instance identifies 153 functionalities including 79
direct care EHR functionalities and 48 supportive EHR. The fist group, and the focus of this
paper, is broken down into three subgroups, namely: care management (30 functionalities, e.g.
management of patient demographics or management of medication list), clinical decision
support (composed of 38 functionalities, e.g. support for drug interaction checking or patient
specific dosing and warnings) and operations management and communications (11
functionalities, e.g. clinical timeliness tracking or pharmacy communication). For its part, the
Institute of Medicine (IOM, 2012) identifies core EHR functionalities, which fall into eight
categories: health information and data, results management, order entry/management,
decision support, electronic communication and connectivity, patient support, administrative
processes and reporting and population health management. Based on an expert panel, Jha et al
(2009) identified 32 EHR functionalities including 24 clinical functionalities grouped into six
categories: electronic clinical documentation (7 functionalities), results viewing (6),
computerized provider order entry (5), decision support (6), bar coding (5) and other
functionalities (3). For this study, we adopted the categorization proposed by Jha et al. (2009),
which is the most cited. They distinguish three categories of EHR: comprehensive EHR, basic
EHR with clinical notes and basic EHR without clinical notes. While the comprehensive EHR
is made up of the 24 clinical functionalities, the basic EHR with clinical notes encompass only
10 functionalities as it excludes all six decision support functionalities, four computerized
provider-order entry, three testing and results functionalities and one clinical documentation
functionalities. As indicated by its name, the last category is the basic EHR without the two
clinical notes functionalities, that is physicians' notes and nursing assessments notes; and is
thus composed of eight functionalities.
2.2 Configuration Perspective

A configurational approach suggests that EHR functionalities can be understood “as clusters of
interconnected, rather than as modular or loosely coupled entities, whose components can be
understood in isolation” (Fiss, 2007, p. 1180). We adopt the configurational approach to
empirically derive a set of patterns or configurations (Meyer, Tsui and Hinings, 1993) that
reflect actual practice of EU hospitals regarding EHR functionalities. Such configurations are
useful as they provide “parsimonious descriptions which are useful in discussion, research and
pedagogy” (Miller and Roth, 1994, p. 286).
45
3. Methods
3.1 Data Source
We used data from the European Commission 2013 eHealth survey (Joint Research Centre,
Institute for Prospective Technological Studies). The objective of the survey was "to
benchmark the level of eHealth use in acute care hospitals in all 27 European Union Member
States, Croatia, Iceland, and Norway1" (JRC Scientific and Policy Reports, 2014, p. 10). The
initial data set was composed of 1753 hospitals and 17 EHR functionalities. Only public
hospitals were included in this study. However, it is important to note that, from the 17
functionalities used by the European Commission in the 2103 eHealth survey, 7 do not match
any of the 24 functionalities defining a comprehensive EHR.
3.2 Missing Values

We first selected public health hospitals from the initial data set of 1753 hospitals leading to
1208 hospitals. From this data set, we extracted 920 hospitals with ICT supported systems.
Then, to avoid statistical analysis being exposed to bias, all functionalities or variables with
more than 9% missing values were excluded from the cluster analysis (Bennett, 2001). The
following variables were excluded due to excess missing data: Reason for encounter (missing
value= 13.5%), Immunization (15.7%). Another functionality, that is finance /billing
information, was excluded as this paper focuses on clinical functionalities. Thus we retained 14
out of 17 functionalities.
With this sample (n=920), we examined the patterns of missing data (Schlomer, Bauman and
Card, 2010). Contextual variables were not included in this missing value analysis, but all scale
items were included. Using the SPSS Missing Value Analysis procedure for Little’s (1988)
missing completely at random (MCAR) test, the results indicated that data were missing
completely at random (MCAR): χ 2 (753) = 811.63, p = ns).
3.3 Cluster Analysis

Prior to cluster analysis, we examined the factorability of the correlation matrix (711x14) using
two tests: the Bartlett test of sphericity, and the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling
accuracy (KMO) (Hair et al., 2010). The KMO value was equal to 0.90 (greater than 0.5) which
is a marvelous index of factorial simplicity (Kaiser, 1974) and the Bartlett test of sphericity was
highly significant ((2 (91) = 4643.21, p < 0.001). Both findings indicated that the correlation
matrix was adequate for factor analysis (Ibid). Principal component extraction with orthogonal
Varimax rotation was applied to the 711x14 correlation matrix and yielded a clearly defined
three-factor structure that included three meaningful factors having eigenvalue greater that 1.0
1
Latter refer to as “28 EU Member States, Iceland and Norway” (European Commission Joint Research Center,
2015, p1) since on July 1, 2013, Croatia became the 28th member of the European Union.
46
and accounting for 63.32% of the total variance. At the end of the factor analysis procedure, 13
variables or items remained because one item (Patient Demographics) did not load onto any of
the three factors. For each factor, we obtained a reliability or Cronbach alpha better than 0.70
as recommended by Nunnally (1978).
It is important to note that of the 920 observations, the factor analysis process dropped 209 due
to missing data, and the deletion yielded a data set of 711 hospitals. At this stage it is worth
remembering that "deletion of cases with missing data from factor analysis is typically not
regarded as a serious issue so long as the deleted cases are random and few" (Skiba, Simmons,
Peterson, McKelvey, Forde, Gallini, 2004, p. 158). We tested the non-response bias by
comparing the 209 dropped cases with the 711 included in the analysis. The new data set of 711
hospitals was without missing values on any of the 13 functionalities.
Statistical analysis indicated no non-response bias (the 209 hospitals were not significantly
different on descriptive measures or questions related to EHR functionalities when compared
to the 711 cases included in the analysis). Chi-squared cross-tabulations were performed to
assess differences between the two data sets for the distribution of hospitals in the four intervals
of hospital size measures in number of beds. No statistically significant differences were found
(χ 2 (3) = 0.801, p = ns). In addition, Levene’s test was applied to see which type of t-test was
appropriate for an across-cluster mean comparison for hospital position in the transition from
paper-based system to fully-electronic system. The results indicated that a t-test assuming
unequal sample variances was suitable for mean value comparison. T-test was found to be not
statistically significant (t (452.53)=1.73, p=ns).
For the cluster analysis, we employed a two-step procedure that combines a hierarchical and a
non-hierarchical algorithms (Punj and Stewart, 1983). The hierarchical algorithm was first
used to identify the "natural" structure of the data set and define the clusters centroids. Then the
results were used as initial seeds in a nonhierarchical algorithm (Ketchen and Shook, 1996;
Punj and Stewart, 1983). In addition we validated the cluster solution using discriminant
function analysis (Ibid).
We first performed cluster analysis using Ward minimum variance algorithm combined with
the squared Euclidian distance (Hair et al., 2010). The algorithm was performed with the three
constructs resulting from the factor analysis as clustering variables: clinical documentation,
results viewing, and medication and prescription lists. To identify the optimum number of
clusters, we first inspected the Euclidian distances across the clusters in the dendrogram
produced by Ward’s hierarchical clustering algorithm. This analysis revealed that a 3-cluster or
4-cluster solution would be optimal. Second, in order to evaluate the robustness of the
solutions, we generated a 3-cluster solution and a 4-cluster solution by using K-mean
clustering algorithm. The performance of the cluster analysis methods was explored by
47
cross-tabulation of the selected cluster solution and the predetermined cluster membership.
The value of Kappa was 0.727 and 0.69 for the three-cluster and four-cluster solutions
respectively, thus indicating that the strength of agreement was “substantial” in both cases
(Landis and Koch, 1977). To further ascertain the reliability of the solutions (Ketchen and
Shook, 1996), we replicated the two-stage procedure with different subsamples randomly
selected (30%, 60% and 80%) using SPSS random selection functionality. The results based on
the three subsamples again suggested 3 or 4-cluster solutions. However, the discriminant
function plots of the 3-cluster solution shows a big difference between the centroids of the three
groups pair-wise. This indicates that the discriminant function separates the three groups
pair-wise (Tabachnick and Fidell, 1996). In contrast, the discriminant function plots of the
4-cluster solution shows no big difference between two of the four groups centroids. At this
stage, we selected the 3-cluster as the optimum solution.
Lastly, as stated earlier, we validated the cluster solution multiple discriminant analysis was
conducted. The EHR functionalities categories were used as discriminant variables. In general,
n-1 discriminant functions are required to discriminate more effectively between n clusters
(Hair et al., 2010). Hence, two discriminant functions were generated to discriminate between
the three clusters in this study. The nature of each rotated discriminant function was evaluated
using its significant correlations with the discriminating variables. There after, the differences
between the clusters were revealed by exploring the values of each one of the discriminant
functions at the three cluster centroids (Sabherwal and King, 1995).
4. Results nd Discussion
4.1 Most Frequently Available EHR Functionalities
Our results indicates that the ten most widely available functionalities (functionalities that are
fully implemented across all units) pertain to the results reviewing category that is laboratory
test results and is available in 79% hospitals of the sample. The second is patient demographics
(75%), which belong to the electronic clinical documentation category. It is successively
followed by two functionalities of results viewing category, radiology test reports (71%) and
radiology test images (63%). The fifth is medical history (57%), followed by ordered test and
problem list/diagnoses, both of which are available in 56% of hospitals in the sample. The
seventh symptoms (55%) is followed by reason for encounter and allergies, both available in
51% of hospitals in the sample. Lastly, in the tenth position are vital signs and prescription list
both available in 46% of the sample.
4.2 Patterns of EHR Functionalities

In line with our second objective, a cluster analysis was perform and revealed three very well
separated clusters with strong EHR functionalities adoption meanings. As shown in table 1,
One-way ANOVA indicate that these three group means differ significantly in the three EHR
functionalities categories (p < 0.001).
48
We then develop a characterization of the clusters employing cross-tabulations and the Pearson
chi-square test to underscore the statistical differences between the clusters within hospitals'
sociodemographic characterisitics and EHR functionalities patterns. Eleven hospital
sociodemographic characterisitics were cross-tabulated with the three clusters. Seven of the
variables demonstrated statistically significant relationships when cross-tabulated with cluster
membership including seven at p < 0.001: presence of an emergency department; presence of a
routine and/or life-saving surgery; presence of an intensive care unit; non-university teaching
status; the existence of a formal IT strategic plan; achieved level in the transition from
paper-based systems to a fully electronically-based system and size of the hospital measured in
number of beds. And one variable at p < 0.01: university status. However, no statistically
significant differences between the three clusters were found along the following variables:
receiving any financial incentives from health plans and other organisations that are tied to the
types of information technology systems (e.g., electronic health records or electronic
prescribing); part of the IT budget that is dedicated to outsourced services; part of the total
Hospital’s Budget allocated to IT budget.
The effectiveness of the discriminant functions in predicting the EHR functionalities adoption
is provided by the Hit ratio, that is the percentage of public hospitals correctly predicted by the
discriminant functions. Following Hair et al. (2010), we adopted the cross-validation approach
in which the total sample is randomly split into two subsamples, the analysis sample and the
holdout sample. Our analysis and holdout samples accounted for about 60% (n=421) and about
40% (n=290) respectively. For the 3-cluster solution, the hit ratio for the analysis sample was
97.10% whereas that for the holdout sample was 96.20%. To assess the group membership
prediction accuracy, we employed two statistics: the proportional chance criterion and the
Press's Q (Hair et al., 2010). The proportional chance criterion is the sum of squared proportion
of hospitals in each group, and is 0.41=(0.282+0.552+0.172). The classification accuracy should
49
be at least one-fourth greater than that obtained by chance (Hair et al., 2010). Using the
proportional chance criteria, the adequate classification accuracy should be at least
0.51=(1.25*0.41) or 51%. But the overall classification accuracy for the analysis and the
holdout subsamples were 97.10% and 96.20% respectively. The two exceeded the threshold of
51% indicating that classification results were better than chance. It is important to note that,
the percent of hospitals correctly classified into each one of the three clusters was also better
than chance ( 51%). The Press's Q statistic computed for this study is 187.18 and 515.89 for
the analysis and the holdout subsamples respectively. The two values are greater than the
critical value at a significant level of 0.01 (Hair et al., 2010). The two results, the proportional
chance criteria and the Press's Q statistic reveal that the classification accuracy is satisfying
(Ibid).
The correlation of each rotated discriminant function with the discriminating variables and the
value of the function at the cluster centroids are shown in table 3 and table 4 respectively.
Function 1 is correlated positively with result viewing. It discriminates between Unipolar and
Apolar cluster. Function 2, which discriminates between Unipolar and Tripolar clusters, is
correlated positively with medication and prescription lists. Altogether, the above-mentioned
significant correlations of each discriminant function with the discriminating variables
(indicating its nature) and the values of the rotated discriminant functions at cluster centroids
(showing the clusters between which is most clearly discriminates) help explain the conditions
under which each type of EHR functionalities configuration occurs.
50
The three profiles of EHR functionalities availability that composed the empirical taxonomy
derived in this study are presented below.
Cluster 1-Unipolar. It is one of the smallest groups and consists of 199 hospitals (28%).
Compared with other clusters it is one of two that ranked low on two dimensions out of three
and the only one that ranked high on exactly one dimension; and it is labeled Unipolar. This
cluster is composed of hospitals at which the primary functionalities made available to
clinicians are related to results viewing, the two other categories of functionalities being almost
not available. Most of these hospitals have an emergency department (85%), a routine and/or
life-saving surgery department (92%). However, they do not have an intensive care unit (83%)
and they tend to not be affiliated to a university (83%) while about half of them are
non-university teaching (56%). In terms of network status, they exhibit a scatter of about thirty
percent between independent hospital on one site, independent hospital on multiple sites and
part of a group of different hospitals. With regard to size, they tend to be medium 44%
(between 251and 750 beds) or large hospitals 20 (more than 750 beds). These hospitals tend to
have a formal IT strategic plan (64%).
Cluster 2-Tripolar. The largest of the groups and consists of 394 hospitals (55%). Compared
with other cluster it is the only one that ranks high on all three dimensions it is thus labeled
Tripolar. This cluster is composed of hospitals at which most of functionalities related to a
basic EHR are available to clinicians. Most of these hospitals have an emergency department
(91%), a routine and/or life-saving surgery department (89%). However, they do not have an
intensive care unit (80%) and they tend to be not affiliated to a university (72%) while about
half of them are non-university teaching (53%). In terms of network status, they exhibit a
scatter over independent hospital on one site (37%), independent hospital on multiple sites
(41%) and part of a group of different hospitals (15%). With regard to size, they tend to be
medium 42% (between 251and 750 beds) or large hospitals 21 (more than 750 beds). In the
same manner as for cluster 1, hospitals in cluster 2 tend to have a formal IT strategic plan
(70%).
51
Cluster 3-Apolar. The smallest of the groups and consists of 118 hospitals (17%). Compared
with other clusters it is the only one that does not rank high on any of the three dimensions; it is
thus labeled Apolar. This cluster is composed of hospitals at which almost none of the
functionalities related to a basic EHR are available to clinicians. Most of these hospitals have
an emergency department (64%), a routine and/or life-saving surgery department (61%).
However, about half of them have an intensive care unit (46%) and they tend to be not affiliated
to a university (92%) and to be non-university teaching (71%). In terms of network status, they
exhibit an equal scatter over independent hospital on one site (46%), independent hospital on
multiple sites (43%). With regard to size, they are almost equally divided between small 55%
(fewer than 101 beds or between 101 and 250) and medium to large 42% (Between 251 and
750). In contrast with cluster 1 and cluster 2, hospitals in cluster 3 tend not to have a formal IT
strategic plan (52%).
Furthermore, we the post hoc Tamhane test was performed to identify significantly different
group means when the ANOVA test was significant for each of the following variable: IT
employees' ratio and the level achieved in the transition from paper-based systems to a fully
electronically-based system. As indicated in table 2, the ANOVA test was significant for the
level achieved in the transition from paper-based systems to a fully electronically-based system
but not for the IT employees’ ratio. We can see that the tripolar cluster differs statistically
significantly from the two other clusters. Nevertheless, unipolar and apolar clusters do not
differ from one another along the level in the transition from paper-based systems to a fully
electronically-based system.
5. Conclusion
We examined EHR functionalities that are available to clinicians in EU public hospitals with
the goals of identifying the main EHR functionalities, and characterizing hospitals by
uncovering typical patterns or profiles based on the availability of EHR functionalities, as well
as the influence of hospital characteristics.
52
Using survey data from the European Commission, we clustered 711 EU public hospitals into
three clusters. Half of the EU public hospitals can claim to be able to make available most of
the basic EHR functionalities to their clinicians. The other half cannot. In fact, 28% make
available only one category of EHR functionality (Results viewing), while the remaining
(17%) fail to make available any of the three categories of EHR functionalities to their
clinicians. We also demonstrate that hospital characteristics do influence the availability of
EHR functionalities.
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55
Education (1)
Room A, 2F
2015/8/26 Wednesday 13:00-14:30
Session Chair: Prof. Chi Wai Chan
ISLLLE-1252
The Relationship between Teaching Innovation, Workplace Expectations, and
Participation in Professional Learning Communities amongst Kindergarten Teachers
Hsiu-Chih Liu︱Taiwan Shoufu University
ISLLLE-1262
Am I Interfering? Preschool Teacher Participation in Children Play
Chia-Yen Tsai︱National Dong Hwa University
ISLLLE-1182
The Development of Fundamental Movement Skills by Children Aged Six to Nine
Shu-Jung Lin︱Chung Chou University of Science and Technology
Shu-Chu Yang︱National ChiaYi University
ISLLLE-1195
The Early Childhood Education in Rural Gansu – A Province in North-Western China
Chi Wai Chan︱The Open University of Hong Kong
ISLLLE-1247
The Effect of Integrated Movement Education on Preschoolers’ Fundamental
Movement Skills
Shu-Chu Yang︱National ChiaYi University
Shu-Jung Lin︱Chung Chou University of Science and Technology
Hsiang-Ling Huang︱National ChiaYi University
ASMSS-2852
No Strangers in Classrooms: A Perspective of Culturally Responsive Practice
Pei-Hsuan Lin︱National Taipei University of Education
56
ISLLLE-1226
Translating Chinese Erotic Literature: A Case Study of the English Translations of Jin
Ping Mei
Wayne Wen-Chun Liang︱Hong Kong Baptist University
57
ISLLLE-1252
The Relationship between Teaching Innovation, Workplace Expectations,
and Participation in Professional Learning Communities amongst
Kindergarten Teachers
Hsiu-Chih Liu
Taiwan Shoufu University
a5792866@yahoo.com.tw
Abstract
In this study we use a structural equation model to examine the relationship between teaching
innovation, workplace expectations, and participation in professional learning communities
amongst kindergarten teachers in Taiwan. Means, standard deviations, and AMOS structural
equation modeling were used to analyze the data. After determining the goodness of fit of the
internal structure and the overall model to be acceptable, we found that participation in a
teachers’ professional learning community influences workplace expectations; workplace
expectations influence innovation; and participation in a teachers’ professional learning
community influences innovation. We also found that the workplace expectations of
kindergarten teachers have a mediating effect on the relationship between their use of
innovative teaching methodologies and their participation in a professional learning
community.
Keywords: structural equation modeling; kindergarten teachers; teachers’ profession learning

community; workplace expectations; innovative teaching
1. Introduction
Participating in a teachers’ professional learning community (PLC) not only fosters
innovation and professional growth, but also helps teachers overcome their isolation while
learning from one another. Due to the strong sense of identification which emerges through
ongoing participation in a PLC, the participants become more willing to engage in
cooperative projects and share information and resources, all of which help to consolidate the
members’ sense of identification with the group’s goals and beliefs (Deschamps & Devos,
1998; Hatch & Schultz, 1997; Worchel, 1998). According to Snyder, Lopez, Shorey, Rand,
and Feldman (2003), actively reflecting on professional expectations engenders positive
sentiments and constructive actions. Thus the purpose of this study was to determine to what
extent participation in a PLC influences the workplace expectations and innovativeness of
kindergarten teachers. The goals of this research were as follows:
1. To create a model elucidating the relationship between kindergarten teachers’

innovativeness, workplace expectations, and participation in a PLC.
58
2. To determine if the workplace expectations of kindergarten teachers have a mediating
effect on the relationship between their use of innovative teaching methodologies and their
participation in a PLC.
1.1 Teachers’ Professional Learning Communities

Moate (2011) asserts that the members of a teachers’ PLC should have common goals and
views, for this promotes innovation, sharing of views, and genuine interest in making a
positive contribution to the group. According to Pella (2011), holding regular meetings in
which members share ideas and teaching strategies increases the effectiveness of a teachers’
PLC. In sum, an effective teacher’s PLC enhances its members’ creativity and teaching
ability as well as the effectiveness of their school’s curriculum. Thus an effective teachers’
PLC is one which has a high degree of cohesion in terms of views, values, and goals, while
also respecting alternative views of its individual members.
1.2 Workplace Expectations

Snyder (2002) describes “expectation” as a kind of positive motivation which produces a
sense of success through the interaction of agency and pathways. By “agency” is meant a
kind of goal-directed energy; by “pathway” is meant a means for reaching a certain goal. He
also points out that expectations consist of two factors: pathway thinking and agency thinking.
“Pathway thinking” refers to the individual’s ability to find a way for reaching a goal and to
actively consider the abilities required for reaching that goal. “Agency thinking” refers to the
individual’s confidence in his ability to reach a certain goal. Thus expectations can be seen as
a catalyst of an individual’s intelligence, the strength of which is influenced by both agency
thinking and pathway thinking, as well as factors in the external environment.
1.3 Innovation
Bateman and Snell (2004) define innovation as adopting a novel approach for accomplishing
a task. Robbins and Coulter (2002) understand innovation as the application of a new idea to
manufacturing a product or providing a service. As for education, Simplicio (2000) defines
innovation as any positive change which a teacher adopts in his day-to-day teaching. When
carried out in this way, innovative education increases positive expectations amongst teachers
and genuine interest in learning amongst students. Thus, innovative education can be said to
be characterized by the following features: 1) It invites students to actively seek new ideas; 2)
It takes liveliness, creativity, and ingenuity as the starting point of curriculum design; 3) It
takes flexibility, diversity, and evaluation as the central teaching methodologies; and 4) It
takes a student-centered approach to education, in which the teacher’s role is that of a guide.
In this study participation in a teachers’ PLC is divided into cognitive participation and
affective interaction; workplace expectations are divided into goal, pathway, and agency; and
innovation is divided into teacher-student interaction, flexible teaching materials, teaching
diversity, and evaluation diversity. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether or
59
not active participation in a PLC has a positive effect on the workplace expectations of
kindergarten teachers and their ability to adopt innovative teaching strategies.
2. Methodology
2.1 Research Outline
2.2 Research Participants

According to statistics published by Taiwan’s Ministry of Education (MOE, 2012), in 2011
there were 14,745 kindergarten teachers in Taiwan. Following the procedures of Krejcie and
Morgan (1970), a valid sample would therefore need to have at least 996 participants.
Adopting the purposive sampling approach, we used the contact information published on the
MOE’s (2012) “Early Childhood Educare” website to telephone the directors of kindergartens
in each of the four regions into which Taiwan is customarily divided (north, center, south, and
east) and request their participation. We then sent questionnaires along with a SASE to the
1,335 directors who agreed to participate. Of these, 1,073 were returned, a retrieval rate of 80
percent. Of these, 41 were incomplete, leaving a total of 1,032 valid questionnaires.
2.3 Research Apparatus

2.3.1 The PLC Participation Scale
(1) Formulation of the Scale
Based on Dufour’s (2004) research on PLCs, we divided the participants’ participation into
“cognitive participation” and “affective participation.” The former refers to such practical
behavior as engaging in discussions and learning activities, and reflecting on the goals and
methods of education; the latter refers to the participant’s sense of emotional connection with
the PLC. The responses to each statement were made on a five-point Likert scale, with “1”
indicating “strongly disagree,” “2” indicating “disagree,” “3” indicating “neither agree nor
disagree,” “4” indicating “agree,” and “5” indicating “strongly agree.”
60
(3) Reliability and Validity
Exploratory factor analysis was used to extract two factors: cognitive participation and
affective participation. The factor loadings were .67–.84 and .54–.83, respectively. The
cumulative explained variance was 71.62 percent. The Cronbach’s α for each factor was .92
and .90, respectively, and the overall Cronbach’s α was .94.
2.3.2 The Workplace Expectations Scale

Based on the theoretical research of Snyder, Rand, and Sigmon (2002) and Snyder, Lopez,
Shorey, Rand, and Feldman (2003), we divided this scale into “goal thinking,” “pathway
thinking,” and “agency thinking.” In this study “expectations” refers to a type of cognitive
process directed towards reaching a specific goal (Snyder, 2000a). The responses to each
statement were made on a five-point Likert scale, with “1” indicating “strongly disagree,” “2”
indicating “disagree,” “3” indicating “neither agree nor disagree,” “4” indicating “agree,” and
“5” indicating “strongly agree.”

Exploratory factor analysis was used to extract three factors: “goal thinking,” “pathway
thinking,” and “agency thinking.” The factor loadings were .76–85., .73–.79, and .69–87.,
respectively. The cumulative explained variance was 80.51 percent. The Cronbach’s α for
each factor was .92, .87, and .89, respectively, and the overall Cronbach’s α was .94.
2.4 The innovation scale

Based on research of Tanggaard (2011), Kangas (2010), and Robbins and Coulter (2002), we
divided this scale into “teacher-student interaction,” “flexible teaching materials,” “teaching
diversity,” and “evaluation diversity.” In this study “innovative teaching” refers to a teacher’s
ability to apply new ideas and methodologies to enhancing teacher-student interaction,
developing flexible teaching materials, increasing teaching diversity, and adopting a diversity
evaluation techniques. The responses to each statement were made on a five-point Likert
scale, with “1” indicating “strongly disagree,” “2” indicating “disagree,” “3” indicating
“neither agree nor disagree,” “4” indicating “agree,” and “5” indicating “strongly agree.”

Exploratory factor analysis was used to extract four factors: teacher-student interaction,
flexible teaching materials, teaching diversity, and evaluation diversity. The factor loadings
were .67–.79, .63–.79, .63–.72, and .60–.81, respectively. The cumulative explained variance
was 79.05 percent. The Cronbach’s α for each factor was .92, .90, .88, and .92, respectively,
and the overall Cronbach’s α was .96.
61
3. Results
3.1 Goodness of Fit between PLC, Workplace Expectations, and Innovation
3.1 Assessing the Model’s Goodness of Fit
(1) Overall Goodness of Fit
Table 1 shows that, except for χ2, all of the absolute fit measures conformed to the normalized
values, indicating that the overall goodness of fit of the theoretical model was acceptable.
(2) Goodness of Fit of the Internal Structure

In Table 2 it can be seen that all of the observed variables had a reliability of between .655
and .872, thus conforming to the normalized value of .50 (Bagozzi & Yi, 1988) and indicating
that the measurements were satisfactory. It can also be seen that all of the latent variables had
a reliability of between .870 and .928, and that each one reached the evaluation criterion
of .60 (Bagozzi & Yi, 1988). As for the average variance extracted, the values all fell
between .712 and .770, and each one reached the criterion of at least .50 (Fornell & Larcker,
1981). Thus it can be seen that the reliability of the latent variables and the estimate of the
average variance extracted were both highly satisfactory, and that the goodness of fit of the
internal structure was acceptable.
62
3.2 The Latent Variables
From Figure 2 and Table 3 it can be seen that the standardized parameter estimate of PLC
participation for workplace exptectations was .782 (p = .000), and that the direct effect
reached the significance criterion of .001. It can also be seen that parameter estimate of PLC
participation for innovation was .124 (p = .002), and that the direct effect reached the
significance criterion of .01. Finally, the parameter estimate of workplace expectations for
innovation was .778 (p = .000), and the direct effect reached the significance criterion
of .001.
63
64
From Table 3 it can be seen that the non-standardized path coefficient of PLC participation
for workplace satisfaction was .782 and that the p-value was .000, thus reaching the
significance level of .001. It can also can be seen that the standardized path coefficient of
workplace satisfaction for innovation was .778 and that the p-value was .000, thus reaching
the significance level of .001.
From Table 3 it can also be seen that the standardized path coefficient of PLC participation
for innovation was .124 and that the p-value was .002, thus reaching the significance level
of .01. From Tables 4 and 5 it can be seen that the non-standardized path coefficient of PLC
participation for workplace expectations was .330 (the standardized path coefficient was .782;
see Table 3) and that the non-standardized path coefficient of workplace expectations for
innovation was 1.383 (the standardized path coefficient was .778; see Table 3). The results of
the Sobel test show that the z-value was 14.054 (p ＜ .001), indicating that the direct effect
reached the significance level of .001. Taken together, these results indicate that strengthening
teachers’ PLC participation enhances their teaching innovation and workplace expectations.
4. Discussion
The results of this research show that the internal structure and the overall model had an
acceptable goodness of fit. We found that participation in a teachers’ PLC influences the
workplace expectations of kindergarten teachers, such that the closer the interaction in the
PLC, the higher the teachers’ expectations. We also found a positive correlation between the
workplace expectations of kindergarten teachers and their use of innovative teaching
methodologies. Moreover, we found a positive correlation between participation in a teachers’
PLC and the understanding and use of innovative teaching methodologies. Finally, we found
that the workplace expectations of kindergarten teachers have a mediating effect on the
relationship between their participation in a PLC and their use of innovative teaching
methodologies.
65
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66
ISLLLE-1262
Am I Interfering? Preschool Teacher Participation in Children Play
Chia-Yen Tsai
National Dong Hwa University, Taiwan
tsaicy@mail.ndhu.edu.tw
Abstract
This study aimed to explore the timing and strategies of teacher participation in children’s
play and the factors which have a bearing on teacher participation. This study used qualitative
research and conducted observation of natural situations. The samples were preschool
teachers in an elementary school’s affiliated kindergarten in Hualien. The children were
observed while playing at learning areas during free play time. In order to enhance the depth
of the research, data were collected from observations of play, interviews with the teacher,
and examination of on-site documents. The results of qualitative analysis revealed that
preschool teachers usually intervene in children’s play actively. Preschool teachers used
different strategies depending on the different behavior of children play. As for whether or not
to participate; these depend on the teacher’s educational philosophy, degree of familiarity
with the children, and the overall situation in which the play is occurring. Moreover, each of
these factors influence one another, and thus need to be considered together.
Keyword: preschool, teachers’ participation, children’s play
Introduction
There is a long-standing controversy as to the desirability of teacher participation in
children’s play. In the post-modern view of education, children should be encouraged to
decide for themselves which activities to engage in and which profession to pursue, such that
excessive guidance by teachers amounts to interference and is to be avoided (Brown &
Freeman, 2001). Bennett, Wood, and Rogers (1997) encouraged teachers to avoid interfering
in their children’s play, in the belief that independent play brings the most benefit. Indeed,
many teachers regard certain forms of participation as interference (Korat, Bahar, & Snapir,
2003). Other preschool teachers, however, agree with Vygotsky’s view that teachers should
apply scaffolding to children’s play and encourage them to engage in more complex activities
(Bodrova & Leong, 2006). Related research has found that teacher participation in children
play promotes a positive children-teacher relationship (Driscol & Pianta, 2010), enriches the
children’s learning, and enhances the development of cognitive, verbal, creative, and social
skills (Bennet, Wood, & Rodgers, 1997; Howes, Burchinal, Pianta, Bryant, Early, Clifford, &
Barbarin, 2008; Smilansky & Shefatya, 1990). According to this school of thought, not
participating in children play and play amounts to missing a key opportunity to promote the
development of important skills amongst preschoolers (Trawick-Smith & Dziurgot, 2011).
67
Other researchers have pointed out that the influence of teacher participation in children play
can be either positive or negative, depending on how it is carried out. Similarly, Frost,
Wortham, and Reifel (2005) found that excessive teacher participation is seen as intrusive by
children and lessens their interest in the activity. Moreover, teacher participation often gives
undue stress to an intellectual understanding of the game being played (Cimitrova &
Gimitrova, 2003). In light of the points of view presented above, effective participation
entails more than simply playing together with children or simultaneously guiding the activity,
for teacher participation can have a positive influence only if the teacher is sufficiently
sensitive to the situation to provide a suitable learning scaffold (Berk, 1994; Bodrova &
Leong, 2003). For example, in the case of children who are onlookers, tend to play by
themselves, have little interaction with others, or who do participate in play but have
difficulty cooperating with others, appropriate teacher intervention can increase the child’s
social skills and level of participation (Smilansky & Shefatya, 1990; Teawick-Smith, 1994).
Furthermore, it would be desirable for a teacher to encourage a kid who tends to only play
repetitive, simple, or solitary games to engage in more complex, challenging, and group play.
Of course, the optimal opportunity for effective participation arises when the child himself
invites the teacher’s participation (Johnson, Christie, & Yawkey, 1999).
According to Bodrova and Leong (2007), effective participation in relatively complex play
includes providing suggestions for elaborating the theme of the play; conflict resolution;
encouraging cooperative behavior; adding new teams; and accepting new points of view.
Inasmuch as teacher participation is mainly for the purpose of assisting and enriching
children play, children more adept at play require less teacher participation. However, with
children who are overly reliant on the teacher and frequently ask the teacher to join their play,
the teacher needs to adjust the scaffold in a timely manner, and also encourage them to
participate in play with their classmates (Trawic-Smith, 1994). It is also desirable to flexibly
employ a variety of scaffolds in accordance with the situation, including verbal cues,
examples, and collaboration (Chou, 2013). Furthermore, teachers need to adjust their manner
and degree of participation in accordance with the situation and receptiveness of the children.
Shin and Spodek (1991) asserts that appropriate teacher behavior during the planning stage
includes guidance, dialogue, and encouragement, rather than modeling, participation, and
directing; and that appropriate teacher behavior while the play is in process includes dialogue,
adjusting the surroundings, and reminders, rather than guidance, lectures, and directing.
From the studies mentioned above it can be seen that teachers do need to participate in their
children’s play, but only in an appropriate manner based on a good understanding of the
needs of the actual situation. Indeed, excessive participation or guidance deprives children of
the opportunity to learn for themselves. Conversely, if guidance is required, but comes too
late or not at all, then an important learning opportunity will be missed. While previous
68
studies have covered such aspects of teacher participation in children play as timing (Kontos,
1999) and its influence on children development (Enz & Christie, 1997), they have mainly
adopted a quantitative methodology and fail to give due consideration to the participation
process itself (Kontos, 1999; Shin & Spodek, 1991; Trawick-Smith & Dziurgot, 2011).
Moreover, the studies that do discuss the strategies of participation fail to investigate the
factors which have a bearing on teacher participation. Thus the present study covers not only
the timing and strategies of teacher participation in children’s play, but also the factors which
have a bearing on teacher participation.
Methods
Settings
This study was carried out at a preschool affiliated with an elementary school in Taiwan’s
Hualian County. At the time of the study the preschool had two classes: one for five-year-olds,
and one for three-, and four-year-olds. This research was mainly carried out with the younger
class, which had 16 children, ten of whom were four years of age, and six of whom were
three years of age. The preschool’s free play period is held every morning from 10:00 to
10:30 in the classroom’s “learning areas.” The learning areas consisted of four partitioned
areas for particular activities, including a doll area, a manipulative area, an art area, and a
language area.
Participants
Ms. Li, who participated in this study, holds a graduate degree from an early childhood
education program at a public university in Taiwan. At the time of the study she had two
years of teaching experience and had been teaching at the participating preschool since 2011.
Collecting and Analyzing the Data

During the course of the research I observed Ms. Li and her children two times per week
during the free-play period; the total number of observations was 30. Prior to carrying out the
research, I explained the research project to Ms. Li and the preschool director and secured
their agreement to participate. I made video recordings of each free-play period observed.
Before making the actual observations, I conducted a pilot observation in which I filmed a
free-play period so as to get the children accustomed to my presence.
The data collected consisted of the video recordings, interviews, and secondary data. After
transcribing the recordings of the free-play periods and interviews, the transcripts were
repeatedly read through so as to ascertain the sections which illustrated the teacher-children
relationship. The key themes and concepts found in these sections where then encoded and
compared. Finally, the data was organized and categorized.
Results and Discussion
69
A. The Teacher’s Timing and Strategies of Participation
(1) Assistance and Guidance in Response to Children Requests
During the free-play period, children would occasionally encounter difficulties and request
help from the teacher or their classmates. Ms. Li stated that in such a situation, rather than
always providing immediate assistance, she first assesses the situation based on the children’s
past behavior and her knowledge of his ability. For example, a kid playing in the toy area
who wanted to put on a dinosaur costume which had to be fastened on by tying a knot on the
strap asked: “Teacher, can you help me tie a knot?” After Ms. Li tied on the costume, the
child went on his way and proceeded to put on the dinosaur head. At other times, however,
she takes a more indirect approach, providing step-by-step guidance which helps the children
to observe the problem, consider possible solutions, and finally solve the problem for himself.
The teacher participation in children play has a positive effect only when the teacher is
sufficiently sensitive to provide a suitable scaffolding (Berk, 1994; Bodrova & Leong, 2003;
Smilansky & Shefatya, 1990). Thus, prior to intervening, the teacher needs to first observe
the situation, while keeping in mind the children’s character and ability; for only after doing
so will the teacher be able to intervene in such a way as to enhance the children’s ability.
(2) Responding to Children Requests by Spontaneously Participating

The children playing in the doll area were more likely to invite the teacher to participate in
their play. Because they were relatively familiar with the materials in the doll area, the
children tended to quickly select a toy or costume and then invite the teacher to participate in
their play. For example, the children often use the materials they find there to open a shop
and then pretend to be the shopkeeper. When they ask Ms. Li what she would like to eat, she
joins the children’s play by asking for more information about the shop and what it sells.
C: What would you like to eat?

T: What kind of store do you have? What do you sell? Do you sell fruit?
C: Um, whatever you want, I have it.
T: Since you have everything, I think I’ll have a kiwi fruit.
C: Kiwi? Wait a moment.
In such situations Ms. Li adopts an appropriate role and simply goes along with the scenario
thought up by the child, giving the child free rein to direct the plot as he or she wishes, while
being careful not to interfere with the children’s play.
(3) Reminding Children to Follow the Rules Governing Classroom Play

While enjoying their time in the learning area, the children are also expected to follow the
rules governing classroom play, so that they don’t interfere with others’ play and don’t injure
themselves or others. However, sometimes the children are having so much fun and become
70
so deeply immersed in their play that they forget about these rules and start engaging in such
forbidden behavior as chasing each other around the classroom. At such times Ms. Li
intervenes by stopping the play and asking the child to calm down and review the rules
governing the behavior in question:
T: Just now, didn’t you collide with Amy?

C (nods in agreement).
T: Is that kind of running around permitted in the classroom?
C (shaking head): No.
T: Please remember that.
C (shakes head).
Because she is working with the younger children, Ms. Li makes it a point to frequently
remind them of the rules governing classroom behavior and the free-play period, so that early
on they cultivate an awareness of the conduct that is expected of them.
(4) Teacher Mediation in Kid Conflicts

Due to differences of opinion and poor communication skills, there sometimes arise conflicts
between children which bring the play to a premature halt. Many of these conflicts arise in
relation to two or more children contending for the same toys. In such situations Ms. Li first
ascertains the nature of the problem and then helps the children find a solution. However, if
any of thechildren involved stubbornly refuse to compromise, then she intervenes by
mediating the dispute and giving further suggestions for finding a resolution. One time two
kids (B and G) began to shout and scream as they contended for the same toy:
T: Who did that just now? G, was it you?

B (lowers head, remains silent, and tightly grips the toy in his hand).
T: So, you can play with G.
B (still silent, but loosening his grasp on the item he has made).
T: You see, he is letting go of it. Now G, you can make another one, okay? You already know
how to do it.
Preschool teachers need to give special attention to classroom safety. However, when children
are playing together, various types of conflict inevitably arise. If any of the children involved
lack self-control or are extremely egocentric, such conflicts can result in physical or
emotional harm. Thus some researchers maintain that such conflicts require swift intervention
on the part of the teacher (Bodrova & Leong, 2007 ; Trawick-Smith & Dziurgot, 2011).
(5) Teacher-Initiated Participation in Educational Play

Ms. Li has an extensive knowledge of educational concepts which she applies not only to
71
preplanned lessons, but also to a wide variety of situations that spontaneously arise.
While the children are playing, as long as the overall situation is conducive, she frequently
takes the opportunity to bring up something she has previously taught, thereby having the
children review and apply what they have already learned. For example, she once conducted
an impromptu math review as follows:
C: Teacher, count these.

T: There are so many.
C: Not really; 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 (counting a group of sequins with one finger).
Also, Ms. Li often has her children engage in impromptu language lessons, especially
reviews relating to Mandarin phonetic symbols (the phonetic symbols used in Taiwan to
indicate the Mandarin pronunciation of Chinese characters). For example, the following
dialogue occurred while a child was in the language area playing with a device which helps
children practice their recognition of phonetic symbols:
T: Spot test!
C (nods in agreement).
T: Listen closely (pressing the button which produces the sound “eng”).
C: It’s “eng” (pressing the button which produces the sound “eng”).
T: Next (pressing the button for “ji”).
C: It’s “ji.” (pondering while hovering his finger over the button for “ge”).
T: No, that one is “ge.”
From the children’s response it appears that he had only a rudimentary knowledge of
Mandarin phonetic symbols, or may have never learned them at all. Thus Ms. Li’s spot quiz
may have made the child feel frustrated, thereby ruining the fun the child was having simply
playing around with an amusing toy. As Gimitrova and Gimitrov (2003) points out, teacher
intervention often places too much stress on the cognitive aspect of play.
(6) The Teacher Asks the Child about Something He Has Made
Children enjoy making things, but the things they create don’t necessarily bear a close
resemblance to the objects they are modeled on; for children often rely on their fertile
imaginations to whimsically create things they find appealing. In such type of play children
often use miniature versions of real objects, and Ms. Li encourages reflection by asking
questions about what has been created, as in the following interaction:
T: Can your pistol be held in one hand?

C: You have to hold it with two hands.
T: Pistols are held with one hand; can you do it? How do you fire it? Where is
72
the trigger?
C: Um, it’s here.
T: So, can you fire it? Or is there another trigger somewhere?
B. Factors Influencing Teacher Participation

(1) Teacher’s Views on Education
All teachers have limitations in their professional abilities, and from time to time they
encounter difficulties. Moreover, young children are just beginning to develop the many
abilities essential to getting along in life. Ms. Li stated that one of her roles is to help her
children to develop these abilities:
Even adults encounter things they don’t know how to do. So I feel that a teacher needs to be
there for them, to teach them, to guide them. I feel that it’s often necessary to participate in
their games and play. If I just let them play on their own, then they might not make any
progress.
Thus Ms. Li believes that it’s necessary to provide a certain amount of timely and appropriate
guidance when her children are playing. For by doing so their play become more conducive
to the development of essential abilities, the acquisition of which provide children with a
sense of accomplishment.
(2) Teacher Expectations and Level of Familiarity with Children

The children began playing with the toys they found interesting, Ms. Li’s participation helped
her to discover a lot about each children’s personality, including their differing levels of
interest in group activities. In this regard she stated:
If the entire day is spent in class together, then I would have fewer opportunities to learn
about their individual personalities. But by participating in their activities during the free-play
period I have learned a lot about their different characters and how they think.
Moreover, Ms. Li indicated that if she notices that during the free-play period a kid always
plays with the same toy in the same way, then she adopts various strategies for encouraging
some variation, about which she stated:
I don’t directly tell him to play in a different way or to play with something different. What I
do do is to set an example and see if he will follow it.
Ms. Li indicated that in the case of a kid who tends to only play simple, repetitive, or solitary
play, she tries to encourage him to play group games or play which are more complex. An
optimal opportunity for effective participation arises when the child himself invites the
73
teacher’s participation (Johnson, Christie, & Yawkey, 1999).
(3) The Requirements of the Situation

Ms. Li participated most frequently in the arts area (38.7%), followed by the manipulative
area (33.7%), doll area (18.6%), and language area (9.0%). The main reason for her giving
relatively more attention to the arts and manipulative areas was that she had added some new
materials to these two areas. Even though she had already taken time during class to
introduce these materials and demonstrate how to use them, she was still concerned that some
of the children didn’t fully understand. In addition, she also wanted to find out how the
children would play with these new materials.
Similarly, Knotos (1999) found that preschool teachers spend more time participating in
children’s constructive and manipulative play, and Shin and Spodek (1991) found that
preschool teachers spend more time in the arts area. The probable factors which lead teachers
to spend more time in these areas include how the learning areas are categorized, the
materials included therein, and the children’s ages and experience. Such learning areas
typically include materials which require some guidance from the teacher.
Conclusion
Preschool teachers usually intervene in children play on their own volition. The main reasons
they intervene include children behavior which contravenes classroom rules, fighting
between children, an opportunity to carry out milieu teaching, and a desire to gain a better
understanding of their children. Because fighting and the breaking of classroom rules can
result in children being injured, in such cases teachers need to intervene by mediating,
reminding children of the rules, and encouraging them to reconsider their behavior. However,
with respect to milieu teaching and a desire to gain a better understanding of one’s children,
even if the teacher does make a thorough observation of the situation before participating, she
still needs to fully consider the influence such participation will inevitably have on the child’s
play.
In situations where children invite the teacher’s participation, it is usually appropriate for the
teacher to spontaneously take on a suitable role and join the activity. However, in the case of
a kid asking for help in solving a problem, the teacher needs to first consider the children’s
character and ability, and then offer assistance which suits the children and the situation. As
for whether or not to participate or intervene; how often to do so; when to do so; and how to
do so—these depend on the teacher’s educational philosophy, degree of familiarity with the
children, and the overall situation in which the play is occurring. Moreover, each of these
factors influence one another, and thus need to be considered together.
References
74
Bennett, N., Wood, L., & Rogers, S. (1997). Teaching through play: Teacher’s thinking and
classroom practice. Buckingham, UK: Open University Press.
Berk, L. E. (1994). Vygotsky’s theory: The importance of make-believe play. Young Children,
50(1), 30-39.
Bodrova, E., & Leong, D. (2006). Tools of the mind: The Vygotskian approach to early
childhood education (2nd ed.). Columbus, OH: Merrill: Prentice Hall.
Bodrova, E., & Leong, D. J. (2003). Chopsticks and counting chips: Do play and
foundational skills need to compete for the teacher’s attention in an early childhood
classroom? Young Children, 58(3), 10-17.
Bodrova, E., & Leong, D. J. (2007). Tool of mind: The Vygotskian approach to early
childhood education(2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Brown, M., & Freeman, N. (2001). “We don’t play that way at preschool”: The moral and
ethical dimensions of controlling children’s play. In S. Reifel & M. Brown (Eds.), Early
education and care, and reconceptualizing play(pp.259-274). New York: JAI.
Chou, S. H. (2013). Play VS. Curriculum: Orientation and implementation of play. Taipei:
Psychological Publishing.
Driscol, K. C., & Pianta, R. C. (2010). Banking time in Head Start: Early efficacy of an
intervention designed to promote supportive teacher-child relationships. Early
Education and Development, 21(1), 38–64.
Enz, B., & Christie, J. (1997). Teacher play interaction styles: Effects on play behavior and
relationships with teacher training and experience. International Journal of Early
Childhood Education, 2, 55-69.
Gmitrova, V., & Gmitrov, J. (2003). The impact of teacher-directed and child-directed
pretend play on cognitive competence in kindergarten children. Early Childhood
Education Journal, 30, 241–246.
Howes, C., Burchinal, M., Pianta, R., Bryant, D., Early, D., Clifford, R., & Barbarin, O.
(2008). Ready to learn? Children’s pre-academic achievement in pre-kindergarten
programs. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 23, 27–50.
Johnson, J.E., Christie, J. F., & Yawkey, T. D. (1999). Play and early childhood
development(2nd ed.). New York: Addison Wesley Longman.
Kontos, S. (1999). Preschool teachers’ talk, role, and activity settings during free play. Early
Childhood Research Quarterly, 14(3), 363-382.
Korat, O. Bahar, E., & Snapir, M. (2003). Socio-Dramatic play as opportunity for literacy
development: The teachers’ role. The Reading Teacher, 56, 386-393.
Shin, E., & Spodek, B. (1991, April). The relationship between children’s play patterns and
types of teacher intervention. Paper presented at the annual conference of the American
Educational Research Association, Chicago.
Smilansky, S., & Shefatya, L. (1990). Facilitating play: A medium for promoting cognitive,
socioemotional, and academic development in young children. Gaithersburg, MD:
Psychosocial & Educational Publications.
75
Trawick-Smith, J. (1994). Interactions in the classroom: Facilitating play in the early years.
New York: Macmillan.
Trawick-Smith, J., & Dziurgot, T. (2011). ‘Good-fit’ teacher–child play interactions and the
subsequent autonomous play of preschool children. Early Childhood Research
Quarterly, 26, 110-123.
76
ISLLLE-1182
The Development of Fundamental Movement Skills by Children Aged Six
to Nine
Shu-Jung Lin
Department of Early Childhood Educare, Chung Chou University of Science and Technology,
Taiwan
s0970815@gmail.com
Shu-Chu Yang
Professor, Department of Early Childhood Education, National ChiaYi University, Taiwan
sylvia@mail.ncyu.edu.tw
Abstract
The main purpose of the present study is to elucidate any differences which may exist in the
FMSs of children between the ages of six and nine. Purposive sampling was used to recruit a
total of 485 participants (244 boys and 241 girls) in Chiayi City and Chiayi County. All of the
participants were between the ages of six and nine and had no disabilities or major health
problems. Of these, 92 were between the ages of six and seven; 197 were between the ages of
seven and eight; and 196 were between the ages of eight and nine. The average age was seven
years and eight months. The main research tool used in this study was the Test of Gross
Motor Development-2 (TGMD-2). There was a significant difference in both overall object
control skills (t = 9.08, p < .001) and overall performance (t = 5.45, p < .001), with the boys
performing better than the girls in both overall object control skills (M = 31.48 ＞ M = 20.29)
and overall performance (M = 56.84 ＞ M = 52.47). Significant differences were also found
for overall locomotor skills (F = 12.29, p < .001), overall object control skills (F = 12.81, p
< .001), and overall FMSs (F = 20.44, p < .001). For locomotor skills the Scheffé post hoc
test revealed that those aged eight and nine performed better than those aged between six and
eight, and that those aged between seven and eight performed better than those aged between
six and seven. For object control skills and overall FMSs the Scheffé post hoc test revealed
that those aged between eight and nine performed better than those aged between six and
eight. Thus it would be desirable for physical education teachers at elementary schools to
have girls participate in a variety of ball games, and also to encourage girls to engage in
simple catching, throwing, and dribbling activities after school. In sum, schools need to
provide a variety of movement activities which students find interesting, and also encourage
students to participate in sports after class and outside of school.
Keywords: Locomotor skills; Objective control skills; Fundamental movement skills
Introduction
77
Beginning from birth, an infant gradually learns how to use its muscles so as to control its
movements and manipulate objects, a developmental process which proceeds in a definite
direction and follows a predictable order. As the child matures, the acquisition of each new
complex movement skill relies on previously acquired movement skills. Furthermore,
physical, cognitive, emotional, and social development varies over the course of a lifetime.
Physical development includes changes in stature, proportions, appearance, health, and
movement skills, each stage of which has a certain amount of plasticity (Berk, 2007).
According to the Sport Administration of Taiwan’s Ministry of Education (2013), children

between the ages of three and eight are highly eager to learn new skills and have little fear of
injury or failure. Thus it is stressed that this early stage of growth should focus on the
development of fundamental movement skills (FMS), and that after the age of eight the focus
should shift to the development of more advanced movement skills. Similarly, Weikart (1998)
has pointed out that first and second graders need to acquire a wide variety of physical skills,
including such object control skills as throwing, kicking, and catching a ball, and such
movement skills as walking, running, and hopping. Moreover, the successful development of
FMSs is not only essential to the acquisition of complex movement skills, but also promotes
muscle coordination and assists in the development of interpersonal, cognitive, and emotional
skills (Pang and Fong, 2009).
Additionally, Ulrich and Sanford (2000) point out that a child who is less skilled than most of
his or her peers will generally be chosen last to participate in group games during recess and
after-school activities. The consequence of consistently being selected last or not at all is
likely to have a negative impact on a child’s physical self-concept and motivation to be
active.
Studies on the development of FMSs conducted in both Taiwan and elsewhere have yielded
different results. Some (Goodway et al., 2003； Li, 2009) have found no difference between
the locomotor skills of boys and girls, while others (Hardy et al., 2009; LeGear et al., 2012;
Yang et al., 2013) have found girls to be superior. For example, Yang et al. (2013) found girls
to perform better than boys in such skills as galloping, hopping, horizontal jumping, and
sliding. Further, Hardy et al. (2009) also found girls to perform better than boys in hopping.
Conversely, a number of studies (Giagazoglou et al., 2011; Goodway et al., 2003; Hardy et al.,
2009; LeGear et al., 2012; Li, 2009) have found that boys perform significantly better in
object control skills. For example, Hardy et al. (2009) found that boys were better than girls
at striking a stationary ball, kicking, and overhand throwing, but found no difference in
catching.
As for age differences, Li (2009) found that FMSs steadily develop between the ages of three
and ten. Similarly, Chow and Louie (2013) found that locomotor and object control skills
78
increase steadily and equally with age.
In light of the importance of FMSs in their own right, as well as the important role they play
in various other key areas of development, how FMSs develop during childhood is a critical
area of research. Thus the main purpose of the present study is to elucidate any differences
which may exist in the FMSs of children between the ages of six and nine.
Methodology
Participants
Purposive sampling was used to recruit a total of 485 participants (244 boys and 241 girls) in
Chiayi City and Chiayi County. All of the participants were between the ages of six and nine
and had no disabilities or major health problems. Of these, 92 were between the ages of six
and seven; 197 were between the ages of seven and eight; and 196 were between the ages of
eight and nine. The average age was seven years and eight months.
Instrumentation
The main research tool used in this study was the Test of Gross Motor Development-2
(TGMD-2) developed by Ulrich and Sanford (2000). The TGMD-2 measures both locomotor
skills (running, galloping, hopping, leaping, horizontal jumping, and sliding) and object
control skills (striking a stationary ball, stationary dribbling, catching, kicking, throwing, and
rolling). Each gross motor skill includes several behavior components that serve as
performance criteria. In general, if the child performs a behavior component correctly, the
examiner marks a 1; if the child does not perform a behavior component correctly, the
examiner marks a 0 (Ulrich and Sanford, 2000). The materials needed for administering the
TGMD-2 are an 8”–10” playground ball, a 4” lightweight ball, a basketball, a tennis ball, a
soccer ball, a softball, a 4”–5” square beanbag, tape, two traffic cones, a plastic bat, and a
batting tee.
Procedures
Prior to testing, we contacted the principal of each participating elementary school by
telephone and explained the purpose of the research and how it would be conducted. We also
contacted the teachers who agreed to have their class participate in the study, and explained
how much time would be required and the assistance they would need to provide. The
participating teachers were asked to distribute and collect parental consent forms which
included permission to film the performance of each participant.
Each participant’s performance was evaluated by playing the video recording at a slow speed
using Windows Media. A total of six research assistants were trained to carry out the
performance evaluation, four of whom had a reliability level of 0.8 or higher, and were thus
selected to carry out the actual evaluation.
79
The four evaluators were divided evenly into two teams, and each performance was
independently evaluated by both team members, with any discrepancies being re-evaluated so
as to insure consistency.
Data Analysis
The raw data was analyzed using means and standard deviation. A t-test and one-way analysis
of variance were used to compare the locomotor skills, object control skills, and FMSs of the
participants with respect to age and gender.
Results
Differences in Locomotor Skills, Object Control Skills, and Overall Performance in
Terms of Gender
As shown in Table 1, no significant difference was found for any of the six locomotor skills,
nor for overall performance. However, there was a significant difference in four of the six
object control skills: striking a stationary ball (t = 7.99, p < .001); stationary dribble (t = 2.32,
p < .05); throwing (t = 6.66, p < .001); and rolling (t = 4.32, p < .001). In each of these four
items the boys outperformed the girls: striking a stationary ball (M = 6.48 ＞ M = 4.80);
stationary dribbling (M = 4.62 ＞ M = 4.19); throwing (M = 5.80 ＞ M = 4.44); and rolling
(M = 4.38 ＞ M = 3.57). While there was no significant difference in kicking, this was the
object control skill in which both boys and girls had the best performance.
In addition, there was a significant difference in both overall object control skills (t = 9.08, p
< .001) and overall performance (t = 5.45, p < .001), with the boys performing better than the
girls in both overall object control skills (M = 31.48 ＞ M = 20.29) and overall performance
(M = 56.84 ＞ M = 52.47).
80
Differences in Locomotor Skills, Object Control Skills, and Overall Performance in
Terms of Age
As shown in Table 2, a significant difference was found for four of the six locomotor skills:
running, leaping, jumping, and sliding. In running (F = 26.09, p < .001) and jumping (F =
10.73, p < .001), the Scheffé post hoc test revealed that those aged between seven and nine
performed better than those aged between six and seven. In sliding (F = 9.51, p < .001) the
Scheffé post hoc test revealed that those aged between eight and nine performed better than
those aged between six and eight. However, the Scheffé post hoc test revealed no significant
difference for leaping.
Moreover, a significant difference was found for dribbling (F = 5.94, p < .01), catching (F =
11.78, p < .001), and throwing (F = 12.08, p < .001). The Scheffé post hoc test for throwing
revealed that those aged eight and nine performed better than those aged between six and
eight, and that those aged seven and eight performed better than those aged between six and
seven. As for dribbling and catching, the Scheffé post hoc test revealed that those aged eight
and nine performed better than those aged between six and eight.
Significant differences were also found for overall locomotor skills (F = 12.29, p < .001),
overall object control skills (F = 12.81, p < .001), and overall FMSs (F = 20.44, p < .001).
For locomotor skills the Scheffé post hoc test revealed that those aged eight and nine
performed better than those aged between six and eight, and that those aged between seven
and eight performed better than those aged between six and seven. For object control skills
and overall FMSs the Scheffé post hoc test revealed that those aged between eight and nine
performed better than those aged between six and eight.
81
Discussion
In this study it was found that boys and girls aged between six and nine have roughly equal
locomotor skills, as has been found by Goodway et al. (2003) and Li (2009). It was also
found that in the same age group the boys performed better in four out of six object control
skills: striking a stationary ball, stationary dribbling, overhand throwing, and underhand
rolling. This finding mainly agrees with Hardy et al. (2009), except that the boys in their
study also performed significantly better in kicking. By contrast, in the present study, of all
the object control items, both the boys and the girls were best at kicking, and they were
nearly equally good at it.
We also found that the boys had significantly better scores in overall object control skills, as
was found in most previous studies (Giagazoglou et al., 2011; Goodway et al., 2003; Hardy et
al., 2009; LeGear et al., 2012; Li, 2009). While Li (2009) asserts that boys tend to develop
object control skills more quickly, it’s also possible that this difference is largely due to the
influence of the role expectations of parents, many of whom consider ball games to be too
rough for girls, and therefore tend to discourage their daughters from participating in them. In
fact, a number of related studies have found that parents, especially fathers, have a major
influence on the sports their children participate in, and that fathers tend to encourage their
sons, but not their daughters, to participate in ball games (Fagot and Leinbach, 1989; Payne
and Isaacs, 2008).
82
We further found that the locomotor skills of both boys and girls increased with age. As for
object control skills and overall development, however, those between the ages of eight and
nine performed better than the younger participants, but there was no significant difference
between those aged between six and seven and those aged between seven and eight. This may
be the result of the emphasis on such activities as stretching exercises, running, and skipping
rope in physical education classes for first and second graders at Taiwanese elementary
schools. Indeed, Payne and Isaacs (2008) assert that the content of physical education classes
and how it is taught has an influence on the development of physical skills by children.
Finally, Hu (2009) asserts that comprehensive development needs to be planned and

systematic. Moreover, Berk (2007) contends that each stage of development has a certain
degree of plasticity, such that as long as they are provided with a number of suitable activities,
children will develop the physical skills they require. Thus it would be desirable for physical
education teachers at elementary schools to have girls participate in a variety of ball games,
and also to encourage girls to engage in simple catching, throwing, and dribbling activities
after school. In sum, schools need to provide a variety of movement activities which students
find interesting, and also encourage students to participate in sports after class and outside of
school.
References
Berk, L. E. (2007). Development through the Lifespan(4th edition). Boston, Ma: Allyn &
Bacon.
The Sport Administration of Taiwan’s Ministry of Education(2013). Children’s exercise
program. Retrieved June 30, 2014 from the World Wide Web:
http://www.sa.gov.tw/wSite/ct?xItem=3733&ctNode=340&mp=11
Weikart, P. S. (1998). Round the circle: Key experiences in movenent for children. Michigan:
High/Scope Education Research.
Pang, A. Y., & Fong, W. Y. (2009) Fundamental motor skill proficiency of Hong Kong
children aged 6-9 years. Research in Sports Medicine, 17, 125-144.
Ulrich, D.A., & Sanford, C. B. (2000) TGMD-2 : test of gross motor development:
examiner’s manual（2nd ed. ). Austin TX: PRO-ED.
Goodway, J. D., Crowe, H., & Ward, P. (2003) Effect of motor skill instruction on
fundamental motor skill development. Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly, 20(3),
298-314.
Li, L. (2009) Children Gross Motor Development from Ages 3 to 10 in Shandong. Journal of
Shandong Institute of Physical Education and Sports, 25(4), 47-50.
Hardy, L. L., King, L., Farrell, L., Macniven, R., & Howlett, S. (2009) Fundamental
movement skills among Australiam preschool children. Journal of Science and Medicine
in Sport, 13(5) , 503-508.
LeGear, M., Greyling, L., Sloan, E., Bell, R. I., Williams, B. L., Naylor, P. J., & Temple, V. A.
83
(2012) A window of opportunity? Motor skills and perceptions of competence of
children in kindergarten. International Journal of Behavior Nutrition and Physical
Activity, 9, 29.
Yang, S. C., Lin, S. J., & Tsai, C. Y.(2014) Comparison of fundamental movement skills
among young children with different gender age and BMI. Sports & Exercise Research,
16(3), 287-296.
Giagazoglou, P., Kabitsis, N., Kokaridas, D., Zaragas, C., Katartzi, E., & Kabitsis, C. (2011)
The movement assessment battery in Greek preschoolers: the impact of age, gender,
birth order, and physical activity on motor outcome. Research in Developmental
Disabilities, 32, 2577-2582.
Chow, B. C., Louie, L. H. T. (2013). Difference in children’s gross motor skills between two
types of preschools. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 116, 253-261.
Fagot , B. I., & Leinbach, M. D. (1989). The young child’s gender schema: Environmental
input, internal organization. Child Development, 60, 663-672.
Payne, V. G., & Isaacs, L. D. (2008). Human motor development: A lifespan approach (7th
ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill Companies.
Hu, T. M.(2009). The kindergarten physical activity guidelines. Elementary Education, 49(4)，
39-43。
84
ISLLLE-1195
The Early Childhood Education in Rural Gansu – A Province in
North-Western China
Chi Wai Chan

The Open University of Hong Kong
chwachan@ouhk.edu.hk
Early childhood education had long been regarded as a kind of child-care service in 註解 [o1]: has
traditional Chinese societies. Providing care-taking to children perhaps was the most
註解 [o2]: informal – change to children?
important responsibility of the people working in pre-primary education settings. However,
註解 [o3]: Why “was”? Still hold true?
parents in Chinese societies value pre-primary education very much that it can help pave the
way for their children’s further study. In the meantime, the problems of the quality of early 註解 [o4]: pave the way
years education and quality variation among kindergartens (or you’eryuan (in Chinese) were
註解 [o5]: why 2 “in”?
severe in China. The Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China published the
註解 [o6]: Again, is it something of the
policy papers viz. “Professional Standard of Kindergarten Teachers (provisional)” and
past?
“Guidelines for Aged 3 – 6 Children’s Learning and Development” in 2012 in the hope of
making the you’eryuan education able to cater for the needs and characteristics of children.
These policy papers value games and daily life experiences in children’s learning and state
that drills on academic work are not allowed in you’eryuans.
The presenter visited four you’eryuans in Lanzhou, the provincial capital of Gansu which is a 註解 [o7]: ,
less-developed province located in the north-western China. One of them is a publicly-funded

“exemplar” kindergarten and the remaining three are either owned by enterprises or private
individuals. Great differences in the quality among these you’eryuans are found even though
they generally emphasize structural quality in operating the kindergartens, such as the
management aspects of environmental and staff quality. The “exemplar” kindergarten, which
serves as an on-the-job training base for teachers from other kindergartens, is still not
holistically addressing the needs of its children. This presentation aims to report the findings
about the gap between what the kindergarten (particularly the non-publicly funded
kindergartens) leaders’ claim and what they are practicing in the provision of pre-schooling to
children. These findings will shed some light on the policies about the professional
development in early years teachers in Mainland China.
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ISLLLE-1247
The Effect of Integrated Movement Education on Preschoolers’
Fundamental Movement Skills
Shu-Chu Yang*, Hsiang-Ling Huang

National ChiaYi University
sylvia@mail.ncyu.edu.tw*
Shu-Jung Lin
Chung Chou University of Science and Technology
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of an integrated movement course on
the development of the fundamental movement skills of preschool children. Adopting a
quasi-experimental design, a specially designed physical education course was conducted for
children enrolled at a preschool in southern Taiwan. All of the children were between four
and five years old and in good health. One class was designated the experimental group and
the other was designated the control group. The experimental group consisted of 9 boys and
12 girls, and the control group consisted of 11 boys and 8 girls. The pretest revealed no
significant difference between the two groups in both locomotor skills and object control
skills. The results indicate that the integrated movement course had a significant positive
influence on both the locomotor and object control skills of the participants. Students will
acquire FMSs more efficiently and enjoyably, and also be more confident as when they enter
elementary school.
Keywords: fundamental movement skills, locomotor skills, object control skills
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ASMSS-2852
No Strangers in Classrooms: A Perspective of Culturally Responsive
Practice
Pei-Hsuan Lin
National Taipei University of Education, Taiwan
phlin@tea.ntu.edu.tw
Abstract
This study was conducted in SH Elementary School where students with multicultural
backgrounds in USA. As a parent volunteer, I was allowed to participate in school activities. I
am interested in investigating foreign students’ learning in the school. The field data came
from my observations of school environment, curriculum and classrooms, and informal
interviews with school staffs. The main participants in this study included k-I class teacher Y,
ESL teacher A, and two Taiwanese kids--Emily and Erica. The study found that culturally
responsive practice plays an important bridge to provide a safe and pleasant learning
environment for students. School teachers could be cultural brokers for utilizing community
resources, building positive climate, providing cultural caring, and transforming curriculum
and teaching.
Keywords: Culturally Responsive Practice, Cultural Diversity, Cultural Broker
1. Introduction
School is a social institute where teachers and students bring their cultural background in.
Traditionally, with the viewpoint of cultural mainstream, cultural diversity has been seen an
obstruction for students’ school learning. To challenge the assumptions of the mainstream
culture, multicultural educators take diversity as cultural capitals instead of cultural hinders
(Gay, 2000).
This study aimed at investigating how a school helped students with multi-cultural
background. It was conducted in SH Elementary School in USA. The 402 students came from
28 countries with 43 languages (data in 2011). As a school volunteer, I could participate in
various curriculum and activities. I worked as a math volunteer in k-1 teacher Y’s class once
a week (for two semesters) and ESL volunteer in teacher A’s class once a week (for one
semester). I am interested in investigating how the school build a learning environment to
support students with cultural diversity.
I concentrated on the networks of students’ life experiences among classrooms, schools and
their families. The main participants in this study included k-I class teacher Y, ESL teacher A,
and two Taiwanese kids --Emily and Erica. K-1 Teacher Y was a young lady.
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She was one of the most popular in SH elementary school. She liked to give her students a
warm hug after class to say good-bye. ESL Teacher A was about 35 years old with sunny
smile. Emily was a 5th grade girl. Her English ability was about 2nd Grade level measured by
entrance exam. Erica, a kindergarten student, couldn’t speak English. The field data were
mainly from my observations of school environment, school curriculum and classroom, and
informal interviews with school staffs.
2. SH Elementary School Environemnt

SH elementary school (SH) is located in a Metropolis district. There were 62 faculties and
402 students in SH (data in May, 2011). The students of SH were from two areas: the Village
of SHwood and the housing of a university. Students who living in the university housing
were from 28 countries with 43 native languages. In teacher Y’s K-1 class, there were 16
students from 8 countries (data in September, 2010).
There were many institutes and resources near SH. The SH students were easy to access the
resources--public libraries, university facilities , Museums, community center of the
university housing , community recreation center, etc. These institutes provided various
programs and activities for the residents and played important roles in social interactions.
This study aimed at investigating foreign students’ learning in a new school. The features of
the school for support students’ learning are discussed as below.
2.1 Cherishing Various Cultural Capitals

The diversities among students’ ethics, languages, and cultures were not seen as hinders for
teachers’ teaching. Instead, the administrators and teachers in SH utilized effectively parents’
involvement as resources for supporting students’ learning, SH encouraged parents to join
school activities by positive communication and interaction. Parents from other countries did
concern about their kids’ life in the school. SH adopted open strategies for encouraging
parents to participate in school activities, such as volunteer of administration, teaching, or
after school programs.
2.2 Facilitating Learning by Administrative Support

SH employed ESL teachers with other language ability to help new comers. In SH, some of
ESL teachers were from China, Korea, Spain and French. For new comers, ESL teachers
would enter their home classes to help. When k-1 new student, Erica, were in Ms. Young
class in September, 2010. ESL teacher J who could speak Chinese went to the K-I class to
help Erica as possible as she could. ESL teachers were not only for teaching English but also
for providing assistance of students’ school life.
Library is one of most popular site in SH. Librarian, Ms. H. was a nice counselor for students.
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A Grade 4-5 Taiwanese student, Emily, whose English ability is about grade 2 by entrance
exam. To help Erica’s reading, Ms. H. discussed with Emily’s ESL teacher, then provided
reading lists for Emily based on her age and language abilities.
2.3 Constructing Language Programs and Activities to Enhance Students’ Interaction

SH had several programs after school provide by PTA (parent and teacher association), such
as language programs, science clubs, craft classes etc. Most of the program teachers were
parents with teacher certifications. Taking language programs as an example, the programs
included Japanese, Korean, France, Spanish, Chinese and Sign language. Emily’s best friend
from Chili spoke Spanish. Emily joined Spanish program to learn her friend’s language. It
was a way to express kids’ friendship.
2.4 Designing Routine Multicultural Activities

SH held routine cultural activities for teachers, students and their family to share their culture
and talents. Such as variety show (students’ and teachers’ performances) in the first semester
and international week (global village, food fairs, performances) in the second semester.
These activities taken charged by PTA were connected to classroom curriculum. For example,
during international week, K-1 teacher Y invited parents from other countries to introduce
their food, customs, house and toys in her class.
The activities were designed to welcome parents’ participation. Parents took time to prepare
the activities with their kids. During the international week, most of the parents did their best
for demonstrating their culture in the global village and food fair. In the global village, the
school became a big family.
3. Curriculam Transgromation Based on Students’ Culture and Life Experience

Effective knowledge should connect to students’ life and experiences. In SH, culturally
responsive curriculum is muti-dimentions.
3.1 Students’ Learning Integration Based on Their Own Language and Culture
My family visited SH by new semester in August, 2010. Seeing us walking inside the school
building, principal L came over to say hello. She ardently welcomed my kids to the school
and led us to visit it. “Would the students’ diversity be problems for teaching? Especially
when teachers facing students who were not familiar with English.” I wonderet. Principal L
expressed that she had been SH for ten years. One of the features in this school is students’
multicultural background, she was glad to make friend with enthusiasm forging parents. She
pointed that the diversity had been one of important resources of this school, and never be a
hinder for teachers’ teaching. Students would love to come and get well along with other kids
soon.
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During the first week of the semester, SH took receptions for parents. As new comers, many
parents worried about their kids who might have difficulty in following school learning due
to the lacks of Egnlish ability. Some of them asked for extra programs or materials to enrich
kids’ English after school. One of ESL teacher responded to those concerns: “school learning
is hard for kids with different language. As school teachers, teaching English is our
responsibility. For students, their work is to share their new school experience with family.
Please give your kids to express their experience and school learning in their own language
instead of putting pressures on them.”
At PTA (parent-teacher meeting), as a parent, I entered Emily’s class to meet her homeroom
teacher, Mr. E. We discussed about Emily’s leaning and assignments. Mr. E expressed that he
encouraged his students to write narrative after school. I told Mr. E that I would ask Emily to
do it every day. I was surprised while Mr. E faced Emily and told her: “If you think one
narrative every day is OK for you, then you could do it. If you think it’s too much, a narrative
a week is Ok, too. I want you to enjoy the pleasure of doing narrative instead of the pressure
from it. ”
3.2 Constructing Curriculum Base on Student’s Ordinary Life Experience

In SH, curriculum contents were related to seasons or school routine activities. Giving an
example, main learning units for k-l classes were regarding to spring and Global in the
second semester. The following instances were my ESL classroom observations.
3.2.1 March 15, 2011. When I went down basement to ESL classroom at 9:20. ESL teachers’
photos were on the wall outside ESL classroom. Inside the classroom, there were an America
national flag and a big world map. On the right side of the classroom, a variety of souvenirs
given by foreign students were set in the bookshelf. On the left side, readings leveled 0-30 for
ESL students were in the other bookshelf. ESL students was asked to bring two readings as
home assignment based on their English ability and readiness. ESL teacher A took K-1 ESL
students from their own home class to the ESL classroom. There were 8 students who were
from China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Chili, and Mexico. Erica was the leader that day. When
students sat on the floor, Erica pointed the words in the board with a point-pen and led other
students to read loudly: “It is March 15, Wednesday, sunny day.” The Unit of the class had
been on Earth (one subunit of Global) since February. They had learned the five Continents
in the world. One Chinese student told me that his county is in Asia by pointing the big Map
on the wall with silence voice. Teacher A asked students where they lived. Then, she passed
each one a paper with M. city map. She asked the students to write “I live in M... ”on the
paper and color it.
3.2.2 March 23, 2011. The ESL class had been still on the unit of Earth. The topic was
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regarding to houses. ESL teacher A opened a big book in which shows different styles of
houses, such as ice house, long-stand house, stone house…. A new student from Japan was in
the class that day. Another ESL teacher Mimi from Korea came to the class for helping the
new student. After finishing the big book, students went back to their seat from the front floor.
A volunteer parent helped to pass the worksheet and gave assistances. While students were
doing their seat work, teachers A had 1 or 2 students to do comprehension testing each class.
She had Erica come to her desk for the testing. The test was not only to help ESL teachers
monitor students’ progress but also help students to know their reading levels. For Erica, her
reading level made progress to level 6-7 from 1-2 level when she was a new comer last
September.
3.2.3 May 4, 2011. Today’s unit is “flowers and animals in spring”. ESL Teacher A and
students took some pictures in schoolyards yesterday. The pictures included flowers (daffodil,
dandelion, tulip…) and animals (squirrel, robin, turkey…). Teacher A printed out the pictures.
At the beginning of the class, students sang two spring songs which revised from children’s
songs. They were enjoying the singing. Teacher A attracted students’ attention by pointing the
pictures took yesterday on the board. They were excited to see the beautiful pictures and
discussed the names and colors of the flowers and animals. Then students went back to do
their seat work, making a small book with 10 pages about flowers and animals in spring. On
each page of the small book, it let kids to write by a sentence: “In the spring, we
see .” Everyone could write his/her own sentences and picked the pictures on
the board to stick it on the blank part in the page. For example, I can see a red robin in the
tree or I can see a white tulip in the garden. They were expected to do page by page. The pace
of ESL seatwork for each student was flexible. If the students couldn’t finish the work in this
class, they could keep doing in next class. It’s Erica’s turn for comprehension testing. She was
in level 9. Erica picked readings leveled 9-10 on the book shelf for home studying today.
3.2.4 May 26, 2011. The ESL class started with “it is May 26, Thursday, rainy” while a
leader led the class to read loudly by pointing those words on a board. The topic is animals
connected to the farm field trip for K-1 students last week. The students saw lots of animals in
the farm. They were allowed to hold a baby animal if they wanted. Erica had a chick in her
hands that day. In today’s class, teacher told a ducking story with a big picture book. She also
prepared stickers, pictures for students’ seatwork. The seatwork was to finish the worksheet
by choice one of their favorite animal and fill out the brank by referring to the works
appeared in the big book. Then they could draw or use sticker to finish a picture with simple
words.
Teacher A prepared some clean old socks for planting plant pal since the beginning of the
unit of spring. Since then, students had done their journal to trace the growth of their plant
pal. The plant pals were growing green hair. Some of the students were busying in cutting the
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pal’s hair, some were busying in recording the length of the pal’s hair. Taking care of their
plant pal was much fun than doing today’s worksheet.
3.3 Utilizing Symbolic Curriculum

One way for transferring culturally relevant curriculum is the application of symbolic
curriculum (Tisdell, 2006)). In SH, students could see world maps, their national flags and
artworks around the school. In school, students could introduce their national flag and
traditional artworks to their friends by the map and decorations located in school corners.
They learned to know one another and different culture by the open, fresh and respect
symbolic environment in the school.
3.4 Interactive Instruction and Strategies

Each student has his/her own learning style rooted in their live and culture. In SH, responding
to students’ differentiation, the nature of teaching was caring, flexibility and variety.
3.4.1 Caring Relationship among Teachers and Students. SH is an international school. The
school welcomed new comers anytime. Teachers showed their geniality in getting along with
kids. For instance, Erica couldn’t speak English when she came to SH. She was used to give a
hug to her homeroom teacher Y to express her appreciation or anxiety. Miss Y was glad her
students to interact with her by different ways. She said “when a student comes to give me a
hug or hold my hands that means he/she feels safe and needs help. I enjoy the warmth with
my students by different interactive means.
3.4.2. Providing Tiered Materials and Flexible Pace to Fit Student’s Learning Need and
Readiness. Students’ readiness, learning style and interest were different due to the mix-age
and multi-cultural background in SH. In teacher Y’s classroom, she prepared different levels
of learning files/boxes which including different materials, reading, and assignments for each
student. Responding to mix-age kids, grouping was a popular strategy in classrooms. In
teacher Y’s classroom, students were divided into four groups according to their math
readiness and abilities. She taught one group each class while the other groups were doing
their assignments or works prepared by teachers in their files. For younger kids, like Erica,
teacher Y gave them more time to do their work by their own pace instead of unifying the
worktime.
3.4.3. Encouraging Students to Express Their Ideas and Feeling by Multiform. In teacher A’s
and Y’s classrooms, there were lots of teaching aids in cabinets. Teacher Y indicated that it
was important to learn by sensory for little kids. She spend lots of time in collecting and
preparing operational materials. In addition, she designed learning by planning games. Her
students often played cards to enhance the concepts of numbering. She thought that students
could get along with one another easily by playing games as well.
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As new comers, some students had difficulty in speaking English. Teacher Y started her class
by students’ sharing stories with sign language every day. To give students opportunities to
express their story and feeling, teacher Y adopt several strategies, such as sign language, story
books, weekly stars etc. Every kid had a story book to share her/his life story. It could be
done by writing, drawing, pictures, or photos. Week birthday star is one of favorite programs
in the classroom. The weekly stars prepared photos and told the class about their growth story.
Those approaches were not only for sharing individual growth but also the story regarding
diverse environment and cultural characteristics. They learned to know one another as well as
their culture.
4. Teacher as Cutrural Brokers

Schoolteachers, as cultural organizers and collaborators (Gay, 2000; Gentemann &
Whitehead, 1983), can build a bridge among students’ families. Teacher Y and teacher A
welcomed parents to be volunteers in her classrooms. It provided opportunities for parents
making friends with another by participating in the classes. The trust and friendship among
parents affect students’ positive interaction after school.
Teacher Y’s students often invited their classmates to join their family activities after school.
For kids, birthday party is one of most popular social activities. Erica was invited to her
classmates’ birthday party. She attended Natasha’s panama party, Kitty’s cake-baking party,
and so on. For her, enjoying the exotic parties would be indelible experiences.
Parents did appreciate teacher Y for her kindness and patience to their kids. Two weeks
before teachers’ appreciation week (May 2-6), two parents invited others to help their kids
design presents for teacher appreciation day without notifying teacher Y in advance. Students
made a thank-book by cards with their words. Teacher Y was amazed at receiving the present.
How touching she was when getting the surprise!
I had entered a study field with strange culture. During this time, I learned how the school
teachers interpreted students’ differentiation and response to their diversity. In SH, staffs and
teachers took diversity as a normal part of the school ecology. They admitted and appreciated
the differentiations. They utilized diversity as resource to build support systems for students
learning during school time and after school. Student felt safe and enjoyed their learning in
SH. There was no strangers in the school after all.
5. References
Gay, G. (2000). Culturally responsive teaching: Theory, research and practice. NY: Teacher
College Press.
Gentemann, K. M., & Whitehead, T. L. (1983). The cultural broker concept in bicultural
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education. Journal of Negro Education, 52(2), 118-129.
Tisdell, E. J. (2006). Spirituality, cultural identity, and Epistemology in culturally responsive
teaching in higher education. Multicultural perspective, 8(3), 19-25.
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ISLLLE-1226
Translating Chinese Erotic Literature: A Case Study of the English
Translations of Jin Ping Mei
Wayne Wen-Chun Liang

Hong Kong Baptist University
wliang@hkbu.edu.hk
Hsia (2007) states that the Catholic mission in China developed modern Sino–European
cultural contacts beginning in the late seventeenth century, especially through the devotion of
two Italian Jesuits, Michele Ruggieri and Matteo Ricci. The impact of the missionaries’ work
in early modern China is that it facilitated cultural exchange between China and Europe
through the medium of translation. Yet, the translations produced by missionaries could be
ideology-driven, as their main purpose was to convert the Chinese people into believing in
Catholicism or Christianity; therefore, they attempted to reconstruct Chinese Confucianism
through their religious conceptions. This can be seen in James Legge’s English translations of
the Confucian canon, which employ Christianity in his translations. This raises one question:
is Legge being loyal to the original text? Without doubt, the most widely accepted conception
of translation ethics is that a translator should be loyal to the original source text and
eliminate otherness in the translation. If the role of the translator is to remain invisible, then
the translator must be loyal to the original text. The present study adopts Chesterman’s (1997)
binary points on translation ethics pertaining to both macro-ethical and micro-ethical matters,
with special reference to two English translations of the Chinese erotic literature Jin Ping Mei:
Clement Egerton’s (1939) The Golden Lotus and David Roy’s (2013) The Plum in the
Golden Vase. In particular, this study investigates the translator’s role in dealing with
sexuality during the translation process. It is hoped that the present study can shed light on
factors that would affect a translator’s behaviors during the production process and will
further scrutinize whether a translation done by a modern sinologist/translator carries
religious conceptions.
95
Education(2)
Room B, 2F
2015/8/26 Wednesday 14:45-16:15
Session Chair: Prof. Pei-Yu, Chou
ASMSS-2860
Curriculum Evaluation of the Master Degree in Public Administration, Program in
Public Policy and Public Management (Regular and Special Program) Revised
Curriculum in 2010, the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Mahidol University
Somsak Amornsiriphong︱Mahidol University
Somboon Sirisunhirun︱Mahidol University
ASMSS-2931
Study on the Multicultural Education Materials Designed for Kindergarten in Taiwan
Pei-Yu, Chou︱Mackay Junior College of Medicine, Nursing and Management
Chia-Chang, Hsu︱Hsin Sheng Junior College of Medical Care and Management
Yu-Chuan, Chang︱Taoyuan Innovation Institute of Technology
ASMSS-2827
Becoming a Mother through Action Research: Learning, Teaching and Pedagogy
Hiu Ching Rainbow Cheung︱University of Bristol
Huk Yuen Law︱The Chinese University of Hong Kong
ASMSS-2921
Teachers’ Perceptions towards Professional Development of Remedial Education in
Taiwan
Wen-Chi Hu︱Asia University
Hsiao-Lan Chen︱National Taiwan Normal University
Li-Yu Hung︱National Taiwan Normal University
Shih-Tsung Hsu︱Chaoyang University of Technology
ASMSS-2917
Quantitative Study on Perceived Facial Asymmetry
Shu-Yen Wan︱Chang Gung University
Pei-Ying Tsai︱Chang Gung University
96
ASMSS-2860
Curriculum Evaluation of the Master Degree in Public Administration,
Program in Public Policy and Public Management (Regular and Special
Program) Revised Curriculum in 2010, the Faculty of Social Sciences and
Humanities, Mahidol University
Somsak Amornsiriphong*
Department of Social Sciences, Mahidol University, Thailand
somsak.amo@mahidol.ac.th
Somboon Sirisunhirun
Department of Social Sciences, Mahidol University, Thailand
Abstract
The objectives of this research are to evaluate the Master’s degree of Public Administration,
Program in Public Policy and Management (normal and special programs) (revised
curriculum in 2010) at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Mahidol University
and to propose guidelines for curriculum improvement and development. The research
employs mixed- methods including questionnaire, focus group discussion and in-depth
interview. The research finds that: 1) Context factor: students’ opinion towards the
curriculum’ s appropriateness is at the highest level (M = 4.37, SD = 0.63), followed by
lecturers (M = 4.25, SD = 0.80) and alumni (M = 4.16, SD = 0.77) respectively; 2) Input
factor (instructional process support): students’ opinion towards the curriculum’ s
appropriateness is at the highest level (M = 4.30, SD = 0.68), followed by lecturers (M =
4.12, SD = 0.79) and alumni (M = 4.11, SD = 0.75) respectively; 3) Process factor: students’
opinion towards the curriculum’ s appropriateness is at the highest level (M= 4.33, SD =
0.70), followed by lecturers (M= 4.16, SD = 0.75) and alumni (M= 4.14, SD = 0.81)
respectively; 4) Product factor: students’ opinion towards the curriculum’ s appropriateness is
at a high level (M = 4.35, SD = 0.69) and both the level of concordance with the labor market
(M = 4.32, SD = 0.70) and the level of usefulness for careers are high (M = 4.39, SD = 0.67).
Alumni’s opinions towards the curriculum’s appropriateness are at a high level (M = 4.25,
SD = 0.78) and both the level of concordance with the labor market (M = 4.24, SD = 0.80)
and the level of usefulness for careers are high (M = 4.38, SD = 0.72). Employers’ opinions
towards the curriculum’s appropriateness are at the highest level (M = 4.54, SD = 0.69); the
level of concordance with the labor market is high (M = 4.48, SD = 0.60) and the level of
usefulness for careers is the highest (M = 4.56, SD = 0.53). Lecturers’ opinions towards the
curriculum’s appropriateness are at a high level (M = 4.25, SD = 0.77) and both level of
concordance with the labor market (M = 4.29, SD = 0.74) and the level of usefulness for
careers are high (M = 4.36, SD = 0.75). In addition, students’ opinions, alumni’s opinions and
lecturers’ opinions towards the curriculum’s appropriateness do not indicate differently at the
97
level of significance .05. Moreover, the level of working performance of alumni before
studying is high (M = 4.29, SD = 0.74) and after studying is the highest (M = 4.54, SD =
0.54).
Keywords: curriculum evaluation, public administration, Mahidol University
1. Introduction
Nowadays education functions as an important tool and a mechanism for country
development. Education helps in increasing human capital, potentiality, performance,
intellect and wisdom for career progression and life spending. Therefore, educational system
development also means concurrent development of human resources. Whenever a human
resource is developed, not only people but also organizations, communities, societies and
nations are developed. In addition, the quality of people is affected by the quality of the
educational system. If the educational system is well qualified, the people are also well
qualified. In contrast, if the educational system is unqualified, the people are also unqualified
and the nation will ultimately be failed badly.
In Thailand, educational system management under the National Act of Education B.E. 2542
and the endorsement Act (No. II) B.E. 2545 aims to develop Thai people in several respects,
including knowledge, intellect, morality, ethics and culture for spending their lives within
society according to the principles of self-learning and self-development. An educational and
instructional management process ought to support learners to develop their potentiality and
performance. Higher Education management is very important to expand opportunities for
learners to gain knowledge at the higher level, not only with the Master’s degree but also the
doctorate. Post-graduate education at the level of both the Master’s degree and doctorate is
now playing greater role in Thai society because of the great number of graduate students. In
the past, most Thai graduates continued their higher education abroad because there are few
curricular opening in Thailand that allows options to study. In contrast with the past, many
educational institutes and universities now provide a range of curricula at the post-graduate
level in Thailand. This causes many students to continue their education within the country.
Therefore, it is essential to continuously develop and revise curricula in order to produce
quality graduate students. Besides, this should fulfill the requirement of both the labor market
and the society within which they work.
In Thailand, the Master of Arts in Public Administration is now pretty popular degree for
students to select to study. The Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Mahidol
University, has considered that an MA (Master of Arts) in Public Administration is quite
useful for national development so it has been initiated since B.E. 2540 by approval of the
academic council of Mahidol University. The curriculum ran in the second semester of the
next year B.E. 2541 and the first group of MA students enrolled.
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At that time, the curriculum officially was titled “Master of Arts (Public Administration)”.
After that, the curriculum was revised again in B.E. 2543 and the title of curriculum was still
“Master of Arts (Public Administration)”. The curriculum was revised again in B.E. 2546,
when some subjects were improved and this became the revised curriculum. Finally, the
curriculum was revised for the third time and the name of curriculum was changed to “Master
of Public Administration (Program in Public Policy and Public Management)” to date.
(Sirisunhirun, 2006, p.1).
The Committee of MPA Curriculum, Department of Social Sciences, Faculty of Social

Sciences and Humanities, Mahidol University, recognizes the importance of curriculum
development and revision so the curriculum has been continuously evaluated for maintaining
the quality of graduates in accordance with the philosophy of curriculum and labor market
concordance. Therefore, the researcher is interested in the curriculum evaluation which was
implemented a few years ago.
1.1 Research Objectives

There are two research objectives, which are:
1) To evaluate the curriculum of the Master’s degree of Public Administration, Program in
Public Policy and Management (normal and special programs) (revised curriculum in 2010),
the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Mahidol University.
2) To Propose guidelines for curriculum improvement and development
2. Research Boundaries
There are three research boundaries including boundary of contents, area of study and
boundary of research population, samples and key informants. Details are as hereunder. The
research aims to evaluate the curriculum of MPA (Program in Public Policy and Public
Management) by employing the CIPP model of Stufflebeam as a main conceptual
framework, and other factors and components from the concept of the Office Higher
Education Commission of Thailand and TQF (Thailand Quality Framework). Therefore
there are four major components which will be evaluated, these being context, input, process
and product. Firstly, the context component of the curriculum is composed of executives,
faculty, department, families, communities, management system of University, purposes of
curriculum, university reputation, status of curriculum, curriculum approval, and objectives
and philosophy of curriculum. Secondly, the input component of the curriculum is composed
of subject, teaching time, teaching techniques, teaching media, tuition fees and expenditure,
students, lecturers, experts, educational system, curricular management system, curriculum
operation, period of study, admission, curriculum, and collaboration with other universities.
Thirdly, the process component of the curriculum is composed of instructional process,
instructional atmospheres, moral support, educational tests and measurements, graduation
criteria, educational quality assurance and curriculum development.
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Fourthly, the product component of the curriculum is composed of quality of graduates,
results to lecturers, and results to University.
3. Research Population, Samples and Key Informants

The research methods are mixed. Therefore, the boundary of the research population will be
categorized into two groups, population and samples for quantitative research, and key
informants for qualitative research. The research tool for quantitative research is a
questionnaire. The researcher intends to collect data from four groups of stakeholders
including students, lecturers, alumni and employees. The population amounts to 239 people
and the researcher received 141 returned questionnaires from the population, so these are the
accessible data which make up the sample size of the study. The return rate of questionnaires
is equal to 60%. Besides, there are two methods used for qualitative data gathering, including
focus group discussion with twelve MPA students and in-depth interview with three lecturers.
4. Conceptual and Theoretical Framework

The researcher employs four theoretical concepts and approaches in the study: the CIPP
model of Stufflebeam; Taba’s components of curriculum evaluation; the concept of
curriculum components of the Office of Higher Education Commission; and the concept of
TQF (Thailand Quality Framework).
The researcher employs the CIPP model as the main theoretical framework, which is
composed of context, input, process, and product. The researcher then employs factors and
criteria to evaluate the MPA curriculum in each and every main component.
In the context component, the researcher classifies context components into two parts,
internal university context and external university context. The research employs some
factors in the internal university context including 1) executive of University, Faculty and
Department; 2) University, Faculty, Department 3) area of University; 4) University’s
education management system; 5) curriculum purposes; 6) curriculum status (new/revised);
7) curriculum approval; 8) curriculum philosophy; and 9) curriculum objectives, and some
factors in the external university context, including 1) students’ family, and 2) community.
The factors in both contexts are synthesized from Taba’s concept and the concept of
curriculum components of the Office of Higher Education Commission.
In the input component, the researcher employs factors for evaluation that are synthesized
from both Taba’s concept and the concept of curriculum components of the Office of Higher
Education, including 1) subject contents and period; 2) instruction techniques and methods;
3) instruction media; 4) equipment; 5) tuition fees; 6) students; 7) lecturers; 8) experts; 9)
curriculum management system (structure/ credits/ semester); 10) curriculum operation; 11)
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number and qualification of lecturers; 12) curriculum type; 13) collaboration with others; and
14) graduation.
In the process component, the researcher employs factors for evaluation that are synthesized
from both Taba’s concept and the concept of curriculum components of the Office of Higher
Education of Thailand, including 1) instructional process; 2) curriculum management
process; 3) instructional atmosphere; 4) moral support; 5) educational tests and
measurements; 6) graduation criteria; 7) education quality assurance; and 8) curriculum
development.
In the product component, the researcher employs factors for evaluation that are synthesized
from the concept of curriculum components of the Office of Higher Education of Thailand
and the concept of TQF, including 1) results to graduates (five domains of quality
framework: morals and ethics, knowledge, cognition, human relations and responsibility, and
skills in mathematical analysis, communication and information technology); 2) results to
lecturers; and 3) results to University
Finally, the research also analyzes and synthesizes data from each and every factor and
component to propose guidelines for curriculum development and improvement. Details are
shown in the Table 1.
5. Research Findings
5.1 General Information on Stakeholders
The research finds that there are 102 MPA students who replied to the questionnaire. These
can be divided into two groups: normal program and special program. Most of them started
their MPA admission in 2013 (49 students, or 48.04%), 40 students were studying in normal
program and 62 students studying in the special program (normal program = 39.22% and
special program = 60.78%); these students were studying and completing course-work
(normal program = 15 students, or 37.50% and special program = 26 students, or 41.94%); or
doing a thesis (normal program = 25 students, or 62.50%, and special program = 36 students,
or 58.06%). Their gender was predominantly female (male = 40 students, or 39.22%, and
female = 62, or 60.78%); most of them were aged 31-40 years (26 students, or 25.49%), of
single marital status (80 students, or 78.43%), with their hometown in central Thailand (74
students, or 72.55%), working in the public sector (54 students, or 52.94%), and working at
the operational level (50 students, or 49.02%). Of the students, 55 (50%) are satisfied with
the MPA curriculum at the highest level.
Sixteen alumni replied to the questionnaire. Most of them are female (11 alumni, or 68.75%)
and the rest are male (5 alumni, or 31.25%); most of them are aged under 30 (9 alumni, or
56.25%), of single marital status (13 alumni, or 81.25%), with their hometown in central
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Thailand (10 alumni, or 62.50%), working in the public sector (10 alumni, or 62.50%), and
working at an operational level (9 alumni, or 56.25%). Eight alumni are satisfied with the
MPA curriculum at a high level (50%).
Thirteen employers replied to the questionnaire. Most of them are female (10 employers, or
76.92%) and the rest are male (3 employers, or 23.08%); most of them are aged 41-50 years
(5 alumni, or 38.46%), working in the public sector (10 alumni, or 76.92%), acting as
students’ supervisors for 1-3 years (5 employers, or 38.46%) and supporting students to study
for the MPA by allowing time (6 employers, or 46.15%).
Ten lecturers replied to the questionnaire. Most of them are female (7 lecturers, or 70%) and
the rest are male (3 lecturers. or 30.00%); most of them are aged 31-40 years (6 lecturers, or
60.00%), and have a work experience period of 3-5 years (5 lecturers, or 50%). Most of them
are responsible for either two subjects or more than three subjects (4 lecturers, or 40%).
5.2 Results of Curriculum Evaluation by CIPP Model

This part shows the results of curriculum evaluation by the CIPP model, in term of context
components, input components (instructional process support) and process components. The
schedule shows information on students, alumni’s and lecturers’ opinions. All factors
(context, input and process) are evaluated at a high level.
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The research finds that context components of students’ opinion towards the curriculum’s
appropriateness are at the high level (M = 4.37, SD = 0.63), followed by lecturers (M = 4.25,
SD = 0.80) and alumni (M = 4.16, SD = 0.77) respectively. Input components (instructional
process support) show students’ opinion towards the curriculum’s appropriateness is at the
high level (M = 4.30, SD = 0.68), followed by lecturers (M = 4.12, SD = 0.79) and alumni (M
= 4.11, SD = 0.75) respectively. Process components show students’ opinion towards the
curriculum’s appropriateness is at the high level (M= 4.33, SD = 0.70), followed by lecturers
(M= 4.16, SD = 0.75) and alumni (M= 4.14, SD = 0.81) respectively.
In addition, the researcher evaluates input components (curriculum) and product components
by collecting data from students, alumni, employers, and lecturers. Details are shown in the
Table 3.
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Furthermore, input components (curriculum) show students’ opinion towards the
curriculum’s appropriateness is at a high level (M = 4.42, SD = 0.69) and both level of
concordance with the labor market (M = 4.34, SD = 0.74) and level of usefulness for careers
are high (M = 4.39, SD = 0.71). Alumni’s opinions towards the curriculum’s appropriateness
are at a high level (M = 4.27, SD = 0.84) and both level of concordance with the labor market
(M = 4.17, SD = 0.85) and level of usefulness for careers are high (M = 4.24, SD = 0.81).
Employers’ opinions towards the curriculum’s appropriateness are at the high level (M =
4.34, SD = 0.69), and both level of concordance with the labor market (M = 4.19, SD = 0.76)
and level of usefulness for careers are high (M = 4.33, SD = 0.69). Lecturers’ opinions
towards the curriculum’s appropriateness are at the highest level (M = 4.51, SD = 0.64) and
both level of concordance with the labor market (M = 4.43, SD = 0.69) and level of
usefulness for careers are high (M = 4.45, SD = 0.67).
Moreover, product components show students’ opinion towards the curriculum’s

appropriateness is at a high level (M = 4.35, SD = 0.69) and both level of concordance with
the labor market (M = 4.32, SD = 0.70) and level of usefulness for careers are high (M =
4.39, SD = 0.67). Alumni’s opinions towards the curriculum’s appropriateness are at a high
level (M = 4.25, SD = 0.78) and both level of concordance with the labor market (M = 4.24,
SD = 0.80) and level of usefulness for careers are high (M = 4.38, SD = 0.72). Employers’
opinions towards the curriculum’s appropriateness are at the highest level (M = 4.54, SD =
0.69), and level of concordance with the labor market is high (M = 4.48, SD = 0.60), while
level of usefulness for careers is at the highest (M = 4.56, SD = 0.53). Lecturers’ opinions
towards the curriculum’s appropriateness are at a high level (M = 4.25, SD = 0.77) and both
level of concordance with the labor market (M = 4.29, SD = 0.74) and level of usefulness for
careers are high (M = 4.36, SD = 0.75).
5.3 Differences of Level of Curriculum’s Appropriateness, Level of Concordance with

Labor Market and Level of Usefulness for Careers
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According to the information shown in the schedule, the research finds that students’
opinions, alumni’s opinions and lecturers’ opinions towards the curriculum’s appropriateness
do not indicate differently at the level of significance .05.
5.4 Quality of Working Performance of Graduates Before and After Admission

The researcher evaluates the final product component, which is the quality of graduates
before and after admission to the MPA curriculum according to the employers. The research
finds that the level of working performance of alumni before studying is high (M = 4.29, SD
= 0.74) and after studying is the highest (M = 4.54, SD = 0.54). Details are shown in the
Table 5.
According to the results shown in the schedule, the foremost three qualities of the working
performance of graduates before admission are industriousness and willingness to work (M =
4.54, SD = 0.66), good human relations with colleagues (M = 4.54, SD = 0.66) and
faithfulness (M = 4.54, SD = 0.66) equally, and the foremost three qualities of the working
performance of graduates after admission are industriousness and willingness to work (M =
4.77, SD = 0.44), responsibility for work (M = 4.77, SD = 0.44) and faithfulness (M = 4.77,
SD = 0.44) equally.
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5.5 Motivations for Studying MPA, Expectations from Studying MPA and Applications
of MPA Knowledge after Graduation of MPA’s Students
There are 102 MPA students who replied to questionnaires. The research finds that 1) the first
three motivations for studying the MPA are to increase knowledge, University reputation and
to bring MPA knowledge to develop organizations respectively; 2) the first three expectations
from studying the MPA are to apply MPA knowledge to work effectively, to get more
knowledge in MPA and to have a new network of friends that is useful for working; and 3)
the first three applications of MPA knowledge after graduation of MPA students are to apply
MPA knowledge to work effectively, to get more knowledge on public policy analysis and
management, and to have a new network of friends that is useful for working. Details are
shown in the Table 6.
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6. Discussions
According to the results of the curriculum evaluation, the research finds all components,
context, input, process and product, are evaluated at a high level and some factors are
evaluated at the highest. These findings are relevant to the results of the previous Master of
Arts (Public Administration) curriculum. Therefore, the research discusses what is found in
each and every component. Firstly, the research reflects the quality control from both the
Higher Education Commission of Thailand and the university council of Mahidol iniversity
that have approved and monitored the quality of MPA curriculum (revised program).
Therefore, the curriculum can achieve to produce the quality graduates. The research finding
in this component is relevant to the results of evaluation of the last curriculum (before
revision) (Somboon Sirisunhirun, 2006). Secondly, the research reflects the standards of
lecturers according to the standards of TQF (Thailand Quality Framework). All lecturers
graduated in the field of Public Administration or related fields; half of them occupied an
academic position, with three associate professors and three assistant professors.
Furthermore, students, alumni and employers reflect the same way on subjects within the
curriculum that prove useful for their work, such as research methodology in public
administration, strategic management, human capital development and etc. Thirdly, the
research results reflect the satisfaction of students and alumni with the teaching and learning
process, which is student-centered. The students can present their opinions to the class and
discuss some interesting issues with peers and lecturers. The lecturers always let their
students perform self-analysis and self-reflection throughout the lessons and Fourthly, as an
instruction process, the MPA curriculum has to conduct and concentrate on the instruction
standard, with five domains of students’ learning as stated in the standards of TQF. These
specify a minimum standard of graduation that include the morality and ethics domain, the
knowledge domain, the cognition domain, the human relations and responsibility domain, and
the domain of skills in mathematical analysis, communication and information technology.
Therefore, the students are produced in the pattern of five domains which are useful for their
work after graduation.
7. Recommendations for Revising MPA Curriculum Development

Although all stakeholders feel satisfied with the overall MPA curriculum, there are a few
things to be improved and developed. Therefore, the research finds that there are seven
recommendations for revising the MPA curriculum including: 1) philosophy of curriculum;
2) objectives of curriculum; 3) structure of curriculum; 4) content of curriculum; 5)
instructional process; 6) monitoring and evaluation; and 7) others. Details are stated
hereunder. The researcher can conclude with some recommendations for the philosophy of
the curriculum in that it should be revised and reviewed intermittently in accordance with
social change and promoted to MPA students. Besides, the teaching and learning process
should also be congruent with the philosophy of the curriculum. In addition, the commission
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of the MPA curriculum has to make clear the objectives of the curriculum to MPA students
and they should understand how to achieve the objectives.
Moreover, the objectives will be expanded to extend any educational opportunities to the
outreach group, especially in provincial parts. Moreover, the structure of the curriculum
should be set up and implemented from basic subjects to advanced subjects gradually.
Students should have the chance to freely enroll in some selective subjects that they would
like to learn to meet their personal needs and to be useful to them. The structure of the MPA
curriculum should be revised in accordance with national developments. The curriculum must
serve provincial areas by expanding campuses to other provinces via MU campuses.
Furthermore, the curriculum of the MPA for local administration should be created and
developed. Furthermore, there are some recommendations for curriculum content
improvement which concern subjects that should be systematically and continuously related
to the professions of students. The teaching and learning process should be a research-based
process and student-centered. Therefore, the lecturers have to let their students analyze the
content of subjects. The lecturers should pay more attention to teaching students who lack
mathematical skills especially in the subjects of research methodology, research statistics, etc.
In addition, some subjects, like fiscal management, should add up activities to illustrate the
contents and encourage clarity and better understanding on the part of students. Furthermore,
subjects that are related to field study and practical session should be further enhanced in the
MPA curriculum. For improving instructional process, lecturers have to apply their research
through the teaching and learning process because it clarifies lessons. Lecturers should do
more active classroom research for subject improvement. It is very important and useful for
students to exchange with other students, to collaborate academically with other universities
and to invite professors or experts from other institutes for lecturing and academic activities.
Besides, the students’ English skills should be improved. Textbooks and thesis guidelines
must be distributed to all students. For monitoring and evaluation, the committee of the MPA
curriculum should set up a system of grade re-examination before revealing grades to the
students and randomly test the system continuously in all semesters. The Faculty staff and
mentors should work more closely to monitor educational planning and the progress of each
student. Finally, there are many other recommendations for curriculum improvement such as
an internet system, audio-visual material, recreation rooms, Faculty and University libraries,
number of back office staff, activities for building friendships and site visits or fieldtrip
studies.
8. References
Guba, E. G., & Stufflebeam, D. L. (1970). Strategies for the institutionalization of the CIPP
evaluation model. An address delivered at the 11 Phi the Delta Kappa Symposium on
Educational Research, Columbus, OH.
Hammond. R. L. (1967). Evaluation at the local level. Tueson, AZ: Project EPIC.
108
Oliver, A. l. (1965). Curriculum improvement. New York: Dodd, Mead & Co.
Sirisunhirun, S. (2006). Curriculum Evaluation of the Master of Arts (Public Administration),
Department of Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities,
MahidolUniversity. Bangkok: Mister Koppy.
Stake, R. E. (1973). The continence of education evaluation. Teachers College Record. 68(7),
523-540.
Stufflebeam. D. L. (1974). Education evaluation and decision making. Itasca, IL: F.E.
Peacock.
Taba, H. (1962). Curriculum development theory and practice. San Francisco, CA: Harcourt,
Brace & World.
Tyler, R. W. (1950). Basic principles of curriculum and instruction. Chicago: University of
Chicago.
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ASMSS-2931
Study on the Multicultural Education Materials Designed for Kindergarten
in Taiwan
Pei-Yu, Chou*
Deparment of Early Chilhood Care and Education, Mackay Junior College of Medicine,
Nursing and Management, Taiwan
s314@eip.mkc.edu.tw
Chia-Chang, Hsu
Deparment of Chilhood Care and Education, Hsin Sheng Junior College of Medical Care and
Management, Taiwan
sgc1212@hsc.edu.tw
Yu-Chuan, Chang
Deparment of Chilhood Care and Education, Taoyuan Innovation Institute of Technology,
Taiwan
c2529409@yahoo.com.tw
Abstract
Multicultural education advocated respecting the cultural diversity to eliminate the cultural
bias, discrimination, and stereotype in order to perform the equality of educational
opportunity and social justice. Because of the rise intermarried social phenomenon and
democracy rights bought up the claim to the cultural diversity respect for Taiwan while
multicultural education are proposed in an effort to practice in schools, especially focus of the
preschool education. By 2012, the law of integrating kindergartens and nursery schools was
announced by the Governments to state the early childhood education should be based on a
child-centered viewpoint, and practice these principles involving with gender, ethnic, and
cultural equality, as well as education and caring, and family respect. Therefore, Nine goals
were formed the directions of Tentative Curriculum Outlines for Preschool Care-taking
Activities. The eighth purpose was to cultivate the cultural identify with an attitude to
approach, appreciate, and to accept different cultures for preschool education.
The purpose of the study is to explore the multicultural education practicing in the
kindergarten in Taiwan. Qualitative analysis was conducted through references review,
scholar counseling, interviews and documentation with 30 kindergarten teachers’. The
research findings are as following. First, it is hard to implement multicultural education in the
kindergarten, thus low popularity and accuracy. Second, multicultural education was fall into
tourist curriculum and teachers have no idea solve diversity in the kindergarten. Third, most
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kindergarten could not sustained implement the multicultural education that result from the
regulation from Bureau of Education In fact, teachers are not guided on application and they
proposed the multicultural materials are necessary helpful to be a transformative teaching
teacher.
The following conclusions are reached:

1. It is necessary to design and develop the anti-bias multicultural education materials that
suit the cultural context in Taiwan for kindergartens.
2. The anti-bias multicultural education materials for kindergartens should be based on
biological and science perspectives to interpret the differences of different cultures.
3. Both teaching aids and reference guide are designed into the anti-bias multicultural
education materials so kindergarten teachers can universally apply the multicultural education
materials to a daily schedule in the kindergarten, including curriculum and teaching, free-
exploration period and learning centers period.
Keywords: Preschool Multicultural Education, Anti-bias Curriculum Approach, Multicultural

Education Materials
Introduction
Multicultural education derived from the ethnic revival movement and immigrant trends
while minority groups resisted the assimilation of dominant groups to defend their culture.
The aim of the multicultural education attained to equality of educational opportunity and
social justice that every cultural group can be accept, appreciated and respect in the society
(Banks,1979, 2001).
In Taiwan, there are already formed a diverse society that were composed with a variety of
populations for race, ethnicity, sex, religion, disadvantage, social class, and so on. Because of
intermarried and immigrant trends encouraged a cultural diversity in Taiwan’s society. The
diversity was not merely full of regular life, but influenced on schooling. Hence the
Governments announced the strategies of educational reform for relevant parenting and
activities on multicultural education. At the same time most research results established a
great effect for multicultural education implemented. Multicultural education extensively
practiced on educational stage from preschool education to high education, which the goal
was arrived at cultural understanding and respect. Especially on preschool education, both
integrating kindergartens and nursery schools and the Tentative Curriculum Outlines for
Preschool Care-taking Activities by 2012 were announced the cultural equality and cultural
identify must be cultivated simultaneously. Consequently, that was worth to cared about how
was multicultural education be perform in the kindergarten now, moreover, what gap had
existed in the reality.
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The purpose of the study is exploring the multicultural education practicing and estimating
the demand of multicultural materials will be design in the kindergarten in Taiwan. The
researcher hoped to provide practical suggestions based on the research findings for future
research and kindergarten teachers.
Development Context of Multicultural Education in Taiwan

In the 1970s because of revocation of martial law the local ideology awaked until
intermarried rate progress in the 1990s, multicultural education was began to care as well as
both the indigenous education and gender equality education were practiced on the Report on
Education Reform and Counsel of Executive Yuan by 1996 in Taiwan.
By 2003, New Citizen’s Culture Education and Counselling Division was set up because the
Government wanted to solve the social questions that children whose mother came from
Southeast Asia were failed to academic achievement. According to most research finding
pointed the major causes of language and cultural disadvantage, even they were named
foreign spouses in a while. But the Governments wanted to create a social climates with
respect and equality so they renamed the citizen groups one of the spouse were foreign.
In order to accommodate the new citizen groups to the social culture of Taiwan, the
Governments held a lot of Elementary Literacy Education Classes and that provided the
educational priority for the children of new citizen groups on preschool education. It’s said
5-years-old children had priority studying preschool education if one of their parents were
foreigner. Until now, those questions about parental child-raising and academic performance
of the new citizen reformed progressively. Besides more and more research proved
multicultural education raised to understand, appreciate, and respect differ cultures, even
though the multicultural perspectives must be built at the child of kindergarten.
Cultural Identify of Multicultural Education Foucs on the Study

Multicultural education must be taught the cultural acknowledged and identify as well as
eliminated the cultural bias, discrimination, and stereotype (Berthelsen & Karuppiah, 2011;
Whaley & Swadener, 1990). Another perspectives posted to acknowledge the cultural variety
between same and differ so far as to developed cultural self-identify and cultural other respect
by life experiences of food, clothes, festivals, and play over the world (Derman-Sparks & the
A.B. C. Task Force, 1989; Gordon & Browne, 2007; Jones, 2005;Seefeldt, 2005). Hurtado
and Silva (2008) stated excessive festivals, clothes, and dance fall into the trap of tourist
curriculum, that signified the multicultural education could not divide from the history and
family culture. Tourist curriculum was focused on festivals, food and tradition clothes and
home livelihood like the culture of the artifacts as well as the activities were separate from
the formed curriculum (Derman-Sparkset al., 1989). To avoid the tourist curriculum and
furthermore connect with life experiences, so the core of multicultural education was
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developed cultural identify for this study.
Actually the cultural identify was basic practiced for cultural appreciation and respect.
Besides the cultural identify was accorded with the purpose of preschool education in
Taiwan.
Research Design
Qualitative data was collected through the interviews of 30 kindergarten teachers’, references
review and scholar counseling. For the meaning results, the researchers adopted triangulation
to analyze the data of interviews as well as compare with references and scholar counseling.
The following research questions were the main shaft over this study.
Participants
The study divided the participants into scholars and kindergarten teachers. Three professors
were affiliated with scholars group from the university whose specialty about multicultural
curriculum, culturally responsive teaching, or early childhood care and education. The
purposive sample of 30 female kindergarten teachers were chosen according to regions,
characteristic as well as posts of directors or teachers.
Twenty-six teachers work in public kindergartens and four teachers work in non-profit
kindergartens in north Taiwan. Ten teachers were both teacher and director and another ten
teachers were teachers as well as the other ten teachers were educative givers. Twenty
teachers held a teaching qualification for the preschool education and ten teachers for
educative givers were upgrading this qualification to a Diploma level. All teachers were
graduated from the university and had at least ten teaching years.
Data Collection and Analysis

Teachers in the study were interviewed individually on one occasion for a period of 60-90
minutes, face to face, using semi-structured, open-ended interview questions. Guiding
interview questions have three part, one is acknowledged the multicultural education
cognitions and obtained experiences, another is described the examples and obstacles of
multicultural education practiced, the other is provided the suggestions for multicultural
materials will be design.
Analysis was authenticated by extensive participant quotation, the goal being to build an
in-depth picture of participants’ understanding of, and response to the multicultural education
practiced. Besides, the researchers referred to counsel of scholar and references for a valid
research results.
Findings and Discussion

Restricted Recognition of Multicultural Education
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Most participants first contacted with multicultural education was the policy for new citizen
groups were made by Bureau of Education, only a few teachers ever studied from the
schooling curriculum or workshops. Since 2003, Bureau of Education requested to develop
Taiwan’s cultural identify for new citizen groups through multicultural activities in primary
school, such as food tastes, paly, songs, clothes from different cultures. Multicultural
experiences that teachers all had just came from the above examples.
The ethnicity and native language were made an incomplete impression on Multicultural
recognition for teachers, but they approved the implication of cultural respect and cultural
appreciation for multicultural education. All teachers agreed with the localization curriculum
were the importance of multicultural education which that could be progress the cultural
identify of children. The focus of localization had different interpretations between the ethnic
cultures in Taiwan land and the ethnic populations from the other countries in the
kindergarten. Only one teacher real talked the valued on multicultural education, T17 teacher
said “the worldview of multicultural education raise the cultural identify of children, and the
cultural inheritance was important for all whether new citizen groups or not”.
Low Popularity and Accuracy of Multicultural Education Practiced

Two of third teachers expressed the multicultural activity was accompanied with the primary
school for experienced the cultural games of new citizen group, as food tasted, dressing, and
play. They adopted the same way to hold the multicultural activity which they invited parents
from new citizen groups to be a keeper every year once. The new citizen groups are always
the important resources that were be deliberated to hold persistently or not.
Recently Indigenous language was getting more and more important for promote their local
cultures that the plan of Indigenous language immersion in kindergartens was drove since
2015 in Taiwan. Two teachers shared the experiences for their Indigenous language
immersion last year; T18 teacher expressed the effective in learning outcome and climate
between children and parents. T2 teacher felt no benefit and be regulation in practicing, she
said” there were only 4 Indigenous children when they learned two hours every Thursday
afternoon. Because of disagreed parents and short learning time that children didn’t express
good enough”. Almost all teachers reflected the native language was an individual curriculum
which only implemented on an afternoon every week once and be taught some songs and
words. Above these situations, the native language was seems deficient in the meaning of
integrated curriculum and on multicultural education.
There are a few examples of integrated curriculum with multicultural education. Five
teachers designed the thematic curriculum of travel around the world or all kinds of countries
that involved with characteristic culture about the houses, food, clothes, flag, festivals, songs,
toys and play(from T4,T6, T13, T14, T21). These teachers admitted that children got know it
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and felt funny of broad cultures without long-term effects traced.
From the experiences of the participants made rethink the accurate recognitions possessed as
much as the sustained implication of multicultural education.
A trap of Tourist Curriculum and the Obstacles of Multicultural Education

Tourist curriculum advocated the multicultural education was not only over stressed festivals,
food, traditional clothes and play, but also was integrate with the curriculum. More important
was the intensions to perceive and eliminate the cultural bias, discrimination and stereotype
(Derman-Sparks et al., 1989). All teachers disagree with cultural bias the children had
because of children were still young or insufficient for recognition so children have no bias,
even be more tolerance than adults. Similarly, the teachers approved the attitude of adults was
crucial whether cultural bias existed, “the teachers were already taught at education without
any bias, discrimination, and stereotype”, T21 teacher straightly said.
The inconsistent with the teachers were careless about the sex stereotype and they allowed it
was not eliminated from sex equal education. Two teachers talked about the success
experiences of sex equal education implemented that integrated the interesting in toys and
movie media into the curriculum in the cause of broken the sex stereotype of children. Both
teachers proclaimed how plenty and create on their designed curriculum, but they ignored the
stereotype of children were incapable of breaking. The researchers questioned about the
purpose but the teachers just response the sex stereotype were not complete broken in virtue
of confirmed notions previously (from T8, T24). The others proposed sex equal education
was a regulative curriculum that often practiced in the issues of colors and occupations, or
only announced in the morning-meeting-time and group sharing time. The results showed the
sex, ethnicity, and native languages curriculum were separated from multicultural education
and only arrived at the purpose of cultural understanding.
The generality of teachers mentioned that is difficult to practice the accuracy multicultural
education as a result of incomplete recognition and insufficient resources, the hardest was the
variety of cultures were not search out the authentic information without firsthand taste,
moreover, the preschool curriculum were regulated to teach more and more issues by Bureau
of Education.
Give the Multicultural Ideas That Will to Encourage a Transformative Kindergarten

Teacher
All teachers informed on much more regulated issues from Bureau of Education that must be
practiced in the curriculum even these issues were necessary for the preschool children, but
how the validity evaluated. All teachers became conscious the diversity was took place in the
kindergarten they confused about how to teach extensive cultures. The teachers accredited to
devise the teaching aids were certain assistance in practiced anti-bias multicultural education
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as will become future trend.
T18 teacher powerful voiced the teacher was a transformative teaching teachers they able to
integrate the curriculum while to give relevant ideas. Every teacher was interested and
expected and provided a lot of suggestions when the researchers presumed the ideas for the
teaching aids of multicultural education. In addition to the teaching aids for corresponding
teaching materials they referred, they expected the useful of teaching, independent
manipulated, and broad practiced a daily life. The imperious demands of the teachers for the
teaching materials proved the valid assumption for this study.
Discussion
Multicultural education was aimed at anti-bias education which fostered the cultural
self-identify and others respect. The researcher confronted the debates about the relationship
between the localization and multicultural education that influenced what culture was chosen
for the study. Every teacher insisted multicultural education appropriate implemented
according to the circumstances of kindergartens, some focus on native culture, and some
extended to foreign as they were in the class. Despite the interesting issues that established
the cultural scope for the new citizen groups culture in Taiwan. Such argument could attain to
cultural identify and make appropriate for localization on multicultural education in Taiwan.
Another deliberate theme of discussion was the cultural bias how to avoid for unfamiliar
cultures the teachers indicated in particular secondhand information though the internet,
video or the others’ experiences. Inevitably that would be caused another cultural bias. The
argument was advanced the science perspectives that relied on discovering the cultural
evolvement to construct their different cultures acknowledged. Above of this discussion
clarified the argument both localization and science perspective on multicultural education of
this study.
Conclusion
The study attempted to investigate the value for multicultural education materials designed in
the kindergarten in Taiwan. For the sake of the validity of this study, the researchers not
merely compared with the references and interviews but consulted the scholar experts that
proposed the practiced framework for multicultural education in Taiwan. Both teaching aids
and reference guides are designed into the anti-bias multicultural education materials so
kindergarten teachers can universally apply the multicultural education materials to a daily
schedule in the kindergarten, including curriculum and teaching, free- exploration period and
learning centers period. In order to perform the goal of cultural identify, both localization and
science perspectives of the multicultural education materials will be validity to relied on the
different cultural evolvement discovered. Accordingly, the children will build up both
historic and scientific cultural interpretation toward respect the diversity. The multicultural
education will be accurate in practiced, and furthermore will be a sustainable development for
116
kindergartens in Taiwan.
References
Banks, J. A. (1979). Shaping the future of multicultural education. The Journal of Negro
Education, 48(3), pp.237-252.
Banks, J. A. (2001). Multicultural education issues and perspectives (4th ed.).
Boston:Allyn & Bacon.
Berthelsen, D. & Karuppiah, N. (2011). Multicultural Education: The Understanding of
Preschool Teachers in Singapore. Australasian Journal of Early Education, 36(4),
pp.38-42.
Derman-Sparks, L. & the A.B. C. Task Force. （1989）. Anti-Bias Curriculum: Tools for
Empowering Young Children. Washington, D.C.: National Association for the Education
of Young Children.
Hurtado, A. & Silva, J. M. （2008）. Creating New Social Identities in Children
Through Critical Multicultural Media: The Case of Little Bill. New Directions for Child and
Adolescent Development, 120, pp.17-30.
Whaley, K. & Swadener, E. B. (1990). Multicultural education in Infant and toddler settings.
Childhood Education, 66(4), pp.238-240.
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ASMSS-2827
Becoming a Mother through Action Research: Learning, Teaching and
Pedagogy
Chueng Hiu Ching, Rainbow

School of Education, University of Bristol
ch14469@bristol.ac.uk
Law Huk Yuen

Faculty of Education, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
hylaw@cuhk.edu.hk
Abstract
Education which itself is a process of living begins at birth. Mother being a parent as well as
the first teacher of the child, would do everything she could to satisfy the child's physical and
emotional needs, keep her safe and healthy, and facilitate her early learning. The transition to
motherhood is a joyous experience, though many women struggle to establish this new
identity. This project aims at understanding the role of being a mother and improving
practices for educating child from birth to the first year through action research. Becoming a
mother is a process including learning, teaching and pedagogy. Learning to be a mother is an
active process rather than passive reproduction of meaning. This action research project
facilitates the professional learning of mother, and highlights mother's professional autonomy.
Teaching includes educating the child but not controlling or casually determining the
outcomes of learning. Its focus is on the unique process of child development rather than the
product of learning. Pedagogy is a reflective process of the mothering bounded in the
complex and rich context.
Action research emphasizes improvement and engagement of actual practice through iterative
cycles. It involves planning, implementing, observing and reflecting in every phase. This
project advocates the notion of ‘mother as researcher’ as the first-order inquirer. Besides, a
co-researcher in the university would take up the second-order inquiry at the later stage of
this project. The documentation in this project would be done and initiated by the mother. In
the first year after the child would have been born, one-minute video diary will be recorded
and one critical moment photo will be taken through mother’s lenses on a daily basis. These
two instruments intensively represent the continual transformation of mother’s thoughts,
memories, reflections and ideas. Written narratives such as reflection journals, observations
and comments made by other caregivers will be collected for data triangulation, analysis,
evaluation and planning of the next steps. Finally, with the multiple sources of documentation,
researchers can share, discuss and let the meaning of experiences emerge in due course.
118
This project within the early childhood education research framework is hoped to throw new
light on the understanding of learning, teaching and pedagogy in motherhood. It also
advocates the notion of ‘mother as researcher’ to broaden the view of participatory research
in educational practice and in turn to promote mother’s professional learning and autonomy.
Keywords: Action Research; Early Childhood Education; Motherhood; Mother as researcher;

Learning; Teaching; Pedagogy;
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ASMSS-2921
Teachers’ Perceptions towards Professional Development of Remedial
Education in Taiwan
Wen-Chi Hu
Center for General Education, Asia University, Taiwan
winniehu@gmail.com
Hsiao-Lan Chen
Department of Education, National Taiwan Normal University, Taiwan
sharon@ntnu.edu.tw
Li-Yu Hung
Department of Special Education, National Taiwan Normal University, Taiwan
t14010@ntnu.edu.tw
Shih-Tsung Hsu
Department of Construction Engineering,
Chaoyang University of Technology, Taiwan,
sthsu@cyut.edu.tw
Abstract
Taiwan’s Compulsory Education reforms have been extensive and controversial. To
strengthen underachievers’ confidence and academic performance, the first Teacher Training
Workshop on Remedial Teaching (TTWRT) was designed to cultivate qualified remedial
teachers for further education policy movement. This study aimed to investigate 58 qualified
remedial instructors’ perceptions on their professional growth and support requirements
under the impact of the reforms. The purpose of this study was to ascertain remedial teachers’
views of needs, training satisfaction, and professionalism. Four significant findings are that (1)
teachers lack the confidence to teach and promote remediation adequately; (2) teachers face
the miscommunication among students, parents, schools, and administrative staffs; (3)
teachers lack of remedial teaching materials and methods; and (4) teachers hold positive
attitudes towards the professional remediation workshop. The results of this study assess the
chances of success for teacher professional development preparing remedial teachers to
implement the reforms.
Keywords: Remedial Instruction, Teacher Leaders, Professional Development, Twelve-Year

Compulsory Education Program
1. Introduction
120
Twelve-Year Compulsory Education Program was implemented in Taiwan in 2014. Based on
the program’s policy, The Ministry of Education (MOE) and K-12 Education Administration
(K12EA) announced to ensure all underachieving students to receive supplemental education
in 2013. MOE expects all students to succeed academically, and underachieving students who
are the bottom third can be improved using appropriate series of instruction and assistance.
To raise student confidence and academic performance, these students need more guidance
and support than they are receiving to reach their potential. Learners’ underachievement can
be reversed as a result of modifications on both of the students and the teachers (Emerick,
1992). Therefore, the first Teacher Training Workshop on Remedial Teaching (TTWRT) was
hosted by the Department of Elementary Education and the Education Research and
Evaluation Center (CERE) at the National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) in 2011. The
purpose of the TTWRT is to cultivate qualified remedial instructors for further education
policy movement. These qualified instructors in the future, are proposed to become teacher
trainers in order to recruit and train more remedial teachers all around Taiwan. This study
aimed to investigate these remedial instructors’ p on their professional growth and support
requirements.
1.1 Professional Development

To enhance teacher competence, participating in professional development appears to be the
most popular method. Huang (2010) pointed out that “It is critical that professional
development enables teachers to examine their teaching practices and personal theories, and
to profit from working with others”. Additionally, Cooper (2008) suggested that effective
professional development must include the four critical components: (1) presentation of
theory, (2) demonstration of the strategy or skill, (3) initial practice in the workshop, and (4)
prompt feedback about their teaching. Consequently, effective teacher professional
development enrich the strategies, knowledge, aptitudes, and nature for learning that occurs
within the education setting. After years of discussion and revision, the first TTWRT
committee includes members from MOE, K12EA, and NTNU, they carefully designed the
workshop to provide diversified ways to further enhance Taiwan teachers’ knowledge and
develop new instructional practices on remediation.
1.2 Remedial Instruction

In Taiwan, remedial instruction is one of the critical indicators for the measurement of
contemporary educational reform. Also, scholars across content areas have examined and
proved the effectiveness of remedial program for a long period of time (Chang, 2001; Chan &
Li, 2002; Besty, 2002; Wu & Lin, 2003; Chen, 2004; Kams, 2005; Chen, 2007). Mandel &
Marcus (1995) argued that “underachievers are, in fact, highly motivated—in directions other
than getting good grades. And finding out precisely where their motivation lies is the key to
helping them turn around and become achievers at school” (p. 3). The supplementary
program is important because it offer the possibilities for students who have low motivation,
121
a lack of confidence, and low sense of success to actually experience learning achievement.
Accordingly, underachievers made good progress through appropriate remediation. The
concept of remedial instruction is to strengthen learners’ weaknesses and low-achieving
performance (Nederveld, 1967; Bereiter, 1985; Meyler, Keller, Cherkassky, Gabrield,. &
Just, 2008; Wehmeyer, Shogren, Palmer, Williams-Diehm, Little,.& Boulton, 2012).
Remediation mainly focus on individual learners to uplift their learning achievements.
However, not every education stakeholder has the awareness of how to teach remediation.
Identifying and motivating underachievers are essentials for quality education, but training
qualified remedial teachers is the first step to accomplish the goal.
2. Methods
2.1 Participants
The participants of this study are 58 qualified remedial instructors and are expected to share
their learning in remedial instruction with their local colleagues and promote better remedial
education. The design of the study contains documents analysis, end-of-session
questionnaires, and interview questions to collect data. Research questions are designed to
explore remedial instructors’ challenges while facing remedial policy promotion.
2.2 Data Analysis

This qualitative empirical study comprises of literature and documents relates to the first
TTWRT. The documents include official workshop registrations from the K12EA, MOE
education policies, and official Twelve-Year Compulsory Education Program.
122
Also, using end-of-session questionnaires, semi-structured interview, and focus group
discussion to collect data from teachers who attended the TTWRT. After the workshop,
end-of-session questionnaires are used to collect immediate feedbacks from participants.
From the results, three major concerns are found as table 2:
Expanded from the three remedial teacher’s concerns, further interviewing questions are
designed to better discover participants’ attitudes, thoughts, and demands about promoting
remedial education to their local districts. The interviewing questions are: (1) What are
your feedbacks from the first Teacher Training Workshop on Remedial Teaching (TTWRT) ?
(2) How would you apply your knowledge from the workshop to promote future remedial
instruction? (3)What are your experiences with teaching remedial courses at your school? (4)
What are the materials that you will use in teaching remedial courses? (5) What do you think
are the best strategies that you have learned to facilitate the students in remedial courses?
(6)What were the challenges that you have encountered in teaching remedial courses? All
transcriptions were read and coded into meaningful categories for further analysis (Glaser,
1992). Qualitative interviewing can be regarded as data gathering device which is more
effective to retrieve participants ‘stories and thoughts (Ely, Anzul, Friedman, Garner, and
Sterinmetz, 1991). Furthermore, workshop observations were conducted to further witness
the actual setting, especially how the teachers gained the knowledge and how the workshop
would facilitate their remedial teaching. Video and audio recordings were used during the
interview, focus group discussion, and workshop observation.
3. Findings
The main findings of this study are: (1) teachers lack the confidence to teach and promote
remediation adequately; (2) teachers face the miscommunication among students, parents,
schools, and administrative staffs; (3) teachers lack of remedial teaching materials and
methods; and (4) teachers hold positive attitudes towards the professional remediation
workshop. Future suggestions based on the results and findings are provided in the study.
3.1 Teachers Lack the Confidence to Teach and Promote Remediation Adequately
3.1.1 Teacher Overload
123
The findings indicate that teachers found the first TTWRT effective and relevant. However,
many of them were overwhelmed by work loading, lacked available time, and information
overload. For instance, teachers felt frustrated with the overwhelming amount of new
knowledge and teaching methods that emanated from the training workshops. One teacher
exclaimed, “there are so much information that I have to learn from the training and I do not
have time to do so…I have other works to do”. While the professional training is relevant,
participants feel frustrated about the difficulties of applying all new ideas and knowledge
taught through the professional development. One teacher expressed, “they give us all that
information and what am I going to do with it?” A teacher said, “I feel frustrated and worried,
how can I use the materials for my own remedial class and also ‘teach’ other teachers? I think
I need more time to prepare”. Admittedly, non-teaching duties such as MOE’s Advisory
Group duties and supervisor duties consumed the teachers’ time and energy. One teacher said,
“I don’t have the control of the time because I am already the member of Advisory Group for
the K12EA”. The complaints associated with time issues are the major challenge for teachers
across all grade levels. Moreover, many of the participants said that they are not ready to take
the responsibilities for remedial instruction at their local schools. Even though many teachers
have a fruitful experience while attending and receiving professional development, they still
question that implantation is impossible due to their low-confidence on remediation.
3.1.2 Teacher Efficacy

The reason for conducting the first TTWRT is because the quality of the remedial teacher
workforce is of considerable concern to Taiwan education policymakers. Students’ learning
achievement and academic success depends in no small part on the efficiency of teachers.
Due to the newly released Twelve-Year Compulsory Education Program, there has been a
strong policy push toward getting more qualified teachers into the remedial instruction. The
main problem for remedial teacher efficacy is that there is no enough individuals to teach and
many of them are inexperienced. According to one participant, “there are a lot of teachers
that obviously know well in their content areas…like math, English… or science, but not
every teacher knows how to teach remediation”. Hence, generating more alternative
pathways to recruit and train remedial teachers have sought to bring more academically
accomplished individuals to collaborate with the government. Another teacher claimed, “to
be honest with you, as an experienced teacher myself, I do not know remedial education well
enough to effectively teach it or even promote it to more teachers”. Thus, the study results
found that more practice-oriented workshops should be provided because this might allow
inexperienced remedial teachers to learn methods and strategies in an effective manner.
3.2 Teachers Face the Miscommunication among Students, Parents, Schools

The critical beneficial aspect of teaching is having positive relationships with students,
parents, and the school. Effective partnerships with students and parents is vital for a teacher
to be successful.
124
However, participants in the study felt that all the stakeholders including students, parents,
and school district administrators did not understand the remedial education and Twelve-Year
Compulsory Education Program. Remedial teaching is to rearrange academic underachieving
students to receive more inclusive instruction where they are integrated with typically
developing peers. A teacher recounted, “parents do not want their kids to be labeled as
disadvantaged learners or underachieving students, therefore they do not like the idea of
remedial teaching”. One participant said, “students will tease those who attend remedial
courses because they think remediation is for stupid”. If the government add students and
parents to the remedial workshops, then they might understand better about remedial
program which is meant to facilitate underachievers’ learning motivation and academic
achievements. Remedial teachers need their encouragement and support. One teacher
commented, “I hope (that) if the MOE help more parents to know remediation is not a
punishment for their children, but for their own good, we are trying to help them learn in a
more realistic way”.
Likewise, many teachers feel that their efforts at remediation workshop are not supported by
their administrators. School administrators often failed to recognize teachers’ efforts on a
variety of non-instructional duties: such as attending staff meetings, being supervisors, parent
conferencing, curriculum planning, and professional responsibilities (Olson & Chalmers,
1997). While teachers are overloaded and lack of understanding from the community, they
feel challenged to promote remedial education to students, parents, and administrators. It is
challenged to promote remedial teaching for entire school by involvement of new policies
and information. They required more support and collaboration to process and implement the
information from the professional development training workshops. One teacher stated, “the
training sessions offered too much (and) too fast information…parents…even other teachers
may not understand it”. A participant said, “I think parents and school members should be
invited to the workshop” and “they (parents and students) deserve to know the reasons why
we are having remedial education”. Another added, “they (school staffs) all need to come to
take the courses (remediation professional development)…then they will work with us”.
Teachers said that they had insufficient support from administrators to fully implement
professional development knowledge or to promote remedial instruction policies. For
instance, one teacher stated, “it can be difficult to plan for so much in so short a time scale
without school staffs’ help”. Another teacher pointed out, “seems like (after the workshop) I
become the only expert knows about remedial program, and no one in my school knows
about it… they are not willing to know and participate in it”.
Teachers suggested the government should also set up standardized policies and rules for all
stakeholders to follow. Remedial teachers must not only prove their capacity for dealing with
students but must also convey to their colleagues.
125
Thus, a successful remedial instructor should be able to gain the cooperation and support of
teachers, administrators, students, and parents.
3.3 Teachers Lack of Remedial Teaching Materials and Methods

After the first TTWRT, teachers believing they have insufficient strategies, materials, and
resources to promote remediation. Obviously, the methodology that remedial teachers use
will be essentially different from that of mainstream classroom. Effective remedial teachers,
therefore, must be familiar to adapt a variety of teaching activities and methods to help
students develop their potential and eliminate the obstacles in learning. One participant
argued, “we only attended a few workshops and how can we remember all these strategies
and use them?” A teacher said, “I am not sure if I have enough teaching materials or lesson
plans now to promote remediation”. Another teacher asked, “how can I help students
recognize and learn to function effectively in a variety of activities when I am not familiar
with all the remedial materials?” In addition to this, many remedial students have continually
experienced failure by conventional classroom methods, they deserve better and different
teaching strategies. Unfortunately, a teacher stated, “usually we just teach them same content
repeatedly and that’s what we think about remediation”. A teacher commented, “in our
school we have insufficient material resources and staff, and teachers are either untrained or
unwilling to be trained about remediation”. Teachers expect the MOE to provide them with
supplementary teaching materials. Also, many participants suggest to have exchanging
system for lesson plans and teaching resources across content-areas. Another teacher said,
“when we feel powerless, at least we may find some help from other teachers from other
districts in the system”. One teacher added, “it can be like an online discussion forum or web
site for remedial teachers to share and ask questions”. Teachers stated that they need
appropriate learning activities but they lack of time to design on their own. Thus, the
government serve a critical function to design and offer standardized instructional references
or manuals for teachers.
3.4 Teachers Hold Positive Attitudes towards the Professional Remediation Workshop
According to remedial teachers’ feedbacks after the first TTWRT, they consider professional
development is relevant to the students’ needs. Many of the participants said there is value in
continuing to pursue teacher training which provides a vehicle for teachers to enrich their
instruction. One teacher stated, “as a teacher, of course I want to know more ways to make
my students successful… and that’s why I am here”. Many teachers acknowledge the efforts
to link professional development to facilitating remedial learners’ achievement. One teacher
stated, “…the most important thing I learned from the workshop is that all learners can
learn…it just depends on what guidance teachers offer to them”. Teachers believed that
professional development training help them to know these underachieving students better.
One of the teachers recounted, “remedial workshop provides great opportunities for us to
collaborate with other teachers, to observe students’ learning difficulties, and to be familiar
126
with how to be a ‘coach’ rather than a lecture in the classroom”. Students underachieve due
to diverse reasons, therefore, the challenge for remedial teachers is to discover the individual
key to motivate learners’ interests and attitudes. A teacher remarked, “I find one important
thing from the training: one-size does not fit all, especially in teaching”.
Furthermore, teachers believe that the professional development from TTWRT seems to be
necessary for all teachers to be better prepared for the newly released Twelve-Year
Compulsory Education Program. According to one participant, “before this workshop I do
not really know why we need to do remediation, now I get it”. Also, one teacher mentioned,
“(the workshop) open my eyes, and I wonder what else we could use to teach in different
curricular areas”. Many of the participants stated that the amount of remedial materials was
sufficient. One said, “I think I really gain something from the workshop…but… maybe the
workshop could offer more activities and courses like classroom management or
low-achievers’ motivation…something like that”. Additionally, one teacher said, “I will use
everything that I learn from the workshop…like remedial teaching techniques, remedial
education psychology, collaborative learning, and in-class activities, they are useful to me”.
Moreover, teachers are glad to see the TTWRT recorded and included all their suggestions
and recommendations for future workshop planning. One teacher said, “I appreciate the MOE
and the workshop(TTWRT) because our concerns are valued and we think our efforts have
been noticed by policymakers”.
4. Recommendations
Educational reform movements in Taiwan are setting ambitious goals for all learners.
Notwithstanding, the changes in classroom practices demanded by the reform prospects
ultimately depend upon teachers (Nederveld, 1967; Fullan & Miles, 1992; Spillane, 1999;
Chen, 2007). Teachers who carry the mission of promoting remediation will not succeed
without efforts, support, and guidance. Therefore, the professional development for remedial
teachers is essential to efforts to help underachieving learners. Throughout the study, teachers
across content areas shared beliefs about professional development of TTWRT. When the
MOE addresses the teachers’ concerns for systematic professional training, diversified
teaching approaches and resources, adequate support from stakeholders, and clear regulations
in remediation, the issues of information overload, lack of teacher efficacy, and lack of
confidence for teachers will be met. The first TTWRT provides the opportunities that will
help Taiwan teachers enhance their knowledge, support, resources, and develop new
instructional practices for remediation. The study findings suggest that continue workshops
and relevant education policy should be conducted/ in order to raise the level of awareness
and cooperation among all education stakeholders for underachieving students’ future
achievements.
5. References
127
Best, J. & Kahn, J. (1993). Educational research. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Bereiter, C. (1985). The changing face of educational disadvantagement. Phi Delta Kappan,
66(8), 538-541.
Betsy, O. (2002). Remediation at the community college: Pressing issues, uncertain solutions.
New Directions for Community Colleges, 117, 35-44.
Chan, Y.W. and Li, C. S. (2001). Form-focused remedial instruction: An empirical study.
International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 12 (1), 24-53.
Chang, S. Z. (2001). Effective Remedial Programs and Instruction. Education Journal, 17,
85~106.
Chen, K. T. (2007). Underachieving students’ improvements in a primary EFL remedial
program. MingDao Journal of General Education, 2, 263-277.
Chen, Y. H. (2004). Elementary and junior high school English teachers’ perceptions and
implementation of remedial instruction for underachievers. (Unpublished Master thesis).
National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Cooper, J. D. (2008). Professional development: An effective research-based model. Boston,
MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Retrieved from
http://www.washingtonstem.org/STEM/media/Media/Resources/Professional-DeveloPm
ent-An-Effective-Research-Based-Model-COOPER.pdf
Ely, M., Anzul, M., Friedman, T., Garner, D., & Sterinmetz, A. (1991). Doing qualitative
research: Circles within circles. London: The Falmer Press.
Emerick, L. J. (1992). Academic underachievement among the gifted: Students’ perceptions
of factors that reverse the pattern. Gifted Child Quarterly, 36, 140–146.
Fullan, M. G., & Miles, M. B. (1992). Getting reform right: What works and what doesn't.
Phi Delta Kappan, 73, 745-752.
Glaser, B. G. (1992). Basics of grounded theory analysis. Mill Valley, CA: Sociology Press.
Huang, Y. C. (2010). Taiwanese teachers’ beliefs about professional growth in shin-Ju
District. International Journal of Education, 2(2), 1-29.
Spillane,J . P. (1999). External reform initiatives and teachers efforts to reconstruct practice:
The mediating role of teachers’ zones of enactment. Journal of Curriculum Studies 3,(1),
143-175.
Kams, M. (2005). Inoculating against low achievement. Leadership, 34(3), 12-38.
Mandel, H. P. & Marcus, S. I. (1995). “Could do better”: Why children underachieve and
what to do about it. New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.
Meyler, A., Keller, T.A., Cherkassky, V.L., Gabrieli, J.D.D., and Just, M.A.(2008).
Modifying the brain activation of poor readers during sentence comprehension with
extended remedial instruction: A longitudinal study of neuroplasticity.
Neuropsychologia 46, 2580–2592.
Nederveld, M. (1967). The Effective Remedial Reading Program, Reading Horizons, (7) 2,
75-80. Retrieved from
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http://scholarworks.wmich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2830&context=reading_hori
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North Central Regional Educational Laboratory. (2004). Indicator: Profession development -
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Olson, M. R., & Chalmers, L. (1997). Attitudes and attributes of general education teachers
identified as effective inclusionists. Remedial and Special Education, 8(1), 28-36.
Wehmeyer, M.L., Shogren, K., Palmer, S., Williams-Diehm, K., Little, T., & Boulton,
A. (2012). Impact of the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction on student
self-determination. Exceptional Children 78(2), 135-153.
Wu, C. S. and Lin, T. Y. (2003). Terminology: Remedial Instruction. Educational Research
Journal, 116, 159.
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ASMSS-2917
Quantitative Study on Perceived Facial Asymmetry
Shu-Yen Wan*
Department of Information Management, Chang Gung University, Taiwan, R.O.C.
sywan@mail.cgu.edu.tw
Pei-Ying Tsai
Department of Information Management, Chang Gung University, Taiwan, R.O.C.
pey728@gmail.com
Keywords: Perceived facial asymmetry, Facial landmarks, Overall asymmetry index,

Concavity intensity, Compiled film questionnaires
Perfect facial symmetry is considered a theoretical or impractical existence as most attractive

individuals usually exhibit asymmetric facial nature [0,0]. Significant facial asymmetry can,
however, imply aesthetic, or even functional, problems [0]. Although many factors contribute
facial attractiveness [0], facial symmetry is yet one of the most important research topics
[0,0,0,0,0].
Cheong and Lo revisited the etiology of facial asymmetry [0]. Three categories of causes
were proposed: (1) congenital (genetic or prenatally originated); (2) developmental (gradually
grown with unknown causes); (3) acquired (due to injuries or diseases). Clinical implications
arise and the regarding evaluation, planning and management of treatments vary per the
different categories. To assess the degree of asymmetry (or symmetry), identification of facial
landmarks and computation of the corresponding symmetric metrics need to be further
investigated.
In his monumental textbook, Farkas identified many facial landmarks per the facial features
and established milestones for much ensuing research work [0]. Huang et al proposed the
metric called “symmetry index” to quantitatively measure the overall degree of facial
symmetry by taking into account sixteen mid-sagittal plane related landmarks, as shown in
Table 1[0]. In case of perfectly symmetric face, the first eight landmarks (i.e., glabella, nasion,
pronasale, subnasale, superius labial, inferius labial, stomion and menton) are close to the
mid-sagittal plane, i.e., the distance of each landmark to the mid-sagittal plane is
approximately zero. The latter eight landmarks (i.e., left and right exocanthions, left and right
endocanthions, left and right alar curvatures, and left and right cheilions) are pairwise, with
each pair of landmarks on the opposite side of the mid-sagittal plane. Jackson et al conducted
visual questionnaires among professional orthodontics, general dentists, and laypersons on
cognition of facial symmetry [0].
130
Their study found that abilities to assess the facial symmetry are different over varied
professional backgrounds and the orthodontics have the most profound capabilities of
differentiate the symmetric from asymmetric faces.
Meyer-Marcotty et al performed a similar study on facial asymmetry [0]. However, instead of

employing images from different persons, they transformed the same image by incremental
soft tissue alterations. In their study the raters, including orthodontics, maxillofacial surgeons,
and laymen, presented similar capabilities of identifying asymmetry. They also found that the
nasal structure played a crucial role in perception of symmetry and the asymmetry of chins
greatly affected the facial appearance.
In terms of perception of facial asymmetry, this study investigates how people differentiate
gradual facial changes from symmetric towards less symmetric appearances. A 3dMD facial
imageis used and its deformed variants are rated by reviewers with varied professional
backgrounds. Three classes, Perceived Normal (PN), Perceived Asymmetrically Normal
(PAN), and Perceived Abnormal (PA) will be proposed to account for reviewers’ perceptions
of asymmetry. In addition to controlled transforms to maintain the gradual changes of the
look, a novel hybrid symmetry index (or Overall Asymmetry Index; oAI) is employed to
guide the changes on the right path from near symmetry towards less symmetry.
To ensure the raters are not affected by facial features, such as skin complexity, freckles, or
scars, the ideal facial images should be without texture. We capture the three-dimensional
(3D) facial image, as the “stimulus face,” by the 3dMD cranial system, as shown in Figure
1(a). The corresponding high-resolution facial mesh will then be extracted to reconstruct a 3D
monochrome, non-texture face, as shown in Figure 1(b).
131
The participant are expected to have dental occlusion Angle Class I, have no craniofacial
deformity, have no facial trauma history, have not experienced any prior orthodontic or
orthognathic surgery, and, most importantly, have a face that is regarded as normal and near
symmetric by an orthodontist.
We propose a schematic procedure to carry out the study. Detailed methodology and
meticulous analysis are omitted in this summary-like abstract.
Schematic Procedure and Methods

(1) Identify the Sixteen (16) Facial Landmarks, as Shown in Table 1
We propose to automatically identify all sixteen landmarks: glabella, nasion, pronasale,
subnasale, superius labial, inferius labial, stomion and menton, left and right exocanthions,
left and right endocanthions, left and right alar curvatures, and left and right cheilions. Our
preliminary results show that the locations of detected superius labial, inferius labial, stomion,
and menton are little off the orthodontist’s presumed spots. Expert intervention is, therefore,
expected to help fine tune the exact locations of the facial landmarks.
(2) Determine the Upright Position of the Head and the Mid-Sagittal Plane
To ensure the degrees of asymmetry resulted by gradual deformations are reproducible, it is
necessary to first determine the mid-sagittal plane of the face. There are various ways to
determine such plane in the literature with minute differences. In the project, the proposed
mid-sagittal plane is considered perpendicular to the vector that connects both exocanthions
and passing through the nasion. To form the coronal plane, the natural look-ahead head
position is applied and the plane is perpendicular to the look-ahead direction and passing
through the nasion. The transverse is then derived from the sagittal and coronal planes. The
nasion is considered the origin in the three-dimensional image space. The coordinates of all
132
the other landmarks are then computed accordingly.
(3) Generate Transformed Facial Images as Stimulus Faces

The nose and chin are the most prominent features that may greatly affect the facial
appearance [0]. We propose to deform the facial mesh around the nose and chin areas.
Gradual changes of translation and rotation parameters will be applied for the affine
transforms to generate approximately thirty stimulus faces.
(4) Compute the Asymmetry Index (AI) for all 16 Landmarks

The sixteen anthropometric landmarks can be divided into two groups: the first eight are
medial landmarks and the latter eight are bilateral landmarks (or 4 pairs of bilateral
landmarks). The asymmetry index of each of the medial landmarks is its distance to the
mid-sagittal plane, or simply the absolute value of its x coordinate. For the bilateral
landmarks, the following formula is used: ( X l  X r )2  (Yl  Yr )2  ( Zl  Z r )2 

1
2 , where X, Y, Z are
the coordinates of a landmark, the subscript l denotes left, and r stands for right. Please note
that the discrepancy is computed for the bilateral landmarks.
(5) Compute the Concavity Intensities (CIs).

We incorporate the computation of concavity intensities to promote the robustness in
asymmetry assessment. Fast-varying CI regions are paired and the centroids of each region
will be computed. These bilateral regions may employ similar fashion to calculate their AIs.
The definition of Concavity Intensity is defined as below.
(6) Compute the Overall Asymmetric Index (oAI) by Taking .Fast-Varying CIs into
Account
The Overall Asymmetric Index of a face is determined by: oAI =αAIs +βCIs. The values of α
and β can be adjusted to best describe the classification of the facial asymmetry.
(7) Compile a Movie of a Sequence of the Stimulus Faces with oAI-Ranked Information
All transformed facial images are expected to be ranked in terms of oAIs and compiled to
create a film. As for now, our design is to have at least 2 seconds of display for each image
and all images are subtitled with its unique ID.
(8) Conduct Questionnaires to Correlate the Perception of Asymmetry and the oAIs.
Unlike many other studies that encourage a snapshot of thought, our proposed work will
allow the raters to watch the whole film repeatedly to make the classification decision. Three
classes are proposed: Perceived Normal (PN), Perceived Asymmetrically Normal (PAN), and
Perceived Abnormal (PA). The raters shall include people with different professional
background: orthodontist, general dentists, and laypersons.
133
References
M. Alqattan, J. Djordjevic, A.I. Zhurov, and S. Richmond, “Comparison between landmark
and surface-based three-dimensional analyses of facial asymmetry in adults,” European
Journal of Orthodontics, DOI:10.1093/ejo/cjt075, 12 pages, 2013.
S.E. Bishara, P.S. Burkey, and J.G. Kharouf, “Dental and facial asymmetries: a review,”
Angle Orthodontist, vol. 64, no. 2, 1994.
Y.W. Cheong and L.J. Lo, “Facial asymmetry: Etiology, evaluation, and management,”
Chang Gung Medical Journal, vol. 34, no. 4, pp. 341-351, 2011.
W.-C. Chiang, H.-H. Lin, C.-S. Huang, L.-J. Lo, and S.-Y. Wan, “The cluster assessment of
facial attractiveness using fuzzy neural network classifier based on 3D Moiré features,”
Pattern Recognition, vol. 47, no. 3, pp. 1249-1260, 2014.
L.G. Farkas, “Anthropometry of the head and face,” 2 nd Edn., New York: Raven Press Ltd.,
1994.
C.S. Huang, X.Q. Liu, Y.R. Chen, “Facial asymmetry index in normal young adults,”
Orthodontics and Cranioifacial Research, vol. 16, pp. 97-104, 2013.
T.H. Jackson, S.T. Mitroff, K. Clark, W.R. Proffit, J.Y. Lee, and T.T. Nguyen, “Face
symmetry assessment abilities: Clinical implications for diagnosing asymmetry,”
American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics, vol. 144, no. 5, pp.
663-671, 2013.
C. F. Lee, G. J. Li, S. Y. Wan, W. J. Lee, K. Y. Tzen, C. H. Chen, Y. L. Song, Y. F. Chou, Y. S.
Chen, and T. C. Liu, “Registration of micro-computed tomography and histological
images of the guinea pig cochlea to construct an ear model using an iterative closest
point algorithm,” Ann Biomed Eng, vol. 38, no. 5, pp. 1719-27, May, 2010.
H. H. Lin, W. C. Chiang, L. J. Lo, S. Sheng-Pin Hsu, C. H. Wang, and S. Y. Wan,
“Artifact-resistant superimposition of digital dental models and cone-beam computed
tomography images,” J Oral Maxillofac Surg, vol. 71, no. 11, pp. 1933-47, Nov, 2013.
P. Meyer-Marcotty, A. Stellzig-Eisenhauer, U. Bareis, J. Hartmann, and J. Kochel,
“Three-dimensional perception of facial asymmetry,” European Journal of Orthodontics,
vol. 33, pp. 647-653, 2011.
T. Athanasiadis, I. Fudos, C. Nikou, and V. Stamati, “Feature-based 3D morphing based on
geometrically constrained spherical parameterization,” Computer Aided Geometric
Design, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 2-17, 2012.
S. Y. Wan, and W. E. Higgins, “Symmetric region growing,” IEEE Trans Image Process, vol.
12, no. 9, pp. 1007-15, 2003.
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definition: theory, algorithms, and applications in image segmentation,” IEEE
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1485-1500, 2002.
135
Economics / Law /Politics
Room C, 2F
2015/8/26 Wednesday 14:45-16:15
Session Chair: Prof. Muzaffar Syah Mallow
ASMSS-2826
Financial Literacy, Saving Behavior and Retirement Planning In the Taiwan
Yu-Jen Hsiao︱National Dong Hwa University
Chinbat Dambaravdan︱National Dong Hwa University
ASMSS-2880
The Effect of Firm Maturity on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): Do Older Firms
Invest More in CSR?
Pradit Withisuphakorn︱National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA)
Pornsit Jiraporn︱Pennsylvania State University
ASMSS-2923
Beyond Pricing: Story from Torajanese Culture
Natalia Paranoan︱Paulus Christian University of Indonesia
ASMSS-2843
Providing Housing for the Low-Income People
Martin Roestamy︱Djuanda University
Rita Rahmawati︱Djuanda University
Aal Lukmanul Hakim︱Djuanda University
ASMSS-2889
Occupational Stress Claim under the Malaysian Industrial Relations Act 1967
Muzaffar Syah Mallow︱Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM)
ASMSS-3005
Collaborative Management in Haze Problem Solving
Pojjana Pichitpatja︱Chiang Mai University
136
ASMSS-2826
Financial Literacy, Saving Behavior and Retirement Planning In the
Taiwan
Yu-Jen Hsiao*
yujen@mail.ndhu.edu.tw
Chinbat Dambaravdan
Chinbat@btv.mn
Abstract
In this paper, we examine the relationship between financial literacy, saving behavior and
retirement planning in Taiwan. We not only find a strong positive relationship between
financial literacy and retirement planning; those who are more financially knowledgeable are
more likely to plan for retirement but also find a strong positive relationship between saving
behavior and retirement planning; those who have more saving habbit are more likely to plan
for retirement.
Keywords: Financial Literacy, Saving Behavior, Retirement Plan
1. Introduction
Retirement has the potential to be a stressful life transaction in late adulthood, often inducing
a wide range of significant changes such as a loss of stable income, detachment from
colleagues at work and an increase in unstructured time. Although the vast gradually become
and are well-adjusted to the changes in the retirement phase, a significant number of retirees
still suffer from poor adjustment and well-being (Pinquart and Schindler, 2007; Wang, 2007).
There is widespread concern regarding the ability of households to adequately plan and save
for retirement. However, large household surveys show that the typical household does not
manage household finances well (Atkinson, McKay, Kempson, and Collard, 2006; OECD,
2005; Van Raaij, Antonides, and de Groot, 2008). In particular, many other countries
employees have little saving on the verge of retirement (Lusardi and Mitchell 2007).
Recently, the existing studies indicate that financial illiteracy is widespread and individuals
lack knowledge of even the most basic economic principles (Lusardi and Mitchell, 2007,
2008; National Council on Economic Education (NCEE), 2005; Hilgert, Hogarth, and
Beverly, 2003)1.
1
For example, Lusardi and Mitchell (2007) find that only 18% of the respondents in the Health and Retirement
137
At the same time, the existing studies have shown that those who are not financially literate
are less likely to plan for retirement and to accumulate wealth (Lusardi and Mitchell, 2007).
As pointed out by Lusardi (2008), this dramatic lack of knowledge has serious implications
for retirement planning, the design of retirement plans and financial education programs.
Dovark and Hanley (2010); Van Rooij, Lusardi and Alessie (2011) finds a strong and positive
relationship between financial knowledge and retirement planning: those who are more
financially knowledgeable are more likely to plan for retirement.
Our main finding are as follows: More financial literacy people are more likely to plan for
retirement, even after controlling for a large set of socioeconomic characteristics, including
education and income. In addition, we also find the postive relationship between saving
behavior and retirement planning. Those findings are consistence with previously developed
countries’s evidence (Van Rooij et al., 2011). Finally, we find women in Taiwan have
undetaken higher retirment plan level than men, this is not consistent with previously findings
(Lusardi and Mitchel, 2008).These findings have important labor work force policy
implications.
The outline of the paper is as follows in section 2 literature review we briefly introduce
implication of studying financial literacy and the retirement planning relationship between
saving behavior similar papers famous researchers main aim. Section 3 we discuss the survey
data and the variable defining. In section 4 we report the outcome of an order logit regression
analysis to explain variations in retirement planning. In Section 5 result into perspective and
conclusion.
People may differ in their budget constraints, information, discount rates, whether they
engage in planning, or the financial literacy (see Ameriks et al., 2003; Bernheim et al., 2001;
Lusardi, 2003; Lusardi and Mitchell, 2007; Saez, 2009 and Scholz et al., 2006). Gutsman and
Steinmeier (2004) also consistent with finding people know little about their social security
and pension benefits, two of the most important components of retirement wealth. Our key
question of retirement survey is managing family income and personal income, family
income has statistically significant those who give a correct questions are more likely to be
planners which means higher educated people can earn more and saving plan is consistent.
Financial literacy matter for retirement planning previous studies. Ameriks, Caplin and Leahy
(2003) and Lusardi and Mitchell (2007) have proven that people who develop a plan
accumulate more wealth than those who do not develop a plan.
Survey (HRS) could calculate compound interest. Using a different survey Lusardi and Tufano (2009) show that
only 7% recognized the time value of money.
138
According to Lusardi (2003), planning is costly for individuals because they have to gather
and process information in the course of planning. It seems that the difference in search costs
can be explained by the level of retirement level sum up financial planning can positively
affect the retirement savings decisions. Financial literacy has been studied by rational
investors seen as (Helman, Salisbury, Paladino, and Copeland, 2005 and Lusadi and Mitchell,
2007) the economic literature states support that people plan for and decide about retirement
like decision-makers who try to maximize their benefits, although they are subject to
situational constraints. Many papers suggest that retirement plan contains many of investment
options Iyengar et al. (2004) that find participation rates drop as the number of options
increases. Bernheim et al. (2001) suggest that the extend to which accumulated retirement
wealth varies across households is difficult to reconcile with the classic life cycle model.
Traditional economists assume that choice is the outcome of the options over consumption in
presence of household net saving constrain. And Lusardi and Mitchle (2007) provide
evidence that those who plan for their retirement accumulate more retirement wealth.
3. Data and Variables Definition

3.1 Data Sources
The data for this paper comes from the 2007, 2009 and 2011 Financial Supervisory
commission, R. O. C (Taiwan) survey2. For the research purpose, the representative sample
of the people over 40 years old. After deleting observations which did not report retirement
planning and others with missing values for at least one variable, the resulting data set has a
sample size of 3,365.
3.2 The Measurement of Retirement Plan Level

To assess the empirical evidence for this point, we are trying to clarify the reality of each
household well being. The wording of the question in the 2007, 2009 and 2011 Financial
Supervisory commission, R. O. C (Taiwan) survey is as follows:
What resources do you have for future or (present) pensions?

If their response: not sure, not planned yet and investment derivatives, these would define by
low level. If their response: pension from companies or service organizations, labor insurance
and public insurance, etc. and saving (including bank deposits a non-government investment),
2
This survey was targeted at 20-year-old-aged informants and the above who live in Taiwan District. As the
questionnaire contains 9 indicators( which challenged responders’ patience and might contain some points
which are difficult for understanding, so this study adopts interviews as the main survey method and takes mail
as an auxiliary ways for oral answers. In addition to test surveys （Pilot Study）, the survey samples nationally
with stratified proportional characteristics which goes like this: first, the latest census data on ages, sexes, and
education degrees of people throughout Taiwan as well as demographics statistics annual report published in
2010 by the Ministry of the Interior Bureau of Statistics in 2010 are taken as reference; second, samples of all
cities and counties are determined based on the proportion of sampling population so as to keep the sample
numbers in line with the sampling quantities for genders, ages, and education degrees; lastly, distribution
information for each year in the DGBAS to ensure that the samples conform to the characteristics of our
population distribution.
139
these would definitely by middle level. Finally if their response purchase of bonds, stocks,
funds a saving type insurance policy, these would definitely by high level.
3.3 The Measurement of Financial Literacy

We follow Lusardi and Mitchell (2006) have designed nine different questions to measure
financial literacy. Table 1 shows the overall performance of respondents. It seems
respondents have some knowledge about economic concepts. Also we provided exact
wording is reported in panel A of Table 1.
3.4 The Measurement of Saving Behavior

To assess the empirical evidence for this point, we are trying to clarify who have well family
saving behavior. The wording of the question in the 2007, 2009 and 2011 Financial
Supervisory commission, R. O. C (Taiwan) survey is as follows:
The proportion of money used for saving against annual revenues of your family would be?
The family saving behavior: (Family saving behavior_d) is measured by a binary variable as
follows:
Family saving behavior_d=1 if The proportion of money used for saving against
annual revenues of your family would larger than 20%
140
Family saving behavior_d=0 if The proportion of money used for saving against
annual revenues of your family would less than 20%
Similarly, we are trying to clarify who have well personal bonus saving behavior. The
wording of the question in the 2007, 2009 and 2011 Financial Supervisory commission, R. O.
C (Taiwan) survey is as follows:
If you have a non-recurring additional incomes such as year-end bonus or bonuses for
employees the saving ratio would be?
The personal bonus saving behavior: (Personal saving behavior_d) is measured by a binary
variable as follows:
Personal saving behavior_d=1 if you have a non-recurring additional incomes such

as year-end bonus or bonuses for employees the saving ratio would be larger than 20%
Personal saving behavior_d=0 if you have a non-recurring additional incomes such
as year-end bonus or bonuses for employees the saving ratio would be less than 20%
3. Empirical Results
Panel A of Table 2 show retirement level with demographic characteristics. Retirement
planning is positive with younger age. Background response displays a higher level of
financial knowledge Taiwanese people. Full time workers pretty much higher planning
behavior than others. Panel B of Table2 shows financial literacy existence among
demographic table previously we mentioned about determination of financial literacy
question in here we scope respondents. Panel C of Table2shows the saving behavior in two
way Family saving behavior and Personal saving behavior. In the first row of family saving
behavior represent less than 20% of “extra income” second row represents a larger than
20%. Also the same response for personal saving behavior first row less than 20% second
row larger than 20%.
141
142
We employ Order Logit regression model in this study to examine the relationship among the
level of financial literacy, saving behavior and retirement planning3. Empirical evidence
shows that both financial literacy and saving behavior have significantly positive impact on
people's retirement planning. That is to say, people with higher financial literacy are more
likely to have more diversified retirement planning than only depend on social insurance/
annuity.
3 3
In this study, we firstly conduct correlation analysis of each variables and find that no highly correlation
between the variables. Thus, we could exclude the influence of collinearity on our study. Besides, we also
employ an Order Probit regression model to run a robustness test and get similar findings. In order to keep this
paper concise, we do not present the results of this robustness test here.
143
Conclusion
In this paper, we provide an overview of the financial literacy in Taiwan using data on
Taiwanese households, analyzed the determinants of the financial literacy relationship
between saving behavior and retirement planning. In our order logit regression models, We
find a strong positive relationship between financial literacy and retirement planning; those
who are more financially knowledgeable are more likely to plan for retirement. We also find
a strong positive relationship between saving behavior and retirement planning; those who
have a more saving habit are more likely to plan for retirement. Beside, we found that female,
the young individuals with tend to be more cautious planning retirement. Lower education
levels seem likely to less planning retirement planning and saving behavior positive.
References
Ameriks, J., Capling, A., ad Leahy, J., 2003. Wealth accumulation and the propensity to plan.
Quarterly journal of economics 118 , 1007-1047.
144
Atkinson, A., Mckay, S., Kempson, E., and Collard, S., 2006. Levels of financial capability
in the UK: Results of a baseline survey (Vol.47). London: Financial services Authority
Consumer Research, FSA.
Bernheim, B. D., Skinner, J., and Weinberg, S., 2001. What accounts for the variation in
retirement wealth among U.S. households? American Economic Review 91(4), 832-857.
Binswanger, J., and Carman, K. G., 2012 How real people make long-term decisions: The
case of retirement preparation. Journal of Economic Behavior& Organization 81, 39-60
Cocco, J. F., and Gomes, F. J., 2012. Longevity risk, retirement savings, and dinancial
innovation. Journal of Financial Economics 103, 507-529.
Dvorak, T., and Hanley, H., 2010. Financial literacy and the design of retirement plans.
Journal of Socio-Economics 39, 645-652.
Gabriela T., Moriano, J. A., and Moreno, A., 2012. Psychosocial determinants of financial
planning for retirement among immigrants in Europe. Journal of economic psychology
33, 527-537.
Hilgert, M., J. Hogarth and Beverly, S., 2003. Household financial management: the
connection between knowledge and behavior. Federal Reserve Bulletin July, 309–322.
Lusardi, A., 2003. Planning and saving for retirement. Unpublished Manuscript, Dartmouth
College.
Lusardi, A., 2008. Financial literacy: An essential Tool for Informed Consumer Choice.
NBER Working paper.
Lusardi, A., and Mitchell, O., 2007. Baby boomers retirement security: the role of planning,
financial literacy and housing wealth. Journal of Monetary Economics 54, 205-224.
Lusardi, A., and Mitchell, O., 2008. Planning and financial literacy: how do women fare?
American Economics Review 98, 413-147.
Lusardi, A., and Tufano, P., 2009. Debt literacy, financial experience and overindebtedness.
NBER Working Paper.
MasterCard Survey, 2012. Taiwan and New Zealand Top Asia/Pacific Region on Financial
Literacy: July 19.
National Council on Economic Education (NCEE), 2005. What American teens and adults
know about economics. Washington, D.C.
OECD, Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development. 2005: Improving
financial literacy: Analysis of issues and policies. Paris, France.
Pinquart, M., and Schinder, I., 2007. Changes of life satisfication in the transition to
retirement: A latent-class approach. Psychology and Aging 22, 442-455.
Saez, E., 2009. Details matter: the impact of presentation and information on the take-up of
financial incentives for reetirement saving. American Economic Journal: Economic
Policy 1(1), 204-228.
Scholz, J. K., Seshardi, A., and Khitatrakun, S., 2006. Are Americans saving optimally for
retirement? Journal of Political Economy 114(4), 607-643.
145
Topa, G., Moriano, J. A., and Moreno, A., 2012. Psychosocial determinants of financial
planning for retirement among immigrants in Europe. Journal of Economic Psychology
33, 527-537.
Van Raaj, F., G., Antonides and de Groot, M., 2008. Financial knowledge and capability of
consumers. In Presented on the colloquium financial capability at the University of
Wageningen.
Van Rooij, M, V., A. Lusardi and Alessie, R., 2011. Financial literacy and retirement
planning in the Netherlands. Journal of Economic Psychology 32, 593-608.
Wang, M., 2007. Profiling retirees in the retirement transitionand adjustment process:
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of Applied Psychology 92, 455-474.
146
ASMSS-2880
The Effect of Firm Maturity on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): Do
Older Firms Invest More in CSR?
Pradit Withisuphakorn
National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA), Thailand
praditw@nida.ac.th
Pornsit Jiraporn
Pennsylvania State University, School of Graduate Professional Studies (SGPS), USA
pxj11@psu.edu
Motivated by the literature on corporate life cycles, we explore the effect of firm maturity on
corporate social responsibility (CSR). Our results based on over 26,000 observations across
21 years reveal that more mature firms invest significantly more in CSR. Furthermore, we
find that the effect of firm maturity is not uniform across different categories of CSR. As
firms get older, they become much more responsible in terms of diversity and environmental
awareness, whereas the effect of firm aging is much weaker in terms of human rights and
product safety. Our study is the first to link corporate life cycles to corporate social
responsibility.
JEL Codes: M14, G30
1. Introduction
The issue of corporate social responsibility or CSR has recently attracted so much attention in
the media, in academics, and among corporate practitioners. This is hardly surprising, given
that corporations spend millions of dollars on CSR activities. Also, mutual funds that trade
based on CSR-related strategies command billions of dollars around the world. Margolis,
Effenbein, and Walsh (2009) offer a comprehensive review of the literature on CSR. The
purpose of this paper is to investigate how corporate life cycles or corporate aging influence
CSR investments. Corporate life cycles have been linked to a number of crucial corporate
outcomes, especially dividend policy and capital investments. Notably absent in the literature
is the evidence on the effect of corporate aging on CSR investments. We intend to fill this
lacuna in the literature.
It is generally believed that CSR engagement improves the reputation of the firm over time as
a responsible corporate citizen. Firms perceived as socially responsible create goodwill
among their customers or potential customers, who in turn would be more likely to buy their
products or services.
147
Proponents of CSR argue that CSR engagement results in stronger sales, higher profitability,
and superior firm performance. As firms mature, how do their views on CSR investments
change over time? We advance two competing hypotheses. First, mature firms are more
stable with more predictable performance and cash flows. As a result, matures firms can
afford to invest more in CSR. Younger firms, by contrast, exhibit more unpredictable cash
flows, experience more growth, and hence have less cash left over to invest in CSR activities.
This view suggests that mature firms invest more in CSR activities than younger firms. We
refer to this view as “the outcome hypothesis” because more investments in CSR are an
outcome of firm maturity.
On the contrary, the opposite view argues that mature firms already have stable performance
and cash flows. It is thus less necessary for mature firms to invest in CSR. Because mature
firms have been in business for longer than younger firms, they have accumulated stronger
reputational capital. The stronger reputation substitutes for any goodwill that may be created
by CSR investments. Younger firms, on the other hand, have not established a reputation and
may need to do so through CSR engagement. The marginal benefit of CSR investments is
greater for younger firms than it is for mature firms, suggesting that younger firms are more
motivated to invest in CSR. Consequently, this hypothesis argues that mature firms make less
investments in CSR. We label this view “the substitution hypothesis”.
Based on over 26,000 observations across twenty-one years, our empirical evidence reveals
that firm maturity is associated with stronger engagement in CSR. More mature firms invest
significantly more in CSR. Therefore, our results lend credence to the outcome hypothesis. In
particular, as firm age increases from the 25th to the 75th percentile, CSR investments rise by
approximately 6%. Furthermore, we also explore the effect of corporate maturity on each
specific category of CSR. We examine a total of seven categories; Community, Corporate
Governance, Diversity, Employee, Environment, Human Rights, and Product. Our findings
suggest that corporate aging does not have a uniform effect on all categories of CSR. As firm
age, they tend to be much more responsible in terms of diversity and environmental
awareness, whereas corporate aging has a much weaker effect on human rights and product
safety. Our study is the first to link firm maturity to corporate social responsibility. We
extend the literature by showing that firm aging also has a significant impact on CSR
investments.
3. The Methodology and Model

We obtain CSR data from the Kinder, Lydenberg, and Domini’s (KLD’s) database. We
estimate firm age by identifying the earliest year each firm appears in the CRSP database
(Center for Research in Security Prices). This method of estimating firm age has been used in
a number of previous studies. Data on the control variables are from COMPUSTAT.
148
The final sample consists of 26,272 firm-year observations from 1991 to 2012. Our sample is
among the most comprehensive in the literature.
To measure CSR, we use the KLD score, which has been widely used in the literature. KLD
includes strength ratings and concern ratings for 13 dimensions; community, diversity,
corporate governance, employee relations, environment, human rights, product, alcohol,
gambling, firearms, military, tobacco, and nuclear power. KLD assigns strengths and
concerns in the first 7 dimensions, whereas the final 6 dimensions are just exclusionary
screens and firms can only register concerns in those categories. For instance, a company can
receive credit for a strong environment policy at the same time a concern is registered for its
environment record. We do not include the exclusionary screen as part of the total CSR score.
The total of the strengths minus the concerns is the composite CSR score (Goss and Roberts,
2011; Jiraporn, Jiraporn, Boeprasert, and Chang, 2014); Jiraporn, and Chintrakarn, 2013a;
Jiraporn, and Chintrakarn, 2013b).
In a regression analysis, it is imperative to control for other factors that may influence the
degree of CSR investments. Based on prior literature, we include the following control
variables in our regression analysis; firm size (total assets), profitability (ROA), leverage
(total debt/total assets), dividends (dividends/total assets), R&D (R&D/total assets),
advertising (advertising expense/total assets), growth (capital expenditures/total assets), cash
holdings (cash holdings/total assets), current assets (current assets/total assets), and free cash
flows (EBITDA/total assets). Finally, we include year and industry dummies (based on the
first two digits of SIC) to control for variation over time and across industries.
Table 1 shows the summary statistics. The average CSR score is -0.187, suggesting that, on
average, the sample firms have slightly more CSR concerns than CSR strengths. The average
firm age is 22.88 years (17.00 median) with a standard deviation of 16.32 years. The rest of
the descriptive statistics are shown in Table 1.
4. The Findings
Table 2 displays the regression results where the CSR score is the dependent variable. We
cluster standard errors by firm and by year. Firm age is included as an independent variable
along with the control variables. In Model 1, firm age carries a positive and significant
coefficient, suggesting that older firms invest more in CSR. This finding is in favor of the
outcome hypothesis. Firms become more socially responsible as they get older. To estimate
the economic magnitude of the effect of firm age, we find that an increase in firm age from
the 25th to the 75th percentile results in a rise in CSR by approximately 6%. 1
1
Our estimation is as follows. Firm age changes by 26 years as it goes from the 25th to the 75th percentile. We
multiply 26 by the coefficient of firm age in Model 1 in Table 2, (26*0.006= 0.156). We then estimate that this
magnitude of change, 0.156, represents about 6% of the standard deviation of the CSR score
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The distribution of firm age is skewed to the left. To alleviate the skewness of this variable,
we take the natural log. Model 2 shows the regression result where Ln (Firm Age) is an
independent variable. The coefficient of Ln (Firm Age) remains positive and significant. To
exploit the cross-sectional time-series nature of the data, we execute a panel random-effects
regression in Model 3. Again, firm age still carries a positive and highly significant
coefficient. Based on the regression coefficients in Model 1, Figure 1 is a graphical
representation of the effect of firm aging on CSR; the older the firm, the more socially
responsible it becomes.
The KLD data consists of seven CSR categories; community, diversity, corporate
governance, employee relations, environment, human rights, product. The effect of firm
maturity may not be uniform across these categories. As firms mature, they may invest more
in certain CSR categories but not others. To provide further insights, we investigate the effect
of corporate aging on each CSR category individually. Table 3 displays the regression results.
Table 3 shows seven regressions where each regression has each CSR category as the
dependent variable. First, firm age carries a significant coefficient in each and every one of
the regressions. As firm matures, they are more responsible in all categories. Nevertheless,
the degree to which firm maturity influences each CSR category is not uniform. For instance,
the coefficient of firm age is larger for the diversity and environment categories, while it is
weaker for human rights and product.
5. Summary and Conclusions

Prior literature has documented a number of factors that influence CSR investments, such as
profitability, R&D, corporate governance etc. One critical factor that has been neglected in
the literature is firm maturity. We fill this gap in the literature by showing that firm age is a
crucial determinant of CSR investments. Our results corroborate the outcome hypothesis,
which contends that firms invest more in CSR as they get older. More established firms
exhibit more stable cash flows and profitability and can afford to engage more in CSR. We
also provide insights into the differential effects of corporate aging on various CSR
categories. We find that, as firms turn more mature, they are more responsible in terms of
diversity and environmental awareness. On the contrary, the effect to firm maturity is much
less pronounced for human rights and product safety.
References
Goss, A. and G. S. Roberts, 2011, The impact of corporate social responsibility on the cost of
bank loans, Journal of Banking and Finance 35, 1794-1810.
(0.156/2.723=0.057).
150
Jiraporn, P. and P. Chintrakarn, 2013a, How do powerful CEOs view corporate social
responsibility (CSR)? An empirical note, Economics Letters 119, 344-347.
Jiraporn, P., and P. Chintrakarn, 2013b, Corporate social responsibility (CSR) and CEO luck:
Are lucky CEOs socially responsible? Applied Economics Letters 20, 1036-1039.
Jiraporn, P., N. Jiraporn, A. Boeprasert, and K. Chang, 2014, Does corporate social
responsibility (CSR) improve credit ratings? Evidence from geographic identification,
Financial Management 43, 505-531.
Margolis, J.D., H. A. Effenbein, and J. P. Walsh, 2009, Does it pay to be good….and does it
matter? A meta-analysis of the relationship between corporate social and financial
performance, Working paper, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.
Appendix
The CSR score is calculated based on the data from KLD. The free cash flows ratio is
calculated as EBITDA divided by total assets.
The CSR score is calculated based on the data from KLD. The free cash flows ratio is
calculated as EBITDA divided by total assets. Industry dummies are based on the first two
digits of SIC.
151
152
The horizontal axis is firm age in years, whereas the vertical axis is the CSR score. The graph
is drawn based on the coefficient estimates in Model 1 Table 2.
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ASMSS-2923
Beyond Pricing: Story from Torajanese Culture
Natalia Paranoan
Paulus Christian University of Indonesia
paranoannatalia@gmail.com
Abstract
Background: the buffalo’s selling price in Toraja that reach hundreds of millions ruphias is an
appealing phenomenon to study because buffalo in Toraja is appreciated as special animal with many
cultural symbolic meanings that give affects to its price.
Purpose of this research: to reveal power behind pricing practices of buffalo as an animal sacrifice in
Torajanese tradition.
Research question: what is the power can affect pricing practices of buffalo?
Methods: using qualitative research methods with ethnography study towards in depth exploration and
observation in regards to the concept of price determination based on Torajanese culture, South
Sulawesi, Indonesia.
Result: there are two powers that affect the pricing practices of buffalo such as the religion of the
ancestor named Aluk Todolo and the power of the noble family.
Conclusion: power behind pricing practice that caused the price of buffalo in Toraja is very high. In
fact the price is not merely based on cost, profit mark up and market prices but significantly
influenced by the spiritual values. This correlation between culture and local religion created the
tradition of carrying out local customs, and hitherto to create their own accounting practices.
Government should prepare instrument to cover this phenomenon.
Keywords: Power, pricing practice, buffalo, Torajanese culture.
I. Background
Social interaction is a mechanism of reproductive dominance relationships between individuals and
groups. A mechanism that establishes what is called culture. Normally, prevailing culture is the culture
of the ruling. An effort to always distinguish themselves from what is done by most people is one
strategy to maintain the dominance and a means to accumulate other types of capital. So ideology,
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talent and cultural taste have been made as myth that hides their interests that are in a position to
dominate.
The environment influence on the accounting practices of pricing. Various studies reveal this case,
such as, Juan’s research (2011), which proved empirically that price perception influenced by
culture/ environment significantly. Maxwell (2001) examined the effect of price and brand to the
consumption behavior of American people and Indian people and the results stated that consumption
behavior of society will be different in different cultures. Ackerman and Tellis’s research (2001) also
supports Maxwell’s research (2001), in which they examined the behavior of consumer spending and
the price of products in the two groups; the American culture and Chinese cultures. They found that
the differences in the behavior of these two groups is very sharp, the Chinese people more careful in
buying products and spend a lot of time for shopping.
In the company concept, pricing is one of the most important and complex decisions faced by
managers. Pricing product give direct impact on the company's profit to survive. The analysts takes
7-8 years to learn the price of goods/services in the market and test the foundation of pricing (Easton,
2013). Although the way the pricing is the same used by every company that is based on costs,
competition, demand, supply, and profit but the optimal combination of these factors are different
according to the nature of the product, market, and company goals.
1.1 Price
Price is the amount of money expected, required, or given in payment for something. Price is the value
that is put to a product or service, or in other words price is a value that expressed in other monetary
form for exchange (transaction). Many factors involved in pricing and the definition depends on the
problems of accurate determine on what is sold. Hansen and Mowen (2001: 633) states that the selling
price is the monetary amount charged by a business unit to the buyer or customer on goods or services
sold or delivered. While Mulyadi (2001: 78) argues that the selling price should cover the full cost and
profit. So basically the selling price is equal to the production cost plus profit mark-up. Definition of
price is different with value.
Value is the person’s perception on an object that is converted into a convertible currency or the
equivalent of goods. This value is valid for a certain time and will change over time. Hence the value of
a person's perception (the benefits or the value of an item / object), then the value can be different from
one person to another, causing a difference value which ultimately affects the price of an item/object.
In other words it can be said that in addition to costs and profits of the main factors in pricing product,
there is a value attached to an item that can affect a person's perspective on the goods and relate to how
many prices are determine.
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1.2 Pricing Product
Company made pricing with a variety of ways. At the small companies pricing usually set by top
management while at the big companies pricing is usually handled by the division manager and
product lines.
In normal circumstances, the price should be able to cover all the full costs and generate profits that
commensurate with the investment. In special circumstances, the price of the products are not
burdened with the task to cover the full cost. There are four methods of determining the selling price
according to Mulyadi (2005: 77), namely: (1) determining the selling price in the normal state
(normal pricing), (2) determining the selling price in the cost type contracts, (3) determining the
selling price of special order, and (4) determining the selling price of the products or services
produced by the company are regulated by government. In the fourth method, the cost is the starting
point for selling price formulation. Meanwhile, according to Kotler (2005) there are six methods of
pricing, namely: (1) pricing mark-ups, (2) Pricing based on target returns, (3) pricing based on
perceived value, (4) Determination of value pricing, (5) Pricing corresponding current prices, and (6)
Determination of price sealed bid.
From many methods of pricing that is known in the literature of accounting and finance, in fact no
one has touched the cultural aspect. Pricing buffalo in Toraja which is one of the districts in South
Sulawesi
province has unique characteristics. The selling price of buffalo is very high when we compared to
other regions. Nowadays price of one buffalo such as Saleko (one of the kind of buffalo) reached a
billion rupiahs. This study will reveal that prices not only oriented to costs and profit but want to
reveal various power behind pricing buffalo.
II. Research Methodology

The methodology used in this research is a qualitative research method, which is a process of
research and understanding based on a methodology that investigates the social phenomena and
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human issues. The selection of qualitative method in this research is to provide a new perspective on
the overall concept of pricing (holistic), with the assumption that understanding the concept of
pricing is not just by looking at the cost and profit mark up mathematically, but also to understand
the behavior/action of individuals in implementing pricing practices that applied based on the
cultural values/local wisdom.
This is in line with the suggestion by Moleong (2007:6) that qualitative research is a research that
aims to understand the phenomenon of what is experienced by the subjects in a holistic manner (eg,
behavior, perception, motivation, and action) and by a description in the form of words and language
in a specific and natural context by utilizing a variety of natural methods. Myers (2009:5) also
expresses that qualitative research is designed to help us to understand people and what they declare
and do, so as to understand the social and cultural context in more depth at which the person lives.
By using a qualitative approach, we expect to explore the socio-cultural sphere in which accounting
has a side of the sphere.
In the perspective of science, ethnography is an approach to research method that aims to examine an
object that is associated with the culture of a community or a social community by describing the
way they think, live, behave and such as it is (Myers, 2009:92; Muhadjir 2007: 147). According to
Spradley (1997:3), ethnography is to describe the activity of a culture in which the main goal is to
understand the way of life from the native’s point of view. Ethnographer actively participate in the
group under research and focus on the meaning of behavior, language, and social interactions within
the group (Sukoharsono, 2006).
The core of ethnographic research is an effort to pay attention to the meaning of the actions of the
events experienced by the people who want us to understand which is expressed through the
language and actions that governing their behavior, or in other words a system of meaning by
Spradley so-called a culture (Spradley, 1997:5). Spradley argues that culture refers to the knowledge
acquired that people use to interpret the experience and spawn social behavior. Limiting the
definition of culture as shared knowledge, has changed the emphasis of the various phenomena to an
emphasis on the meaning of various phenomena. Furthermore Spradley (1997:11) argues that
ethnographers make conclusions of culture through three things: 1) from what poeple say 2) from the
way people act, and 3) fromf the various artifacts left behind.Ethnographic research is used in
exploring and describing the accounting life amidst social interaction. Ethnographic research does
not simply observe human behavior, but also make sense of the behavior that can be framed in the
life of accounting science (Sukoharsono, 2009:91).
This study used ethnographic methods because this research aims to uncover the power behind the
pricing practices in the Torajaese culture that formed by the influence of cultural values in the Toraja
society.
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2.1 Situs and Informant
This research was conducted in the District of North Toraja, South Sulawesi Province in which
phenomena occur buffalo prices. Four informants were used in this study who are indigenous actors
which is directly involved in traditional activities and activities of buffalo’s transaction. So that the
informants have experienced in this phenomenon. The researcher collected data by settling in the
community and participate in traditional activities.
III. Result of Studi

3.1 Toraja’s Culture
Toraja is one of the tribes in South Sulawesi who live in the mountainous valley about 340 km from the
provincial capital of South Sulawesi, Makassar. It is located approximately 800-1000 meters above sea
level. Toraja is divided into two regions/districts; North Toraja and Tana Toraja, each led by a regional
head.
Culture is a way of life that developed and jointly owned by a group of people and passed down from
generation to generation. Culture is made up of many complex elements, including religious and
political systems, customs, languages, tools, clothing, buildings, and art. Culture is an overall
lifestyle that is complex, abstract, and broad .
Culture is closely related to the community. Herskovits and Malinowski (1980) suggested that
everything contained in the society is determined by the culture which is owned by the community
itself. While Herskovits (1983) views culture as something handed down from one generation to
another, which is then referred to as superorganic.
Torajanese culture is all the things accumulateed in aluk, ada' pemali or aluk 7777 which is stated in
the association and the daily life of the Torajanes such as in personal life, social, economic, political,
art and religion. Through culture, the Torajanese can build an intimate relationship with God, other
humen and their natural environment (Paranoan, 1989).
Torajanese culture is a human creation in the forms of material and spiritual. All sorts of public
knowledge stored in memory or in books in the form of the symbol that will be a guidance and be
used in the future. Through their culture, they study the mental activities such as custom, building of
Tongkonan house, dances, carving, and others.
The Torajanese have their own religion and still maintained until now called aluk Todolo. The
belivers of aluk todolo up to now is 15% and the rest are Christians and Islam. The doctrine of aluk
Todolo is one form of animism which assumes that each object among others; rocks, trees, rivers, has
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the power. So, they do worshiping and give offerings by sacrifying animals such as buffaloes, pigs,
and chickens (Kadir, 1997:90). This old belief has great influences in the order of society, and
influence the mindset, behavior, and relationships of Torajanese with their fellow human beings,
with the natural surroundings and the Divine. This complex influence is crystallized in the form of
ceremonies in Torajanese society and the structure of their life.
Torajanese have two major traditional ceremonies Rambu Tuka’ and Rambu Solo’. Rambu Tuka’ is
associated with gratitude to God, joy, birth, marriage and success of the harvest, while Rambu Solo is
related to death and grief that aims to honor and deliver the spirit of the deceased to the spiritual world,
back to immortality with their ancestors in a place called puya, which is located in the Southern part of
human habitation. As generally in the traditional beliefs; (which distinguishes from Celestial
religions), they do not recognize the concept of heaven and hell, but they believe the recent world and
the spiritual world (puya).
3.2 Toraja Buffalo

Toraja buffalo (bos bubolus var sandaica, tedong in Toraja language) is different from the buffalo
from other areas in general. Its body is fat and muscular, its skin is clean and shiny, and its food is well
provided. For Torajanese, Buffalo is not just an animal for helping the farmers plowing in the fields or
as the consumed meat at a ceremony. But, it has become a value standard of specific services or goods.
In Toraja, Buffalo is rarely or even almost never seen to be used in plowing. Instead of using buffalo,
the farmers tend to use tools such as tractors to plow the fields because buffalos are considered very
valuable. There is a myth that buffaloes’ and human’s ancestors were brothers.
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Toraja buffalo is taken care as well as possible because it is used as a means of worship/sacrificial
animal in the traditional ceremonies conducted in Toraja. This statement is overlaid by Simon Petrus,
one of my informant, that:
"Generally the buffalo is valued by the weight. So, a big (buffalo) in South Sulawesi costs about 5
million rupiahs. But, they only value the buffalo by the meat. People of South Sulawesi prefer to
consume beef because the meat is more delicate than the buffalo. However, Torajanese culture puts
buffalo as oto'naeanan; oto'na: high, eanan: property-that is the highest property, higher than gold.
They put the Toraja buffalo as a supreme offering.. "
From the statement, it appears that Torajanese place buffalo as the highest treasure which is more
valuable than gold, but in this case for a living buffalo. When the buffalo is dead then it is not more
than just as animal which is valued on meat for consumption, calculated by weight scales. As a value
standard of specific services or goods, buffalo also has become one of the valuable trading commodity
(Paranoan, 2012; Kompas, 2013).
In Aluk Todolo belief, buffalo also has a basic philosophical value that use the buffalo as the main
offering in RambuTuka’ and Rambu Solo’ ceremonies. As a symbol that refers to the work and the
results of human endeavor as well as a symbol of prosperity, and the value of the buffalo as major
sacrifices in Rambu Solo’ funeral to determine the level of the ceremony, as the basis for determining
the tana' (a system of social stratification) as well as a payment (dowry) in a marriage or divorce.
In addition, the function of the buffalo in the lives of Torajanese can not be separated from the meaning
of religion according to the teachings of AlukTodolo, with mantunu ritual associated with the Rambu
Solo’; irstly, as the main animal in a ceremony that determine the level of Rambu Solo’; secondly, as a
basic of social judgment to a dead person and his descendants who carry out the ceremony; and the
thirdly, as the basic calculation and social judgment on the person who died.
3.3 Social Stratification

Every community has something worthy of appreciation, it may be wealth, power,
intelligence, profession, etc. As long as the men still differentiate the appreciation on his
belongings, creating social layers in society. According to Max Weber social stratification is the
classification of people who belong to a particular social system into hierarchical layers according to
the dimensions of power, priveledge, and prestige. The more ownership and skills a person has, the
higher the position and awards he will receive in the community, and vice versa. Social stratification
can occur by itself because of its offspring at birth (ascribed status) and can also occur because of
deliberate action (achievement status), such as intelligence, being an officer at the formal /
non-formal agency, and others.
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As people of India and Bali, the Torajanese society from the ancient time has recognized the social
stratification system derived from their ancestors’ beliefs called Aluk Todolo. The Strata regulates
various aspects of life, especially in interacting in society. The position of a person set according to
the strata greatly affects the interaction relationship, so the difference can be seen the in way they
dress and behave. This rises to a difference in the lives of the Torajanese. The Levels of social life in
Torajanese society is called Tana’ (caste) which is divided into several levels (Kobong, 2002:78;
Duli, 2003).
The levels of Tana' in the Torajanese society are as follows: 1) Tana' Bulaan, (gold) is a layer of
high nobility as the heirs to receive sukaran aluk, a trust to set the rules of life and lead the religion.
2) Tana' Bassi, (iron) is a layer of middle nobility as the heirs to receive the trust to set the
leadership. 3) Tana' Karurun, (palm stick) which is the layer of the most people who have never
been ruled directly, who can receive the trust as handymen or skillful people 4) Tana' Kua - kua,
(reed) is a layer of slaves as heirs who should accept the responsibility as servants of the nobility.
Usually a simple house of tana' kua - kua is located behind the tongkonan house, they serve the
nobility from sunrise to sunset. However, in the present time, this view is rarely seen, considering the
economic and social status began to change. They chose to make a living outside Toraja to increase
the economic and social status.
Pong Layuk also revealed about the social structure of the Torajanese society:
"The social structure is associated with the order of creation, so it is a transcendental ontological
structure; unchangeable. In the sky, it is still a simple structure in which the basic structure is the
men of pure gold (tana bulaan) and the men of clay (kaunan). When the men are getting more in
numbers, the social structure is developing and its development is not the same in every region,
producing variations in the structure. "
During the Dutch control in Tana Toraja, by Governor Kroegen servants layer was dispensed
(Harahap, 1952). However, the role of Tana' in the life of Torajanese is still there until now,
although the implementation is not as restrictive as the ancient times. Social stratification can be seen
in the use of one's names. The names are usually taken from the descendants of the father or mother
attached to the user. In the implementation of traditional ceremonies, certain positions of Tana' are
very important. The social groups who become the leaders in every traditional ceremony in the
teachings of aluk Todolo always refer to Tana' Bulaan. The social stratification in Tana' Bulaan is
always identified with wealth and power. This is apparent in the implementation of traditional
ceremonies with animals sacrificed in large quantities and distributed to the people who deserve
them. Nowadays, the social strata is gradually shifting and no longer solely based on ancestry or
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position, but by the level of education and economic capability (Melalatoa, 1995; Adams, 1998).
Social stratification of family group is also determined by the rulers who built Tongkonan.
IV. Discussion
4.1 Ancestral Religion and Pricing Practices
Each region has its own culture and tradition, as well as in Torajanese society. Various of traditions
carried out by the people are the acculturation of the local culture/ancestral religion Aluk Todolo where
this tradition affects the accounting behavior of the people. Tradition/culture is very close to religion
because it is one of the most dominant life value of culture in human life. Religion is a cultural system
which implies that any religion will contain a socio- cultural system that gives a conception of reality
and plan to make it happen.
This means that the human conception of reality itself is not derived from knowledge, but belief in the
absolute authority of a different religion and belief (Geertz, 1973:57). Religion is believed as the oldest
power that is able to affect one's way of thinking and acting (Suseno, 2000:1).
Pricing practice in Torajanese people which is laden with the influence of Aluk Todolo belief, is a
social practice that lives in the community. Social practice is formulated by Bourdieu as a result of the
dialectical dynamics between exterior and interior externalisation, or the dialectical dynamics between
internalizing everything that is experienced and observed from outside of the social actors with
disclosure of everything that has been internalized and become the part of the social actors (Bourdieu
in Rusdiarti 2003:33). Bourdieu defines habitus as a conditioning associated with the terms of the
existence of a class. The results of a habitus is a disposition of systems that long-lasting and can be
inherited.
Accounting practices rooted in Torajanese society as the presence of habitus that exists within every
individual in Torajanese society about Aluk Todolo beliefs and the values in it. The development of
accounting of pricing practices that affected by ancestral beliefs are the result of dialectical dynamics
between religious values growing in society with a the accounting behavior of community in the form
of traditional rituals/traditions, or dialectical dynamics between internalizing everything that is
experienced and observed from outside of indigenous actors to the disclosure of everything that has
been internalized and become part of the individual actor of traditional rituals.
The religious tradition of Aluk Todolo through traditional rituals that influence accounting behavior in
Torajanese society, through socialization of values contained therein are formed and absorbed into the
consciousness of the individual. This social practice is the result of an active interaction between
objective social structures with habitus possessed by the actors. This habitus of religious tradition
describes the tendency of accounting practices embedded in the actors, which relates to the tendency of
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physical behavior, perception / way of thinking and acting of each individual. As revealed by Simon
Petrus:
"So powerful is the influence of Aluk Todolo that although people have abandoned but its grasping is
still so powerful. So, because of the culture and customs of Aluk Todolo, whatever the religion is, they
still practice Aluk Todolo because it is fused in their life. "
Maintaining the tradition has very important meaning in the lives of the people of Toraja. Although
they claimed to be a devouted Christian followers, but they still perform rituals which according to
other Christians are contrary to Christian teachings. Howeve, until now the Torajanese still maintain
and develop local cultural values of Aluk Todolo that deeply rooted in society and seek justification in
religious teachings.
4.2. Domination of the Rulers in Pricing in Practice

One of the negative nature of human is mastery. Mastery is one of human nature if he feels stronger
than others. The group who feels stronger have the instinct to master in a variety of ways to the groups
around it. Sometimes, the reflection of passion or instinct on this ruling knows no signs of ethics or
morals because the desire has been dominated by the struggle for power object.
As an instinct, It is very old and rooted in the origin of humans and tribal organizations. Mostly, the
history of early tribal society was the history of conquering and being conquered. Power is Close with
the ruling powers. The dynamics of Torajanese nobility (the dominating group) have very important
role in shaping the culture. This ruling determines the customary rules applicable in the society and
also contribute directly to the accounting behavior of society, they are the actors behind the buffalo
pricing in Toraja.
This dominantion is characterized by the position in the governmental and political structures which is
dominated by the class of Tana' Bulaan, the highest caste in Torajese society. The Nobles and their
relatives play an important role in the bureaucracy and politics. In Toraja, the cultural construction of
knighthood is long overdue since their interaction with the outside world as the kingdom of Gowa,
kingdom of Bone, in the Dutch colonial era of the 18th century until the New Order Era. The nobility is
considered as the incarnation of God (To Manurun) who are charismatic and deserve to lead. This
nobles had ruled in the past, in the Dutch colonial times and used as intermediaries in the system of
government of the Netherlands (Van Klinken 2010:166). There was an effort to make the nobility
discourse as the entrance to master the arena. And become a dilemma because the domination form it is
considered as the unquestionably accepted part (doxa. Their domination effect at the local level
because they generally occupy official positions in the government. Pong Bungin outlines the
situation.
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"Once there was a Rambu Solo’ ceremony held at Rante To ' Nangka. That is a tourism site as well. But
since the dead man is a nobleman. So, the goverment, who was his family made a good concrete access
around Rante, it costs billions. If someone else, it’s not necessary. "
Meanwhile, according to Pong Lingan:

"In the past, the holders of rule must be tana' bulaan, but now has begun to shift as well. If in Tana
Toraja is still very feudal, tana ' bulaan still holds all governments, while the North Toraja is famous as
the area of democracy. In North Toraja, not just tana ' bulaan who hold the government, many people
are not of the tana' bulaan are department heads. However, in the village, up to the sub-district head
are still from the group of tana' bulaan. The head of lembang is elected directly, so many people also
want to enjoy the government. But Regent, Vice Regent, and Secretary Regent are still from the class
of tana' bulaan."
This happens because a family group of tana' bulaan is usually highly educated in school, then work
and settle outside Toraja, only a fraction of them are back and working in the region. Others prefer to
live in the village and enjoy the priveledge as a group of tana' bulaan. This group has got the
distribution of meat and possess rice fields (the result can be sold and consumed) so it is not difficult to
meet their daily needs. As results, the average level of education only to High School and unable to
compete. As ones who are not of the group of tana' bulaan trying to get outside of Toraja, studying or
working overseas diligently to become successful and begin to occupy the government in Toraja. Pong
Bungin reveals this:
"Not many people from tana' bulaan who are still in the village are well educated. As many of those
here, they are not taken into account in the outside, so they do not venture out. More happily gambling,
sitting on alang if there is an event. Whereas others (kaunan) go looking for money in Irian,
Kalimantan and they succeed .
Even thought not all Torajanese can accept that someone who is not from the class of tana' bulaan
should hold the power in the government. This is the phenomenon portrait of the dominance of the
ruler in Toraja that still widely spreading until now.
From the above description, the author concludes that there is a power behind the pricing practices of
buffalo in Toraja that can perpetuate the tradition of continuity over time. The power is ancestral
religion and the power of the Torajanese nobility as well as the new dominant elite. The relation of
pricing practices and the power is reflected in the image below.
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V. Conclusion
In general, the cost factor is an essential component of cost products that must be considered in
determining the price (Samryn, 2012:349). These costs include the production cost and
non-production costs in the current year. After considering the cost factor that accumulated into the
product cost, the next step is considering the position of the product in the competition. These
considerations stimulated the mark-up value to be included in order to achieve the desired level of
profit. In fact, not all pricing concepts have based on cost factor as a fundamental element.
Various traditions performed by Torajanese society is affecting the accounting behavior of the
community, among others, the way people evaluate Torajanese buffalo, leading to a unique pricing
practice. This practice is laden with the influence of Aluk Todolo belief and is a social practice that live
in a society that is habitus. Habitus describes a set of tendencies that encourage social actors to play
and react in certain ways. These tendencies resulted in practices, perceptions, and fixed and regular
behaviors, which then becomes the "norm" which is not further questioned on the rules of their
background. In this case, the Torajanese doing various practices automatically without further
questioning.
In addition to the ancestral religion, pricing practices are also protected by the power of the dominance
behind the pricing to keep the practice last longer, which is the power of tana' bulaan and the new elite.
Tana' bulaan tries to maintain the status quo that they have obtained over the years while the new elite
successfully climb the ladder of power by expanding the economic, cultural, social capital and
symbolic. These two powers perpetuate the tradition from time to time.
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ASMSS-2843
Providing Housing for the Low-Income People
Martin Roestamy
Faculty of Law, Djuanda University
martin.roestamy@unida.ac.id
Rita Rahmawati
Faculty of Social Science and Political Science, Djuanda University
rita.rahmawati@unida.ac.id
Aal Lukmanul Hakim

Faculty of Law, Djuanda University
Aal.lukmanul.hakim@unida.ac.id
Abstract
Indonesia has committed to realizing the construction of public housing for all people. The
commitment is embodied in juridical operations which are translated into the form of government
legislations. It is not only how people build housing, but also how to open the widest access for the
people to have a home. Housing and settlement development is intended to accelerate the fulfillment
of the needs of decent and affordable housing for all segments of society (adequate shelter for all)
and simultaneously achieve sustainable human settlements. There are still many Indonesian people
who have low income who are not able to get decent housing. This problem happens because of
limited sources of public funds to buy a house and land. In the field of property, land does not only
serve as a building site, but it has become a business commodity. With the adoption of the principle
of horizontal separation for providing house, it will be easier for the government to provide home for
low-income people, because they can have their own home without having to buy the land. However,
this idea may not be accepted by the public, because they still perceive that a house is not only a
place to stay but it should also blend with the social environment to allow people to socialize and run
social traditions.
Key words: Low-Income People, Legal System, Horizontal Separation Principle, sustainable human
settlements, property.
Background to the Study

As a developing country, Indonesia is facing numerous problems in improving the prosperity of its
people. One of these problems is the provision of housing for low-income people. Based on data
from Ministry of Public Housing, it is estimated that there are about 7.2 million households residing
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in improper houses while data from Statistics Indonesia (BPS) show that there about 13.6 million
households reside in houses that do not belong to themselves (rent houses). This backlog is getting
worse if it is not seriously and immediately dealt with. This is true as people with this housing
problem are low-income people (LIP). The following data from BPS have made it worse. Data of
BPS show that, compared to other commodities, house ownership give significant effect on the
increase in poverty line. House ownership can have its share of up 10.32% in urban areas and 7.16%
in rural areas to poverty line. In March 2011-March 2012 period, the poverty line increased by
6.40% from Rp233.740 to Rp248.707 per capita per month.
Many factors have been indicated as hampering or inhibiting the acceleration of housing
development for LIP. These include permits, land, fund, infrastructure, taxes, technology, consumer
protection, and the complexity of overlapping housing rules and regulations. However, problems
related to land were the ones analyzed in this study as discussion about housing could not be taken
away from land on where housing was erected.
The main problem receiving less attention is public limited fund sources that they can use to buy
houses and land. In property field, land does not function as a building site only, but it has also
become a business commodity. In Article 48 paragraph (1) Law No 28 Year 2011 on Apartment
(Rumah Susun=Rusun), it is mentioned that as a proof of apartment unit ownership on a state-owned
property in the form of land or on a waqf land by renting, a Certificate of Building Construction
Ownership (SKBG) of Apartment Unit (Sarusun) is issued. The substance of this article adopts the
idea that rusun ownership is separated from land ownership and that building construction ownership
is given through the issuance of SKBG. In legal theory, this understanding is known as horizontal
separation principle that recognizes separation between ownership of land and ownership of good on
it. The adoption of this principle has reduced the burden of LIP in term that they can own a house
without having to buy the land. It is the obligation of the government to provide lands on which
housing for LIP to be constructed.
Methodology
The study was conducted in two provinces, West Java and DKI Jakarta. Two regencies/cities in
each province were purposively selected.This selection was based on the following considerations:
people in these regions were LIP and the selected regions represented three characteristics, namely
urban, rural, and semi-urban areas.
A qualitative and descriptive analysis approaches were used. Data were collected through study of
literatures, in-depth interviews, participant observations, focus group discussions, and questionnaire
distribution. Questionnaire technique was used to obtained wide data on people (LIP) perception
on the need of owning a house which is economically, socially, and technically decent.
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Samples were LIP who lived in 4 clusters: Bogor City, Bogor Regency, Depok City, and North
Jakarta City. Samples were then purposively selected. Seventy-five respondents were chosen
from each cluster making up a total of 300 respondents representing 4 clusters.
Qualitative data were interpreted and constructed based on the subjective perspective of the research
team. Stressing was given to the description, understanding, and interpretation on various
phenomena about the legal system of house ownership for LIP. Reflection on data obtained was done
to map out the housing policies, problems in, and need assessment on the LIP need over housing
which is technically, economically, and socially decent.
Who Are Low-Income People?

Low-income or poor people is defined as a person/family/group who already have a clear or certain
occupation or income source yet are economically incapable as their income is not enough to have
their basic needs including clothing, food, and housing fulfilled. In the Regulation of Directorate
General of Treasury Number Per.62 /p132011 on The Procedures for the Disbursement of Stimulant
Grant of Self-support Housing for Low-income People, it is mentioned in Article 1 number 3 that
low-income people, thereafter called LIP, are people with so limited purchasing power that they
support from the government to have decent housing. Meanwhile, in Ministry of Public Housing
Regulation Number 05/Permen/M/2006 on Support of KPR/KPRS Insurance for the Development of
Healthy Modest Housing, Article 1 number 5, it is mentioned that LIP are families/households with
income less than two million rupiah per month.
Another definition of LIP is also found in Regulation of Ministry of Public Housing the Republic of
Indonesia (Permenpera) Number 13 Year 2012 on the Provision of Housing through Prosperous
House Ownership Credit/Leasing with House Leasing Liquidity Support. In Article 1 number 11 of
this regulation, it is mentioned that LIP are people with so limited purchasing power that they need to
get a government support to own a house. Further, in this Permenpera, LIP are divided into two
groups. The first group is LIP with fixed or unfixed income of at most Rp3,500,000.00 (three
million and five hundred thousand rupiah) per month. The second group is LIP with fixed or
unfixed income of at most Rp5,000,000.00 (five million rupiah) per month. A little bit different
standard is given by BPS which measures poverty from income per capita. Using this criterion, it is
mentioned that one is categorized as poor when he/she has an income per capita under the poverty
line. As per March 2012, BPS set a poverty line of Rp248,707 per capita per month. Low income
of LIP does not allow them to acquire housing facility which is technically, economically, and
socially decent. This might happen because land legal system in Indonesia does not recognize the
horizontal separation principle. A building and land have to be owned by a single ownership.
How the Law Sees the Possibility of Housing Provision for Low-Income People
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Provision of land for housing and residences is the responsibility of central and local governments.
This is in accordance with Article 105 Law Number 1 Year 2011 on Housing and Residence Areas
which reads as follow: paragraph (1) central and local governments, in accordance with their
authorities, are responsible for the availability of land the development of housing and residential
areas, and paragraph (2) the availability of land mentioned in paragraph (1) including its stipulation
in the regional spatial plans is the responsibility of the local government. The main problem that is
often overseen by the government to overcome the backlog is public limited fund sources that they
can use to buy houses and land. In the field of property, land does not only serve as a building site,
but it has become a business commodity. Land has become a profit motive. Prices of land in urban
areas keep increasing in an almost uncontrollable way. In the golden triangle area in Jakarta, for
example, prices of land are above Rp30 million/m2 in ring-1, about Rp10-20 million/m2 in ring-2,
and Rp3.5-8 million/m2 in ring-3. If the prices of land are extremely high, then how much will be the
prices of land in housing and real estate areas within those rings? It will be absolutely unaffordable
for most people as they have to buy the house as well as the land.1
With the adoption of horizontal separation in Apartment Law 2011 (UURS 2011), it would be easier
for LIP to make their dream of owning a decent house a reality. Land provision is done by local
government and fund is provided through CSR of state-owned enterprises (BUMN) or the State
Budget (APBN) or by a rent scheme. The conception of housing legal development can find a more
conducive and innovative solution from horizontal separation principle embraced by customary laws,
which are sources of the land law, by separating the law of building as a no-land good. This is done
by still keeping the nationality principle. This concept is followed by the issuance of a certificate as
an evidence of ownership rights over a house or building construction which separated from the land,
the development of cadastre of houses and building constructions by authoritative institutions in
accordance with the applicable laws and regulations, and a wider regulation about legal relation
between ownership of land and ownership of house or building construction. An example of the
latter is legal development of the regulation of a relationship that occurs as a result of land and
building utilization by non owners such as the one found in a rental or BOT scheme.
Mariam Darus Badrulzaman gives an example of the use of horizontal separation principle in Basic
Agrarian Law Act (UUPA) as follow: “UUPA does not embrace an attachment principle but
horizontal separation taken from the Customary Law. The sale and purchase of rights over a land
does not automatically include buildings and plants on it. If building and plants are to be included, it
has to be clearly stated in the deed of sale and purchase.” Long before this, Ter Haar, a student of
Van Vollenhoven, stated that rights over house and over planted plants are basically separated from
rights over land on where those goods exist. Therefore, horizontal separation principle can be
perceived as a doctrine that separates the ownership of land from the ownership of goods attached to
it. This includes land transaction or land sale and purchase.
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As a matter of fact, there are also some problems in the application of horizontal separation principle
in customary law. In customary law, the application of this principle is restricted by certain things.
Iman Sudiyat inventories these restrictions as follows.
1) Transaction of yard usually includes house and plants. This make the house and plants, in
addition to the yard, as the object of the sale and purchase. Besides, people may also trade the house
and plants separated from the land.
2) Sometimes, rights over plants (and over house) come together with rights over a piece of land
related to the plants and house.
3) Rights over land is not separated from rights over a concrete house which is not movable
without any damage (different from bamboo or wooden house).
With these restrictions, the following uncertainties might occur.

1) Whether a house should be considered as a concrete house or not.
2) How big is the size of land that should be considered as a house yard; yet all of these do not
nullify the point.
3) In a relation between rights over a house and plants and rights over land in a royal atmosphere,
there is an unusual custom that rights over land is called the King’s right and the land is called a
King’s land (in Javanese: Keagungan Dalem). Yet, individual rights over land, in fact, is
recognized as such, and they do it by saying it as ‘rights over house and plants. The authority of the
government to take actions and burden the restrictions of rights is done in such a way as if it is
based on the King’s rights over land, yet virtually is done based on the King’s power to govern.
It can be seen from the above explanation that as development keep occurring in the society, the
horizontal separation principle is not strictly applied as shown by the recognition that a concrete
house is considered different from a bamboo or wooden house that can be removed away. However,
this does not nullify the principle that land and other goods on it are separated. The application of
horizontal separation principle at present time, especially in Indonesia, is regulated in and refers to
UUPA which is still enacted. However, in practice, this is not totally applied as articles about vertical
attachment principle in Indonesian Civil Code are still embraced even though juridically they should
be repealed as they are already differently regulated in UUPA. However, if UUPA should be the
one to be referred to, the application of horizontal separation principle should be applied
consistently. This is really important as there is an urgent need to fulfill.
Need for Technically Decent Housing Provision

Technically, a house has to be built to fulfill people need seen from numerous basic factors related to
human needs. One of the most basic human needs is physiological need (see Maslow in Gibson,
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1997:97) including shelter. The shelter should be the one that give safety and comfort and bring
social benefits for the family as well as the neighborhood. Giving safety and comfort means that the
house should be able to be used to protect its dwellers from various kinds of dangers including the
collapse of the house itself. Therefore, the house should be built as a strong and durable structure as a
strong and durable house gives its dwellers a safe and comfortable feeling. Therefore, there are some
criteria of a decent house.
Technically, a shelter or a house has to meet a standard quality as a decent house. In general, LIP
want to have a house building which is technically decent or meet the following criteria. It has to be a
simple house with closed room, an open but roofed room, and a bathroom facility. The type of the
house should be 21/60, 36/72 type, or erected on 100 m2 of land. The building should have a strong
construction to protect the dweller from the danger of building collapse. The house building should
be constructed by using red bricks. In short, a strong house means that the house should be built with
a strong construction so that it can protect the dwellers from the danger of building collapse and
provide comfort to the dwellers during their stay in the house.
The house has to be durable and strong. Durability means that the house should be long lasting. For
durability, the materials used should meet the quality standards and the construction work is done
following the appropriate procedures. Besides, building maintenance and control have to be done in a
regular basis especially on parts that need replacement or rejuvenation. There were different
orientation between respondents in Bogor City and Bogor Regency and those in Depok City and
North Jakarta City. In Bogor City and Bogor Regency, respondents tended to choose durable and
strong buildings although they were expensive. Respondents in Depok City and North Jakarta City,
on the contrary, preferred buildings which were durable, strong, and affordable. This difference
might be caused by different prices of buildings in those areas. This difference in prices was caused
by the difference in land value. For example, in an advertisement, an office building and 450 m2 of
land in Penjaringan Jakarta Utara (Pantai Indah Kapuk) was sold for Rp144,000,000,000 or
Rp320,000,000 per m2. In Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta, however, a building of 25,000 m2 was sold
for Rp16,250,000,000 which was equal to Rp650,000 per m2 only. Another 540 m2 of land in
Kelapa Gading was sold for Rp7,500,000,000 or Rp13,888,889 per m2. These different prices
were subject to the differences in building quality and location. Based on the information from
Urbanindo (www.urbanindo.com/) as per 14 May 2014, the price for all properties was
Rp24,395,458 per m2, for house only Rp28,250,413 per m2, and for land only Rp17,193,170 per m2.
Compared to North Jakarta City, Depok City had cheaper prices of land and house. In Depok City,
a house sized 75 m2 with a land sized 160 m2 was sold for Rp475,000,000 which was equal to
Rp2,968,750 per m2. Another house sized 1126 m2 with a land sized 2860 m2 was advertised for
sale for Rp10 billion or equal to Rp3,546,099 per m2. On average, based on the information from
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Urbanindo (www.urbanindo.com/) as per 14 May 2014, the price for all properties was Rp5,212,213
per m2, for house only Rp5,410,326 per m2, and for land only Rp1,884,395 per m2.
In Bogor Regency, a house sized 48 m2 with a land sized 84 m2 was advertised for sale for
Rp385,000,000 or equal to Rp5,000,000 per m2. Based on the information from Urbanindo
(www.urbanindo.com/) as per 14 May 2014, the price for all properties was Rp4,157,217 per m2, for
house only Rp5,013,481 per m2, and for land only Rp1,265,301 per m2. In Bogor City, a house sized
21 m2 with a land sized 50 m2 was advertised for sale for Rp140,000,000 or equal to Rp3,000,000
per m2. Based on the information from Urbanindo (www.urbanindo.com/) as per 14 May 2014, the
price for all properties was Rp4,157,217 per m2, for house only Rp5,013,481 per m2, and for land
only Rp1,265,301 per m2. This showed that there was no significant difference in prices of land and
house in Bogor City and Bogor Regency.
Another criterion is that a house should look beautiful and comfortable to reside. Beauty is an
element that can add more values to a house so that the dwellers feel proud and have higher
self-esteem by living in it. This is usually taken care of by people who can afford a house whose
condition is higher than a minimum standard for a shelter. To make a beautiful house, the proportion
between structure and room organization has to be carefully considered. Sanitation and cleanliness
must be the most important element. Health element is important to consider as health is also a
human basic need. Therefore, a building plan has to consider the cleanliness and health of its
environment. Attention has to be given to the following factors: sewerage (sanitation), rubbish
disposal, lighting, aeration, and room temperature and humidity.
For LIP, the expected housing should have at least 3 closed rooms for a bedroom, a restroom, and a
multifunction room that can function as a living room, a family room, or even a dining room and
kitchen. As for the Minimum Space Standards, it can be calculated based on space requirement for a
person to do basic activities inside the house. These activities include sleep, eat, work, sit, take a
bath, defecate and urinate, wash, cook, etc. Studies found that a minimum space requirement is 9 m2
per person for a house with average ceiling height of 2.80 m.
Simple, healthy housing allows its dwellers to live a healthy life and do daily activities in a decent
way. Minimum room requirement for simple, healthy housing is determined by taking into account
the following factors: space requirement per person, space requirement per Head of Household (HH),
building space per HH, land requirement per building unit, health and comfort need, house lighting
requirement, and sunlight access as a day natural lighting.
Standards of decent housing according to the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights in

UNESCAP (2008) are:
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Basic service and infrastructure: A dwelling has to have facilities to provide health, safety, comfort,
and supporting facilities for clean water, energy source for cooking, heating, lighting, sanitation,
garbage disposal, storing, and emergency condition.
1. Affordability: A decent dwelling should be affordable so that every household can have it
without reducing its ability to cater for the need.
2. Livable: A dwelling has to be able to protect its dwellers from cold, heat, rain, or other health
threats and to provide enough space for the dwellers.
3. Accessibility: Everyone including marginalized people has the right to have a decent house.
Access should be given to marginalized people to a dwelling place and this access should prioritize
their rights for land allocation and land use plan.
4. Location: Housing should be located in a place with access to working place, health service,
educational service, child care center, and other social facilities. This requirement applies in both
urban and rural areas. It should also be far from polluted area or source of pollution.
5. Cultural reflection: A housing area should be built in such a way that reflect the culture
embraced by the dwellers but at the same time it should also adopt the use of modern facilities.
Compared to the requirements set by UN, the kind of housing expected by LIP mentioned above is
very modest. This modest expectation might reflect the problems faced by them. Poverty is the
main problem faced by LIP that makes most LIP live in indecent housing. So complicated is their
poverty problem that they do not even dare to dream about having a decent house.
Public Perception on Socially Decent House

According to the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights as stated in UNESCAP (2008) a decent
housing has to be located in a place with access to working place, health service, educational service,
child care center, and other social facilities. It also has to reflect the culture embraced by the dwellers
while at the same time it should also adopt the use of modern facilities. This indicates that housing
has to have a social decency.
In the context of housing provision for LIP, social decency is measured by using criteria proposed by
LIP themselves as reflected in respondent responses/answers. The first requirement is environment.
Most respondents in Bogor City, Bogor Regency, Depok City, and North Jakarta City (71.28%)
stated that in their concept, housing should consist of houses which are closed to each other with a
close relationship between dwellers. However, 27.30% respondents stated that they should maintain
a reasonably distant but harmonious relationship in their neighborhood. Based on the perception of
respondents, it could be stated that a socially decent housing for LIP was the one that could provide a
175
neighborhood environment where they could have a close relationship with others and was able to
accommodate a nuclear family consisting of father, mother, and their children.
In addition to environmental requirement, a specific requirement as part of the cultural values is also
important factor for a housing. In general, each area has specific requirements for LIP housing.
These include cleanliness as the main factor affecting comfort, possibility of using the house for
conducting social events to maintain good relationship in the neighborhood, land certificate
completeness, closeness to religious activity facilities (e.g. Mosque), having a distance from either
a family or public grave. Other requirements are preservation of religious values, manners, and
religious relationship by conducting common recitation. Possibility of developing local culture,
respected and tolerant neighborhood relationship, free from flood and crimes, conformity of house
design with local Betawi traditional house design, clean physical environment, big number of
residents, single ethnic neighborhood to avoid cultural class, and custom conformity are some other
requirements.
Every area had its own specificities making it different from other areas. Respondents in Bogor
City mostly (81.33%) stated that there were no specific requirements, but 18.67% of them proposed
the following requirements.
a. Cleanliness as the main factor affecting comfort.

b. Possibility of using the house for conducting social events to maintain good relationship in the
neighborhood.
c. Good manners in the environment.
d. Tolerance with relatives and neighbors.
e. Strong religious belief in the neighborhood.
f. Land certificate completeness
g. Muslim people placement in Muslim neighborhood.
h. Closeness to religious facilities (e.g. mosque).
i. Having a distance from either a family or public grave.
j. Preservation of religious values and manners.
k. Possibility of local culture development.
In Bogor Regency, most (81.94%) respondents stated that there were no specific requirements, but
18.06% of them proposed the following requirements.
a. Determination of specific day and month for moving in to a new house for a blessed, healthy,
and safe life.
b. Respecting neighborhood relationship.
176
c. Comfortable and healthy house.
d. Good relationship with neighbors.
e. Being free from flood and crimes.
f. Possibility of developing social relationship.
In Depok City, almost all respondents (98.33%) stated that they did not specific requirements for the
preparation of a house. There was only one respondent (1.67%) who proposed a thanksgiving
ceremony as the expression of graceful feeling to God the Almighty for a new house. This major
attitude of respondents in Depok City who mostly lived in housing complexes might be caused by
the fact they had rationale way of thinking in choosing a house to live in. This condition was
different from that of respondents in North Jakarta City which mostly (65.33%) said that they did not
have any specific requirements for choosing a house to live in. However, 44.67% of respondents
proposed some requirements as follows.
a. The house design conformity with Betawi traditional house design

b. Free from flood.
c. Clean and supporting physical environment for a livable house.
d. Having something sacred to safe before constructing the house
e. Big number of residents.
f. Single ethnic neighborhood.
g. Custom conformity.
Based on the findings, it was people of North Jakarta City who had more specific requirements
related to customs and culture. Meanwhile, people in Bogor City proposed specific requirements
which were more related to religion to create an environment which was conducive for conducting
religious services.
House facing direction was found to be another social factor to consider with regard to housing
provision for LIP. Based on their cultural traditions, people have their preferences about facing
direction of their house whether it is east, west, south, or north. Sunlight, safety, street sight, and
beautiful sight were found to be the bases of these preferences. Many people were found to use
fengshui or other traditional beliefs when they choose a house for luck and blessing. In addition, LIP
required a housing to provide worship facilities as the main facility.
The next requirements included access to educational and sport facilities. Transportation and
shopping facilities that could be accessed with good transportation facility were found to be their
next preferences.
Economically Decent House
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A house can be assessed as economically decent based on the ability of LIP to have an affordable
house. However, there is another requirement related to the type of house expected by LIP and its
ownership status. There are two types of house, namely private house with complete certificate for
land and a house on it and rent rusun in a reasonable price with sufficient facilities but it has no
ownership certificate of land or house.
It was found in this study that most respondents (85.25%) wanted to have a private house, 9.93%
preferred to have a house with use rights, and only 3.55% chose to have a house without land
ownership. As people’s need for decent housing increases, demands for private house without land
ownership or house with use rights also increase. Based on this condition, in order for the effort to
meet people’s need of decent housing be accommodated, it was stated in Law Number 20 Year 2011
on Apartment (UU Rusun) that beside on land with property rights, building rights, and certain use
rights, Rusun can also be built on waqf land.
Affordable prices of a house vary. But, people in general want an affordable house as they have limited
income. Some say a house is affordable if its monthly installment or rent is at the maximum
one-fourth, others say one-third, of their income. The problem is that their income is low. From 282
respondents, it was found that the amount of monthly installment which was still affordable for them
was one of the following: Rp100,000; Rp300,000; Rp500,000; Rp1,000,000; and Rp1,200,000. With
this affordable range of monthly installment, they required a simple house which was safe, healthy,
peaceful, prosperous, clean, and storied. Others stated that the house should be livable, beautiful,
healthy, cool, close to neighbors, harmonious, and equipped with clean water and bathroom facilities.
Conclusions
Housing provision for LIP requires technical, social, and economical decency of the housing.
Technical decency means that the house fulfills the following requirements. It is of 21/60 or 36/72
type or erected on a 100 m2 land. In addition, it has to be strong in its construction, durable,
beautiful, and comfortable. Facilities for sewerage (sanitation), cleanliness, and health are installed.
The house has to have at least 3 closed rooms for bedroom, restroom and toilet, and multifunction
room that can be used as a living room, a family room, or even a dining room and kitchen.
Based on respondent’s perception, social decency means that the housing is able to give an
environment that can make them have close relationship with neighbors. The house also has to be
able to accommodate at least a nuclear family consisting of father, mother, and their children.
There are some specific requirements as follows. Cleanliness has to be the main factor of comfort.
House facing direction should confirm with local cultural tradition. A housing complex has to be
equipped with to educational and sport facilities, transportation facility and shopping facilities that
could be accessed with good transportation facility. Finally, an economic decency means that a house
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has to fulfill all standard requirements but it can be owned in an affordable price. However, the
availability of letters related to ownerships of a house/building is an important factor to consider by
LIP in choosing a house to live in.
Acknowledgment
I would like to thank the Directorate General of Higher Education (DIKTI), The Ministry of
Education and Culture for funding this research through scheme of National Strategic research
grant. Also, we would like to thank Dra. Ginung Pratidina, M.Si (Director of Research Center in
Djuanda University, Bogor, Indonesia) for her encouragement and motivation so that this article
could be published.
References
A.P. Parlindungan, 1983, Aneka Hukum Agraria, Alumni, Bandung.
Berita Resmi Statistik, 2012, Profil Kemiskinan di Indonesia Maret 2012, Nomor 45/07/Th.XV,2 Juli
2012, Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta.
Bushar Muhammad, 2002, Pokok-Pokok Hukum Adat, Pradya Paramita, Jakarta, cetakan kedelapan.
Djuhaendah Hasan, 1996, Lembaga Jaminan Kebendaan Bagi Tanah Dalam Konsepsi Penerapan
Asas Pemisahan Horizontal, Citra Aditya Bakti, Bandung.
Iman Sudiyat, 1981, Hukum Adat Sketsa Asas, Liberty, Yogyakarta.
Mariam Darus Badrulzaman, 1997, Mancari Sistem Hukum Benda Nasional, BPHN- DEPKEH kerja
sama dengan penerbit Alumni, Bandung.
Mahadi, 2003, Uraian Singkat Hukum Adat Sejak RR Tahun 1954, Alumni, Bandung, cetakan ketiga.
Mochtar Kusumaatmadja, Majalah Hukum Nomor : 1 Tahun 1995, Badan Pembinaan Hukum
Nasional.
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Right - United Nation of Human Rights, Sixth Session
(1991)-General Comment No. 4: The right to adequate housing (art. 11 (1) of the International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 1992.
Pusat Data dan Statistik Pendidikan Tahun 2013, APK/APM PAUD, SD,SMP, dan PT (Termasuk
Madrasah dan Sederajat) Tahun 2012/2013, Kementerian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan R.I.,
2013.
Saafroeding Bahar (ed), 1995, Risalah Sidang Badan Penyelidik Usaha-usaha Persiapan
Kemerdekaan Indonesia (BPUPKI) Panitia Persiapan Kemerdekaan Indonesia PPKI, 28 Mei
1945 – 22 Agustus 1945, Sekretariat Negara Republik Indonesia, Jakarta.
Tanpa pengarang, 2006, Lahirnya Pancasila Kumpulan Pidato BPUPKI, Media Pressindo,
Yogyakarta.
Ter Haar, 2001, Asas-asas dan Susunan Hukum Adat, diterjemahkan oleh oleh K.Ng. Soebakti
Poesponoto, Pradnya Paramita, Jakarta, cetakan ketigabelas.
179
ASMSS-2889
Occupational Stress Claim under the Malaysian Industrial Relations Act 1967
Muzaffar Syah Mallow

Faculty of Syariah & Law, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM), Malaysia
muzaffarsyah.mallow@yahoo.com
Abstract
Duties and responsibilities are an integral part of work. Both employer and employee are expected to
carry out their duties and responsibilities efficiently and with due diligence and to come up to the work
expectations. All workers would be expected to achieve the predetermined work targets according to
Key Performance Indicators (KPI). KPI’s as is currently observed is becoming a trend in many
organisations (Both public as well as in private sectors). Unrealistic or unachievable KPI’s usually find
employees grappling to achieve the set goals at the expense of their finance, health, leisure time,
family and causing them to spend a considerable amount of time at the workplace, in order to meet the
demands of their employers. If the employee faces constrains in achieving these KPI’s, his or her
performance would inevitably deteriorate. The employee would constantly worry that he or she has not
achieved the set targets. It would add to his anxiety and stress when he compares himself to his
colleagues and how his superiors would rate or judge him based on his performance. If the superior
initiates corrective action plans and pressures for the employee to achieve the target, this could in turn
cause extra pressure on the employee, resulting in serious stress related diseases like hypertension. It
gets more intense if the employee loses sleep over his concern about job security or retaining his job.
Stress can also develop in an organisation where colleagues are not co-operative. Another example of
work related stress is working in a poorly equipped and unclean environment for example, poor
lighting, faulty air-conditioning, faulty computers and unhygienic premises, to name but a few. The
employer’s behaviour that is oppressive and unacceptable can also cause distress. Some people may
not be able to work under pressure and could end up losing their jobs. To avert possible legal action, all
employers would be well advised to have in place a stress management policy and stress management
programmes to assist employees to cope with the stress in the workplace. By implementing appropriate
measures, employers should be able to reduce the risk of potential litigation. Having said the above,
this research paper will focus in detail on the possibility of occupational stress claim under the existing
labour law in Malaysia in particular the Malaysian Industrial Relations Act 1967 (Act 177).
Keywords: Occupational stress, workplace, labour law.
1. Introduction
Upon achieving its independent from the British in 1957, Malaysia has emerged itself from
agricultural based economy to industrialized nation. Currently, Malaysia been regarded by many
180
people as relatively open state-oriented and newly industrialised market economy (Boulton, William;
Pecht, Michael; Tucker, William; Wennberg, Sam (May 1997)). According to many, Malaysia has had
one of the best economic records in Asia, with Growth Domestic Product (GDP) growing an average
6.0 to 6.5 per cent annually from 1957 to 2005. 2015, Malaysia’s economy was regarded as one of the
most competitive in Asia. In 1991, the then former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Dr. Mahathir
Mohamad has outlined his ideal in Vision 2020, in which Malaysia would become a self-sufficient
fully industrialised nation by year 2020. However, the current Malaysian Prime Minister, Dato Seri
Mohd Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak has said Malaysia could attain developed country status much
earlier from the actual target in year 2020, adding the country has two program concepts which are
currently being implemented such as Government Transformation Programme (GTP) and the
Economic Transformation Programme (ETP).
With target of achieving high income nation as well as becoming fully develop nation by year 2020,
many plans and expectation being put on the country workers both at public and private sectors to
increase their work target to reach the nation ambitious goal. As such, many workers in the country are
currently been put to their limit at work to generate outcome and to full fill high demand as stipulated
through the yearly Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) both at the public sector as well as from the
private sectors. Without realizing, all these work demand and expectation has also cause the increase
of occupational or work related stress level by the workers. In general, occupational or work related
stress can be caused by several factors like poor work organisation (the way we design jobs and work
systems, and the way we manage them), by poor work design (for example, lack of control over work
processes), unrealistic or unachievable Key Performance Indicator’s (KPI’s), poor management,
unsatisfactory working conditions, and lack of support from colleagues and employer. According to
the current World Health Organization (WHO) definition, occupational or work related stress “is the
response people may have when presented with work demands and pressures that are not matched to
their knowledge and abilities and which challenge their ability to cope”. Occupational or work related
stress can also be caused or come from incident of workplace bullying, harassment, workplace
conflict, and other unprofessional based relationships or workplace demand in the working
environment (Can further refer to the case of Ringrose v Brazin Ltd and Bras n Things New Zealand
Ltd unreported Y S Oldfield, 5 Feb 2008, AA 31/08, Davis v Portage Licensing Trust [2006] 1 ERNZ
268, and Koia v the Attorney-General in respect of the Chief Executive of the Ministry of Justice [2004]
2 ERNZ 213)
As a result of the occupational stress, it has effect the worker job performance, the worker individual
and family quality life, as well as the worker mental and emotional stability. However, problems at
work are more strongly connected to the health problem.
In fact, many research has suggest that psychologically demanding jobs that allow employees little
control over the work process increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, increases the risk for
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development of back and upper-extremity musculoskeletal disorders as well as other disorder like
sleeping disorders, headache, mood disorders, upset stomach, hypertension, high cholesterol,
autoimmune disease, cardiovascular disease, depression, and anxiety (Sauter S, Hurrell J, Murphy L,
Levi L., 1997, pp. 34.1-34.77) Occupational stress can also increase the risk of acquiring an infection
as well as exposing the workers to many safety and health issue concern in the workplace. (Roberts,
Rashaun; Grubb, Paula L.; Grosch, James W. (June 25, 2012)).
2. Malaysian Labour Laws

Presently, there is no specific legislation which focuses on the issue of occupational stress in Malaysia.
Most the complaint over the matter is being investigated by various laws which covers both civil and
criminal law as well as administrative rules and regulations. From the Malaysian labour law
perspective, there are various statues being design to protect the right and interest of the workers as
well as protecting their well being, health and safety in the workplace. The labour statutes that
currently being enforced in Malaysia are (i) Employment Act 1955 (the law applicable in the States of
Sabah and Sarawak are the Labour Ordinance Chapter 67 and Chapter 76, respectively); (ii)
Employment (Termination and Lay-Off Benefits) Regulation 1980 (iii) Employee’s Provident Fund
Act 1991; (iv) Employee’s Social Security Act 1969; (v) Industrial Relations Act 1967; (vi) Trade
Unions Act 1959 (Revised 1981); (vii) Factories and Machinery Act 1967; (viii) Occupational Safety
and Health Act 1994; and (ix) Workmen’s Compensation Act 1952. However, in line with the object of
this paper, the researcher will only focus on the handling the issue of occupational stress claim under
the Industrial Relations Act 1967 as the statute deem to covered huge number employee as compare to
other existing employment laws and regulations.
3. Industrial Relations Act 1967 (ACT 177)

The Malaysian Industrial Relations Act 1967 (Act 177) is aimed at (a) regulating the relations between
employers and workmen and their trade unions; and (b) the prevention and settlement of any difference
or dispute arising from their relationship. The most important part which can be refer to under the
statute, where a worker considers that he has been dismissed without just cause or excuse by his
employer, the worker may make representations in writing to the Director-General of the Industrial
Relations Department to be reinstated in his former employment. This is clearly provided under
section 20 of the Act. The representation may be filed at the office of the Director General nearest to
his former place of employment. Such representation must be filed within 60 days of the dismissal.
The Director General may take such steps as he may consider necessary or expedient so that an
expeditious settlement is arrived. He could notify the Minister if he is satisfied that there is no
likelihood of the representation being settled.
The Minister has the discretion to refer the representations to the industrial court for an award. The
Industrial Court, a court of equity and good conscience, will normally settle disputes referred to it by
182
the Minister within 30 days from the date of its reference. Please refer to the below chart on the
adjudication process of dismissal case under the Malaysian Industrial Relations Act 1967 (Act 177).
3.1 The Notion of Constructive Dismissal

Under employment law, constructive dismissal, which also known as constructive discharge, is where
an employee tender resignation due to their employer behavior or hostile working environment due to
failure of the employer to control (B. Lobo, 1999, p. xc). When the matter brought to court, the
employee must substantiate their allegation that the behaviour or the working environment was unfair
and cannot be tolerated that the employer’s actions amounted to a fundamental breach of contract or
the law (Steven D. Anderman, 1981, p. 75). The employee may resign over a single serious incident or
over a pattern of incidents. Generally, the employee must have resigned soon after the incident. The
notion of constructive dismissal comes from the case of Courtaulds Northern Textiles Ltd v Andrew
[1979] IRLR 84, EAT, which stated the concept that “An employer must not, without reasonable or
proper cause, conduct himself in a manner calculated or likely to destroy or seriously damage the
relationship of trust and confidence between the employer and the employee”. Examples of
constructive dismissal claim might include putting the employee into excessively difficult work
situations or occupational stress, harassment, workplace bullying, and others.
3.2 Constructive Dismissal Claim under the Malaysian Industrial Relations Act 1967 (Act 177)
183
It is crucial to note that Section 20 (1) of the Industrial Relations Act 1967 seem to provides protection
against “unfair dismissal”. The Section did not use the word “constructive dismissal” Section 201 ( 1)
of the Act clearly states that “Where a workman, irrespective of whether he is a member of a trade
union of workmen or otherwise, considers that he has been dismissed without just cause or excuse by
his employer, he may make representations in writing to the Director General to be reinstated in his
former employment; the representation may be filed at the office of the Director General nearest to the
place of employment from which the workman was dismissed” (V. Anantaraman, 1997, p. 242). In
Supreme Court case of Wong Chee Hong v Cathay Organisation (M) Sdn Bhd [1988] 1 CLJ 298 (Rep)
at p. 302 where the Supreme Court Judge, Salleh Abas LP argued that the notion on “constructive
dismissal” could also be brought within the ambit of section 20(1) of the Act when the word dismissal
in this section was interpreted with reference to the common law principle. He stated that “The
common law has always recognized the right of the employee to terminate his contract of service and
therefore to consider himself as discharged from further obligations, if the employer is guilty of such
breach as affects the foundation of the contract or if the employer has evinced or shown an intention
not to be bound by it any longer”. (See also the case of Bouzourou v The Ottoman Bank [1930] AC 271
and Donovan v Invicta Airways Ltd. [1970] Lloyd’s LR 486) With this ruling by the Supreme Court,
the doctrine of constructive dismissal was firmly established in the industrial law of Malaysia.
The notion on constructive dismissal could be likened to a double-edged sword whereby the
employee’s reason for resigning should be such chat it affects the important fundamentals of his terms
and conditions of service, or the employer’s action or inaction was such that no reasonable employee
could tolerate such an action. The timing of the resignation should also be reasonably soon, to avoid
being accused of condonation (giving away). Any failure on the part of the employee to ensure these
two conditions are fulfilled may result in his resignation not meeting the criteria for constructive
dismissal thus will certainly affect his case and ultimately his claim might be dismissed by the
Industrial Court. Under common law there are number of duties, which in absence of express terms to
the contrary apply to the parties to the employment relationship (Helen Desmond and David Antill,
1998, p. 128). The following terms are implied into every employment contract. A fundamental breach
of any of these terms will give grounds for a constructive dismissal claim. There are other implied
terms, but the following terms are likely to be the most relevant when an employee has been under
occupational stress due to the inefficiency of the employer to ensure a healthy working environment.
These terms are implied duty to maintain trust and confidence, implied duty to provide reasonable
support, as well as implied duty to provide a safe system of working.
3.2.1 The Implied Duty to Maintain Trust and Confidence

The duty to maintain trust and confidence includes a duty on the parties to treat each other with respect
and civility and not to behave in an unreasonable way (Helen Desmond and David Antill, 1998, p.
128). The duty to maintain trust and confidence means that an employer must not, by his conduct,
184
destroy or seriously damage the relationship of mutual trust and confidence between the parties. In the
case of Giblin v Seismograph Services (England) Ltd. Unreported, EAT 305/78, it was held that the
employer’s conduct up to the time when their alleged repudiation had been accepted was relevant in
deciding whether or not they had broken an implied term not to behave intolerably. In Marshall
Specialist Vehicles Ltd v Osborne [2003] IRLR 672 EAT, Ms Osborne was a financial director of a
company that was in difficulties and she voluntarily took on extra work and put in very long hours. She
did not complain about the extra work until after her doctor had told her that her health was suffering,
although she had been tearful on a number of occasions at work and told a colleague that she did not
seem to be able to cope. When she did complain about her workload, she failed to mention that it was
affecting her health. Ms Osborne eventually resigned, claiming constructive dismissal. She suffered a
nervous breakdown while working her notice period. The Employment Tribunal tried to create a new
implied contractual duty for employers; to prevent employees taking on workloads so stressful that
they could foreseeably damage their health. However, the Employment Appeals Tribunal rejected this
idea and the law remains that the employer's conduct has to be so serious that it is a fundamental breach
of either the health and safety or the mutual trust and confidence obligation. The decision was based on
the case of Sutherland v Hatton [2002] IRLR 263 CA, which emphasised the difficulties that
employees face in trying to recoup damages from their employer for the effects of work-related stress.
The guidance set out by the Court of Appeal in Sutherland was widely hailed as a watershed that
significantly reduced the prospects of success for employees pursuing personal injury claims for
stress-induced psychiatric damage. The court ruled that employees must show that a stress-related
injury was both foreseeable and caused by work-related pressures (rather than, for example, domestic
or financial problems).
3.2.2 The Implied Duty to Provide Reasonable Support

There is an implied term in employment contracts that “the employer shall render reasonable support
to an employee to ensure that the employee can carry out the duties of his job without harassment and
disruption by fellow workers” In Wigan Borough Council v Davies (1979) ICR 411 where it was held
that since there was an admitted obligation on the employers to take reasonable steps to ensure that the
employee could do her job without harassment from fellow employees and no such steps had been
taken, and since it was in the employers’ sphere of responsibility to take the appropriate action to
remedy the situation, the onus was on them to prove that there were no steps which they could have
reasonably taken. The industrial tribunal’s conclusion that the employers had failed to discharge the
onus on them was supported by the evidence and that, since the breach of their contractual obligation
was a fundamental one, the employee was justified in leaving and the dismissal was unfair.
3.2.3 The Implied Duty to Provide a Safe System of Working

Employers have a common law duty to take reasonable care for the health and safety of their
employees (Therese MacDermott, 1995, pp 5050 – 506) extends to ensuring a safe system of work,
185
safe fellow employees, safe equipment and safe premises. (See Wilsons and Clyde Coal Co Ltd v
English [1938] AC 57). It includes a duty to protect employees from mental injury or illness such as
foreseeable depression or breakdown resulting from excessive working time (See Johnstone v
Bloomsbury Health Authority CA [1991] ICR 269, CA) or general stress at work (See Walker v
Northumberland County Council [1995] ICR 702, QBD. It also includes a duty to provide adequate
safety training (See Harvey v Northumberland County Council CA [2003] EWCA Civ 338). Common
law courts also have recognised that an employer owes a duty to provide a reasonably safe system of
work and to take reasonable care of his employees. (Vivien Shrubsall, 1995, p 44)
4. Conclusion
If an employee alleges a claim based on occupational stress in the workplace, the court need to look at
the work the employee performs or performed and assess whether the job itself has caused the
employee to suffer stress. One factor to be looked at in order to assess whether the work is causing the
employee stress is by looking at the employee’s workload whether it is within the job scope required to
be performed by the employee or not. Other factors which may indicate a risk of stress in the
workplace include the availability of resources provided to the employee in the working place and
whether there is adequate staffing in workplace. It is important to be note that, every employer has a
duty of care towards their employees, which means that they should take all steps which are reasonably
possible to ensure the health, safety and wellbeing of all their workers.
Demonstrating concern over the physical, mental and emotional health of the employee shouldn't just
be seen solely as a legal duty to be undertaken. In fact, such concern over the welfare of the workers
can be a key factor in building trust and reinforcing the employer commitment to the employees, and
can help improve staff retention, boost productivity and pave the way for greater employee
engagement within the working place. However, legally speaking all employers must abide by all
existing laws in the country as well as the common law duty of care towards their employee in creating
a working place free from stress. They also have a moral and ethical duty not to cause, or fail to
prevent, physical or psychological injury to the employee. An employer can be deemed to have
breached their duty of care by failing to do everything that was reasonable in the circumstances to keep
the employee safe from harm. Employees also have responsibilities for their health and wellbeing at
work.
The government intention to create more laws and policy to reduce the burden of employee at work is
like introducing the flexible working hours system, mandatory implementation of kindergarten at all
working places, and proposing new bill preventing sexual harassment and other workplace bullying
elements also been seen by many to be encouraging
5. Acknowledgement
186
The researcher would like to acknowledge the financial support of this research by the Universiti Sains
Islam Malaysia (USIM) through the given short research grant on “Occupational Stress: The Law &
Practice in Malaysia”. Research code: PPP/USG-0114/FSU/30/11214.
References
B. Lobo, “Whither The Test For Unjust ‘Constructive’ Dismissal in Malaysia?”, [1999] 3 MLJ xc.
Boulton, William; Pecht, Michael; Tucker, William; Wennberg, Sam (May 1997), “Electronics
Manufacturing in the Pacific Rim, World Technology Evaluation Center, Chapter 4: Malaysia”,
The World Technology Evaluation Center, Inc. Retrieved 1 November 2010.
Helen Desmond and David Antill, 1998, Employment Law: Sweet & Maxwell’s Textbook Series,
London: Sweet & Maxwell.
Malaysia On Track To Become High-income Nation Earlier Than Projected, Says Najib, Bernama.
12 May 2014. Archived from the original on 12 May 2014. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
Roberts, Rashaun; Grubb, Paula L.; Grosch, James W. (June 25, 2012). Alleviating Job Stress in
Nurses. NIOSH: Workplace Safety and Health. Medscape and NIOSH.
Sauter S, Hurrell J, Murphy L, Levi L [1997], Psychosocial and organizational factors. In: Stellman
J, ed. Encyclopaedia of Occupational Health and Safety. Vol. 1. Geneva, Switzerland:
International Labour Office.
Steven D. Anderman, 1981, The Law of Unfair Dismissal, 2nd Edition, London: Butterworths, 1985
at 107; M.W.T. Mead, Unfair Dismissal Handbook.
Therese MacDermott, 1995 37 (4) “The Duty to Provide a Harassment-Free Work Environment”,
Journal of Industrial Relations 495 at 505-506.
V. Anantaraman, 1997, Malaysia Industrial Relations, Law and Practice, Selangor: University Putra
Press.
Vivien Shrubsall, 1995, Contract of Employment, 1st Edition, BSP Professional Books, London:
United Kingdom.
187
ASMSS-3005
Collaborative Management in Haze Problem Solving
Pojjana Pichitpatja
Chiang Mai University, Thailand
pojjana18@gmail.com
Introduction
This journal is part of the research on "Collaborative management in haze problem solving" which
collaborated by the network members from three sub districts, Sob-Tiea, Mae Soi and Ban Pae in
Jomthong district, Chiang Mai province. The aim of this study is to create the management pattern in
order to solve the haze problem in the above mentioned area. The qualitative research was done in 21
villages. From this study, it was found that the conditions of haze management are consist of many
factors: the experience, the local believe about the usage of fire, the geological location, the ability to
access into the fire place, the expense for extinguishing the fire and the economic dependence and
the local wisdom. Therefore, in order to save the resource and to deal with the haze problem
sustainably, all conditions could be solved by the power of people in the communities and received
resourceful supports from the outsiders. Besides, the achievement factors are relied on 1) the
leadership 2) the vision of the leaders and 3) the model of haze management in other villages.
Keywords: Collaborative, Haze, Public management
In Jomthong district, local people are agriculturists and general workers. Also, there are many hot
spots that could cause a forest fire all over Doi Inthanon National Park as its information is shown in
Table 1.
188
From the above table, since the 3 year re-burning areas are decreased, therefore, the research
questions are focused on “How do the locals able to solve the problem?”, “What are the collaborative
methods?”, and “What are the collaborative processes from all cooperated sections? And How?”
Objectives
1. To study on the conditions of collaborative management in order to solve the forest fire and
haze problem in 21 villages, Sob Tiea sub district, Jomthong district, Chiang Mai province
2. To study on the process management from all cooperated sections that help soling the forest fire
and haze problem in 21 villages, Sob Tiea sub district, Jomthong district, Chiang Mai province
Expected Outcomes
1. To know the conditions and stakeholders that help solving the forest fire and haze problem in 21
villages, Sob Tiea sub district, Jomthong district, Chiang Mai province
2. To develop a collaborative management model for solving the forest fire and haze problem in
21 villages, Sob Tiea sub district, Jomthong district, Chiang Mai province
Study Results
In 21 villages, the ways to solve the forest fire and haze problem are created differently concerning
to the various conditions. Also, the location and local authority are also complicated. These area are
involved by three Sub district Municipalities (Ban Pae Sub district Municipality, Sob Tiea sub
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district Municipality and Sob Soi sub district Municipality). The area is covered six sub districts in
Jomthong district which are Ban Pae sub district, Mae Soi sub district, Sob Tiea sub district, Doi
Kaew sub district, Ban Luang sub district and Khuang Pao sub district. These places share the same
watershed, Mae Tiea basin, which its sub-order become Mae Tiea River, Khun Pae River and Mae
Soi River.
Apart from the above geological complication, the overlap authority from many organizations from
both government and private section such as Obluang National Park, Forest Fire Control Station in
Mae Ping river branch, Forest Fire Control in Doi Bor Luang, Forest Fire Control in Doi Inthanon
branch, Local Administrative Organizations, Thammanart Foundation and Network group from Mae
Tiea basin, are created.
Not only the different ways of solving forest fire and haze problem in each area, but other conditions
such as an area jurisdiction, a sharing of water supply, an overlap of local administration and side
effects from nearby sub district, are also needed to be concerned. Therefore, the cooperative
management from all sections in both theoretical and practical collaboration is highly essential.
The solution for solving forest fire and haze problem in 21 villages is created towards the
cooperative management in order to deal with the complicated difficulties which cause from local
stakeholders and environmental issues: forest fire and haze problem. The findings of this study are as
the following.
(1) Conditions
Dealing with forest fire and haze problem, ways of solving are created differently due to the
background experiences especially for drought problem from their previous generation to another
generation. Then, the villagers tend to have more concern than the villagers that lack of experience.
Moreover, unless the forest fire is too strong to avoid, the villagers seldom go into the forest for fire
extinguishment. These are because of some social value and believe about forest fire which are 1)
Forest fire is happened naturally and unavoidably every year. 2) Having forest fire could possibly
complete the ecology system and its flame would not be stronger than the next time it occurs. 3)
Forest fire does not affect the villagers as much as having a concession of forest which causes a
drought problem afterward. 4) Forest is not important as same as in the past in some villages. And 5)
nowadays many people are rather living and working in a city than staying in the rural area due to
economic reasons.
Next, different geography and location are needed to be concerned. In some areas, it is not easy to
extinguish the forest fire and could bring about a high risk of unexpected dangers. Especially for
some areas that are suitable to have forest fire, its devastation could be unimaginably spread out and
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hard for fire extinguishment. Moreover, as a result of an open area, an outsider could easily invade
into the forest for personal profits. Then, the chance of forest fire is easily and increasingly created.
Plus, there are many expenses caused by the forest fire such as cost for fire extinguishment, public
utilities, opportunity cost and etc. Besides, the number of agriculturists in each village is decreasing
more and more since their forest awareness is lost. Furthers, local wisdom causes different kinds of
forest fire control in 21 villages as the following information.
(2) Key Factors

Beside of conditions that are differently created by each villages, some key factors are also
influenced the forest fire and haze problem. The first factor is a leadership which is very important.
The conditions are going to be designed and chosen by this factor. The vision of a leader as well as
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building up a social value about forest preservation for future sustainment in each village are also
needed to be concerned.
However, without supports from the villagers who are bounded with the same problem, hard
situation cannot be solved by only one person, the head of a village.
Also, the successful solutions can be studied and duplicated as a best practice village. Another factor
that relate to the conditions and time is the law enforcement from the government. Besides, a
sanction from the outside organizations e.g. financial supports for forest fire extinguishment and
giving a true information about forest fire and its devastating outcome, is also significantly
important. Though those new information are something against the old believe, the villagers could
learn and adapt the gained knowledge to a better solution such as making a firebreak and fuel waste
management.
(3) Patterns and Operational Management for Solving Forest Fire and Haze Problem
Due to the various conditions and factors, the involved people as well as patterns and operational
managements are also different. The key person is the villager and the important operational
management is the monthly meeting of each village. In some village, before considering by all
villagers, the topics of forest fire and its solution are considered by the village's committees.
Besides, the National Park and forest fire control stations are the important stakeholders who involve
in the process of law enforcement, forest invasion, giving information about forest fire and giving
financial supports for the villages.
Next, the local administrative organizations are also playing an important role. As a supportive unit,
the local administrative organization is involved especially in a decision making process for
choosing a suitable solution toward the forest fire and haze problem. While the supportive budgets
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from the local authorities are not dependable, the other non-profit organizations such as Thammanart
Foundation are the one who give voluntary supports for the villagers in Ban Wang Nam Yard
village, Ban Huay Muang Village as well as in Ban Tung Poon village that receive a support from
Teeyangyeun Foundation. Though the supporting budgets are decreased every year, the villagers
have learnt a very informative knowledge that was shared by those foundations.
However, forming a network group by people who care about the forest seems to be the most
powerful association that could create a persuasive negotiation and sustainable solution for the forest
fire problems. Some villages such as South Ban Mae Tiea village, Ban Pae village, Ban Cheung Doi
village, Ban Bon village, Ban Huay E Tare village, Ban Huay Joe village and Ban Huay Muang
village, are gathered to form a network. Moreover, some villages such as Ban Tan Dok Mai village,
Ban Tung Pattana village and Ban Mae Long village receive supports form some state enterprise i.e.
Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Co-operatives for building up a check dam.
More optional solutions will be possibly created by a village that receive a sufficient financial
support. Furthers, the local administrative organizations i.e. the provincial offices and district offices
are the key stakeholders especially for legal activities and law enforcement. Plus, the operational
activities of nearby villages are also concerned.
Therefore, in order to deal with forest fire and haze problem, we can conclude that the different kind
of supports and participation come from different sectors from both governmental and private
organizations. The committees’ consideration and the meetings are done by the villagers. The
knowledge management, financial supports and legal enforcement are supported and done by both
government organizations and private companies.
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(4) Strategic Ways of Solving Forest Fire and Haze Problem
In this study, there are 10 strategic ways of solving forest fire and haze problem. The most effective
and way which consume less time is Early Burning. Though it was not done systematically in the
previous years, many academic knowledge and systematic strategy are presently applied and used by
the local authorities i.e. the forest fire control stations. Besides, making a firebreak or extinguishing
fire can easily done by the villagers in order to protect their lands from the forest fire.
However, the way of backfiring will be chosen when the forest fire is getting strong. Though having
a group of fire watchman for forest fire observation, some villages are agreed to set up such as Ban
Wang Nam Yard village which received a financial support from Thammanart Foundation.
Another ways to solve these problems are develop a check dam, building up a water reservoir and
having a reforestation. However, having a check dam is not effectively successful due to the water
stream are too strong to slow. Plus, the water reservoir and reforestation are more beneficial for
drought problem instead of forest fire and haze problem.
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(5) Results
Not only extinguishing forest fire and deal with haze problem, but the fire control also include of
reforestation and forest preservation which bring about a richness of forest.
(6) Conclusion
From this study, there are two major criterions that affect the conditions and factors of solving forest
fire and haze problem as the following information.
1. The criterion in term of social capacity i.e. leadership, vision and social supports
2. The criterion in term of necessity and benefit i.e. Economic benefits, background experience
and personal opinion toward forest fire
From these two criterions, the 21 villages can be divided into 4 groups as the following figure.
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In Dimension 1, five villages have strong social capacities and high level of necessity and benefit
from solving forest fire and haze problem. The outside organizations will only give the operational
supports for reaching their highest capacity.
In Dimension 2, there are twelve villages that the level of necessity and benefit from solving forest
fire and haze problem is lower than Dimension 1. In these areas, not everyone is affected by the
forest fire and haze problem so the manpower and financial supports from the governmental sections
are needed. In Dimension 4, though the level of necessity and benefits are high, the social capacity is
low due to many reasons e.g. low income and lack of manpower (because many of young
generations move to the city for works and study reasons). Therefore, the manpower and financial
supports from the involved stakeholders in both private and governmental sections are significantly
needed.
Form This Study, Four Models Are Created for Further Management:
(1) Dimension 1: Orchestra Model
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This model has high level of necessity/ benefit as well as social capacity. The forest fire and haze
problem are concerned and the villagers are willing to solve them together. Therefore, the
government organization or local authorities are involved only as an outside coordinator or
conductor and have no power to interfere. The group network is a great example of this model. The
group members have high potential and be able to ordinate their work. They also use their network as
an important tool to negotiate with others stakeholders for achieving their best way to solve the
problems. The collaborative management and create a shared value about forest concern are the most
important concept of this model. In case of having a financial supports from the outsiders, it will be
managed by the non-profit organization or the group network itself.
(2) Dimension 2: Hollywood Model

For this model, it represents the villages that have high level of social capacity. However, because
the villagers do not receive much affects from the forest fire and haze problem, the level of necessity
and benefits from solving forest fire and haze problem is low. On the other hands, the villagers in
this model could be able to cooperate with the problem potentially if they are informed to concern
about the problem. Therefore, the guideline and knowledge supports as well as other resources such
as human resource and equipment from the government authorities are recommended. Not only be
the coordinator or conductor as in Orchestra Model, but the local government organizations also
need to be participated in the process. The co-production and co-labor are done as the strategic ways
in this model. The best example of this model is Na Kob village.
(3) Dimension 4: Bureaucracy Model

In this model, though the necessity and profit are in high level, the villagers have low capacity level
to solve the forest fire and haze problem. Due to some political difficulties in the villages, the ability
of grassroots people is not strong enough to overwhelm the problems. Plus, the occupation of almost
villagers in this model is changing from an agriculturist to a general employee. Therefore, they are
independent and less social participation. Only standard solution i.e. firebreak is done in a specific
area.
For this reason, the bureaucratic system by launching some rules and conditions are used. Also, an
organization structure is needed and clearly specified as a work description. Supporting funds and
launching some law enforcements by the government sections and local authorities are needed as a
strategic ways to solve the problems. Next, the social capacity will be collaborated among the
villagers.
(4) Dimension 3: Shunk Model
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The villagers are gathered occasionally in this model. The participation is done as an option for
villages that low level of social capacity. Also, the necessity and benefit of solving forest fire and
haze problem are less concerned due to a small numbers of effects form the mentioned problems.
In this situation, an informal relation i.e. the patron-client system is used. Additionally, the supports
such as funds and human resources or giving some rewards are recommended as a positive
persuasion.
Suggestions
1. In order to solve the forest fire and haze problem, there are many strategic ways which can
be done under the suitable situation of each village.
2. The management and strategic ways for solving the problems are relied on the necessity,
benefits and social capacity of each village. The suitable model should be considerably designed.
3. Regarding to the resources especially for financial budget in order to solve the problem, it
is the responsibility for all stakeholders. The government organizations or local authorities could be
the main coordinators or conductor who launch some law enforcements especially for tax collecting
which could help the villages for further management.
References
Suthinee Dontree, 2014, Operations management of Fuel reduction CAse study Soptia, Chom Tong
District, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
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Language / Linguistics / Literature (1)
Room A, 2F
2015/8/26 Wednesday 16:30-18:00
Session Chair: Prof. Magdalen Ki
ISLLLE-1202
Exploring the Branding of Hong Kong through a Multimodal Analysis
Phoenix W. Y. Lam︱Hong Kong Baptist University
ISLLLE-1250
Various Aspects of Reality in Flannery O’Connor’s Wise Blood and the Violent Bear IT Away
Brenda Hui-Lin Hsieh︱Wu-Feng University
ISLLLE-1199
Neighbor Networks and Sense and Sensibility
Magdalen Ki︱Hong Kong Baptist University
ISLLLE-1218
Ramlee Awang Mursyid’s Rahsia Perindu: A Psychological Crime Fiction
Halimah Mohamed Ali︱Universiti Sains Malaysia
ISLLLE-1206
Imagistic Criticism of Poetry
Aidong Zhang︱Nanyang Technological University
ISLLLE-1241
Tibetan Skyed Gtong Byed
Chin-Wen Huang︱National Chi Nan University
ISLLLE-1258
Language Culture’s Influence on Second Language Acquisition: Take Japanese Students’
Learning in Taiwan for Instance
Xiu-Jung Kung︱Feng Chia University
199
ISLLLE-1202
Exploring the Branding of Hong Kong through a Multimodal Analysis
Phoenix W. Y. Lam
Department of English Language and Literature, Hong Kong Baptist University, China
engplam@hkbu.edu.hk
Abstract
The importance of branding in the arena of marketing has been underlined through the abundant
resources devoted to it by large corporations around the world and through the extensive research
done in business- and communication-related disciplines. Owing to the focus of such studies,
however, the research approaches used have mostly been based on the building of theoretical models
and the survey of opinions through questionnaires. Although branding is discursive in essence, an
empirical analysis of how branding is actually discursively realised in branding discourse through the
interplay of different semiotic resources, including but not exclusive to words and images, is often
lacking. To investigate how place branding can be operationalised and achieved in branding
discourse through the strategic employment of a mix of semiotic resources, a detailed multimodal
analysis of a small sample of branding materials from the latest branding campaign of Hong Kong is
conducted. This involves the close study of not only how each semiotic resource is used individually
but also how different semiotic resources interact in an attempt to maximize the effect of branding.
Findings from the present study may identify effective ways for place branding through a multimodal
approach and better inform branding practice.
200
ISLLLE-1250
Various Aspects of Reality in Flannery O’Connor’s Wise Blood and the Violent
Bear IT Away
Brenda Hui-Lin Hsieh

Department of Tourism English, Wu-Feng University
Brenda@wfu.edu.tw
Abstract
This study intends to demonstrate that literary works can reflect the writers’ own perception of reality
and create a fictional reality fitting their world view. It also examines the various aspects of reality
in Flannery O’Connor’s Wise Blood and The Violent Bear It Away. This paper consists of five parts.
The first part makes a distinction among realities and introduces the various aspects represented in
Flannery O’Connor’s two novels.
The second part discusses the biblical religious tradition and show the existence of the reality of faith
which constitutes the main theme of Flannery O’Connor’s two novels. This study is also aiming at
showing how O’Connor’s works differ from other authors and examines O’Connor’s devices in
presenting her reality of faith.
The third part discusses the essential element of violence in O’Connor’s novels, a method she uses to
shock her readers to think about their faith. The fourth part explores the function of “the eye” in
these two novels to show how mental reality versus spiritual reality.
The last part concludes that mental, spiritual, and violent realities are essential parts of O’Connor’s
novels and shows how they relate to the reality of faith. By thematizing the violent and corrupt world
present in Wise Blood and the Violent Bear It Away, this study should provide the readers with a
more comprehensive grasp of the rich and varied aspects of O’Connor’s concept of reality.
201
ISLLLE-1199
Neighbor Networks and Sense and Sensibility
Magdalen Ki
Department of English Language and Literature, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong
wingki@hkbu.edu.hk
Abstract
It is a truth universally acknowledged that affiliation with the powerful and well-connected
neighbors can bring benefits and rewards. Good neighbor networks offer a short cut to financial
success or romantic opportunities: the best thing is to know the best people, but the second best thing
is to know people who have the best contacts. However, Austen’s experience tells her that the truth is
always different in reality. In one of her letters, she mentions that the rich Mrs Lance offers to
introduce the Austens to some acquaintance in Southampton. The Austens’ response is that they
“gratefully” decline the suggestion, noting that the family is not rich enough to keep up these neighbor
networks.
This paper explores the correlation between social status and network gain/constraints in Sense and
Sensibility. In many ways, the story centerstages the advantages and disadvantages of affiliation with
the well-connected. Affiliation brings obvious resources to John Dashwood, but the impoverished
Dashwood ladies are acutely aware of the restricted roles they must play before the privileged
subjects, and the emotional and reputational costs they have to pay. I want to argue that, to the
disadvantaged group, network spillover is rare, and network-induced distress is far more intense than
the joy of network-induced success.
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ISLLLE-1218
Ramlee Awang Mursyid’s Rahsia Perindu: A Psychological Crime Fiction
Halimah Mohamed Ali

Universiti Sains Malaysia / University of Wollongong
halimah@usm.my / halimah@uow.edu.com.
Abstract
This paper will discuss Malaysian thriller author Ramlee Awang Murshid and his novel Rahsia
Perindu (2005). Murshid has been dubbed as the number one thriller writer in Malaysia, and he is a
bestselling author. This essay is a reading of Murshid’s novel Rahsia Perindu (2005) which is a
psychological thriller. The theoretical framework that will be used to read it is psychological crime
theory and crime theory. It will be determined through this discussion that Rahsia Perindu is a novel
that portrays crime that is committed by a psychologically affected person and looks at human nature
from a crime writer’s view point. The novel deals with the themes of psychiatric illness and the
effects of child abuse on a person. It portrays the issue of dissociative personality. Thus, the writer
postulates the idea that crime and abusive behaviour towards children creates criminals, and the child
that is abused might become psychologically affected by the ill-treatment, and develop an unstable
personality when he becomes an adult.
Keywords: Ramlee Awang Mursyid, Rahsia Perindu, psychological thriller, crime theory,
psychiatric illness
Introduction
Ramlee Awang Murshid was born in Papar, Sabah, Malaysia on 4 November 1967. He is a writer
and columnist who writes from Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. He was educated in Universiti
Kebangsaan Malaysia and graduated with a degree in Mass Communication. He writes popular
fiction and some of his novels are crime fiction. Some of his published novels are Igauan Maut
(Dewan Bahasa & Pustaka), Tombirou and the latest, Aku Bercerita (2013). He has cult followers
and a fan club called Kelab RAM with a website http://www.kelabram.com/. Most of his books are
published by the number one popular novels book publisher Alaf 21. Murshid has been dubbed as
the number one thriller writer in Malaysia, and he is a bestselling author.
This essay is a reading of Murshid’s novel titled Rahsia Perindu (2010) which is a psychological
thriller. The theoretical framework that will be used to read it is psychological crime theory and
crime theory. It will be determined through this discussion that Rahsia Perindu is a novel that
portrays crime that is committed by a psychologically affected person and looks at human nature
from a crime writers view point. The novel deals with the theme of psychiatric illness and the effects
of child abuse on a person. It portrays the issue of dissociative personality. Thus, the writer
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postulates the idea that crime and abusive behaviour towards children creates criminals, and the child
that is abused might become psychologically affected by the ill-treatment, and develop an unstable
personality when he becomes an adult.
Crime Fiction
In order to understand crime fiction we have to know what human nature is. Jeremy Gordon in his
essay Criminal Desire: An Integrated Theory of Crime defines human nature by using Seville’s view.
According to Seville,
While sharing common biological heritage, human beings are ultimately molded by the environment
in which they live. Certain aspects of the body may function naturally but most behavior is not
instinctive. Instead children are born as blank slates eventually learning to walk, talk, and act like
humans. As such, humans begin as neither good nor evil and are eventually thrust into one of the two
categories through a combination of genetics and more importantly their environment (Seville 1990,
in Gordon, Jeremy. Criminal Desire: An Integrated Theory of Crime. Retrieved 31/10/2013
http://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~cjreg/NCbiological.htm)
When reading Rahsia Perindu we realize that the novel advocates the idea that an abused child turns
into a criminal because of her environment not her genes. Thus, the theory that is put forward is that
environment more than genetics influences criminal behavior. This can be determined by the fact that
Maria’s mother is a law abiding citizen and is sane. Maria’s insanity arises due to the fact that she is
sexually abused by her step-father.
Crime fiction began in 1841 with Edgar Allan Poe. He published a short story titled The Murders in
the Rue Morgue. Thus, it can be argued that he is the father of crime fiction. There have been other
writers such as Wilkie Collins, Victor Hugo and Charles Dickens who wrote murder mysteries in the
19th century.
Crime fiction or mystery novels as they are also referred to have become popular world-wide. The
genre is said to translate well across cultures. British and American crime writing has influenced crime
writers globally though most of them like Murshid have their own style, and frequently set their novels
in local settings. They have taken the familiar tropes and plot conventions from their Western masters,
but have produced works that are accepted universally, because of their exotic locales and characters.
According to Alexendra Alter,
Best-selling Turkish crime writer Mehmet Murat Somer, who writes a series about a cross-dressing
Istanbul detective with an Audrey Hepburn alter ego, says he's been heavily influenced by Agatha
Christie and Patricia Highsmith. Penguin published a U.S. edition of his book "The Kiss Murder" in
2008, and has another translation, "The Wig Murders," under contract for 2011. Many cultures have
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crime writing traditions that stretch back centuries. Early examples of Chinese crime writing date to
the 18th century; Japanese writers were telling crime stories as early as the 1600s. By the 1920s and
1930s, commonly referred to as the Golden Age of detective fiction, British and American crime
writers came to define the
genre.(http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052748703426004575338763878488670)
The exotica that is presented via crime fiction by native crime writers from countries other than Britain
and America is not the trait of crime writers alone. Halimah Mohamed Ali (2011), in her book
Orientalism From Within: Arundhati Roy and Her Contemporaries discusses the idea of exotica that is
handed to the West via India-English fiction by local writers. She calls this Orientalism From Within a
term that she has adopted from Dipankar Gupta’s Mistaken Modernity: India between Worlds (2000).
This tradition of crime writing can be seen in Mursyid’s works although he is very new in the field of
writing. He published his first fiction in 1995, and won the Sabah Literature Award 1995/1996 for his
first novel titled Igauan Maut (1995). This prize in Adult Novel Writing was hosted by Dewan Bahasa
dan Pustaka, Kota Kinabalu branch. He has won a few other literary awards, he is the first runner up
for his novel titled Pei Pan, hosted by Sako Novel National Award 2002, the Sabah Literature Award
2004/2005 via the same novel, the Sabah Literature Award 2006/2007 for his novel Bagaikan Puteri
(As a princess) and the Berita Harian Reader's Favourite Book Award 2009 via the novel Hijab Sang
Pencinta (2nd Runner Up). Murshid cannot be categorized as a writer who produces Orientalism From
Within in order to cater and pander to the West and a western literary market because he writes in
Malay and his work has not been translated into other languages although he ia an award winner in
Malaysia and a bestseller.
Although Murshid has not been translated into other languages from his local Malay, it is envisioned
via this paper that he will attract foreign attention due to his genius which will be discussed vis-à-vis
this research. The fact that he has turned into a cult novelist in Malaysia, is one of the reasons for this
research being carried out and written. As has been stated above, Murshid is a best seller in Malaysia
for his popular fiction, and one of the genres that he is an expert in is crime fiction.
Crime Theories
There is a study of crime that is called criminology. It studies why people commit crimes and their
behaviour in certain situations. Criminals and crime can be controlled when we understand them.
Criminals can be reformed in this way.
There are myriads of theories that exist in the field of criminology. A criminal is said to have the ability
to make a choice between good and evil. He/she has the ability to choose. It is also believed that crime
can be prevented by placing individuals in a secure and safe environment. Some people in society
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ascertain that some individuals have embryonic traits that govern them when they are put in negative
environments (http://homepages.rpi.edu/~verwyc/lawchap5.htm retrieved 31/10/2013).
There are many crime theories that exist in this world. For the purpose of this paper the crime theories
that are connected to psychological crime will be looked into, discussed and applied to the reading of
Murshid’s novel Rahsia Perindu. Only three theories will be discussed, and applied to the reading of
the novels. They are, Routine activity theory, one of the theories that will be discussed and used in this
essay is Routine activity theory. It is one of the main theories used in environmental criminology. The
crime triangle has been developed from this theory. Another name for this triangle is the problem
analysis triangle. Figure 1, below shows the triangle:
The crime triangle/problem triangle is explained below,

The relationship of the actors, places and tools is depicted in the problem triangle, shown in Figure 1.
Problems occur when offenders are at the same places as targets, without any effective controller. If
one or more of the controllers is present, however, the chances of crime are greatly reduced. The
effectiveness of the people involved will depend, in part on the tools they have available. Adding or
subtracting various elements in this model will alter the chances of crime.
(http://www.popcenter.org/learning/pam/help/theory.cfm retrieved 31/10/2013).
From the above explanation it can be translated that the crime triangle lies emphasis on three elements:
actors, places and tools. The authorities; i.e. the police/armed forces is the effective controller that
controls the criminal and saves the victim from his perpetrator. However, the authorities need certain
tools in order to control the criminals and crime. These tools are: law, the help of the victims to give
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evidence, the role of society to help the controllers, and the targets in order to lessen crime and prevent
it from occurring. If the situation is uncontrollable the help of ammunition will be needed to resolve the
problem.
Another theory that will be used is Criminal Desire: An Integrated Theory of Crime as postulated by
Jeremy Gordon. According to him, individuals are brought into this world as neither good nor evil,
ultimately knowing nothing. Unfortunately, humans are immediately thrust into an environment that
begins to shape their identity. Influence comes from associations, both personal and impersonal,
within an individual’s prescribed environment. A primary outcome of this influence is the
development of desire. While inherently present in everyone, associations serve to sculpt desires into a
yearning for culturally defined goals. Unfortunately, as Merton (1938) argues a person’s social
arrangements determine whether they can achieve these goals through legitimate means. As such, if
goals can be reached legitimately crime will not be committed. On the other hand, if social
arrangements prevent individuals from satisfying their desire through legitimate means such desire
will increase in magnitude. As the desire within an individual strengthens the need for an alternative
method of achieving the goal becomes present. Through associations the individual will identify,
learn, alternative means of reaching their goals. These alternative means are likely to be criminal in
nature. (Gordon, Jeremy. Criminal Desire: An Integrated Theory of Crime. Retrieved 31/10/2013
http://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~cjreg/NCbiological.htm ).
Gordon has drawn out a few concepts in order to describe and explain his theory. They are outlined
below:
Concepts
 Individual: A single human being beginning as neither good nor evil.
 Personal Associations: Repeated contact with humans in the form of intimate personal groups.
Taken form Sutherland (1947).
 Impersonal Associations: Repeated contact with nonhuman forms of communication such as
television and newspapers. Taken from Sutherland (1947).
 Desire: An innate yearning for satisfaction of a culturally defined goal(s) within each individual.
 Culturally defined goals: Things defined, through associations, as something the individual
should want and expect in life. Taken from Merton (1938).
 Environment: The personal and impersonal associations experienced by the individual.
 Social Arrangements: The legitimate means individuals have to obtain what the want out of life
(i.e. opportunity)
 Legitimate Means (Non-Criminal Behavior): Socially acceptable behavior, according to those in
power, with which individual goals can be reached.
 Crime: Behavior defined by society as illegal.
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 Illegitimate Means (Criminal Behavior): A means used to satisfy inner desires when unable to do
so legitimately. (Gordon, Jeremy. Criminal Desire: An Integrated Theory of Crime. Retrieved
31/10/2013 http://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~cjreg/NCbiological.htm ).
Research shows that there are thirteen types of criminological theories that can be identified. Only
three of these theories are deemed to be “mainstream” or conventional criminology (strain, learning,
control). The table shown below illustrates the 13 criminology theories:
Another theory that will be applied to the reading of the novel is psychological criminology. This
theory is in the above table: Fig. 2. It is defined as,
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Psychological criminology has been around since 1914, and attempts to explain the consistent finding
that there is an eight-point IQ difference between criminals and noncriminals. That gap isn't enough
to notice, but it might make them more impulsive and foolhardy, and even smart people with high IQs
are vulnerable to folly. Other psychocriminologists focus on personality disorders, like the
psychopaths, sociopaths, and antisocial personalities.
(http://faculty.ncwc.edu/mstevens/111/111lect03.htm).
This theory will be used to read the fiction. It will be determined via all three theories applied how
Murshid postulates the idea that environment and psychology more than genetic influences a criminal
to commit crime.
Synopsis
This novel talks about a woman named Maria who goes through a few identity problems. The story
begins when Maria who 15 years old is raped and physically abused by her father. Her father Atan,
does not have any work and is a gambler as well as an alcoholic. He always abuses Maria and her
mother, Junaidah.
Initially Junaidah did not know about her husband’s bad habits which were a crime, but after she saw
personality changes in Maria she became suspicious and started to find out the reason for her lack of
liveliness. Junaidah began to feel anxious especially after she found a knife that Maria had hid in her
cupboard. Other that that Junaida also used to hear Maria talking to herself. When asked whom she
was talking to Maria would show a picture of a leopard. She routinely used to talk about the
magnificence of the leopard. Junaidah eventually finds out that her husband Atan has sexually
abused her daughter a few times. Maria is afraid to tell her mother because her father threatens to kill
her a few times. Shocked by the calamity Junaidah promises her daughter to protect her any which
way possible.
One day Atan comes home drunk and starts to beat his wife mercilessly. Terrified Maria hides in the
cupboard. While Atan abuses his wife physically, Maria’s personality subconsciously turns into that
of the leopard. Maria with the leopard’s personality inside her kills her father by stabbing him
repeatedly from behind him. In order to protect her daughter Junaidah admits to committing the
murder to the public, and the police arrests her that night.
When she goes to trial, Junaidah is released because it is decided that she murdered in self-defence.
After that episode they live together amicably until Maria decides to go to the city to find a job.
Maria works as a singer in a night club. She sings accompanied by the piano played by Jefry.
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Haris mets Maria and falls in love wih her. Harris proposes to Maria, but Maria disappears after she
is sexually abused by Hamdan. Before that. Maria changes into Leopard and kills Hamdan. The
murder is siasat by ASP Ezam who is the brother-in-law of Harris.
After the murder, Harris and Maria coincidentally meet in Pulau Langkawi. Harris proposes again
and Maria agrees to marry him. Jefry cannot accept her decision and still holds a hope that she will
be his one day. Harris and Maria get married, however during the reception Maria is shot from a
distance. However, her life is spared because the bullet is only lodged in her right shoulder. Later,
Maria becomes pregnant, but is still haunted by the past and the death threat by Jefry that looms on
her husband and herself. Jefry asks Maria to leave Harris if she wants the life of her family spared.
After she gives birth to her baby, Maria leaves Harris. Her husband is haunted by loneliness and
frustration.
Harris tries his best to find Maria with Jefry’s help. Later Haris meets Maria in Labuan. However,
the initial pact between Haris and Jefry, is that Maria has to be killed as soon as Harris meets her.
However, because of love Harris cannot kill Maria. Furthermore, Maria informs him about her
disappearance. Maria is later taken home by Haris and they stay in a hotel before the go back to
Harris’s family’s home. Unfortunately, that night her personality changes and she contacts Jefry,
whom she later murders. Haris and Maria are then arrested by the police. The police begin to
investigate and discover that Julia is the killer. However, due to Maria’s psychological problem she
has to go through psychiatric treatment before the trial. Maria is taken to a psychiatric hospital and is
put under Dr. Azlan’s observation. The murder case is handled by a lawyer named Julia.
When she is going through treatment with Dr. Azlan Maria creates a character/a new personality
named Amylia. There is a new story in her mind. Amylia agrees to defend a convict who most
probably will face the mandatory death sentence because he has killed someone. She asks for a
court’s order to get a psychoanalysis test done on her client through a psychiatrist.
Dr. Azlan finds out that Amylia’s client, Leopard or her real name Julia is disturbed mentally. At the
same time her efforts to defend Leopard faces a lot obstacles. Amylia who is afraid goes through
emotional changes. However, she does not give up easily although her life is at stake and she
haunted by the fear of death because she is stalked by a murderer who is always spying all her
moves. The struggle is carried on. She cannot handle the problems that she faces, therefore one day
she faints. When she becomes conscious again, everything has changed.
Maria begins to discover her true personality. She begins to realize that Amelyia does not exist and
she elects Julia in place of the non-existent Amelyia. After the trial, Maria is is released because of
her unstable mental condition. However, she still has to go through therapy. While going through
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treatment Maria is attacked by a hired killer, but she is out of harm’s way. ASP Ezam starts to
carry out investigations, and finds out that Liza the daughter of Tuan Yahya has collaborated with
the hired killer. Liza wants Maria dead because she has been in love with Harris since she was a
child. Nevertheless, through the brilliance of the lawyer that is Julia, Liza is freed from the deed. In
the end Maria begins to heal because Harris and her daughter Aleeya visits her frequently. Maria
hopes to fight the ailment and get well to live her life with Harris and their daughter.
Analysis of the Novel

Theme
Novel Rahsia Perindu has the theme that deals with psychiatric illness and the effects of child abuse.
According to the novel, Maria goes through dissociative personality since the age of 15. This is
because she is raped by her own father (Ramlee Awang Murshid, 2005:466-467).
Maria turns into an introvert, becomes a recluse and is friends with a picture of a leopard which
hangs on the wall in her room. This is evident through the excerpt below:
“Kenapa suka duduk diam dalam bilik saja?” Junaidah bertanya dengan nada yang lembut.
Kekerasan hanya akan membuatkan Maria enggan berkerjasama. “Maria main-main dengan kawan,”
jawab Maria selamba. “Kawan mana?” Junaidah bimbang lagi. “Leopard.” Sepatah Maria
memberitahu. “Apa tu? Berkerut wajah Junaidah mendengarnya. Lalu Maria menunjukkan gambar
seekor harimau kumbang dan tersenyum kecil (Ramlee Awang Murshid, 2005:469).
[“Why do you like to stay in your room?” Junaidah asks in a soft tone. Harshness only hinders Maria
from co-operating. “I am paying with my friend,” Maria answers aloofly. “Where is your friend?”
Junaidah is worried again. “Leopard.” Maria answers in a word. “What is that?” Junaidah face
distorts as she listens to the answer. So Maria shows her the picture of a leopard and smiles. (Ramlee
Awang Murshid, 2005: 459)].
When her father comes and beats her mother, Maria changes into “Leopard” and kills him (Ramlee
Awang Murshid, 2005:471-472). “Leopard” appears when Maria is in danger or is being tormented
by her society. The second time “Leopard” appears when Maria is raped by Hamdan (Ramlee
Awang Murshid, 2005: 479-480). The personality act as an revenger and kills Hamdan.
After marriage with Harris, Maria is in a koma because she is shot during her wedding. After that,
her husband and her, go for their honeymoon in Labuan. Maria starts to have scyhzophrenia and is
disturbed by shadows, attacks and voices that threaten her family’s safety. The threat requires Maria
to leave her husband if she wants him alive. After she leaves Harris, Maria lives her life a usual.
However, everything changes when Harris comes looking for Maria. Maria is tortured by the voices
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inside her and the personality of the Leopard starts to control her. Leopard kills Jefry because she
cannot stand Jefry’s threats (Ramlee Awang Murshid, 2005:477).
Other than that, a character named Julia is created who is Maria’s lawyer to defend her in the case of
Jefry’s murder, where she is committed for. This character influences Maria’s self until she does not
know how to differentiate between her real and fantastic self. e Maria portrays herself as a young
successful lawyer named Amylia that tries to solve a murder case that involves a woman with
multiple personalities named Julia. This situation is stated by the author through the excerpt
presented below:
“Maria masih berada dalam dunia rekaanya sendiri. Cik Julia nak tahu…hasil psikoanalisis tu, saya
dan dan Cik Julia juga berada di dalam dunia itu. Cik Julia merupakan seorang pesalah dan Maria
yang berperwatakan sebagai Amylia menjadi peguam bela. Dia berusaha membela Cik Julia dari
tuduhan membunuh di mahkamah” (Ramlee Awang Murshid, 2005: 460-461).
[“Maria is still in her make believe world. Miss Julia, do you want to know…the result of the
psychoanalysis, you and I are also present in that world. Miss Julia you are a convict and Maria who
takes up Amylia’s personality is an advocate. She is working hard to defend in court to clear you
from the accusation of murder” (Author’s translation]].
The woman has been accused of killing someone. In reality, Julia is Maria’s advocate. During a
session with her psychiatrist Dr. Azlan, two personalities: Leopard and Amylia that normally
surfaces and swallows Maria’s true personality. The existence of both personalities causes Maria to
become distanced from the real world. Maria has to go through theraphy in order to get well.
The author works on this theme because of society’s lack of knowledge about psychiatry.
Malaysian society very easily labels psychiatric ailments as craziness. Whereas both these diseases
are different from each other. This is evident from the dialogue between Dr Azlan and Amylia:
“Betul ke dia benar-benar gila, doktor” tanya Amylia. “Penyakit psikiatri.” Dr.Azlan membetulkan
perkataan ‘gila’ yang diajukan oleh Amylia tadi. “Doktor tak setuju dengan perkataan ‘gila’?” soal
Amylia yang lebih sensitive dengan jawapan yang diberikan. “Kebanyakan orang melabel penyakit
mental sebagai gila. Ini pandangan yang salah. Apabila kita katakana penyakit mental atau psikiatri,
ada berbagai-bagai sebenarnya.
Daripada orang yang menghidap neurosis sampailah kepada psikosis. Perlu juga diketahui penyakit
psikiatri meliputi penyakit psikiatri kanak-kanak….hujan Dr.Azlan (Ramlee Awang Murshid,
2005:31)
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[“Is he really crazy doctor” Amylia asks. “A psychiatric disorder.” Dr Azlan rectifies the word
‘crazy’ that is used by Amelia just now. “Doctor, don’t you agree with the word ‘crazy’? Amelia
who is more sensitive to the answer given, enquires. “Many people label mental illness as craziness.
This is a mistaken perception. Wjen we talk about mental illness or psychiatry there are many types.
From the people who suffer from neurosis up to psychosis. It also has to be known that psychiatric
illness involves child psychiatric illness as well… it’s raining Dr. Azlan [Auhtor’s translation]].
Other than that, the author wants the parents to be more alert to the self-development of children.
This is due to the fact that the development during childhood most of the time influences the
character of an adult. This can be seen from the character of Maria who has had psychiatric
complications since childhood. Junaidah realizes this fact but does not take Maria for professional
treatment:
“Maria...mak nak tanya, kenapa Maria makin berubah sekarang?” walaupun tahu perubahan tingkah
laku Maria adalah akibat perbuatan suaminya, namun Junaidah sengaja bertanyakan soalan itu tanpa
terlintas di fikiran rawatan yang patut dilakukan ke atas Maria (Ramlee Awang Murshid, 2005:469).
[“Maria…I want to ask, why have you changed lately?” Although her mother knows that her
daughters change of character is due to her husband’s behaviour, Junaidah enquires without thinking
of the medical treatment that Maria should go through [Author’s translation]].
As a result Maria has multiple personalities. Thus, the development of children should be monitored
by parents.
Plot
This novel has a very complex plot. There are two different plots, one that is realistic and another
that is fantastic. This fantastic plot that portrays fantasy exists when the reader is taken to the story
that is inside Maria’s psyche. This story that is inside her brain is connected to herself that turns into
Amylia.
The beginning of the novel is about a murder that takes place in Kampung Baru that involves a
woman named Junaidah. Later, the reader is taken forward into time that is twelve years on where
the characters of Amylia and Dr. Azlan are investigating a murderer named Leopard. Later, the
reader is introduced to a character named Hamdan that is killed by someone whose identity is
unknown. The story then develops and moves to the character named Harris who runs away from
home because he does not like his mother’s decision to marry him off to a woman named Liza the
daughter of Tuan Yahya. Harris then moves away to Langkawi.
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The development phase of the novel begins with ASP Ezam investigating a murder case. It is the
death of a man named Hamdan. Coincidentally, Harris meets Maria in Langkawi. Harris persuades
Maria to marry him. Dr. Azlan dan Amylia have met with a dead end with regards to Leopard. He is
reluctant to give information to the police about the murder.
The novel is problematized when Jefry, Maria’s friend does not agree with Maria’s decision to marry
Harris. However, Maria does not change her mind. Most of the time Junaidah is approached by Jefry
who goes to his house frequently and behaves insanely. Harris’s and Maria’s wedding is celebrated
with grandeur, however there is an undesirable incident that occurs. There is a shooting on Maria’s
person. Maria is saved but is blackmailed so that she will leave her husband. After she delivers her
child, Maria runs away from home with the company’s money. Harris is haunted by feelings of
frustration and lack. Amylia and Dr. Azlan are successful in finding out Leopard’s true identity.
Leopard’s real name is Julia and they are able to solve the mystery behind the deaths that occur. Julia
is a victim of circumstances, because she is kidnapped and hypnotized with new memory implanted
in her. The new memory turns her into a murderer. Later Harris locates Maria with the help of
Jefry.
During the climax all the mysteries that shroud the story are revealed one by one. Amylia’s
character does not exist and it only resides in Maria’s brain. Maria turns herself into Amylia because
she is influenced by her advocate Julia. Maria is detained by the police because she has killed Jefry
and Hamdan. However, she is not found guilty because of her unstable mental condition. There are
many personalities in her including Leopard. He mis the one that commits the murders. This
situation arises because when Maria is 15 years old she is frequently raped by her father. The
personality of Leopard takes over and she skills her father. Her mother, Junaidah admits to the crime
because she wants to protect her daughter. The mystery of the shooting on Maria is also solved when
ASP Ezan succeeds in finding the proof that Liza hired her old to shoot Maria. However, Liza is free
of the punishment when the public prosecutors are defeated in court.
This novel ends with a happy ending. Maria goes on to fight her ailment and to live with her
husband Haris and daughter Aleeya.
Conclusion
It can be concluded that Murshid is a true crime writer. He uses the Malaysian setting and characters
as well as culture to produce his fiction. His upbringing and experience influences his writings.
Through his work we know that Murshid is a futurist. This is only one of the examples of his fiction.
The assumption that can be made from the reading of this novel is that the writer applies his
knowledge well, and also does research before he writes. This is a psychological crime fiction or
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thriller that presents to us the idea of a criminal who becomes a criminal due to psychological
defects. Maria the main character is unable to escape her environment as a child and develops a
dissociative personality.
Bibliography
Gordon, Jeremy. Criminal Desire: An Integrated Theory of Crime. Retrieved 31/10/2013
http://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~cjreg/NCbiological.htm
Mohamed Ali, Halimah. 2011. Orientalism From Within: Arundhati Roy And Her Contemporaries.
Pulau Pinang: Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia.
Mursid, Ramlee Awang. 2005. Rahsia Perindu. Selangor: Alaf 21 Sendirian Berhad.
A Theory of Crime Problems. http://www.popcenter.org/learning/pam/help/theory.cfm retrieved
31/10/2013
Understanding Criminology Theories
http://www.criminology.com/resources/understanding-criminology-theories/ retrieved
31/10/2013
Criminology : the study of crime and behavior http://homepages.rpi.edu/~verwyc/lawchap5.htm
retrieved 31/10/2013
Alter, Alexandra. 2010. Fiction's Global Crime Wave The Wall Street Journal, July 1, 2010
retrieved 8/01/2014. http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/
SB10001424052748703426004575338763878488670
O’Sullivan, Carol. Translation, Pseudotranslation and Paratext: the Presentation of Contemporary
Crime Fiction Set In Italy. EnterText 4.3 Supplement.
215
ISLLLE-1206
Imagistic Criticism of Poetry
Aidong Zhang
Nanyang Technological University
aidong.zhang@nie.edu.sg
The traditional Chinese critical device of using lively imagery to comment on poetry or poetic styles is
evidently illustrated in Zhong Rongs' (ca.468-518) Shipin. As commonly observed, Zhong Rong is
among the pioneer critics to use this device extensively in poetry criticism. This approach to literary
works later became a basic mode in the Chinese literary and art criticism.
This paper proposes that the images Zhong uses in the Shipin have some shared cultural and aesthetic
resonances in the history of Chinese culture and aesthetics. They were integrated into the context of
Zhong’s commentaries where the meaning is given another dimension, or even gains its multi-valence.
This paper also intends to display that, as the earliest critic, Zhong Rong was not only aware of the
paradox of language but also consciously took the advantage of this paradox. After the Shipin, the
so-called “imagistic criticism” significantly gained its ground, and some imagistic comparisons used by
Zhong were repeatedly quoted or alternatively used in subsequent literary commentary. The imagistic
criticism subsequently became a distinctive mode in Chinese poetry criticism.
216
ISLLLE-1241
Tibetan Skyed Gtong Byed
Chin-Wen Huang
Department of Chinese Language and Literature, National Chi Nan University, Taiwan
cwh@ncnu.edu.tw
Abstract
From functional and typological point of view, lexicalization and grammaticalization contribute to
language change. In this sense, Tibetan skyed gtong byed is an interesting case which undergoes both
of lexicalization and grammaticalization changes. The former is eccentricity, change in syntactical
category, while the latter is a verb which also has a derivational function. The lexicon skyed gtong
byed is an event of derivation after compounding in Tibetan. The competing between –gtong and –
byed as Lexicon Diffusion Theory is convincing. In this case, the -byed suffix seems to be more
prevalent than the –gtong suffix is in Tibetan. It will also benefit typological linguistics and provide
new phenomenon to the points of language change.
Keywords: Tibetan; Lexicalization; Grammaticalization; Lexicon Diffusion Theory; Language

change
1. About Tibetan Gtong and Byed

1.1 Written Tibetan Gtong and Byed
Modern Tibetan skyed gtong byed means ‘to earn Interest by loaning out the principal’, and the
lexicon is an event of derivation after compounding. In Written Tibetan, some verbs begin to lord the
function to derivation (Huang 2015). Verb gtong and verb byed are two cases of them.
In Witten Tibetan (Jäschke 1985:208, 378, 106), the three lexicons are used as distinct verbs with
different meanings according to the contexts.
Thess three verbs and especially the morphology related have still been active and productive until
contemporary period. Here in the following sections we will clarify gtong and byed, and all the word
formation related with skyed gtong byed.
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1.2 Co-Occurrences of Gtong Byed
Somehow it is found that gtong and byed are added together to a noun. There are two possibilities to
explain the co-occurrences here: the first is compound verb, and the second is derivation.
Since gtong byed is not an existent lexicon item with semantic meaning, it should not be the first
proposal. The context of gtong byed are limited. Let’s see all three examples (Goldstein 1984:283),
(Yu 1983:68, 286).
These can all be found in Modern Tibetan dictionaries, (Goldstein 1984); (Yu 1983 286); (Jäschke
1985); (Alfred 1920); (Zhang1993). The distribution of gtong byed is very limited, and there is no
any other combining choice such as byed gtong.
1.3 Modern Tibetan -Gtong , -Byed Suffixes

Modern Tibetan -gtong suffix and -byed suffix derivate nouns to a verb. The -byed suffix is as
examples 7ab and 8ab, and then 9ab and 10ab are examples of the -gtong suffix.
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The morphological way to derivate nouns to verbs is productive and popular in the following couples
of examples. All the couples are semantically the same, but differ in syntactical categories. That is
the reason why gtong and byed must be treated as -gtong suffix and -byed suffix.
2. The Verbs Gtong to -Gtong Suffixe in Tibetan

2.1 From Phrase to Compound
Of course the -gtong suffix is a grammaticalized morpheme from the verb gtong. The noun and verb
gtong compose a phrase, such as 11ab and 12ab.
In Tibetan a ‘Telephone’ is kha par in 11a, so that ‘to make a phone call’ must be ‘kha par + gtong’
in 11b. And an ‘interest’ is skyed ka in 12a, so that ‘to earn an interest’ must be ‘skyed ka + gtong’ in
12b. Here we use ‘+’ to mention a lexicon boundary.
Then many phrases are eccentric to be defined as a compound, such as 13a and 13b.
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Example 13ab here is a duration of compounding. In Tibetan skyid skyid means ‘comfortable’ in 13a,
but skyid skyid gtong means ‘to be amused’ in 13b. It is very difficult or even impossible to get the
exact semantics meaning by the syntactical structure. Thus there is no more word boundary but only
different morphemes. And of course no more ‘+’ is needed in 13b.
In the same time, examples 13ab provide a typical proof of compounding. In this, there occurs
eccentric process which is defined as idiomaticization. It is somehow associated with routinization
and simplification. Certainly it is almost not possible to deduce the meaning of an idiom. However,
grammatically and semantically the idiom gets frozen (Brinton and Traugott 2005：55).
(a) semantic opacity or noncompositionality

(b) grammatical deficiency
(c) lack of substitutability
Not all of the synonymous lexical items can be substituted. It is not possible for an idiom to allow
(have?) the syntactic variety of free combinations. It means that any grammatical variations are not
allowed, such as from an affirmative sentence to a negative sentence, from positive to passive, or any
topical transitions.
2.2 Tendency of Synonymy: -Gtong Suffix and -Byed Suffix

Somehow it happens when different lexicon items share same meaning. In the following examples
14ab to 16ab, there is no more semantical or grammatical deference, and they should be synonyms.
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Originally, the verb gtong and verb byed are different according to examples 1 and 2; there are no
any synonymic performance to trace. They are totally different verbs. The most possible way to
explain the tendency of synonymy is that both of them have gone through grammaticalization. They
turn to be affixes -gtong and -byed to derivate a lexicon to be a verb. Here the proceeding ‘-‘ means
the morpheme itself is in a word final position.
2.3 -Gtong and -Byed Are Analogy to Be as Competing Pairs

From a grammatical point of view, the -gtong suffix and -byed suffix must be promoted by analogy
(Haspelmath, M. 1998), (Hopper and Traugott 2003). Analogy is the generalization of a structure,
getting more and more grammaticalization. To generalize means to derivate lexical category by
regular means. In contrast, degrammaticalization might be promoted by analogy too (Norde, Muriel.
2009). Regularity is all what analogy aims at.
Actually the pursuing of the generalization of a structure may cause homogeneity, thus it creates
same functional morphemes competition but not cooperation. With the tendency of leveling, it may
cause a competition between -gtong and -byed suffixes (Huang 2015).
The Lexicon Diffusion Theory argues that sound change is phonetically abrupt and lexically gradual.
The main assumption of Lexicon Diffusion Theory is that not all lexicon items are affected by a
sound change at the same time. Instead, a change will advance gradually, just item by item. Thus the
change must be morpheme to morpheme and item to item. The following model demonstrate a slide
of change (Wang, W.S-Y. 1969).
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Within the competing of unchanged variety (Wx) and changed variety (Wx) in lexicon domain, there
are lexical items W1 to Wn. However, there are three stages of change. Stage 1: W1 is already
affected and replaced, and stage 2: there are varieties W2 ~ W2 and W3 ~ W3 to compete, then stage
3: there are still old varieties which is completely not affected yet.
Examples 14ab~16ab are all at Stage 2, and that is why they are couples of synonymys. But there is a
little difference between these couples and varieties in Lexicon Diffusion. The former is a competing
between two morphemes in two distinct analyzed derivation rules, and the latter is a competing
between unchanged variety and changed variety of an only one sound change. Since the competition
between lexicon items is the main and the same thing, the Lexicon Diffusion could apply to
derivation rule.
3. Modern Tibetan Skyed Gtong Byed

3.1 Skyed Gtong Is fromPhase to Compounding
Let us come back to discuss the lexicon of Tibetan skyed gtong byed in example 5.
Tibetan skyed means ‘Interest (on loan)’ (Alfred 1920:255); (Jäschke 1881:29). Sometimes it occurs
with ka as a disyllable skyed ka, but sometimes as a monosyllable. It depends whether it needs to be
a tight unity? or not. A phrase is a comparatively looser unity than a compound is. According to the
typological study, lexicalization and grammaticalization might involve several fusion of different
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domain (Hopper and Traugott 2003); (Brinton and Traugott 2005). Here is the loss of phonological
segments. Thus from skyed ka gtong in 12b to skyed gtong must involve the loss of one syllable
when two segments are composed.
Here are the pair of a noun (12a) and a verb phrase (12b), since the noun skyed ka is the object of
verb gtong. However, the verb gtong dominates the noun skyed ka, just as ‘skyed ka + gtong’ says.
(Goldstein 1984)
It is worth noting that a synonym of skyed ka is skyed ga. Since there is some hint to see that skyed 註解 [8]:
ka is related to word formation, our attention should focus on it. And the readers will see that Tibetan
may also express ‘interest’ as monosyllable as well, such as the examples 13 and 14.
Then the most interesting thing is that when byed goes behind skyed it means ‘the parent’. In Tibetan
the parents are usually called pha ma, and yab yum for honorifics. But just as the ‘interest’ is earned
from a base of ‘capital’, a ‘child’ is born and raised by the ‘parent(s)’. Tibetans associate the
expression of earned interests with child birth, and thus skyed byed and skyed byed ma represent
father and mother . (Zhang1993:158)
The component byed of skyed byed and skyed byed ma means that something or someone has an
ability to do something; it also emphasizes the agent. It changes the syntactical meaning of skyed
byed to semantics one. As a result of eccentricity (see 2.1), example 15 and 16 must be defined as
compounds. Furthermore, a compound is not necessary to be eccentric but to combine themselves
well to form a whole. It means that a word boundary must not be obvious in a compound. Effect of
word frequency may be the key which makes a phrase turning to be a compound because of the
recognition.
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However, when we treat lexicalization and grammaticalization as a whole, Tibetan skyed gtong of
skyed gtong byed must be a compound. It is because of two important evidences: the first one is
morpho-phonological reduction, and the second is getting derivation (see 3.2).
3.2 -Byed Derived Skyed Gtong to Be a Verb

Tibetan people seem to take skyed gtong as a noun compound before adding a derivational affix, or
they would not do so. Just like compounding, derivation gives rise to the formation of new words.
That is, there are some gaps of lexicon item there, and then people satisfy the needs by having some
kinds of morphological means. The lexicon formation of Tibetan skyed gtong byed is showed as
following.
Stage1 and Stage 3 are from documents that actually exist in Tibetan language, while Stage 2ab,
skyed gtong, is existent logically. If Stage 2 does not exist, then it is not possible to derivate Stage 3,
skyed gtong -byed. However, it is easy to add a -byed suffix to a compound than to a phrase.
Logically however, it has to be supposed that skyed gtong is a noun compound at the moment before
the derivation applies at Stage 2b. If not, it is impossible to explain why a verb (Stage 2) is able to
derive a verb (Stage 3). As far as the loss of phonological segments (see 3.1) is concerned, we should
take skyed gtong as a compound verb at stage 2a. There is another argument that a noun could be the
object of gtong verb. Take kha par + gtong ‘to call’ (11b) for example, kha par + gtong is a verbal
phrase in which the verb gtong dominates. That is the reason why there must be two steps, Stage 2a
and Stage 2b, in what we call Stage 2.
And then there is a transition from verbal category to nominal one. As it goes, it leads to the
conclusion that there is a transition from a compound verb to noun during the stage 2a and 2b. That
process is taken as a typical eccentricity of lexicalization.
224
The development of Stage1 > Stage2 > Stage3 is from a phrase skyed ka + gtong with ‘to get interest
by loaning out a principal’ to a compound with a derivational morpheme to be a verb skyed gtong
byed. This lexicon is an event of derivation after compounding.
4. Conclusion
From functional and typological point of view, lexicalization and grammaticalization are much
related with the language change. In this sense, skyed gtong byed is an interesting and important case
which goes through both of lexicalization and grammaticalization changes. The lexicalization
process is eccentricity to change of syntactical category. And then the grammaticalization is that a
verb develops itself to bear a derivational function. It will benefit typological linguistics and provide
new phenomenon to the points of language change as well.
Tibetan skyed means ‘Interest (on loan)’, and skyed ka + gtong means ‘to get interest by loaning out
a principal’. Of course, a phrase is a comparatively looser unity than a compound is. When a verb
phrase appears as a disyllable skyed ka, we know that lexicalization and grammaticalization may
involve several reduction of different domains according to the typological study. From a verbal
phrase skyed ka + gtong to a compound skyed gtong, it involves the loss of one syllable ka. Here is
the loss of two phonological segments. (see 3.1)
The lexicon skyed gtong byed is an event of derivation after compounding in Tibetan language.
Besides, the derivational morpheme -byed proves itself in our clarification. Thus, the competing of
these two morphemes as Lexicon Diffusion Theory (see 2.3) is convincing. In this case, the -byed
suffix seems to take more advantage than the –gtong suffix does.
As more to the Lexicon Diffusion Theory, maybe we should ignore the difference between these
competing varieties of syncytial rules and varieties of sound change. The former is a competition
between two morphemes in two distinct analyzed derivation rules, and the latter is a competition
between unchanged variety and changed variety of a rule in sound change. Whatever the differences,
there are competing between candidates on all lexicon items. So far as we can see, the -byed suffix is
more prevalent than the –gtong suffix is in Tibetan. By this case, it seems feasible to apply the
Lexicon Diffusion Theory to syntactical and morphological domain.
References
Aitchison, Jean .2001. Language Change: Progress Or Decay? Cambridge University Press
Brinton, Laurel J. and Elizabeth Closs Traugott. 2005. Lexicalization and Language Change.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005.
Bell, Charles Alfred 1920 English-Tibetan colloquial dictionary, Baptist Mission Press.
225
Chinwen Huang 2015 The Lexical Formation of Tibetan སློབ་སློང་བྱེད་ 〈slob sbyong byed 〉the 35th
meeting of Tibeto-Burman Linguistic Circle .2015. Kyoto University.
Daoquan Yu 1983 la sa kou yu ci dian, min zu chu ban she.
Melvyn C. Goldstein 1984. English-Tibetan Dictionary of Modern Tibetan University of California
Press.
Norde, Muriel. 2009. Degrammaticalization. Oxford University Press
James A. Matisoff 2003. Handbook of Proto-Tibeto-Burman: System and Philosophy of
Sino-Tibetan Reconstruction. University of California Press.
Heinrich August Jäschke 1881. A Tibetan English Dictionary. Kyoto: Rinsen Book Company.
Haspelmath, M. 1998. Does grammaticalization need reanalysis? Studies in Language 22, 49-85.
Hopper, Paul J. and Elizabeth Closs Traugott. 2003. Grammaticalization. Cambridge Cambridge
University Press , 2003.
Jackson T.-S. Sun. 2000. Parallelisms in the verb morphology of Sidaba rGyalrong and Guanyinqiao
in rGyalrongic. Language & Linguistics 1.1: 161-190.
Jackson T.-S. Sun. 1998. Nominal morphology in Caodeng rGyalrong. Bulletin of the Institute of
History and Philology 69.1:103-149.
Yisun Zhang 1993 Tibetan-Chinese dictionary, min zu chu ban she.
Yo Matsumoto 2003. Typologies of Lexicalization Patterns and Event Integration: Clarifications and
Reformulations. In Shuji Chiba et al. eds., Empirical and Theoretical Investigations into
Language: A Festschrift for Masaru Kajita, pp. 403-418. Tokyo: Kaitakusha.
Wang, William S-Y . 1969. “Competing Changes as a Cause of Residue”. Langeage 45, pp. 9-25.
STEDT Database (Beta) http://stedt.berkeley.edu/~stedt-cgi/rootcanal.pl
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ISLLLE-1258
Language Culture’s Influence on Second Language Acquisition: Take Japanese
Students’ Learning in Taiwan for Instance
Shelly Hsiu-Jung Kung

Chinese Language Center, Feng Chia University, Taiwan
shellykung1107@gmail.com
Abstract
According to Chinese classical literature, it records” The three moves of Mencius’ mother”. The
mother of Mencius moves their residence three times in order to find an ideal place to raise her son.
It tells us that how deep and far the environment affects a person. Everyone will internalize what
they hear and learn naturally under the influence of environment and culture, and then turn it into
personal knowledge. Gradually, it brings stability and habit. As time passes, it becomes harder to
change.
Winford thinks that language contact results in “imposition” of two circumstances, it appears on
phonics, syntax, and sentence structure the most. Because of their first language, Japanese learner
who learns Chinese makes more mistakes of phonics and syntax than western people.
This text will discuss mistakes made by Japanese students as they learn Chinese individually from
phonics, vocabulary, and Japanese national characteristics and culture. It helps teachers design their
teaching in order to prevent student from making the same mistake, and then accomplishes learning
goal.
Keyword: Language Contact, Second Language Acquisition, Chinese
1. Introduction
The rapid development of technology and society improve the contact between countries and
countries, which also increase the exchange of languages. Somehow, little by little, it has exact
impact on each language, especially for the second language learner, the effect seems wider and
deeper. However, not only the first language itself affect the learner but also the culture.
Environment plays an important role for the learner. When he spends a long time staying in an
environment of a specific language, he will acquire the vocabulary, grammar and habit unconsciously.
Just like a child, once the mistaken behavior or grammar is formed, it takes time to correct, what’s
more our mother tongue, the language we have used for decades.
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Winford (2003, p.12) thinks the language contact will lead to two conditions: borrowing and
imposition. Borrowing often leads to the lexical changes; while the changes which imposition cause
usually via the process of second language acquisition that is, bringing the original grammar and
phonics into the target language. These changes could happen on lexical, phonics, or grammar
construction. Winford (2003,p 62,63)
For Japanese Mandarin learner, Chinese characters and reading comprehension is their strength. Yet,
due to the similarity with chinses culture, compare to Western, they tend to have more error.
This text will be analyzing what mistake Japanese learner usually make in Mandarin learning, from
phonics, lexical to their nationality and culture. It guides teachers how to make students avoid
making same mistake repeatedly.
2. Difficulties on Learning
During these decades, the rise of China leads to the trend of Mandarin learning, related research pops
up at once as well. Among the “Japanese learning Chinese Language” research, many of them
discuss about the problem that Japanese learner usually face when learning Mandarin. Whatever they
were published by the Japanese researchers, Japanese professor, or Taiwanese who knows Japanese,
they all mention about the difficulties on pronunciation. Via practical teaching practice, this essay
will discuss about the difficulties of Chinese learning through 3 aspects: phonics, lexical, and culture.
Also, according to personal teaching experience and profession, this essay will provide the problem
solving method in order to decrease student’s error and their wills.
2.1 The Learning Question of Phonics

2.1.1 Finals
In traditional Chinese, it divides the phonics of Chinese word into initials and finals. This concept is
different from the consonants and vowels of English. If you cannot clarify these two concepts, you
may make mistake as you determine phonics and also cannot correct learner’s mistakes.
In Rieko Taida’s research paper (2014,p9), list 1 “ the phonetics’ system of Japanese and Chinese”
refers to Chinese consonants and vowels as follows:
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This list uses pinyin; however, the part of finals is wrong, finals that list1 refers are not English
vowels, these finals include simple finals, compound finals, nasal finals, retroflex vowel and triple
finals. If you can analyze it clearly, it will benefit student’s learning.
There are sixteen finals in Chinese, among simple finals(vowels) are similar with Japanese simple
finals; therefore, it doesn’t have many questions about pronunciation. However, Japanese students
often make mistakes on finals as follows:
(1) Nasal finals [An] and [En]:

When Japanese students pronounce [An] and [En], they always confuse these two sounds with [Ang]
and [Eng] or pronounce it to [Am].
(2) Retroflex vowel [ɚ]:

、二 èr (two)”usually make students
Retroflex vowel often pronounces [ɤ], and thus”餓 è ( hungry)」
confuse.
(3) Triple finals [uΩ]:

This sound often confuses with [Ωu], the main factor is the last sound which is back, high, rounded
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[u], and the last sound of [uΩ] is [Ω], its degree of opening the mouth is bigger; therefore, Japanese
students often omit [u] such as “多 duo”, they will pronounce ”do”.
2.1.2 Initials
There are twenty one initials in Chinese, and the most difficult par for Japanese learners is:
(1) Aspirated sound [ph], [th], [kh], [tɕh], [tʂh], [tsh]

Because Japanese initials system doesn’t have the difference between aspirated sound and
unaspirated sound; nevertheless, Chinese has six groups which is opposing initials such as [p], [ph];
[t], [th]; [k], [kh]; [tɕ], [tɕh]; [tʂ], [tʂh]; [ts], [tsh]. Besides, aspirated sounds such as [ph], [th], [kh],
[tɕh], [tʂh], [tsh] are difficult for Japanese students to learn.
(2) Retroflex: [tʂ], [tʂh], [ʂ], [ʐ] and dental consonant: [ts], [tsh], [s]
The problem of this pair initials is that it is influenced by Taiwan’s Chinese, [tʂ][tʂh], [ʂ], [ʐ] often be
read as[ts], [tsh], [s], Besides, the main point is that the end of sound [tʂ], [tʂh],[ʂ],[ʐ] is apical vowel
[L], and behind [ts],[tsh], [s] is apical vowel []. When Japanese students pronounce these sounds,
they always add [u] directly. For example, they will pronounce “知道 zhīdào” to ”zudao”, “自私”zì
sī to “zusu” and so on.
(3) Labiodental [f]

Since there’s no [f] sounds in Japanese language, Japanese learners tend to replace [xu] with [f]. For
example,”頭髮 thoufa”, they always transfer it into “thouhua”. Same as the elder in Taiwan whose
mother tongue is Taiwanese language. They aren’t able to pronounce [f] since there’s no such sound
in Taiwanese language as well, therefore, they pronounce [xu] instead. This is called “negative
transfer” when language contact happens.
2.2 Vocabulary
Kukai is the monk of Japan who studies abroad in China. In Tang dynasty, he borrows the trait of
Chinese cursive style (calligraphy) and invents hiragana. Japanese writing system has part of Chinese
word’s writing system because China and Japan contact frequently in the period of Tang. Although
typeface is slightly different now, Japanese learner has more strength than students from other
countries in reading and comprehending as they learn Chinese.
Things always have both sides; possessing the basic writing skill of Chinese is a kind of strength. By
contrast, it also becomes the barrel of learning as a result of the same word but different meaning.
Therefore, Japanese learners are affected by the meaning of Chinese word and then make mistakes as
they are using vocabulary. For instance:
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(1) 經常 jīngcháng: しょっちゅう
Student’s workbook writes:
Here, it is different from the list that student write above. The word ”經常” includes two meanings-
frequently and daily. Therefore, you have to use this word carefully.
(2) 已婚 yǐhūn(married)、未婚 wèihūn(single)

Chinese “已婚” is Japanese ” 既婚（きこん）”; Chinese "未婚” is Japanese ”獨身（どくしん）で
す”. Japanese “獨身” is different from Chinese “單身”, and Chinese”單身” means a person who
doesn’t have boyfriend or girlfriend. Consequently, teacher has to explain its use to Japanese learners.
“獨” in Chinese means “alone” but it always combine with other word and become compound word.
(3) 跳槽 (Tiàocáo):
There are 2 meaning of 跳槽 Tiaocao in Japanese, one is “job changing” and “changing lovers.” Yet,
there’s only “job changing” meaning in Chinese. Affected by their mother tongue, Japanese students
will say “he wants to 跳槽 Tiaocao to another girl”, which means “he wants to change girlfriend.
(4) 殘念(Cánniàn): ざんねん

殘念 (Cánniàn) is origin from comics, meaning “pity” or “a shame.” Under the influence of the
comics, Taiwanese people started to use this saying. Aside from the original meanings, Taiwanese
people also add the meaning of “no comment” or “speechless”, which is the negative one. For
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example, “when I really see the female online friend’s appearance, I feel 殘念(Cánniàn)”, which
means the female online friend is so ugly that I feel speechless.
2.3 Culture Difference

Since hundred years ago, Chinese and Japanese culture had been affecting each other. Due to the
prosperous of Tang Dynasty, Korea and Japan used to present tribute. Years after, Taiwan was
occupied by Japan for 50 years, there’s about 57% population of Taiwan can speak Japanese when
the occupied was finished. Besides, decades after, Taiwanese is crazy of Japanese pop culture; it has
a great impact on Taiwan. Therefore, as you can see, Taiwan has a close relationship with Japan.
Even though China and Japan are having close relationship, culture difference still exists.
(1) Wedding and Cash Gift

In Chinese culture, people give cash gift with red envelope and cash with even number amount. But
number “4” is not allowed, because 4 isn’t a lucky number for Chinese. In Japan, people give cash
gift with white envelope and odd number amount of cash, but avoiding “4” and “9” because they
stand for “death” and “bitter.”
(2) Etiquette
Japanese is known for their etiquette. But for Taiwanese people, being over polite seems insincere.
Therefore, when in Rome do as the Roman do, you will blend into the environment easily.
(3) Metro
In metro, Japanese always read or do their things quietly, but Chinese is always loud talking on
phones or eat sloppily.
3. Instructional Strategy
3.1 Phonics
1. Aspirated sound:
 When teaching pronunciation, teacher uses silent way and writes down aspirated sound and
unaspirated sound, and then lets students to identify by themselves.
 Give every student tissue paper in order to let student understand the difference of aspirated
sound and unaspirated sound.
 Let students put their finger in front of their mouth and then pronounce alveolo-palatal fricative
to experience it different.
2. Alveolar, retroflex, labiodentals

 These three pairs only can tell students the correct pronunciation position and manner, and then
let students practice and correct their pronunciation.
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3. Compound finals:
 Use the method of lengthening the sound. After students pronounce the first vowel, change their
shape of mouth to second vowel’s position. Then give them proper practice.
4. Nasal finals:
 Pronounce vowel first and let tongue stop at the position of end of consonant. If students still
cannot identify, teacher can use unprofessional method to tell them that these two sound’s mouth [An]
and [En] have to become small, and [Ang] and [Eng] are big.
3.2 Vocabulary and Culture

When correcting students’ use of vocabulary, teacher has to understand meaning of Japanese basic
vocabulary before the class. Besides, teacher has to tell students vocabulary has to use in which
condition, and tells them not to make the same mistake again. In addition, teacher can give students a
large number of grammar practice and writing practice that it helps students know the use of
vocabulary well. Finally, students can internalize vocabulary as their own language.
When it comes to culture, a Chinese teacher should provide with cross culture knowledge, so he can
help student avoiding making funny mistake. Furthermore, no matter what level the class is, teacher
should arrange culture and language exchange activities, so that students can learn and respect others’
culture.
4. Conclusion
Language is the best tool to communicate and to express one’s self. In this era of highly development
of technology and society, being fluently in a second language now become an indispensable skills.
However, it’s unavoidable that negative transfer happens when language contact in learning the
second language. Thus, teachers should step in properly, correcting the mistake in time, and avoiding
the error become a habit.
Most of the Mandarin teachers already know what mistake Japanese students always make, but
knowing how to correct their grammar and pronunciation is another story. Showing the phonic chart
or copying the correct sentence 3 times can’t really solve the problem. As 孟子敏(2000) once
mention, “Japanese students pronouncing problem also come from inaccurate teaching. If the teacher
is lack of enough phonics knowledge, he could mislead the students, plus, the teacher who can’t
pronounce precisely, identify clearly, or correct properly, isn’t a little amount.” How to help students
to fulfill their learning target is the question that teachers should consider thoroughly.
Confucius claimed “ 因材施教 (Yīncáishījiào)”, which means “individualized education”, is
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meaningful. Every student could have different problems even if they are from the same nationality,
neither does every student is provide with profession of languages. How to use proper method to
help students to reach their goals is the teachers’ prior job.
References
1. 金耀基《中國社會與文化》，1992，香港：牛津大學出版社。
2. 呂必松《對外漢語教學研究》，1993，中國：北京語言學院出版社。
3. 孟子敏〈日語學生的華語語音偏誤及教學策略〉，2000，世界華語文教學研討會論文集，
第六屆第四冊教學應用組 IV63-77。
4. 葉德明《華語語音學上篇》，2005，師大書苑有限公司。
5. 陳慶華(Chen Ching Hua)，〈日籍學習者華語發音之偏誤分析矯正與教學研究〉 (The
Analyses, Correction and Teaching Research of some Japanese Learners ’ Mandarin
pronunciation)，2008，台灣師範大學華語文教學研究所碩士論文。
6. 陳俊光(Fred Jyun-gwang Chen)《對比分析與教學應用》 ( Contrastive Analysis & Its
Applications in Language Pedagogy)，2008，台北：文鶴出版社。
7. 下元宏展(Hironobu Shimomoto)，〈來自日語的同形詞對日本漢語學習者的影響之研究〉(A
Study of Influence of Japanese Loanwords in Chinese on Japanese Learners of Chinese)，2013，
台灣師範大學華語文教學研究所博士論文。
8. 泰田利榮子 (Rieko Taida) ，〈日籍華語學習者語音學習及教學之自我民族誌〉 An
Autoethnographic Study on Phonetic Learning and Teaching: A Japanese’s Perspective of
Learning Chinese as a Second Language，2014，文藻外語大學碩士論文。
9. 李盈瑩(Ying-Yin Li)，〈在臺華語教師與美籍華裔學生之文化認同印象對比探究> (A
Comparative Study on the Cultural Identity of the Chinese Language Teachers and
Chinese-Americans in Taiwan)，2014,臺灣師範大學應用華語文學系碩士論文。
234
Oral Sessions –August 27
Management (2)
Room A, 2F
2015/8/27 Thursday 08:45-10:15
Session Chair: Prof. Abd Rahim Bin Romle
ASMSS-2819
Distinctiveness of Two Involvements for Consumers Bias Correction
Yi-Wen Chien︱National Taiwan University
Chung-Chiang Hsiao︱National Taiwan Normal University
ASMSS-2820
Multiple Roles of Context Ad: Metacognition May Result in Backfire on Ad Persuasion
Chung-Chiang Hsiao︱National Taiwan Normal University
Yi-Wen Chien︱National Taiwan University
ASMSS-2847
Mobile Payment Solution: A Case Study in Hong Kong
Chun Kit Lok︱The University of Hong Kong
ASMSS-3014
Antecedents and Consequences of Strategic Cost Management of Thai-Listed Firms
Porntip Shoommuangpak︱King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang
Prince of Chumphon Campus
ASMSS-2955
The Conceptualization of Dynamic Managerial Capability and Construct Development: an
Exploratory Empirical Validation
Kai-Tang Fan︱Lunghwa University of Science & Tachnology
Wun-Chang Yang︱Lunghwa University of Science & Tachnology
San Su︱Lunghwa University of Science & Tachnology
Yan-Chun Peng︱Takming University of Science and Technology
235
ASMSS-2989
Overarching Theory on the Link of Quality Management Practices and Organizational
Performance in Tertiary Education Institutions
Abd Rahim Bin Romle︱Universiti Utara Malaysia
Razli Che Razak︱Universiti Malaysia Kelanta
Abdul Shukor Shamsudin︱Universiti Utara Malaysia
236
ASMSS-2819
Distinctiveness of Two Involvements for Consumers Bias Correction
Yi-Wen Chien*
Department of Business Administration, National Taiwan University, Taiwan, R.O.C.
ychien@ntu.edu.tw
Chung-Chiang Hsiao
Graduate Institute of Management, National Taiwan Normal University, Taiwan, R.O.C.
cchsiao@ntnu.edu.tw
Abstract
This study examines the underlying process for invoking consumers’ correction for subtle biases in
product judgments. It is proposed that two involvements are required for invoking corrections: (1)
involvement of bias identification, and (2) involvement of correction execution. More important,
these two involvements are conceptually distinct; that is, increasing one type of involvement does
not necessarily increase the other type of involvement. In other words, two involvements must
co-occur for consumers to engage in bias corrections. The current research is the first empirical study
which demonstrates the distinctive nature of two involvements for eliciting consumer’s bias
corrections.
Consumers’ corrections for biases in product judgments has recently received considerable attention.
Recent research has started to find that consumers are able to engage in correction processes to
remove biases in their judgments (Gorn, Goldberg, and Basu 1993; Kang and Herr 2006). However,
extant findings fail to converge. One view is that more cognitive resources in elaboration lead to a
higher possibility of bias corrections (DeSteno, Petty, Wegener, and Rucker 2000; Kang and Herr
2006; Martin, Seta, and Crelia 1990; Meyers-Levy and Tybout, 1997) However, others argue that
more cognitive resources in processing do not necessarily cause bias corrections (Petty, Wegener, and
White 1998); ironically, some researchers even find that more cognitive efforts in processing can
lead to more biased processing (Petty, Schumann, Richman, and Strathman 1993).
To resolve conflicts in findings, the current research proposes the co-existence of two involvements
for the occurrence of bias corrections. We argue that exerting more cognitive resources to processing
may cause consumers to make accurate decisions or make corrections, but it does not guarantee the
“actual” occurrence of bias corrections; unless, consumers are aware of which bias is at work. It is
because people cannot correct for the bias that they are not aware of. Thus, we believe, in addition to
high involvement to make corrections, consumers are also required to have high involvement to
identify bias in order for bias corrections to take place.
237
Previous research, which has reported bias corrections under high-involvement processing, was
usually designed under the condition where the biases were salient enough to be noticed by
participants.
More interestingly, we believe that the two involvements proposed here (“the involvement of bias
identification” and “the involvement of correction execution”) are conceptually distinctive. The
involvement of bias identification concerns a person’s ability and motivation to find a perceived bias,
while the involvement of correction execution is related to a person’s ability and motivation to
correct for an identified bias in judgments. Increasing involvement of bias identification does not
necessarily increase involvement of correction execution, and vice versa. Our study involving a 2
(Ability of Bias Identification: H/L) × 2 (Motivation of Bias Identification: H/L) × 2 (Ability of
Correction Execution: H/L) × 2 (Motivation of Correction Execution: H/L) between-participant
factorial design, with a fictitious spring water as the target product, confirmed our above prediction.
Keywords: bias correction, involvement of bias identification, involvement of correction execution
238
ASMSS-2820
Multiple Roles of Context Ad: Metacognition May Result in Backfire on Ad
Persuasion
Chung-Chiang Hsiao*
Graduate Institute of Management, National Taiwan Normal University, Taiwan,
Republic of China
cchsiao@ntnu.edu.tw
Yi-Wen Chien
Department of Business Administration, National Taiwan University, Taiwan,
Republic of China
ychien@ntu.edu.tw
Abstract
Marketing and consumer researchers have generally utilized ad settings in test markets or
laboratories to examine a variety of persuasive variables which might account for consumers’
attitudinal change and formation on judged targets (e.g., products or brands). In such research
employing the ad setting, researchers generally manipulate proposed persuasive variables in a
particular ad to mirror the daily marketing setting and treat the focal ad in isolation of the contextual
ads when examining corresponding persuasive effects. Contextual ads in the ad setting have
normally served as the filler in the research. It seems reasonable to uncover the potential persuasion
effects by simply examining how marketers’ persuasive variables perform when consumers
encounter the focal ads. However, considerable attitudinal effects might also be attributed to factors
external to the focal ad, and many of these effects have not been thoroughly addressed in the
marketing literature. That is, when consumers encounter a focal ad surrounded by other ads (as
typically delivered in a series of radio, magazine, or TV commercials) in their daily life, perceptions
of the target product might not only be affected by persuasive variables specially manipulated by
marketers, but might also be unobtrusively biased by accessible concepts or ideas activated by the
contextual ads embedded in the context of focal ad. Therefore, ads can constitute a context that
influences effectiveness of an embedded focal ad (as when priming or the comparison process leads
to assimilation toward or contrast away from the context ads) in the context of ad series.
Two types of biases toward the target judgment may arise from the contextual ads, i.e., assimilation
and contrast. Assimilation bias presents when the target is judged as more like the quality of the
concepts activated in the contextual ads than when there is no contextual ad; while contrast bias is in
process as the target is perceived as less like the quality of the concepts brought about from the
contextual ads than if the context ads are not available. The current research suggests that, other than
239
typical contextual roles, ads in series can also play an undisclosed correction-based role when ads
prompt consumers to consider possible biases. The resulting corrections for perceived biases can
dilute or even reverse the typical context effects, i.e., assimilation or contrast.
Two studies in the current research examined how ads in series might bias target judgments by
serving multiple roles as contextual stimuli and as agents for activating corrections. In Study 1, prior
ads contained taglines highlighting potential biases of celebrity. Research participants did correct for
the assimilative effects of celebrity endorsers in the focal ad when motivation to think carefully about
the focal ad was relatively high, but not when motivation was low. In Study 2, the focal ad contained
taglines highlighting potential biasing features of prior ads. Research participants did correct for the
contrastive effects of the prior ads when motivation was relatively high, but not when motivation was
low. Implications for marketing practice were discussed.
Keywords: Contextual Ad, Assimilation, Contrast, Correction, Motivation to Process, Bias

Correction
240
ASMSS-2847
Mobile Payment Solution: A Case Study in Hong Kong
Chun Kit Lok

The University of Hong Kong
cklok@hku.hk
Abstract
This research seeks to illustrate that a smart card payment solution can indeed achieve a large scale
adoption through a case study on the success story of the mobile payment solution in Hong Kong –
The Octopus. The wide applications of the Octopus in Hong Kong must capture the attention of any
individuals who are new to Hong Kong. Anyone may essentially do anything with the Octopus in
Hong Kong, from transportation, grocery shopping, and dining, to accessing residential buildings.
The Octopus is integrated into Hong Kong citizens’ daily lives. The current study concludes that the
automatic reloading process plays a key role in the proliferation of the Octopus.
1.1 Introduction
The Hong Kong Octopus’s success is unparalleled when compared to other smart card E-payment
systems around the world. The number of daily transactions was over 13 million, generating around
US$20 million in revenue on average in 2014. Over 99% of Hong Kong inhabitants (aged 15-64)
possess an Octopus (Octopus Cards Limited, 2008c).
1.2 History and Development Background of the Octopus

In September 1997, the Octopus was first developed as a contactless smart card-based E-payment
system for the major transportation operators in Hong Kong. Mass Transit Railway Corporation
(MTRC) is the largest shareholder of the join venture that owns and manages the Octopus through
the Octopus Cards Limited. There are five other shareholders who are also transportation operators
in Hong Kong. The Octopus has established itself successfully and quickly in a closed system since
then. In April 2000, the Octopus Cards Limited was authorized as a Deposit Taking Company by the
Hong Kong Monetary Authority (Hong Kong Monetary Authority, 2015) so that the use of its card
could be expanded to a wider base of applications.
The first non-transport-related application was launched in October 2000 for the payment at
convenience stores (Octopus Cards Limited, 2015g). In December 2000, the first Automatic Add
Value Service (AAVS) was officially launched, enabling personalized Octopus cards to be
replenished seamlessly (Octopus Cards Limited, 2015g). Figure 1 presents some milestones of the
Octopus since its introduction until 2008 (Octopus Cards Limited, 2015g).
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1.3 The Octopus – Some Facts and Comparisons with Other Similar Systems
Application of smart card-based payment system in public transport system is not unique for the
Octopus in Hong Kong. Such an application has been witnessed in European countries (European
Committee for Banking Standards, 2003) such as Finland, Portugal, Spain, and France. In the
pacific-rim region, similar implementations have been found in countries (Committee on Payment
and Settlement Systems, 2003) such as Singapore, Taiwan, Korean, and Malaysia.
The Octopus has maintained its momentum and become even more widely adopted. Given that all
mass public transport systems in Hong Kong are now equipped with the Octopus, they have provided
an extremely favorable environment for the Octopus to grow. The Octopus has undoubtedly
established itself successfully in the closed public transportation system in Hong Kong. As argued by
Clemons et al. (Clemons et al., 1996), such an implementation strategy is critical for smart
card-based E-payment systems. The Octopus has succeeded by adopting the above strategy and
become a preferred payment method for public transportation in Hong Kong.
1.4 Technical Background of the Octopus

There are three core components of the Octopus technology, namely the system, the card, and the
reader/writer. With the hardware and software built into the above components, the Octopus offers to
Hong Kong people an application of smart card technology on a daily basis.
1.4.1 The System

The Octopus Clearing House System (OCHS) (Octopus Cards Limited, 2015a) is essentially the
heart of the Octopus architecture. The OCHS validates each transaction using a complex set of
algorithm before authorizing the clearing and settlement. The system also performs auditing and
reconciliation functions. Each day, a set of business reports are generated by the OCHS and sent to
all participating service providers for record and reporting purposes. When an Octopus card is
presented to an Octopus Reader/Writer, the Reader/Writer reads from and writes to the chip inside
the smart card. The data in the smart card is then updated while the updated data is kept in the
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Reader/Writer, which is then transmitted back to the OCHS for clearing and settlement at the end of
each day.
1.4.2 The Card

Octopus card is contact-less type in credit-card size that embeds a microprocessor chip for
processing. It takes only 0.3 second for an Octopus card to complete a transaction. The card is made
of Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) which is environmentally friendly because it is bio-degradable
(Octopus Cards Limited, 2015a). The reloadable nature of the Octopus also allows it to be
non-disposable so that it helps reduce the amount of disposal (Octopus Cards Limited, 2015a).
Data transmitted between Octopus reader/writer and card is encrypted, verified by

mutual-authentication security, and transmitted by inductive radio frequency. Data received by
Octopus card is stored in the processor of the card whereas those received by Reader/Writer is either
stored within itself or transmitted back immediately to the host server of the OCHS if it is online.
Regardless, the OCHS collects all transaction data for clearing and settlement purpose by the end of
each day (Octopus Cards Limited, 2015a).
1.4.3 The Read/Writer

Octopus Reader/Writer runs on Linux operating system and can take many forms depending on the
operating environment (Octopus Cards Limited, 2015a). For instance, a Reader/Writer can be
integrated into a vending machine or an access control system. Octopus Reader/Writer supports
multiple SAM card slots so that it can be used for security and key management. Regardless of the
form, Octopus Reader/Writer supports ISO/IEC 14443 Type A & B. The versatility of Reader/Writer
is further enhanced by providing LED display, sound, and voice messaging so that it can be easily
deployed in different circumstances.
1.5 Automatic Add Value Service (AAVS)

Every Octopus card can store cash (value) up to a maximum of HK$1,000. On one hand, a user can
choose to add value to his or her Octopus card at their choice of time at major public transport
operators or retail outlets where the Octopus is accepted. On the other hand, the Octopus offers the
Automatic Add Value Service (AAVS) (Octopus Cards Limited, 2015e) which is designed to
streamline the value reloading process. A user needs to choose between two options of value
reloading under the AAVS, namely HK$250 and HK$500. The user needs to pre-specify which
value to be used when applying for the AAVS. The chosen option can be amended at a later stage.
The pre-specified amount will be deducted from the linked credit card/bank account when an AAVS
process takes place. An AAVS process is initiated when an Octopus Reader/Writer detects that the
value amount on the Octopus card is insufficient for the current transaction. As a result, the
pre-specified amount HK$250/$500 will be seamlessly added to the Octopus card through the
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Octopus Reader/Writer while debiting the same amount from the associated credit card/bank account.
Each Octopus card can be automatically reloaded only once a day for user protection reason. Should
a user sees the need of reloading the AAVS-enabled Octopus card more than once a day, he or she
may choose to reload it with cash as many times as needed.
1.6 Uses of the Octopus in Hong Kong

1.6.1 Public Transportation
Besides the subway system which has fully adopted the Octopus as a medium of payment, almost all
other public transport operators are equipped with the Octopus in Hong Kong (Octopus Cards
Limited, 2015f). In public transportation, the Octopus takes the form of two units, namely driver and
main units. The driver unit is for a driver to select routes and check payments made by the
passengers. Thus, the Octopus conveniently allows for charging different prices for different routes.
Within a route, the Octopus also permits the driver to select fares for different sections of the journey
such that the transport operator is able to flexibly apply different pricing to the passengers. The
driver unit also serves as an interface for collecting the sales data through a handheld device, which
is to be transmitted to the back-end system for further processing. The main unit for passengers is
simply for them to present their card and monitor the payment details. The Octopus also supports
intermodal discounts where a customer who has paid at other Octopus systems, e.g. at subway
system, is entitled to a pre-defined discount at another Octopus system, e.g. on bus. Thus, the
Octopus enables flexible marketing and promotion scheme in a seamless manner. Cross-selling, for
example, is made easier and more viable than ever with the Octopus.
1.6.2 Retailing
At retailing outlets such as supermarkets, convenience shops, fast food shops … etc., Octopus
Reader/Writers can connect with Point-of-Sale (POS) systems to allow for payment collection,
adding value or balance inquiry (Octopus Cards Limited, 2015f). When a payment is made, the
Reader/Writer LED displays the payment amount and transmits the relevant data to the connected
POS system. At the same time, the Reader/Writer emits a beep tone to signify the completion of the
transaction which enhances the user-friendliness of the system by signaling the user by sound. Some
retailers may choose not to integrate the POS system with the Octopus Reader/Writer. In that case,
one type of Octopus Reader/Writer can be used as a standalone device with some POS functions
such as payment settlement and receipt printing.
1.6.3 Leisure Facilities

Some leisure activity providers in Hong Kong have integrated the Octopus with their entrance gates
to collect entrance fees. A beep tone is emitted when a payment is made and the entrance gate will be
released for entry (Octopus Cards Limited, 2015h). As a result, the entrance gates can be manned
with minimal number of staff to achieve cost-effectiveness.
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In this case, the Octopus is essentially being used similarly as at retailing locations except that it
renders an additional function to control the entrance gates. Thus, the leisure activity providers also
enjoy the benefits of Octopus-enabled POS system as described above.
1.6.4 Self-Service
The Octopus is commonly used at vending machines and self-service kiosks in Hong Kong (Octopus
Cards Limited, 2015h). One particular benefit that the Octopus offers in this regard is its flexibility
for payment collection. It is because the Octopus allows a vending machine or self-service kiosk to
accept virtually a continuous price range. Without the Octopus, the price of goods at vending
machine or self-service kiosk is limited to combination of coins. Now, the price range is free from
such constraints. It offers flexibility to both consumers and vendors. Vendors are now able to more
freely derive their pricing. Consumers do not need to worry about insufficiency of coins for paying at
vending machine or self-service kiosk. The Octopus also enables data collection by handheld device
so that sales and settlement data can be transmitted easily to back-end systems for processing by
vendor.
1.6.5 School Administration

Over 180 schools in Hong Kong have employed the Octopus for collecting fees for various school
activities (Octopus Cards Limited, 2015h). The students can also pay for their purchases at canteen.
In addition, some schools have made it possible for students to take attendance through using the
Octopus. By presenting the Octopus card to a Reader/Writer, a student can register his or her
attendance. In a school, there are various types of rooms which need access control. The Octopus is
then used as an access control card in the schools to control and monitor access.
1.6.6 Access Control

Over 200 residential and commercial buildings in Hong Kong have adopted the Octopus as access
control management system (Octopus Cards Limited, 2015h). Given the high penetration rate of the
Octopus in Hong Kong where almost all citizens carry at least one Octopus card, an access control
system using the Octopus means that a resident or office worker does not need to carry an additional
smart card for access purpose. It brings convenience to the residents or office workers. From the
building management’s point-of-view, the Octopus provides an off-the-shelf solution that caters for
the hardware and software needs. One benefit provided by the Octopus is that the access list can be
updated simply through a portable handheld device. Furthermore, an Octopus access control system
supports signal output to other proprietary systems to facilitate back-end integration to allow for
maximum expandability.
1.7 Octopus Rewards Program
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The Octopus Rewards Ltd. develops, manages and operates the Octopus Rewards Program (ORP)
(Octopus Cards Limited, 2015b). Once an individual is enrolled as an ORP member, he or she will
be able to earn and then redeem Reward$ at affiliated outlets or shops. Reward$ are earned whenever
a member makes purchases at Octopus Rewards partners regardless of the payment methods. That
means, if the member chooses not to pay with the Octopus, he or she still can earn Reward$ by
simply presenting the Octopus card to the Octopus Reader/Writer for storing the Reward$. With the
earned Reward$, the member can redeem them at the affiliated outlets or shops anytime as cash
and/or privileges.
Affiliated outlets or shops are given complete flexibility on how to design their own individualized
reward schemes to achieve the maximum effectiveness. Thus, the ORP essentially provides a readily
available platform for companies to create reward schemes that can most cater for their own needs
with the least amount of concern on technical details as well implementation issues. Despite the
variety in their schemes, they all at least offer 0.5% of the spending to ORP members as reward for
each purchase. In addition to this core benefit, ORP partners can devise any other promotion
schemes which align with their business strategies and development.
An ORP member can accumulate a maximum amount of Reward$1,000 on his or her Octopus card.
When the member settles a payment with the Octopus card at ORP partners, the payment receipt will
show the Reward$ balance to keep him/her informed. There are also Octopus Rewards Stations
across Hong Kong where ORP members can conveniently check their Reward$ balance.
1.8 Employing the Octopus in Business

The Octopus cannot be made possible without the support and acceptance of merchants. Examining
the Octopus from merchant’s point of view is critical for understanding the Octopus in Hong Kong.
To be able to provide Octopus payment services, a merchant will need to pay for related equipment
and Type Approval Test as one-off charges (Octopus Cards Limited, 2015j). In addition, a certain
percentage of the payment amount will be imposed on each Octopus transaction that the merchant
has processed using the Octopus. A Type Approval Test is basically a compatibility test that
examines whether the merchant’s existing POS equipment is compatible with the Octopus’s
hardware and software. In case the merchant chooses to install a new POS system from an approved
POS vendor by the Octopus, the Type Approval Test charge will be waived.
As far as Octopus Writer/Reader is concerned, merchants have a variety of choices that suit their
needs (Octopus Cards Limited, 2015j). Some are complete solutions that provide integrated POS and
Octopus systems while others are designed to work with the existing POS systems of merchants.
Once a merchant has adopted the Octopus as payment system, payments are settled and cleared
between the Octopus Cards Ltd. and the merchant on a daily basis. However, the merchant must
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upload Octopus payment data to the OCHS before the cut-off time each day to qualify for settling
and clearance of payment on next working day.
Given the success of the Octopus in Hong Kong, it has attracted international attention and interest in
joining the bandwagon of the Octopus. The Octopus has officially extended its presence
internationally in The Netherlands and United Arab Emirates - Dubai.
1.8.1 The Netherlands

The Octopus Cards Ltd. has been commissioned by the government of The Netherlands to develop
and implement an e-Ticketing system for their public transport system since 2003 (Octopus Cards
Limited, 2015j). The main task is to build the core back-office infrastructure for a multi-purpose
contactless smart card e-ticketing system. The OV-chipkaart is the smart card e-Ticketing system
that has been built for the bus, tram, and train systems across The Netherlands. The core back-office
system is built based on the Octopus Clearing House System (OCHS). In addition, the Octopus
provides expertise on the operation of e-Payment systems gained from the experience in Hong Kong
for The Netherlands.
In June 2007, the OV-chipkaart was in full operation in Rotterdam in The Netherlands. Since then,
the previous paper ticket system has been completely replaced by the new e-Ticketing system on bus,
tram, and train. A full-scale implementation across the country was completed by the end of 2010.
Since then, more than 2 billion transactions were processed each year in The Netherlands.
1.9 Summary
It is posited that AAVS indeed plays a very critical role in facilitating and promoting the use of the
Octopus as a payment method since the logistics of adding value (money) to an Octopus card is
streamlined by the service. To allow the Octopus to replace cash or other payment methods in Hong
Kong in a substantial scale, however, some crucial improvements must be made to AAVS.
Personalized Octopus cards must be able to be reloaded more than once every 24 hours. In order to
strike a balance between protection and convenience, cardholders should be given discretion on
deciding how often their cards are reloaded and the reloading value each time. Besides, the
maximum value a personalized Octopus card can store should be relaxed to accommodate more
flexible application for the card. Users should always be the ultimate decision-makers as they have
the best knowledge of how a system or tool can be tailored to fit their needs most effectively.
Octopus cards as an E-payment tool should be no exception.
Besides individual user acceptance, stakeholders in the macro-environment also help define if an
even larger scale adoption of the Octopus for retailing payments would emerge. The followings are
some obvious stakeholders.
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1. Octopus Cards Ltd. is the sponsor, who is also an innovator (Cavaye, 1995).
2. Retailers in Hong Kong are the adopters, who may range from innovators to laggards
(Cavaye, 1995).
3. HKSAR government, in particular HK Monetary Authority (HKMA), is a policy maker and
regulator. If HKMA had not authorized the Octopus Cards Ltd. as a deposit-taking
company, the Octopus would not have extended its use to non-transport-related domains
(Hong Kong Monetary Authority, 2015).
4. Financial institutions (mainly banks) in Hong Kong, who are facilitators as they make AAVS
possible.
Whether the Octopus could become ubiquitous is partially subject to how the above interact, creating
an external environment which is favorable or obstructive to a sustained penetration of the Octopus
into the retailing payment market.
References
Cavaye, A. (1995). The sponsor-adopter gap--differences between promoters and potential users of
information systems that link organizations. International Journal of Information Management,
15(2), 85-96.
Clemons, E., Croson, D., & Weber, B. (1996). Reengineering money: the Mondex stored value card
and beyond. International Journal of Electronic Commerce, 1(2), 5-31.
Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems. (2003). Statistics on payment and settlement
systems in selected countries. Basel.
European Committee for Banking Standards. (2003). Overview of European Electronic Purse
Products. Brussels.
Hong Kong Monetary Authority. (2015). Granting of authorization to Creative Star Limited as a
deposit-taking company. Retrieved from
http://www.info.gov.hk/hkma/eng/press/2000/20000425e4.htm
Octopus Cards Limited. (2015a). Octopus - Business - Our Technology. Retrieved from
http://www.octopuscards.com/corporate/technology/en/index.jsp
Octopus Cards Limited. (2015b). Welcome to Octopus Hong Kong - Customer Service - FAQ.
Retrieved from http://www.octopus.com.hk/customer-service/faq/en/index.html#Service01
Octopus Cards Limited. (2015c). Octopus - Business - Statistics. Retrieved from
http://www.octopus.com.hk/octopus-for-businesses/benefits-for-your-business/en/
Octopus Cards Limited. (2015d). Octopus Holdings Limited - Milestones. Retrieved from
http://www.octopus.com.hk/about-us/milestones/en/index.html#_yr1999
Octopus Cards Limited. (2015e). Octopus - Consumer - Reload Your Octopus. Retrieved from
http://www.octopuscards.com/consumer/payment/reload/en/index.jsp
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Octopus Cards Limited. (2015f). Octopus - Consumer - Where to Use. Retrieved from
http://www.octopuscards.com/consumer/payment/use/en/index.jsp
Octopus Cards Limited. (2015g). Octopus Holdings Limited - Milestones. Retrieved from
http://www.octopus.com.hk/about-us/milestones/en/index.html#_yr2000
Octopus Cards Limited. (2015h). Welcome to Octopus Hong Kong - Where Can I Use It? Retrieved
from http://www.octopus.com.hk/get-your-octopus/where-can-i-use-it/en/index.html
Octopus Cards Limited. (2015i). Welcome to Octopus Hong Kong - Where Can I Use It? - List of
Places in Hong Kong. Retrieved from
http://www.octopus.com.hk/get-your-octopus/where-can-i-use-it/list-of-places-in-hk/miscellane
ous/en/index.html#schools
Octopus Cards Limited. (2015j). Welcome to Octopus Hong Kong - International Business - The
Netherlands. Retrieved from
http://www.octopus.com.hk/international-business/netherlands-case-study/en/index.html
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ASMSS-3014
Antecedents and Consequences of Strategic Cost Management of Thai-Listed
Firms
Porntip Shoommuangpak
King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang
Prince of Chumphon Campus
tiptip_bkk@hotmail.com
Abstract
The influence of strategic cost management is providing management with sound advice about
accounting information which affects decision making quality and superior performance. This study
examines strategic cost management affect decision making quality and firm performance. This
study posits the positive relationship between strategic cost management and decision making
quality. Additionally, posits the positive relationship between strategic cost management and firm
performance. Unit of analysis of this study is Thai-listed firms. Questionnaire is used to collect and
analyze data by regression statistic technique. The results indicate that strategic cost management has
an effect on relationship with both decision making quality and firm performance. This finding also
indicates that all antecedents of strategic cost management among corporate strategy, top
management support, and employee involvement certainly play an important role in explaining
strategic cost management in Thai-listed firms. Finally, contributions and suggestions for future
study and conclusions are presented.
Keywords: Cost Management, Decision Making Quality, and Firm Performance
1. Introduction
In present decades, the firm environment has become intensively dynamic and increasingly
unpredictable. To achieve competitiveness, strategic cost management especially has been criticized
as being inadequate in helping firms manage and get ahead of their turbulence (Privu et al, 2012;
Mukaila and Oyinloye, 2014). Therefore, there has been a greater emphasis in the role of strategic
cost management as an increasingly important tool for firm’s performance. Moreover, the
importance of strategic cost management in measuring multidimensional aspect of performance is
rapidly increasing (Fowzia, 2011). There is pressure to make strategic cost management more
meaningful for decision making and relevant in the global competition. Successful firms must remain
competitive and create value for stakeholders. The pressure of increasingly globalization competition
dictates that customer receives value added service from firms. Combined pressure of globalization
and competitive, firms are being forced to invest the more strategic cost management. Thus, strategic
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cost management becomes adaptive in various environments in order to response to economic
pressures.
The particularities determine change and adapt to the economic climate. Adaptation to economic
pressures able to also influence service processes. Therefore, there is prediction deal with the
relationship of external environment change with the need of strategic cost management
(Muhammad, 2010).
During 21st century, a series of researches appeared in journal that made the case for the recognition
of fundamental principles in strategic cost management. That highlight the need decision of manager
support information on the inductive principles that underline scientific method. The cost
management is causality as the guiding principle behind this information. Causality is the principle
that underline the decision making process and should serve as the basis for the accounting managers
rely on evaluating decision alternative. In industry sector, the survivals of firms depend on ability to
both performance and strategies to improve the quality of decision (Duh et al, 2009). As accounting
managers become more aware of the role played by cost management in generating profitable firms.
The ultimate strategy is maximization of profits into the future. To maximize profits the firms must
produce the product mix at the right time and the right price with the lowest overall costs that assure
product quality. Strategic cost management is introduced for improve decision making and firms
performance (Mohamed and Tracy, 2014).
Most cost management requires that accountant make judgments in collecting and providing
information to use in decision making. Cost management provides useful information for
management to decision making and operate planning and controlling (Wall and Greiling, 2011;
Jerman et al, 2012). Management decision that result from biases can have adverse consequence for
stakeholders. Therefore, identifying the impact of the manner in which decision related information
is provided by accountants to decision makers is a critical step in understanding how cost
management should be collected and provided maximize firm’s value. From cost management
perspective, accountants may review cost information and make decision that impacts the future
direction of the firms. The initial interpretation of the cost management can determine the addition
information that is considered when making choice regarding the future. In addition, systematic
research suggests that manager use cost information to ensure consistent firm decision (Guo, 2012).
Thus, the design of strategic cost management is a crucial factor in decision making quality and
performance. The contemporary strategic cost management in terms of manages cost effectiveness
with growing recognition of the firms (Oluwagbemiga, 2014; Ramadan and Sayel, 2014). The
influence of cost information is provide management with sound advice deal with strategic costs
management and benefits which affect performance (Zekic, 2012; Jame and Kagaari, 2011).
Therefore, this study will examine strategic cost management to effect decision making quality and
firm performance.
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Research Questions and Research Objective
An important problem to expanding management accounting research is to focus on consequences of
strategic cost management that provides information to decision making quality and firm
performance. In addition, motivating to examine antecedents of strategic cost management which
three variables as corporate strategy, management support, and employee involvement how influence
on strategic cost management. Thus, presenting problems and motivation are found research gap to
provide the research questions as follows:
1. How does strategic cost management affect decision making quality and firm performance?
2. How does corporate strategy influence strategic cost management?
3. How does top management support affect strategic cost management?
4. How does employee involvement influence strategic cost management?
Therefore, the objectives of this study is to (1) examine effects of strategic cost management on
decision making quality and firm performance (2) investigate how corporate strategy influence on
strategic cost management (3) examine effects of top management influence strategic cost
management and (4) explore employee involvement on strategic cost management. The remainder of
this study is organized as follows. The next section briefly illustrates the framing effect and explains
theory. Two competing theories are introduced in the following section, which leads to the
conceptual model and links to the hypotheses development. The third describes the research method,
including the rational behind the variables measurement. The fourth proposes the analyses of the
survey data and the empirical results of hypotheses testing. The fifth is contributions of this study
and suggestions are highlighted for future study. The final provides conclusion.
2. Literature Review and Conceptual Model

As depicted Figure 1, the conceptual model is constructed to answer how strategic cost management
influences on decision making quality which whether, in turn, affects firm performance. To test how
antecedents of strategic cost management which consists of corporate strategy, top management
support, and employee involvement affect strategic cost management.
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The conceptual model is delineated by contingency theory to link variables of the model logically.
The proposition of contingency theory is able to apply to the context of adaptive of firms in fact of
development of globalization (Tetsuhiro, 2009). In addition, the contingency theory claims that firms
have to adapt themselves to environmental changes in order to survive (Islam and Hu, 2012). This
study use contingency theory illustrate about the implementation of strategic cost management in
firms are very important in order to gain firm performance. The relationship among corporate
strategy, top management support, and effectiveness of management accounting implementation has
usually been analyzed using the contingency approach.
2.1 Strategic Cost Management

The knowledge deals with costs management present a key element in decision process. The cost
management in the decision making can be explained through the main factor is the financial
implementation of the decision making by the stakeholders. Strategic cost management is a concept
that has posed so many problems to several firms in its application. Therefore, the importance of cost
information is strategy development and implementation is well in literature (Muhammad, 2010).
The literature review on strategic cost management is reviewed. Multiple case studies were also
conducted to investigate the efficiency of use of strategic cost management aligned to firm
performance (Ramljak and Rogosic, 2012). The choice of strategic costing management that can be
employed by many firms to achieve the best results is a subject discussed by many proponents of the
different existing costing. This context lies in the fact that there is no pattern able meet all the needs
of all firms equally. Many firms facing a high competitive adopt strategic cost management to
achieve certain objectives which specific direction and certain implement to support the type of
strategic cost management need. For this reason, there is necessary to develop and improve them in
order to meet strategic cost management needs (Pirvu et al, 2012). An analysis has to be made of the
specific needs and characteristics of each firm in terms of strategic cost management. The cost
management practice used for decision making is influenced by behavioral aspects, inspired by the
everyday activities of manager (Espejo, da Cruz, Costa, & Almeida, 2009). According to strategic
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cost management can help firms with cost control by focus on problems and unforeseen situations as
well as support the firm’s management in decision making (Jerman et al, 2012). The way firms use
strategic cost management for making decisions about operating cost analysis, cost reduction
orientation (Al-Omiri and Drury, 2007). Additionally, the most firms focus on rapid environment
changes. Cost decision making runs through the whole risk management (Guo, 2012). Analysis risk
and losses about strategic cost management, it can help to choose the reasonable risk management
and get the most satisfying solution from strategic cost management.
Operating Cost Analysis

To operating costs analysis, a firm must both understand the performance potential of available
resources and evaluate how resources efficiency is being utilized. There is advice capacity cost
reports that separate the used portion of capacity costs from the unused portion. The used portion is
included in product costs, while the unused portion is separately reported as a period expense. Cost
reports separate the used portion of costs from unused portion can influence decisions four reasons
(Buchheit, 2003). The first, reliable reporting may provide an information benefit to decision makers
if unused costs are unavailable. The second, reliable reporting may cause behavior change if decision
makers believe that reducing reported unused cost will improve compensation. The third, when used
cost reports for product costing objective, reporting yields product costs that are independent of
output volume. The last, reporting may provide a signal benefit to decision makers by explicitly
emphasizing unused costs. The explicitly reports unused costs may provide no new economic
information. The firm performance effects to various types of cost reports such as absorption costing,
activity based costing. The literature on strategic cost management contains studies that operating
cost analysis is certain sectors of the economy (Jerman et al, 2012). Additionally, there are studies
that refer to operating cost analysis as a tool for planning, control and support for decision making,
with the application of strategic cost management with hybrid methodologies related to the
specificities of each firm (Espejo, da Cruz, Costa, & Almeida, 2009; Al-Omiri & Drury, 2007). This
contributes to clearly understanding the important for studies about strategic cost management in
different segments sectors and different firms. The literature review on management accounting
examines operating cost analysis relate to a number of contextual variables is the key focus on
cost-based decision making (Wouters, 2005; Cardinaels et al, 2004). Additionally, there are
investigates the profit impact of cost management that are based on different assumptions
volume-based costing (Haskin, 2010).
Cost Reduction Orientation

The present day’s competitive situation, the only thing that remains constant is change. Pressure like
economic, social, competitive and technology are compelling the firm to rethink the way to provide
development of cost management (Hopper et al, 2009).
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The most important aspects of any product and service are cost. The tasks is considered to be a
successfully within minimum cost. Choosing strategic cost management concept has become a
priority to many firms, especially, in focus of the rapidly changing information technology
environment. Hence, cost reduction orientation is one of the key factors that continuously give
challenge and threat to the firm throughout the operation. In order to put the cost under the control of
the managers from the start till the end, cost reduction orientation must be involved at every step.
Therefore, it can be concluded that cost reduction orientation and maintain quality are always
together (Rodreck et al, 2013). The most important aspects of any tasks are cost, time and the budget.
The tasks are considered to be a successful if it is completed successfully within a specified time,
with minimum cost and within the proposed budget. It has been examined from the conclusion of the
study conducted in literature review. The change management practices have greater influence on the
cost of the task as compared to the time (Zou, Yi and Lee, Sang-Hoon, 2008). Moreover, the cost
in-house treatment facility was calculated and was compared with cost of treatment if was
outsourced in order to cost reduction orientation (Masih and Agnihotir, 2006).
Risk Management
Risk management is a process which effected by many firms. Risk management is applied in strategy
setting to provide reasonable assurance regarding the achievement of the firm’s performance. The
importance of risk management is enhancing firm performance by relating risk management to
objective of firms (Power, 2009; Woods, 2008). Therefore, risk management can be carried out in
which assessed risks are compared to standard, forecast, budget, and actual organizational
performance. Subsequently, the risk management implications can be considered in strategy for
planning, controlling, management of revenue, costs and management of value drivers. Especially,
the effects of risk management focus on strategic cost management. Hence, consequences of
potential outcomes from risk management processes or comparing actual performance to risks faced
(Arena and Arnaboldi, 2014). The empirical studies on risk management have been conducted. The
firm performance has an important role in supporting risk management. Integration between cost
management and risk management is more likely in the area of firm performance measurement. Risk
management is aimed at supporting decision making in achieving firm performance (Arena and
Arnaboldi, 2014). Fisk management is a tool for managerial support, helping firm achieve objective
through decision making. This also contributes to continuous assessment and mitigation of risk and
strength cost management for decision making and firm performance (Pinto et al, 2014).
Cost accounting tasks deal with collect and provide information for managers to use in decision
making. The purpose of the cost accounting discipline is to aid management decision making. Its
role has traditionally been limited to the provision of relevance information for achieve planning,
control and decision making (Roslender and Hart, 2003).
255
The impact of the manner in which decision information is provides by accountant to decision
makers is a critical in understanding how cost accounting information should be collected and
provided to superior performance. With ever increasing competitive pressure for the firms, a regular
supply of strategic cost management is arguably more importance than ever. Strategic cost
management discussion in literature is primarily conceptual. Literature review suggests that strategic
cost management have indeed adapted successfully and is increasingly becoming involved in
decision making (Rowe et al, 2008). Additionally, there are evidence in literature review that
examines the relationship between decision making and performance (Nyamori et al, 2001).
There are above reasons to believe that strategic cost management consists of operating cost analysis,
cost reduction orientation, and risk management leads to decision making quality and firm
performance. Therefore, strategic cost management is included and examined in this study.
Therefore, we propose the following hypothesis:
Hypothesis1: The stronger the strategic cost management, the more likely that it will achieve
greater decision making quality.
Hypothesis2: The stronger the decision making quality, the more likely that it will achieve greater
firm performance.
2.3 Corporate Strategy

Firms are likely to experience ever more complex challenges in the globalization because of change
in competition and economic. This situation is reflected in serious question of the efficacy of
effectiveness of strategic cost management (Nyamori et al, 2001). Effectiveness of strategic cost
management especially has been criticized in helping firm mange change. There have been calls for
accounting to change to meet the information and decision making demands of the new cost
management technique (Cravens and Guilding, 2001). It has been proposed to relevant cost
information should be concerned with effectiveness of strategic cost management issue facing the
firm. Strategic cost management able to be makes it most costly mistake in forming corporate
strategy. Strategic cost management effectiveness should come relate to corporate strategy
(Richadson, 2008). Therefore, management accountants need to change their orientation to provide
information of greatest value to firm. Empirical cost management research regarding the role of
strategy has been concerned with implementation of management accounting include strategic cost
management both budget, and segment report (Verbeeten, 2010; Benjamin et al, 2010; Ma and
Tayles, 2009; Nyamori et al, 2001). It has indicated that management accountant perceive the role
of corporate strategy and involvement with their tasks. Therefore, we posit the hypotheses as
follows:
256
Hypothesis3: The stronger the corporate strategy, the more likely that it will achieve greater of
strategic cost management.
2.4 Top Management Support

Top management is firm leaders are responsible for providing a vision encompassing the firm’s
performance, as well as planning the change effort that leads the firm to this vision and keeps it
there. The most top management has the key responsibility for the firm in all aspects of management,
operation, and performance. Therefore, the effectiveness of strategic cost management is contingent
upon the top management support. Top management is the single most important antecedent in
supporting cost management performance. Acknowledgement of the support of top management is
essential to understand the effectiveness and influences of strategic cost management. Performance
in effectiveness of strategic cost management a function of top management support. Top
management support has been emphasized as one of the most importance that influences on
effectiveness of strategic cost management because top management can directly decide to support
implementation into management accounting. Within management accounting literature,
researchers suggest that top management support, which is the ultimately responsible for
effectiveness of strategic cost management deal with strategic cost management both budget, and
segment report (Benjamin et al, 2010; Naranjo-Gil and Hartmann, 2007; Young et al, 2001; Adler et
al, 2000). Hence, we posit the hypotheses as follows:
Hypothesis4: The stronger the top management support, the more likely that it will achieve greater
of strategic cost management.
2.5 Employee Involvement

Employee involvement is the extent to which employees produce a product or offer a service had a
sense of controlling their work and receiving information about their performance. Employee
involvement consists of information sharing, knowledge and training, rewards, and power sharing
(Lawler et al, 2000). Information sharing able to view in terms of the types of information provided
regularly to information on the results of effectiveness of strategic cost management. Its need in
order to contribute ideas, suggestions and involved in the effectiveness of strategic cost management.
Training is an essential of employee involvement. The type of skills is being necessary for
employee involvement is group decision making in understanding effectiveness of strategic cost
management. Reward is an important role in supporting employee involvement. Effectiveness of
strategic cost management has effect on participation of employee. Involvement of employee is
frequently recognized as an important of effectiveness of strategic cost management (Sumukadas,
2006). Recent research has investigated the effectiveness of employee involvement practice on cost
management performance consists of strategic cost management both budget, and segment report
(Benjamin et al, 2010; Wynder, 2008). Therefore, we posit the hypotheses as follows:
257
Hypothesis5: The stronger the employee involvement, the more likely that it will achieve greater of
strategic cost management
3. Research Design
3.1 Sample and Data Collection
The potential respondents of this study are gathered from Thai-listed firm’s database which is
contained with more industry types. A total of 566 firms are identified from this database. All the
firms selected to be respondents to answer the questionnaires by manager accountant of firms. The
amounts of 566 questionnaires are sent by mail to respondents. A survey instrument package is
distributed to each respondent via mail and returned by the respondents directly to the researcher to
ensure confidentiality. Each package comprised the questionnaire and cover letter containing an
explanation of the study as well as instructions for completing the survey. A self-addressed,
postage-pre-paid envelope was also included. Also, questionnaire, as well as pretest, is reviewed and
recommended to revise by experts to improve the construct validity before sending. With regard to
the questionnaire mailing, 5 surveys are undeliverable because some Thai-listed firms change their
address. However, there are 125 surveys that are answered and received but 3 are incomplete. The
effective response rate is approximately 21.55%. The response rate for mail survey is considered
adequate which more than 20% (Aaker, Kumar and Day, 2001). Thus, the response rate of this study
is considered acceptable. Moreover, this study concerns to detect a possible problem with
non-response errors, the assessment and investigation of non-response-bias is tested with the first
wave and second wave data recommended by Armstrong and Overton (1977). The means of
demographic variable of two waves are tested by t-test whether the means is different. The procedure
showed no significant differences.
3.2 Variables Measurement

3.2.1 Independent Variables
Antecedents of strategic cost management consist of corporate strategy, top management support,
and employee involvement. Corporate strategy is measured by 4 items on quality of product and
service policy, concentrate among planning, designing, improvement, and development of
production processes. Top management support is measured by 4 items dealing with encouraging the
development of the knowledge and skill in effectiveness of cost management. Employee
involvement is measured by 3 items on employee should be encourage to determine for themselves
the likely cost management impact of their ideas and choose which should be implemented.
3.2.2 Mediator Variables
258
Strategic cost management contained with 3 dimensions that are operating cost, cost reduction, and
risk management. The first, operating cost is measured by 7 items on the operating cost concerning
attempt to cost application to achieve decision making quality.
The second, cost reduction is measured by 7 items dealing with attempt to indicate that providing
cost information for decision makers in order to minimize cost. The last, risk management is
measured by 6 items deals with compare to standard, forecast, budget, and actual organizational
performance for planning, controlling, and decision making. Additionally, decision making quality is
measured by 17 items consists of timeliness, best effectiveness, and stakeholders acceptance put the
emphasis in cost information. The influence of decision information is provides by stakeholders to
decision is a critical in understanding how cost information should be consisted and applied to
increasing firm performance.
3.2.3 Dependent Variable

Performance is measured by 17 items on cost advantage, production process efficiency, product
planning proficiency, and financial performance. Acknowledgement of the role of cost management
is importance in the accounting profession and its impact on firm performance effectiveness. Much
of the literature on management accounting tend to focuses on strategic cost management which
considers the implementation of management accounting used to determine firm performance
(Upton, 2009; Sholihin and Pike, 2009; Ismail, 2007; Pizzini, 2006; Fisher et al, 2002).
3.2.4 Control Variable

Firm size is measured by number of capitals. All variables or constructs are measured by
multi-item 5-point Likert scale except firm size which is measured by number of capitals.
3.3 Method
This study is concerned to ensure validity and reliability. The factor analysis is used to test validity
that examines the underlying relationships of a number of items and to determine whether they can
be reduced to a smaller set of factors. The factor analyses conducted are done separately on each set
of the items representing a particular scale due to limited observations. The confirmatory factor
analysis has a high potential to inflate the component loadings. Hence, a higher rule-of-thumb, a
cut-off value of 0.40 is adopted (Hair et al., 2006; Nunnally and Bernstein, 1994).
259
The Cronbach alpha coefficient is used to test reliability that measure internal consistency of
respondents’ answer for all the items in the questionnaires. The Cronbach alpha coefficients should
be greater than 0.70 (Nunnally and Bernstein, 1994). Thus, these measures are deemed appropriate
for further analysis because the validity and reliability are accepted in this study. The results of both
factor loadings and Cronbach alpha for multiple-item scales are shown in table 1.
The table 1 provides all variables have factor loading scores between 0.72–0.87 made clear that there
is a convergent validity. Additionally, providing the Cronbach alpha is represented a reliability of all
variables that higher than 0.7 indicating that independent and dependent variables are the metric
scales. Therefore, the appropriate method for investigating the hypothesized association is the
ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analysis to estimate coefficients affecting the strategic cost
management on decision making quality, and firm performance. Additionally, this study is estimate
coefficients affecting corporate strategy, top management support, and employee involvement on
strategic cost management. To meet this objective, the following equations are tested.
Equation 1: DMQ =001+1SCM+ (1)

Equation 2: PER =002+2DMQ+ (2)
Equation 3: SCM =003+3CS+4TMS+5EI+ (3)
4. Results and Discussion

The main point of this study is to investigate strategic cost management that consists of operating
cost, cost reduction, and risk management affecting decision making quality and firm performance.
Table 2 indicates that the results of strategic cost management are significantly and positively
correlated to both decision making quality and firm performance. However, these results are only
correlation between two variables. Thus, investigating the hypothesized association is the ordinary
least squares (OLS) regression analysis to estimate a coefficient affecting the strategic cost
management on decision making quality and firm performance is tested.
260
4.1 Effects of Strategic Cost Management on Decision Making Quality
The ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analysis to estimate coefficients affecting the strategic
cost management consists of operating cost, cost reduction, and risk management are shown in table 3.
The result shows that all cost management efficiency is significantly and positively relationship with
decision making quality. That is, cost management efficiency is significantly and positively related to
decision making quality (b1=.393, p <.01). It implies that strategic cost management is able to explain
and predict decision making quality. Therefore, hypotheses1 is supported. These results are
consistent with management accounting literature investigates strategic cost management relate to
cost-based decision making (Wouters, 2005; Cardinaels et al, 2004). Moreover, the profit impact of
cost reports that are based on different assumptions volume-based costing for decision makers
(Haskin, 2010). This evidence is believed that strategic cost management leads to decision making
quality.
4.2 Effects of Decision Making Quality on Firm Performance
261
The task of management accounting concerning collects and provides information for users in
decision making quality. Therefore, role of effectiveness of cost implementation is importance in the
decision making quality and its impact on firm performance. This study examines whether decision
making quality relate to firm performance. Table 4 presents the results of decision making quality is
significantly and positively relationship with firm performance. That is decision making quality is
significantly and positively related to firm performance (b5=.401, p <.01). Therefore, hypotheses2 is
supported. The role of the effectiveness of cost implementation is to serve on decision making
quality and firm performance (Roslender and Hart, 2003). The influence of the manner in which
decision information is provides by stakeholders to decision making is a critical in clearly
understanding how management accounting information should be collected and provided in order to
increase firm performance (Eaton and Swain, 2000).
4.3 Influences of Corporate Strategy, Top Management Support, and Employee Involvement
on Strategic Cost Management
Corporate strategy, top management support, and employee involvement affect the strategic cost
management is shown in table 5. The result show that corporate strategy has significantly and
positively relationship with strategic cost management (b7=.349, p <.01). The result also shows that
top management support has significantly and positively relationship with strategic cost management
(b11=.427, p <.01). Additionally, the result indicates that employee involvement has significant and
positive relationships with strategic cost management (b15=.332, p <.01). Therefore, hypotheses3,
hypotheses4, and hypotheses5, are supported. These results are consistent with strategic cost management
which must be driven by corporate strategy, top management support, and employee involvement.
The most management accountants need to change their orientation to provide cost information of
greatest value to their firms. Thus, the role of strategy has been deal with strategic cost
management (Verbeeten, 2010; Benjamin et al, 2010; Ma and Tayles, 2009; Nyamori et al, 2001).
Top management support has been emphasized as one of the most importance that influences on
strategic cost management because top management can directly decide to support cost management
into management accounting (Benjamin et al, 2010; Naranjo-Gil and Hartmann, 2007; 2006; Young
262
et al, 2001; Adler et al, 2000). Implementation of cost management affect on participation of
employee. Involvement of employee is frequently recognized as an important of strategic cost
management (Sumukadas, 2006). Therefore, the effectiveness of employee involvement serves on
strategic cost management (Benjamin et al, 2010; Wynder, 2008).
5. Conclusions
5.1 Theoretical Contributions
Conceptual model of strategic cost management is explained by two theories that is contingency
theory and agency theory between independent variables and dependent variable. The firstly,
contingency theory indicates that firms have adapted context to fact of development of globalization
(Tetsuhiro, 2009). Additionally, the contingency theory suggests that firms have to adapt themselves
to environmental changes in order to survive. This study use contingency theory explains deal with
strategic cost management is great important achieve firm performance. The relationship among
corporate strategy, top management support, and employee Involvement, and strategic cost
management has usually been analyzed using the contingency theory. The lastly, agency theory
attempt to explain strategic cost management represents a balance solution to the contracting process
between a principal and agent. Employee involvement as agent in strategic cost management affects
firm performance (Brown, 2009).
5.2 Managerial Contributions

Strategic cost management consists of operating cost, cost reduction, risk management have significant
and positive relationships both with decision making quality and firm performance. Therefore, this
study helps stakeholders to recognize and identify some key strategic cost management that affect
decision making quality and firm performance. Furthermore, strategic cost management concern
collecting and providing cost information for stakeholders to decision making. Therefore,
263
stakeholders concentrate on their tasks with all that relevance cost information for decision making
quality and firm performance.
6 Future Directions for Research

All antecedents of strategic cost management among corporate strategy, top management support,
and employee involvement certainly play an important role in explaining strategic cost management.
Implementation of strategic cost management is strongly affects decision making quality and firm
performance. Respondent from Thai-listed firms are employed to be sample to test conceptual model.
Thus, limitations of this study are three sections. The first, conceptual model is examined by only
respondent from Thai-listed firms. It should be conducted in other respondents for future research. The
second, consequences of strategic cost management may be omitted, so in further research impacts of
strategic cost management should be added new variables. The final, antecedents of strategic cost
management may tests new antecedents of strategic cost management in the conceptual model so as to
expand and promote for strategic cost management.
7. Conclusion
This study examines strategic cost management of Thai-listed firms that affect decision making
quality and firm performance. The strategic cost management is focused on operating cost, cost
reduction, and risk management. Additionally, antecedents of strategic cost management consist of
corporate strategy, top management support, and employee involvement certainly plays an important
role in explaining strategic cost management. Therefore, this study posits the positive relationship
among strategic cost management, decision making quality, firm performance as well as antecedents
of strategic cost management. The results reveal that strategic cost management has a positive
relationship with both decision making quality and firm performance. Moreover, this finding also
indicates that corporate strategy, top management support, and employee involvement are contained
in antecedents of strategic cost management affect all strategic cost management.
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ASMSS-2955
The Conceptualization of Dynamic Managerial Capability and Construct
Development: an Exploratory Empirical Validation
Kai-Tang Fan*, Wun-Chang Yang, San Su

Department of Business Administration,
Lunghwa University of Science and Technology
ktfan021@gmail.com*
Yan-Chun Peng
Department of Chain and Franchising Management,
Takming University of Science and Technology
yanchiun@takming.edu.tw
Abstract
In current era, science and technology are advancing with each passing day. Smartphone industry
is by far one of the most competitive industries. How to modify the manpower needs and
competency development has become one of the best methods of management. This paper
investigated and compared two companies to establish the dynamic managerial capability for the
top management team. In order to identify key competencies that are important to the success of
competitive advantage, the researchers conducted thorough literature review, extensive job analysis,
and in-depth personal interviews to collect job-related behavior information. In this study,
qualitative and quantitative analysis were used. Qualitative analysis was conducted for seeking
the required competencies for top management team. By interviewing mid- and high- levels of
managers and outstanding managers, the key competencies and its behavior descriptions required
for high managerial performance were identified. For the establishment of an appropriate
competencies model, a large scale validation survey was carried out to finalize the model through
the distribution to the two companies. The reliability and the validity of the data were examined via
reliability test and factor analysis (EFA and CFA) before finalizing. The results provided clear
evidence for the practical utility of core competency and managerial competency. Specifically, “core
competency" with dynamic perspective and “managerial competency” with strategic perspective
have been proven the key to lead high business performance. In addition, all staffs with clear
consensus about their core competency were also required. More researches using this model in
Asian countries are encouraged.
Keywords: Dynamic Managerial Capability, Competency Model, Smartphone
1. Introduction
269
In recent decades of dramatically changing working environments and business competitions
(Wickramasinghe & De Zoyza, 2009) and facing this knowledge-economy era that flexibility,
innovation, and especially intellectual capital act as key determinants to business success and
competitive advantages, in order to gain sustainable development, how to modify manpower needs
and competency development through well-performed managerial roles has become one of the best
methods of management (Tubbs & Schulz, 2006; Wickramasinghe & De Zoyza, 2009).
In the extant literature, competency-based approaches have been well recognized for effectively
assisting organizations in lessening threats of competence losses, facilitating top management team
in reinforcing corporate strategies, establishing performance excellence, stimulating training and
professional development program effectiveness, and reaching the set goals through developing
critical resources with appropriately strategic managerial competencies (Bernthal et al., 2004; Ortlieb
& Sieben, 2012). Based on this premise, it has been acknowledged that investments in
competency-based approaches in organizations are worth conducting. Taking these points and due to
the great need for effective business practice model in Taiwan, this research attempts to utilize the
competency iceberg model (Spencer & Spencer, 1993) to explore key competencies to high business
performance.
It is noted that in the present context of Taiwan, smartphone industry is among the most competitive
industries for the fact that industries in Taiwan have dramatically shifted from labor-intensive to
technology-intensive (Chen et al., 2012). Currently, being the major producer in the global IT
industry, the major supplier of touch screens and casings at the high-value-added end, and the global
third-ranking manufacturing industry after the US and Japan, smartphone industry development has
opened abundant opportunities to Taiwan organizations (Tsan et al., 2012). Nonetheless, since
smartphone industry is a high-tech industry, the product life cycle considerably soon enter a growth
stage, at which point plenty of competitors always compete for the market, the dynamic managerial
capabilities of the top management team are crucial in determining organizational sustainable
competitiveness (Chen et al., 2012). Noteworthy, despite the importance of competency-related
issues in business success, there have been only few competency studies conducted in the context of
Asian countries (Zhu et al., 2000; Xiao, 2006). Therefore, this paper aims to target Taiwan
smartphone industry to establish the dynamic managerial capability model for the top management
team with the hope to provide Taiwan organizations with useful references of key competencies
leading to better business performance.
In order to identify key competencies that are important to the success of competitive advantage, the
researchers conducted thorough literature review, extensive job analysis, and in-depth personal
interviews to collect job-related behavior information. In this study, qualitative and quantitative
analysis were used. Specifically, qualitative analysis was conducted for identifying the key
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competencies and its behavior descriptions required for high managerial performance through
interviews with mid- and high- levels of managers and outstanding managers. For the establishment
of the appropriate competency model, a large scale validation survey was carried out to finalize the
model through the distribution to the two companies. Data reliability and validity were examined
using EFA and CFA before finalizing. With the achieved findings, this research expects to offer clear
evidence for the practical utility of explored key competencies and bring insights to the company
performance management in specific as well as academicians, organizations, and practitioners in
general.
2. Theoretical Background
In this study, “competency” is utilized as the core concept to explore key competencies that are vital
to the organizational success. This concept was first proposed by Boyatzis (1982) in order to identify
the key characteristics that distinguish superior managerial performance from average ones. In the
extant literature, competency has been broadly defined as clusters of skills, knowledge, abilities, and
other behavior characteristics required for job success (Boyatzis, 1982; Jobb & Rowbotham, 1997;
Kochanski, 1997; Bernthal, et al., 2004) as well as behaviors leading to excellent work performance
(Klein, 1996).
Concerning organizational perspective, competencies are behavioral; hence, they can be developed
under suitable strategic management (Boyatzis, 1982; Ulrich et al., 1995). Particularly, when being
implemented, competency-based approaches beneficially express the critical roles of top
management team’s competencies in helping organizations reach the set goals through developing
right skilled professionals (Ortlieb & Sieben, 2012).
Due to the above advantages, competency models have been widely applied in various organizational
management contexts (Wickramasinghe & De Zoyza, 2009). Consequently, sufficient understanding
of core competencies that lead to performance excellence plays an important part in organizations’
strategic management. Specifically, competencies can be acknowledged vertically or horizontally
(Hondeghem & Vandermeulen, 2000), in which competency framework is horizontally adopted in
the selection, appraisal, development and reward processes (Dunphy et al., 1997) and is vertically
described as a tool for differentiating job-level (personal competencies) and firm-level capabilities
(organizational competences), in which personal competencies are individuals’ experience, technical
knowledge, skills and abilities that are closely associated with superior job performance (Boyatzis,
1982) while organizational competencies consist of differentiated skills and routines that act as a
basis for firms’ competitive advantages (Wickramasinghe & De Zoyza, 2011).
Previous researches have emphasized the role of core competencies toward organizations’ superior
job performance and competitive advantages (Hamel & Prahalad, 1994; Srivastava, 2005). While
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core competencies have been considered as valuable capabilities which are collective, unique, and
strategically flexible contributing toward business success (Hafeez et al., 2002), Gupta et al. (2009)
define core competency as one which differentiates a firm from its milieu through effectively
dynamic and strategic communication, involvement, and deep commitment across organizational
boundaries. In current extreme competitive environment, the attempts of securing market positions
gradually make organizations count more on core competences to provide more added customer
value, strong differentiation and extendibility (Hamel & Prahalad, 1994). On one hand, since core
competencies are reflected through dynamic business practices, it is expected that top management
team’s wise management and development of these dynamic perspectives would stimulate
organizational performance (Wheelen & Hunger, 2010); on the other hand, since core competency
refers to capabilities on recommending knowledge resources (Banerjee, 2003), firms should
systematically identify and develop right managerial competencies for competitiveness (Srivastava,
2005).
Concerning managerial competencies, the existing literature has identified two interrelated sets
which are technical and generic managerial competencies (Boyatzis, 1982). In details, technical
managerial competencies consist of knowledge and skills that enable effective performance in
specific management areas or job assigned whereas generic managerial competencies refer to
individuals’ capabilities of self-regulation and self-control at work (Kanungo & Misra, 1992), being
reflected through their attitudes, motivation, or personality traits (Agut et al., 2003). For these
reasons, this study was in accordance with Spencer and Spencer (1993), Boyatzis (1982), and
Wickramasinghe & De Zoyza (2009) to combine the dynamic business practice perspective of the
above concept of core competency and perspectives of managerial competencies to include five
types of competency characteristics: motives, traits, self-concept, knowledge, and skills.
In sum, in order to identify the key competencies that lead to superior organizational performance
and establish the dynamic managerial capability for the top management team, this study targets the
iceberg model with the upper visible part and the hidden part (Spencer & Spencer, 1993) to be the
main conceptual framework, as being presented in Figure 1.
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3. Methods
3.1 Stage 1: Interim Model Development
In order to identify core competencies required for top management team in the smartphone industry
in Taiwan based on the competency iceberg model, the study was conducted in a systematic
three-stage approach. Initially, a thorough literature review on existing studies related to competency
was conducted to form a list of proposed competencies (Spencer & Spencer, 1993; Bernthal et al.,
2004; Tubbs & Schulz, 2006; Wickramasinghe & De Zoyza, 2009; Chen et al., 2012; Agha et al.,
2012), followed by interviews with selected managers of top management team and executives. After
the initial interim competency model, scale appropriateness and model validity were tested using
EFA and CFA. The final stage was re-examining the practical application of this proposed
competency model by comparing the relationship between the five competencies groups in two
companies in the industry and the individuals’ scores on their annual performance appraisal. The
process details were presented as follows:
3.1.1 Item Generation

The items utilized in this study were obtained from most published researches from North America,
Europe, and Asia. Additionally, managerial competencies of the top management team were
reviewed in order to obtain roles, work output, and job-related behavioral data. Then, open-ended
interviews with 73 selected managers and executives were conducted to let them express their
opinions freely on job management-related behaviors and expectations. Top managers were selected
according to their previous year performance appraisal and their performance evaluation scores had
to be above 90 (out of 100) points.
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3.1.2 Model Validity
Face validity of the interim model was then assessed using a preliminary survey. Then, a 164-item
questionnaire was developed to collect participants’ consensus on the important roles of the proposed
competencies toward their managerial and business performance and was evaluated using 5-point
Likert scale (1= “the least important”, 5= “the most important”).
In order to better assess competency model, the proposed competency items were based on previous
studies to be divided into 5 competency groups (Spencer & Spencer, 1993; Tubbs & Schulz, 2006;
Wickramasinghe & De Zoyza, 2009; Ortlieb & Sieben, 2012). Among those, for the above iceberg
surface, Business Practice competencies (49 items) were associated with the understanding and
application of business processes in an organization while Managerial competencies (13 items) were
related to management knowledge and skills. For the hidden part, Interpersonal competencies (25
items) concerned knowledge and skills for effective interactions with people on job, Attitude
competencies (35 items) reflected individuals’ minds including beliefs and values that make one to
act in certain ways, and Value competencies (42 items) referred to individuals’ belief that behaviors
derive upon.
3.1.3 Item Selection

Within 73 selected executives and managers of the company’s sales staff, 35 ones were randomly
selected to complete the preliminary survey. The criteria for the consensus importance to be on the
proposed interim model were that the average must be from 4.0 for each item. Based on this basis, 65
items were dropped. At the end of this stage, 99 items reflecting five competency groups were
confirmed for reliability test and factor analysis. Prior to distributing the final questionnaire, the
result of the pilot test for identifying any possible wording or interpretation problems to conduct final
corrections and modifications proved that no item hinder respondents’ ability from rating the
competency. According to Nunnally (1978), 90 items with reliability coefficients greater than the
threshold 0.7 were kept for conducting EFA and CFA tests.
3.2 Stage 2: EFA and CFA Analysis Results

The target population of this study was the mid- and high-level managers and executives of a
company in the smartphone industry in Taiwan. Out of 700 distributed survey questionnaires, 553
valid ones were returned (79%). The major of respondents were males (80.8%), from 36 to 50 years
old (43%), and had 6-15 years of working experience (36.3%).
In order to assess the scale appropriateness of five competency groups and 17 competencies
consisting of 90 sub-competency items, exploratory analysis (EFA) with maximum likelihood
method with varimax rotation was adopted. Out of aforementioned 553 participants, the sample of
350 managers was randomly generalized. The achieved Cronbach’s coefficients of 90
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sub-competency items ranged from 0.70 to 0.92, implying reliability. Item discrimination was then
evaluated.
Based on Anastasi and Urbina (1997), the respondents were divided into upper and lower groups, in
which those whose scores were above the 25% of the total respondents were re-coded as the
high-scored group and vice versa. An independent t-test was used to compare the means between
these two groups. If the difference was significant then the item was retained. As a result, one item
was dropped from the 90 items, meaning that 89 sub-competency items remained on the model. In
the next step, the analysis results of Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) and Bartlett's test of sphericity tests
showed that achieved KMO values for 5 competency groups ranged from 0.7 to 0.9 and obtained p
values of Bartlett's test of sphericity were all significant at .000 level, which in turn confirm data
appropriateness for conducting EFA. Finally, in order to examine the factor structure of the dynamic
managerial capability model for the top management team, EFA using principal factor extraction
with Varimax rotation was performed. The result sufficiently indicated 5 competency models with
according 17 sub-competency items, namely the Business Practices group (3 sub-competencies of
customer management ability, business and industry knowledge, and transaction control ability), the
Managerial group (autonomy, problem-solving, language ability), the Interpersonal group
(communication, coping skills, network building, teamwork), the Attitude group (goal-oriented,
independent, initiative, quick- learning), and the Value group (responsible, customer-oriented,
proactive).
Finally, the CFA test results presented that all measures of fit indices for each competency group
satisfied the threshold recommended by Byrne (1994), Hu and Bentler (1999), and Hair et al. (2013)
(e.g., 2/df was from 1.89 to 2.59, GFI, AGFI and NFI ranged from 0.8 to 0.9, CFI from 0.8 to 0.9,
RMSEA ranged from 0.07 to 0.09, and the RMR ranged from 0.03 to 0.06), indicating good model
fit for the measurement model.
3.3 Stage 3: Empirical Evidence for Criteria and Model Validity

In order to validate the proposed competency model, this study aims to take another company to test
the model. The chosen company was a large-scale manufacturing company in smartphone industry in
Northern Taiwan with more than 1000 employees. The company was selected since it represented the
traditional manufacturing industry. Out of 100 surveyed top managers, 84 valid responses were
obtained. Due to the main purpose of validating the proposed criteria and model, five competency
groups were the same as in the previous stages and the evaluation scores were adopted from the
company’s annual performance appraisal of the previous year. The CFA results showed that the
model fit test was satisfactory (e.g., 2/df was from 1.05 to 1.54; GFI, AGFI and NFI ranged from
0.88 to 0.98; CFI ranged from 0.95 to 0.99, RMSEA ranged from 0.02 to 0.05, and the RMR ranged
from 0.02 to 0.03), which in turn indicated good model fit for the measurement model. The results of
testing the correlations among five competency groups with the company’s performance (all were
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significant at p<.05 and p<.01) were found to support the proposed competency model. Hence, the
achieved results effectively provide clear evidence for the practical utility of five competency groups,
especially the Business practice group with core competency on dynamic perspective and the
Managerial competency group with strategic perspective.
4. Discussions and Conclusions

The achieved results have proven the effectiveness of the dynamic managerial competency model for
the top management team as well as provided clear evidences for the practical utility of five
competency groups for managers and executives of the smartphone industry in Taiwan. Among those,
it is noteworthy that Business practice group with core competency on dynamic perspective and the
Managerial competency group with strategic perspective have been presented to be more beneficial
in assisting organizations achieving better business performance, success, and sustainable
competitiveness.
With the obtained findings, there are several theoretical and empirical implications are derived from
this study. First, this research has beneficially provided managers in the field with a competency
model that should be paid more attention to and support from the top management and key
stakeholders in order to identify suitable plan of actions. Second, it is important to be aware of the
fact that any competency model needs to be renewed or revised to fit unexpected inside or outside
changes as well as changing goals of the organizations. In other words, this is an on-going process
rather than a one-time job. Second, while running a competency-based system, it is crucial for top
management force to understand the precise concept of the model and to have correct attitudes
towards the always changing environment in an organization. Finally, the achieved results of this
study can also be applied to evaluate the weakness and strength of one’s own competences to
advance one’s job performance and to be ready for challenges that lie ahead of the profession.
5. References
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ASMSS-2989
Overarching Theory on the Link of Quality Management Practices and
Organizational Performance in Tertiary Education Institutions
Abd Rahim Romle

School of Government, College of Law, Government & International Studies,
abd.rahim@uum.edu.my
Razli Che Razak

Faculty of Entrepreneurship & Business, Universiti Malaysia Kelantan, Malaysia
razricr@umk.edu.my
Abdul Shukor Shamsudin

School of Business Management, College of Business, Universiti Utara Malaysia, Malaysia
shukor@uum.edu.my
Abstract
There is no a clear consensus on the comprehensive model for quality management practices (QMPs)
and organizations were blurred to adopt the real QMPs model in orders to avoid its unsatisfied
outcomes. Previous investigations do not give much evidence on how precisely QMPs affect
organizational performance and it remains questionable. Thus, in order to understand the nature of
QMPs and organizational performance in tertiary education institutions and to develop management
strategies, it should be necessary to review the different theories related closely to the subjects that
have been undertaken. This paper seems to propose a theory that fit and become as an overarching
(underpinning) theory on the link of QMPs and organizational performance.
Keywords: Organizational Performance, Quality Management Practices, Theory
1. Introduction
Basically, a theory can be defined as “…a set of systematically related statements, including some
law-like generalizations that can be tested empirically” (Hair, Money, Samouel & Page, 2007,
p.426). In other words, theory is a coherent set of general propositions used to explain the apparent
relationships among several concepts (McShane & Von Glinow, 2000, p.619; Zikmund, 1994,
p.750), or certain observed phenomena and allows generalization beyond individual facts or
situations (Zikmund, 1994, p.750). Furthermore, a theory is a broad idea or set of closely related
ideas that attempt to explain certain observations, try to explain why certain things have happened,
and can also be used to make predictions about future observations (Santrock, 2003).
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Moreover, theory was created for the purpose of predicting and explaining the world around us
(Kerlinger, 1964, p.11). Miner (1980) elaborated three conditions regarding the good theory. First, it
should be stated as clearly and simply as possible so that the concepts can be measured and there is
no ambiguity regarding the theory’s propositions. Second, the elements of the theory must be
logically consistent with each other. Finally, a good theory provides value to the society; it helps
people to understand their world better than without the theory (Miner, 1980).
Thus, in order to understand the nature of QMPs in higher education institutions and to develop
management strategies, it should be necessary to review the different theories related closely to the
study that has been undertaken.
2. Expectancy Disconfirmation Theory (EDT)

Oliver (1980) stated that the expectancy disconfirmation theory (EDT) entails a distinct cognitive
state resulting from the comparison process and preceding a judgment of satisfaction. In other
words, O’Neill, Palmer and Wright (2003) expressed that the EDT is the differences obtained from a
cognitive comparison between expected and perceived outcomes. Based on this theory, differences
between expectation and perception will influence the feeling of customers' satisfaction (Oliver,
1980) an have an effect on loyalty and reuse (repurchase) intention (Ha & Janda, 2008).
The EDT can be conceptualized as a four-stage process (Oliver, 1980; Tse & Wilson, 1988).
1. Expectations vary across consumers. In brief, expectations may also be more normative in
nature, and thought of as what the consumer believes performance should to be.
2. The individual makes certain attributions regarding the performance of that product or service.
3. Comparison on customer perception of the product’s or service’s performance against their initial
expectations. In other words, the extent to which perceptions of performance “match” expectations
dictate the type of disconfirmation the consumer experiences, and has a direct effect on satisfaction.
4. Zero disconfirmation occurs when performance matches expectations (no effect on satisfaction).
Within the organizational context, EDT aims to establish a clear relationship between what
individual’s value in terms of rewards, what they achieve and the effort they expend. It also presents
the importance of people having a clear understanding of the basis on which they will be rewarded as
individuals by the organizations. In more practical terms, EDT says that an employees will be
motivated to exert a high level of effort when he or she believes that effort will lead to a good
performance appraisal; that a good appraisal will lead to organizational rewards such as a bonus, a
salary increase, or a promotion; and that the rewards will satisfy the internal customer’s personal
goals (Robbins, 2003).
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The EDT not only defines satisfaction with product performance, but also service satisfaction (Oliver,
1980; Oliver & DeSarbo, 1988; Tse & Wilson, 1988). Previous investigations have confirmed the
predictive capacity of EDT in service setting including retail service (Swan & Trawick, 1981),
e-services (Liao, Chen & Yen, 2007), and online auctions (Yen & Lu, 2008). For example, Yen and
Lu (2008) conducted a study to explore cognitive beliefs and their influence on the intention to
repurchase on online auctions by using EDT. Their findings presented that the bidders’
disconfirmation is related to satisfaction and further this in turn influences on their repurchase
intentions.
Given the predictive capacity of EDT, it is surprisingly that little known about study have used the
EDT to assess human-oriented elements (i.e satisfaction and other dimensions such as commitment
and loyalty) during the implementation of the QMPs program within higher education institutions
context. This theory that involves with human-oriented elements seems close to this study
framework.
3. Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA)

Among existing human social behavior models, the Theory of Reasoned Action (Ajzen & Fishbein,
1980) is considered the most integrated framework for social behaviors (Cooper & Croyle, 1984),
and an approach to understanding the individual’s complex decision-making process (Ajzen &
Fishbein, 1980). According to the TRA, decision-making starts with beliefs, attitudes toward the
behavior and intention, and it ends with the behavior itself (Fishbein, 1979). In short, this theory is
based on the assumption that all of individuals’ social action is under volitional control and it is
formulated that behavior is based on an intention.
Based on this theory, peoples’ behavior is predicted at three levels (Fishbein, 1979):
1. Behavior is predicted by their intention.
2. The intention is predicted by attitudes toward the behavior and the subjective norm.
3. Attitudes toward the behavior and the subjective norm are predicted by beliefs about the effects
of behavior and about the normative expectations of relevant referents.
In other words, the TRA also clearly explains that attitude and subjective norms are two fundamental
factors underlying intentions to do a particular behavior (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980).
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Since the 1960s, the TRA has been applied in many empirical studies of different fields. For
example, Godin and Kok (1996) reviewed the application of TRA in health-related behaviors such as
smoking, exercising and eating. Ajzen and Fishbein (1980), and Glassman and Fitzhenry (1976)
applied TRA in marketing research to investigate consumers’ behavior (e.g. when purchasing a
brand of beer, coffee, gasoline). The theory has even been revised and extended by Ajzen and
Fishbein (1980) into the theory of planned behavior.
4. Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB)

Theory of Planned Behavior is an extension of the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) that includes
the concepts of perceived behavioral control. Ajzen and Madden (1986) explained that perceived
behavior control refers to the person’s belief as to how easy or difficult performance of the behavior
is likely to be. According to this theory, the perceived behavior control has an effect on behavioral
intention and has a direct effect on target behavior. This situation is illustrated in Figure 2.
According to Armitage and Conner (2001), the TPB has gained substantial empirical support through
hundreds of applied studies, and has been proven successful in predicting and explaining human
behavior across many other contexts (George, 2004). However, scantly research has dealt with
QMPs activities using TPB.
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TPB was an extended version of TRA by adding perceived behavioral control. Through the
perceived behavioral control, the TPB can explain the relationship between behavioral intention and
actual behavior. The TPB model is thus a very powerful and predictive model for explaining human
behavior that can be applied in predicting the effects of human-oriented elements after the
implementation of any QMPs initiative. In addition, the TPB as well as the theory of TRA can
explain the individual's social behavior by considering human-oriented elements (i.e satisfaction,
commitment, loyalty) as an important elements.
In brief, the nature of the individual level investigation that dealt with cognitive psychology makes a
significant contribution to the explanation of why QMPs activities not applied EDT, TRA and TPB.
In most cases, QMPs is involved with the process within the organization and seen as a system to the
whole perspectives. The next sub-section explains about the System Theory.
5. Systems Theory
Understanding system is a key principle of quality thinking (Deming, 1986). Houston (2008)
explained that a system can be seen as a network of interdependent elements and the relationships
between them working together to try to achieve the purpose of the system. Each element contributes
to the system’s behavior and is affected by it (Houston, 1998).
Furthermore, systems are classified into two; closed or open. Robbins and Barnwell (2002) explained
that a closed system would be one that received no energy from outside sources and from which no
energy was released into its environments. But, the closed system perspective has little
applicability to the study of organizations (Robbins & Barnwell, 2002). On the other hand, an open
system recognizes the dynamic interaction of a system with its environment (Robbins & Barnwell,
2002). All organizations interact with their environment, but the extent to which they do so varies
(Stoner, Freeman & Gilbert Jr., 1995).
Moreover, any organization can be viewed as a system (Houston, 2008; Stoner et al., 1995).
Organizations require input such as labour and material from the external environment, translate
them into products or services, and then send them back as outputs to the external environment
(Houston, 2008; Stoner et al., 1995). This situation parallels with systems theory quite closely. The
systems theory consists the input from the environment, the process of input, output to the
environment and it happens continuously in a cycle (Gibson, Ivancevich & Donelly, 1982; Robbins,
2003). This phenomenon is illustrated in Figure 3.
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In this study, the implementation of the QMPs is viewed as one of the organizational effort to
enhance the internal environmental processes in ensuring performance of the organization. Thus, it
seems to propose that systems theory is fit to become as an overarching (underpinning) theory in this
study.
5.1 Application of Systems Theory in the Higher Education Institutions Context

In general, a system approach defined as evaluating an organization’s effectiveness by its ability to
acquire inputs, process the input, channel the outputs and maintain stability and balance (Robbins,
2003, p. 492). The higher education institutions can be viewed as a system whereby resources are
used to convert inputs into outputs (Ali & Shastri, 2010; Sahney, Banwet & Karunes, 2004).
Defining quality in higher education institutions from all views mean including within its domain the
quality of inputs, processes and outputs (Sahney et al., 2008). Mehralizadeh and
Safaeemoghaddam (2010) also supported that a theory of quality in higher education institutions
should clearly work out the relationship between input, process, output and long-term results. This
situation is illustrated in Figure 4:
284
The systems theory approach to higher education institutions comprise of inputs, processes, outputs,
and all covered in an environment. Inputs from the environment into the system, through the process
stage and finally released from the system back into the environment as outputs. In this study, the
input stage is QMPs that involve with the dimensions of leadership, strategic planning, customer
focus, information analysis, human resource focus, and process management.
The process stage in the higher education institutions involves human-oriented elements that contain
the variables of satisfaction, commitment, and loyalty. Moreover, the output stage is organizational
performance that consists dimensions of financial, customer, internal process, and learning and
growth.
Lastly is feedback; the outputs of information about the system (i.e. complaint, recommendation)
back into the system as inputs and able to modify the system while the process is still in progress.
Feedback is making the system more responsive and flexible to the environment.
6. Conclusion
Significantly, the systems theory offers a general theoretical framework that can be readily applied to
this domain: QMPs as input, human-oriented elements as process, and organizational performance as
output. In sum, the system approach and systems theory are two overarching concepts that the QMPs
is grounded on. Thus, by understanding the link of system approach and systems theory thinking
will provide meaningful understanding the effects of human-oriented elements on the relationships
between QMPs and performance in the higher education institutions context.
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287
Communication
Room C, 2F
2015/8/27 Thursday 08:45-10:15
Session Chair: Prof. Suhsen Liu
ASMSS-2972
Design and Implementation of an Internet-Based Health Management Platform for Metabolic
Syndrome
Yu Jou Chuang︱Tatung University
Wen Chin Chen︱National Taiwan University
Chih Fu Wu︱Tatung University
ASMSS-2937
What Should Be Taught in Translation Courses? A Prospectus for Communicative Translation
Courses in a Post-Modern Globalized World
Suhsen Liu︱National Quemoy University
ASMSS-2987
Applying the Ambient Media Design Method to Packaging Design
Yung-Chin Tsao︱Tatung University
Jing-Jing Wang︱Tatung University
ASMSS-2818
The Business Model of Simulation Game via Supercell—Hay Day
Ching Shu Loo︱Fu Jen Catholic University
Thi Tuyet Mai Do︱Fu Jen Catholic University
ASMSS-3018
A Study of Taiwanese Wedding Ceremony in the Symbolic Form
Tsao Yung-Chin︱Tatung University
Cheng Ya-Fang︱Tatung University
ASMSS-3043
High Performance Work Practices and Organizational Citizenship Behavior of the Star Class
Hotels in Sri Lanka: Unlocking the Employees’ Black Box
Prasadini Naganika Gamage | University of Kelaniya
288
ASMSS-2972
Design and Implementation of an Internet-Based Health Management Platform
for Metabolic Syndrome
Yu-Jou Chuang*
Tatung University, Taiwan (R.O.C.)
evacyl5220@gmail.com
Wen-Chin Chen
National Taiwan University, Taiwan (R.O.C.)
wcchen@csie.ntu.edu.tw
Chih-Fu Wu
Tatung University, Taiwan (R.O.C)
wcf@ttu.edu.tw
Abstract
Accompanying with the rapid development of intelligent technology, the wide spread of worldwide
internet communication, the life style shaped by “mobile” and “cloud” has become a trend. The
convenience created by E-generation; in turn, enhance a less mobile life style. On top of that, the
easy access to the fast food and convenience store has led the youngsters nowadays to move about in
more limited surroundings and adopt a less healthy eating habit. The high-risk phenomenon of
Metabolic Syndrome has become a problem among youngsters with a increasing speed. The studies
of Metabolic Syndrome in Taiwan were mostly focused on adults and mid or old age people, not
much about youngsters. But we all know that the youth are on an important phase of the life span
that it is the starting point to shape their life style and also a critical point to develop whether they
have a “healthy” future or not. Therefore, to develop a Health Management system to deal with the
Metabolic Syndrome among youngsters by learn about how they live their life and what dangerous
influencing factors that they are facing, and then introduce a health care procedure by working with
medical professionals should prove to be an important step to deal with the problem.
The thesis is to propose a Health Management System to deal with the Metabolic Syndrome cases.
The system has two ends: the user and the administrator. The users can record information about
their daily health conditions, diet, and physical exercise. The administrator can then give their
professional advices and guidance through the other end. The user can also use the system to gain an
instant brief diagnosis whether he is among the Metabolic Syndrome case and then plan a
diet-exercise package accordingly. This system is also connected to Mobile Devices to enhance its
timely effectiveness.
289
Aside from gaining insight of his own condition through this program, the message of how to live a
healthy life through the proper eating and exercise habit are also shared by the health care
professionals through this platform. This will promote self-consciousness of the proper health
management. The Chronic Disease occurred later through older ages can then be prevented more
effectively.
Keywords: Metabolic Syndrome, Health Management System, Internet Platform, Smart Phone
1. Introduction
Developing a Health Management system to deal with the Metabolic Syndrome among youngsters
by learn about how they live their life and what dangerous influencing factors that they are facing,
and then introduce a health care procedure by working with medical professionals should prove to be
an important step to deal with the problem. The research purpose mainly helps professional nurses
improve the health condition of the member patients suffering from Metabolic Syndrome. With
intervention and assistance of the information system, the professional nurses can not only look up
all health, diet and exercise information of all patient members by way of this research system but
this system can also integrate and merge automatically the information statistic and graphic of the
patient members to make professional nurses make a proper analysis and evaluation via this system
and aims at the specific case to provide proper guidance at any time to achieve effect in expectation
of being able to improve teenage Metabolic Syndrome. The Metabolic Syndrome member patients
can also assist and maintain their own health condition and gain a clear image of food nutrition
component and quantity of heat, quantity of heat consumed by exercise, and relevant medical health
information to achieve personal health condition of self-management to further promote health
medical quality and efficiency.
The study hopes to achieve several purposes as follows:

(1) Fully understand both demands of professional nurses and Metabolic Syndrome patients and
plan a preliminary architecture of the most ideal health management system.
(2) Construct a health management network platform system with administrator end and user end
and completely applied in the internet-based browser on the systematic physical design.
(3) In order to make system use more convenient and real-time, develop and design the application
of smart mobile device architected on the network platform system.
(4) As for exploration of health relevant factors of Metabolic Syndrome, does health condition
improve by using this system for a period of time? Relationship of diet and Metabolic Syndrome and
that of exercise and Metabolic Syndrome are included.
2. System Architecture and Implementation

2.1 Overall System Architecture
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The architecture of the health management system is mainly internet-based. With information shared
onto the internet by a network server, users can access to the internet at homes if computers are
available and use the features via web browsers. Moreover, if users are accustomed to browsing
websites by smart phones, a portable application can be installed to use the system.
The system in the study was designed for both system administrators and membership users. Users as
members were typically diagnosed with symptoms of metabolic syndrome or as patients of high risk
in metabolism. Through the use of the system, they could record health-diagnosis parameters of the
metabolic syndrome in details and monitor their physical status by entering daily health information,
such as weight, waist circumference, diet, and exercise. With a control mechanism, the users, when
connected with the administrative site via the system, could learn according to their current health
condition to control how much calories should be gained and exercise required for a day. Certainly
the system would instantly calculate and make statistical data and charts for checking, so that with
the system the users could clearly understand their own health status whether situation has improved,
whereas the system administrators were served by professional nursing personnel. By the health
management system, the health care personnel can view the health information of each member. The
system also selectively integrated and consolidated data of the members to the administrative client.
The administrators could download from web site. Meanwhile, with an automatic notification
mechanism, the administrators were able to make appropriate health-care assessment and
management according to the data and to consider whether they would give more professional advice
and guidance to some specific patients. Because users on the administrative client were nursing
personnel rather than professionals of information technology, a function similar to FTP (File
Transfer Protocol) was selectively built in the system to make it more accessible to the administrators,
such that files could be uploaded or downloaded onto the file system management web page stored in
a web page server. Hence, the administrators could manage the system web site on the web page.
Compared with the website version, the mobile version worked only on the member client, with the
application software in the smart mobile platform. Therefore, the system did not have administrative
function in its mobile version. However, the mobile version was more instant and convenient for the
members than the website version. Because all the data were synchronized with those on the web site,
taking advantage of the latest three-axis gyroscope and G-Sensor technology for detecting whether a
user was walking or running, the system could calculate time and consumed calories, making the
mobile version friendly and practical. Moreover, it is worth mentioning that, because blood sampling
or specialized equipment was required in obtaining the five criteria in diagnosis of the metabolic
syndrome except waist circumference, application software was considerately designed and available
in the mobile version that allowed waist circumference to be estimated by photographs. That
software was also available in the website version.
291
2.2 Interface Designs
2.2.1 Website Interface
Required features included membership management system, member health questionnaire, daily
weight and waist circumference records, daily diet record, daily exercise record, inspection of all
records, transmission of health related intelligence, expert advice, and attractive small games. Based
on the main features, a prototype web page was actually constructed, as shown:
292
2.2.2 Smart Phone Interface
Functions required for the mobile phones are less those for the internet. After all, the system of the
mobile version is built upon the website system. Interface design does not need to be too complicated
as the screen of a mobile phone is not large. Convenience of click by fingers should be considered.
Main features of the mobile version included: daily weigh and waist circumference records, daily
diet records, daily exercise record, and inspection of all records. According to the features described
above, design of several prototypes is shown:
293
2.3 Database Integration and Dynamic Display
To structure a complete website system, not only do we design an interface, but it is also necessary to
integrate a database into the interface after environments are set up, including a web server (Apache),
a database management system (MySQL), and so on. The database contains static and dynamic
information. The static part contains calories by food and by exercise types that users are not allowed
to modify. They are read-only. Data in the dynamic part can be edited by users. Thus, the dynamic
data are much more than the static data. For example, data in the membership management system
can be regarded as dynamic information. As members increase, they are authorized to edit part of
their profiles. Dynamic data also include daily records of weight, waist circumference, diet, and
exercise. Henceforth, the most important portion in the beginning of this chapter is to introduce how
to set up a membership management system and some details of the technology, then how to access
data in the right fields of member data, and lastly, with the data, how to make dynamic display on
web pages.
294
The above figure shows overall data tables for the system database of the study, where data in food,
food_group and sport, sport_group are information of food and exercise, respectively, that are not
allowed to change; data in memberdata are those for membership management, to be introduced next;
data in member_info and health_goal are information provided in the questionnaire by each member
at initial log-in; tables of diary_food, diary_sport, and diary_health_info contain information of daily
diet, exercise, weight, and waist circumference.
2.4 Connection with Smart Phone Platform

Mobile version of the program is divided into three applications. The one of iOS version was the
main code, structured upon the webpage version. The other two of Android applications offered
simple tests of metabolic syndrome. In the iOS version or the main code, the first priority was to link
the MySQL database on the web client and to fetch the data in it. SQLite was employed for setting
the mobile phone database. The two databases were different in application format and data format
although both were relational databases. The first difficult problem to be resolved was to perfectly
synchronize both sides. Next was how we leverage advantage of smart phone technology to enhance
quality of mobile phone applications and to distinguish them from those on the web client. The
mobile version employed the proprietary three-axis gyro and G-Sensor of the new generation smart
phones to instantly detect motion status and calculate duration.
295
3. System Implementation Results
3.1 Website Platform System
3.2 Smart Phone System for iOS Version
296
3.3 Smart Phone Application for Android Version (For Mobile Client and Web Client):
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ASMSS-2937
What Should Be Taught in Translation Courses? A Prospectus for
Communicative Translation Courses in a Post-Modern Globalized World
Suhsen Liu
Dept. of Applied English, National Quemoy University, Taiwan, R.O.C.
suhsenliu@gmail.com
Abstract
In view of the surging demand of translation in an era of globalization, translation courses are
gaining importance in colleges and universities all over the world. Compounded with the profusion
of translation theories in Translation Studies and their multifold concerns, what should be taught in
translation courses might not seem as easy in a post-modern globalized world as before: i.e., the
translation technique. As new theories (e.g. skopos theory, the manipulation school, the functionalist
approach of translation, the feminist/post-colonial /deconstructionist translation theories), new
terminologies (e.g. translation norm, foreignizing vs. domesticating method of translation), and new
teaching pedagogy/evaluation(e.g. constructive/communicative approach, contextualized/task-based
translation project, translation portfolio, peer review) abound, I would argue that all these should be
issues of great concerns in today’s translation courses and be incorporated into it with craft. Thus, a
prospectus for translation courses with its multiple concerns in 21th century is tentatively outlined in
this essay. It will first distinguish teaching translation as a means of improving students’ FL
competence from teaching translation as a goal itself, followed with the distinction between FL
competence, translation competence and translator’s competence. Also, emphasis should be placed
upon the cultivation of translation/translator’s competence. Above all, it argues that a descriptive,
communicative, context-based (or action-based) translation project pedagogy should be adopted
instead of the usually prescriptive (e.g. the correct vs. incorrect translation), sentence-based,
context-free, and predominantly domesticating approach of translation methods in a
teacher-dominated classrooms (in Taiwan). It suggests that different choices of translation
methods---be it the foreignizing or the domesticating one---under different translation context should
be offered in a democratic translation courses without value judgment. Translation decisions should
be left to college students who are encouraged to be creative and come up with different versions of
translation under different contexts, depending on the purpose, function, clients and recipients of
each translation project or different scenarios (e.g. the feminist or post-colonial one). Moreover, the
agency of the translator and the ethics of translation as an intercultural communicator should be
highlighted.
Key words: translation theories, communicative translation pedagogy, translator’s competence,

foreignizing method of translation, domesticating method of translation
300
ASMSS-2987
Applying the Ambient Media Design Method to Packaging Design
Yung-Chin Tsao
Graduate Institute of Design Science, Tatung University, Taiwan
tsao@ttu.edu.tw
Jing-jing Wang
Graduate Institute of Design Science, Tatung University, Taiwan
Department of Engineering and Art, Beijing Union University, China
julywjj@sina.com
Abstract
The Original definition of ambient media is an untraditional media that communicate design and
service outdoors with special emphasis on the relationship between design and surrounding
environment. Applying the ambient media design method to the context of space and packaging
design could deliver information more efficiently and vividly, and inspire consumers’ attention and
interest.
This study aims to discuss how the interaction of ambient media is applied in the packaging design to
provide designers more reference. The research includes the following two major parts: (1) We study
how the ambient media delivers information with the surrounding environmental elements through
literature review on the ambient design method. Then based on the collected design cases and the
interaction of ambient media concept, the corresponding design method could be acquired. (2) We
choose package design used as the examples of image testing. Features of corresponding design
elements and design techniques were inducted. In addition, we study the principal component of
ambient media image.
Key words: Ambient media, Packaging design, Design image
1. Introduction
The study purpose of this Paper is to combine ambient media with ambient environment and make
use of its interesting and innovative method, so as to produce different interactive methods compared
with the past in packaging goods when consumers use package. In addition, this study also discusses
the influence of ambient environment on users, offering designers reference basis in the process of
thinking.
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The term “ambient media” was first used in the British advertisement design industry in 1999 to
define new-type advertising media. The initial meaning of ambient media is “nontraditional media of
publicizing products or service outside the home environment”. In the book of Is Anybody Out There
by Mark Austin and Jim Aitchison, ambient media is generalized as: something is suitable for used
for writing, coloring and hanging to spread advertising information, or anything usable to deliver
brand contact.
In the practice of ambient design, the following several elements must be considered:
1. Benefit of advertisement: often in public places, whether outdoor or indoor places.
2. Field characteristics: the place must have the certain significant characteristics which are
correlated with advertising theme, creative concept and technique of expression.
3. Characteristics of users: the audience targeted by the ambient appears in the specific field, thus,
the users’ behavior must be considered in this field as well, such as boring waiting in the bus stop,
taking the same lift embarrassingly, directional movement of escalator, fixed defecation action in
the public toilet, etc.
4. Expressional method of information: generally, the simple, interesting, visualized and slightly
interactive methods are used to express information. The information of advertising theme exists
more passively in this field in the form of background, rather than actively being sent to audience.
The audience must contact the information actively by sense organs to produce effects.
Package design is a deed to connect products information with modeling, structure, color, image,
typesetting and assistant element in design, in order to make products be sold in markets. The
package in itself is to provide products with containing, protection, transportation, distribution,
identification and product distinction to eventually convey products’ characteristics or functions in a
unique way. Therefore, the products’ marketing purpose is arrived (Klimchuk and Krasovec, 2011).
The functions of package design include: (1) to ensure the products in the package to be arrive at
consumers in a good condition; (2) to ensure the least waste and damage produced in the process of
distribution and storage; (3) to ensure the transportation process to be hygienic and safe; (4) to make
it easy for products processing, stacking, storage and transportation; (5) to help consumers
distinguish products easily among all products in the store; (6) to provide the guidance of
information and usage as the main transmitting tool(Mackenzie, 1997).
Ambient media has something in common with package design: how to attract users’ attention and
leave the deep impression in a short time. Ambient media and interaction relationship realize the
positive communication and exchange with the public, mastering consumers’ real psychological need
and making people have the sense of spiritual fulfillment. Consumers are fond of purchasing those
decent products “in look” or “in feeling”. Therefore, this emotional activity of “look” or “feel” is the
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most “fragile and sensitive” for consumers. The interactive characteristics of ambient media are
applied in package design to try to attract the public’s sight. Moreover, the personality expression
and strong visual impact are sought to gain the good feeling and resonance in vision of the public.
2. Research Methodology
This section review the advertising and commodity cases related to existing ambient media in the
market, in order to analyze the application technique of their conceptual thoughts and interactive
method. Firstly, the design cases of several ambient media were collected from relevant websites,
books and magazines. After excluding irrelevant cases and cases with low similarity, 12 cases were
used as the test samples required in analyzing interactive concepts of ambient media. In the
following, each sample was analyzed in its technique of expression of “conveying information” and
“relation with environment”.
Consumers were interviewed in terms of samples. Twenty consumers were selected (2 males and 8
females aged from 20 to 63 years old; education degree is both bachelor degree or above), including
college students, college teachers, housewife and enterprise personnel. Interview contents include the
observation and understanding for each design scheme. Later, 3 most impressive pieces of works
were picked out and explanations for the reasons were given.
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304
The statistical results for the questionnaire are as follows:
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As shown above, work No. 1, 4, 10 and 12 can convey their feeling and ideas clearly and can be
widely understood (fully understanding consumers account for 90%), in which consumers
interviewed can fully understand the meaning of NO. 4, 10 and 12. However, in work No. 5, 7, 8, 9,
more than 20% interviewees cannot understand the meaning of the work. Then, the works were
conducted by the “combination with the forms of other objects”, i.e. the combination of the similar
characteristics in appearance of the two objects, to make users produce interesting association after
viewing them. “Combination with physical characteristics of other objects”, i.e. more than two
similar physical properties were combined to form the interesting and tensile visual effects in the
process of users’ continuous participation, such as open or close the bus door or elevator door for
operation. “Users’ cooperation” means that users participate in it unconsciously and the continuous
action in the process of participation has the certain meaning. When the third person views it, he or
she can also receive its metaphorical information. Thus, the above works were classified into 3
categories: No. 1-No. 4 fall into Category 1; No. 5-No. 8 fall into Category 2; No. 9-No. 12 fall into
Category 3. It showed that in the design of the three categories, the communicating effects in two
categories of works of “combination with other objects” and “users’ cooperation” are obviously
better than that of “combination with physical characteristics of other objects”.
Later on, according to the statistical results for the design scheme of the deepest impression picked
out by interviewees, it can be seen that Category 3 “users’ cooperation” leaves the deepest
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impression on consumers, followed by Category 2 “combination with physical characteristics of
other objects”. Meanwhile, in the 14 items of Category 1, there are 12 items falling to Scheme 1. The
reasons given by consumers are that Scheme 1 is clear, intuitive, vivid and strong in visual impact.
3. Conclusion
This study found that the design scheme of “users’ participation” has the obvious advantage, no
matter inspecting whether consumers’ can fully understand the ideas conveyed by the design, or
whether the design leaves the deep impression on consumers. Therefore, in the package design, the
special connotation of package design should be first confirmed. Later, shapes similar or anastomotic
with the package design were sought, or the associational habitual movement in life was combined
with the usage method in package design to present examples of double meaning. In this way,
metaphorical ideas to be conveyed were further visualized and transformed into the design elements
of commodity package by combining with the method of using habitual movement. In the end, the
thoughts of design concepts were conducted.
In addition, in the ambient media design of this category of “users’ participation”, users often
participate in the design scheme unconsciously. In this way, the third person can see the implication
in the design. Therefore, in the design of this category, the participants and the third person have the
totally different experiences, which can be further analyzed and compared in the future research.
References
1. http://blog.yam.com/tinkaichie/article/25418153)
2. Li, G.T., 2010. Image of Ambient Media in Products’ Usage. Master’s Thesis, Graduate School of
Industrial Design, Tatung University.
3. Yao, T.M., 2011. The Effect of Feedback for Products’ Usage on the Image of Ambient Media.
Master’s Thesis, Graduate School of Industrial Design, Tatung University.
4. Hung, C.W., 2012. Package Design and Image of Applying the Interactivity of Ambient Media.
Master’s Thesis, Graduate School of Industrial Design, Tatung University.
5. Norman, Donald A., 2005, Emotional Design: Why We Love (or Hate) Everyday Things.
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6. Tseng, R.M., 2011. Investigating the Emotional Interaction between Ambient Media and Audience,
Department of Industrial Design, National Kaohsiung Normal University. Journal of Design,
16(3).
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ASMSS-2818
The Business Model of Simulation Game via Supercell—Hay Day
Loo Shu Ching,

University of Fu Jen Catholic, Taiwan
sching0803@hotmail.com
Thi Tuyet Mai Do

University of Fu Jen Catholic, Taiwan
vec_nity 2000@yahoo.com
Abstract
This study attempts to look at the Supercell, as the research background to explore the business
simulation of farm game, named Hay Day. With the penetration of smartphone and tablets, the
industry of games grow up with the phubber’s trends, has become the mainstream culture of mobile
devices. Therefore, the mobile games create a new form by replacing the changing of video games
and online games. Additionally, the function of smartphone also speed up to eliminate the market of
video games and online games.According to MIC research revealed that the global games market
will reach 800 billion dollars in 2015, and the mobile games is the most rapid growth, from 105
billion dollars in 2011 to 152 billion dollars in 2015. Thus, the trends of the cross platform
application was getting intensely .Yet on the other hand, according to App Store Revenue Ranking on
September, we can found that Supercell scores the first ranking, only depend to their three types of
games such as Clash of Clans (COC), Hay Day and Boom Beach to defeat the competitors. In addition,
Hay Day was the only one successful farm game which is listed in the top 100 list in the China iPhone
App Store till on 26 October 2014, and also listed in the first ranking after the next day of release on 17
of October 2013 in Japan.The purpose of this study, therefore, is to study the existing operation mode
of business simulation of game, as well as to examine what is the profit strategy used by Hay day.
Keywords: The Simulation Game, The Existing Operation Mode, Supercell, Hay Day
1. Introduction
Along with the rapid development of Internet, diversification application network and the promotion
of Internet universalization with broadband internet has led to the trend of using wireless Internet.
Moreover, smart phones and mobile devices have made people's online time constantly increased;
thereby making the humans in modern society cannot overlook the existence of the network. In
recent years, due to the popularity of smart phone and mobile device, mobile games have developed
fast and quickly broken conceptions of the traditional game industry, which is only limited on a
computer. With the expansion of the market and the number of mobile game players, consumers can
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play the game through whatever means, install the games in their phone or tablet. At the same time,
mobile games eroded the tv games and computer games market gradually. (Yu & Xuan, 2014).
The study by MIC shows that, the scale of the worldwide gaming market in 2015 will reach $80
billion, of which mobile games show its fastest growth. It is predicted that, the mobile games will
increase from $10.5 billion in 2011 to $15.2 billion in 2015, computer games will increase from
$18.6 billion to $25.5 billion but the home video game console will rise from $34.1 billion to $41.4
billion. Thereby it reveals that the trend of applying game with multiple interfaces will increasingly
happen drastically.
Due to the rapid development of the Internet, more and more consumers have involved in the online
world drive the transformation of industry, which is also includes the game industry. With the
popularity of smart phones and tablets, the gaming industry has integrated into the mainstream
"Phubbing", have become mainstream cuture. Therefore, mobile games have made online games and
home video game console changed and create a new form. In addition, high portability and induction
capabilities of smart phone devices and tablet have accelerated the elimination of online games
market and home video game console. To put it simply, the growth of mobile games in the digital
environment will create a new business model.
In the past of 2008, only five games per day average were released into the market until now the
average of 200 games listed in everyday, which is enough to witness the wave of mobile game
industry (Zhen, 2013). Until now, with the trend of the game, female have become the new targets of
the market, breaking the phenomenon ever that only men play games. Therefore, in the fierce
competition of the mobile game market, game makers have to compete to make the game suitable for
male and female to be able to overcome many other competitors. This has led two technology giants,
"Apple iOS" and "Android" to compete each other to get exclusive distributors.
According to The Wall Street Journal, over the past few years, the mobile games mostly belonged to
the Apple Store, mainly because Android had too many versions; programmer had to change the
program code to fit the requirements of the different versions. Therefore, developing the games on
Apple's iOS operating system was easier (Yan, April 21, 2014). When opening the revenue ranking
of the Apple Store, it could be seen that a large number of charts were occupied by the App game,
which will not do without a few renowned game developers such as EA (Electronic Arts), King,
Mixi, Gungho and etc. However, according to the revenue report of App Annie Index in September
2014 iOS APP Store, Finnish mobile game developer Supercell has beaten King and EA only by
three games on the App Store and received the champion throne.
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As of October 26, 2014, in the ranking of China on Iphone App Store, Hay Day is a farming game
with the most successful income and ranked on the top of 100 games, also Ipad ranked No. 50 in the
rankings. In addition, Hay Day released in the App Store in June 2012 and climbed top five after five
month. On October 17, 2013 just one day after Japan announced its launch, Hay Day hits the top of
the charts in Japan (Scott Reyburn, October 24, 2013). Therefore it can be seen that, Hay Day has
broken the stereotype that the farming game business is not good, and has set the achievement
making the envy in its companion.
Hay Day is a highly entertaining game, and its friendliness and fun have made up of the profits to
Supercell. In 2013, Supercell has reported revenue of $892 million, a significant gain on 2012’s
revenue of $101 million. Hence, this research retrieved Supercell game developer as the
representative to discuss in depth about the type of business strategy simulation game, specifically
the profit model used of Hay Day. This article selects Hay Day as the research subjects because it is
a farming game that exists and maintains the success so far. The purpose of this research can be
divided into three parts:
1. Analyze the business model that the business simulation game uses
2. Discuss about the players when playing the game, psychology is affected in a certain extent,
leading to effects on the use behavior of the players
3. Discuss about the profit model used for the players.
2.1 The Business Simulation Game
In 2005, Jesper Juul, a scholar specializing in the study of game has defined the game as " the rule
system of the results can be implicitly changed and quantified, also the different results will get
different values. The player will try to influence the outcome of the game and the outcome will affect
the mood of the players; the relationship between the results of the entire game with real world is to
implement the covenant or complete the agreement "(Jesper Juul .2005: 36). After entering into the
cyberspace, the game grows out with more and more modern types than the traditional game, so
called "digital game". According to Sheng (2004), if classifying the digital game according to the
operating system it may be divided into arcade game, television game, computer game, mobile game.
In term of the content, there will be 9 categories, included role-playing game (RPG), strategy game,
jigsaw, adventure game, simulation game, war game, action game, sport game and racing game.
This study has been derived from the mobile game with the business model (Business Simulation
Game-BSG). BSG is the kind of strategy game where the goal is development, also called Economic
Simulation Game. Pursuant to transmission means, BSG is divided into "BSG without Internet
access" and "BSG web" which supposes the players will stay in a world and make the business work.
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In BSG without Internet access, the players will enter the role of a certain company manager, trying
to manage a business, through a competitive process in partnership with other companion to make
their intentions (Fang, 2013). But in the web version of BSG, the majority was Leisure game,
including Hay Day selected by this study, which set the farm to become the context. The players do
not only understand a little bit about the business concepts from playing game but also have the
experience and has the business competition in a similar to the real world.
2.2 Business Model

Jie (2007) in the study of "The profit model of online media" pointed out that the profit model of
online media, also known as the business model, is a type of model that the business takes the
advantages of that channel to bring the value to the target customers and ultimately selects ways to
obtain the profit. Simply, it is the business model that the business identifies from the stage of
providing the service to the market, using the lowest cost to gain the satisfactory profit. Therefore,
this study calls the business model as “the profit model". Chun (2009) state that the profit model is
the expression for the benefit between those related to corporate interests to divide the types of
business interests under the decisive premises to bring the value chain texture and value chain
ownership in the business system. Good profit model does not only bring benefits to the business, but
also create a network of stable value and the business victory.
Traditional profit model always means the business provides some services and products and charges
the fee for these types of products and services. But the profit model of modern business has
significantly changed. The profit model often appear as the business providing the products and
services for free, even permanently free, which attracts the customers with the generated value paid
by people with related interests. In addition to Lei, Rui and Ting (2008) in “Research on the
e-commerce profit model in the country- Ali Baba as an example” pointed out that the profit model
of the business is created by 4 basic elements, including the target customers, benefit from the
products or services, business operations, and preventative approaches to the competitors. Briefly
speaking, the profit model can be simplified into a formula: Profit = Revenues - A concept of cost
( Hua, 2011).
In the era of freely playing game, the game's profit model is the way for the game operators,
businesses and related people gain profit from the target market through the use of strategies,
approaches, methods such as score card, props or charge the game functions , i.e. which means that
after the supply of products and services free of charge to consumers, using methods of increasing
the added value of the services or charge other products. Wei (2010) also conducted research in the
game's business model "Happy farm" and pointed out that "Happy Farm" collects the
two-dimensional charge and sets advertisement in the game to gain the profits.
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Two-dimensional charge with props made in games and surprise ad for potato chips "Poca" prompt
the players to pay attention. The success of this game is to turn the potential players into the
marketers for potato chips "Poca". The use of different business models-two-dimensional charge
with advertisement setting has brought huge economic benefits for the game "Happy Farm".
In summary, this study defined the game profit model as follows: in the mobile game business, the
concept of "free game" "buying and selling virtual products and props", "system upgrade" which the
game operators use is the profit sources of the game-between gamers and profit pipe-business
method forming a benefit distribution business model.
2.3 Backgroud
(1). Introduction about Supercell Oy
Supercell Oy was co-founded in June 2010 in Finland by IIkka Paananen, Mikko Kodisoja, Niko
Derome, Visa Forsten, Lassi Leppinen and Petri Styrman. Supercell is one of the fast-growing game
company based on the success of the revenue of the game App Store, which has made a mess in the
traditional game market. But its success has only based on three types of game. The first is the social
farming game called Hay Day; two remaining games are tower defense game, including Clash of
Clans and Boom Beach, shown in Schedule 1 below:
(2) Functions of Hay Day

Hay Day is a freemium mobile farming game which is a game provided free of charge, but money is
charged for virtual currency. However, there are two ways to get the props in the game. The first way
is to use the mode of two currency (coins and diamonds can be bought by real money) to buy the
props. In the second way, the players must perform the tasks such as planting and harvesting,
breeding to get the props in the correct model which the game manufacturer uses "free game plus
buy and sell virtual items" concept. Hay Day starts by planting, from the cultivated products, the
players use to feed the animals, from which they have cow's milk, wool, eggs, goat's milk associated
with the crops was through the bakery, sugar mill, popcorn pat loom, sewing machine, juice press
and etc to create the new products and trade them.
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Apart from the entertaining value, Hay Day also meet the deepest longing of man. The players can
build a farm of their own in-game, experience the joy of earning money in the real world. For them,
the price to pay for the virtual world and the results they receive also more direct than the real world,
even can substitute for real life in some aspects. By then, the game is filled with attractiveness,
making a lot of players to join and this is also one of the reasons that Hay Day still survives untill
now.
In the farm, all the machinery that the farm owns to use for the manufacturing process, the
constructive position layout, land open, product consumption and etc must review the links on the
top and bottom. By then, the game's business model is similar to the business of farming. In
particular, the crops, plants, animals, construction work in the games are limited to the purchase
amount and based on the level of the players. In addition, the wallpaper and the farm will change
over the festive season, leading the changes in the animals and costumes of them, making the game
screen without being monotonous.
3. Methodology
This study used three research methods, including secondary qualitative study, participant
observation and in-depth interview, on the basis of official documents of the enterprise, the Internet,
newspapers and magazines, specialized research reports and documents provided by research objects.
In addition, the study also began to pay attention to Hay Day since it was announced through the
direct observation to learn in depth about the functions and operation mechanism. In this study,
in-depth interview method used "semi-structured interview", mainly through the documents offered
by the interviewee to learn the behavior and motives of the players as well as reviews of game
experience and the perspective of the players to master the profit model of Hay Day. The last part
was to conduct the analysis of these documents on the existing network.
3.1 In-Depth Interview

In-depth interview method "semi-structured interview" is random, free, open and without structure
talk. Berg (2004) argue that the interviewer will prepare the outline of the questions according to the
stated purpose in advance. It differs from structured interview method in which the interview outline
is only a guidance to conduct the interviews, usually in the order and the system rather than rigid
rules, also it can be adjust through the answer by respondents. (Ding Feng, & Hu, 2008). Qing (2000)
states that the outline is used to enhance interview skills and remind the respondents about the
direction to give information when the researcher interviews the person providing the information. It
is more suitable for the complex topics. (Zhang Zhiya, 1999).
3.2 Target of Research
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The respondents in this study was the students at Fu Jen University (Fu Jen Catholic University). By
the way, the interview is also located at the Fu Jen University. In the sampling section, this study
used Snowball Sampling methods, which is belong to Non probability Sampling. Through the
relationship of the respondents, they introduced more players who fit the study to interview. The
average interview time is about 10-15 minutes to avoid making the interviewees tired and could not
give the correct answer. Moreover, for convenience, this research article has given information about
five respondents with the English code. Below is the table of basic information adjusted of the object
to be interviewed.
4. Data Results
This chapter is mainly divided into two parts: to analyze profit and business model of Hay Day game
separately and to adjust the research’s result of intensive interview content for users.
4.1 Analyzing the Model of Business and Profit of Hay Day.

1) Free Download Game with Service Fee Model
Free game model is just a game in which the amount of time for playing is free of charge but when
the service value of game increases, that game is charged. Hay Day also belongs to the standard free
farming game. It means that players do not have to pay any charge when playing yet they still are
able to complete the task in free of charge according to the settings or promoted. In case if you want
to have more factories, warehouses, land expansion in your farm, you must complete a new task in
order to have props or gain more experience points (xp) to promote but there are some extremely
valuable props such as land deed, screws, bolts and etc which players have to pay real money to buy
diamonds that help purchase these props. In addition, the cards of props, experience double card,
equipment card that free games selled is not the same as Hay Day. The model of service fee of Hay
Day game only include coins and diamonds.
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Though players can earn coins and diamonds by selling the products harvested of the farm or other
tasks but virtual money earned in the game is not enough, especially diamonds. Thus, the players
must pay fee in order to play more exciting.
The advantage of this model is that it is made on the basis of volunteer players. Based on the virtual
money needs, players chooses to buy or not. In addition, players can get the rewards through
watching the ads on Hay Day in everyday . This is a way for the non-paying players a chance to earn
some virtual money, however, the number of ads views in a day is four times only. In this case,
players often wish to get diamonds or precious props, so taking the psychological advantage of
possessing props or diamond, this can boosts players from passive buyers into active ones. In
addition, many mystery boxes are laid out in Hay Day game. In the process of unlock the mystery
box, players also have an opportunity to get some valuable props but there are a number of mystery
box which are opened by diamonds. Of course players can choose to ignore the mystery box.
2) Profit Model of Advertising Placement

Forms of advertising in the game is not limited, a props in the game can also become the place to
advertise. In Hay Day, ads are not displayed as banner or pop-up ads form but follow the overall
strategy where Suprcell aim to keep things logical for the players. Supercells team say that in
addition to maintaining the logic, advertising placement must be considered from the perspective of
the game rather than from a marketing perspective. Therefore, advertising placement in Hay Day
game is very consistent with the logic that does not cause discomfort. For example, players can see
the ads in a newspaper arranged in the game. As such, players do not feel that they are forced to view
ads, which can create great placement for advertising.
Product Manager of Timur Haussila Supercell also points out that the revenue from the ads also
accounts for 10% in total income, this revenue will be much more. In addition, in a previous
paragraph of this research also indicates each day players could get the rewards through watching the
ads videos. These videos are also one of the forms of advertising placement. Advertising content of
Hay Day belongs to a different type of games, making players can be exposed to about 20s of
different ad types during play. Advertising settings under this model turns advertising into a part of
the game, which not only do not cause discomfort but also increase the feeling of excitement of
players, and players receive advertisements without frustrating. Therefore, based on the
observations of myself, this study shows that advertising placement in this way, to some extend, in
addition to increases the real sense with the games, it becomes one of the primary additional sources
of game profit model.
4.2 Results of In-Depth Interview of Repondents

1) Game Addiction Disorder
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The game is hightly attractive, prompting all players to take part in. For players, the true extent of the
virtual world is not less lively than the real world. Along with the development of science and
technology, the games combined animation, audio, lighting and 3D techniques bring real feeling,
increasingly closer to the real world. Even some of the players claim that the virtual world has
satisfied their dreams in real life. Thus, games gradually step into the hearts of players, creating the
elements needed in the real world.
I can't escape from Hay Day game, somewhat exaggerated, some times in my sleep, I suddenly woke
up and log in the game to play. Each time log in, I only played about 15-20 minutes but it took me
4-5 hours to play in a day. I have played the game since my summer break, July, and in the brief
summer months I was up to level 36. ( Respondent D)
According to the interview, the game has affected her daily life, shows that the player belongs to
"addiction heavily". The respondent was addicted to Hay Day game in a certain degree, so she would
use real money to buy virtual money in the game. In addition, most of the players interviewed all
said they felt exciting when they can up the level. "That I like the most is reward with 5 diamonds,
additionally each level promoted, I will have different gifts. I feel that invested time is equal to
experience gained" ( Respondent A); “Game is where I am building my dreams, compared to those
principles in real life. When I spend all the time and effort dedicating to the game world I can get
correspondence results.” ( Respondent D)
When I play the game, I find that my virtual money keeps growing, I feel joyful that cannot be
described especially when my experience points (xp) is increased. In the meantime I just think of an
image of being upgraded and continuous upgrading is very important and significant for me.
Witnessing my farm is constantly expanded, my business is growing, my money is more and more
increased, I feel very happy, it's a unspeakable joy.( Respondent E)
In summary, this study claims that interviewed game players have a level of "passionate" for Hay
Day, some may be obsessed. In fact, the players know the difference between the game world and
the real life. Successful players in the world game doesn't mean that they are successful in real life
but players are still indulge into the virtual world because it gives them pleasure and the game world
has the real world's permanent, regardless of players sleeping or waking the virtual world still exists
in a stable way, it does not leave temporary or vanish of players but disappear (Castronova, 2005).
Therefore, players rely on the game to seek satisfaction, just like Maslow 1970 referred to
metamotivation in the hierarchy of needs, it is the dream of being transcendent.
2) To Meet the Needs of Players
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Each game always starts at the lowest level. By constantly promoting level, increasing experience
points, the level of game players can be improved. Designing of Hay Day is the same. To constantly
overcome these barriers, players need to earn enough experience points, coins, props and etc that
help them to pursue higher level requirements. For example, players must reach level 29, they may
open Neigborhood. However, the different players have variety of satifiscation requirements on the
virtual world. While some players prefer to communicate, seek familiar emotional satisfaction
through a virtual space, yet other players spend huge amounts buying virtual money to flatter their
vanity.
From this level to another level, the reward of each level up is diamonds or through other ways to
have diamonds but there are a few and they are not enough for me to expand the farm or boost the
level of the other services, so I buy diamonds when needed, I have bought two times so far. Although
my friends said that I have wasted money but I feel I have joy and satisfaction, especially when
seeing my farm is decorate. ( Respondent C)
In general, through the material from the official websites and the results of in-depth interview show
that Hay Day uses profit model "A form of cross-subsidies". Although the game has stopped charges
form time to time but through the mechanism of selling virtual money and diamonds also bring about
huge profits for the game development company. In addition, from the direct participation and
observation experiences for the game I realize that the first strategy of Hay Day is to attract the
attention of players, and then free download to let players experience the joy of playing and step into
the game world. While the life of players and the game can not be separated, other methods are
introduced to gain profits.
5. Conclusion
After sorting through three research methods, it can be seen that the results of relevant research
become the conclusions of this study.
5.1 Excellent Development Team

A major reason for Supercell becoming a game development company has grown rapidly is that they
have a team to work independently. In addition to have complete self control, they are also
independent in charging of internal organization structure, dividing tasks and the focus of the work
and at the same time responsible for the results of finished products. For example, Hay Day has just
launched, it receive good reviews and the cause of its success is inseparable with the elite
development team.
In addition, when Supercell are in the budding stage, due to limited financing they can not be
marketed, so they choose the App store where the frequency of game is highest to publicize products.
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Costs used for this form of marketing is very low, also this is the smartest choice for those free
products just launched in the market. Moreover, in the process of using free download model with
fee services, they have captured exactly the mentality of players, constantly improved the quality of
the game.
The latest upgrade was on December 03, 2014, which has a new way to play with the Duck Salon,
causing the player to have a new experience while playing games.
5.2 Effective Ads Placement Strategy

Take a look at the ads placement, from the information collected up to the information obtained from
the interviews show that players do not find offensive for the ads placement in the game instead this
is very beneficial for the turnover of the game. Advertising options of Hay Day are consistent with
the background of the game such as Daily Dirt is a fictional newspaper (static forms) or other types
of game ads (active form). This advertising strategy not only makes game content more abundant but
aslo induces consumption after players watch the ads.
I love the ads that are positioned like this way, they are not offensive and when I see those ads I want
to use. ( Respondent D)
I don't feel uncomfortable with these ads in Hay Day. On the other hand, I think they are very
successful. Likely, after watching videos, I am rewarded randomly as a way to requite. ( Respondent
C)
Because the ads placement matches the background of the game, they are not only effective in
promoting the new game products and increasing the popularity of the game but also beneficial for
other game makers when selecting Hay Day to promote their game products. Therefore, the profit
model of Hay Day exploits both players and other game operators.
5.3 Consideration for the Standpoint of Non-Paying Players

Currently on the market, there are a lot free game providers with "free playing time but props fees"
concept, so to survive the game developer must be superior to other opponents, in terms of designing
excellent game but also handling various habits and playing of different players. As a matter of
course, when a player willings to spend a large amount of money in the game will gain more
advantages in any game. But in a game design, if also taken care for non-paying players, perhapsan
bring unexpected revenue for the game developer.This concern is expressed very clearly in Hay Day.
It is not hard to uncover the players who don't pay, with the effort and luck, they also obtaine
diamonds and precious props. For example they open the mystery box containing diamonds, or
meet the wheel of fortune, watching videos, planting and harvesting or gathering resources to get the
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equipment in each day. In a certain extent, this method also helps reduce the distance between
players who charge and players do not charge. However, in the case of a number of players who do
not charge just lack a few diamonds that they can be upgraded, at this time, they may become
chargeable players because effective advertising placement strategy has an impact on the psychology
of the players. Thus, this increases income for game developers. Based on the above inference, the
research believe that Supercell team have consider the non-paying players too when develop the
game. Therefore through various methods when players play, it bring about source of profit for the
developer of the game.
References
Berg, B. L. (2004). Qualitative research methods for the social sciences (Vols.5). Boston: Pearson.
Castronova, E. (2005). Real products in imaginary worlds. Harvard Business Review, pg20-22.
Chun. W. C. (2012). A new business model of private construction. University of ChengChi.
Ding, J. L., Feng, J. Y., & Hua, M. C. (2008). Qualitative research methods: Models and step of
interviewing. Journal of Disability Research, 3, 122-136.
Fang. B. (2013). Research and implementation of intelligent decision system in simulation game.
University of HangZhou Dianzi.
Hua, M. L. (2013). The profit model of research of the publishing enterprise digital Yuan Yuanyuan
publishing in China. Journal of Publishing, 2, 21-25.
Jie. D. (2007). Profit model of network media. Capital University of Economic and Business.
Juul, J. (2005). Half-real: Video games between real rules and fictional world. Cambridge: MIT
Press.
Lei. S., Rui. C., D. & Ting. S. (2008). Domestic e-commerce: Alibaba as example. Journal of
Industrial and Social Tribune, 9, 75-77.
Scott Reyburn (2013, October 24). Japanese translation pushes Hay Day up to grossing charts in
Japan( Online DISTIMO An App Annie Company Blog) Retrieved from
http://www.distimo.com/blog/2013_10_hay-day-in-japan/
Sheng, Y. L. (2004). The status quo and trend of digital game market development. Taipei City:
Institute of Information Technology, III.
Wei, W. W. (2010). The successful of internet game called Happy Farm. Journal of Handan
Polytechnic College, 23(2), 17-21.
Yan. H. (2014, April 21). Grab the best! Apple and Google fight for the top mobile game developer.
TechNews. Retrieved from
http://technews.tw/2014/04/21/apple-and-google-fight-for-top-mobile-game-developer/
Yu, H. D., & Xuan, Y. C. (2014). Analysis of global mobile media development trends and new
business models ( ITIS research report, ISBN13：9789575815783). Institute of Information
Technology, III.
Ya, Z. Z. (1999). Idolization and youth identification. Univertsity of TzuChi.
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Zhen, W. L. (2013, September 8). Mobile device game traction by social behavior: 9 percent of
addicted players like to share. TechNews. Retrieved from
http://technews.tw/2013/09/18/heavy_mobile_social_network_influnance_game/
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ASMSS-3018
A Study of Taiwanese Wedding Ceremony in the Symbolic Form
Tsao Yung-Chin, Cheng Ya-Fang*

Tatung University
farita65@yahoo.com.tw*
Abstract
Taiwanese wedding ceremony develops along with the social and cultural ethos changed, wedding
ceremony is making hard things simple and also more personal and stylized. Heritage traditional
wedding ceremony and cultural has gradually evolved into a form. To hold a ceremony mostly is to
obey the elders requirements, the young don't quite understand the implications of the ritual forms.
This article is incorporated in the form of the ceremony and a symbol of the ceremony, and make the
wedding ceremony more specifically symbolic and emotional awareness.
In Taiwan, most families still retains traditional cultural ceremonies. The traditional wedding
ceremony will follow the ancient wedding ceremony, ceremonies have to go in accordance with
irreversible steps and procedures. To simplify the wedding ceremony into six steps: proposing,
birthday matching, presenting betrothal gifts, presenting wedding gifts, picking auspicious wedding
date, escorting the bride. Each step includes the program proceeds, items used and ceremony to hold
has its symbolism and significance. In the modern wedding ceremonies usually brief ceremony in
step or combine the steps, and also uses representative items to symbol the meanings for the modern
society streamlining the timing requirements and to achieve symbolic wedding blessing meaning.
Keywords: wedding ceremony, proposing, birthday matching, presenting betrothal gifts, presenting
wedding gifts, picking auspicious wedding date, escorting the bride
1. Introduction
Background
Taiwanese wedding ceremony is affected by the Western wedding form, ceremony is getting simple
in line with the economic and social expectations. To hold Wedding ceremony symbolize relatives
and friends blessing the couple and expecting the process to bring the happiness. But, the couple and
their families often have different opinion on the elders to hold the wedding ceremony process and
does not match their expectations. Traditional wedding ceremony is complicated, each program must
follow the rule and also represents a different meaning. Simplified wedding ceremony remains
representative form only. Therefore, the couples in the discretion of the traditional and modern
wedding ceremony is still one of the problems in the marriage process.
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Wedding ceremony is the beginning of the relationship of two families of the couple and it's also an
art. Ceremony process is the bridge of communication, and also a ritual must follow when the couple
combining. The modern ceremony is simplified but still preserved, it becomes a habit. What kind of
ritual would preserve in the wedding process of modern ceremony? Different ceremonies represent
what kind of meanings and symbolic, it's the main idea of this article would like to discuss.
Wedding Dress Industry and the Wedding

Wedding photography is the industrialization industry, but also one of the priorities national
development. The purposes of the wedding photography is leaving the image of the couples with a
souvenir and offers wedding day venue decoration for friends and families to enjoy. Wedding
photography in the overall economy has been derived to cultural goods, services, production and
consumption activities. Involving economic transactions can be called industrial. Wedding industry
operators keep to be innovation, changing and expansion for market demand. The entire system from
the beginning of the shooting studio then wedding-related industry, and create a unique wedding
salon in Taiwan. Wedding shooting even becomes the neighboring countries aspire one of sightseeing
features. Wedding industry operators from the early single service to today's integrated wedding
consultant. Considerations customer demand for integrated services which associated with the
industry, and create a culture unique to Taiwan wedding salon. Wedding ceremonies and the wedding
necessary goods are also coordinated by the wedding company. To teach the couples what wedding
ceremony and procedures required to follow. Ritualized wedding photography obviously shows how
modern culture industry dominate people's life practice and awareness. Its success deeply depends on
traditional marriage customs, and reassign it to keep up the pace of new meaning.
2. Discussion Document
2.1 The Origin of the Traditional Wedding Ceremony
Taiwan wedding comply with three letters six etiquettes of traditional wedding customs. "Six
marriage ceremony" of Western Zhou Dynasty had a significant impact on the marriage form for the
following dynasty. In ancient times, the process of "three letters six etiquettes" have not completed
the marriage would not be recognized as being married legally. The perfections of wedding
ceremony affect auspicious marriage. Three letters are "letter of appointment", "letter of Ritual" and
"letter of wedding ", each used in the parts of six etiquettes ceremony.
In the Zhou Dynasty Book of Rites and Etiquette and Ceremonial have all been discussed for
wedding. Book of Rites," The ceremony of marriage was intended to be a bond of love between two
(families of different) surnames, with a view, in its retrospective character, to secure the services in
the ancestral temple, and in its prospective character, to secure the continuance of the family line.
Therefore the superior men, (the ancient rulers), set a great value upon it. Hence, in regard to the
various (introductory) ceremonies,--the proposal with its accompanying gift; the inquiries about the
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(lady's) name; the intimation of the approving divination; the receiving the special offerings; and the
request to fix the day - these all were received by the principal party (on the lady's side), as he rested
on his mat or leaning-stool in the ancestral temple, (When they arrived), he met the messenger, and
greeted him outside the gate, giving place to him as he entered, after which they ascended to the hall.
Thus were the instructions received in the ancestral temple, and in this way was the ceremony
respected, and watched over, while its importance was exhibited and care taken that all its details
should be correct...... The respect, the caution, from that righteousness came the affection between
father and son; and from that affection, the rectitude between ruler and minister. Whence it is said,
'The ceremony of marriage is the root of the other ceremonial observances.", Also Etiquette and
Ceremonial recorded" Six etiquettes of the wedding: Proposing, birthday matching, presenting
betrothal gifts, presenting wedding gifts, picking auspicious wedding date, wedding ceremony."
2.2 "Six Etiquettes" in Progress

(1) Proposing
When the man fancy to the woman invited the matchmaker to be a matchmaker. Proposing is
descendants called "divination" or "matchmaking". If the two families conditions are similar to
so-called "perfect match", the matchmaker will visit man's family to matchmaking with a wild goose
for the ceremony.
(2) Birthday Matching

Birthday matching is to look at whether the time of birth of female and male consistency. Birthday
matching includes girl's mother's name, rank and the time of birth, after that, back to the family to
ask the ancestral gods opinion, if it signs auspicious that means married.
(3) Presenting Betrothal Gifts

If the birthday matching is a good sign then the man should present a gift to send it to the
matchmaker. After got engaged one month ahead before the wedding, is the prelude time to gift.
When the groom choose an auspicious date, brings three offerings and wine to women's home, and
offer letter of appointment.
(4) Presenting Wedding Gifts

To present gift is dowry gifts such as money, cake, gifts and offerings.
(5) Picking Auspicious Wedding Date:

To choose date means the wedding date were choosed by the man. Picking auspicious wedding date
is so called "selective date" .
(6) Escorting the Bride
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To hold the wedding means.
2.3 Features of "Three Letters"

 "Letter of appointment" means letter of betrothal, for presenting betrothal gifts. The letter of
betrothal means the groom and the bride enter into marriage officially.
 "Letter of Ritual" which list the numbers of gifts, detailed the type of gift and quantity for
presenting wedding gifts.
 "Letter of wedding " The letter of wedding, on the wedding date greet the bride for the wedding.
2.4 Engagement Process

 Worship to inform ancestors to pray for a happy marriage.
 Departure: On the engagement date the groom should bring six or or twelve dowry gifts. (Even
number means lucky number, it means a symbol in pairs)
 Receive dowry and introduce to Carried out two families friendship.
 "Fèng chá" meaning is in the ancient times the wedding was arranged by the two families, the
couple haven't any contacts. Mostly, the groom will see the bride after the engagement. So this
ceremony is to introduce the families of the bride to know, and through offering tea ceremony by
the bride to enshrined elders.
 Exchange wedding rings and the groom's mother wear the gold jewelry for the bride. The
groom's family should accept the bride as a part of the family.
 The bride's mother wear the gold necklace to the groom .The bride's family should accept the
groom as a part of the family and worship to pray for bless.
 The bride's in return the dowry items in return also known as a symbol of wealth and status of
the bride.
 Engagement party: After completing the engagement, the bride's side gives a banquet and till
the banquet ends all the helping people do not say goodbye. Symbol only get married once, it means
faithful unto death. After the engagement party the bride's will send the engagement cake to the
friends and families.
2.5 Wedding Process

 Worship: The groom should worship the ancestors and god before heading to greet the bride.
 Even numbers of escorting convoys are better the means auspicious and Set off firecrackers.
 Pass engagement challenges the groom please cherish the bride.
 Farewell to the bride’s parents: After greeting with the bride's family, the groom should hold a
bouquet for the bride who was waiting at the room. At that time, the bride's sisters and friends can
obstruct the groom purposely. Not allow the groom to see the bride. The groom need to pass the
challenges from the bride's sisters and friends, then he can greet the bride at the room. (The veil can
cover the bride’s embarrassment but in the old times it’s for preventing the bride would be
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abducting)
 Limousine: Tie a bamboo with leaves and roots(representing the beginnings and ends) on the
limo, and also tie a cane and pork on the bamboo.(Cane representatives step raising, pork is to avoid
fierce item.)Hanging red and black paintings of the eight diagrams bamboo ornaments on the rear of
the limo.(To expel the ominous on the road)
 Toss the fan: Before the limo leaving the bride will toss the fan out of the limo.(Represents lost
girl habits, do not bring the bad temper to her husband’s family)
 Pour out a basin of water : After the bride getting on the limo, the bride’s parents should pour
out a basin of water, panicle and rice to the bride which means the daughter has been spilled water.
(Bless her successful business, and there are well provided with food and clothing)
 Firing the firecrackers：Fire the firecrackers from the bride’s home to the groom’s home.
When the wedding car arrives at the groom’s home, it’s the groom’s family’s turn to fire the
firecrackers. (To celebrate the wedding)
 Touching the oranges: After the wedding car arrives, a child with two oranges comes to
welcome new couple. The bride needs to touch the orange once. (The pronunciation of orange
represents auspiciousness)
 Leading the bride: As the bride gets off the wedding car, there is a blessed elders from the
groom’s family holding a bamboo sieve over the bride’s head, and lead her into the lobby.
 Crossing a brazier and stepping through the tiles：As soon as the bride enters into the lobby, she
needs to cross a brazier and step through the tiles. (Crossing a brazier means the exorcism)
 Worship: The bride needs to worship the gods and the ancestors after getting in.
 Offering tea (Bride’s tea)：The elder from the groom’s family introduces the bride to the family
members. (This is a ceremony to admit that the bride becomes part of the family members.)
 Entering the bridal chamber and they drink wedlock wine, eat sweet soup containing dateplums,
peanuts, longan, lotus seeds or Tangyuan. (Symbolizing having baby as soon as possible) The bride
is not allowed to take off the white gauze(Symbolizing that she only wears the wedding dress once,
gets married once)
3. Discussion
3.1 Bride Dress
In ancient time, people held crown ceremonies for the boys who were twenty. It represented the boy
has become an adult. For the girls, when they were fifteen and was allowed to get married, people
held "Hairpin ceremonies," and it means they were of marriageable age. Therefore, the adult
ceremony and wedding has close relations.
The evolvement of girls’ "hairpin ceremonies" means that they need to dress up from their head, and
put on make-up on their faces. In ancient times, "put on the top" is a very exquisite ceremony. New
comb is needed, and the person who does the "put on the top" ceremony must be a woman who has
full blessing, and we called them "Lucky guy" or "lucky woman". The woman has six close relatives,
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and a lot of children. "Open face" means to remove the hair on the bride’s face by the string, making
her face more bright and clean.
Therefore, that modern brides put on make-up, have their hair designed, wear the wedding dresses on
the wedding is for the preparation of the wedding ceremony. The bride dresses has evolved
according to the traditional ritual. The date and the time of the wedding ceremony is chosen. If we
want to save the quests’ problem to run for the banquets twice, modern couples will hold the
engagement and wedding ceremony on the same auspicious days together. People usually have the
engagement ceremony in the morning, and host a banquet for lunch by the bride family, and have the
wedding ceremony in the afternoon, and host a banquet for dinner by the groom’s family.
During the wedding banquet, the bride needs to change three wedding dresses. The first time they
come in to the banquet for the wedding ceremony, the second is for toasting to the quests, and the
third time is for seeing the quests out
3.2 Symbolic Wedding Items

Traditional ceremony includes the system, laws and ethics of the social meaningfully. Modern
ceremony means formation of the activities which is relevant to courtesy. The items we use in the
ceremony is also a symbol to the ceremony. With the change of the society and people's values, the
activities and items are given a whole new modern meaning.
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328
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3.3Research and Development Proposal
After the literature discussion and content analysis, the symbols of items using in wedding ceremony
and process are concluded in Chart 7. For the years of experience performing bride set and
participating in ceremonies, the study is expected to convert the symbols to products. The future
study will focus on examining the process of simplified modern wedding ceremony and the relative
items used in it and try to design items suit for modern wedding.
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332
4. Referenes
1. 薛保瑕(2002-12-01)。財團法人國家文化藝術基金會文化創意產業概況分析調查編號：
（91）
055.606。委託單位 : 行政院經濟建設委員會(頁 61)。
2. 樹德科技大學行銷管理系周政德、蘇玟鈴(2011)。婚紗產業市場分析及行銷策略之探索性研
究。
3. 邱文科 (2004), “台北市婚紗攝影業經營策略之研究” ，元智大學管理研究所。
4.王景海、陳志、邢世杰、楊德宏 (1992 年 4 月 )。中華禮儀全書 (頁 309)。長春市 :
長春出版社。
5. 弓英德(1995 年 7 月 14 日)。臺灣商務。ISBN：9789570511284。
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ASMSS-3043
High Performance Work Practices and Organizational Citizenship Behavior of
the Star Class Hotels in Sri Lanka : Unlocking the Employees’ Black Box
Dr. Prasadini Gamage
Senior Lecturer
Department of HRM, University of Kelaniya
Kelaniya, Sri Lanka
prasadinigamage@yahoo.com
Abstract
This study examines the impact of the High Performance Work Practices (HPWPs) on the
Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) of the employees in the star class hotels in Sri Lanka via
mediating Organizational Justice (OJ) and Organizational Commitment (OC). This is a multi-level
study. The population of the study consists of all the star class hotels ranging from one to five star
located within Colombo City and the Greater Colombo Region, which is a total of 22 hotels.
However, only 15 hotels have participated in the survey due to various reasons.
The main and the specific objectives of this study is to identify the most prominent HPWPs that is
adopted by star class hotels in Sri Lanka for their frontline employees, to identify the relationship
between the HPWPs and OCB of employees in the star class hotels in Sri Lanka via mediating OJ
and OC, to understand the impact of the adoption of HPWPs as a bundle vs isolated on OJ, OC and
OCB, to than understand the overall and dimensional perspective of the relationships between
HPWPs, OJ, OC and OCB of the employees in star class hotels in Sri Lanka.
In order to accomplish the objectives of this study, a two structured questionnaires is administered.
To assess the HPWPs, the data is obtained from a sample of 200 senior managers including either the
General Manager or the Chief Executive Officer in the sampled hotels. To gather the information
pertaining to the frontline employees’ OJ, OC and OCB, a separate questionnaire is distributed
among the 500 employees and only received a response from 239. To analyze the data to test the
hypotheses of this study Oneway Anova, Perasons Correlation, Multiple Regression Analysis, Sobel
Test, Exploratory Factor Analysis and Cronbatches’ Alpha are used.
The statistical results of this study revealed that although there is no direct relationship between the
HPWPs and OCB, an indirect relationship exists between the HPWPs and OCB via OJ and OC. Also
OJ and OC are significant mediators on the relationship between HPWPs and OCB. There are 22
HPWPs adopted by star class hotels in Sri Lanka to enhance the performance of their frontline
employees. Moreover there is a significant difference between the adoption of HPWPs and the nature
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of Star Class. There are positive and significant relationships between the HPWPs, OJ, OC and to
except the relationship between the HPWPs and OCB.
Keywords: High Performance Work Practices, Organizational Justice, Organizational Commitment,

Organizational Citizenship Behaviour
Introduction
In the contemporary business environment, organizations have to carry out their business activities in
a highly competitive manner (Agarwala, 2002). As a result of the stiff competition improvement in
organizational performance has become a very challenging undertaking.
The association between the HRM and performance is based on two main conditions. The first is that,
as a result of using HR efficiently, an organization can gain a competitive advantage (Barney, 1995).
The second condition is that, the effective utilization of HR would depend on the application of the
distinctive combinations of practices or as a bundle of practices which are popularly known as
high-commitment, high-involvement or highperformance HRM practices (HPWPs) (Becker &
Huselid, 1998; Becker & Gerhart 1996; Delaney & Huselid, 1996). During the past three decades
scholars have made a tremendous effort to study the relationships between the HPWPs and
organizational performance (Becker & Huselid, 1998; Becker & Gerhart 1996; Delaney & Huselid,
1996). These practices were tested in many settings (hotels, hospitals, manufacturing firms, schools,
audit firms etc.) and in many different countries (USA, UK, Japan, Korea, India, Taiwan, China,
New Zealand etc.) However the HPWPs can shape and change the organizational culture by altering
and changing the employees’ attitudes and behavior (Wreight, McMahan & Mcwilliam, 1994).
The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between the HPWPs and employee
discretionary behavior; organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) through mediating attitudinal
variables; organizational justice (OJ) and organizational commitment (OC).
Literaturer Survey
High Performance Work Practices (HPWPs)

The study of high performance work practices is an important area in Strategic Human Resource
Management (SHRM) but only a few studies have been conducted so far. (Delery, 1998). However a
number of studies have showed that there is a positive link between the HR practices and firm
performance. In 1996 Delaney and Huselid investigated by taking into account non-profit and for
profit firms whether the methods used by an organization to manage its human resource can have a
substantial impact on the many organizationally relevant outcome performance measures. The
findings of the research showed that progressive HRM practices are positively related to the firm’s
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performance. Ahmad and Schroeder (2003) who conducted a research considering data of 107 plants,
found that there is a positive relationship between the HRM practices, employment security,
selective hiring, self-managed teams, use of compensation contingent on organizational performance,
the extent of training, reduced status distinctions, sharing of information. There is enough evidence
to prove that the methods used by an organization to manage its human resources can have a
substantial impact on many organizationally relevant outcomes (Delery, 1998). But all the
organizations do not use the same bundle of HR practices and it varies from one organization to
another as well as from one industry to another. Gong et al (2010) considered the relationship
between HPWPs and OCB through affective commitment. The study was based on six HPWP’s; (1)
selective hiring, (2) participation in decision making, (3) high pay on performance, (4) extensive
training, (5) promotions within, (6) career planning and advancement. Thompson & Heron (2004)
accepted the following as HPWPs in their study; (1) information sharing; (2) sophisticated
recruitment, (3) induction, (4) training, (5) team working, (6) interpersonal development, (7)
performance feedback, (8) involvement, (9) organizational level rewards. Gupta and Singh (2010)
have found six HPWP’s namely; (1) empowerment, (2) merit-based promotions and
performance-based pay, (3) competency development, (4) information sharing, and (5) selective
staffing, (6) flexible job design and tried to link them with OCB. Most of the HPWPs have a positive
significant relationship with OCB (Dizgah, Gilaninia, Alipour & Asgari, 2011; Guptha & Singh,
2010). Lee and Kim (2010) found that in Korea, HPWPs are positively and significantly related to
OCBs. According to the various studies done, about 14 practices have been identified as HPWPs
namely; (1) employment security, (2) selective hiring, (3) self-managed teams, (4) extensive training,
(5) sharing of information, (6) performance management, (7) empowerment, (8) high wages, (9)
promotions within, (10) symbolic egalitarianism, (11) Grievance handling,
(12) quality of life/work, (13) Incentive pay, and (14) Employee Ownership (Becker &
Huselid, 1998; Becker & Gerhart, 1996; Delaney and Huselid, 1996; Lee & Kim, 2010; Pfeffer, 1994;
Thompson & Heron, 2004).
Organizational Justice
Organizational justice has become one of the most interested topics among the scholars who carry
out research in the fields such as HRM, Organizational Behaviour and Industrial Psychology. OJ
emphasizes on the fairness of policies of the organizations such as pay systems, promotion policy,
transfer policy etc. People in the organizations are highly concerned with how their performances are
being rated, promotion decisions are taken, transfer policies, pay raises, and selection decisions are
taken. These decisions are based on the procedures in the organization. Organizational Justice has
been operationalized into three dimensions namely; Procedural Justice, Distributive Justice and
Interactional Justice. (Deconinck, 2010; Liljebren & Ekberg, 2010; Sweeney & Mcfarline, 1993).
Cropazano et al., (2007) stated that the organizations must have fair practices related to hiring,
performance appraisal, reward systems and conflict minimizing which resulted in improving the
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employees’ perception about the organization. A considerable number of studies have been
conducted to establish the link between procedural and interactional justice and OCB. However the
results were not consistent (Moorman et al, 1993; Moorman 1991, Konovsky & Pugh, 1994).
Moorman (1991) found that the perceptions of OJ will positively influence the dimensions of the
OCB except in civic virtue and only interactive justice has the significant relationship with the
dimensions of OCB. Organ (1988, 1990) showed two reasons as to why fairness supports OCB. He
says by taking into consideration
On the relationship between the performance appraisal and OCB, results show that there is a sense of
fairness and satisfaction in the process of performance appraisal and in the method of performance
appraisals effect on the employee OCB (Matiaske & Weller, 2005). Tansky (1993) examined the
relationship between OJ, OCB, OC and also the quality of the supervisory /subordinate relationship
and found that there is a positive relationship between the overall justice and OC. Podasakoff and
MacKenzie (1993) investigated the relationship between perceptions of procedural justice and OCB
by controlling job satisfaction and OC. And they found that when the relationship between OJ and
OCB were controlled and that there were no relationships between OC and OCB and job satisfaction
and OCB. Procedural justice is related to a greater extent with OC, OCB and productivity than
distributive justice (Viswesvaran and Ones, 2002).
Organizational Commitment (OC)

Organ (1977) argued that the reason for not linking the employees’ work attitudes and organizational
performance is that attention is paid on wrong performance. Instead of considering the traditional
in-role performance it is more meaningful to link work attitudes with the discretionary extra-role
behaviors like OCB. This is because from the workers’ side they have the control over execution of
OCB than the in-role performance. Hence work attitudes are more strongly related to enhance extra
role behavior than organizational performance. (Organ, 1977). One of the most significant
antecedent of OCB is OC. OC refers to “the relative strength of a workers’ identification with and
involvement in a certain organization” (Mowday et al, 1982). Hence OC is an attribute which
contributes voluntarily for the betterment of the organization. O’reilly and Chatman (1986) and
Becker (1992) found that there is a significant relationship between OC and OCB. OC has become
very popular and has received attention over the last two decades because organizations want their
workers to enhance their performance and productivity. There is three types of commitment;
affective commitment, continuance commitment and normative commitment.
There are a number of studies which investigated the relationship between affective commitment and
OCB (Moorman, et al., 1993; Organ & Ryan, 1995). The argument here is when the worker is
psychologically attached to the organization, he or she is than motivated to make a lot of
contributions to the betterment of the organization. Zaman et al., (2010) found that 28% of variance
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in OC has been explained by both procedural justice and distributive justice. When the organization
implements good practices to enhance performance it helps workers to build up positive feelings
about the HR practices within the organization. If the employee has favorable feelings about the rules
and procedures of the organization, it will create OC about the work place. Workers who display
high OC are more likely to engage in many behaviors such as OCB and high performance and which
are believed to be beneficial to the organization (Chung, 2001).
Organizational Citizenship Behaviour

According to Organ (1988) OCB means the supportive and discretionary behaviors showed by
employees which go beyond the normal work requirements. From recent times, OCB has generated a
considerable amount of scholarly attention since this behaviour resulted in the enhancement of
performance. During the past two decades OCB has become an important research area for the
scholars since it contributes to the enhanced efficiency and effectiveness of organizations. Most of
the research that is carried out is to find out the antecedents and consequences of OCB but not to
elaborate the concept of OCB. Smith et al., (1983) labeled altruism and generalized compliance as
the two dimensions of OCB. Five years later Organ (1988) suggested five dimensions of OCB
namely; altruism, conscientiousness, sportsmanship, curtsey, civic virtue. Williams and Andewrson
(1991) categorized OCB as the organizational focused and interpersonal focused OCB. Van Dyne et
al. (1994) proposed another five dimensions namely; obedience, loyalty, participation, helping and
voice. However these dimensions overlap with each other. For example From recent times, research
on OCB has been gradually shifting towards the service industry. The literature shows the
dimensions of service oriented OCB as loyalty, participation and service delivery. (Podsakoff and
MacKenzie, 1997).
Tang and Tang (2011) examined the influence of HPWPs on the service oriented OCB through
justice and service climate and found that service and justice climate mediates the relationship
between HPWPs and OCB.
Problem Statement
For the purpose of this study, the researcher intends to consider the star class hotels in Sri Lanka
since it is one of the most booming industries in the future, especially so due to the end of war.
Because of the peaceful situation in the country not only the foreigners but also the local guests have
started visiting various places in the country. Currently the tourism sector is the 5th largest foreign
income earner of the country (Annual Report, 2013, Central Bank of Sri Lanka).
The following table shows the summary of customers’ satisfaction ratings given to the number of
star class hotels located in the Colombo city area.
338
To get a better understanding about the customers’ satisfaction of the star class hotels the researcher
did a survey by taking into consideration the comments given by both the foreign and local guests
about their total satisfaction. For the purpose of the survey the researcher randomly selected ten
hotels located in the Colombo city ranging from one to five star (two hotels from each category).
The comments given by the guests through the web were also considered. As shown in Table 1.1,
nearly 50% of the guests who stayed at the one star hotels were not satisfied (42% rated it as terrible),
two star class 37%, three star class 30%, four star class 28% and five star 32% that were not satisfied
with the hotels and rated the service either poor or terrible. It is obvious that a considerable number
of guests who stayed at all the categories of star class hotels were not satisfied.
One possible way to accomplish this goal is to encourage the employees to display extra role
behavior known as OCB than in-role behavior. A considerable number of studies have demonstrated
that HPWPs elicit attitudinal (OJ, OC, perceived organizational support, job satisfaction etc.) and
behavioral outcomes (Innovative behavior, OCB etc.) of employees. If an organization adopts the
various types of HPWPs and utilizes them as a bundle of practices which than leads to creating
among the employees the perception on fairness, which than results in the improving of OC which in
turn, yields discretionary behavior. So far around 27 HPWPs have been identified by scholars
though conducting studies in various fields.
The following are the main and specific research issues of the study:
1. What is the relationship between the HPWPs and OCB of the employees in star class hotels in
Sri Lanka via the organizational justice and organizational commitment?
2. What is the relationship between the HPWPs and organizational justice, organizational
commitment and OCB of the employees in star class hotels in Sri Lanka?
Objectives of the Study

1. To identify the relationship between the HPWPs and OCB of the employees in the star class
hotels in Sri Lanka via mediating organizational justice and organizational commitment.
Research Framework
This is an explanatory model and shows the nature of the hypotheses of the study which are set out in
dramatic form. According to the model the independent variable will be the High Performance Work
339
Practices (HPWPs). The dependent variable of the study is the OCB. There are two intervening
variables in the study namely the organizational justice and organizational commitment.
Figure 01: Research Framework
Hypotheses of the Study

The following are the main hypotheses of the study and the researcher has derived nine hypotheses
based on past literature
H1 Higher the adoption of HPWPs higher the Organizational Citizenship Behavior of employees in
star class hotels in Sri Lanka.
H2 Higher the adoption of HPWPs higher the Organizational justice of employees in star class hotels
in Sri Lanka.
H3 There is a positive relationship between HPWPs and Organizational Commitment of employees

in star class hotels in Sri Lanka.
H4 There is a positive relationship between HPWPs, OJ,OC and OCB of employees in star class
hotels in Sri Lanka
Study Setting, Design and Sampling

Study Setting , Sample
There are 22 star class hotels located within Colombo City and Greater Colombo. For the purpose of
the study the researcher wishes only to include the star class hotels located within the Colombo City
and Greater Colombo.
340
This study is a multi-level study since the population for this study consisted of the respondents that
belong to the two levels. Those are the senior managers and the front line employees. The managerial
category consisted of the HR manager/director and other senior managers from the each sampled
hotel including the GM or CEO. The study population for senior manager category is 200 managers
representing the 22 hotels located within the Colombo city and Metropolitan area. However in
research the theoretical model consist of several variables and the question arises on how can one
decide the sample size (Sekaran and Bougie, 2009). As in Sekeran and Bougie (2009) Krejcie and
Morgan (1970), they formulated a table to decide the appropriate sample size to represent a certain
population size. Such a table provides the generalized scientific guideline for the sample size
decision
(Sekeran and Bougie, 2009). According to the information available there are approximately 200
senior managers that are working in the sampled hotels and as such, that number is the study
population in this study. In order to represents a study population of 200 the required sample size is
140 (Krejcie and Morgan; 1970 as in Sekaran and Bougie, 2009).
In addition, to assess the mediating variables and the dependent variable of the study the researcher
intended to collect the data from the frontline employees. By 2010, there were nearly 10,000
employees that have been working in star class hotels island wide (Annual Report, 2010, Sri Lanka
Tourism Development Authority) and that is the target population of this study. Hence 4,000 was the
study population of this study. According to the statistical table formulated by Krejcie and Morgan
(1970) as in Sekeran and Bougie, (2009) the required sample size is 351.
Data Collection Method

In order to gather information from the frontline employees, 500 questionnaires were distributed
among 15 hotels but only 249 were returned. However, only 239 questionnaires were in a usable
state. The response rate from the frontline employees was nearly 67%. However the response rate is
sufficient since in most of the research carried out in gathering data pertaining to employees
perceptions, attitudes and behavior the response rate was less than the response rate in the current
study (Sun et al., 2010). Hence the researcher distributed 200 questionnaires to the sampled hotels
and has received response only from 68 of the respondents. The response rate of the managers to the
questionnaire was nearly 34%. The response rate of most of the multi-level studies which are similar
to the current study are even lower than 50%. (Tang &Tang, 2010; Wei et al., 2010)
Testing of the Hypotheses

As the next step of the study, the researcher has made an attempt to test the hypotheses.
H1 Higher the adoption of HPWPs, the higher the Organizational Citizenship Behavior of the
employees in the star class hotels in Sri Lanka.
341
H2 There is a positive relationship between the HPWPs and Organizational Justice of the
H3 There is a positive relationship between the HPWPs and Organizational Commitment of the
A ccording to the results of the correlation analysis the correlation between the HPWPs and
OCB, OJ and OC. The objective is to test if there is an association between the HPWPs and OJ,
OC and OCB. The r value for HPWPs and OCB is .409 which is not significant (r=.409; p>0.01).
H1 cannot be accepted.
The r value for HPWPs and OJ is .754 which is more than .3 and the p value is less than .001 (r=.754;
p<0.01). Hence there is a positive significant association between the HPWPs and OJ. H2 can be
accepted. The r value for HPWPs and OC is .581 which is more than .3 and the p value is less
than .001 (r=.581; p<0.05). Hence there is a positive significant association between the HPWPs and
OC. H3 can be accepted. Further the statistical results of the regression analysis shows R square
value for HPWPs and OJ is .569. This means that only 57% of the variation in OJ is explained by
HPWPs. R square values for HPWPs and OC and OCB .338 and .168 respectively. It implies that the
HPWPs are responsible for both the 34% variation in OC and also the 17% variation in OCB.
H4 There is a positive relationship between HPWPs, OJ,OC and OCB of employees in star
class hotels in Sri Lanka
To test the 4th hypothesis of the study Multiple Regression Analysis was used.
The Equation: OCB = .178 + 0.197(HPWPs) + 0.415(OJ) + 0.697(OC). Thus for every unit increase
in the HPWPs, OCB will be increased by 0.197 provided the OJ and OC remain unchanged.
Similarly for every unit increase in OJ the OCB will be increased by 0.415 provided that HPWPs and
OC remain unchanged. For every unit increase in OC, OCB will be increased by 0.697 provided that
HPWPs and OJ remained unchanged.
Based on the standardized Beta coefficient s, the effect of Organizational justice on OCB is two
times more than the effect of the HPWPs on OCB. The p–value for HPWPs is 0.532 which is more
than 0.05. Thus, HPWPs is not a significant predictor of OCB. The p-value for OJ and OC are less
than 0.01. Hence OC and OJ are significant predictors of OCB.
The 95% confidence interval for HPWPs is [-.867and .474] where the value 0 falls between the two
intervals and again HPWPs is not a significant predictor of OCB. The 95% confidence interval for
the OJ falls between .220 and 1.049 where the 0 doesn’t fall between the two intervals. Thus OJ is a
significant predictor of OCB. The 95% confidence interval of OJC falls between .194 and 1.588. It
implies again that OC is a significant predictor of OCB. For OJ, OC and HPWPs the Zero–order
correlation values are more than 0.3.
342
However the partial correlation of the HPWPs and OCB, when controlled for the effect of OJ and
OC on OCB, is very small in magnitude. Similarly the part correlation is also very small in
magnitude.
These results indicate that HPWPs has no effect on OCB. In contrast the part and partial correlation
of both OJ and OC with OCB are more than 0.3. The VIF values are below 5 indicates that there is
no problem of multi collinearity.
The R square value is 0.421, which means that 42.1% of the variation in OCB can be explained by
OJ, OC and HPWPs. The Durbin–Watson statistic of 1.676 is not too far from
Findings and Discussion
HPWPs and the Organizational Citizenship Behavior

The statistical results of this study revealed that there is a positive relationship between the
HPWPs and Organizational Citizenship Behavior (r=.409; p>0.01). However the lationship is
not significant. Hence the H1 can’t be accepted. Moreover the results of the regression analysis
for the HPWPs and OCB show that 16.8% of the variation in OCB is explained by the HPWPs.
The findings in this study are somewhat controversial with the previous studies. Few scholars have
examined the relationship between the various HR practices and OCB (Lee and Kim, 2010). Sun et
al., (2007) examined the relationship between the HPWPs and the OCB by taking the hotels in China
as a sample. They found that there is a significant positive relationship between the HPWPs and
OCB. Pare and Trembly (2007) found that the HPWPs have an indirect impact on the OCB via
affective commitment and procedural justice. Lee and Kim (2010) have done a study that by taking a
sample of 209 employees representing the 19 firms in Korea, they found that there is a positive
relationship between the commitments based HR practices and OCB.
HPWPs and Organizational Justice

The statistical results revealed that there is a positive significant relationship between the HPWPs
and OJ of employees in the star class hotels in Sri Lanka (r=.754; p<0.01). Hence the H2 can be
accepted. The results of the regression analysis shows that 56.9% of the variation in the
Organizational justice is explained by the HPWPs. It implies that the HPWPs are responsible to
enhance more than 50% of the Justice Perceptions among the employees. The findings of the current
study are consistent with previous research. Farndale et al., (2010) investigated the relationship
between the sub set of HR practices and their commitment of the organization via organizational
justice.
343
The word organizational justice (OJ) is defined by Greenburg (1980) as the individual workers
perception and also the reaction about fairness in an organization. Individual workers react to the
decisions taken by an organization. The individual workers’ perception about these decisions as
being fair or unfair resulted in their subsequent attitudes and behavior. Hence the workers perception
about fairness is a very important aspect to an organization since fairness affects the workers
attitudes and behavior about work. Especially the employees that engage in a field like the hospitality
industry where the most important aspect is to make the customers happy. To make the customers
delighted, the employees have to play a vital role. In other words when the employees specially the
frontline employees who deal with customers directly, perform well, it effects customer satisfaction.
Hence it is recommended to the practitioners, particularly in the hotel industry to adopt good HR
practices to enhance the justice perception of the employees in order to accomplish their ultimate
goals of making the hotels profitable.
HPWPs and Organizational Commitment

According to the results of the statistical analysis there is a positive significant relationship between
the HPWPs and Organizational Commitment of the employees in the star class hotels in Sri Lanka
(r=.581; p<0.01). Further, the results of the regression analysis reported that 33.8% of the variation
in the organizational commitment is explained by HPWPs.
Hence H3 can be accepted. These finds are a line with findings of the previous research.
Agarwala (2003) identified the association between the innovative HR practices and OC. The results
further revealed that the adoption of innovative HR practices was the most significant predictor of
OC and not their significance of achievement of organizational goals or managers’ satisfaction of
implementing those practices. Nasurdin et al., (2008) investigated the relationship between the HR
practices, Organizational support and Organizational commitment. The results of the study
demonstrated that the HR practices have positive and significant relationships with the organizational
commitment. Wright et al., (2005) found that HPWPs are strongly related to OC and organizational
performance. They argued that both HPWPs and organizational commitment are significantly related
to operating costs and profitability of the organization. It implies that when the employees are
managed with HPWPs, they become more committed to the organization. Thus the Organizational
commitment leads them to display role behavior or performance.
Conclusion
The principal purpose of this study was to identify the impact of HPWPs on Organizational
Citizenship Behavior by mediating Organizational Justice and Organizational Commitment of the
frontline employees in the star class hotels in Sri Lanka. The findings of this study open a new
window to understand both the strategic human resource management and organizational behavior.
One of the main contributions of this study is to establish a very important cross –level model for
344
OCB literature and also to identify the relationship by using multiple level of analysis. The findings
revealed that HPWPs as a predictor of Organizational justice, Organizational commitment and
finally OCB. These findings may direct researchers and practitioners specially hoteliers to
understand the relationship between HPWPs and perceptions, attitudes and behavior of employees.
This study provides a valuable contribution by joining two disciplines SHRM and organizational
behavior.
However less attention has been paid by the researchers to study the impact of HPWPs on employees’
attitudes and behaviors. The researchers argued that there is a link between HPWPs and performance.
And it is not a direct link. Firstly as a result of adopting effective HR practices by the organizations,
employees change their perceptions, attitudes and behavior in a positive manner. Ultimately those
perceptions, attitudes and behaviors of employees, improve the organizational performance. And this
mechanism is popularly known as unlocking the employees’ black box (Macky and Boxall, 2007).
The study found that there are positive significant relationships between HPWPs and OJ,OC and
OCB.
The study further revealed that the indirect impact of HPWPs on OCB is greater than the direct
impact of HPWPs on OCB when two mediating variables; OJ and OC are controlled.
It implies that as a result of adopting HPWPs, employees’ behavior do not change directly. It
happens as a result of changing and shaping their perceptions and attitudes toward the organization.
One of the main contributions of this is its explanation on of the mechanism of how HPWPs improve
OCB of frontline employees in hotels. The reason for the same is that instead of directly
responding to these HPWPs, employees take action according to what they perceived about these
practices. (Tang and Tang ,2011). This study empirically provides evidence to prove such notion is
true since the indirect impact of HPWPs on OCB via mediating Organizational justice and
Organizational Commitment is greater than the direct impact of HPWPs on OCB.
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Room D, 2F
2015/8/27 Thursday 08:45-10:15
Session Chair: Prof. Noor Abidah Mohd Omar
ISLLLE-1204
Enhancing Scientific Communication by Coordinating Spoken Explanations with Visual PPT
Presentations
Dan Yu︱Tokyo Institute of Technology
Tadaharu Ishikawa︱Tokyo Institute of Technology
ISLLLE-1185
Teacher’s and Students’ Perceptions on the Implementation of Project-Based Approach in an
EFL Class
Sirinthorn Seepho︱Suranaree University of Technology
Nillawan Newprasit︱Suranaree University of Technology
ISLLLE-1251
Enhancing Communication Skills in English through Experiential Learning
Noor Abidah Mohd Omar︱Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
Abdul Halim Abdul Raof︱Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
Adlina Abdul Samad︱Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
Ghazali Bunari︱Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
Rohaya Kahar︱Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
Masdinah Alauyah Md Yusof︱Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
ISLLLE-1198
The Needs of Pragmatics Principles in Teaching and Learning Malay Language as a Foreign
Language
Zaitul Azma Binti Zainon Hamzah︱Universiti Putra Malaysia
Siti Amhar Abu︱Universiti Putra Malaysia
Zalina Mohd Kasim︱Universiti Putra Malaysia
348
ISLLLE-1244
Effects of Educational Background and Culture Practice on the Polite Words and Polite
Expressions Used in Students Communication
Pabiyah Toklubok︱Universiti Putra Malaysia
Zaitul Azma Zainon Hamzah︱Universiti Putra Malaysia
Siti Amhar Abu︱Universiti Putra Malaysia
ISLLLE-1266
ESL-EFL Buddy System in an ESL Summer School Immersion Program
Masdinah Alauyah Md Yusof︱Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
Abdul Halim Abdul Raof︱Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
Adlina Abdul Samad︱Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
Ghazali Bunari︱Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
Noor Abidah Mohd Omar︱Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
Rohayah Kaharf︱Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
349
ISLLLE-1204
Enhancing Scientific Communication by Coordinating Spoken Explanations with
Visual PPT Presentations
Dan Yu
Department of Environmental Science and Technology, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan
danielyu1988@gmail.com
Tadaharu Ishikawa
Department of Environmental Science and Technology, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan
riversky@depe.titech.ac.jp
Abstract
Language usually refers to the system of spoken words and written symbols used in human
communication. In the field of science and engineering, the communication process contains other
elements, including formulae, figures, and graphs. These elements convey specific meanings to
people in the same discipline; just as in ordinary language, there exist established conventions as to
how they should be used. Viewed from this perspective, formulae, figures, and graphs can be
regarded as “the language of science and engineering.” Nowadays, PowerPoint (PPT) has become
the most common tool for communication, education, and research presentations in science and
engineering. PPT allows information to be presented visually, in an unprecedentedly colorful and
dynamic way with abundant detail. Consequently, the language of scientific communication has
evolved from an oral to a visual level. It is assumed that this “visual language” can compensate for
inadequate speaking ability. This study addresses the question of how to make full use of the “visual
language” of PPT in research presentations. Questionnaires were designed to evaluate the PPT
presentations of students in water environment laboratories. Data were collected and analyzed using
statistical and quantification methods. The results show that presenters with little speaking ability can
improve their success rate by focusing on communicating one main point and the logical progression
of ideas when planning PPT slides for a presentation. In addition, for all presenters, it is crucial to
coordinate PPT slides with an accompanying spoken explanation.
Key words: scientific communication; language of science; visualization; quantification analysis
Introduction
Background
Communication is a process that uses various techniques to exchange information between
individuals or within a group of people [1] [2]. Science and engineering students usually
communicate by talking, sometimes with visual aids; in most cases, communication involves a
350
combination of the two techniques [3]. For example, a student or a lecturer will often present an idea
by writing equations or drawing sketches on a whiteboard while at the same time explaining the
concept. Within the domain of science and engineering, equations and figures are symbols with
particular meanings that people who share a discipline can be expected to understand. Certain rules
govern the way equations should be written and figures drawn. As these equations and figures can be
considered a language of science, science and engineering students have in effect two languages: the
one they hear and the one they see (aural and visual languages) [4] [5].
Japanese students, especially those who study science and engineering, often find it difficult to
deliver oral presentations at international conferences where English is the official language. As they
spend most of their time doing calculations on the computer or performing experiments, they have
little time to improve their spoken English. As a result, they often receive poor evaluations for
research that is actually very well done [6].
At the same time, the visual language mentioned above has developed remarkably during the past
twenty years [7]. Computer-based PPT has replaced relatively primitive tools, such as whiteboards,
slide projectors, and OHPs (overhead projectors). As a result, once colorless figures and graphs have
become colorful; a static and fixed visual language has become dynamic and flexible [8]. This
technological evolution parallels the transition from radio to television. When listening to the radio,
we must focus on language to take in all of the information being communicated; when we watch TV,
the situation is quite different, as vivid onscreen images make it relatively easy to understand what is
going on. Visual messages are apparently much more effective than audio messages in the
communication process [9]. Given the widespread use of PPT and computers, oral presentations no
longer rely on the spoken word as they did previously. This change can help to compensate for a
presenter’s inadequate speaking skills. It should also be possible to improve oral presentations by
sensibly combining the spoken and visual languages.
Purpose
First, this study attempts to verify the hypothesis that the effective use of PPT can enable presenters
who do not speak English well to nevertheless give good presentations. Second, this study aims to
identify the key factors and general qualities that characterize good PPT presentations, in order to
offer innovative advice to all students, and in particular to those whose spoken English is poor.
Methodology
Participants and Context
Certain requirements must be met when selecting research objects. First, to simulate actual
presentations at an international conference, sample English oral presentations are necessary. In
addition, the presenters must be science or engineering students. Second, to ensure that the research
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process can be repeated continuously, there should be a large number of samples, including both
good and bad examples. Third, the cooperation and feedback of an audience are indispensable.
Given the requirements above, the Water Environment Unit of the Tokyo Institute of Technology was
chosen as a study site. This unit consists of three laboratories that include about 30 undergraduate,
Master’s degree, and doctoral students. The majority of these students are Japanese. International
students from China and Thailand make up about one-third of the group.
In the Water Environment Unit, a joint seminar is held once a week. During each seminar, several
students are asked to make ten-minute PPT presentations to introduce their research. These
presentations are followed by a short discussion between the presenter and the audience. The whole
seminar is video-recorded.
Procedures
A questionnaire survey was the main method used in this research project. Audiences used
questionnaires to evaluate seminar presentations; the completed questionnaires were used to
investigate the correlation between presentation pattern and presentation effect. The survey was
carried out in two stages. The results of the first stage provided content for the second stage. Finally,
video recordings of the presentations were analyzed to identify techniques that could be used by
students with inadequate oral English to achieve effective presentations.
Step 1 Evaluation of the Basic Elements Involved in an Oral Presentation

In the first stage, the basic elements of a presentation were classified into the following general
categories: A) Structure, B) PPT file, C) Speaking, and D) Gestures. A final element, E) Overall
impression, was also evaluated.
A questionnaire was accordingly designed to discover how these basic elements influence an
audience’s impression of presentation excellence. The data was initially analyzed using Principal
Component Analysis to identify the most important factor among A, B, C, and D. To minimize the
impact of individual differences relating to nationality, grade, study theme, and English proficiency,
it was necessary to separate the students into groups for further study. Cluster Analysis was therefore
applied to classify the students in accordance with their similarities. The two methods were then
combined for further analysis.
Step 2 Breakdown Analysis of the PPT File

The first step revealed that B (PPT file) was the most important component in a presentation. To
explore this finding further, in Step 2, the PPT file was broken down into the following 8 aspects:
Main point, Compactness, Symbolism, Relevance, Consistency, Continuity, Dynamism, and
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Viewability. To correlate these factors and determine which ones were most influential, Factor
Analysis was applied to extract the core aspects of the PPT file.
Step 3 Reevaluating Video Recordings Using Comprehensive Indexes

The final stage aimed to identify key points that could improve the presentations of speakers with
poor spoken English. At the same time, this stage attempted to identify the key qualities common to
all good presentations. Comprehensive indexes of the criteria for evaluating oral presentations were
created using the findings from Steps 1 and 2. These indexes were used to reevaluate the presentation
videos. Quantification Ⅱ was then applied to analyze the data collectively rather than individually.
Since each student had at least two chances to deliver a presentation during the research period, and
most of them made progress, their performances were compared both vertically and horizontally to
isolate factors that caused presentations to improve.
Data Analysis and Discussion

1. The Key Element Influencing PPT Presentations
During the initial stage (June–August 2014), our goal was to identify the most important factor in
determining the quality of a presentation. Presentations include four basic elements, as Alley M. has
pointed out: speech, structure, visual aids, and delivery [10]. Using an evaluation sheet, both basic
factors and the overall performance were evaluated, as follows:
A. Structure: the main point and logic of the presentation should be clear.
B. PPT file: visual information should be easy to see (font size, color, arrangement of figures and
graphs).
C. Speaking skills: this mainly refers to proficiency in spoken English.
D. Involvement with the audience: this refers mainly to gestures and other forms of interaction with
the audience.
*E. The audience’s overall impression of the presentation
A seven-point grading scale was adopted (1: poor, 4: average, 7: excellent).
At this stage, 31 presentations were used as samples. The average value of each item was calculated
for each presenter and used as the input data for data analysis (Table 1).
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Principal Component Analysis was applied to isolate the most important factor (A, B, C or D) in
evaluating a presentation. Judging from the eigen value of each component, the most important
principal component was the overall performance (Table 2), confirming expectations. The second
most important principal component was the PPT file; the third was “Structure” and the fourth
“Gestures.”
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Although “Speaking” was not one of the four principal components, it is certainly an important
element. However, our results suggest that speaking may not be the decisive factor in a good
presentation. In some cases, even though the presenters could not speak fluent English, their
presentations were still considered very good.
Since the 2nd component was the PPT file, the most important factor (out of A, B, C, and D) was B,
the PPT file. After examining the correlation between the 1st principal component and the overall
impression, which agreed very well (as shown in Fig. 1), our next step was to check the correlation
between the 2nd component and the overall evaluation. The influence of the 2nd principal
component on the overall evaluation reflects the important role played by PPT files in presentations.
Due to individual differences between the students (including grades, study themes, and English
proficiency levels), they cannot be compared directly. For this reason, Cluster Analysis was used to
categorize the students into three data groups (as shown in Fig. 2), based on similar presentation
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scores for items A, B, C and D [11].
The correlation between the 2nd principal component and the overall evaluation was then checked. It
can be seen in Fig. 3 that, within each cluster, the 2nd principal component score was positively
related to the overall evaluation. That is to say, the higher a PPT file score was, the better the overall
evaluation was likely to be.
There were some exceptional cases. Presenters 1, 4, and 28 had well-made PPT files but received
very low overall evaluation scores. Presenters 16, 21, and 22 had poor PPT files but received high
presentation scores. A review of these presentations revealed that presenters 1, 4, and 28 had such
poor spoken English that their speaking scores were the lowest in the group. Presenters 16, 21, and
22 were international students who spoke English every day; their speaking scores were therefore
very high. These factors are likely to have contributed to the overall evaluation scores.
2. The Most Influential Factors in a PPT File

Having confirmed that the PPT file was the most important factor in a presentation, during the next
stage of the project (October–November 2014), the PPT file was broken down into its components to
isolate the most influential factors. In accordance with their functions [12], the following 7 aspects of
PPT files were analyzed (see below). The PPT and presentation were then evaluated as a whole.
Eight Key Aspects of a PPT File

1. The main point of the presentation is displayed onscreen.
2. Compactness: points are displayed using key words instead of crowded text.
3. Symbolism: the explanation is presented symbolically and made to appear concrete.
4. Relevance: the logical progression of ideas is clearly presented, in particular through
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chronological order and cause and effect.
5. Consistency: the PPT slides and spoken explanations are well coordinated.
6. Continuity: the transition between slides promotes continuous understanding.
7. Dynamism: animation is used effectively.
8. Viewability: the font sizes, colors, figures, and graphs are easy to see.
*9. Comprehensive evaluation of the PPT file
*10. Overall impression of the presentation
A seven-point grading scale was applied (1: poor; 4: average; 7: excellent).
Table 3 shows the original 2nd stage data; the 8 elements listed have some common features. Factor
Analysis has been used to extract the core elements of the PPT file and to consolidate the 8 elements
into a smaller set of factors with no loss of information [13]. The results are shown in Fig. 4. The
first factor incorporates Relevance, the Main Point, Continuity, and Consistency; the second factor
incorporates Symbolism and Dynamism; and the third factor incorporates Visual Effect and
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Compactness.
These three factors can be regarded as three new parameters for assessing the quality of a PPT file.
The 1st factor stands for the content of the PPT file (the main point, and the logical progression of
ideas). The 2nd factor relates to the impact and effectiveness of the animation; the 3rd factor stands
for the audience’s visual experience, in other words, viewability.
3. Analysis of Video Recordings of Seminar Presentations

Quantification II Analysis with Comprehensive Indexes
Thus the general correlation between the basic factors and presentation excellence was investigated.
Drawing on the results of steps 1 and 2, the evaluation items were modified and comprehensive
presentation indexes were created:
A. Important information is highlighted

B. Good continuity
C. Concrete/Symbolically expressed explanation
D. Viewability
E. Speaking skills
F. Coordination of speaking and PPT
*G. Interesting
*H. Overall evaluation of the presentation
It is worth mentioning that the primary purpose of a scientific presentation can be to inform,
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persuade, inspire, or entertain; in most cases, it is a combination of several purposes [10]. A review
of the video files showed how important it was for an audience to consider a PPT file or presentation
interesting; for this reason, G (“Interesting”) was added to the list of indexes.
Using the indexes above to review videos enabled us to identify the qualities that characterized good
presentations. Rather than analyzing individual presenters, the data was analyzed collectively and
qualitatively. As the students had many different attributes, Hayashi’s Second Method of
Quantification (Quantification Ⅱ) was applied to ensure statistically significant results [14].
The presenters’ performances were classified into 3 categories: 1, poor; 2, average; 3, excellent.
Items A, B, C, D, E, F, and G were set as variables X1, X2, X3, X4, X5, X6, and X7 respectively. H
corresponded to the Y variable. The results are shown in Table 4.
Axis 1 stands for the relationship between categories 1 and 2 (poor and average presentations).
Similarly, Axis 2 stands for the correlation between average and excellent presentations. Judging
from the partial correlation coefficient (Table 4), it is clear that for Axis 1, the influence order of the
7 factors is:
X4 > X1 > X6 > X5 > X3 > X7 >X2 (in other words, D > A > F > E > C > G > B)
For Axis 2, the influence order is:

X1 > X3 > X4 > X2 > X7 > X5 > X6 (in other words, A > C > D > B > G > E > F)
From the results above, the following points can be inferred:

(1). A. Important information is highlighted and D. Viewability are the most influential factors on
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both Axis 1 and Axis 2. In other words, students wishing to improve their presentations should
highlight the most important information. PPT slides should be compact and easy to read.
(2). On Axis 1, F is quite influential. One difference between poor presentations and average ones is
that poor presenters do not use gestures or actions to connect their spoken commentary with the PPT
slides, for example by pointing at the screen while talking. Likewise, on Axis 2, factor C is very
influential; another difference between average and good presentations is that good presenters make
use of animation to enliven the information, so that ideas can be more effectively conveyed.
In order to identify techniques that can compensate for poor speaking ability, item E (Speaking) was
eliminated and the QuantificationⅡprocedure was carried out again. The results are as shown in
Table 5.
On Axis 1, A > D > F > G > C > B

On Axis 2, D > A > C > B > G > F
In other words, a presenter who speaks poorly should make sure the main point and key pieces of
information are impressive and clearly displayed in the PPT slides.
Comparison of Two Rounds of Presentations

As time passed, the participating students improved their delivery to some extent. One reason may be
that presentation content improved as the students’ research progressed. In addition, after listening to
the presentations of other speakers, some students may have adopted successful techniques used by
others in order to improve their own presentations. This sort of change is reflected in the overall
evaluation score.
During the research period, each student had at least two chances to make a presentation during the
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joint seminar. After two rounds of presentations, the overall evaluation scores of the 25 students were
compared. Fig. 5 shows the comparison results. The blue dots represent the initial presentation scores,
which are listed in ascending sort order. The red dots show the corresponding second presentation
scores. The bar graphs underneath show the differences between the two rounds. It is easy to see
from the average score that student performances improved in the second round. A review of the
video records confirmed that their spoken English had not improved much.
Out of all of the students, presenters 5 and 6 made the most remarkable progress. Comparing their
performances in the 1st and 2nd rounds, it was found that both had improved their PPT files in the 2nd
round. Student 5 initially presented PPT slides that were covered with equations and text and used no
animation. In the second round, these PPT slides were simplified, and included both key words and
animation. Student 6 initially presented PPT slides that were simple and crude, containing only
graphs; there was no connection between sections of the argument, and the main point was difficult
to grasp. As a result, the audience felt lost. One month later, this student’s PPT file featured key
words and guiding animation. By contrast, student 25 initially presented a very well designed PPT
and interacted well with the audience. In his second presentation, the PPT file was uninteresting, and
included only graphs and sentences.
Presenter 24 did quite well in both rounds. Not only were his PPT files the best designed, his
presentation was also well organized, with clear main points. His appropriate use of animation
engaged audiences and made his explanation very concrete.
Conclusions
(1) The PPT file is the most influential of the four basic elements in a research presentation, which
includes the structure (main point and logic), the visual aids (PPT file), and the speaking and
gestures.
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(2) Eight aspects of the PPT file have been analyzed, as follows: Display of main points in the slides,
Compactness, Symbolism, Relevance, Consistency, Continuity, Dynamism, and Viewability. These 8
items have been consolidated into three factors using Factor Analysis. The first factor relates to the
content of the PPT file—whether the main points and the logical sequence of ideas in the
presentation are clearly displayed in the PPT slides or not; the second factor involves the effective
use of animation. It is important to use animation properly to dramatically express the presenter’s
ideas and to symbolize abstract concepts; the third factor is the viewability of the PPT slides. Slides
that are compact and easy to read will improve PPT evaluation scores.
(3) When planning a PPT presentation, it is crucial to use slides to clearly present the main points
and the logical progression of ideas. This is especially important for presenters whose spoken
English is poor. When delivering presentations, students should focus on coordinating their spoken
commentary with the PPT slides. As audiences have to mentally process the information they see and
hear, PPT slides that link images and symbols with spoken words will make this process easier. The
presenter should point at the screen while talking, to show which fact or idea is being discussed.
Reference
[1] Berger A. A., Seeing Is Believing: An Introduction to Visual Communication, 1989.
[2] Lindsey Fisher, The Diffirent Types of Communication Mediums, Accessed Apr 15, 2015,
http://www.ehow.com/info_7955336_different-types-communication-mediums.html
[3] Aarti R., Four Types of Communication, 2013, Accessed Apr 20, 2015,
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/four-types-of-communication.html
[4] Deacon T. W., The symbolic species: The co-evolution of language and the brain, 1998.
[5] Collinge N. E., An Encyclopaedia of Language, 1990.
[6] Kim S., Academic oral communication needs of East Asian international graduate students in
non-science and non-engineering fields. English for Specific Purposes, 2006, 479-489.
[7] Duarte N., Slide: ology: The art and science of creating great Presentations, 2008, pp. xiv-xv.
[8] Gabrielle B R., Speaking PowerPoint: The new language of business, 2010.
[9] Reynolds G., Presentation Zen Design: A Simple, Visual Approach to Presenting in Today's
World, 2013.
[10] Alley M., The craft of scientific presentations: critical steps to succeed and critical errors to
avoid, 2003, pp. 8-10; 37-44.
[11] Romesburg C., Cluster analysis for researchers, 2004, pp. 2-31.
[12] Nathans-Kelly T, Nicometo C G., Slide rules: design, build, and archive presentations in the
engineering and technical fields, 2014.
[13] Bartholomew D J, Steele F, Galbraith J, et al., Analysis of multivariate social science data, 2008,
pp. 175-200.
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[14] Tanaka Y., Review of the methods of quantification, Environmental health perspectives, 1979,
32: pp. 113-118.
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ISLLLE-1185
Teacher’s and Students’ Perceptions on the Implementation of Project-Based
Approach in an EFL Class
Nillawan Newprasit*
School of Foreign Languages, Suranaree University of Technology, Thailand
nillawan.acom@gmail.com
Sirinthorn Seepho
School of Foreign Languages, Suranaree University of Technology, Thailand
sirin@sut.ac.th
Abstract
Project-based Learning (PBL) is one of the teaching approaches that has gained attentions from
educators and practitioners worldwide. However, PBL approach requires a fundamental shift in the
roles of teachers and students from traditional instructions. In PBL, a teacher serves not only as a
knowledge transmitter, but also as a facilitator and an advisor who organizes and stimulates the
learning process. Meanwhile, a student’s primary role is a member of a group who works
collaboratively with their group members and a director of their own learning. This study aimed to
explore the teacher’s and the students’ opinions on the implementation of the PBL approach in
learning English and the problems they encountered while engaging in the PBL approach. The
participants were 47 first-year students who were taking an English I course at a university in
Thailand. The PBL lessons were proposed. Student diaries, the teacher’s diary, and semi-structured
interviews were employed for data collection. The findings revealed that the majority of students as
well as the teacher expressed positive opinions on the PBL lessons, even though they encountered
some obstacles during the projects. Recommendations for pedagogical implication are also
discussed.
Keywords: PBL Approach, Project-based Approach, Project-based Learning, Teacher’s and

Students’ Opinions on PBL
1. Background
According to the report of the Ministry of Education of Thailand (2006), one obvious weakness of
most Thai students is inadequate English language skills. Although they spend more than ten years
studying English in primary and secondary schools, most of them are unable to communicate in
English effectively (Marukatat, 2012). One of the main causes contributing to the failure of English
language instruction in Thailand is inefficient English teaching methods. It is undeniable that the
learning and teaching of English in most classrooms in Thailand has placed more emphasis on
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grammar rules, rather than on actual language communication, although there has been the
discussion of contemporary teaching methodology. As a result, the majority of students cannot use
the English language functionally (Darasawang, 2007). To solve this problem, a number of educators
and language teachers have made attempts to improve their teaching methods by employing various
learning and teaching approaches such as Task-Based Learning (TBL), Content-based Instruction
(CBI), and Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), all of which help students to learn the
English language more effectively. Among several approaches that language teachers and
researchers have sought and experimented with, Project-based Learning (PBL) is one of the teaching
approaches that might be effective and appropriate for Thai students as evidenced by a number of
studies (e.g. Fujioka, 2012; Simpson, 2011; Siritararath, 2007). It was found that PBL was a
powerful approach for involving students in a real world experience with language used for real
communication purposes. Moreover, PBL is student-centered and has a tangible final outcome
(Fried-Booth, 2002). However, PBL approach requires a fundamental shift in the roles of teachers
and students from traditional instructions. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the teacher’s and
the students’ opinions on the implementation of the PBL approach in learning English and the
problems they encountered while engaging in the PBL approach. In order to reach these purposes,
the research question was formulated:
What are the teacher’s and students’ opinions on the implementation of the PBL approach in
teaching the English language and the problems they encounters while engaging in the PBL
approach?
2.1 Project-Based Learning in Second and Foreign Language Education
The PBL approach had been developed under the theoretical framework of constructivist theory,
which assumes that knowledge is constructed by learners as they attempt to make sense of their
experiences based on their existing knowledge (Cholewinski, 2009). According to the early
literature, the main reasons for integrating PBL into the language classroom were: (1) to provide
opportunities for learners to receive comprehensible input and produce comprehensible output; (2) to
provide opportunities to recycle knowledge in a natural context; and (3) to develop analytical and
time management skills (Beckett, 2006). Projects range from highly structured to highly
unstructured. Some projects are planned and determined by both teacher and learners (i.e.
semi-structured projects) whereas some projects may give learners freedom in defining their own
goals and directions (i.e. unstructured projects). Although there are a wide variety of projects, each
project shares similar characteristics.
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2.2 Characteristics of PBL
The PBL characteristics that contribute to the positive outcomes proposed by many educators and
researchers are consistent throughout (e.g. Hutchinson, 2001; Intraprawat, 2010; Stoller, 2006). The
primary characteristics of PBL are as follows: First, PBL focuses on the needs of the students rather
than the teacher. Students are encouraged to set their own learning goals and determine resources in
order to actively construct their own knowledge. Second, it focuses on the real world and its complex
problems; this approach allows teachers to engage students with real world tasks and allows students
to explore and discuss problems in ways that are relevant to them. Furthermore, students have
opportunities to use language for real communication purposes through project work. Third, project
work focuses on content learning rather than on specific language targets. Learners engage in
activities organized around content or themes that provide them with language learning opportunities
(Fujioka, 2012). Fourth, projects encourage student collaboration, either through pair work or small
group work, in order to create mutual understanding, find solutions, construct meanings, or produce
products. Finally, PBL requires learners to take responsibility for their own learning through the
collecting, processing, and reporting of data from various sources (Stoller, 2006). With these key
characteristics of PBL mentioned above, teachers and students are required to take very different
roles from teachers and students in a traditional teacher-fronted classroom.
2.3 Roles of Teachers and Students in the PBL Approach

The roles of teachers in PBL differ considerably from those in traditional teaching. In PBL, teachers
serve not only as a knowledge transmitter, but also as a facilitator, a designer and an advisor who
instigates, organizes and stimulates the learning process. This does not necessarily mean that
teachers have to be an expert on every topic that the students select; they can just be a facilitator to
help direct students (Guo, 2006). The change in the roles of the teachers, of course, results in
changes in the roles of the students. Instead of sitting passively to obtain input from the teachers, a
student’s primary role in PBL is as a member of a group who needs to work collaboratively on
projects with other group members. Apart from being a good teammate, they need to be a director of
their own learning. In other words, they are encouraged to plan, monitor, and evaluate their process
of learning (Moss and Van Duzer, 1998). In sum, PBL requires students’ active involvement and
participation in completing their projects.
2.4 Challenges in Implementing PBL

Although a number of research studies of PBL reveal many of its benefits, some worries of teachers
and students were raised and discussed. Firstly, project work is time-consuming (CELL, 2009;
Hutchinson, 2001). It takes more time to plan, prepare, make and present a project than it does to
prepare a lesson for the traditional classroom. Secondly, PBL seems to be a great challenge for
students who are used to teacher-centered classrooms (Gu, 2002). Students need to change
themselves from being passive to active learners. In other words, in PBL, students need to work
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collaboratively with group members and be a director of their own learning. In order to overcome
these challenges, the teachers need to plan carefully for the detailed steps of the PBL
implementation, teaching materials, timeline and so on.
In addition, they need to prepare themselves in terms of interpersonal, communication, and

management skills as well as teaching styles which are important in operating PBL (Buck Institute
for Education, 2013).
3. Methodology
3.1 Research Context and Participants
This study was conducted with an English I course, which is one of the five English language
requirements offered by the School of Foreign Languages, Suranaree University of Technology
(SUT). This course aims to develop students’ English language proficiency for effective
communication in social and academic settings (The School of Foreign Languages, 2013). The
duration of the course is thirty-six hours over twelve weeks. Students attend the class three hours a
week. The participants were 47 students at SUT taking the English I course in the second semester of
the academic year 2013.
3.2 Research Instruments and Data Analysis

3.2.1 Project-Based Learning Lessons
The 10-step PBL lessons were purposefully designed for incorporating into the English I course.
They were developed based on the principles of the PBL approach and adapted from the PBL
procedure proposed by Stoller (2002). These lessons aim to develop students’ overall language skills
in terms of language ability and learning process. Since English I course contains fixed content to be
taught in class, most of the PBL lessons were conducted outside the classroom and implemented by
the researcher as a teacher who guided and facilitated the students to complete the project. The
students were required to work in a group of six to seven members of mixed ability based on their
pretest scores. Each group was required to produce a 10-15 minute short video related to the themes
of the content of the English I course. Below is the PBL lessons which consisted of ten main steps:
Step 1: The teacher introduces the PBL approach and the project to the students.
Step 2: The students determine the topic and the final outcome of the project.
Step 3: The students and the teacher plan the project.
Step 4: The students gather information.
Step 5: The students submit the first draft of the project.
Step 6: The students submit the second draft of the project.
Step 7: The students submit the final draft of the project.
Step 8: The students prepare themselves and rehearse before producing the final product.
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Step 9: The students produce the final product.
Step 10: Students present the final product.
3.2.2 Student Diaries

A student diary was employed as a tool to explore the students’ opinions toward the use of PBL to
learn English. Every participant was required to write a diary during the project. In the diary form,
there were guided questions, such as “How did I feel when working in these steps?” and “What did I
learn in terms of language skills?”. These helpful questions made writing a diary easier for the
students to think of what to record and to help their responses aligned with the research question. The
data obtained from the diaries were analyzed through a content analysis.
3.3.3 Teacher’s Diary

A teacher’s diary was used in this study in order to investigate the teacher’s opinions on the
implementation of the PBL lessons. The researcher, as a teacher and project monitor, documented
the details about assigned activities, difficulties, possibilities and opinions of every step of the
implementation in the diary. Some guided questions were provided in the teacher’s diary, for
instance, “What tasks or activities did I do in this step?”, “How did I feel?”, “What problem did I
face in this step?” and “How did I solve them?”. The main purpose of the teacher’s diary was to keep
a record of what was done in the process of facilitating the students, what difficulties were
encountered and what solutions were employed for particular problems in each step. A content
analysis was employed to analyze the obtained data.
3.3.4 Semi-Structured Interviews

A semi-structured interview was used to gather additional data from the students. A list of
open-ended questions was predetermined by the researcher in order to guide the interview. 50% of
the students (i.e. twenty-five) were randomly selected to join in the interviews. The students were
interviewed in Thai to avoid communication problems. Each lasted approximately fifteen minutes. A
content analysis was used to analyze the transcribed interview data.
4. Findings
To elicit the teacher and students’ opinions on the implementation of the PBL approach in learning
English and the problems they faced while engaging in the PBL approach, three qualitative research
instruments were employed (i.e. the student diaries, the teacher diary and the semi-structured
interviews). After analyzing the data, the viewpoints of the teacher and the students were found in
multiple aspects as follows:
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4.1 The Students’ Opinions on the PBL Lessons
As found from the student diaries and the semi-structured interviews, the results revealed that most
of the students (96%) gave positive responses to the activities in the PBL approach as shown in the
following comments.
Subject 8: “I liked it because I could work in a team. I had more fun than working alone. We could
share ideas about what we should do and what we should not.”
Subject 20: “It was new for me. I had never done this kind of thing before, but I had chance to do it
this time. I think I could learn from this project more than the regular class….I liked it. It was fun.”
The most obvious reasons that made the students feel satisfied with the lessons involved four areas.
Firstly, the students preferred to work in groups rather than individually. This was because group
work allowed them to make new friends, particularly those students who were from different
faculties. Essentially, the more opportunities they had to work together, the more familiar they
became with one another. Additionally, the students realized that being part of a team helped them
developed their interpersonal and teamwork skills. In other words, the students were able to learn
how to work with friends harmoniously as well as to share ideas and also to help one another.
Secondly, the students reported that activities in the project work were challenging and exciting,
because they had opportunities to do a variety of challenging, interesting and enjoyable things that
they had never done before, for example, producing a short video or interviewing foreigners. Thirdly,
the students felt that they had more opportunities to learn and improve their English language skills
throughout their work on the project. Unlike learning in the traditional classroom, by working on a
project, the students had more opportunities to use and practice their language skills in real-life
situations. Lastly, the students appreciated the project work because they felt that they were able to
develop various skills at the same time, not only their English language skills, but also other
necessary skills, such as teamwork, technology, management, leadership and problem-solving skills
which were developed throughout the entire project.
4.2 The Problems That the Students Faced and the Solutions They Employed
Whereas the project work provided the students enormous benefits, challenges existed. The results of
the content analysis revealed three major problems that the students encountered as follows: First is
about the difficulties of time management. It is important to note that the students in the current
study were forty-seven first-year students from different institutes, who took English I course in the
second term of year 2013. Besides English I course, the students took the other five courses in this
term. Thus, all of them had quite tight schedules. Moreover, since the students took different courses
offered at different teaching periods, they had different learning schedule and free time. Therefore, it
was rather difficult for the students to arrange a meeting outside the classroom. This problem was the
most frequently reported in both the student diaries and the semi-structured interviews. However, in
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order to lessen the problem, the students had tried to communicate with their team members through
the use of email and social media such as “Facebook”.
Secondly, it was found that the students encountered the problems in using English language in
almost every step; particularly, the step of script writing (from step 4 to step 5). Many of the students
agreed that their problem was insufficient knowledge of English. To alleviate these problems, the
results revealed that the students tried to develop their English ability by self-learning and practicing
English from the Internet. Additionally, the teacher and their friends played important roles in
facilitating them to cope with these difficulties.
The last problem found was about disagreements or little arguments among group members.
Although ideas and opinions were needed from every member, sometimes different ideas could lead
to conflict among them. However, the students dealt with this problem by brainstorming solutions.
After that, they would choose the idea that everyone agreed with.
In sum, it can be concluded that most of the students had positive attitudes towards the PBL
approach. Only few of them had experienced uncomfortable feelings about it. Moreover, they
perceived that not only their English language ability was improved, but also other necessary skills
and ability were sharpened.
4.3 The Teachers’ Opinions on the Implementation of PBL

From the analysis of data, it was discovered that, overall, the teacher was satisfied with the PBL
implementation. There were three primary reasons leading to the teacher’s satisfaction. Firstly, the
PBL approach allowed the teacher to work with a small group of students (i.e. 6-7 students per
group). Consequently, it dramatically increased opportunities for the students to talk as well as to
work closely with the teacher. The extracts below were found from the teacher’s diary.
“I liked to have a small group discussion because I had more chances to talk to the students
individually and could understand each student’s problems. They looked more comfortable to talk to
me during a small group discussion.”
From the above extracts, they showed that the students were able to consult with the teacher in
specific points; for instance, the ways to plan the project and the methods to search for information
from the Internet. To simply put it, a small group work provided the students opportunities to discuss
with their teacher on a small particular topic that they might not have a chance to do in the regular
classroom.
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Secondly, it was discovered that the teacher was quite satisfied with the progress of the students;
especially, in the latter stages compared to the former stages. It was found that after the students had
obtained some guidance from the teacher in the beginning stages, the students seemed to have more
understanding about their roles in PBL approach. As a result, they were able to manage their work by
themselves.
Lastly, the teacher had noticed that the ten-step of the PBL lessons, which were planned in advance,
could facilitate the students to work on the project in step-by-step manner. Most of the groups were
able to follow the plan and present their progress, even though they needed to work very hard in
some stages like a production stage. In sum, the teacher’s attitudes towards the implementation of
PBL approach were positive because of the students’ achievements in terms of language skills.
However, implementing the PBL lessons was considered a challenging task for teachers. It was
because the teacher had to face a number of problems along the way.
4.4 The Problems That the Teacher Encountered and the Solutions Used
Major challenges from the teacher’s point of views were addressed as follows: first, the PBL
approach generated more work for the teacher when compared to the regular classroom instruction.
As for the PBL lessons, the teacher needed to supervise various groups of the students who worked
on different topics at different time and paces. Hence, the teacher needed to spend more time to
supervise each group, instead of teaching once for the whole class of students. To handle with this
problem, the teacher had arranged a clear timeline and deadline as well as mutually set the regular
date and time for the weekly meetings with the students. In addition to the challenge about extra
work hours described previously, another challenge was related to the fixed contents of the English I
course that every group needed to integrate into the project. In order to provide the maximum
benefits for the students, who were taking the English I course, the teacher had to work a little bit
more to make sure that the fixed contents from the course were incorporated into the project.
Second, whereas technology has provided a lot of advantages, it also has drawbacks. One of the
technological drawbacks was found in the steps of the script writing. The finding revealed that a
number of the students made a few attempts to construct the video script on their own. Instead, they
used “Google Translate”, a free translation program provided on the Internet, to do the job. However,
the teacher handled this problem by asking the students to rewrite their script by themselves without
using a translation program. Furthermore, to facilitate the students to write script, the teacher’s
explanations as well as some examples were provided to them.
5. Discussion
One plausible reason that made the implementation of PBL approach successful may be related to
the design or framework of the PBL lessons. As mentioned earlier, the content and procedure used in
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this study were purposefully designed for incorporating projects into the English I course and
supporting them to achieve the course goals. Thus, in order to strengthen English language learning,
the project should create an opportunity for the students to apply the language functions learned in
the classroom in new authentic situations outside the classroom. This idea is consistent with the
learning concept of Bloom’s Taxonomy at application level in the cognitive domain, which claims
that learners will have a better understanding if they have the opportunity to apply the rules or
concepts of what they have learned in new and concrete situations. In other words, learning
outcomes in this area require a higher level of understanding than those at the comprehension level.
In this study, one of the requirements was to integrate some parts of the content in the English I into
the project. It was found that this method not only provided opportunities for the students to use their
knowledge in new situations, but also motivated them to study it in detail because they wanted to use
it correctly and appropriately in the project.
Another explanation concerns the collaborative working environment of the PBL lessons. According
to Davis (1999), collaborative groups of between 4 to 10 students with different abilities, interests,
and styles seem to function successfully. She further explained that, although allowing students to
select their own group members might work well in small classes, it runs the risk of isolating some
students or creating cliques within the class. In this study, mixed-ability grouping was employed. In
mixed ability groups there are some students that are more proficient than others. The main aim of
setting up mixed ability groups is to increase interaction across students with different abilities. The
results indicated that the more capable students obtained benefits through giving help to their
teammates. This means that during the project the more capable students had the opportunity to
develop their leadership skills and enhance their self-esteem. Moreover, they improved their
cognitive skills by sharing their knowledge or instructing their less capable friends. As for the less
capable students, they gained advantages by being stimulated and guided by more capable peers.
The last reason relates to the role of PBL teacher. As predicted by the literature, teachers are
expected to adjust their roles during the use of the PBL approach for teaching. For this study, the
obvious roles of the teacher could be categorized into three major aspects. First, the teacher acted as
a facilitator who engaged in negotiation as well as stimulating and monitoring group discussion. For
example, the teacher needed to stimulate the students to speak English by talking to them in English
during the group discussion. Second, the teacher acted as a mentor who helped them figure out how
to complete their project following a model and how to explain what they wanted. Without
guidelines or models, the students might struggle with their work. The findings indicated that advice
and encouragement from the teacher was needed at every step of the project. Lastly, the teacher acted
as a co-learner with the students as they explore new topics. Thus, the teacher was willing to take
risks to explore areas outside her expertise. During the project, it was found that the teacher needed
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to search for a variety of materials by herself first and then encourage the students to do the same for
themselves.
6. Conclusion and Pedagogical Implications

The findings from this study have shown that the integration of PBL into the English I course could
lead to positive effects in terms of the teacher and students’ perceptions. However, in order to
achieve the better outcome, it is recommended that before starting to implement the project it is
necessary for teachers to introduce the PBL approach to students in order to make them see the value
of the PBL lessons. As pointed out by Beckett (2002), this approach may not be appreciated by all
students at all times. Some students may not feel comfortable with it for a variety of different
reasons, for example, some learners may prefer to work alone or some may feel that project work is
too time-consuming. Hence, the introduction step is considered to be very important because it not
only helps students understand more about this approach, it also helps them see the benefits they may
gain from it. These factors increase their motivation as well as leading to a more positive attitude
towards PBL. In addition, some example of final products should be shown to them in order to make
them have a clearer picture about the project.
In addition, PBL is a dynamic approach that requires teachers to adjust to their new roles. The
success of the PBL lessons greatly depends on sufficient support, guidance and feedback from
teachers. Nevertheless, it is not easy for teachers to help students overcome all the obstacles.
Therefore, it is necessary for PBL teachers to be patient and calm and to be determined to succeed. In
addition, they should be accessible, enthusiastic and caring so that students can feel at ease when
sharing their concerns. These characteristics lead to better communication, understanding and
ultimately better results.
7. References
Beckett, G. H. (2002). Teacher and student evaluations of project-based instruction. TESL Canada
Journal, 19(2), 52-66.
Beckett, G. H. (2006). Project-based second and foreign language education: theory, research, and
practice. In G. H. Beckett & P. C. Miller (Eds.), Project-based second and foreign language
education: Past, present, and future (pp.3-16). Connecticut, USA: Information Age Publishing
Inc.
Buck Institute for Education. (2013). What is project-based learning? Retrieved on August 15th,
2013, from http://pbl-online.org
Center of Excellence in Leadership of Learning. (CELL). (2009). Summary of research on
project-based learning. Retrieved on November 30th, 2012, from http://cell.uindy.edu
Cholewinski, M. (2009). An introduction to constructivism and authentic activity. Retrieved on
November 20th, 2012, from http://library.nakanishi.ac.jp
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Darasawang, P. (2007). English language teaching and education in Thailand: A decade of change,
English in Southeast Asia: Varieties, literacies and literatures Newcastle D. Prescott (ed.)
Cambridge scholars publishing, 187-204.
Davis, B. G. (1999). Cooperative learning: Student working in small groups. Speaking of Teaching,
10(2), 1-4.
Fried-Booth, D. L. (2002). Project work. New York: Oxford University Press.
Fujioka, K. (2012). Integrating project work in the EFL classroom. In Stewart, A. & Sonda, N.
(Eds.). JALT 2011 Conference proceedings. Tokyo: JALT.
Gu, P. (2002). Web-based project learning and EFL learners: A Chinese example. Teaching
English with Technology, 2(4), 4-41.
Guo, Y. (2006). Project-based English as foreign language education in China: Perspectives and
Issues. In G. H. Beckett & P.C. Miller (Eds.), Project-based second and foreign language
education: Past, present, and future (pp.143-155). Connecticut, USA: Information Age
Publishing Inc.
Hutchinson, T. (2001). Introduction to project work. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Intraprawat, P. (2010). Creating a teaching manual for project-based English instruction. (Suranaree
University of Technology, Nakhonratchasima, Thailand). Retrieved November 15 th, 2012, from
http://sutir.sut.ac.th:8080/sutir/
Marukatat, S. (2012, January 8). Poor English skills could leave Thais out in the cold. Bangkok post.
Retrieved on April 8th, 2013, from http://www.bangkokpost.com
Ministry of Education of Thailand. (2006). Strategic plan for reforming the English learning process
to accelerate national competitive ability (2006-2010). Bangkok: Author.
Moss, D. & Van, D. C. (1998). Project-based learning for adult English language learners.
Retrieved on December 24th, 2012, from http://www.cal.org /
Simpson, J. (2011). Integrating project-based learning in an English language tourism classroom in
a Thai University (Doctoral thesis, Australian Catholic University, North Sydney, Australia).
Retrieved on November 30th, 2012, from http://dlibrary.acu.edu.au
Siritararath, N. (2007). A development of the English oral communication course using project-based
learning approach to enhance English oral communication ability of Kasetsart University
students (Doctoral thesis, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand. Retrieved on February
14th, 2013, from http://202.28.199.12/tdc/basic.php
Stoller, F. (2002). Project work: A means to promote language content. In J. Richards & W.
Renandya (Eds.), Methodology in language teaching: An anthology of current practice (pp.
107-119). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Stoller, F. (2006). Establishing a theoretical foundation for project-based learning in second and
foreign language contexts. In G. H. Beckett & P. C. Miller (Eds.), Project-based second and
foreign language education: Past, present, and future (pp.19-40). Connecticut, USA:
Information Age Publishing Inc.
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The School of Foreign Languages. (2013). The school of foreign languages. Retrieved on April 13rd,
2013, from http://soctech.sut.ac.th/fl/st_u_eng.html
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ISLLLE-1251
Enhancing Communication Skills in English through Experiential Learning
Noor Abidah Mohd Omar

Language Academy Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Malaysia
abidah@utm.my
Abdul Halim Abdul Raof

m-halim@utm.my
Adlina Abdul Samad

m-adlina@utm.my
Ghazali Bunari
m-zali@utm.my
Rohaya Kahar
rohayahkahar@utm.my
Masdinah Alauyah Md Yusof

alauyah@utm.my
Abstract
Experiential learning in which students are purposefully engaged in direct experience is a method of
teaching that can be adopted for many situations. This paper therefore discusses how practices
related to experiential learning were adopted for a summer school programme which involved
participants from an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) setting who wish to enhance their
communication skills in English for study and communication purposes. What is unique about this
programme is that ‘the experiential learning’ was done in an English as a Second Language (ESL)
setting. The main objectives of the summer school programme are, among others, to build and
enhance confidence in communicating in English, to maximise opportunities for interaction in
English, and to provide exposure to the local culture and customs. Apart from formal instructions, the
participants had the opportunity to communicate in the English language during visits to cultural and
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historical sites.
Feedback obtained from this initial group resulted in a design of a two-week intensive course which
involved formal language instruction in language laboratory, visits to science and engineering
teaching and research laboratories at the university, visits to relevant industries, and visits to cultural
and historical sites. Another interesting aspect of the programme is that the participants stay in
campus residence and travel to their classes using the daily shuttle buses provided for all university
students. Thus, the participants will learn by doing, learn through experience, and learn through
discovery and exploration; hence, maximise their experience in learning and using the English
language.
Keyword: summer school program, experiential learning, communication skills
1. Introduction
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) is a leading public institution of higher learning in Malaysia
specializing in science and engineering programmes and research. In its continuous effort to raise its
ranking at the global level, all faculties are encouraged to establish academic and research initiatives
and collaborations with strategic partners around the globe. Currently, its partners include, among
others, University of Oxford, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT),
Tokyo University of Technology, University of Tsukuba and Shibaura Institute of Technology.
Initiatives are in various forms and one of these is the UTM Summer School Programme. Language
Academy (LA), UTM has been involved in providing English for Communication courses under the
UTM Summer School initiative. The course known as Oral Communication for Future
Professionals: Exploring the World of Engineering and Science through English are run for
two-three weeks depending on the students and institutions involved. This paper, discusses this
initiative which has involved three batches of Shibaura Institute of Technology (SIT) undergraduate
students from various faculties.
1.1 Brief Description of Programme and Participants

The initial group involved 29 SIT students who were required to attend and participate in a South
East Asia Technical Universities Consortium (SEATUC) symposium hosted by UTM in March
2014. In order to prepare them for their participation, UTM was asked to organize a course in
communication and oral presentation. For this, the students attended a two-week course prior to the
seminar which included formal language instruction, audits of engineering classes and oral
presentation activities and tasks. The second group which also involved 29 SIT students (Language
Academy, 2015) had similar oral presentation tasks. Each task is assessed so that students will be
informed of their performance. The assessment was also a requirement from SIT.
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In order to maximize students’ exposure and opportunities to communicate in the English language,
tasks informed by the experiential learning theory (Kolb, 1984) were adopted. This theory which
‘affirms the importance of experiential activities such as fieldwork and laboratory sessions’ (Healey
& Jenkins, 2007) has been adopted in various education and ESL situations (Knutson, 2003; Healey
& Jenkins, 2007). Based on the theory, individuals are said to create knowledge from experience
rather than just build knowledge from formal instructions. Therefore, in addition to the formal
language instruction, tasks such as interviews with locals and tourists at the various places visited
and oral presentations based on the information gathered through the interviews were included in the
course. In addition, they also had the opportunity to interact with other UTM students (local and
international) as they stayed in on campus accommodation and took the daily shuttle bus to get to
their classes. Staying on campus also means that they had to experience on campus life just like other
UTM students in terms of buying food and participating in other activities. Completion of tasks and
experience on campus are when the ‘experiential’ learning is expected to take place.
2. Methodology
Data was gathered from informal feedback from the first group and from an end of course
questionnaire from the second group. They were required to give feedback, reflections and
suggestions on various aspects of the course, ranging from the overall course content to ratings for
each course instructor. Feedback obtained from these groups was used to make adjustments and
improvements to future courses.
Feedback from the SIT coordinator and SIT lecturers in Tokyo was also obtained. This was done
face-to-face (whilst the SIT coordinator was in UTM) and during the visit by the Dean of Language
Academy and course instructors to SIT in Tokyo. Skype discussion with the SIT course coordinator
and students was also done.

Positive feedback was obtained from both groups on the overall course content and implementation.
The details are briefly described below.
3.1 Overall Evaluation of the Course

Feedback obtained from the initial group suggests that the students were generally happy and
satisfied with the course, although it was only for two weeks. Encouraging feedback was also
received from the SIT course coordinator who was also the person-in-charge of the International
Program Initiative Section, Division of Global Initiatives, SIT. In general, the students were satisfied
with the course content, the venue of the class, classroom facilities and the campus accommodation.
Responses from the second group also revealed similar feedback. Some comments obtained in the
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open-ended section of the questionnaire were:
I really enjoyed this course.
I am happy joining this programme.
This course is very interesting for me. I wanted to learn more English here.
Thank you for teaching and talking for 2 weeks.
I could improve my English presentation skills.
When asked about what they liked most about the course, majority of them quoted the trips they had.
Students in the first group had the opportunity to visit Malaysia’s famous historical city, Malacca
(about 2 ½ hour drive from Johor Bahru by bus), Japanese-Malaysian companies, and engineering
laboratories at UTM. Based on comments from the first group, more trips were incorporated into the
course for the second group. As a result, more than 70 percent of the students in the second group
rated Good/Excellent for the different places they visited. These places included visits to Johor Bahru
and Malacca, an Institute of Bioproduct Development (IBD) laboratory in UTM, an oil palm
plantation and factory, an ostrich farm and a crocodile farm. They especially liked the Merdeka
(Independence) Day celebration which was held in Johor Bahru city itself.
Their positive feedback was obviously reflected in their comments:

I want to visit Malaysia again.
Malaysia is a good place.
I’d like to have more trips.
Students in the second group also gave several suggestions for future courses: I want to interact with
more UTM students; We want to have more time to walk around, buy something, talk with people.
and I want more time to prepare for my presentations.
There were some reservations however to the course book used. Many students from both groups
reported this as one of the items that they ‘disliked’ about the course.
In sum, the students reported: I had many interesting experience.; It’s a good experience.; we had
good experience during our stay in Malaysia and I want to study at UTM again.
3.2 Evaluation of the Course Instructors

The students also gave good feedback on the course instructors involved. They were asked to rate the
instructors’ knowledge, delivery, response to students’ questions, and rapport with students. They
rated ‘Good/Excellent’ for all the instructors involved in the course. Generally, All teachers are very
good.; Teachers are so kind.; Teachers are friendly and helpful. and Instructors are very friendly.
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3.3 Improvements for Future Courses
From the comments received from these two groups, adjustments were again made to the course.
Since the students reported that they gained a lot of experience of the culture and local customs
based on the trips, the course that was conducted in early 2015, included more trips to cultural and
historical sites. Visits to teaching and research laboratories in UTM were also included in the
schedule to complement their academic input and exposure to the science and engineering
programmes offered and research done at UTM.
The recent course also incorporated a ‘Buddy System’ where each SIT student was paired with a
local UTM student. The buddies selected had basic knowledge of Japanese language. Thus, this
system not only created more opportunities for the SIT students to communicate in English but it was
also a good opportunity for the UTM buddy to improve their own competence in the English
language as they need to make themselves understood in their communication with the SIT students.
Of course, it was also a golden opportunity for the UTM students to improve their Japanese
language.
A different course book was used for the recent course in place of the one used previously. Formal
language instruction was retained in the recent course as this provided the language input needed for
the SIT students to perform the tasks given. Apart from this, the course schedule was also adjusted to
allow more preparation time for the presentation. This was deemed necessary by the course organizer
as the students were also required to include multimedia in their oral presentations. Necessary input
on this was also incorporated in the recent course.
4. Conclusion
Based on the encouraging feedback obtained, it is clear that the summer school course conducted had
benefitted the SIT students in many ways. Not only did they gain confidence in using the English
language but their awareness of the local culture and customs was also heightened by the many visits
included in the course. It is expected that with the recent addition of the buddy system, the summer
school course will be beneficial to other students.
5. References
Healey, M. & Jenkins, Alan. (2007) Kolb's Experiential Learning Theory and Its Application in
Geography in Higher Education. Journal of Geography 99:185-195.
Knutson, S. (2003). Experiential Learning in Second-Language Classrooms. TESL Canada
Journaurevue TESL Du Canada. Vol. 20. No. 2, Spring: 52-64.
Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development.
Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.
Language Academy. (2015). Laporan Jawatankuasa Summer School – Akademi Bahasa, UTM.
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Unpublished – UTM Language Academy Report.
381
ISLLLE-1198
The Needs of Pragmatics Principles in Teaching and Learning Malay Language
as a Foreign Language
Zaitul Azma Binti Zainon Hamzah*, Siti Amhar Abu, Zalina Mohd Kasim
Fakulti Bahasa Moden dan Komunikasi, Universiti Putra Malaysia
zazh@upm.edu.my
Abstract
In the teaching of Malay language as a foreign language, pragmatic knowledge has to be learnt so
that students are able to get knowledge of the use Malay language according to specific situations.
Thus, in the teaching and learning program of Malay language as a foreign language, pragmatic
principles disclosed in Malay is important to enhance communicative competence among its
students. Communicative competence includes three forms of competence, grammatical competence,
discourse competence, and strategic competence. Accordingly, this paper will explain the principles
of pragmatic need to be studied in the program of teaching and learning of the Malay language as a
foreign language and will also describe the ability of foreign students to express their ideas through a
variety of styles and forms of Malay language in order to assess their communicative competence.
The study was conducted using the method of literature review and field methods. A total of 100
foreign students were selected using purposive sampling technique. Data that was collected using
surveys, observations, and interviews will be analyzed using pragmatic theory propounded by Mey
(1998).
The study found that the exposure of pragmatic principles in the teaching and learning program of
Malay language as a foreign language can equip students with knowledge of the use of language
according to the specific situations. The findings also may explain the importance of learning the
principles of pragmatic in teaching and learning program of Malay language as a foreign language to
enhance the three forms of communicative competence among foreign students. Foreign students can
enhance social competence related to social and cultural knowledge of the Malay language, can
increase the competencies discourse related with the ability to pour a good idea, and ultimately
improve strategic competence through the use of a variety of different styles and shapes of the Malay
language in oral and writing.
Thus, it is clear that important pragmatic principles should be learned in the language and linguistics
program. Therefore, it is recommended that further research to be conducted to study the syntactic
and semantic inaccuracies in oral and written Malay language by foreign students in an effort to help
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foreign students improve their communicative competence in Malay language according to the
situations.
Keywords: pragmatic, Malay language, foreign languages, communicative competence
383
ISLLLE-1244
Effects of Educational Background and Culture Practice on the Polite Words and
Polite Expressions Used in Students Communication
Pabiyah Toklubok
Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication, Universiti Putra Malaysia
pabiyah@upm.edu.my
Zaitul Azma Zainon Hamzah

zazh@upm.edu.my
Siti Amhar Abu

amh@upm.edu.my
Abstract
Differences in educational background and culture determines the form of words and phrases used in
students communication. Thus, the aims of this study are to identify and analyze the forms and polite
expressions used by students from various educational backgrounds and cultural practices in their
communication formally and informally.
The study was conducted using qualitative methods. A total of 10 students from each category were
selected using purposive sampling technique. Data that was collected using observation, and
interviews were analyzed using Brown and Levinson (1987) model and pragmatic principles Mey
(1998 ). Before data were analyzed, some procedures are followed, ie defining and unifying discourse
that have the same function in the communication by the three categories of students in order to
identify the similarities and differences of form and polite expressions used by the three categories of
students in their communication.
The study has revealed that there are similarities and differences in terms of form and expression of
polite used by the three categories of students in their communication. English students education
background tend to use the term and the form and polite expressions as suggested in Brown and
Levinson's model, while the students with Malay and Arab educational background tend to use the
polite forms of words and polite expressions that emitting polite behavior in practice of Malay culture
and Islam.
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In addition, the study results also showed that the three categories of students using a combination of
politeness strategies as they honor their hearer. However, the polite form of words and polite
expressions used by the three categories of students depends on the conditions and types of formal and
informal relationships. Thus, this finding shows the situation and form of relationships also play an
important role in choosing the polite form of words and polite expressions among the three categories
of students.
In conclusion, this study can transmit a way for speakers to maintain the principles and values of
modesty in order to acknowledge and respect the diversity of education and culture among them.
Keywords: polite words, polite expressions, communication, educational background, culture
385
ISLLLE-1266
ESL-EFL Buddy System in an ESL Summer School Immersion Program
Masdinah Alauyah Md. Yusof

Language Academy, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
alauyah@utm.my
Abdul Halim Abdul Raof

m-halim@utm.my
Adlina Abdul Samad

m-adlina@utm.my
Ghazali Bunari
m-zali@utm.my
Noor Abidah Mohd. Omar

abidah@utm.my
Rohayah Kahar
rohayahkahar@utm.my
Abstract
A summer school immersion program for Japanese EFL learners was conducted, in a Malaysian
university setting, with the aim of enhancing the learners’ English language communicative ability.
This program incorporated the Buddy System and was also attended by an equal number of
Malaysian ESL learners with basic knowledge of the Japanese language. The Japanese learners were
given training in oral communication and exposure to the Malaysian culture. In addition, they were
also given more communication opportunities as a result of the buddy system. Apart from the formal
activities planned, the buddy system had created more opportunities for the Malaysian and Japanese
buddies to develop good friendship using English as the medium of communication. There seemed to
be a natural progression which extended beyond the formal classroom setting; informal outings to
explore local food, culture and places were organized by the buddies, and communicating the
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experiences gained via Facebook and journal entries.
The Japanese students stated that they had become more confident to speak in English especially
after spending some time with their buddies outside the classroom. The Malaysian students, likewise,
were happy to be given a chance to communicate and learn about the Japanese culture and language.
Furthermore, the Japanese organizers have noticed that their students have increased their confidence
in communicating in English. More students will be sent to participate in future summer school
programs.
Keyword: summer school program, Buddy System, communication
1. Introduction
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) has participated in various collaborative initiatives with
foreign institutions of higher learning from many countries. This cooperation has been valuable in
providing training and exposure to participating institutions, and has also given rise to new ideas and
perspectives to meet different purposes of those participating (Mytree, 2005). The UTM Summer
School program is one such example. It offers a range of interesting courses, conducted within two
or three weeks. The courses incorporate theories and practices together with social activities, and an
introduction to the local food and culture. The UTM summer school creates reciprocal partnership
through which participants exchange ideas, share experiences, discover new knowledge, and
establish network. Participants learn and have hands-on experience by participating in various field
trips and cultural programs.
Recently in March 2015, a third summer school immersion program was conducted by the UTM
Language Academy for the Shibaura Institute of Technology, Japan (SIT) where 11 Japanese students
participated (Language Academy, 2015). The aim of the program was to enhance the students’
English language communicative ability. The Japanese students were given training in English oral
communication where they were exposed to techniques and approaches of communication with
emphasis on task-based activities. To make the SIT students feel at home and enjoy their stay in
UTM, this program had also incorporated the Buddy System (refer to Language Professional website
for more details on this system) where an equal number of Malaysian students (11 UTM students)
with basic knowledge of the Japanese language were selected to become buddies to the SIT students.
Hence, apart from the formal classroom activities planned, the buddy system had created more
opportunities for the SIT and UTM students to develop good friendship using English as the medium
of communication. This paper will highlight aspects of the Buddy System found useful in the
summer school immersion program.
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2. Methodology
2.1 Participant and Instrument
A survey with all 22 students from SIT and UTM was conducted to determine the effectiveness of
the Buddy System and whether it should be continued for future summer school students who will be
attending the Language Academy’s oral communication course. The students were asked to reflect on
their experience socializing with their buddies either through formal activities such as cultural
sharing session or informal activities such as a tour around the campus and nearby places of interest.
2.2 Findings and Discussion

2.2.1 General Perception of the Buddy System
Overall, all the SIT and UTM students stated that the buddy system was good. Not only that they
were able to increase their confidence in communicating in English but they had also learnt new
vocabulary items (i.e. English and Malay words for the SIT students; Japanese words for UTM
students). The following are excerpts taken from the survey:
SIT1 I think buddy system is good. I could make an English study while talking with them…
I was taught Malay language not only English and learn Malay culture.
SIT2 To be honest, I was a bit tired to speak English since I was not used to speak English at all.
But my buddy is very kind … she always tried hard to understand what I said. And I think if it
had not been for buddy system, I didn't speak English very much because I'm shy. So I think
it is a good system.
UTM1 I'm also glad that I found buddies to practice my Japanese language with, and I'm sure
that the SIT students found buddies to brush up their English language.
UTM2 Besides, I accidently improve my English communication and gain a little bit knowledge in
Japanese language. Such as, “arigatou” is thank you, “onaka suita” is hungry,
“otsukaresama” is tired, and many more.
2.2.2 Improving English Communication Skills

When asked about their confidence in speaking in English, all 11 SIT students, who mostly have low
intermediate English language proficiency, stated that the buddy system has helped them to speak
better English. Some excerpts are listed below:
SIT1 …the relationship with the UTM students lift up my motivation for studying English.
SIT2 There are a lot of chances for practicing English in this course. And UTM students will be
friend, also they are kind. So, you can enjoy and improve English.
SIT3 UTM’s students and teachers are very kind. They help me to study English.
Similarly, the UTM students also felt that they were able to further improve their spoken English.
388
UTM1 I am grateful to be given such a wonderful experience to join the program because not only
I was given chances to sharpen my communicative skills, but the program itself had
provided me with some benefits.
UTM2 I always enjoy communicating with foreigners because it is one of the best ways for me to
sharpen my communicative skills using English language...In my humble opinion; this is a
very effective system in improving all of the participants’ communicative skills.
2.2.3 Culture Sharing Session

The students were also asked about the cultural sharing session that they had participated. Again,
majority of the students felt that the session was a good session as they can share and learn new
things about each other cultures which they could not get elsewhere.
SIT1 Culture share was good because it can experience the Malaysian culture, for example cloth,
food, game and so on.
SIT2 I think it is very exciting and fun because it is very exciting for me to know about Malaysian
culture and it is very fun for me to know each other and talk together. At the first culture
sharing session, I didn't know about Malaysia very much so I wanted to know about many
Malaysian cultures. I think it is very good chance to know about Malaysia. And there are
many delicious Malaysian food and we can try a lot of them. So it was very exciting.
UTM1 We also share our experience of studying in our country and the advantages and
disadvantages that we go through in our university life. By that we get to know what our
buddies go through in Japan in their everyday life and came to a conclusion that we share
some of the same things and some are a bit different. We also share about our hobby,
favourite food, drink, movie and books.
UTM2 First session was conducted by Malaysian students and the second one was Japanese
students. During both sessions, I have gained a lot of information mostly about Japanese
culture. How they perform their worship, their tradition and Japanese play and food. But,
the most interesting part was the interesting place to visit in Japan that they presented to us.
Japan have so many interesting and beautiful place to visit.
2.2.4 Continuation of the Buddy System

Finally, when inquired whether the Buddy System should be continued for other summer school
students, the following are the students’ responses.
SIT1 Yes, of course. I think it is a good system to lean English and make good relationship with the
buddy that's why I think so.
SIT2 Buddy system should be continued. I think guys who come to UTM want to make friends. So,
389
buddy system is a good opportunity to be able to make friends with UTM students. Not only i
learned English, but also was able to know the sense of values and i could make a pleasant
memory. Thanks to buddy system, i can learn English while contacting them even if i return
to japan.
UTM1 This buddy system should be continued for other exchanges students because without this
system, the exchange students will be too shy to talk with us.
UTM2 Besides, the application of Buddy System should be used continuously because it change
the way of communication between foreigners and the local students.
3. Conclusion
In conclusion, the results of the survey revealed that the Buddy System incorporated in the SIT-UTM
summer school program has not only benefited the Japanese students but also the Malaysian students.
Both groups stated that the system had allowed them to communicate actively with their buddies and
they were able to improve their English Language communication skills besides learning more about
each other’s culture and lifestyle. It was also recommended that the buddy system be continued to
benefit future UTM summer school students.
4. References
Malaysian Tropical Educational Experience (Mytree). (2015). Oral Communication for Future
Professionals: Exploring the World of Engineering and Science through English. Retrieved from
http://www.utm.my/mytree/ss02-oral-communication-for-future-professionals-exploring-the-wo
rld-of-engineering-and-science-through-english/
The Language Professionals. (undated). Buddy System. Retrieved from
http://www.thelanguageprofessionals.ch/_/en/page/45/Buddy-System
Language Academy. (2015). Laporan Jawatankuasa Summer School - Akademi Bahasa, UTM.
Unpublished - UTM Language Academy Report.
390
Culture / Society (1)
Room A, 2F
2015/8/27 Thursday 10:30-12:00
Session Chair: Prof. Wan Ibrahim Wan Ahmad
ASMSS-2790
Event and Quality of Life: A Case Study of Liverpool as the 2008 European Capital of Culture
Yi-De Liu︱National Taiwan Normal University
ASMSS-3036
The Tonal Systems and Phonetic Characteristics of Tones in Chiang Khan Loei
Supakit Buakaw︱Khon Kaen University
Wirat Wongpinunwatana︱Khon Kaen University
ASMSS-2888
Conservation Laws in Nonlinear Multi-Variable Competitive Systems
Lisa Uechi︱Waseda University
Hiroshi Uechi︱Osaka Gakuin University
ASMSS-2975
Ecology Politics of Forest: A Power Constellation of Natural Resources Management
Rita Rahmawati︱Djuanda University
Euis Salbiah︱Djuanda University
ASMSS-2872
Strengthening Local-Level Multi-Sectoral Coordination Mechanisms towards Effective
Implementation of Domestic Violence Protection in Thailand
Boonserm Hutabaedya︱Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University
ASMSS-3024
Conversation with an Expert: Differential Contributions of Personal, Family and Friends to
the Well-Being of Muslim Older Persons in Malaysia
Wan Ibrahim Wan Ahmad︱Universiti Utara Malaysia
Syarif Muhidin Abdurahman︱Universiti Utara Malaysia
391
ASMSS-2790
Event and Quality of Life: A Case Study of Liverpool as the 2008 European
Capital of Culture
Yi-De Liu
National Taiwan Normal University
yideliu@ntnu.edu.tw
Abstract
Events are emerging worldwide and are seen to have significant economic, cultural and social
impacts on the host city. However, too often, the host cities focused most of their efforts on funding
of events, with too little attention given to assess the impacts of event on residents’ quality of life
(QoL). Cultural events, with the European Capital of Culture (ECOC) as a prominent example, have
emerged as a means of improving the QoL of host cities in Europe. Based on a case study of
Liverpool as the 2008 ECOC, this paper aims at conceptualising the articulation between cultural
event and its wider QoL effects. Methodologically, both objective and subjective measures were used
to provide a more complete evaluation of the impacts of cultural event, including economic impacts
(i.e. the effects of tourism development and parallel urban regeneration), cultural impacts (the effects
of event programmes and volunteering as well as the increase of cultural participation) and social
impacts (the enhancement of civic pride, self-image and sense of place). It was done by drawing on a
series of official documents – Impacts 08 research programme, supplemented by academic
publications. To transmit the value of case study, this research provides also some suggestions for
implementing effective event-led strategies for QoL improvement, and the solutions for potential
challenges.
Keywords: Quality of life; Cultural event; European Capital of Culture; Liverpool
392
ASMSS-3036
The Tonal Systems and Phonetic Characteristics of Tones in Chiang Khan Loei
Supakit Buakaw*
Thai Language Department, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences,
Khon Kaen University, Thailand
supakitb@kku.ac.th
Wirat Wongpinunwatana
Thai Language Department, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences,
Khon Kaen University, Thailand
wirat@kku.ac.th
Abstract
The accent of Loei dialect is different from other dialects in the northeastern part of Thailand.
According to Brown (1965), Loei dialect was classified into Luang Prabang group of Laos. This paper
aims to explore the tonal systems and phonetic characteristics of tones in Loei dialect spoken in Chiang
Khan district of Loei province. The theoretical framework of the study is based on the checklist for
determining tones in Tai dialects (Gedney, 1972). The study of tones of Chiang Khan Loei is based on
the researcher’s fieldwork at 8 sub-districts of Chinag Khan, Loei province. From the analysis of the
tonal data of Chiang Khan Loei, the overall patterns of tonal mergers and splits of Loei, a dialect
spoken in Chiang Khan revealed that Chiang Khan Loei has the pattern of tonal merge and split
corresponding to the typical distinctive pattern of Lao dialects, i.e., the patterns of B1234, C1=DL123,
and C234=DL4.
Keywords: Thai dialects, Loei dialect, Lao dialects, Tonal system, Tai language family
1. Introduction
Loei is a province located in the northeastern Thailand. The accent of Loei dialect is different from
other dialects in the northeastern part of Thailand. According to Brown (1965), Loei dialect was
classified into Luang Prabang group of Laos. As mentioned in Brown (1965), Lao is spoken in part of
Lao (Lao People’s Democratic Republic or Lao PDR) and in northeastern Thailand. There are three
groups of Lao dialects: Luang Prabang group, Vientiane group, and Yo, as seen in Figure 1. The Luang
Prabang group is spoken from Luang Prabang down the Mekhong River to the Loei province of
Thailand. The Vientiane group is spoken throughout most of northeastern Thailand and central and
southern parts of Lao PDR. The Yo group is spoken in and around the Sakon Nakhon and Nakhon
Phanom Provinces of Thailand.
393
According to previous studies, there are researchers studying the tonal system of Loei dialect.
Hasannari (2003) studied the phonology of Luang Prabang language in order to compare them with
Lao Krung and Loei dialect spoken in Dan Sai district. It is found that there are 5 tones in Dan Sai
dialect of Loei Province. Akharawathanakul (2004) studied tone variation and change of the Lao
dialect in Loei province. It is revealed that tonal variation and change in both majority and minority
Lao induced by both internal and external factors. Moreover, the tonal systems of Lao dialects differ
from the patterns expected to have been derived from the typical distinctive patterns.
This paper aims to explore the tonal systems and phonetic characteristics of tones in Loei dialect
spoken in Chiang Khan district of Loei province. The research question is how the tones of Chiang
Khan Loei, which is spoken in 8 sub-districts of Chiang Khan district, vary at different locations.
2. Methodology
2.1 Framework
The theoretical framework of the study is based on the checklist for determining tones in Tai dialects
(Gedney, 1972). Gedney’s (1972) tone box display four categories of tones which are reconstructed in
the Proto-Tai language labelled as A B C in smooth syllables and D in checked syllables. The tone
splits and merger in each category are conditioned by four different classes of initial consonants of
each syllables: aspirated, unaspirated, glottalized, and voiced as shown in Figure 2.
394
2.2 Data Collection and Analysis
The study of tones of Chiang Khan Loei is based on the researcher’s fieldwork at 8 locations. There are
eight sub-districs of Chinag Khan district of Loei province: 1) Chiang Khan, 2) That, 3) Na Sao, 4)
Khao Kaeo, 5) Pak Tom, 6) Bu Hom, 7) Chom Si, 8) Hat Sai Khao. One female speaker (45-70 years
old) of each sub-district therefore was chosen for elicitation and recording of tonal data.
A wordlist of 20 monosyllabic words was prepared by adapting the wordlist of Gedney (1972) and
Akharawatthanakun (2003), as show in Table 1. The tonal data were recorded by IC recorder and
transferred to computer. The acoustic study of tones was conducted by using PRAAT program
(version 5.4.09) for finding the fundamental frequency (F0) and presenting phonetic characteristics of
each tone. Microsoft Excel was used to process the fundamental frequency (F0) of tones in the form of
line graph.
3. Results
395
The phonetic characteristics and number of tones at 8 sub-districts of Chiang Khan Loei (Chiang
Khan, That, Na Sao, Khao Kaeo, Pak Tom, Bu Hom, Chom Si, Hat Sai Khao) have been found as
discussed and summarized below.
3.1 Tonal System of Chiang Khan Sub-District
As can be seen in Figure 3, there are 5 tones in Chiang Khan Loei, spoken in Chiang Khan sub-district
and the phonetic characteristics of each tone are described as follows: Tone 1 High-Falling-Rising
[424] (A1 and DS123), Tone 2 Low-Rising-Falling [232] (A234), Tone 3 Low Level [22] (B1234 and
DS4), Tone 4 High-Rising-Falling [453] (C1 and DL123), and Tone 5 Low-Rising [23] (C234 and
DL4). The patterns of tonal merger and split in dialect of Chiang Khan sub-district can be concluded as
follows: A1-234, B1234, C1-234, DL123-4, DS123-4, A1=DS123, B1234=DS4, C1=DL123, and
C234=DL4.
3.2 Tonal System of That Sub-District
396
There are 5 tones in Chiang Khan Loei, spoken in That sub-district, as shown in Figure 4, and the tonal
characteristics of each tone are described as follows: Tone 1 Low-Falling-Rising [212] (A1 and
DS123), Tone 2 Low-Rising-Falling [121] (A234), Tone 3 Low Level [22] (B1234 and DS4), Tone 4
High-Rising [34] (C1 and DL123), and Tone 5 Low-Rising [23] (C234 and DL4). The patterns of tonal
merger and split in dialect of That sub-district can be concluded as follows: A1-234, B1234, C1-234,
DL123-4, DS123-4, A1=DS123, B1234=DS4, C1=DL123, and C234=DL4.
3.3 Tonal System of Na Sao Sub-District
As seen in Figure 5, there are only 4 tones in Chiang Khan Loei, spoken in Na Sao sub-district, and the
tonal characteristics of each tone are described as follows: Tone 1 Low-Rising [24] (A1), Tone 2
Low-Falling [121]/[221] (A234 and DL123), Tone 3 Low Level [22] (B1234 and DS1234), and Tone
4 Mid-Rising-Falling (C1234, DL4). The patterns of tonal merger and split in dialect of Na Sao
sub-district are different from other and can be concluded as follows: A1-234, B1234, C1234,
DL123-4, DS1234, A234=DL123, B1234=DS1234, and C1234=DL4.
3.4 Tonal System of Kao Kaeo Sub-District
397
Figure 6 shows the patterns of tones of Khao Kaeo sub-district. There are 5 tones in Chiang Khan Loei,
spoken in Khao Kaeo. The tonal characteristics of each tone are described as follows: Tone 1
High-Falling-Rising [434] (A1)/ Low-Rising-Falling [212] in checked syllables (DS123), Tone 2
Low-Rising-Falling [232] (A234), Tone 3 Low Level [22] (B1234), Tone 4 Mid-Rising-Falling [354]
(C1 and DL123), and Tone 5 Low-Rising [23] (C234, DL4 and DS4). The patterns of tonal merger and
split in dialect of Khao Kaeo sub-district are summarized as follows: A1-234, B1234, C1-234,
DL123-4, DS123-4, A1=DS123, C1=DL123, and C234=DL4 and DS4.
3.5 Tonal System of Pak Tom Sub-District
Figure 7 shows the patterns and numbers of tones of Pak Tom sub-district. There are 5 tones in Chiang
Khan Loei, spoken in Pak Tom. The tonal characteristics of each tone are described as follows: Tone 1
Low-Rising [23] (A1), Tone 2 Low-Rising-Falling [232] (A234), Tone 3 Low Level [22] (B1234),
Tone 4 Mid-Rising-Falling [343] (C1 and DL123), and Tone 5 Mid Level-Falling [332] (C234, DL4,
and DS1234). The patterns of tonal merger and split in dialect of Pak Tom sub-district are summarized
as follows: A1-234, B1234, C1-234, DL123-4, DS1234, C1=DL123, and C234=DL4 and DS1234.
398
3.6 Tonal System of Bu Hom Sub-District
Figure 8 shows the patterns and numbers of tones of Bu Hom sub-distict. There are 5 tones in Chiang
Khan Loei, spoken in Bu Hom. The tonal characteristics of each tone are described as follows: Tone 1
Mid Falling-Rising [312] (A1), Tone 2 Low Level-Rising [112] (A234), Tone 3 Mid Level [22]
(B1234), Tone 4 High Level [44] (C1 and DL123), Tone 5 Mid Level-Rising [334] (C234, DL4 and
DS1234). The patterns of tonal merger and split in dialect of Pak Tom sub-district are summarized as
follows: A1-234, B1234, C1-234, DL123-4, DS1234, C1=DL123, and C234=DL4 and DS1234.
3.7 Tonal System of Chom Si Sub-District
399
As can be seen in Figure 9, there are 5 tones in Chiang Khan Loei, spoken in Chom Si sub-district and
the phonetic characteristics of each tone are described as follows: Tone 1 Mid-Falling-Rising [323]
(A1), Tone 2 Mid-Rising-Falling [343] (A234), Tone 3 Mid Level-Falling [332] (B1234 and DS1234),
Tone 4 High-Rising-Falling [454] (C1 and DL123), and Tone 5 Mid-Rising [34] (C234 and DL4). The
patterns of tonal merger and split in dialect of Chom Si sub-district can be concluded as follows:
A1-234, B1234, C1-234, DL123-4, DS1234, B1234=DS1234, C1=DL123, and C234=DL4.
3.8 Tonal System of Hat Sai Khao Sub-District
Figure 10 shows the numbers and phonetic characteristics of tones of Hat Sai Khao sub-district. There
are 5 tones in Chiang Khan Loei, spoken in Hat Sai Khao sub-district and the phonetic characteristics
of each tone are described as follows: Tone 1 Mid-Rising-Falling [342] (A1), Tone 2 Low
Level-Rising [223] (A234), Tone 3 Low Level [22] (B1234), Tone 4 High-Rising-Falling [454] (C1
and DL123), and Tone 5 Mid Level-Rising [334] (C234, DL4, and DS123). The patterns of tonal
merger and split in dialect of Hat Sai Khao sub-district can be concluded as follows: A1-234, B1234,
C1-234, DL123-4, DS1234, B1234, C1=DL123, and C234=DL4 and DS1234.
4. Conclusion
From the analysis of the tonal data of Chiang Khan Loei spoken in 8 sub-districts, the overall patterns
of tonal mergers and splits of Loei, a dialect spoken in Chiang Khan can be summarized as shown in
Figure 11. Loei dialect spoken in Chiang Khan district has the pattern of tonal merge and split
corresponding to the typical distinctive pattern of Lao according to Akharawatthanakun (2004), i.e.,
the patterns of B1234, C1=DL123, and C234=DL4.
400
Even through the “Lao Ladder” or C1=DL123 and C234=DL4 is maintained in the overall patterns of
tonal mergers and splits of Chiang Khan Loei, it can be noticed that pattern C1=C234 is not maintained
in some speakers. The tone pattern of Na Sao speaker showed that there was 4 tones and the pattern of
C1=DL123 is not maintained. As for the tone C1/DL123 of Na Sao, there is a split between C1 and
DL123, in other words, there is no Lao Ladder in the tonal system of Na Sao. A tone comparison of 8
sub-district of Chiang Khan reveals that the tone of C1 and DL123 are rising-falling or rising tones. It
can be hypothesized that the low-falling tone of DL123 in Na Sao probably are borrowed from
standard Thai or Lao Isan.
5. References
Akharawathanakul, P. (2003). Tone change: A case study of the Lao language. Ph.D. Thesis,
Chulalongkorn University. [In Thai]
Akharawatthanakun, P. (2004).Tonal variation and change in dialects in contact: A case study of Lao.
MANUSYA: Journal of Humanities 7 (1), 56-95.
Brown, J. M. (1965). From ancient Thai to modern dialects. Bangkok: Social Science Association
Press.
Gedney,W. J. (1972). A checklist for determining tones in Tai Dialect. In M. Estellie Smith (ed.),
Studies in Linguistics in Honor of George L. Trager (pp. 423-437). The Hague: Mouton.
Hasannari, S. (2000). The Lao Luang Prabang phonology: A comparative study with Lao Khrang in
Thachin river basin and Lao Dan Say. M.A. Thesis, Silpakorn University. [In Thai]
401
ASMSS-2888
Conservation Laws in Nonlinear Multi-Variable Competitive Systems
Lisa Uechi
Department of Computer Science & Engineering, Waseda University, Japan
uechi@aoni.waseda.jp
Hiroshi Uechi
Osaka Gakuin University, Japan
uechi@ogu.ac.jp
Abstract
We studied a conservation law of a system of symmetric 2n-dimensional nonlinear differential
equations by employing Lagrangian approach and Noether’s theorem in order to analyze
Lotka-Volterra type of competitive system. A conservation law along with stability and recovering
phenomena, characteristic patterns of a nonlinear dynamical system have been examined, and we
discussed possible new interpretations about Lotka-Volterra type dynamical interactions, which is
applied to physical, biological, and ecological systems.
The relation between a conserved system and Lyapunov function is shown in terms of Noether’s
theorem, and applications to competitive systems described by a 2-dimensional nonlinear dynamical
(ND) model with external perturbations are shown to certain examples from microbes to mammals.
The famous 10-year cycle of population density of Canadian lynx and snowshoe hare is numerically
analyzed. We find that a nonlinear dynamical system with a conservation law is stable and generates
a characteristic rhythm (cycle) of population density, which we call the standard rhythm of a
nonlinear dynamical system.
The stability and restoration phenomena are strongly related to a conservation law and the balance of
a system. The standard rhythm of population density is a manifestation of the survival of the fittest to
the balance and stability exerted by a nonlinear dynamical system.
In this report, we show 4-dimennsional nonlinear dynamical model, and we are looking for any
suggestions and data for specific problems to apply our method.
1. Introduction
The concepts of stability, conservation law, symmetry are important in order to understand natural
phenomena in physical, biological [1], and engineering systems [2, 3, 4, 5]. In our previous study, we
proposed the model of 2n-dimentional nonlinear dynamical model which has many quadratic terms
402
of nonlinear competitive interactions and studied the relation between a conservation law and the
stability of a 2n-dimensional competitive system and restoration phenomena [6, 7].
When nonlinear systems are studied in terms of conservation laws, they suggest interesting
properties of the nonlinear systems [8, 9]. In reality, it is not possible to know at the outset what kind
of conservation laws and nonlinearity exists in a complicated interacting system, such as ecosystems
of mammals [10, 11], microbes [12], systems of cells and organs [13, 14]. They are highly evolved
and interacting systems. It is hoped that the analysis of nonlinear systems with conservation laws
would help understand nature in a profound level.
We specifically show a stable and 4-variable conserved nonlinear dynamical system in the following
discussions, and we hope that the 4-variable nonlinear approach and conservation laws may find
useful and practical applications in ecosystems and biological systems.
2. 4-Variable ND Model
The 4-variable model for a conserved nonlinear dynamical system (CNDS) is described as follows,
where coupling constants,α1,α2,…and d12, d21,… represent interaction strength among species (x1,
x2, x3, x4), and c1, c2,…are arbitrary constant values, which represent strengths of external
perturbations or effects (such as, temperature changes, reductions of species by hunting or fishing,
etc., as cases may be. They may be external inputs expressed as pulse-like forms using
step-functions).
The conserved quantity of 4-variable CNDS is derived from invariant variational method in
dynamics. The derivation is based on Noethers’ theorem in mechanics to find conserved quantities in
complicated nonlinear systems.
403
Following theoretical discussions of invariant variational method in dynamics [6, 7], the 4-variable
CNDS is expressed as follows,
The physical quantities or species (x1, x2, x3, x4) change in time, but the sum of the combination
given by (2.5) is constant in time as shown in Fig. 3.1 (b). We call the function Psi-function. It may
have a role of Hamiltonian or Lagrangian in a mechanical system, however, one should note that Ψ
-function does not have any velocity (time-derivative) terms, showing no individual mechanical
energy terms. Those terms look like potential energy terms in order to conserveΨ-function as a
constant value. However, the interpretation of Ψ-function depends on nonlinear systems that
researchers are working on.
3. Results
In order to obtain numerical solutions to nonlinear differential equations (2.1) ~ (2.4), one needs to
have appropriate coupling constants and initial conditions. Experiences with nonlinear differential
equations help so much to obtain numerical solutions, and any choices of nonlinear coefficients and
initial conditions usually result in no solutions, or non-convergence of solutions.
It is a strenuously difficult task to find parameters which generate solutions to (2.1) ~ (2.4). It
indicates the fact that solutions to nonlinear differential equations are not continuously obtained by
changing nonlinear coefficients and initial conditions. Combinations of certain values of initial
starting values, x1(0), x2(0), x3(0), x4(0); nonlinear interaction coefficients and nonlinear interactions
are allowed to determine admissible solutions. Hence, a problem pointed out to Lotka-Volterra
type equation known as atto-fox problem is not an intrinsic problem for LV nonlinear interactions.
The atto-fox problem is produced by over-simplifications and inappropriate nonlinearity assumed to
a nonlinear dynamical system. When one finds an appropriate set of nonlinear parameters of one’s
404
problem, one can examine characteristic properties, such as stability and standard rhythm of a
nonlinear system. A solution to the system of equation from (2.1) to (2.4) is shown in the Fig. 3.1
and Fig. 3.2. Variations of species are shown in Fig. 3.1 (c), (d) and Fig. 3.2, which exhibit stable
phase space of (x1, x2, x3, x4) confined in time so thatΨ-function is constant as Fig. 3.1(b).
4. Conclusion
In this paper, we have exhibited a system of 4-dimensional, coupled first-order differential equations
which contains self-interactions, and mixing interactions by using Noether’s theorem. The
coefficients of nonlinear interactions are strictly confined by the conservation law of the system (Ψ
-function).
The analysis of conserved quantity of solutions to a system of coupled differential equations has
been discussed with Lyapunov function [15]. There are two main types of Lyapunov functions that
are strict Lyapunov and non-strict Lyapunov functions. Our conserved quantity may correspond to
the strict Lyapunov function, due to the global property of Lagrangian approach. The theorem relates
405
stability and conserved quantity analogous to conservation laws of energy and momentum in
physics; hence it is helpful to understand a system of nonlinear differential equations in view of
scientific or physical terms.
The numerical simulations of 4-variable conserved nonlinear dynamical system (CNDS) show a
characteristic standard rhythm. It is essential to understand the standard rhythm by observing and
taking data of a system so that we can distinguish unusual maxima and minima from standard
rhythm. This gives a possibility to examine disastrous and detrimental signals of extinction of species
caused by natural internal effects or external ones (e.g. environmental destructions caused by human
societies).
The ten-year cycle of lynx and hare is a very interesting biological phenomenon. Though a cycle of a
biological system should be a phenomenon composed of complex and multi-biological interactions,
406
the 2-variable binary-coupled form (BCF) analysis has revealed the interesting results on properties
of the biological phenomena.
The ten-year cycle of lynx and hare is stable and resilient to external perturbations, which is
reproduced in our model calculations. The system with conservation law shows stable cycles and
recovering phenomena, which are displayed numerically in phase-space solutions (Fig. 3.2).
As a predator needs a prey for its food, a prey needs a predator for the conservation of their own
species. The conservation law and rhythm of species are considered to be constructed by species and
natural conditions in a system for a long time, and hence, the cycle (rhythm) of species would be
interpreted as a manifestation of the survival of the fittest to the balance of a biological system which
is a manifestation of nonlinear interactions of diverse species.
Therefore, the current paper suggests the conclusion that diversity of biological environment is the
basis of the stability of biological systems. We hope that the 4-variable CND model find applications
to help understand our complex ecosystems.
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ASMSS-2975
Ecology Politics of Forest: A Power Constellation of Natural Resources
Management
Rita Rahmawati
Faculty of Social Science and Political Science, Djuanda University (author 1)
ritafirdaus@yahoo.co.id
Euis Salbiah
Faculty of Social Science and Political Science, Djuanda University (author 2)
euis.salbiah@yahoo.com
Abstract
This study aimed to map the power relational model of forest resources management. This model was
photographed from the social reality and forest ecological systems in the context of conflict and its
influence on the dynamics of the local community around the forest. Models of forest resource
management relations were designed based on data generated on the reality of ownership rights over
forest resources and the mechanisms of access to forest resource and power relations on management
and utilization of forest resources. This study was conducted in Mount Halimun Salak National Park,
Indonesia. Data were collected through in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. Data were
subjected to an analysis by using a qualitative approach and constructivism paradigm. Results showed
that the power relational model in the management of forest resources described how forest conflicts
took place in the networks of power and knowledge and which one has dominated the other. In the
case of the management of Mount Halimun Salak National Park in Indonesia, power relations between
the community and the state were perceived as unbalanced, the State through the introduction of new
knowledge and development programs has dominated local knowledge of the forest resources
management.
Key words: Political Ecology of Forest, System of Socioecological Forest, Forest Resource Conflict,
Local People, Livelihood
1. Introduction
Development conducted for people welfare has caused damages. Patrick Curry (2000) wrote that there
was a massive ecological crisis. He further stated that it was ever worse, more than just a crisis.
Humans’ demand for the earth ecosystem can no longer be fulfilled without causing severe damages to
humans themselves and other species.
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Massive developmental projects are apparently followed by the negligence of the existence and role of
local people knowledge which in the remaining of this paper would be referred to as ‘local
knowledge’. The word ‘knowledge’ refers to ‘a result of study, reason and perception or a logical
interpretation a person or a group of people use as a basis for predicting a future happening’.
The need to deal with people has been long recognized by the government. Yet, actions designed to
accommodate people existence, in the form of both commitment to people development and
accommodation of local knowledge in environmental development and management, have been failed.
From various aspects, local people with their local knowledge have been regarded by businessmen and
government as problems and obstacles for favorable development or environmental conservation.
From conservation aspect, people were considered as destroyers. From development aspect, they
were seen as constraints. What happened to people living around the area of Mount Halimun Salak
National Park (MHSNP) was an example of this phenomenon.
Forest damage in MHSNP was related to a power constellation of natural resources (forest)
management found in that area. This notion led to a need for an explanation on the theoretical
perspective as the basis for the analysis of natural resources management. Principle questions
including the followings have been raised. Who has the rights for natural resources management? Do
people have space to get access to natural resources management? Answers to these questions were
apparently related to the theory of property rights which was an object of study in ecological politics
(Robin, 2004 in Satria, 2009). Types of property rights according to Schlager and Ostrom (1992) are as
follows.
 Access right: the right to enter natural resources area having clear borders for non extractive
benefits.
 Withdrawal right: the right to utilize natural resources or right to produce.
 Management right: the right to determine operational rules of natural resources utilization.
 Exclusion right: right to determine who gets access right and how access right and how to transfer
access right to other party.
 Alienation right: the right to sell or rent part or all of the above collective rights.
With regard to this natural resources ownership, Satria (2009) raised a question as who is eligible for
this ownership. Answering this question, Satria (2009) recited Bromley’s opinion saying that there
were at least four ownership regimes including open access, state property, private property, and
communal property.
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Although it gives rooms for communal property, private property, and open access, a centralism
regime that has been adopted in natural resources management for years stressed the state authority of
natural resources management including making, actuating, and supervising policies and controlling
natural resources. The government as the state apparatus has an absolute power to determine who is
eligible for taking the resources. This is in line with what was stated by Bryan and Bailey (2001) in
Arif Satria (2009) that the government plays the roles of both development agent and protector of
natural resources and environment.
When it acts as the protector of natural resources, the government is very often involved in a conflict of
interests with its role as a development agent. This often leads to conflicts with community. The
degree of conflicts varies and is strongly affected by the right of natural resources ownership. There
are some situations that may lead to these conflicts to happen.
First, the conflict between government and community commonly happened when the government as
the protector of natural resources used a policy instrument to determine a certain area as a
conservation/protection area such as MHSNP. In this condition, many regulations made for
conservation activities were found to eliminate the community right to have access to and control
forest resources including the utilization of forest area.
Second, conflicts between government and community occurred when the government as a
development agent used its authority to get private parties involved. The government used its authority
to give right to utilize natural resources to certain parties. As a result, natural resources which were
used to be common property became a private property.
Third, in line with centralism and modernism in natural resources management, the domination of
science also alienated the existence of local knowledge owned and produced by local community
(Satria, 2009). Further Satria (2009) found that modernization was the beginning the negligence of
traditional management on the basis of local knowledge and techniques. This negligence has made
the community empirically uprooted from their traditional roots and forced them to enter the
technocratic world.
Referring to neo Marxian view, the control of environment by a population is the result of reproduction
of knowledge hold by that population. Bryan (1977) analyzed that knowledge reproduction which
gave implication to control of environment was produced as a result of conflict in ecological politic
between two social layers in a community as follows. These layers include the following.
First, political and economical elites who have power to justify what are considered as better policies.
Second, subordinate groups opposing elite groups through a system culture.
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Governments in the third-world countries consider this “scientific forestry” as a system which is
“ecologically good” while the forest management systems such as nomadic farming done by local
people are seen as “ecologically bad”. The discourse on ‘forestry as progress’ is associated with the
utilization of forest for commercial interest which gives good ecological and economical impact to the
country. Meanwhile, activities of local people is considered as polluted (destructive), marginalizing
(e.g. minor forest products), and even a crime (Bryant, 1998).
In fact, this marginal group (local people) oppose this ‘scientific forestry’ through a fight by burning
wood plantations and depending local rights (asserted pre-existing local use `rights') through an
‘illegal forest use’ (Guha, 1989; Peluso, 1992; Bryant, 1998). Further, the emerging and flaring
environmental movements initiate ecopolitical processes in developing countries (including
Indonesia). These movements also lead to the emergence of grass root actors technically and
financially supported by NGOs to oppose actors in power. The existence of these social environmental
movements indicates the superiority of environmental community management which is fair for social
interests (local people) and environmental conservation. However, in fact, it is the subordinate group
which will always lose and political and economical elites who will always win in the political arena in
the developing regions. This is true as environmental management is closely related to power.
Therefore, it can be said that knowledge reproduction is never free from values but it is always
constructed by the group in power.
With regard to the formation of environmental knowledge which will determine the direction of a
social environmental movement, Escobar (1999) exposed a different approach. In his analysis, there
were three parties identified as ‘actors in nature’ as follows.
Local community (incidentally black-skinned/native negroid) who for several centuries managed their
areas and reproduced their local knowledge. Later this local knowledge gave birth to organic nature
regimes.
Capitalists who made development happen and thought that they had provided work for hundreds of
negroid workers in plantations or shrimp and fish packaging industries. Knowledge reproduced by
these capitalists gave birth to capitalist nature regimes.
Biodiversity researchers who came to a region to seek for potential plants to be used in commercial
applications. Knowledge reproduced by these researchers gave birth to technology nature regimes.
Three knowledge regimes about environment produced by the three actors with different characters
and cultural bases could “get closed to each other and unite” and result in common understanding on
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environment. The fight among three regimes in the management and utilization of natural resources
would form a specific socio-ecological system. This was what happened in MHSNP.
The first year study by Rahmawati and Pratidina (2013) collected data on forest socioecological
system in MHSNP. It was shown that the existence of forest socio-ecological system was related to the
existence of social system. In this context, it was described that Kasepuhan community had a
historical link to Mount Halimun Salak and local knowledge in their effort to understand MHSNP
forest. However, since the change of MHSNP status in 2003, Kasepuhan Community had lost its
freedom to apply its local knowledge in managing the forest. This condition had pushed local
institutions to change and make adaptation. Meanwhile, the forest resources conflict in MHSNP area
involved interests of parties in the conflict. In the case of MHSNP conflict, forest resources conflict
happened because there were different interpretation about and interests in the forest. Therefore,
different knowledge owned by parties involved in forest management had put them in a conflict.
Under this condition, local community became the negated party.
3. Methods of the Study

This study was done by using a qualitative approach based on a constructivism paradigm.
Ontologically, constructivism is constructed over three main propositions. First, structure as the
behavior shaper of actors, individual or institutional, consists of not only material but also normative
and ideational aspects. Second, interests (as the basis for act or behavior) does not describe a series of
rigid preferences owned by actors but rather a product of the identity of the actors. Third, structure
and agent are interdefining. A constructivism is basically a structuralism as it stresses on the role of
non-material structures on the formation of identity and interest and at the same time it stresses the role
of practice on the formation of those structures (see Denzin and Lincoln, 2000).
Data collection was done through review of literature, in-depth interviews, FGDs, and expert studies
(scientific seminars) to analyze the reality of ownership rights over forest resources and the
mechanism of access to the utilization of MHSNP forest resources. Meanings were given to the
collected data before they were constructed based on the subjective perspective of the research team.
The stressing on the description, under-standing, and interpretation of various phenomena on the
relation between humans and nature, individually or institutionally, was configurated by using an
“actor in nature” concept analysis of Escobar (1999). In this concept, the role of local knowledge
became the main reference in the determining the roles of institutions in the arrangement of human and
nature relationship, conflict mapping, actors and their interests, ownership rights over natural
resources, and mechanism of access to the utilization of natural resources.

4.1 Description of Kasepuhan Community in Mount Halimun Salak National Park
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In MHSNP there is a local community called Kasepuhan Community who live around the forest.
Formally, the customary structure of Kasepuhan is not under the village administration structure and
vice versa. However, practically there is a functional relation between the two systems. Kasepuhan
customary chief and his people are the village inhabitants who are subject to the village administration.
The other way around, the Village Chief, village apparatus, and all villagers are member of one
Kasepuhan and abide to Kasepuhan customary rules and regulations. Customary Chief (Abah) is the
center of all people activities.
In Sirna Resmi Village, there are three Kasepuhan centers, namely Kasepuhan Sirna Resmi located in
Dusun Sirna Resmi (Abah Asep), Kasepuhan Cipta Gelar in Dusun Cipta Gelar (Abah Ugi), and
Kasepuhan Cipta Mulya (Abah Hendrik). However, the customary area of each Kasepuhan is not
bordered by a kampong. There is no clear territorial border in each Kasepuhan. Besides these three
Kasepuhan, there are other kasepuhans in Lebak Regency. These kasepuhans unite in Kesatuan Adat
Kasepuhan Banten Kidul (SABAKI).
As a customary unit, a kasepuhan has members spreading all over the areas in the village, outside the
village, and even outside Java Island. According the members of kasepuhan, institutionally, like
Baduy tribe, they originally are genuine Sundanese of Padjadjaran kingdom origin. Yet, they bear
different function, namely to conserve Sundanese cultural values, yet they are still allowed to adopt
modern equipment and knowledge.
The highest rank leader in Kasepuhan is called Abah and his wife is called Ambu. In doing his duties,
Abah is assisted by expert staff (advisor) in religious and state fields (functional line). Structurally,
under Abah there are Deputies of Abah (Kolot Lembur, Dukun, and Penghulu) and a Secretary. Abah
is key actor in Kasepuhan Community. The behaviors of the community happen because of important
decisions made by Abah. The role of Abah is very clear when the community has to face the State
represented by the National Park in the fight for the right of access to managing the National Park.
Although the new social structure of Kasepuhan community was seen as no longer effectively
functional in maintaining and managing natural resources as it was hampered by the government
policies, this condition had emerged people awareness on the fact that they had become a subordinate
class and the state a superordinate one. Thinking that being a subordinate class would not allow them
to fight by themselves, they, especially those holding structural positions and the youths in Kasepuhan,
came to realize that they had to seek for supports from other actors in legal and political paths.
4.2 Reality of Ownership Rights over Natural Resources and Mechanism of Access to the
Utilization of Forest Resources in Mount Halimun Salak National Park
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It is mentioned in Law of Republic of Indonesia Number 41 Year 1999 on Forestry, Part 3 Forest
Control, Article 4, that “(1) All forests in territory of the Republic of Indonesia including natural
resources contained therein shall be controlled by State for the maximum prosperity of the people. (2)
Forest Control by the State as referred to in Paragraph (1) shall mean authority of the government to: a.
maintain and manage anything relating to forest, forest area, and forest products; b. stipulate certain
area status as forest area or forest area and non-forest area; and c. maintain and stipulate legal relations
of people to forest as well as legal acts concerning forestry. (3) Forest control by state shall remain
taking into account rights of indigenous law community if any and its existence is acknowledged and
not contradictory to national interest. “
In practice, policies about forestry, for conservation and the utilization of wood and other forest
products, are often in direct touch with the rights of customary community. It is a fact that a
customary community generally lives around the forest and claims that it controls the forest. But this
community has to face another fact that the customary community forest ownership is not supported by
any legal ownership documents. This has apparently weakened the position of customary community
especially when it is faced with the state/national interest in the forest. It was shown in this study that
all problems related to the conflict between the State and customary community in MHSNP over the
rights of forest resources management arose from clash of interests in the management of forest
resources.
In MHSNP case, there were some actors having their interests in the forest. The main actor with its
most significant interest was local community and the State represented by MHSNP. The ownership
of these resources is important especially when the interests of each party was not properly fulfilled.
The community has its interest over the forest not only for conservation but also for livelihood
purpose. This interest contradicted the interest of the State in making MHSNP as a conservation
forest.
Each party was found to claim that it had total control of natural resources, a power to control
everything from above. This power wanted to erect a totality by which everything would fit and find
its place in a teleological way. This totality was based on the work division which prioritized several
people with social knowledge and power to control production tools. In MHSNP case, it was shown
that the State had a superordinate authority while Kasepuhan community was in a subordinate position.
These superordinate and subordinate positions became clearer when the State tried to show its
authority through law enforcement done to the people considered to violate the State rights. This
power involved imprisonment for ones violating the regulations of National Park such as cutting
woods although the woods were found in their arable land which was coincidentally located in
MHSNP area.
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Many factors have been identified to background conflicts over forest resources. Safitri in Maring
(2010) stated that political construction and administrative legitimation on space and natural resources
in an area called forest (territorial politic) were the causes of various conflicts. Meanwhile Afif in
Maring (2010) saw conflict as a complexity in power relation between state actors and non-state actors
involved in the rivalry to control access to natural resources, especially forest. Different from Safitri
and Afif, Kartodihardjo in Maring (2010) saw conflict as a reaction to repressive strategies and
mechanism that pushed community to develop resisting strategies and tactics. From various opinions
above, it could be said that conflict of forest resources was caused by political construction and
administrative legitimation (territorial politic), a rivalry to control access to natural resources, and
resisting strategies over repressive actions of the State.
It can be seen that a conflict in the management and utilization of forest resources happens because not
only there are interests and overlapping interpretation on rights and access by the state and community
but also there is different knowledge grounding the two conflicting parties. In MHSNP case, it could
be said that there was hegemony of the State over customary community through the introduction of
new knowledge. This caused a change in knowledge of local community into a techno nature. At
certain levels, the hegemony has resulted in the disablement of customary institution by changing it
with modern knowledge and institution.
Kasepuhan community no longer had rights and it also lost various accesses to natural resources.
Even in knowledge battle in negotiation room has made the function of customary institution weak.
The knowledge of customary community became a subordinate system of knowledge. Meanwhile, the
state knowledge based on techno and capitalist nature became a superordinate knowledge. In this
context, an approach of Foucault could be used to see how the power constellation of forest
management and utilization by which knowledge was seen as power, was played. Foucault focused
more on “power micro politic”. Through power micro politic it could be seen how the state with its
new knowledge tried to co-opt community knowledge and assure the community that the state
knowledge could be the answer to problems found around forest through the state institutions and
various communication rooms introduced to customary community.
4.3. Identification of Actors and Their Grounding Interests and Ideology in the Power
Constellation of Natural Resources (Forest) Management
In MHSNP case, there were two conflicting main actors, namely Kasepuhan Community and the State
(MHSNP). These actors behaved based on the rationality they had. At least, there were three
emerging rationality forms, namely industrial economic rationality, cultural rationality, and political
rationality. The state represented political rationality, privates (businessmen) represented industrial
economic rationality, and local community (customary community) represented cultural rationality.
These three actors (the State, Privates, and Local Community) collapsed directly in one side and
416
indirectly in another moment. But in the level of discipline and norm, they collided and had friction
in the construction and reconstruction process of rationality.
The existence of three social entities (Customary Community, the State, and Privates) in the arena of
forest resources management was on the basis of different knowledge and institution. The differences
has caused the emergence of differences in moral ethic or rationality and interest bases. Each actor
developed the knowledge he/she had in order to gain power over forest management. Various attitudes
and actions done by these feuding actors based on the rationality they had. However, the rationality
hold by these actors could change and be different when they were facing different situation.
In line with Weber’s view, Foucault saw an actor as a subject and a rational being. For Foucault,
subject was seen as a rational, autonomous being that was able to initiate actions (Sarup, 2008). In
this context, what was done by the feuding actors was the representation of their rationality.
Rationality was constructed based on the knowledge owned. According to Foucault, knowledge
worked to direct humans’ social behavior through their scientific rational system.
It could be seen from the above table that the basic rationalities used by Kasepuhan Community were
culture and economy. The economic was of subsistent economic whose basic knowledge was gained
hereditary as the culture of this community. The state, meanwhile, in MHSNP case, grounded its role
on political rationality. Thus, It could be said that the knowledge bases of the community were
experience and culture while that of the State (Government) was science.
According to Weber’s rationality, the State has an objective rationality. The objective rationality of the
State in forest management in MHSNP case was forest conservation. Meanwhile, the community had
its own rationality values originating from traditional and belief and norms. The rationality of
Kasepuhan Community was aimed at environmental conservation and community prosperity. This
indicated that both Kasepuhan Community and the State shared a common objective, namely
environmental conservation. However they had different rationality bases of each type of knowledge.
These different knowledge bases led to different ways of implementations.
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Facts found in the field, it could be stated that any action taken by the actors, both of the customary
community and the State, originated from the values hold by the actors which affected the rationality
of their actions. However, not all actions were always based on their rationalities. Therefore, it
could be said that a social action of an actor was not only based on the actor’s knowledge and
rationality as sometimes it was done based on irrational reason. In this level, the authority worked. The
authority pushed an actor to take action beyond its knowledge and rationality. Dominant authority was
based on dominant rationality. In other words, an action taken by an actor became irrational as it was
repressed by dominant rationality.
Rationality can shift with a different frame. When the scope and considerable factors including
knowledge, interest, and external factors supporting power legitimation change, actor rationality
changes. This changed rationality leads the actor to change its social action in such a way as if it is not
based on the actor rationality.
4.4 Relation between Forest Management Power and Forest Resources Utilization as an Effect
of Changes in Government Policy
The genealogy concept of Foucault can be used to understand forest management power. Foucault
states that meaning and physical object are not interrelated. One of the concepts and thoughts of
Foucault is related to knowledge and power. Foucault’s definition of power is a little different from
that of others. Power, by Foucault, is not meant “ownership” by which one can have a certain source
of power. Power is not owned but practiced in a scope in which there are many positions which are
strategically interrelated. For Foucault, power does not belong to the state only, but it can belong to
individuals According to him, as cited by Bartens, power strategy takes place everywhere. There are
arrangements, regulation systems everywhere. Wherever there are humans having interaction one to
another and to the world, there will be a power working.
Power does not work through oppression and repression, but mainly through normalization and
regulation. According to Foucault, power is not subjective. It does not work in a negative and
repressive but positive and productive way. It produces reality, object scopes, and truth rites. Power
strategy does not work through oppression but normalization and regulation. It punishes and forms
disciplined public. Public is not controlled by physical power. Public is controlled, ruled, and
disciplined through discourses.
In MHSNP case, the conflict between the community and the state could be interpreted within the
context of knowledge and power relation. In the conflict theory of Foucault, it was stated that a
conflict involved a knowledge system in which an abstract thinking system was found. In this
abstract thinking system, parties contested their knowledge systems as instruments to control others.
However, the power relation found in MKSNP showed that there was a co-optative relation between
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parties. In Kasepuhan case, the State was found to force its scientific knowledge power in the form of
introducing the State Policies which directly and indirectly weakened the community knowledge and
forced the community change its attitude, behavior, and action toward forest. The state and
community could compete and oppose in order to get power for forest management and utilization. In
that conflict, power relation was created.
In MHSNP case, the state policy on the extension of the National Park could not be completely
implemented to the concept of techno nature as hold by MHSNP because it was hampered by the
organic nature knowledge of local community (Kasepuhan custom). Although there was no open
opposition from the community, but the power of Kasepuhan over forest resources became the reason
for the constrained implementation of the conservation concept of National Park as designed by the
National Park with its scientific knowledge as the basis. This constrained implementation was proven
by the fact that there was a negotiation process between the customary community and MHSNP
Center. However, it could be said that in this case, the State already won as although the negotiation
was still in progress, there were more techno nature which already worked. Yet, the conflict left the
battle in the arena of borders, access, and zonation.
4.5 Model of Inter-Actor Power Relation in Forest Resources Conflict in MHSNP

The power network of Kasepuhan Community (three kasepuhan) in its interaction with various actors
involved in the conflict is depicted in Figure 1.
Figure 1 depicts the power relation in the conflict network of the State and Local (customary)
Community involving NGOs. In the conflict of MHSNP forest resources management and utilization,
various actors were involved. They included the State, community, and NGOs supporting the State and
419
community. Businessmen actor were excluded in the analysis as they did not have direct involvement
in the conflict between community and the State.
It was known from the description that there were several power relations among actors having this
conflict in MHSNP area. The actors in this conflict were as follows.
The first actor was the State. In this context, the State was a group of organizations which by making
regulations and coercion wanted to rule over and take control of certain area (Hall and Ickenberry,
1989). Various State organizations were competing and had conflicting interests in their efforts to have
their interests fulfilled. In the MHSNP context, the State could mean the Central Government
(Ministry of Forestry) represented by MHSNP Center which had a conservation ideology.
The second actor was the State represented by the Local Government with the ideology of
development and alignment to local community. These local actors included Heads of Districts, and
Village Chiefs. Village Administration was the representative of Local Government but on the other
side, it brought the ideology of Kasepuhan (a balance between community prosperity and forest
sustainability.
The third actor was Abah with his Kasepuhan Customary Community. In this context, Community
meant a group of people staying together based on common identity and norms (Migdal, 1994). In
MHSNP, there were at least three Kasepuhan in Sirna Resmi Village, Sukabumi Regency, Kasepuhan
Cipta Mulya, and Kasepuhan Cipta Gelar. Each Kasepuhan was led by one Abah. These community
components could be integrating, competing, and opposing one to another.
The fourth actor was NGO. There were NGOs affiliating with the State and NGOs affiliating with
customary Community.
In MHSNP, there were actually some companies operating inside and outside the area. These
companies had been in operation since before 2003 and they never had any conflict with customary
Community and MHSNP. After 2003, when there was an expansion of National Park, these
companies were not touched by this expansion policy and local community. The different treatments
given by MHSNP to local community and the companies were based on a legal power obtained by the
companies to keep their operations in the forest area. This legal power was not owned by local
community. Therefore, the conflict in MHSNP area occurred only between local community and the
State.
The arena of conflict which was related to the forest included ownership rights, share of forest benefits,
utilization and protection of forest resources, work opportunity, political guarantee, infrastructure,
420
knowledge, and access to information. The State and the community had different paths of influence
(see Moeliono, Wollenberg, and Limberg, 2009). However, the State and the community could be
competing and opposing in their fight for forest management and utilization. In this conflict, power
relations with other actors were formed as follows.
First, the State (MHSNPC, representing Central Government) affiliated with an international NGO
(JICA). JICA provided financial support for environmental improvement (conservation) in MHSNP.
JICA represented the techno nature seeing forest as vegetation stands whose sustainability should be
maintained and conserved. Forest could be utilized for the purpose of scientific research and
development.
Second, Kasepuhan Community affiliated with NGOs and Local Government. The NGOs were
represented by AMAN, SABAKI, PERAN, SKEPI, PUSAKA, LATIN, RMI, and RESPEK. These
NGOs played their roles in supporting and facilitating customary Community to meet with MHSNPC
to make various agreements. But, there was no NGO ready to routinely liaise the customary
community. They just came and went. They did not completely accompany the customary
Community until it got the access rights as it wanted.
Local Government, which was supposed to support the Central Government, tended to stand on the
Community side. This support was implemented in the forms of fund allocation for development and
facilitation given to the community to get the right over customary forest management.
5. Conclusions
The issuance of the policies on the expansion of National Park gave significant effects in Kasepuhan
Community. These effects included loss of community’s right over access to the forest, a conflict
between the State and Customary Community, a conflict between Kasepuhan, and a conflict
withinKasepuhan. The conflict occurred as the result of different interests and ideology owned by
conflicting actors.
The conflict between community and the state in the case of forest resources fight has resulted in the
formation of conflict network and power relation between conflicting actors. In order to understand
this power and conflict network caused by the State (central government) policy, an analysis was done
by referring to the State Power concept. It was shown that the State (Central Government), in running
its governance, as the possessor of land with all resources and wealth in it, was restricted by various
factors including the relation between the government and other types of power such as the one related
to a wider social field covering other type of power, social condition making forms of power effective
to run and social conditions describing how and why governmentality worked in certain policies in
certain community but not in other policies in other community. In MHSNP case, the State
421
temporarily won. This was caused by the fact that the culture of Kasepuhan community forced the
community to show obedient to the State. However, in its interest in fighting the state (Central
Government), the community made an affiliation with the State (Local Government). The
community’s interest in government support, especially from local government, made it have loose
attitudes toward the government. Similarly, local government played a local, regional politic.
Kasepuhan community was the best asset local government had to sustain the power of government
actors (Regent/Deputy Regent). The asset could be in the form of votes or mystical power that was
believed to be able smoothen the actors to reach the highest position in the government. The actors
requesting supports from the community were not only local actors but also actors from the central
government.
The power relation between customary community and the State became unbalanced. The state
through introduction of various new knowledge and developmental programs comodified the
knowledge of local community about management of forest resources and other natural resources. In
the thought level, a hegemony of the state over customary community occurred. Therefore, a conflict
on natural resources involving three regimes, namely the state, community, and businessmen has
created an unbalanced power relation in which each party wanted to take the position which was not as
wanted by the other parties. Eventually, public was not conquered by a direct, physical control but
rather by discourses and mechanisms in the forms of procedures, regulations, methods, etc. In
whatever context it was, the conflict would finally put customary community as the hegemonized
party.
Acknowledgment
We would like to thank the Directorate General of Higher Education (DIKTI), the Ministry of
Education and Culture for funding this research through the fundamental research grant scheme. Also,
we would like to thank Dr. H. Martin Roestamy, S.H., M.H. (Rector of Djuanda University, Bogor,
Indonesia) for his encouragement and motivation so that this article could be published.
6. References
Bryant, Raymond L., dan Sinead Bailey. 1997. Third World Political Ecology. USA dan Canada:
Routledge.
Bryant, Raymond L. 1998. “Power, knowledge and Political Ecology in The Third World; A Review”.
Progress In Physical Geography, Vol 22/1, pp 79-94
Bryant RL dan Bailey S. 2001. Third World Political Ecology. London: Routledge.
Curry, Patrick, 2000. On Ecological Ethics: A Critical Introduction. The Campaign For Political
Ecology.
Denzin NK, dan Yvonna S Lincoln. 2000. Handbook Of Qualitative Research. USA: Sage
Publications.
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Escobar, A. 1999. “After Nature: Steps to an Antiessentialist Political Ecology”, dalam Current
Anthropology, Vol. 40/1, 1999.
Foucault M. 1979. Discipline And Punish/ The Birth Of The Prison. New York: Vintage.
Foucault M. 1980. Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writing. Terjemahan C. Gordon
et al. New York: Pantheon Random House.
Foucault M. 1991. “Governmentality”. In, Burchell, G., Gordon, C., and Miller, P. (Ed.) The Foucault
Effect: Studies in Governmentality. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 87– 104.
Guha, R. 1989. ‘The Problem’, Seminar on New Social Movements, No. 355 (March): 12-15.
Maring, prudensius. 2010. Bagaimana Kekuasaan Bekerja: Dibalik Konflik Perlawanan Dan
Kolaborasi? Sebuah Sudut Pandang Antropologi Tentang Perebutan Sumber Daya Ekologi.
Jakarta: Lembaga Pengkajian Antropologi Kekuasaan Indonesia.
Moeliono, Moira, Eva Wollenberg and Godwin Limberg. 2009. The Decentralization of Forest
Governance:Politics, Economics and the Fight for Control of Forests in Indonesian Borneo. the
UK and USA: Earthscan
Peluso NL. 1992. Rich Forests, Poor People: Forest Control and Resistance in Java. Berkeley, CA:
University of California Press.
Rahmawati dan Pratidina, 2013. Politik Ekologi Hutan: Suatu Konstelasi Kekuasaan Pengelolaan
Sumberdaya Alam Taman Nasional Gunung Halimun Salak Propinsi Jawa Barat-Banten.
Laporan penelitian tahun pertama. Bogor: Universitas Djuanda
Satria, Arif, 2009. Pesisir dan Laut Untuk rakyat. Bogor: IPB Press.
Schlager E and Ostrom E. 1992. “Property Rights Regimes and Natural Resources: A Conceptual
Analysis,” Land Economics 68(3):249.
Undang-Undang Republik Indonesia Nomor 41 Tahun 1999 Tentang Kehutanan
423
ASMSS-2872
Strengthening Local-Level Multi-Sectoral Coordination Mechanisms towards
Effective Implementation of Domestic Violence Protection in Thailand
Boonserm Hutabaedya
School of Human Ecology, Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University, Thailand
Abstract
The Thailand Protection of Domestic Violence Victims Act B.E. 2550 was passed in 2007. This
action research is part of the project to ensure effective implementation and enforcement of the
legislation. A multi-sectoral response system is required to provide survivors of violence with
support services involving multiple agencies and to ensure the response received is gender-sensitive
and rights-based.
The action research was piloted in Bangkok and Phang-nga Province. The objectives of the research
were to find the best ways to improve service coordination, stakeholder participation, to build skills
and capacities of personnel in health, justice, education and social welfare, and to promote
prevention/awareness raising campaigns involving locally based-multi-sectoral cooperation. At the
same time knowledge and skills in gender-sensitive and rights-based handling of domestic violence
cases by all agencies and workers would be enhanced.
Training and evaluation was provided for participants through support in case conferences, groups,
coordination and in knowledge exchange. The project also created awareness in communities by
supporting networks and groups of women and men at the local level as watch groups for domestic
violence prevention and support.
The model used in the pilot has developed the capacity for agencies to focus on rights-based and
gender-responsive approaches to victims of domestic violence. It has created a model for delivering
coordinated multi-sectoral responses and prevention at the local level, and raising public awareness
of the community members in both urban and village contexts.
Keywords: Domestic Violence, Strengthening, Local-level, Multi-sectoral Coordination, Thailand
424
ASMSS-3024
Conversation with an Expert: Differential Contributions of Personal, Family and
Friends to the Well-Being of Muslim Older Persons in Malaysia
Wan Ibrahim Wan Ahmad*

School of Social Development, Universiti Utara Malaysia
wiwa@uum.edu.my
Syarif Muhidin Abdurahman

syarifmuhidin@uum.edu.my
Abstract
In recent years older person is growing at an unprecedented rate. Although developed nations have
relatively high percentage of older persons in their population structure, the majority of the world
older population resides in developing world. Most of the increases of older persons are also in the
developing world. Following the growing number of older persons, issues related to well-being has
become an increasingly important. Because the concept has been a difficult concept to
operationalized, well-being has been a neglected area of research in Malaysia. The well-being of
older persons has recently attracted scholarly attention as a result of the effort to create a "society for
all ages" and cultivating caring society in Malaysia. Research on well-being outside Malaysia
suggests that the well-being of older persons is related to many factors such as personal factors,
family, neighbors and friends. Thus, the present paper is aimed to discuss the factors affecting the
level of well-being of older persons in Malaysia through the eye of an expert research participant. By
employing a qualitative design using a single-case study, the researchers choose one expert aged 63
years in the field related to older person as a research participant to gather information about the
well-being of older person. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed
descriptively. Results of the interviews show that there are a number of factors related to the
well-being of older persons; i.e (1) age, (2) education, (3) employment status, (4) marital status, (5)
number of children, (6) family support, and (7) support for friends and neighbors. All the factors i.e.
personal, family, neighbors and friends have their own contributions to the well-being. As
information for the present paper is gathered qualitatively, no effort has been made to measure
quantitatively how far these factors have their influence on the well-being. All the factors are
discussed descriptively throughout the paper.
Keywords: Population aging; Well-being; Older person; Caring society; Social support
425
Introduction
With the growing number of older persons in society, the need to understand their well-being is
becoming an urgent need. Folowing the effort to create a "society for all ages" and cultivating caring
society in Malaysia, research on this aspect should become an important agenda for scholars and
policy makers alike. Reviews of the studies conducted on older persons for example, by Zaiton
Yassin (1989); Chan Kok Eng (1994); Jean Pala (1998; 2005); Masitah and Nazileh (1988); or
Tengku Aizan Hamid (1995); all are revolve around nutrition and health, the growth and geographic
distribution, social relationships and living arrangements, as well as family support and care for older
persons. Research on well-being of older persons untill these days is still a neglected area. Due to
lack of research, many questions regarding well-being of older persons still cannot be answered
scientifically. Questions, such as, how is the level of the well-being of older persons, or what are the
factors influence it has yet to be answered objectively. Therefore to obtain an objective answer on
these questions, this research needs to be done.
Objectives
Well-being is a broad concept, and research on this aspect can be made based on a variety of
objectives. In general the present paper is aimed to exlore the factors behind the level of well-being
as understood by a research participant.
Review of Literature
Well-being is a widely used concept, but yet to be clearly defined in social sciences (Levy and
Guttman, 1975). The concept has many dimensions and difficult to define. Kamus Dewan (DBP,
1993) defines well-being as a peaceful, happy and protected from disaster such as distress, or
disruption, and including concepts such as safety, pleasure, or peace. Webster (Gove, 1966) defines
well-being as a healthy condition, a condition that refers to the happiness, health, prosperity or
wealth. Dictionary of Religion and Ethics (Amriah Buang, 1988), defines well-being as welfare.
Because it is so broad and abstracts the concept, it is quite difficult to measure, and also the concept
brings different meaning to different individuals (Shin et al., 1983). Besides, there are researchers
who define well-being as the degree to which happiness obtained (Shin and Johnson, 1978). Some
researchers define it as the extent to which the purpose of life has been achieved (Milbrath, 1980).
Andrew (1974) defines well-being as the level of quality of life, where the quality of life is the extent
to which individuals achieve satisfaction and pleasure as well as how far individuals are able to rid
themselves of the difficulties which may arise in his life. Bradburn and Caplovitz (Levy and
Guttman, 1975) view this concept as psychological well-being, mental health, subjective adjustment,
or happiness. There are various factors affecting well-being of older persons. Age and education of
older persons are two variables that seen to be important for the well-being. Results of several
studies carried out on this aspect indicate this variable does not have a strong influence on
well-being. Other studies found the variable has only insignificant positive influences.
426
Shin et al. (1983) in their study on the quality of life in Korea find age has no significant influence
on all domains of well-being of older person. The research, which is using gender and age variables
as representing the socio-economic variables found the coefficient of the variables are too small and
insignificant. Based on the results of their study, they concluded that age does not have a clear
influence on the well-being. Still other studies also found this variable has a positive influence but its
effect is not strong (Larson, 1978; Herzog and Rogers, 1981; Usui, Keil, and Durig, 1985). Larson
reviews studies have been conducted for 30 years on the well-being of older person in the United
States found that the age variable has a small positive influence.
Edwards and Klemmack (1973) as well as Palmore (1979) on the other hand, found education has a
low positive influence over the well-being and this influence will become insignificant when other
factors are controlled. These researchers found positive relationship between education and
well-being occurs because older persons who have a good education will have a higher income, as
well as a better housing quality, and as such it is these factors that affect the well-being of older
persons, not because of education itself. On the other hand, Markides and Martin (1979) believe that
education has a significant influence on the well-being and education is an important determinant of
well-being of elderly men, but have a little influence over the elderly woman. Researches conducted
in developed countries find that older person who is still working has higher well-being compared to
older person who is not working (Campbell et al., 1976). Larson (1978) and Diener (1984) agree that
marital status have consistently shows positive influence on well-being, where older person who
married have better well-being. This positive relationship is small and often insignificant, however
(Edwards and Klemmack, 1973. Edwards and Klemmack (1973) show this positive relationship
declined from significant to insignificant when the variables of education, occupation and income are
controlled. Atchley (1975) and Morgan (1974) also found there was no clear difference in the level
of well-being between older persons who married with unmarried or divorced when income, mobility
and social interaction are controlled. There are also studies indicate marital status, particularly older
widow, or widower may raise various problems in terms of financial, social, or psychological (Riley
and Foner, 1968; and Larson, 1978). Thus, the never married older people, widow or widower, or
death of spouse at the old age, are at a high risk (Myers, 1992), and need support for well-being.
Research on the relationship between the children with the well-being of older persons found that the
older persons who do not have children have higher level of well-being compared to older persons
who have children (Feldman, 1974). This is due to the fact that the presence of children in a family
can bring negative impact on the well-being of older persons (Campbell et al., 1976), and on the
other hand the well-being of older persons tends to increase after the children leave home (Glenn,
1975; Harkins, 1978). This condition may be due to the generation gap resulting in gap attitudes and
values.
427
With the availability of children at home, the conflict may happen, and this can affect the well-being
of older parents. Family members become the main source of support because of responsibility and
familiar relationships that exist among family members since the early stage of marriage, especially
with spouses and children (Horwitz, 1993). Thus, immediate family members are a main and first
channel for older person to get support (Cantor and Little, 1985). This is why the older person
generally firstly seeks family members to get support before proceeded to find other sources (Cantor,
1979), and only seek formal support if there will be no other sources (Hooyman and Kiyak, 1988).
Materials and Method

The present paper is a result of preliminary qualitative study using a single-case design conducted on
a research participant aged 63 years old. A qualitative case study is an approach that facilitates
exploration of a phenomenon within its context using a variety of data sources. The issue explored is
not explored through one lens, but rather a variety of lenses which allows for multiple facets of the
phenomenon to be revealed and understood (Baxter & Jack, 2008). Case study is a systematic
inquiry into an event, or a set of related events which aims to describe the phenomenon (Bromley,
1990). Data were collected through a triangulation technique, which is a combination of
semi-structured interviews, along with informal conversation in daily activities in various events.
Factors Affecting Well-Being

Liang and Fairchild (1979) concluded social status variables, namely, participation in the labour
force, income and relative deprivative factor as important factors for the well-being of older persons.
Similar variables used by Leon (1983) in his analysis on the well-being of retirees in the United
States. Factors affecting the well-being of older persons in this article are explored through the eye of
a research participant. Our research participant agrees that in Malaysian context, there are various
factors influence well-being of older persons. These factors include such factors as (1) personal
factors, i.e. age, marital status, education of older person, and employment status, (2) family, i.e.
marital status, number of children, and support, as well as (3) friends and neighbors, i.e. support for
friends and neighbors. Following these previous researches, below is the discussion about the
influences of these variables on the well-being of older persons in Malaysia.
Age
While asking on this aspect, research participant agrees that the older the persons, there is a tendency
the higher their well-being. But it is not guarantee when we are old we have higher well-being. It is
true for some older people, but not for others. It depends on what is our need acually. This is because
according to research participant, a person's need is particularly different between various age
groups.
428
There are older persons who tend to accept what they have. In this case, the older persons may feel
satisfy, and thus his well-being may be higher compared to older persons who do not accept what
they have.
Education
For research participant, education is important in the sense that through education older person will
acquire many things in their lives. They may have higher income due to the nature of employment
before retired, and more importantly these older persons have a positive life style. Educated older
person generally read a lot to help them aware of the positive life style. It means that although
education is important, it is not influenced well-being directly. Studies on the influence of
educational variable over the well-being of the elderly are still limited. Researchers tend to include
education along with income and employment status as a measure of socio-economic status (McNeil
et al., 1986). Larson (1978) uses socioeconomic status to measure the well-being of older persons. In
that study, Larson uses educational variable, income and employment as a measure of socioeconomic
status. Researchers tend to view education can only indirectly influences well-being. Education itself
is said to be not so important in affecting well-being directly.
Employment
The concept of employment in older person literature usually refers to whether the older person is
still active in the labour force or otherwise. In rural communities in developing countries, older
person will continue to engage in employment for as long as they are still possible to do it. Larson
(1978) argues on average, research on employment and well-being of older person, either material as
well as subjective well-being, shows that there is a positive relationship between this variable with
the well-being of older person. This is because by acticely involved in employment, as highlights by
research participant, older persons have their own sources of income that help them not depending on
their children, feel more secure, satisfy in their lives and therefore can improve their well-being.
Besides, through acticely involve in employment older persons also can continue their social
relationships with their colleagues. They can discuss, as well as have a place to express their
feelings. The availability and frequency of contacts with friends and family have been widely
assumed to enhance well-being (Ward, 1979; Arling, 1987; Hatch and Bulcrott, 1992). This is in line
with what research participant agrees that although employment is important, many older persons it
is not just for money. What is important from employment is that older persons can meet and intract
with their fellow friends. Active older persons are generally happier, and the opportunity to interact
with friends is important in well-being because it can prevent older persons from loneliness.
429
Marital Status
In Malaysian culture, marriage is a very important agenda in life. Many parents feel unhappy when
their children are still not marry when reach 30s. We feel happy when we have married because
through married we can have our own family, particularly confidants. For older person, marital status
is important because it can prevent loneliness. Older persons have partner to communicate and
discuss their personal problems. When older person needs to share, someone is there. And also it
determine whether older persons will have the opportunity for their sexual intercourse. Sexual
intercourse is crucial in one’s life as people of all ages find satisfaction and comfort in sex. Older
persons, as younger persons, also need emotional intimacy, and we see many older men or women
are still engage in sexual activities well into 70s or 80s and beyond. Thus, marital status is very
crucial to the well-being of older persons.
Number of Children
Many people argue whether the number of children has a positive relationship with the well-being or
otherwise (Havanon, Knodel and Sittitrai, 1992). Research participant agrees well-being of older
parents in our society is considered as a joint responsibility. Every family member has to take care of
the well-being of their older parents. The contributions the children contribute to social and
economic profit of older parents have always been used as reasons why parents in developing
countries are choosing to have many children (Clay and Haar, 1993). By having many children older
parents can depend on their children in terms of income during old age. They will no longer need to
continue working to the very old age as their daily responsibility can be handed over to adult
children. The older persons will free from responsibility of earning a living and will be more
prosperous compared to parents with little children (Havanon, Knodel and Sittitrai, 1992). Caldwell
(1976) also found the poor communities in Yoruba, children are considered as productive labours for
the family. Children are already trained to work since very young, and will become the sources of
old age security for their parents.
Family Support
When asking about the importance of family support to the well-being of older person, he describes
that older people need support due to the aging process and declining physical ability. Old age is
often accompanied by a decline in physical health status. The older person generally has lower
physical health as compared to the younger ones. With low health status resulting older person has
high degrees of dependency and thus has to get more support from family members for the
maintainence of the well-being.
Although many elderly who are able to protect and manage their own needs, but at the end they are
going through a stage where they are forced to rely on others for care (Cicirelli, 1983). Many studies
show family support receives by older person very much depended on marital status.
430
Single older person, widow or widower, normally have a limited network, and lack of support from
friends and neighbors, and thus, it influences the level of well-being of older persons. Many studies
conducted show that widow or widower can give rise to various problems in terms of well-being
(Riley and Foner, 1968; and Larson, 1978). Thus, people who is never married, widow or widower,
as well as death of spouse at the old age, is living at a high risk (Myers, 1992). The higher the
socio-economic status of older person the larger the support network they have and the higher the
level of their well-being (Fischer, 1982; Antonucci, 1985). Ethnographic studies on the Black
population in America support this statement, and shows there is a positive relationship between
socio-economic status and well-being (Taylor, 1986).
Supports From Friends and Neighbors

Support from friends and neighbours are also very important. Older persons can not live in isolation.
They need someone around. The quantity of contact and quality of friends can help older persons
feel happy, satisfy and enjoy in life. With friends, older persons will have the opportunity to interact
and seek support. Support is found to be one of the important variables that could affect the
well-being (Cantor and Little, 1985). Support from friends and neighbours could improve the
well-being of older persons (Erickson, 1989). This is especially true based on the importance of
support to the care and health maintainence of older person (Antonucci and Akiyama, 1987). The
classic study of the incidence of suicide by Durkheim is considered to have been highlighting early
evidence of the importance of support for the well-being (Litwak and Messeri, 1989). Many studies
demonstrate support has a role on well-being, particularly subjective well-being of older person.
Berkman and Syme (1979), as well as House and Kahn (1985) found support can overcome the
various causes of death and reduce death rate. Berkman and Syme (1979) through their study in
Alameda found residents with little or not having social support has a doubled mortality rate higher
than residents who receive.
Conclusion
Research on well-being outside Malaysia suggests that well-being of older persons is related to many
factors such as personal factors, family, neighbors and friends. This article discusses the results of
unstructed interviews with an expert research participant. By employing a qualitative design using a
single-case study, the researchers choose one expert aged 63 years in the field related to older person
as a research participant to gather information. Results show there are a number of factors related to
well-being of older persons; i.e (1) age, (2) education, (3) employment status, (4) marital status, (5)
number of children, (6) family support, and (7) support from friends and neighbors. These factors
have their own contributions to well-being and have discussed descriptively.
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434
Room D, 2F
2015/8/27 Thursday 10:30-12:00
Session Chair: Prof. Ronda Jean Everson
ISLLLE-1236
Sentences, Questions, and Verbs
Ronda Jean Everson︱Korea Christian University
ISLLLE-1209
The English Experience Serves as a Pronunciation Guide Allowing Students by Analogy to
Learn Spelling in Taiwan Aboriginal Languages: An Example of the Amis Ethnicity
Tung-Chiou Akiyo Huang︱Fo Guang University
ISLLLE-1235
The Second Language (L2) Acquisition of the Chinese Topic Structure by Learners of
Different First Language (L1) Backgrounds
Suying Yang︱Hong Kong Baptist University
ISLLLE-1191
Speaker Identification Using Vowels /i/ and /ɑ/ at Normal Pitch and High Pitch
Sreeparna Sarkar︱ALFIA Languages
ISLLLE-1200
Analyzing Identities in Professional Documents
Kenneth Kong︱Hong Kong Baptsit University
435
ISLLLE-1236
Sentences, Questions, and Verbs
Ronda Everson
English Department, Korea Christian University, Seoul, S. Korea
eversonronda@hotmail.com
Abstract
Introduction
I have been teaching ESL students for many years in many countries, and I noticed that the Korean
and Japanese students have a special problem: They are just not on the level of the students in the
other countries after they have studied just as long, the Korean students especially. When I came to
Korea, the other English teachers told me, "Don't ask them to write because Korean students just
can't write in English." I am pretty hard headed, and I didn't believe them. I thought, "If they can't
write a sentence, then they can't say a sentence," and it is my job to teach them to speak, and they
have to pass the TOEIC exam if they want a good job. How can they pass a TOEIC exam if they
don't know which word goes where? As I worked with the students, I also discovered that many were
using a gerund for present progressive, most didn't know past tense, and many tried to use the
passive voice for a past tense verb. If I asked them to write, they left the subject out. I had studied
Japanese, and I knew that the Japanese left the subject out, and when I began studying Korean, I
finally realized that the Koreans also leave the subject out and the grammatical patterns seemed to
mirror those in Japanese. My students had no idea what a subject was. They didn't know how to ask a
questions. They didn't know the verb tenses, etc. etc., and I knew how to fix their problems and help
them start communicating in English. I came up with a system.
Key Words: A system for writing sentences, a verb game, a book
Main Body
The first thing I did was to assign sentence patterns in every class period. I taught them the grammar
for that day, and then I wrote the pattern for the sentence on the board. I told them to write sentences
using that pattern for homework. After that, I realized that none of them even knew what a subject
was because they never used it in their language, so I really had to concentrate on teaching them how
to use subjects. I made them study the past tense from the verb charts in their books and gave them
quizzes. They were very confused about the "be" verbs because they were translated as two different
verbs into Korean, and they were also confused because sometimes when we say "has" or "have" it
came out as one of their "be" verbs. I realized that there was even another big problem. When we use
a "be" verb and an adjective, they simply use a special kind of adjectival verb, and I knew the
436
Japanese did the same because I had a very good Japanese teacher. There were even more "be" verb
problems than these. My students had no idea how to describe something with a "be" verb and an
adjective in English, so that became a major sentence pattern. They tried to say "they are" and "they
is" for "there are" and "there is," and I realized from studying Japanese and Korean that they had a
special verb for this and they didn't use the subject, and that is what caused the confusion. There was
also confusion when I taught them the English adjectives that double as past participles. They
understood the verb on those sentences as past tense because the past participle was being used as an
adjective, but the verb was actually in present tense. Many of their prepositions just don't mirror the
ones in English. They could look them up in the dictionary, but they got the wrong translation. Like
most students from most countries coming into English, they didn't know what to do with our count
and non-count nouns. In Japanese, we never used the plural, and I assume it doesn't exist, and in
Korean, there is a plural form, but they ignore it because it isn't important. They really got confused
when it was time to ask a question because they wanted to use the sentence order when asking a
question. The problems were enormous in trying to write sentences, and I wanted to conquer them.
The sentence patterns helped, but they needed even more help.
The next thing I tackled was their verbs. When I lived in Romania, my Rumanian teacher had never
taught Rumanian before. He was actually an English teacher. There were no books to learn to speak
Rumanian because it was immediately after the revolution, and no one learned Rumanian who wasn't
a Rumanian. He asked me what I wanted to learn. I had a set of Reading books called The Key
Words Reading Scheme that I had used to teach my own kids to read out of that seemed a miracle
because the author decided to teach the most used words first to speed the children on to reading
fluency. I decided in learning Rumanian to tell my teacher to teach me all the words in those books
and teach me how to conjugate the basic present, past, and future of the verb, and in six months, I
was speaking Rumanian, and whatever else I had to learn, I learned like a child from context. I didn't
realize that Rumanian was considered the most difficult of the Latin languages until recently, but I
became a very sought after translator in Romania. I decided that if those words had worked so well
for me in learning Rumanian, then the verbs used in those books were the verbs my students needed
to learn to conjugate.
I made up a verb game using the most used verbs from those Reading books. At first, I just put the
basic verb tenses into the game, and the students loved it and learned quickly how to conjugate the
basic verbs into the basic tenses without so much memorizing. They were having fun and learning.
After they mastered the basic tenses, I added the auxiliary modal of the verbs on the next level along
with negative verbs and a question, and they mastered that. We don't always know how important the
auxiliary modal form is for them to learn because we just use the words as building blocks and with
many of them we don't add "to" or even conjugate the verb at all, so we think they are easy. However,
some of these other languages have complicated conjugations for the ideas we communicate with our
437
auxiliary modal form in their languages. They don't know how to approach them in English because
the difficulty of their language scares them when they start another language. They have to learn that
English is easier. After level two, I made level three of the verb game. On the next level, I put the
more difficult conjugations of the verbs like present perfect, past perfect, the gerund, etc. My
students just kept learning and having a good time. Finally, on the last level, I added difficult
sentence patterns like reported speech or using two verbs in a sentence, etc. They just kept having
fun and mastering all of them, so I also added a harder set of verb cards to help them know what to
do with verbs they didn't see quite as often. To find these verbs, I went through my Korean language
books, and I had studied out of several books by several authors. I found verbs that Koreans thought
were important enough to teach, but they were not contained in the most used verbs. Several of them
were polite forms like "pass away" instead of "die," etc. The polite forms are very important in
countries that use the Confucian model, and this is another thing that confuses them coming into
English. They want to use polite forms that just don't exist in English. Again, they have to learn that
English is a simpler language, but we do have some polite forms that they need and want to learn.
In the next step, I put together a set of sentence patterns that the students loved. I didn't just say,
"Noun + Verb + Noun," but I wrote them in detail telling them what kind of noun, etc. to use. I used
these sentence patterns for teaching material in my classroom rather than buying a book because I
knew that the students needed them. Students who weren't in my class came and got copies to keep
on their desks as reference materials. Teacher friends were getting copies to use as teaching material,
so I gave a copy to KOTESOL, and they gave out copies to their teachers to use as teaching material.
One of my friends who was a high school teacher said to me the sentence patterns were good, but he
was struggling because he couldn't speak Korean and his students couldn't speak English, and the
patterns were in English with occasional Korean explanations. He gave me my next idea of what was
needed. I wrote all the explanations for common mistakes in Korean that he needed, and I explained
in Korean all the problems that my students had been having.
When I was finally given the Sentence Writing class for the English majors at my university, I came
up with more ideas for them to learn how to write good sentences. I collected a list of verbs that
needed direct objects from their mistakes that they began to use as a reference as they were writing
their sentences. I made a set of verb tests that coincided with the verb game. There are at least three
tests on each level; on the levels I discovered were harder for the students, I added more tests. The
students are required to make an 80% or higher on these tests, or they can't go up to the next level
and must take the next one on their current level. I gave them a list of the "red" verbs and the "pink"
verbs that were not conjugated to use while they took the tests. The "red" verbs are the most
important verbs because they are used more often. The "pink" verbs are the verbs that are used less,
but they have to pass both parts to go on to the next level. They can play the game until they feel
confident that they are good at verbs, and then take the coinciding verb test or they can just study the
438
book if they don't want to play, and they can work their way up the ladder. At the end, between the
verb game, the verb tests, sentence patterns, and the questions patterns that I also made up for them,
they can write complete correct sentences and questions.
I compiled all the information in a book for them. If they want just to study the verbs and their
meanings, there is a list for that. If they want to study the past tense, there is a list of the past tense of
the verbs used. If they want to know how to conjugate into present perfect or make a gerund etc.,
each level is explained in the book. If they want to learn the past participle or to learn forms of the
English verbs that can be used as adjectives, they can find that in the book. There is a whole section
written in Korean that helps them with the mistakes they make, each one in detail in Korean. When
they take the verb tests and make a mistake, or when they write a sentence and make a mistake, all I
have to do is tell them which page to look at in their book for them to understand how to correct it.
Someone who has Korean students who does not speak Korean can send their students to the Korean
section to take care of whatever problem their students are having. The Korean section could also be
translated into Japanese because the mistakes the Koreans and the Japanese make are very similar. I
have also learned from my students from Bangladesh that their grammar also mirrors the Korean
grammar, and the book is also extremely helpful for them. There are probably even more countries
who could use this book.
I solved my student’s problems, and I want to offer this system for other teachers. My students can
write English sentences, conjugate English verbs, etc. Because the students actually began learning
to produce English, my university felt confident enough to open an English major. One of my
students has gone on to the graduate school of Theology in our university that is taught all in English.
As an English major, he was a star in the sentence writing and the essay writing classes, and he is a
star in the graduate school because he can really write good papers. It all began for him with the
sentence patterns he showed me during open house that he was keeping on his desk to use when he
studied. The English major at our university began with the students learning how to write sentences
and conjugate verbs in English.
References
Murray, W. The Key Words Reading Scheme. Lady Bird Books Ltd. and Penguin Company.
20 19 18 17 16 15 14, the British Library.
(If you want me to present this, I can also make a power point to highlight and show pictures of some
of the things I have done.)
439
ISLLLE-1209
The English Experience Serves as a Pronunciation Guide Allowing Students by
Analogy to Learn Spelling in Taiwan Aboriginal Languages: An Example of the
Amis Ethnicity
Tung-Chiou Huang and Akiyo Pahalaan

Ph.D. In National Centre for Language and Literacy, The University of Reading, Great Britain
Former Chair, Institute & Department of Foreign Languages & Cultures, Fo Guang University,
Taiwan, R.O.C TEL
E-mail：tchuang@mail.fgu.edu.tw; akiyo@mail.ndhu.edu.tw
No.160, Linwei Rd., Jiaosi , Yilan County 26247, Taiwan (R.O.C.)
Abstract
Orthography is a set of conventions for representing language in written form; written forms are
made up of graphic words, and such words, taking English for example, are composed by individual
graphs or letters that represent sounds. Thus, writing systems are conventional visible marks for
human communication (Gelb,1963: 12; Burnaby, 1997: 59; DeLancey, 1998).
All aboriginal languages spoken in Taiwan were in the past orally transmitted. As Fishman (1980:
169) writes, “Unless they are entirely withdrawn from the modern world, minority ethno-linguistic
groups need to be literate in their mother tongue (as well as in some language of wider
communication).” However, the language becomes vastly easier to learn and literacy is improved
when the writing system is consistent. Written communication, furthermore, allows a culture to
communicate in written form with its ancestors and with its progeny by crossing physical and time
boundaries.
Over the past several years, there has been a growing consensus that the orthography of formerly
unwritten languages should be based on the alphabetic principle, possibly as a result of the
importance of English as a global language. In Taiwan since 2001, English has been taught in our
educational system from the fifth grade of the primary school onward. Students, therefore, know the
alphabet and learn both the shapes of its 26 letters, the letter names, and the phonemic
correspondence to these graphs, and it would be much easier to learn a system of phonetics for a
pre-literate or semi-literate people group that uses letters found in the English alphabet, for the
English experience serves as a pronunciation guide allowing students by analogy to learn spelling in
their aboriginal languages. My intention in this paper is to share what has been done for over twelve
years to capitalize upon the fact that the students in Taiwan are already familiar with alphabetic
writing because of their prior study of English. They would, therefore, be well-placed to transfer the
regular sound-letter association which they have learned in English classes to the representation of
the sounds of the various aboriginal languages of Taiwan. The great benefit of it is to make
440
acknowledgement of the theme of translingualism, a process of empowerment. This empowerment of
us in our daily life might produce an environment that fosters maturity and responsibility.
Key words: Orthography, aboriginal languages, analogy, transfer, translingualism
1. Introduction
Orthography is a set of conventions for representing language in written form; written forms are
made up of words, and words, taking English for example, have letters that represent sounds (Huang,
T-C. 2002). Bringing out students’ awareness of letter-sound correspondences is an important aim
for the courses of phonetics and the present book (Diaz-Rico, L. 2004)).
The languages which will form the basis for the language awareness program, which we would
outline in this study, are largely unwritten. The issue of how these languages should be represented
in writing is thus a matter of considerable practical and theoretical importance. In this book,
therefore, we first consider the issues involved in devising a writing system for a language; then
several romanized alphabetic schemes in use in Taiwan will be introduced based both on a review of
the literature and personal learning and teaching experience of twenty years. We also explain the
principles of the system adopted for the current study: how the scheme is to be used and how we
hope to apply these principles in order to help students transfer their English language skills to
learning aboriginal languages (Huang, T-C. 1994; 2002; ).
The endangered languages exist predominantly as oral tradition without literacy have a profound
impact on their survival, and the nature of efforts for reversal required to strengthen them (RCAP,
1996: Vol. 3). In general, languages with literary traditions survive longer than those with only oral
traditions, and literacy is one of the keys to Hebrew revival because it makes Hebrew never die
completely. Fishman’s (1980: 169) writes, “Unless they are entirely withdrawn from the modern
world, minority ethno-linguistic groups need to be literate in their mother tongue (as well as in some
language of wider communication)”.
It is the main reason most language efforts almost instinctively place a high premium on literacy.
Paulston (1992: 61) notes, “Literacy is a way to spread Swahili. Swahili newspapers were founded,
and village headmen made reports in Swahili.” In Taiwan, in order for adult literacy to take place
and the generations being able to be united through community language literacy, there need to be
easy-reading literacy materials and dictionaries. The present study is exploring the question of “What
are the issues that arise when the English orthography is used in the teaching of community
languages?” The following is what I have done for the literature.
441
2.1 Writing system
Writing systems are conventional visible marks for human communication (Gelb,1963: 12; Burnaby,
1997: 59; DeLancey, 1998). Written communication allows a culture to communicate with its
ancestors and with its progeny and can cross physical and time boundaries. It is important at the
outset to make the distinction between writing systems, scripts, and orthography. According to
Coulmas (1989: 38-39), a ‘writing system’ makes a selection of the linguistic units to be graphically
represented’ (e.g. syllable writing or phonetic writing); a ‘script’ makes a specific selection of the
possibilities of a given system in accordance with the structural conditions of a given language (e.g.
Chinese script or Arabic script); and an ‘orthography’ makes a specific selection of the possibilities
of a script for writing a particular language in a uniform and standardized way’ (e.g. Standard
German / Swiss German orthography).
Most academic discussions on writing systems, however, focus on the relationship between spoken
language and sets of written symbols. There are no pure systems of writing, just as there are no pure
races in anthropology and no pure languages in linguistics (Gelb, 1963: 199). There are, however,
four main categories of writing system (Burnaby, 1997: 60):
1. Word-concept characters, commonly called ideographs (more properly called logographs), as in
Chinese. Each character used in writing represents an idea or concept, more strictly a morpheme, i.e.
a meaningful linguistic form, rather than a sound.
2. Syllable-sound characters, often called syllabaries, as in Japanese, many Indian languages or
Cherokee. Each character represents the sound of a syllable, which may consist of a single phoneme
or a group of phonemes.
3. Letter-sound characters, as in all alphabetic languages, such as English and Russian (Cyrillic).
Each letter represents the sound of one, or sometimes more phonemes. Alternatively a combination
of letters can represent one phoneme.
4. Consonantal writing, used to represent languages like Hebrew and Arabic, in which the
characters represent consonants.
Table 1 below represents the main features of these four categories of writing systems (Taylor &
Olson, 1995: 5; Deniel & Wouldiam, 1996).
442
Writing system Languages Advantages Disadvantages
Word-concept 1. Chinese Characters represent words, Hundreds of symbols and

characters and each symbol represents radicals must be recognised
2. Kanji of
one idea. if one wants to be literate.
Japanese
Syllable-sound 1. Japanese Characters represent It is not useful in languages

characters syllables. with complex syllable
2. Cherokee
patterns.
Letter-sound 1. English Ease of learning. Spelling is notoriously

characters difficult due to dialect or
2. Russian
historical changes, or
borrowed words.
Consonant-sound 1. Hebrew Ease of learning. Better suited to languages

characters with highly predictable
2. Arabic
vowels, e.g. Arabic.
Table 1 Main features of different writing systems
Over the past several years, there has been a growing consensus that the orthography of unwritten
languages should be based on the alphabetic principle, possibly as a result of the importance of
English as a global language. As DeLancey (1998) points out:
People in contemporary Native communities sometimes prefer an English-based orthography on the
grounds that it is easier to learn for people who have already mastered literacy in the dominant
language.
2.2 Considerations in devising a writing system

There are three important considerations in devising a writing system for a language: economy,
consistency and convenience (Fishman, 1968; Tsao, 1999a: 360).
Gelb (1963: 63) proposed economy as an important principle in the development of writing systems.
The aim should be to represent the language by means of the smallest number of signs, resulting in
simplicity, unequivocalness and faithfulness (Coulmas, 1996: 138). In alphabetic writing, an efficient
system would allocate a symbol to each phoneme and there is no need to provide additional symbols
if there is no phonemic contrast.
443
Consistency allows readers to pronounce words from their spelling, and writers to spell them from
their sound. The letters should correspond predictably to speech sounds; all spellings are consistently
pronounced. In other words, one symbol stands for one sound and there are no other symbols that
stand for the same sound. Consistency permits learners to see what they say.
Convenience includes a number of notions. First of all, a set of letters is viewed as convenient if it
can be easily learned, for they are easily associated with the sounds they represent. Secondly, the
writing system is easily processed both mechanically and electronically without the use of large
numbers of diacritics and additional letters. Most important, the same symbols can be generally used,
allowing for slight modifications, in a number of closely associated languages.
An optimal writing system is easily acquired by beginning readers and writers and by those from
different educational backgrounds (Rogers, 1995: 31; Taylor & Olson, 1995: 7). It follows from what
has been said that only when a set of letters is scientifically and socially acceptable can it be
successful (Berry, 1972: 737; Her, Der-Hua 1994: 142).
In our present study these days, we have been guided by the five criteria for an optimal writing
system proposed by Coulmas (1989: 226): 1) maximum motivation for the learner; 2) maximum
representation of speech; 3) maximum ease of learning; 4) maximum transfer; 5) maximum ease of
reproduction.
2.3 The writing systems of Taiwan

We have already discussed the principles which underline the logographic writing system of Chinese:
one sign primarily represents one syllable and the meaning of a word or morpheme, and secondarily
its sound. In alphabetic languages, one letter represents one phoneme, the basic principle of which is
one symbol – one sound (Taylor & Olson, 1995: 3; Hoosain, 1995: 131). In addition to the
logographic writing system used for Chinese, there are, however, several Romanized systems.
For centuries, there was no standard orthography for languages other than Mandarin spoken in the
Taiwan area. In addition to the traditional logographic writing, several Romanized scripts have been
developed to represent both Chinese and the aboriginal languages. As Tsao (1999a: 359) points out,
A heated debate has been raging in Taiwan for the past three years having to do with the National
Phonetic Symbols (NPS). …and it is difficult to see what the outcome of this policy deliberation
would be.
Students in Taiwan learn the National Phonetic Symbol 1 (NPS1) (henceforth N1), which uses
components of traditional Chinese characters in the first 10 weeks of elementary school as an aid to
learning Mandarin. In 1986, the Ministry of Education introduced the National Phonetic Symbol 2
444
(NPS2) (henceforth N2), which employs Romanized letters. However, this system is not taught
compulsorily, and therefore is not widely used. Another set of alphabetic symbols promoted by
Mainland China since 1956, officially known as Chinese Phonetic Scheme/ Hanyu Pinyin system
(henceforth C), has been used for more forty years without any reported undesirable effects. The
Tongyong Pinyin system (henceforth T) has recently been developed locally in Taiwan (Zhou, Her
1990: 2016; Chen, Li-Hung 1993; Tsao, 1999a: 361). Table 2 below compares the ways in which
these four systems represent the sounds of Mandarin.
N1 N2 C T
N1＝Chinese；N2＝Gwoyeu Romatzyh；C＝Hanyu Pinyin；T＝Tongyoung Pinyin
Initials
Unaspirated Aspirated stops Nasals Fricatives Voiced
continuants
stops
N1 N2 C T N1 N2 C T N1 N2 C T N1 N2 C T N1 N2 C T
Labials ㄅ b b b ㄆ p p p ㄇ m m m ㄈ f f f
Alveolars ㄉ d d d ㄊ t t t ㄋ n n n ㄌ l l l
Gutternals ㄍ g g g ㄎ k k k ㄏ h h h
Palatals ㄐ j(i) j ji ㄑ chi q ci ㄒ shi x si
Retroflexes ㄓ j zh jh ㄔ ch ch ch ㄕ sh sh sh ㄖ r r r
Alveolar ㄗ tz z z ㄘ ts c c ㄙ s s s
sibilants
445
Finals/Rimes
Finals/Rimes
Types N1 N2 C T N1 N2 C T N1 N2 C T N1 N2 C T
Single rimes ㄧ -i/ -i/ -i/ ㄨ -u/ -u/ -u/ ㄩ -iu/ -ü/ yu
wu
yi yi yi wu wu yu yu
ㄚ a a a ㄛ o o o ㄜ e e e ㄝ ê/ ë ë e
Duplex ㄞ ai ai ai ㄟ ei ei ei ㄠ au ao ao ㄡ ou ou ou
rimes
ㄢ an an an ㄣ en en en ㄤ ang ang ang ㄥ eng eng eng
ㄦ er er er
Combined ㄧ -ia/ -ia/ -ia/ ㄧ -ie/ -ie/ -ie/ ㄧ yai yai yai ㄧ -iau/ iao/ iao/
rimes ㄧㄚㄝㄞㄠ
ya ya ya ye ye ye yao yao yao
ㄧ -iou/ -iu/ -iu/ ㄧ -ian/ -ian/ -ian/ ㄧ -in/ -in/ -in/ ㄧ -iang/ -iang/ -iang/
ㄡㄢㄣㄤ
you you you yan yan yan yin yin yin yang yang yang
ㄧ -ing/ -ing/ -ing/
ㄥ
ying ying ying
Combined ㄨ -ua/ -ua/ -ua/ ㄨ -uo/ -uo/ -uo/ ㄨ -uai/ -uai/ -uai/ ㄨ -uei/ -uei/ -uei/
rimes ㄨㄚㄛㄞㄟ
wa wa wa wo wo wo wai wai wai wei wei wei
ㄨ -uan/ -uan/ -uan/ ㄨ -uen/ -un/ -un/ ㄨ -uang/ -uang/ -uang/ ㄨ -ung/ -ong/ -ong/
ㄢㄣㄤㄥ
wan wan wan wen wen wen wang wang wang weng weng weng
Combined ㄩ -iue/ -ue/ -ue/ ㄩ -iuan/ -uan/ yuan ㄩ -iun/ -un/ yun ㄩ -iung/ -iong/ yong
rimes ㄩㄝㄢㄣㄥ
yue yue yue yuan yuan yun yun yung yong
Table 2 A comparison of various system used to represent Mandarin
446
In reality, N2, C, and T correspond closely to one another. C’s main potential drawback is its use of
letters j, q and x to represent Mandarin sounds that lack a handy equivalent in the Latin alphabet.
From my point of view, the crux of the controversy is the use of the symbol ‘q’ to represent the
sound of an aspirated palatal affricate [q], and symbol ‘x’ to represent the corresponding palatal
fricative [x] when these letters correspond to completely different sounds in the Roman alphabet,
sounds, which do not exist in English. It can be argued that the main issue here is not which system
we should adopt or whether we can reasonably expect the young to learn all of them, but how we can
make them easier for students to learn.
The choice of system cannot be thought of in simplistic terms, such as which is technically the most
efficient. Broader political considerations, such as the global tendency towards alphabetic writing
and the fact that large numbers of Mainland Chinese already use a system of Romanized writing,
need also to be taken into consideration. It is clearly important that the advantages and disadvantages
of the various systems become the focus for wide debate within Taiwan.
2.4 English phonology

All the students in senior high school have already learned English for three years at least, for
English is taught in our educational system from the start of junior high school at the age of twelve.
The students therefore know the alphabet and learn both the shapes of 26 letters and the letter names
(see Appendix A) and the phonemic representation of letter name. From the chart, students enhance
their understanding about phonemic representation of letter name, and know they have already
learned the following vowels: /e/, /i/, /ε/, /aI/, /o/, /u/, /a/, /I/, /Λ/, and consonants: /b/; /s/; /d/; /f/; /ʤ/;
/ t∫/; /k/; /l/; /m/; /n/; /p/; /r/; /t/; /j/; /v/; /w/; /z/.
According to the K.K Phonetic System by John Kenyon and Thomas A. Knott, the most widely used
system in Taiwan, there are, 3 diphthongs, 14 monophthongs, and 24 consonants (See Table 3).
English spelling is notoriously difficult for native and non-native speakers (Craig & Alexander,
2001). For non-native speakers in particular, it is not only handled erratically by most people, but is
also mispronounced because English orthography often does not represent unambiguously how
words are pronounced. In other words, knowing how a word is pronounced does not guarantee one a
great chance to be able to spell it, and knowing how a word is spelled only gives a clue as to how to
pronounce it. Furthermore, there are some letters which do not represent any segments in a particular
word, (e.g. through and sign); the same sound can be represented with different letters in different
words, (e.g. rude, two and soup); the same letter can represent different segments in different words,
(e.g. not and bone); a single letter can represent more than one sound, (e.g. exile and saxophone).
447
Although there is no exact correspondence between graphemes and phonemes, there are nonetheless
many undeniable regularities in English orthography, particularly at the morphemic level (Barreiro,
1999). Students are, therefore, taught letter-sound correspondences on the basis of phonetically
regular consonant vowel combinations (see Appendix B: The alliteration and rhyme of the
letter-sound correspondences).
3 diphthongs / aI /; / aU/; /Ɔ I/.
17 vowels Front Middle Back
High /i/ /ɝ/ /u/
/I/ /ɚ/ /U/
Middle /e/ /ə/ /o/
/ε/ /^/ /Ɔ/
Low /æ / /a/
24 consonant bilabial Labio-dental dental alveolar Palato-alveloar palatal velar glottal
plosive /p/; /b/ /t/; /d/ /k/; /g/
nasal /m/ /n/ /ŋ/
trill /r/
fricative /f/; /v/ /θ/; /ð/ /s/; /z/ /∫/; /Ʒ/ /h/
approximant /w/ /j/
Lateral /l/
approximant
affricate / t∫/;/ʤ/
Table 3 3 diphthongs, 14 monophthongs, and 24 consonants
448
Thus, despite the many irregularities of English orthography, students are introduced to regular
sound-letter correspondences as part of English lessons. This knowledge is further reinforced by the
fact that English is an international language and plays a particularly important role in electronic
communication and the Internet. Many students actually recognize letters in the English alphabet
even before they enter junior high school. Furthermore, from 2001 English was introduced in the
fifth grade in primary school (Tsao, 1999a:367; 2001). Given these considerations of economy and
convenience, there are compelling reasons for using a Romanized Writing System based on English
in representing the other languages of Taiwan which would serve as the focus for the present study.
3. Methodology
Action research (AR) is a form of structured reflection that requires the systematic collection and
analysis of data, relating to the improvement of aspects of professional practice. For a teacher who
activates and cultivates minority languages and cultures, AR is a powerful strategy for professional
development: which raises questions about classroom practice, carefully documents procedures and
gathers data through observation, interviews, and students’ performance. Then the strategy
encourages them to reflect on that data and practical experience to determine what to do next. This
study uses Action Research as its primary investigative method, aided by observation and in depth
interviews.
comparison Reconfirm the Make a sentence Dialogue
spelling
litemoh/ litemoh Lipahak a A:Sa-na’on-en. Aka ka litemoh-en

mala-litemoh kita! ko citosiya.
litmoh 【to meet、
receive】p.178 (Nice to meet you.) B:Hai, ma-fana’ to kako.
P.178
A: Be careful. Never take a walk
on the route of the car.
B:Yes. I got it.
(practice
another
word)
Literacy is a historical imperative for language revitalization and it must be a concern of the first
order in this endeavour. In order to pronounce words from their spelling and to spell them from their
sounds for those who have already mastered literacy in the dominant international language, English,
449
I use AR in a multilingual classroom to prove that it would be much easier to learn a system of
writing that uses letters found in the English alphabet, for the English experience can serve as a
pronunciation guide allowing the learners by analogy to learn spelling in their own native languages
(Yang, Yang. 2005). AR, furthermore, is a process of analysis, getting facts, identifying the problem,
planning and taking action on the problem, then repeating the cycle as new concepts and information
result from the previous process. The present research will be conducted within the framework of AR
which, like other forms of qualitative research, draws on a wide range of methods and sources of
data. The primary methods of data collection are observation, interview, and documentary evidence.
4. Finding: An Orthography for Amis

As Fishman (1980: 169) writes, ‘Unless they are entirely withdrawn from the modern world,
minority ethno-linguistic groups need to be literate in their mother tongue (as well as in some
language of wider communication)’. However, the language becomes vastly easier to learn and
literacy is improved when the writing system is consistent.
The preparation of materials for language awareness activities in multilingual classrooms in Taiwan
is necessarily hampered by the fact that there is not a common orthography. Several different
orthographic systems have been used at various times for each of the groups. Take the largest
minority group, the Amis, for example. Table 4 below sets out the various ways in which the
phonemes of the Amis has been represented (Edmondson, 1986; Fey, 1986, 1993; Huang,
Tung-Chiou 1991, 1993, 1996; Edmondson & Huang: 2001):
Vowels
Phonetic The similar Virginia Fey Ministry of Dr. Tsai & Hualien Suggested
symbols & sound in Education Zeng County writing
letters English spelling
Aa /a/ father ‘ap’ap ‘ap’ap ‘ap’ap apâp ‘ap’ap
Ee / ə / seven mo’tep mo’tep mo’tep mo^tep moetep
Ii /I/ sitting kilim kilim kilim kilim kilim
Oo/o/ open opih ‘upih opih opih opih
Uu /u/ June fotig foting futing futig foting
450
Consonants
Phonetic symbols & English Virginia Fey Ministry of Dr. Tsai & Hualien Suggested
letters Education Zeng County writing spelling
Bb/b/ baby babahi babahi
Cc /ʦ/ students ccay cecay cecay cecay cecay
Dd/ł/ dark damdam damdam damdam damdam damdam
Ff /f/ fifth falah falah falah falah falah
Gg /g/ good gris geris
Hh /[h]/ him hadhad hadhad hadhad hadhad hadhad
Kk /k/ clock kakarayan kakarayan kakarayan kakarayan kakarayan
Ll /l]/ lily lalag lalang lalang lalang lalang
Mm /m/ mother mamana mamana mamana mamana mamana
Nn/n/ name negneg nengneng nengneng nengneng nengneng
NG/ng /ŋ/ singing gagan ngangan ngangan ngangan ngangan
Pp /p/ pen papah papah papah papah papah
Qq /q/ fo’is foqis fu’is fu’is fu’is
Rr /r/ ring rara’ rara’ rara’ rara’ rara’
Ss /s/ sister safa safa’ safa’ safa^ safa
Tt/t/ stop titi piti titi titi titi
Ww /w/ way warwar warwar warwar warwar warwar
Xx /x/ loch ‘xiw ‘xiw êxiw êxiw exiw
Yy/j/ yes yatayat yatayat yatayat yatayat yatayat
451
Zz /z/ zoo zikut zikut
‘’ /?/ network ‘a’am ‘a’am ‘a’am ‘aâm ‘a’am
^ /^/ apâp ‘ap’ap
Table 4 Vowels and consonants have been devised in Amis language
Attempts to develop an orthography for Amis have thus been many and varied. Not all, however,
observe the principles of economy, convenience and consistency. The use of the wedge /^/ to
represent the sound of the glottal strop and its effects on the preceding or following vowel continues
even in recent texts (Cu, Qing-Yi 2001), in spite of the fact that alternative representations which
avoid this graph are possible, such as those the authors have pointed out, e.g. epah/ ^pah; sienaw/
si^naw.
Over the past several years, there has been a focus on literacy in the mother tongues of Taiwan area,
and the first author has been involved in a committee concerned with the development of
orthographic conventions for the Amis language. He has set out below in Table 5, 6 & 7 the
orthography which he used as the basis of the language awareness program. Only a small number of
letters are used to represent sounds which do not occur in English and diacritics are avoided. Most
letters are based on existing sound-letter relationships in English which means that students can also
transfer their knowledge of English to the representation of aboriginal languages.
4 vowels Front Middle Back
High Ii /i/
Middle Ee /ə / Oo /o/
Low Aa /a/
452
19 consonant bilabial Labio-dental alveolar palatal velar pharyngeal glottal
stops Pp /p/; Tt /t/ Kk /k/; ‘’ /ʔ/
Bb /b/ Gg /g/
nasals Mm /m/ Nn /n/ NGng /ŋ/
Trill/ Rr /r/
Retroflex
fricatives Ff /f/ Ss /s/; Xx /x/ Hh /h/
Dd /ł/
approximant Ww /w/ Yy /j/
Lateral
fricative Ll /l/
affricate Cc /ʦ/
Table 5 4 monophthongs and 19 consonants in the Amis language

Categories Graphemes Number
Vowels Aa/a/, Ee/ə/, Ii/I/, Oo/o/ 4
Glides/ consonants Ww/w/, Yy/j/ 2
Bilabial/ labiodental consonants Pp/p/, Bb/b/, Ff/f/, Mm/m/ 4
Dental/ alveolar consonants Tt/t/, Ss/s/, Nn/n/, Ll/l/ 4
Velar consonants Kk/k/, Gg/g/, Xx/x/, NG/ng /ŋ/ 4
Palatal affricate Cc /ʦ/ 1
Voiceless lateral Dd /ł/ 1
Glottals* ‘/?/ , Hh/ħ/ 2
453
Flapped or trilled sound Rr/r/ 1
Table 6 The category of graphemes in the Amis language

Grapheme Phoneme English Amis/ Pangcah
Aa /a/ are, farm, what, wash, father, ala= take, tala= wait, rara= slow,
hard, garden,
rara’= red beans, latak= star fruit
Bb /b/ book, table, Bob, rabbit, bench, babahi= wife, baliyos= typhoon
bring, volleyball
Cc /ʦ/ students, elephants, streets, cadiw= sharpen, acek= disgust,

sports, habits, a’iloc= neck, fangcal= very good,
cikay= run
Dd /ł/ dark, idea, decision, dog, dadipis= cockroach, dipdip= peek/to

doctor, bedroom, under, hard, secretly watch, sawad= quit
weekend
Ee // seven, quiet, often, enough, efeng= throw away, kaen= eat, likes=
several mosquito, kemkem= chew something
parent, elementary,
Ff /f/ flower, fifty, office, leaf, finish, fali= wind, falic= exchange, kilif= to
fruit, enough, telephone, be evasive/ not to tell truth, salof=
correct
Gg /g/ girl, August, dog, geliw= string, galas= glass, gris
Hh /h/ he, her, here, hello, high, hakowa= how much/many, hakhak=
homework, hand, rice, kaedah= peppery/hot, loyoh= to
collapes, mangah= lies, rihaday=
peace
Ii // this, sister, different, ticket, ina= mother, ‘icep= betel nut, ‘idi=
selfish, olili= go ahead, wali= east
454
picnic, winter, spring,
Kk /k/ key, jacket, park, skirt, walk, kaeso’= delicious, karkar/ korkor=
work, black, thank dig, patonek= to set up/ decide,
sadak= come out, tingki= electricity,
Ll /l/ lazy, dollar, football, lakaw, lefek, licay, lolo= purple,

luyuh= collapes, laloma’an, teloteloc,
slal。
Mn /m/ milk, umbrella, room, similar, mamo, metmet, mi’mi’, momok,

muwa, malama, mato’asay, kilim,
museum。
samsam, radom。
Nn /n/ noise, stationary, invention, nanam, nemnem, niyaro’, nonor,

nukay= go home,
Oo // open, close, October, sofa, oo’= leg, ocor= send, olah= love,
both, those, clothes, cold tolo’= fall down, niyaro’= town, city
Pp /p/ popular, example, shop, power, pacpac= beat hard, pedped= crowd,
pork, company pack soled, pihpih, podpod, puyapuy
Rr /r/ real, terrible, sure, cheer, rara, rengreng, ridred=lead, riri’,

original rosaros, rufu, rara’
Ss /s/ slang, thirsty, dress, choice, sakasak, semsem= suffer, silsil, solsol,
delicious sulep/cahiw
Tt /t/ terrible, battery, meat, fight, tamita= Let’s go, tengteng, tihtih,
control toto’/pa’pa, tupi/fanol
Uu /u/ supermarket, June, junior, blue, tolon= pray, toron= sticky rice bread,
true, toro’= point with the finger, kanoos=
finger nail
455
Ww /w/ wok, what, wakawak, widi= leeches, willet,
widang, geliw
Xx /x/ loch capox, exiw, odax
Yy /j/ yes, young yatayat= to exercise, kaying, yofing,

siday,
‘’ /?/ network ‘alo, ‘ok’ok= drink, a’ayaw, fana’
NG/ /ŋ/ language, stranger, drink, ngangan, ngero’= tired, ngicngic,

singing ngodo, ngusngus= eat raw food
ng
Table 7 One of the pronunciations in English corresponds to usage in the Amis language
The following basic features and concepts of the Amis language can help learners read all the books
published in Taiwan area (Edmondson & Huang, 2001):
 An ergative VSO language with mostly prefixes, suffixes, a few infixes, and prepositions. There
are lots of the ergative markers: ma, pa, sapi. Most words begin and end in consonants with a
canonical word shape CVC…VC.
 Because it is a language that eschews words that begin or end with vowels, it hardens word
onset and offset by covering initial or final vowels with a glottal stop, e.g. ina, ama, ocur, tusa, tulu,
lima’, ‘api, ‘ad’ad, fila’, ngataa’ (surprised). At the same time there are also examples of glottal
stops that exist in the underlying form of a word.
 There are no consonant clusters, and therefore, when consonants come together, they must be
assigned to different syllables, e.g. cikeroh, sepat…
 The root forms of many content words are nouns and verbs.
 Stress prominence always falls on the last syllable, except initial glottals followed by a have the
accent on the first syllable, e.g. cima, ako, anengang, safa ako.
The phonogram and writing symbols are almost consistent: Aa, Bb, Cc, Dd, Ee, Ff, Gg, Hh, Ii, Kk,
Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Pp, Rr, Ss, Tt, Ww, Xx, Yy, NG/ng, and the glottal stop ‘, and it is easy to decode
the sounds in the Amis language: ‘alapit (chopsticks), babahi (wife), cikcik (cut up), dadaya (night),
‘efeng (throw), fafoy (pig), galas (glass), hakhak (milled rice), itini (here), kakonah (ants), laklak
(scatter), malenak (multiply), nanom (water), ‘ocor (send), porong (to take long grass or twine and
tie it in a knot to mark a trail in the mountains; a token to fight evil spirits), riyar (sea), sasaw (wash),
tatata (let’s go), wayway (behavior, impression), ‘exiw (incense), yatayat (exercise), ngangan (name)
and ‘a’am (rice porridge).
456
Integrating aboriginal languages or students’ cultural experiences into school subjects like English
might enhance their learning and the most important of all is to give their languages a status more
comparable to that of English or Mandarin, for Taiwan’s diverse ethnicities and languages are a
result of the island’s history of immigration, and different ethnic groups have launched movements
to preserve their languages and cultures in order to raise their status (Starkey, J. A. 2005)). There
were, however, various aspects of this experience which could be harnessed to the benefit of the
students, not least of which was the transfer of prior knowledge, particularly in relation to the use of
an alphabetic writing system (). Some very interesting comments of overall assessment about the
success of using an alphabetic writing system was offered by several of the Amis students after class
in week nine:
I have learned the whole alphabet used in the Amis language: a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, k, l, m, n, o, p, r, s,

t, w, x, y, ng, and the glottal stop “’”.
In the Amis language ABC song, it is so interesting: a, ba, ca, da, Nalowan; e, fe, ge, he, Nalowan; i,
ki, li, mi, ni, Saicelen minanam (work hard in learning the ethnic language); o, po, rong (porong
means a sign or a mark to fight against evils), sa, to, malenak (spread and multiply); o, wa, xa, ya, ng,
‘; caay to ka tongal ko roray a minanam to taneng no to’as (Learning the ethnic language is not
arduous at all). It is interesting and easy to sing.
Each letter represents one speech sound. In the Amis language, there are severn phonemes in the
word fa’edet : /f/ /a//’/ /e/ /d/ /e/ /t/, and there are three syllables in it. Blend the sounds /f/ /a/ /’/ /e/ /d/
/e/ /t/, and they become the word fa’edet (hot). Each syllable contains one vowel sound, like ki-a-ot,
kiaot (run after). It is easier than English, isn’t it?
The following examples are taken from my students’ masterpieces which were created as a part of
their fieldwork and ethnic language courses.
Example 1
Tona kara-tayal-ay ko Pangcah a finacadan saka, caay pi-harateng to sapi-holol-aw a mi-salama a
tala-cowa-cowa. Caay ka-fana’ ko Pangcah to saka-cietan-aw. Pa-edeng saan to ni-tayal-an nangra
ko saka-’orip. Caay ka fana’ to ‘anof hananay. Tona adihay ko ma-kaen-ay no Pangcah a
masa-maan-maan-ay a dateng no pala-pala-an saka, sa-raheker sa ko nika-‘orip no Pangcah.
Because the Pangcah people were hard workers, they didn’t think about taking off time to go places
visiting. The Pangcah people had no knowledge about making money. They worked just so they
could survive. They didn’t have lust for anything out of sight. Since there were a lot of edible things
to be gathered in the fields, they were content with their life.
457
Example 2
Nanana! Idangaw
Take it! My friends!
Roray to Pitoor to ‘orip no Roma a Finacadan?
Weary follow life other people
Aka a pacefa a miala to caayay ko noniyaay a tatudung saan ko sowal no to’as,
Don’t at will take not yourself belonging like that words ancestors
Kilami, naw miala ko Payrang to caayay ko nangraay a tatudung hakini?
However why take Han People not themselves belonging like that
Itiya ho, malalafang nomita cangra, paaro’en ita itini i kafiyaw nomita,
Then honorable guests our them give places to stay we here neighborhood us
Naw cangra to ko ci tatudungay to o lalengawan a tatudung nomita hakini?
Why they own original belongings our like that
Interpretation in English: Share and Reciprocity

Take it as you wish, my friends! Is it tiring to catch up to the life style of other peoples? “Don’t
occupy what doesn’t belong to you,” said our ancestors. However, why do the Han peoples come
into our lands and take out all that our ancestors left us? A long time ago, they were our honorable
guests, and we treated them as family, giving them a piece of land to be our neighbors. How dare
they are to become the lord of our original lands!
Example 3 (folksong)
O ‘ilol Ako ci Kakaan: Affection
Wang-wang sa ko waco,
The dog is continuously barking.
o waco to dadaya?
Is the dog barking normally?
Haya! O waco ko namimanay,
Aha! It couldn't be the barking of the dog,
Haya! O iyoy sa ni kaka.
Aha! It is the soft voice that my lover summons me with.
The barking of the dog
can be heard everywhere at midnight.
Can it be the sound of the barking dog?
Aha! It is the voice of my love.
Fiw-fiw sa ko fali,
o fali to safalat.
Haya! O fali ko namimanay/ mami-maan,
haya! O licay sa ni kaka.
458
The wind is blowing softly,
It's a light gentle wind from the south.
Could it be just a tender breeze?
Aha! It's the lovely greeting from my love.
Siya-siya sa ko 'orad,
o 'orad to lafii'.
Haya! O 'orad ko namimanay,
haya! O losa' sa ni kaka.
It rains dogs and cats,
It's always at midnight that it starts to rain.
Could it be the rain?
Aha! It's the tear of my love.
Conclusion
The Chinese language uses a system of logographic characters that represent complete words or
ideas (though this oversimplifies Han writing a bit, as its characters do have radical and phonetic, i.e.
hints has meaning and sound); English is alphabetic in structure and uses graphemes to represent
speech sounds, not concepts, words or syllables (Yang, Yang. 2005). It is believed that readers can
extract meaning faster from logographs than from words in a phonetic writing system, whereas it is
much easier to pronounce words in a phonetic system than from logographs.
In developing writing systems, there should ideally be one grapheme for each speech sound. This is
also the principle that can be applied to the languages of Taiwan in the present project. The intention
is to capitalize upon the fact that the students are already familiar with alphabetic writing because of
prior study of English and the Romanized Chinese writing system. They would therefore be
well-placed to transfer the regular sound-letter association which they have learned in English
classes to the representation of the sounds of the various aboriginal languages of Taiwan (Kumar,
Krishan 2003). For most students in Taiwan, it would be easier to learn a system of phonetics that
uses letters found in the English alphabet that serve as a pronunciation guide while making analogy
in learning aboriginal languages.
459
Appendix A: Transparencies used in the language awareness activities
Letter Aa Bb Cc Dd
Phonemic /e/ /bi/ /si/ /di/

representation of
letter name
Letter Ee Ff Gg Hh
Phonemic /i/ /εf / /ʤi/ /et∫/

representation of
letter name
Letter Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn
Phonemic /aI/ /ʤei/ /ke/ /εl / /εm/ /εn /

representation of
letter name
Letter Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt
Phonemic /o/ /pi/ /kju/ /ar/ /εs/ /ti/

representation of
letter name
Letter Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz
Phonemic /ju/ /vi/ /dΛblju / /εks / /w aI / /zi/

representation of
letter name
The vowels we can learn from the table above are:
/ /; / /; / /; / /; / /; / /; / /; / /; / /; / /; / /; / /;
/ /; / /; / /; / /; / /; / /; / /; / /; / /; / /; / /; / /;
460
The consonants we can find from the table above are:
/ /; / /; / /; / /; / /; / /; / /; / /; / /; / /; / /; / /;
/ /; / /; / /; / /; / /; / /; / /; / /; / /; / /; / /; / /;
Appendix B: The alliteration and rhyme of the letter-sound correspondences

Aa Ee Ii Oo Uu
/a/ // /I/ /o/ /u/
Aa /a/ AA/aa AE/ae AI/ai AO/ao AU/au
Bb/b/ BA/ba BE/be BI/bi BO/bo BU/bu
Cc /ʦ/ CA/ca CE/ce CI/ci CO/co CU/cu
Dd/ł/ DA/da DE/de DI/di DO/do DU/du
Ee // EA/ea EE/ee EI/ei EO/eo EU/eu
Ff /f/ FA/fa FE/fe FI/fi FO/fo FU/fu
Gg /g/ GA/ga GE/ge GI/gi GO/go GU/gu
Hh /[h]/ HA/ha HE/he HI/hi HO/ho HU/hu
Ii /I/ IA/ia IE/ie II/ii IO/io IU/iu
Jj /ʤ/ JA/ja JE/je JI/ji JO/jo JU/ju
Kk /k/ KA/ka KE/ke KI/ki KO/ko KU/ku
Ll /l]/ LA/la LE/le LI/li LO/lo LU/lu
Mm /m/ MA/ma ME/me MI/mi MO/mo MU/mu
Nn/n/ NA/na NE/ne NI/ni NO/no NU/nu
NG/ng /ŋ/ NGA/nga NGE/nge NGI/ngi NGO/ngo NGU/ngu
Oo /o/ OA/oa OE/oe OI/oi OO/oo OU/ou
461
Pp /p/ PA/pa PE/pe PI/pi PO/po PU/pu
Qq /q/ QA/qa QE/qe QI/qi QO/qo QU/qu
qemusun Fo’qis qoyo
Rr /r/ RA/ra RE/re RI/ri RO/ro RU/ru
Ss /s/ SA/sa SE/se SI/si SO/so SU/su
Tt/t/ TA/ta TE/te TI/ti TO/to TU/tu
Uu/ u/ UA/ua UE/ue UI/ui UO/uo UU/uu
Vv /v/ VA/va VE/ve VI/vi VO/vo VU/vu
Ww /w/ WA/wa WE/we WI/wi WO/wo WU/wu
Xx /x/ XA/xa XE/xe XI/xi XO/xo/ox XU/xu
xiw capox
Yy/j/ YA/ya YE/ye YI/yi YO/yo YU/yu
Zz /z/ ZA/ za ZE/ze ZI/zi ZO/zo ZU/zu
‘’ ‘A/ ’a ‘E/ ’e ‘I/ ’i ‘O/ ’o ‘U/ ’u
/?/ na’ay= refuse la’ed 間隔 ma’ifor/di’i na’on ma‘usi 嫌惡
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465
ISLLLE-1235
The Second Language (L2) Acquisition of the Chinese Topic Structure by
Learners of Different First Language (L1) Backgrounds
Suying Yang
syang@hkbu.edu.hk
1. Introduction
The topic structure plays a very important role in the grammar of Chinese, therefore many scholars
consider Chinese as a topic-prominent language (Li & Thompson, 1976) as opposed to
subject-prominent languages such as English. The topic structure has been a hot topic in linguistics
for many years because the understanding of this structure has implications to our understanding of
language typologies and general principles of language organization. However, the acquisition of the
topic structure by non-Chinese learners has been seriously under-researched.
The present study investigated the acquisition of the topic-structure in Chinese by English and
Japanese speakers. English is a typical subject-prominent language while Japanese is a language that
displays both topic-prominence and subject-prominence features. By including learners of
typologically different first languages ( L1), we can find answers to some theoretically important
questions, such as: Do learners of different L1 backgrounds go through the same topic-prominent
beginning stage? If yes/no, what are the reasons? Do different L1s affect the acquisition of the
topic structure during different stages of acquisition?
2. The Previous Studies

Many scholars have observed that learners with topic-prominent L1 background tend to transfer the
topic-prominence features in their use of a non-topic-prominent second language (L2) (Huebner,
1983; Schachter and Rutherford, 1979; Zobl, 1986; Yip, 1989；Cai，1998). However, on the other
hand, some scholars claim that there exists a universal topic-prominent stage in the process of second
language development, which means the interlanguage of beginning level learners displays the same
topic-prominence features despite their different L1 backgrounds（Fuller & Gundel, 1987）.
Jin (1994) investigated the acquisition of Chinese by 46 English speakers. She has three major
findings: 1) the English-speaking learners did not exhibit topic-prominence features in their
beginning level L2 Chinese. They showed, instead, a systematic transfer of L1 subject-prominence
features in their interlanguage; 2) the learners’ interlanguage went through a typological transition
from subject-prominence to topic-prominence as the learners’ knowledge of Chinese increased; 3)
both topic-prominence and subject-prominence features are transferable. Yuan（1995）did not directly
466
discuss if there is a universal stage of topic-prominence, but his results seem to lend support to Jin’s
findings. Yuan studied the acquisition of one type of topic-sentences by 102 English-speaking
university students. He hypnotized that the learners would not encounter great difficulties in
acquiring this type of sentences because of the large amount of input in the learning process. His
hypothesis was, however, not supported by his results. He found that his subjects were reluctant to
accept Chinese topic sentences and the main reason is that the learners wrongly analyzed the topic as
the subject of the sentence. He explained this phenomenon in terms of the principle of Minimal
Attachment (Frazier, 1978, 1985; Frazier & Rayner,. 1988; Yuan (1995:95). Yuan (1995) also
pointed out that many Chinese sentences with the surface structure of NP+V+(XP) may mislead the
learners’ into believing that Chinese, like English, is subject-prominent and this misunderstanding
will result in the transfer of L1 subject-prominence features. Jung (2004) investigated the acquisition
of topic-prominent Korean by English-speaking learners. Her results show that the increase of
proficiency levels corresponds to a gradual transition from subject-prominence to topic-prominence.
3. Methodology
3.1. Test Data
A grammaticality test (Test 1) and a sentence combinations test (Test 2) were administered to both
English-speaking and Japanese-speaking learners. For Test 1, there were 20 participants for each L1
group. For test 2, there were 15 English-speaking learners and 9 Japanese-speaking learners.
3.2. Production Data

The production data were taken from the HSK (Chinese Proficiency Test) corpus. 36 essays were
randomly selected for each of the four groups: 1) Intermediate Japanese learners; 2) Advanced
Japanese learners; 3) Intermediate English learners; and 4) Advanced English learners.

Through examining and analyzing both test and composition data produced by our subjects, we have
the following major findings:
1. Our learners do not seem to go through a common stage of topic prominence;
2. at the beginning level, learners seem to use the simplest semantic structure
Agent-Action-Patient to analyze sentences, so the word order and the complexity of sentence
influence their understanding and use of topics;
3. topic prominence in mother tongue does positively transfer to a topic prominent target language,
but this transfer is more obvious in later stages than in earlier stages because learners tend to be
conservative.
Our findings not only have pedagogical implications but are also important in the development of
general theories about language typologies and general organization principles of language.
467
Note: The paper was originally written in Chinese and only a small part has been translated into
English. I am currently continuing the translation and will have the translation completed before the
conference.
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Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
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468
Working Papers on Bilingualism, 19, 1-12.
Tsao, F. (1977). A functional study of topic in Chinese: the first step towards discourse
analysis. Doctoral dissertation, University of Southern Califormia.
Xu, Liejong & Langendoen, D. Tenrence (1985). Topic structures in Chinese. Language, 61, 1-27.
Yip, V.C.-Y. (1989). Aspects of Chinese/English interlanguage: Syntax, semantics and
learnability. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of South California, Los Angeles.
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469
ISLLLE-1191
Speaker Identification Using Vowels /i/ and /ɑ/ at Normal Pitch and High Pitch
Sreeparna Sarkar
ALFIA Languages
Email address: shree.hazel92@gmail.com
Abstract
In this paper, a speaker identification experiment is conducted where four male speakers are recorded
in their normal pitch, uttering Cardinal Vowels 1 and 5, /i/ and /ɑ/ respectively. Out of these four
speakers, one speaker is recorded in high pitch. The listeners are asked to identify the same speakers
from lists of contrastive pairs of speakers in normal pitch in one set and normal and high pitch in
another. This was done in order to study the effect of changing pitch on the listeners’ ability to
identify same speakers accurately. We also change the vowels in certain tests to examine whether the
change in vowels affects the efficiency of speaker identification more or change in pitch. The results
indicate that it is indeed more difficult to identify speakers when they change their voice from
normal pitch to high pitch. Change in vowel also shows drop in correct answers, but not as much as
change in pitch does.
1. Introduction
Since voice disguising is something that the forensic department deals with very often, phoneticians
play a very important role in forensic investigations, for expert analysis and to act as witness to audio
recordings of speech (French: 1994). The current paper focuses on pitch of voice, and tries to
investigate the effects of varying pitch used for disguising voice. We are going to focus on speaker
identification by using different pitch levels and examine how it affects their ability to identify
speakers correctly. This study would indicate results which might tell us that it is more difficult to
identify speakers when their voice is disguised from normal to high pitch and also see if the effect is
more on /i/ or on /ɑ/.
2. The Research Questions

1. Keeping the pitch level constant, is it possible to correctly identify same voices when the vowels
are same?
2. Is it more challenging to identify the same voices when the pitch is constant but the vowels are
different?
3. Is it possible to identify the same speaker when they disguise their voice to a high pitched voice,
when the vowel is same?
4. Is it more difficult to identify voices when both pitch and the vowel is different?
470
3. Experimental Investigation of Speaker Identification.
Why vowels /i/ and / ɑ /?
The vowels /i/ and / ɑ / have good identifying potential (Rose: 2002). The two vowels are distinctly
opposite in their characteristics: while producing /i/ the tongue position is front, mouth closed and
lips unrounded, in producing / ɑ /, the tongue position is back, mouth open and the lips rounded.
Vowel quality is also considered as a one of the ways in which speaker’s accent is attained (Rose:
2002), this is important, since accents indicate the geographical location and the social group of a
person. We will now take account of the difference in their acoustic structures which would help us
make a clear distinction between the acoustic energy produced while uttering the two vowels.
F1 F3
F2
Fig.3.The figure above is the spectrum of /i/ showing F0= 141Hz.
F2
F1
F3
Fig.4.The figure above is the spectrum of /ɑ/ showing F0= 141Hz.
We can see above, even though the harmonics come after an interval of 141Hz for both the vowels.
While in /i/ F1 and F2 further apart from each other we see the F1 and F2 for /ɑ/ much closer to each
other creating a wide band of energy. The F1 and F2 being close, create the wide band of high
amplitude acoustic energy in /ɑ/.This difference of distribution of energy is one of the reasons behind
the difference in the sounds that the listeners hear. Hence considering the above mentioned factors
we use these two vowels for our experiment on speaker identification based on pitch.
3.1. Data Collection

Four male speakers were asked to produce /i/ and /ɑ/ respectively, three times each in their normal
pitch. One out of the four speakers was asked to produce the same vowels in high pitch as well, for
three times. The sounds were then separated using the software PRAAT and the best one of the three
tokens was taken for making the sound files. This was followed by cutting each token produced by
471
one speaker and joining it with the other token produced by the other speaker and hence forming a
pair of sounds. The sounds were paired by permutations and combinations and were presented to the
listeners in the same order as they would listen to while doing the task. 64 sound pairs were made in
total and these pairs formed the options from which the listeners would have to choose from for
selecting the same speaker.
The listeners were given 5 sound folders containing the sound files which were arranged in exactly
the same way as the questions in the response sheet followed. The respondents were asked to listen
to the sounds at most four times and make a decision as to which pair consists of the same speaker.
The number of times they could listen to the sound files were restricted to four times because
listening to the sounds for longer would delay the task and would confuse the listener even more.
Hence, a new set of questions were added to each question which asked them how confident they
were while making a choice were. This question helped us find out how difficult selecting got with
the changing pairs of sounds.
The speakers were male because the difference between a low pitch voices to high pitch voice is
more apparent in male voice. Female voice is naturally high pitched compared to male voice; hence
the change would not be as remarkable. The recording that was obtained after the recording session
was not very loud as it was recorded using a regular microphone in natural environment, which is
similar to actual forensic situations.
4.1. The Subjects/ Listeners

Subjects were adults between ages 22- 52 both males and females with different native languages.
4.2. Stimuli
The experiment was designed in order to make the listeners compare normal pitch and normal pitch
sounds as well as normal pitch and high pitch sounds, which serve as the control for the comparison
between normal pitch and high pitch sounds. A fixed interval of time was allowed in between the
two sounds in a pair, 0.1ms between each token. The pairs with the same speakers were placed at
random without following a fixed pattern, so that the listeners don’t follow a similar pattern while
identifying. The options which the respondents saw, for example had a pair of different speakers in
the first two options, pair of same speakers in the third option and a pair of same speakers in the last
option and so on for the rest of the questions.
The number of respondents was 17and generalization, all calculations and statistical tests were done
based on the responses of these 17 respondents. Before starting the data measurement, the response
sheet was answered by selecting answer choices alternately to check the chance results in order to be
able to compare the deviation from the chance. More deviation from the chance results would
472
indicate genuine responses which will show the degree of accuracy of the result. This method of
testing respondents is appropriate for this experiment because it not only addresses each part of the
research questions separately with the help of these16 questions but also measures the accuracy of
the answers. The only limitation is that we cannot let the respondents listen to the recordings endless
times because that might confuse the listener.
4.2. Results
First the number of correct answers and the number of wrong answers for each question were
calculated. In order to find the correlation between the variables which are correctness of
identification of same voices and vowel type, and correctness of identification of same voices and
pitch type, a statistical analysis was performed using the SPSS software. The cross tabulation of the
number of correct answers and the number of wrong answers for each questions, are presented below.
We performed the Chi square test for the significance of correlation between the correct answers and
vowel type. The table below shows the results of cross tabulation.
Crosstab
Count
Vowel Type Total
Diff same
correc no 71 74 145
t yes 31 96 127
Total 102 170 272
Therefore we can say that the difference between the numbers of correct answers when the vowels
are same and the number of correct answers when the vowel is different is 65 which shows high
statistical significance as confirmed by the chi square test (X=17.4, P<0.001 and DF=1). Next we
will look at the correlation between the correctness of answers by respondents and pitch type, in the
similar way as we did with vowel type. The table below shows the cross tabulation of the results as
shown by SPSS based on the data that was obtained from the respondents.
473
correct * Pitch Type
Crosstabulation
Count
Pitch Type Total
Diff same
corre no 54 91 145
ct yes 14 113 127
Total 68 204 272
When pitch is different, only 14 are correct, while when pitch is same 113 are correct. The
correlation between the correct answers by the respondents and pitch type is also highly significant
as confirmed by the Chi- square test. (X=24.8, P<0.001, DF=1). A Chi square test was performed to
check the significance of the correlation between listeners and the correct answers considering the
fact that some listeners are better than the other listeners. The test confirms that the effect is highly
significant (X= 40.7, p<0.001, DF= 16).
Now let us see the number of correct answers for each question with the help of the following table.
We will explain these results with the help of a graph as well.
474
Table 1
Question and the factors investigated. (Actual Correct Speaker) Correct Wrong
1.same vowel /ɑ/ - same pitch (Speaker 1) 10 7
3. same vowel /ɑ/ - same pitch (Speaker 3) 11 6
5.same vowel /i/ -same pitch (Speaker 1) 13 4

6.same vowel /i/- same pitch (Speaker 2) 11 6
9.different vowel/ɑi/- same pitch (Speaker 1) 10 7
10. different vowel/ɑi/- same pitch (Speaker 2) 6 11
11. different vowel/ɑi/- same pitch (Speaker 3) 8 9
12. different vowel/ɑi/- same pitch(Speaker 4) 2 15
13. same vowel /i/- different pitch(Speaker 1) 3 14
14.same vowel /ɑ/ - different pitch (Speaker1) 5 12
15.different vowel /i/ /ɑ/- different pitch(Speaker 1) 2 15

16. different vowel/ɑ/ /i/ - different pitch (Speaker 1) 3 14
Table 1 shows a summary of the number of people who could identify the correct pair in each
question correctly and the number of people who could not.
20
15
10 incorrect
5 correct
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
The graph above shows the question numbers in the X-axis and Y- axis shows the number of correct
and incorrect answers. The graph below shows the confidence of each listener while answering each
question. In the response sheet the question following every option was to find how confident they
were in their answers. They were given four choices ‘Very’, ‘Quite’, ‘A bit’, ‘Not at all’ from which
475
they had to select one for every answer. These were converted to a scale of two while calculating the
results in order to obtain the following graph. The answers ‘Very’ and ‘Quite’ were considered as
‘High Confidence’ and the answers ‘A bit’ and ‘Not at all’ were considered as ‘Low Confidence’.
20
15
10 Low Confidence
5 High Confidence
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
5. Discussion
The table in the previous section which takes into account the number of respondents who correctly
answered each question is the actual indicator of how the different variations made in the stimuli
affected their response. We can see from the graph above, the number of correct answers decreases
towards the last few questions compared to the first ones. Their level of confidence also shows a
similar pattern.
In the first eight questions, we try to address the question whether the participants can identify the
same speaker from the pairs of speakers uttering same vowels at normal pitch or not. In the first four
questions, we investigate the vowel /ɑ/. In each question the listeners were supposed to find the same
speaker from four pairs of speakers producing the same vowel /ɑ/ in their normal pitch. This task
was repeated four times with each question having different pairs of same speakers as one of the four
options. Each question had only one pair of same speaker but the pairs of same speakers were not the
same stimuli, because we aim to see is whether the respondents can find the same pair from a list of
different pairs of speakers. From the table above, we can see that in the first four questions an
average of 11on 17 could find the correct pair of speakers. In the next four questions, the task was to
find the same pair of speakers when they produced the vowel /i/ in their normal pitch. Each question
had only one correct pair out of four options and for each question the stimuli for the same pairs was
different. From the table above we can see that the average was 11 of 17 respondents who could find
the correct pair of sounds when the vowel was /i/. Therefore, we cannot say that the efficiency of
identifying the same speaker is more in vowel /ɑ/ than vowel /i/ and vice-versa, in other words,
vowel quality does not matter.
However, when the vowel was different /ɑ/ followed by /i/, in the next four questions, an average of
only 7 respondents out of 17 could find the correct pair of speakers. Hence, when the vowels are
different with same pitch, it is harder to identify the same speakers. Let us try to understand the
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spectrum of both the sounds /ɑ/ and /i/ and relate them to the responses that we have above for these
questions.
Let us refer to Fig. 4 from section 4 which is the spectrum of [ɑ] normal pitch, F0 = 141Hz.
Harmonics occur at 141Hz intervals and these harmonics contribute energy to each formant. Now,
we will refer to Fig.3 from section 4 which is the spectra of /i/, in order to be able to distinguish
between the formant structures of the respective vowels. The spectrum of /i/ normal pitch, F0=
141Hz also indicates that harmonics occur at 141Hz intervals. Here we can see that 3 or 4 harmonics
contribute energy to each formant. While finding the same pairs of speakers, the listeners listen to
these sound tokens which are nothing but these energies which contribute to each formant and based
on that information, decide which speaker is same.
As we can see from the spectra, the formants F1 and F2 are close together for /ɑ/, giving a wide band
of high amplitude acoustic energy for the listener to process, while in /i/ F1 and F2 are far apart and
hence they cannot provide the listener with a wide band of acoustic energy. This could be one of the
main reasons why /i/ generally gives lesser acoustic information to the listener hence making it more
difficult to identify the same speaker when the two vowels are different /ɑ/ and then /i/. It means that
first the listener gets to hear the vowel /ɑ/ and processes the information, while the next vowel /i/
does not give enough information as /ɑ/, and makes it difficult to decide which pair of sounds are the
same. Questions 9 to 12 investigate whether keeping the pitch constant and changing the vowel has
any effect on the responses. As we can see from Table 1 above, question 12 had the least number of
correct answers compared to question 9, 10 and 11. However, there is no clear reason why no.12 got
the least number of correct answers and need further investigation.
In questions 13 and 14, the task of the listeners is to identify same speakers when the vowels are
same but the pitches are different. In this task, we can see the effect of changing pitch of each of the
vowels on the listeners’ ability to identify the speaker and also decide if this effect is more on /i/ or
more on /ɑ/. According to the table above, only 3 respondents could identify the same speaker
correctly when the pairs contained one token of vowel /i/ in normal pitch and the other with vowel /i/
in high pitch. We will try to understand the reason behind this with the help of the following
spectrum.
F1
F2 F3
477
The above spectrum is of high pitch /i/, F0 = 407Hz, therefore harmonics occur at 407Hz intervals.
Since each formant is further apart from each other than it was for the normal pitch /i/, hence does
not provide a wide band of acoustic energy for the listener to process and make an accurate judgment.
This means the level of difficulty to identify the same speaker increases due to inadequate acoustic
information and we can see the difference in the answers where average correct answers for same
pitch same vowel was 11, here it is 3. Five respondents could identify the pair of same speakers
when the vowel was /ɑ/ and the pitch was varied. The following spectrum will help us understand the
effects on the listener when the pitch is varied.
F2
F1
F3
The spectrum above shows the formant structures of high pitched /ɑ/ with F0= 374Hz. Compared to
the one in normal pitch /ɑ/, the formants are further apart from each other which would mean that the
band of high amplitude acoustic energy is not wide enough to give listeners enough information to
process. Hence it affects the identification ability of speakers adversely, bringing down the number
of correct answers from an average of 11 to 5. Hence when vowels are same but pitch is different,
there is a notable difference in results from when the vowel and pitch both were same. The band for
/ɑ/ is still wider than the band we see in the spectrum for high pitched /i/ which might be the reason
behind two more correct answers for /ɑ/. Since, the vowel /ɑ/ still gives more acoustic information
even when the speaker disguises his voice to high pitch, than high pitched /i/, hence, even though
little difference in number is seen, it might be more for vowel /ɑ/ because of its acoustic properties,
whereas the acoustic information conveyed for high pitch /i/ are much lesser making it even more
difficult for the listeners to be able to identify. Therefore, we can say that when the pitch is same and
normal, it is easier to identify the speaker, however when a person changes his voice by changing the
pitch from normal to high, it becomes more difficult to identify the speaker.
Furthermore, 2 respondents and 3 respondents could answer the 15th and the 16th questions
respectively correctly, they selected ‘not at all’ confident as their answers, whereas in the first 8
questions where pitch was same and vowels were same most of them answered the question on
confidence as ‘very confident’. This shows that change in pitch level along with the change in vowel
affects the efficiency of identifying the same speaker. From the second graph which is for the
question of confidence, we see a same pattern as the first graph, which is: most ‘high confidence’
478
answers are observed in the first eight questions when the answers are mostly correct and in the last
six questions the answers were mostly ‘low confidence’ where most of the answers were incorrect.
6. Conclusion
1. First, we saw that it is easy for listeners to identify the same speaker when vowels are same and
pitch is same for both the sounds /i/ and /ɑ/.
2. We wanted to discover if changing the vowel but keeping pitch same made it more difficult for
the listeners to identify the same voice. We saw that it gets slightly more difficult.
3. Then we kept the vowel same but changed the pitch which showed a drop in correct answers
compared to when pitch and vowel both were same. Hence voice disguise by changing the voice
to high pitch is more difficult to identify.
4. Finally we changed both the vowel and the pitch and we found that it is most difficult to identify
the same speaker when vowel is changed and pitch is raised from normal to high.
References
Atal, B.S. 1976. Automatic recognition of speakers from their voices. Proc. IEEE 64/4: 460-75
Broeders, A. P. A. 1995. The role of automatic speaker recognition techniques in forensic
investigations. In Proc. Intl. Congress Phonetic Sciences. 3: 154-61.
Ellis,S. 1990. ‘It’s rather serious…early speaker identification’. In H. Kniffa. (Ed.), Texte zu theorie
und Praxis forensicher Linguistik, Tubingen Max Niemmeyer.
Farrus, M, M Wagner, D Erro, J Hernando. 2010. Automatic Speaker Recognition as a Measurement
of voice Imitation and Conversation. The International Journal of Speech Language and the
Law. 17.(1) P. 120.
French, P. 1994. An overview of forensic phonetics with particular reference to speaker
identification. The International Journal of Speech Language and the Law.1(2). Pp. 169-176.
Furui, S. 1994. An overview of Speaker Recognition Technology. In Proc. ESCA Workshop on
automatic Speaker Recognition Identification Verification: 1-8.
French, P., Harrison, P. and Windsor Lewis, J. 2006. ‘ R v. John Samuel Humble: the Yorkshire
ripper hoaxer trial’, International journal of Speech, Language and the Law, 13: 255-73.
Hollien, H. 1981. Review of Voice Identification: Theory and Legal Applications by O. Tosi. JASA
70, 263-5.
Hollien, H. 1990. The Acoustics of Crime: The New Science of Forensic Phonetics. United States of
America: Plenum Press.
Hecker, M. H. L. 1971. Speaker Recognition: Basic Considerations and methodology. JASA 49. 138
(A).
Hirson, A, P French and D Howard. 1995. Speech Fundamental Frequency over the Telephone and
Face-to-Face: Some implicatios for Forensic Phonetics. In Lewis. (Ed.) 1995. P. 40-230
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Jessen, M. 2010. The Forensic Phonetician: Forensic Speaker Identification by experts. In: Coultard,
M. and Johnson, A. (Eds.) The Routledge Handbook of Forensic Linguistics. USA: Routledge.
Pp. 378- 380.
Kunzel, H. J. 1994. Current Approaches to Forensic Speaker Recognition. Proc. ESCA Workshop on
Automatic Speaker Recognition Identification Verification: 135-41
McClelland, E. 1993. ‘A bit of news from Glasgow: uses of sound spectrography in determining the
content of disputed utterances’, Proceedings of the Institute of Acoustics- Reproduced sound
9,15 (7): 5-231.
McGhee, F. 1936. The Reliability of the Identification of the Human Voice. Ph.D. thesis, Johns
Hopkins University.
Naik, J. 1994. Speaker Verification over the Telephone Network: Databases, Algorithms and
Performance Assessments. Proc. ESCA Workshop on Automatic Speaker Recognition
Identification Verification: 31-8.
Nolan, F. 1983. The phonetic bases of Speaker recognition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Nolan, F. 1990. The Limitations of Auditory- Phonetic Speaker Identification. In Kniffa (Ed.) (1994):
326-45.
Rose, P. 1996a. Between and within speaker variation in the fundamental frequency of Cantonese
citation tones. In P. J. Davies and N. Fletcher. (Ed.), Vocal Fold Physiology-Controlling
Complexity and Chaos: 307- 24, San Diego: Singular Publishing Group.
Rose, P. 2002. Forensic speaker Identification. London: Taylor and Francis.
Tosi, O. 1979. Voice Identification: Theory and Legal applications. Baltimore: University Park
Press.
480
ISLLLE-1200
Analyzing Identities in Professional Documents
Kenneth Kong
Hong Kong Baptsit University
kkong@hkbu.edu.hk
Abstract
An increasingly prominent view of identity is the on-going process view in which identity is
‘people’s source of meaning and experience’ and ‘the process of constructing of meaning on the
basis of a cultural attribute, or a related set of cultural attributes, that is given priority over other
sources of meaning’ (Castells, 2010: 6) while Gee (2000:99) defines identity as “ being recognized
as ‘a certain kind of person’ in a given context”. As argued by Kramsch (2002), in workplace
communication there has been ‘diminishing importance of knowledge-based expertise in relation to
interaction-related expertise, the increased demand for the flexibility to move in and out of frames
within professional encounters and to deal with cross-cultural misunderstandings’ (4). The central
tenet of this paper is that identities are strategically positioned and constructed in professional
discourse.
In this presentation, I will explore the different approaches to analyzing identities in professional
documents and propose a framework in which identities are seen as identity roles and identity virtues.
Some professional documents will be used as examples on how the framework can be applied.
References
Castells, M. 2010. The power of identity. West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell.
Gee, J. P. 2000. ‘Identity as a analytic lens for research in education’ Review of Research in
Education: 99-125.
Kramsch, C. 2002. ‘Introduction’ in C. Kramsch (ed.): Language acquisition and language
socialization: Ecological perspectives. (pp. 1-30). London: Continuum.
Kong, K. 2014. Professional Discourse. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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Education (3)
Room A, 2F
2015/8/27 Thursday 13:00-14:30
Session Chair: Prof. Henry Ma
ISLLLE-1257
Mode Innovation and Practice for Excellent Kindergarten Teacher Cultivation under the
Background of Internationalization
Jianbo Zhang︱Changzhou Institute of Technology
Jianwei Zhang︱Tsukuba University of Technology
ASMSS-2984
Teaching for Creativity: A Study of Nurturing Students Creativity in China
Henry Ma︱The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ASMSS-2938
Explorations on Models of Developmental Leadership
Jack K. C. Chun︱The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ASMSS-2958
The Development of Career Learning Media Based on the ‘Halma’ Game to Improve the
Insight of Career of the Student
Sudharno Dwi Yuwono︱Negeri Jakarta
Restu Aidah︱State University of Jakarta
ASMSS-3034
A Study of the Learning Approaches of Hong Kong Business Students
Ryan Man︱Hong Kong Baptist University
Mary Pang︱City University of Hong Kong
To-Ming Ho︱City University of Hong Kong
482
ISLLLE-1257
Mode Innovation and Practice for Excellent Kindergarten Teacher Cultivation
under the Background of Internationalization
Jianbo Zhang a, Jianwei Zhang b

a
School of Education and Humanity, Changzhou Institute of Technology, Changzhou, China
E-mail address: zhangjianb@czu.cn
b
Faculty of Industrial Technology, Tsukuba University of Technology, Tsukuba, Japan
E-mail address: zhangjw@a.tsukuba-tech.ac.jp
Abstract
Based on the Sino-Demark cooperatively run preschool education program, we have studied
excellent kindergarten teacher cultivation mode under the background of internationalization via
empirical study. This paper introduces two aspects：one is the values for constructing excellent
kindergarten teacher cultivation mode under the background of internationalization, and the other is
the construction of excellent kindergarten teacher cultivation mode under the background of
internationalization.
Keyword: Excellent Kindergarten Teachers, Cultivation Mode, Sino-foreign Cooperatively Run

Program, Internationalization and Localization
1. Introduction
In order to meet the need of excellent kindergarten teachers in the area of early childhood education
in China and further improve pre-service education quality, Changzhou Institute of Technology (CIT)
in China and VIA University College (VIA) in Denmark established cooperation in 2004 and signed
3+1 credit recognition agreement. In 2011, two parties jointly applied for Sino-foreign cooperatively
run educational program which got approved by Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of
China in June, 2012.
CIT in China is a local practice-oriented institution of higher learning with distinctive features that
provides outstanding talents to the development of local economy and society. VIA in Denmark is
the largest university of applied sciences characterized by its advanced preschool education
philosophy and is taking the lead in world’s preschool education field [1-7]. In the process of
cooperation, CIT adopts principles of opening and complementing each other’s advantages so as to
formulate internationalized school-running philosophy and devote to the innovation and practice of
cultivating excellent kindergarten teachers.
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This paper is organized from two aspects：1. values for constructing excellent kindergarten teacher
cultivation mode under the background of internationalization. 2. construction of excellent
kindergarten teacher Cultivation Mode under the Background of Internationalization.
2. Values for Constructing Excellent Kindergarten Teacher Cultivation Mode under the
Background of Internationalization
2.1 For Cultivating High-quality Internationalized Excellent Kindergarten Teachers
Professor Lizhong Yu, president of New York University Shanghai advocates positive thinking on
talent cultivation mode and quality as well as on improving scientific research level via close
cooperation; experiencing and reviewing foreign teaching, research and management practice;
promoting management system, teaching mode, curriculum system, enrollment system reform, etc.
The educational joint venture in preschool education between CIT and VIA aims at training excellent
kindergarten teachers with an international vision. Via the construction the cultivation mode for
training such talents, high quality educational resources can be shared, students’ educational vision
can be broadened, their knowledge structure can be diversified, and their employment opportunities
can also be greatly increased.
2.2 For the Development of Teaching Staffs who Undertake the Responsibility of Cultivating
Internationalized Kindergarten Teachers
Introducing high-quality educational resources is the key element to the success of Sino-foreign
Educational Joint Venture. It is important to have qualified teaching staff who directly influence the
teaching and talent training quality. The internationalization level of preschool education teaching
staff is advanced with teachers possessing a more broadened vision, updated teaching philosophy,
and improved teaching ability via regular teacher training (CIT teachers get trained at VIA) and VIA
teachers’ regular instruction at CIT.
2.3 For the Balance between Internationalization and Localization in the Process of Talent
Cultivation
The nature of Sino-foreign Educational Joint Venture is to actively make use of high-quality foreign
educational resources combined with Chinese educational characteristics, thus forming a new-type
excellent kindergarten teacher cultivation mode. However, conflicts are unavoidable due to the
differences in educational system, culture and customs, ideology, thinking mode, and language.
Therefore, it is of vital importance that internationalization should based on ensuring the resource
quality. Meanwhile, localization requires the improvement of talent cultivation quality and level via
wisely introducing foreign educational resources, drawing on each other’s strength, and bridging the
gap practically. Via mode construction, the conflict between internationalization and localization can
well be balanced and thus formulating Educational Joint Venture with Chinese features.
484
3. Construction of Excellent Kindergarten Teacher Cultivation Mode under the Background of
Internationalization
In “Comments on Excellent Teacher Training Plan” issued by Ministry of Education 2014,
“advancing reform on cultivation mode on a classified basis” was clearly pointed out. “Excellent
Kindergarten Teacher Cultivation” refers to setting up the cultivation system that lays emphasis on
solid foundation, strong capacity and a high degree of integration, thus training outstanding
kindergarten teachers with a passion for preschool education career, high overall quality, excellent
childcare and education ability. Learning from the advanced Denmark educational philosophy and
talent training mode, CIT has reformed and reorganized the original cultivation mode, thus exploring
“student-centered” internationalized excellent kindergarten teacher cultivation mode.
3.1 The Aims and Methods of Excellent Kindergarten Teacher Cultivation under the
International Background
The general objective of the excellent kindergarten teacher cultivation is to build a first-class
provincial preschool education major with great influence in the nation, and cultivate excellent
kindergarten teachers with an international vision, innovation spirit, noble morality, outstanding
abilities and skills under the international background. The specific objective is to complete the “Six
Points” aims, namely, to set up a talent cultivation plan with suitable goals of talent development and
an integration of internationalization and localization; to form a “four in one” talent cultivation
system which co-cultivates internationalized excellent kindergarten teachers; to build a “platform +
module” curriculum system fitting with the cultivation objective; to establish practical teaching
system with the deep cooperation among local government, CIT, VIA and kindergartens; to form
internationalized teacher-professional teaching team with teachers from inside and outside CIT as
well as from home and abroad; and to train teachers with an international vision, innovation spirit,
noble morality, outstanding abilities and skills. For cultivating excellent kindergarten teachers, CIT
adopts “classified cultivation” and “diversified cultivation” methods. “Classified cultivation” means
among the three classes of students enrolled every year, there’s an ordinary one which mainly
cultivates art-oriented preschool education talents, the other two are Sino-foreign cooperatively-run
education program classes mainly training bilingual-oriented talents of preschool education major.
“Diversified cultivation” means after three years’ study, students can choose to study for the last year
in VIA to get bachelor degrees from both CIT and VIA. They will be employed in domestic or
foreign education institutions after graduation. Students can also choose to finish their last year study
in CIT to CIT diploma, bachelor degree of Education and the course-completion certificate from
VIA. The students will be employed in preschool education institutions in Yangtze River delta
region after graduation.
485
3.2 Excellent Kindergarten Teacher Cultivation System under the Background of
Internationalization
Aimed at the settling problems in the preschool teacher education such as relatively low-quality
practical education and weak teaching staff teams, CIT has established “four in one” co-cultivate
system integrating domestic and foreign universities, local government and kindergartens. First, an
administrative organization for the Excellent International Kindergarten Teacher co-cultivation is
established. Changzhou Bureau of Education, kindergartens in Changzhou, CIT and VIA make up a
committee of experts to be responsible for the instruction, consultation and inspection etc. on
Internationalized Excellent Kindergarten Teacher Cultivation Program. Second, the co-cultivation
content about Internationalized Excellent Kindergarten Teacher is made clear. CIT collaborates with
VIA, Changzhou Bureau of Education, educational practice base kindergartens to co-formulate the
cultivation objectives of preschool education major and the Internationalized Excellent Kindergarten
Teacher Cultivation Plan; to co-design curriculum design system and course construction resources;
to co-organize teaching staff teams; to co-conduct preschool education teaching and research work as
well as co-evaluate the quality of talent cultivation. Finally, CIT has established a “clear
responsibility, complementary advantages, and win-win cooperation” long term mechanism with
Changzhou Bureau of Education and kindergartens. Three parties all aim at the Internationalized
Excellent Kindergarten Teacher Cultivation, and form a co-cultivation mode based on the demand of
talent cultivation, curriculum system construction and professional skills training. Changzhou
government primarily undertakes the task of making regulations on kindergarten teacher recruitment
and admission. CIT and VIA take the responsibility for formulating the internationalized and
localized talent cultivation plan in accordance with the requirements for Internationalized Excellent
Kindergarten Teacher Cultivation. The plan creates an international preschool education talent
cultivation mode concerning its cultivation objective, curriculum setting, course syllabus, teaching
and assessment methods, and teaching staff team via combining the advantages of two universities to
promote the integration of teacher cultivation, research and service. The base kindergartens take part
in the Internationalized Excellent Kindergarten Teacher Cultivation all the way. With help from
institutions of higher learning, teaching reform, project study, curriculum development, teaching
resources opening and teacher training are carried out in the kindergartens, thus establishing a long
term cooperation relationship for mutual benefits.
3.3 Curriculum System for Excellent Kindergarten Teacher Cultivation under the
Figure 1 shows the curriculum system called “platform + module”. In order to solve the problem of
over-emphasizing all sidedness and completeness of subject knowledge leads to the large number of
courses and repeated content, CIT has conducted the curriculum system reform via analyzing Danish
kindergarten teacher cultivation plan and making use of its advantages to improve course setting in
preschool education talents cultivation plan. According to the requirements in“Teacher Education
486
Curriculum Standards”, CIT actively introduces high-quality preschool education course resources in
shortage, such as arts and crafts, drama, environmental studies and social pedagogy. At the same time,
CIT remains the basic specialized courses system for preschool education which formulates an
“Excellent Kindergarten Teacher Cultivation Curriculum System” with an integration of
internationalization and localization, namely, “platform + module”. It constructs the basic and
specialized course platform aimed at liberal education and professional skills and knowledge.
Meanwhile, a curriculum module consisted of specialty-oriented courses, education practice courses,
and hidden education courses is set up. For those specialty-oriented courses which do not cover the
whole semester, CIT takes the form of micro class or lecture.
Fig. 1: The curriculum system called “platform + module”
3.4 Educational Reform on Excellent Kindergarten Teacher Cultivation under the

To solve the problems such as old-fashioned teaching contents and methods in the kindergarten
teacher cultivation, teachers of CIT borrow ideas from advanced theories and methods of Danish
kindergarten teacher education to launch classroom teaching reform activities aimed at improving
students’ critical thinking ability and stimulating their potential creativities. First, teaching contents
are renewed. Through the cooperative education platform, CIT timely absorbs the research results of
the frontier theory both at home and abroad and puts them into practical teaching. What’s more, CIT
further changes educational philosophy and deepens teaching reform by inviting Denmark preschool
487
education experts to give academic lectures. Second, teaching methods are reformed. CIT positively
implements students-centered teaching methods via introducing VIA teaching mode such as project
teaching, workshop, etc. Additionally, CIT actively applies modern information technology to case
teaching, research-oriented teaching, kindergarten field teaching and so on for the sake of enhancing
the practicability and effectiveness of cultivating students’ autonomic learning ability as well as
problem exploring and solving abilities. Third, course evaluation and assessment methods are
reformed. CIT makes great efforts to improve the core professional capacity and employment
competitiveness of students. CIT adopts multiple stereoscopic evaluation method based on process
assessment. CIT also adopts the combined evaluation method that integrates students’ self-evaluation,
kindergarten teachers’ evaluation with CIT teachers’ evaluation. About the evaluation dimension,
CIT changes the dual mode of written examination and skills examination into diversified curriculum
assessment methods such as oral test, work exhibition, etc. As a result, the stereoscopic evaluation
mode that assesses students’ morality, ability and skills is established.
3.5 Practice Teaching System for Excellent Kindergarten Teacher Cultivation under the
Figure 2 shows the internship teaching system call3d “immersion”. Faced with the problem of
low-quality educational practice in kindergarten teacher education, CIT learns the “all practice”
teaching idea from Denmark kindergarten teacher education. In VIA, the educational practice goes
through the whole pre-employment cultivation process in the kindergarten teacher education. In the
first semester, there’s a three-month primary practice, then in the third and sixth semesters there are
six-month further practice respectively. Besides learning from VIA, CIT builds a “full immersion”
practical teaching system for the purpose of cultivating excellent international kindergarten teachers.
First, kindergarten practice module which includes concentrative practical activities and art practice
in kindergartens. Second, course teaching module which includes practice hours in class and leads
students to self-reflection is conducted. The repeated module of
“study-practice-self-reflection-re-Practice-re-study” is used to cultivate students’ autonomous
learning consciousness and educational practice ability. Third, school practice module. CIT
organizes students to imitate kindergarten teaching, environment creation activities etc. in preschool
education labs, micro classrooms, concert halls and dancing rooms, etc. Fourthly, specialized skills
training module. According to the position requirements of kindergarten, CIT trains students on
specialized skills in their spare time. Fifth, after-school practice module, which means improving
students’ career ability by “thorough, stereoscopic, multilevel, wide” hidden educational courses to
form a “two key lines, one stage, several clubs” practical teaching system. Sixthly, social practice
module. CIT encourages students to conduct investigations on preschool education development
status via part-time job and social practice activities in vocations.
488
Fig. 2: The internship teaching system called “immersion”
3.6 Double-tutor System in the Whole Process of Cultivating Excellent Kindergarten Teachers
under the Background of Internationalization
Conducting double-tutor system in the process of cultivating excellent kindergarten teachers aims at
settling current problems such as lack of flexibility and direction. The system means each student is
assigned a CIT academic tutor as well as a kindergarten tutor at the beginning of their CIT study in
preschool education major. The two tutors collaboratively help the student with his/her professional
and career development. While the academic tutor is responsible for forming the student’s
professional ethics, enriching professional knowledge, guiding the student in doing scientific
research, and providing individualized academic help, kindergarten tutor bears the duty of helping
the student possess various professional competence such as observing and understanding kids,
realizing kids’ different physical and psychological development stages as well as individual
differences, creating and making use of surroundings scientifically, conducting daily childcare and
nursing, offering guidance and support in games, planning and carrying out educational activities,
motivating and evaluating kids, continuously conducting specialized study, practice, self-reflection
and making self-improvement. In most cases, the two tutors assigned to each student will remain
the same until it is required by the student’s self-development or academic study. The appointment
and rearrangement of the two tutors is done by the Department of Preschool Education.
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4. Conclusion
In the process of running joint education venture, preschool education has gradually formulated the
excellent kindergarten teacher cultivation mode with distinctive features, namely, international
feature, art feature, practice feature, and bilingual feature. Such a mode has turned our numerous
outstanding preschool education undergraduate talents for kindergartens in Yangtze River delta area.
Based on the Sino-Demark cooperatively run preschool education program, the author constructs
diversified cultivation aims and methods for training excellent kindergarten teachers, thus setting up
a collaborative cultivation system that involves the efforts from institutions at home and abroad,
local government as well as kindergartens. In addition, lots of efforts are made. For example, the
curriculum system called “platform + module” is set up. Teaching reform is carried out to improve
cultivation quality. Internship teaching system called “immersion” is constructed. Double-tutor
system via the whole process is conducted. Admittedly, there are limitations to this study such as “4
in 1 cultivation system” not being perfect enough, educational reform on improving teacher
cultivation quality requiring improvement in its depth, and lacking in detailed measures concerning
“double-tutor system”. We will try our best to further conduct research and work on the advancement
of Cultivation Mode.
Acknowledgments
This work is partially supported by 2011 Jiangsu Higher Education Reform Project:“A Comparative
Study on Sino-Denmark Preschool Education Teacher Cultivation” (Program No. 2011JSJG113),
and 2014 Changzhou Institute of Technology Reform Project: “Research on Excellent Kindergarten
Teacher Cultivation under the Background of Internationalization” (Program No. A3-4403-14-021).
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[5] Gullov, E. (2011). Kindergartens in Denmark: reflections on continuity and change. In Kjorholt,
A. T. & Qvortrup, J. (Eds.), The modern child and the flexible labour market: Early childhood
education and care. 90-111. London, England: Palgrave Macmillan.
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[6] Williams-Siegfredsen, J. (2012). Understanding the Danish forest school approach: Early years
education in practice. New York, USA: Routledge.
[7] Winther-Lindqvist, D. A. (2013). Early childhood education in Denmark. Oxford University
Press.
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ASMSS-2984
Teaching for Creativity: A Study of Nurturing Students Creativity in China
Henry Ma
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong
henry.ma@polyu.edu.hk
Abstract
Conventional education systems often hinder the development of creativity. Teachers always expect
a single best answer for every problem. The education system assumes teachers know all the answers
and their duty is to pass these on to the students and save the students’ from making the effort to seek
answers for themselves. Moreover, the education system also over-emphasizes the acquiring of
knowledge but lacks emphasis on creative thinking skills. However we are living in fast-changing
times, knowledge and skills are becoming obsolete much faster than that are in the past. Fostering
creativity can help our students meet the future challenge. Many educators and scholars proposed
different methods for fostering creativity. These methods vary in the level and in their approaches on
the nurturing of creativity. Robert Sternberg’s “Investment Theory of Creativity” is a confluence of
theories contributed by various scholars that provides a comprehensive and practical framework for
enhancing creativity. This theoretical framework has been proven to be successful and also useful in
education to support teaching for creativity. This research is a qualitative study in exploring how
teaching for creativity was carried out in higher education institutes in China. The research
developed a theoretical model based on Sternberg’s confluence theory as a measuring tool for the
study. The study successfully interviewed 45 recent graduates from 10 higher education institutes
through telephone survey. The survey data were further analyzed and three patterns of distribution
among the attributes were identified. This paper discussed the results from the survey and identified
that cultural and social influence might be key factors affecting the development of teaching for
creativity in China.
Keywords: Teaching for Creativity, Animation Education, Creative Industries
1. Introduction
After China’s ‘reform and opening-up’, structural changes have been made in cultural development.
China started to address the cultural industry as a subject for national policy-making in 1998. With
the impact of Creative Industries development in the UK and other countries, China adopted the term
Cultural and Creative Industry in a national strategy to initiate a structural refinement of the
industrial sectors. The animation industry in China has long served as major OEM, or Original
Equipment Manufacturer, to foreign investors starting to develop into ODM and OBM (Original
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Design Manufacturer and Original Brand Manufacturer) that led to a rapid demand for creative
talents from higher education institutes in China.
If creativity is considered as a major component in the cultural and creative industries, and animation
industry is one of the key sectors in the industries, creativity nurturing should play an essential role
in animation education. However, in the vast number of published articles in animation education,
we seldom see research topics addressing this issue. This evidence concluded a knowledge gap in the
creativity nurturing in animation education.
2. The rapid development of animation education in china

Owing to the vigorous support of the government in developing cultural and creative industries in
China, many OEM animation production companies have turned part of their production scale into
original titles. Moreover, many new animation production houses were formed to develop their own
titles. Lots of government and private funded animation bases also developed to provide support and
facilities for animation productions. All these developments, as well as the support of government in
expanding animation education, created a sudden boom in animation education development in
China (Li, 2010).
In 2000, there was only two higher institutes providing animation programs in China. By 2009, 1,279
higher institutions were running 1,877 animation programs in China (Li, 2010). Owing to different
backgrounds and focuses of these institutes, they were providing animation education that carried
distinct characteristics of their institutes. Most of them developed animation programs based on their
existing resources. Some institutes emphasized art and design aspects while some focused on
technology and computer skills (Xu and Cui, 2010). However, most of these programs saw
discipline-specific and practical skills as the most important training concern in their curriculum.
3. Knowledge gap in animation education research

In the China Animation Yearbook 2010, a chapter “中国动画高等教育发展报告” (‘Report on the
animation education in higher education development in China’) showed a recent survey on the “动
画专业学生需要的能力得分排序” (‘Ranking of the ability required for the animation major
students’). It listed 13 categories of abilities and the priority of importance were: (1) creative
thinking, (2) professional animation knowledge, (3) drawing skills, (4) cultural understanding, (5)
aesthetic ability, (6) computer skills, (7) ability to acquire knowledge, (8) team work ability, (9)
independent work ability, (10) expression and communication ability, (11) ability to adapt to the
environment, (12) organization management ability, and (13) foreign language level. It was a
surprise that “creative thinking” was ranked at the top of the list and the average score was 11.73,
which was far higher than the next item on the list, which was “professional animation knowledge”,
with the score 9.96 (Li, 2010).
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From the above survey, we noticed that animation educators really saw the importance of creative
thinking that is a key part of creative ability in the animation education. This result fits the needs of
the cultural and creative industries that demand creative talents. However, the author of the report
pointed out explicitly that “the higher education institutes consider creativity is important in
animation education, but in a certain level, lots of the higher education institutes are relatively single
focus and lack of support on a systematic and standard approach in animation education principle.
How to actualize nurturing ‘creative thinking’ in the program and curriculum structure is a study that
needs in-depth exploration” (Li, 2010:469). The comment from the author showed a major dilemma
in the animation education in nurturing creativity. Most of the animation educators considered
creativity to be important, but there was no research ever attempted to take a closer look at this issue.
It exposes a knowledge gap in this particular area and this study is to bridge this knowledge gap in
nurturing creativity in the animation education in China.
4. THE THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

The core concept of Sternberg’s Investment Theory of Creativity is “buy low and sell high” (2006).
Creative people can identify potential ideas that are not recognized and appreciated by people, and
persuade people of the value of these concepts. People do not recognize the value of these ideas in
the beginning, and they even might challenge the value of them. Creative people will not hesitate to
meet these challenges and their persistence will convince people of the value of these ideas finally.
Starting from identifying unrecognized and valueless ideas to successfully convincing others of the
values of these ideas, creative people possess the confidence of defying the crowd and have the
practical ability to convince others of their beliefs. Sternberg’s theory is a confluence of theories
contributed by various scholars, by carefully rearranging his suggestion, we can consolidate four
major categories of elements that can help in nurturing students’ creativity in our education system,
and they are namely: Creative Thinking Style, Independent Personality, Intrinsic Motivation and
Supporting Environment.
4.1. Creative Thinking Style

Creative thinking style means knowing the preferred ways of thinking and making a decision to think
in a new way (Steinberg, 1999). Most of all, it does not concern itself with the ability to think in a
new way, but with whether a decision is made to pursue thinking in a new way. Creative activity is a
highly dynamic process. Although this activity normally has an objective to pursue, it often changes
as new ideas or possibilities are noticed. By ‘Redefining Problems’, students can come up with
alternative solutions to problems (Sternberg, Kaufman & Grigorenko, 2008). ‘Questioning
Assumptions’ is another element that enhances a creative thinking style. Assumptions are widely
shared values. However, they might not necessarily be correct or free of limitations. Creative people
question these assumptions and open up new possibilities that might finally lead to a breakthrough
494
(Sternberg & Williams, 1996). As claimed by Sternberg, Kaufman and Grigorenko, “Society tends to
make a mistake by emphasizing the answering and not the asking of questions” (2008). Students who
can recite information and provide a quick answer are considered as good students. However, John
Dewey suggested that “how we think is often more important than what we think” (Sternberg &
Williams, 1996:13). So challenging assumptions and asking provoking questions are important
elements for enhancing students’ creativity and students should be allowed and encouraged to do so
(NACCCE, 1999).
4.2. Independent Personality

As Sternberg and Williams claim: “Creative people take sensible risks and produce ideas that others
ultimately admire and respect as trendsetting” (1996:25). In the current education system, students
are not encouraged to take sensible risks. This is owing to the fact that failure or undesired grades in
the school might mean an inferior standard (Sternberg & Kaufman, 2010). Moreover, most of the
current education systems emphasize knowledge absorbing, and the assessment criteria might
overemphasize the memorization of facts. Students are not interested in taking sensible risks. In
order to enhance students’ creativity, teachers have to encourage and even reward students in
‘Taking Sensible Risks’.
Creative activity involves both a generative mode of thought and an evaluative mode of thought. The
former always includes imaginative activity that involves novelty generation while the latter involves
critical activity that makes value judgements. Creative activity consists of critical evaluation on what
works or not by shifting in the focus of attention and modes of thought (NACCCE, 1999). This type
of shifting in the modes of thought and focus of attention creates a certain ambiguity in most creative
work. ‘Tolerating Ambiguity’ is important to nurture students’ creativity.
‘Taking Self-responsibility’ does not seem to have a direct relation with creativity development;
however it plays an important role in letting creative people have a better understanding of their
creative process, allowing them to criticize themselves and enjoy their creative results. Many studies
found that self-responsible people tend to have better intellectual success (Sternberg & Williams,
1996). This is owed to the fact that self-responsible people engage in a more serious and detailed
consideration of the situation when they decide to challenge the assumptions or take sensible risks to
pursue creative ideas.
Self-efficacy is a concept of psychology. It is the strength of confidence with which a person

believes in his ability to complete a task or reach a goal. The theory of self-efficacy does not concern
the actual ability of a person but focuses on the confidence of the person in his ability. It can be
viewed as the persistence of a person in completing a work. Sternberg and Williams argue that
people always limit themselves in accomplishing goals because they believe that they cannot work
495
them out or they believe other people who tell them that they are incompetent to work them out
(Sternberg and Williams, 1996). Building a ‘Strong Self-efficacy’ for students can make them strong
in their willingness to take risks, surmount obstacles and develop creativity.
4.3. Intrinsic Motivation

Effective leadership and motivation are conditions that foster creativity (Joubert, 2001). However,
some scholars consider extrinsic motivation has a negative effect on creativity, and only intrinsic
motivation can help to promote creativity (Amabile, 1996). Sternberg further mentioned that this
motivation is not inherent in a person, but is a kind of decision that is made; they choose to be
motivated by their work (2006). Sternberg suggested several ways to develop students’ intrinsic
motivation in creativity.
‘Finding Excitement’ helps students find what excites them to develop their intrinsic motivation. As
Amabile (1983) suggests, people can do truly creative work if they really love what they are doing.
So encouraging students to work on something they are interested in will increase their intrinsic
motivation and creativity.
As Sternberg indicates, sometimes teachers limit our students’ creativity by asking the wrong
questions (1996). So, teachers can encourage students’ to develop their creativity by ‘Instructing and
Assessing Creativity’ through providing assignments that demand factual recall, analytic thinking,
and creative thinking. As claimed by Sternberg and Williams, “the only limitations in the assignment
are those set by the imagination of the teachers and students” (1996:22).
If we want to nurture students’ creativity, we should not just talk about it but we also have to reward
students for their creative efforts, since students will sooner or later recognize the teachers’ actual
thinking if they just talk without acting accordingly. In ‘Rewarding Creative Efforts’, it does not
really matter if the ideas or products the students come up with are good or bad: the main point is
that they generate ideas that are a synthesis between their own thoughts and existing ideas (Sternberg
and Williams, 1996).
4.4. Supporting Environment

As suggested by the NACCCE: “The roles of teachers are to recognize young people’s creative
capabilities; and to provide the particular conditions in which they can be realized” (1999:11). In
order to nurture students’ creativity, we should provide a supporting environment for them to grow
(Sternberg, 2003).
Sometimes the learning environment is not fully supportive to creative expression. Normally there is
negative feedback on creative thinking because creative ideas do not follow conventions. In order to
496
‘Encourage Idea Generation’ from students, they should be allowed to express their ideas no matter
whether they are valuable or not, and they should also be free of criticism.
Traditional curriculum design always separates disciplines into subjects. This might create an
impression to students that learning occurs in discrete boxes. However, creative ideas do not come
from memorizing and reciting materials, but from integrating and synthesizing materials across
subject areas. So we ‘Encourage Cross-fertilizing Ideas’ to stimulate students’ creativity by helping
them to think across subjects and disciplines (Sternberg & Williams, 1996).
New ideas might not always work, but they allow us to learn from our mistakes and build a basis for
other successful ideas. However, “schools are often unforgiving of mistakes. Errors in schoolwork
are often marked with a large and pronounced X” (Sternberg & Williams, 1996:29). In order to
encourage students to generate ideas, we should help them to build their confidence. ‘Allowing
Mistakes’ is to let students know that everyone makes mistakes and the only failure is if they cannot
benefit from their mistakes.
Based on the above 12 suggested elements, a theoretical model of teaching for creativity is
constructed and employed in this research.
5. RESEARCH APPROACH AND DESIGN

A qualitative research approach can promote a deep understanding of a social setting or activity in
the perspective of research participants. The aim of the study is to explore and identify how current
animation education is nurturing creativity in China. To achieve this, the study attempted to discover
how creativity was interpreted and nurtured in animation programs, and present descriptive research
findings which would enable the bridging of the knowledge gap in this particular area.
Beijing is the capital of China and it is the most influential province in China. It is also the earliest
province to develop creative industries thought and policies. The most influential animation schools,
including the School of Animation in the Beijing Film Academy, the School of Arts and Design in
Tsinghua University, the School of Animation in the Communication University of China, and the
Central Academy of Film Arts, are all located in Beijing. These schools nurture substantial numbers
of graduates become teachers in some other animation schools all over China. Moreover, the
universities in Beijing accept students from all parts of China, so the graduates will also be employed
in various parts of China. There are about 138 higher education institutes in Beijing. Among these
138 institutes, 34 of them provide animation education programs. Owing to the fact that the study
needed to focus on creativity nurturing, all those institutes providing vocational training were
excluded. Ten education institutes providing bachelor degrees or above were included in the research
sample. The study successfully interviewed 45 recent graduates from 10 higher education institutes
497
through telephone survey. The survey data were further analyzed and three patterns of distribution
among the attributes were identified.
6. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS

The major purpose of the study was to understand the students’ attitudes on the teaching approaches
of the teachers. The questions were formulated according to the 12 factors of the theoretical
framework. The findings of the students’ perceptions of teaching methods related to the theoretical
framework indicate three types of attitudes. The type 1 attitude shows that participants’ responses
agreeing with the theoretical framework and in unified perception. The type 1 attitude includes
teaching attributes on ‘building self-efficacy’, ‘defining and redefining problems’, ‘allowing time for
creative thinking’, ‘encouraging creative collaboration’, ‘questioning assumptions’ and ‘rewarding
creative idea or products’. The type 2 attitude shows the participants’ responses agreeing with the
theoretical framework but with diverse perceptions. The type 2 attitude includes teaching attributes
on ‘tolerating ambiguity’, ‘instructing and assessing creativity’, ‘allowing mistakes’, ‘encouraging
idea generation’ and ‘teaching self-responsibility’. The type 3 attitude shows the participants’
disagreeing with the conceptual framework and with diverse perceptions. The type 3 attitude only
includes teaching attribute on ‘taking sensible risks’.
It was identified that most of the teaching attributes in type 1 are ‘passive attributes’. They do not
require teachers to make active effort to facilitate students in attaining the result. For example,
‘building self-efficacy’ is a ‘passive attribute’. It requires teachers not to express or imply limits on
students’ potential accomplishment (Sternberg, 2010). Teachers can avoid falling into this problem
by merely making no comment on students’ projects. Of course, a proactive teacher would encourage
students to explore more or guide them to consider some more alternative possibilities in idea
generation. Similar arguments also apply to ‘questioning assumptions’ and ‘allowing time for
creative thinking’. It was also found that the comments from the students on the attribute
‘encouraging creative collaboration’ mainly mentioned teachers do not actively discourage creative
collaboration, but seldom said that teachers actively encourage or help students to find creative
collaboration opportunities. It seems that the unified perceptions of the majority of students
considered teachers were doing very well in these teaching attributes might be because teachers do
not have to make extra effort in satisfying these ‘passive attributes’.
The type 2 attitude shows that most of the students perceived the teaching approaches of the teachers
to be in line with the theoretical framework but they report diverse perceptions on these attributes.
The diverse perceptions of students might be due to most of the teaching attributes in this category
being ‘active attributes’. For instance, ‘instructing and assessing creativity’ requires teachers to ask
‘right questions’. These questions should not just demand factual recall but allow students for
opportunities in analytic and creative thinking. By teaching students with the manner of ‘instructing
498
and assessing creativity’, teachers have to put additional effort in preparing teaching materials and to
provide extra time to guide students. If teachers are not aware of the importance of this teaching
approach, they might not or could not perform in this way. It is thus reasonable to expect that some
teachers might teach in such a way and some might not. The teaching attribute ‘allowing mistakes’
might seem like a ‘passive attribute’, but actually it works as an ‘active attribute’. Owing to the
situation in China, if a student cannot complete their capstone project and get a passing mark in his
final result, the supervisor might have to take responsibility for that. So most of the supervisors will
encourage students to play safe in their capstone project. By allowing students to learn from mistakes,
the teacher may have to pay extra effort to rectify the situation and help the students to catch up with
their work. So it is in effect an ‘active attribute’. The diverse perceptions in type 2 attributes might
mean some teachers are proactive in fostering creativity in their teaching approaches and some are
not.
Most of the findings in the study incline to the positive side except the question on taking sensible
risks, the data shows students tend to have the attitude on the other side. The finding shows relatively
dispersed results on this question and students tend to think that teachers expect them to be more
conservative. Students have diverse and negative attitudes on the teaching attributes of ‘taking
sensible risks’ in the type 3 attitude might reflect a general practice that education system always
emphasizes correctness, and failure or undesired results in the assessments might mean an inferior
standard. Under such a system, teachers might not be willing to encourage students to take risks in
their works.
7. CONCLUSION
The rise of creative industries means there is a need to value individual creative talents and
intellectual property. China sees the importance of creative industries and has started to develop the
cultural and creative industries. The animation industry is one of the key areas that has received
support from the cultural and creative industries policy, and some of them are transforming from
OEM to ODM and OBM. The support of the animation industry also extends to animation education
which is one of the major sources to produce a creative work force in the animation industry. A rapid
increase of animation education programs was found to have occurred in recent years.
After considering thoroughly all findings and comments from students, we could draw a conclusion
that the current animation education in China largely satisfy the theoretical model on teaching for
creativity in the attributes of ‘building self-efficacy’, ‘defining and redefining problems’, ‘allowing
time for creative thinking’, ‘encouraging creative collaboration’, ‘questioning assumptions’ and
‘rewarding creative idea or products’, partially satisfy in the attributes of ‘tolerating ambiguity’,
‘instructing and assessing creativity’, ‘allowing mistakes’, ‘encouraging idea generation’ and
‘teaching self-responsibility’, and fail to satisfy in the attribute of ‘taking sensible risks’.
499
This qualitative research interviewed over 60 teachers and students from 10 higher education
institutes providing animation education in Beijing. The study explored the current situation of how
animation education nurtured students’ creativity. By using evidence collected from the research, we
gained a better understanding of the overall situation of how students’ creativity is nurtured in
animation education in China and identified certain issues that should be further explored in our
future study. The result of the study can contribute to theory-building in creativity research and help
teachers gain better insights in how to nurture students’ creativity through appropriate teaching
methodologies.
8. REFERENCES
All Our Futures: Creativity, Culture and Education (1999). National Advisory Committee on
Creative and Cultural Education (NACCCE).
Amabile, T. M. (1983). The Social Psychology of Creativity. New York: Springer-Verlag.
Amabile, T. M. (1996). Creativity in context: Update to" the social psychology of creativity."
Westview press.
Jubert, M. M. (2001), The Art of Creative Teaching: NACCCE and Beyond. In Creativity Education.
(Eds). Craft Anna, Jeffrey, B. and Leibling, M. Continum.
Sternberg, R. J. (Ed.). (1999). Handbook of creativity. Cambridge University Press.
Sternberg, R. J. (2006). The nature of creativity. Creativity Research Journal. 18(1), 87-98.
Sternberg, R. J. and Kaufman, J. C. (Eds.). (2010). The Cambridge Handbook of Creativity. The
Sternberg, R. J., Kaufman, J. C., & Grigorenko, E. L. (2008). Applied intelligence. Cambridge:
Sternberg, R. J. and Williams, W. M. (1996). How to Develop Student Creativity. ASCD.
李海玲 (Li Hai Ling). (2010). “中国动画高等教育发展报告 (Report on the Higher Animation
Education in China”. 廖祥忠 (Liao Xiangzhong) (Ed.), 中国动画年鉴 2010 (China
Animation Yearbook 2010). 469-479.
徐朝 (Xu, C) and 崔炳烁石 (Cui, B. S. S.). (2010). 论大学动漫教育的现状与对策 (A
Discourse on Current Situation and Strategy of University Animation Education). 黑龙江科技
信息 (Heilongjiang Information Technology).
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ASMSS-2938
Explorations on Models of Developmental Leadership
Jack Chun
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
gekcchun@polyu.edu.hk
Abstract
In this paper, I explore the importance of university education for leadership development from the
perspective life span approaches. Questions identified as crucial in this context include: What sort
of assumption may one make from the life span approaches in order to integrate university education
as an indispensable part of a continuous process for cultivating leadership? What sort of
intervention may be considered as an effective developmental tool for leadership at university?
How important is it for young adults to develop leadership in order to impact their later phases of life?
In answering these questions, I will explore certain models of developmental leadership and ideas
such as dynamic versus static conception of leadership, elite and egalitarian conception of leadership
and character/identity of leaders. A holistic understanding of fostering leadership with an emphasis
on university education will be suggested in the conclusion of this paper.
501
ASMSS-2958
The Development of Career Learning Media Based on the ‘Halma’ Game to
Improve the Insight of Career of the Student
Sudharno Dwi Yuwono

Negeri Jakarta
kecoamimpi@gmail.com
Restu Aidah
State University of Jakarta
restuaida@ymail.com
Abstract
“Halma” Development of Game-Based Learning Media Career Insights For Improving Career
Students
Classical services as strategies for achieving competence in this career field for not using the right
medium. fun media is the media game. Playing makes the students do not get bored in the study.
Viewed from it then it is important developed classical media services in the field of game-based
career. This study has the objective to develop a media regarding infromasi about various professions
that can be used in the classical services and to determine how effective this medium can be used to
develop students' career horizons. The formulation in this study formulated the issue of whether the
media can be developed to improve insight career students' career? Media which will be developed
by researchers is the media image of board games, dice and cards. Media content such as the names
of the jobs and qualifications required. This media will be made on the basis of the theory of Anne
Roe. Media is designed to be played by at least two people and a maximum of five people. In the
present study according to the method used is the Research and Development (R & D), the
researchers used two research instruments. Two instruments were used for alpha Tesy. Every aspect
of the assessment is based on the theory Winarno (2009), which later developed into grains of
questions.
Key words : Halma, Career, Game, Halma and the jobs and qualifications required
502
ASMSS-3034
A Study of the Learning Approaches of Hong Kong Business Students
To-ming Ho*
City University of Hong Kong
*Corresponding author: efming@cityu.edu.hk
Ryan Man
Mary Pang
City University of Hong Kong
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to look at the learning approaches of Hong Kong business students, and
discuss the implications for students’ learning and development. The Bigg's Study Process
Questionnaire (J.B. Biggs, 1987) was conducted for a group of 620 business undergraduates in a
public university in Hong Kong in September 2014. The results show that 60.8%, 26.6%, and 12.6%
of these students adopt achieving, deep, and surface learning approaches respectively. This means
that the majority of the business students handle their academic task as grade-effectively as possible.
503
Psychology
Room A, 2F
2015/8/27 Thursday 14:45-16:15
Session Chair: Prof. Wan Ibrahim Wan Ahmad
ASMSS-2878
Study on the Structural Differences of Reading and Writing - How Can the Journal Therapy
Enhance Ones Subjectivity?
Kyung-ah Nam︱Kyungpook National University
ASMSS-2853
Kong Girls
Jane Chan︱The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ASMSS-2892
Malaysian and Indonesians Adolescents Resiliency and Relationships with Gratitude and
Happiness
Jas Laile Jaafar︱University of Malaya
Chok Hiew︱University of Pancasila
Yoo Fei︱University of Persada
Vinaya Untoro︱University of Pancasila
Kuncono Teguh Yunanto︱University of Persada
ASMSS-3025
Exploring the Circumstances behind the Frequency of Sexual Intercourse among Muslim
Older Person in Malaysia
Syarif Muhidin Abdurahman︱Universiti Utara Malaysia
Wan Ibrahim Wan Ahmad︱Universiti Utara Malaysia
ASMSS-2995
Mediating Roles of Control Self-Efficacy and Social Interaction Anxiety between Materialism
and Smartphone Addiction: Opening the Black Box in US and China
Yu-Kang Lee︱National Sun Yat-sen University
Chun-Tuan Chang︱National Sun Yat-sen University
You Lin︱National Sun Yat-sen University
Zhao-Hong Cheng︱National Sun Yat-sen University
504
ASMSS-3011
Assessing the Impressions of Lipstick Colors by Females
Yu An Wu︱Mackay Junior College of Medicine, Nursing, and Management
Wen Yuan Lee︱Tatung University
505
ASMSS-2878
Study on the Structural Differences of Reading and Writing - How Can the
Journal Therapy Enhance One’s Subjectivity?
Kyung-ah Nam
Kyungpook National University
luminary422@daum.net
Contents
1. Introduction.
2. The structural differences of reading and writing in the psychoanalytic viewpoint.
3. The definition of Journal therapy and its structure.
4. How can the Journal Therapy enhance one's subjectivity?
5. Conclusion
Abstract
This study starts from the premise that the Journal Therapy can be an effective therapeutic tool for
dissolving the repressed unconsciousness. In the past research, I have argued that the Journal
Therapy can help a person, who writes the journal for a way of therapy, to expose him/herself and to
face to his/her own desire; finally, it can contribute to enhance his/her subjectivity. The meaningful
results regarding Journal Therapy have been investigated on the case of therapy for the people who is
suffering from the PTSD(Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) and is falling to the radical drive such as
suicidal impulse. In such cases, what the Journal Therapy has contributed is related to enhance their
subjectivities and to divert their wrong thoughts.
In my opinion, the structure of Journal Therapy should be analyzed first, before we discuss whether
it helps the subjectivity to be improved or not. In addition, the structural differences of reading and
writing should be explained too; the structure of Journal Therapy is a kind of complex one that is
processed by both, reading and writing. Thus, this study is going to explain the differences of the
both and to analyze that the effect by each can be different. Furthermore, this study can also explain
how the Journal Therapy can effective to enhance the one's subjectivity by those analyses.
Keywords:Journal therapy, Writing treatment, Reading treatment, Literary therapy, Psychoanalysis
506
ASMSS-2853
Kong Girls
Jane Chan
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ccjane@hkcc-polyu.edu.hk
Abstract
“Kong girls” is a popular term originates from the Encyclopedia of Virtual Communities in Hong
Kong in 2005 to describe unpopular women who are narcissistic with the “Princess Syndrome” and
who worship money. Kong girls have become a social problem and one-third of Hong Kong men
choose to marry women from China. In 2014, one-third of the female populations in Hong Kong
are spinsters.
The purpose of this research is to suggest reasons behind the phenomenon and possible ways to
“save” the Kong girls from being superficial, selfish and having big ego. Qualitative method will
be used in this research and seven interviews with typical Hong Kong Kong girls will be conducted
within the same period of time in 2015. One non-Kong-girl will also be interviewed as a control.
The findings of this research will provide us some ideas on how to improve the current situation and
whether there is hope for most Hong Kong men to find their wives in Hong Kong and whether the
Kong girls can become happier persons.
507
ASMSS-2892
Malaysian and Indonesians Adolescents Resiliency and Relationships with
Gratitude and Happiness
Jas Laile Jaafar*, Chok Hiew, Yoo Fei

University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
*Corresponding author: laile@um.edu.my
Vinaya Untoro
University of Pancasila, Jakarta, Indonesia
Kuncono Teguh Yunanto

University of Persada, Jakarta, Indonesia
Abstract
The relationships between resiliency and two aspects of positive emotions (i.e., gratitude and
happiness) has not been specifically studied in Malaysia and Indonesia. The present study examined
the relationship between these variables in a sample of adolescents. Seven hundred participants (age
range = 13-17 years; 357 male; 350 Malaysian and 350 Indonesian) completed measures of state
resilience, gratitude, and happiness. Correlation analyses indicated that resilience was positively
correlated with both gratitude and happiness. Regression analyses indicated that 43% of the variance
in state resilience was predicted by happiness and gratitude. The results also revealed that
Indonesian adolescents had significantly higher levels of happiness, gratitude, and resilience as
compared to the Malaysian adolescents, and that girls had significantly higher gratitude compared to
boys. The present study confirms previous accounts that positive emotions are important factors that
contribute to adolescents’ resiliency.
Keywords: gratitude, happiness, positive emotions, resilience, well-being
508
ASMSS-3025
Exploring the Circumstances behind the Frequency of Sexual Intercourse among
Muslim Older Person in Malaysia
Syarif Muhidin Abdurahman, PhD6

syarifmuhidin@uum.edu.my
Wan Ibrahim Wan Ahmad, PhD

wiwa@uum.edu.my
ABSTRACT
The number of older persons is growing in many parts all over the world. While developed nations
have relatively high percentage of older population in the population structure, the most rapid
increases in older population are in developing world, and today the majority of the world older
population lived in developing countries. Over the past 50 years the demographic landscape in
Malaysia has changed considerably. The population of Malaysia is showing signs of aging. The
number of older population is rising significantly as compared several decades back. Through the
past four censuses reveals the proportion of population aged 60 and above is becoming progressively
larger, indicating a continuing ageing trend in Malaysia in the coming years. Despite the increasing
numbers of older persons in society, information on sexual activity of this category of population is
still limited. This is, in parts, because of older persons are not supposed to talk about sexuality
openly. Thus, many questions regarding sexual activity among this category of population remain
unanswered. Literature available on this issue in Malaysia is also limited. Sex research outside
Malaysia suggests that the frequency of sexual intercourse declines as individual ages. The present
paper aims to explore this issue, particularly the frequency of sexual intercourse among older person
in Malaysia through the eye of an older research participant. The paper is also aimed to explore the
factors behind this frequency. Using a single-case research design, the present study employed a
single case study to gather information needed. Data were collected through in-depth interviews and
analyzed using a thematic approach. Interviews reveal that frequency of sexual intercourse declines
with age, and factors such as (1) overall health condition of older person, (2) tiredness, (3) readiness
of the spouse, (4) vitality, and (5) disturbance in daily life, all contribute to the changes.
Keywords: Older population; Sexuality; Sexual behavior; Sexual interests; Sexual relationship
6
Corresponding Author; Associate Professor, School of Social Development, Universiti Utara Malaysia
509
INTRODUCTION
Over the past 50 years the demographic landscape of Malaysian population has changed
considerably. The number of older population is rising significantly (Wan Ibrahim, Zainab, Asyaraf
& Fadzli, 2012). Through the past four censuses (1970-2000), Pala (2005) reveals the proportion of
population aged 60 and above is becoming progressively larger, indicating a continuing ageing trend
in Malaysia in the coming years. Following the growing number of older persons a many
communities, issues on sexual behavior among older persons has become increasingly important to
be discussed. In Malaysia, as in other parts of the world, research on sex and sexuality is still an
uncommon spectrum of research, and as such little is known about sexual life of older persons in
Malaysia. Older persons are not supposed to talk about sexuality openly. Thus, many questions
regarding sexual activity among this category of population remain unanswered. Literature available
on this issue in Malaysia is also limited. Sex research outside Malaysia suggests that the frequency of
sexual intercourse declines as individual ages. The present paper is aimed to explore this issue,
particularly the circumstances behind the frequency of sexual intercourse among older person in
Malaysia.
OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

Despite the increasing numbers of older persons in society, information on sexual activity of this
category of population is still limited. This paper presents a result of a qualitative study to explore
this issue using data gathered through a single-case research design on older person living in the
community through the eye of an older research participant. More specifically it explores why
certain older persons have relatively experiencing high frequency of sexual intercourse, whilst other
older persons are not, even though their spouses are available.
LITERATURE REVIEW
People of all ages find satisfaction and comfort in sex, and the potential to enjoy sex and the need for
intimacy remain constants throughout life (Quadagno, 1999). However, the sexual issue of older
population is often overlooked in academic and media discourse (Lusti-Narasimhan and Beard,
2013). This is because, among other things, issue of sexuality in older persons remains largely taboo
in many cultures (Lusti-Narasimhan & Beard, 2013).
Physical intimacy as well as emotional intimacy is a lifelong need (Glessing, 1996). Although many
older men or women are still engage in sexual activities well into 70s or 80s and beyond, the
frequency of sexual behavior is likely to decrease. A wide range of sex research show that sexual
activity declines as individual ages. The changes, however, is not identical across individuals. This is
because every individual experiences the process of ageing in a different way, depending upon their
gender, culture, education, geographical location, environment and the culmination of life events
(Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services, 2012). These differences
510
appeared to be the main factors influencing the frequency of sexual activity among older persons.
Although sexual desire remains strong through the life, the participation in sexual activity declines as
individual ages (Lindau et al., 2007). If an older person is physically able and has a partner, sexual
activity can persist well into the 90s (Lynn McNicoll, 2008). Sex research has discovered many
obstacles behind the frequency of sexual activities among husband and wife. Among the factors
discovered including such factors as age (Lindau et al., 2007), physical health (Lynn McNicoll, 2008),
sexual functioning (Lindau et al., 2007), and the availability of partner (Lynn McNicoll, (2008).
MATERIALS AND METHOD

There are many approaches could be applied when we conduct a research. The present study is a
qualitative case study employs a single-case research design to collect data. Research participant for
this study is an elderly Muslim man aged 77 years old who purposely selected for the study. The
design is seen suitable as information about sex and sexuality of older persons is quite difficult to
collect. Not many older people agree to be involved in in-depth interviews about sex and sexual
behavior for such research. A Case study is a systematic inquiry into an event, or a set of related
events which aims to describe and explain the phenomenon of interest (Bromley, 1990). It is an
approach that facilitates exploration of a phenomenon within its context using a variety of data
sources. The issue explored is not explored through one lens, but through a variety of lenses which
allows for multiple facets of the phenomenon to be revealed and understood (Baxter & Jack, 2008).
For this study, data were collected through a triangulation technique, which is a combination of
semi-structured in-depth interviews, along with informal conversation in daily activities in various
events and analyzed using a thematic approach.
THE FREQUENCY OF SEXUAL INTERCOURSE AMONG OLDER PERSON

The paper discusses one basic issue, namely the frequency of sexual intercourse, particularly in terms
of circumstances behind the frequency among Muslim older persons in Malaysia as perceives by a
77-year-old research participant. For most people the frequency of sexual activity is perhaps a
prominent part in one’s life. Many people believe older persons do not have a desire about sexual
intercourse. Interviews reveal that frequency of sexual intercourse declines with age, and factors
such as (1) overall health condition of older person, (2) tiredness, (3) readiness of the spouse, (4)
vitality, and (5) disturbance in daily life, all contribute to the changes.
Overall Health Condition of Older Person

Health conditions affect many aspects of the life of everybody. Many people tend to perceive old age
as a period of negative growth with full of health problems. In fact, one of the most fears about aging
is that declining in physical and mental health conditions. In terms of sexual intercourse, our research
participant agrees that as overall health conditions of older persons decline, the frequency of sexual
relationships may decline, although sexual desires persist. Research on sexual behavior among
511
older people conducted outside Malaysia also highlights the frequency of sexual behavior declines in
successively older age group (DLamater & Moorman, 2007). Health conditions also limit older
persons in conducting any physical activity, including sexual intercourse. Sexual behavior related
with our physical health. With the increasing age, problems with physical health are likely to
increase. A wide range of research suggests illness interfere sexual function (Muramo &Murai, 2001;
DeLamater & Moorman, 2007).
Tiredness
Tired is one more reason why some older persons cannot perform sexual intercourse. If we are tired,
regardless of age, we cannot do any physical activity. Research participant admits that if you are
tired, you probably want to have a rest until your body become fit again. At old age, although you are
free from disease, tiredness is a normal situation. Older persons normally have a greater incidence of
tiredness than the younger persons owing to physical declines. This is also owing to immune system
appears to lose effectiveness with age (Strehler, 1976). This situation may lead to an increase in the
incidence of tiredness. Older people are easier to become tired and take longer time to recover, and
will take longer time to have sexual intercourse. Tiredness may lead older persons lose the interests
and ability to have and enjoy sexual intercourse. The tired older persons will not be able to have
sexual intercourse with his partner.
Readiness of the Spouse

Having sexual intercourse should be happened in an enjoyable environment. It is related to feelings.
We are having sexual intercourse to satisfy our psychological needs. Thus, it should be happened in
physically and mentally ready. We should not force our partner to have sexual intercourse. It best be
happened when both parties are ready to have sexual intercourse.
Vitality
Vitality here is defined as having enough energy, mentally or physically. When vital, people
experience a sense of enthusiasm, aliveness, and energy available to the self (Ryan & Frederick,
1997; Ryan and Deci, 2008). Thus, when in vital states, people are more active and productive,
cope better with stress and challenge, and report greater mental health (Ryan & Frederick, 1997;
Ryan and Deci, 2008). For sexual intercourse to be an activity in which to fulfil our psychological
needs, it must be done in the situation where both parties are active and greater mental health. Very
often older persons are likely to have low vitality, thus a sense of enthusiasm to the sexual
intercourse may not be sustained. When older persons have low vitality it may effects the ability of
older persons to have sexual intercourse.
512
Disturbance in Daily Life
Many older people in their sixties, seventies, and beyond still have sexual intercourse as a routine of
life. Many older persons found they have a lot of free time. Old age provides them with the
opportunities to have more time with their spouses; because they find that in this old age they are less
bond to work, or even less bond to be care given for their children. Disturbance in daily life is one
more factor that influences the frequency of sexual intercourse. Disturbance can be in terms of
physical environment, or it may also in terms of emotional states. Having sexual intercourse needs
privacy. We need privacy to develop interests and motivation to the sexual intercourse. If we do not
have the privacy, interests and motivation to it may not developed. Disturbance in daily life may
drain and diminish interests and motivation developed.
CONCLUSION
Following the importance of sexual intercourse in human life, sexual activity is always interesting to
be discussed. All people, whether he is young, or old, find satisfaction and comfort in sex. Sex
researchers consistently conclude sexuality is important throughout the life of human being. Sex and
sexuality are core dimensions in human experience and an important determinant of well-being
throughout life. Although the frequency of sexual intercourse may decline with the increasing of age,
for most of older person sexual relationship remains a routine activity. The main purpose of this
study is to explore the circumstances behind the difference in the frequency of sexual intercourse
among older persons through the eye of a 77-year-old research participant. The finding shows that
although the sexual desires remain constants throughout life, the frequency of sexual intercourse
differ among older people due to several circumstances. These include factors such as overall health
condition of older person, tiredness, readiness of the spouse, vitality, and disturbance in daily life.
These factors described descriptively in this paper.
REFERENCES
Baxter, P., & Jack, S. (2008). Qualitative case study methodology: Study design and implementation
for novice researchers. The Qualitative Report, 13(4), 544-559. Retrieved from
http://www.nova.edu/ssss/QR/QR13-4/baxter.pdf
DeLamater, J. & Moorman, S. (2007). Sexual behavior in later life. Journal of Aging and Health,
Vol. XX, Number X, Month XXX: 1 – 25.
Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services (2012). Aging: Myth and reality.
Queensland: Queensland Government.
Glessing, T. (1996). An assessment of the relationship between older adult’s knowledge and attitudes
about sexuality and aging and their sexual activity level. Thesis of Masters of Science Degree,
Sage Graduate School.
513
Lindau, S.T., Schumm, L.P., Laumann, E.O., Levinson, W., O’Muircheartaigh, C.A., Waite, L.J.,
(2007). A study of sexuality and health among older adults in the United States. N Engl J Med;
357:762–74. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa067423 PMID:17715410
Lusti-Narasimhan, M., & Beard, J. R. (2013). Sexual health in older women. Bull World Health
Organ; 91:707–709, available at: doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.2471/BLT.13.119230
Lynn McNicoll. (2008). Issues of sexuality in elderly. Geriatrics for the practicing physician. Quality
of Partners in Rhode Island, Vol 01, No. 10, October. Department of Medicine, The Warren
Alfert Medical School, Brown University.
Muramo, K. &Murai, M. (2001). Aging and erectile dysfunction: The role of aging and concomitant
chronic illness. International Journal of Urulogy, 8, S50 – S57.
Pala, J. (2005). Population ageing trends in Malaysia. Putrajaya: Department of Statistics.
Quadagno, J. (1999). Aging and the life course. Boston: McGraw-Hill
Ryan, R. M., & Frederick, C. M. (1997). On energy, personality and health: Subjective vitality as a
dynamic reflection of well-being. Journal of Personality, 65: 529–565.
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2008). From ego depletion to vitality: Theory and findings concerning
the facilitation of energy available to the self. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 2/2:
702–717.
Strehler, B. L. (1976). Introduction: Aging the human brain. In R. D. Terry & S. Gershon (Eds.).
Neurobiology of aging. New York: Raven Press.
Wan Ibrahim Wan Ahmad, Zainab Ismail, Asyaraf Hj. Ab Rahman & Fadzli Adam. (2012).
Subjectif well-Being of older rural Muslim community in Malaysia. International Journal of
Asian Social Science, Vol. 2, No. 3: 330 – 335.
514
ASMSS-2995
Mediating Roles of Control Self-Efficacy and Social Interaction Anxiety between
Materialism and Smartphone Addiction: Opening the Black Box in US and
China
Yu-Kang Lee a, Chun-Tuan Chang b, You Lin c, Zhao-Hong Cheng d,*

a
National Sun Yat-sen University, Department of Political Economy, 70 Lienhai Rd., Kaohsiung
80424, Taiwan
E-mail address: yklee@mail.nsysu.edu.tw
b
National Sun Yat-sen University, Department of Business Management, 70 Lienhai Rd., Kaohsiung
80424, Taiwan
E-mail address: ctchang@faculty.nsysu.edu.tw
c
80424, Taiwan
E-mail address: horizonpaul31@gmail.com
d
80424, Taiwan
E-mail address: d994010002@student.nsysu.edu.tw
Abstract
Given that materialism has been extensively found as a predictor of persons’ smartphone addictions,
this study focused on the theoretical mechanisms that explain the positive relationship between
materialism and smartphone addictions. Specifically, individuals’ perceived self-efficacy and social
interaction anxiety were proposed to mediate the materialism－smartphone addictions relationship. It
also looked at how power distance belief (PDB) moderated these mediated relationships. Using 778
participants in the United States (n=431) and People’s Republic of China (n=347), we confirmed the
mediating roles of both self-efficacy and social interaction anxiety. In addition, PDB moderated the
two mediated relationships such that the mediating effects were stronger in high PDB cultures (i.e.,
PRC) than low PDB cultures (i.e., U.S.). Finally, theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Keywords: Smartphone Addictions, Materialism, Self-efficacy, Social Interaction Anxiety, Power

Distance Belief.
515
ASMSS-3011
Assessing the Impressions of Lipstick Colors by Females
Yu-An Wu*
Department of Cosmetic Applications and Management,
Mackay Junior College of Medicine, Nursing, and Management
PhD student, Graduate Institute of Design Science, Tatung University
No.92, Shengjing Rd., Beitou Dist., Taipei City 112, Taiwan
*E-mail address: s352@eip.mkc.edu.tw
Wen-Yuan Lee
Department of Industrial Design, Tatung University
No.40, Sec. 3, Zhongshan N. Rd, Taipei 104, Taiwan
E-mail address: wylee@ttu.edu.tw
Abstract
This study used a psychophysical experiment to assess twenty lipstick colors by 29 females on 22
impression scales. The data obtained from experiment were used to arrange the experimental samples
along each impression scale to see how the lipstick colors influence the impression. Furthermore, the
results were used to develop the regression models for these impressions. These regression models
were successfully developed and revealed the relationship between impression and color attributes of
lipstick colors.
Keyword：Lipstick, Color, Impression
1. Introduction
Lip colors have been playing an important role in the makeup. However, there are thousands colors
for lipstick colors. It has long been asked which color is suitable for herself by female. In order to
answer this question, the existing color emotion studies1-5 may have the answer. However, these
studies aimed to explore the emotions prompted by colors, rather than the appearance of people’s
face. In order to understand the impressions evoked by people’s face, this study carried out a
psychophysical experiment to see how the lipstick colors influence the impressions.
2. Experimental plan
The purpose of the current study is to explore the relationship between the impression and lipstick
colors. To do this, a psychophysical experiment was carried out. Twenty-nine observers were invited
to take part. The observers were asked to assess the 20 lipstick colors on 22 impression scales,
including “trust”, “disgusted”, “sexy”, “cute”, “stylish”, “luxury”, “energetic”, “feminine”, “elegant”,
516
“sweet”, “pretty”, “passionate”, “retro”, “romantic”, “intellectual”, “mature”, “individual”, “secret”,
“fresh”, “stable”, “frivolity” and “old-fashioned.” Each scale had four intensity steps, i.e., “extremely
strong”, “strong”, “a little strong”, and “not at all.”
In terms of color selection, eleven basic color terms purposed by Berlin and Kay6 were used,
including red, orange, yellow, green, blue, brown, purple, pink, white, black, and gray colors. These
11 colors were produced according to Lin et al’s 7-9 basic color boundaries. Additionally, nine top
sale lipstick colors from high street were involved. In total, 20 lipstick colors were used in the
experiment. Each lipstick colors was applied onto a female model and taken an image by using
calibrated camera. Each image was displayed on a calibrated monitor using color temperature of
6500k. The images are given in Figure 1.
Each color was measured from monitor by a GretagMacbeth® Eye-One. The CIELab values of each
color were calculated under D65 and CIE 1931 standard colorimetric. The distribution of color
samples on CIELab space are illustrated in Figure 2. In Figure 2(a), a*-axis and b*-axis represent the
redness-greenness and yellowness-blueness attributes, respectively. In Figure 2(b), L-axis and
C*-axis represent the lightness and chroma attributes, respectively.
During the experiment, the observers were invited to a dark room to assess 20 lipstick color samples
on 22 scales. The experimental samples were presented in a random order, one lipstick colors were
replicated in order to examine if the observers provide consistent judgments. In prior to the
experiment, the monitor was calibrated by a Gretag Macbeth® Eye-One with D65 light source and
the white level of monitor was 210 cd/m2.
Figure 1: The experimental samples used in the experiment
517
(a) CIELab a*-b* diagram (b) CIELab L*-C* diagram
Figure 2: The 20 colors in CIELab (a) a*-b* and (b) L*-C* diagram
3. Results
3.1 Intra- and inter-observer variations
The data collected from experiment were converted into numbers, the step of “extremely strong” was
given 3, “strong” 2, “a little strong” 1, and “not at all” 0. In prior to analysis, the intra- and
inter-observer variations were examined by root mean square (RMS). The former is to see whether
the observers can repeat their judgment or not. The latter is to examine how well the individual
observer agrees with the mean results. The RMS equation is give below：
∑(Xi − Yi )2
RMS = √
n
For intra-observer variation, Xi and Yi are initial data and replicated data, respectively. For
inter-observer variation, Xi and Yi are individual data and all observers average, respectively. n is
the number of data. For RMS of 0, it represents a perfect agreement between two data array.
(a)Intra-observer variation (b) Inter-observer variation

Figure 3: The results of intra- and inter-observer variations
The results are illustrated in Figure 3. It can be seen that the intra-observer variation was ranged
between RMS of 0.61 and 1.20, as shown in Figure 3 (a). This tells us that the observers in the
experiment can provide consistent judgment. The inter-observer variation was ranged between RMS
of 0.36 and 1.22, as shown in Figure 3 (b), indicating that all the observers agree the mean results.
518
3.2 The relationship between impressions and lipstick colors
To see the relationship between impressions and lipstick colors, the colors were arranged in order
along each impression scale, as shown in Figure 4. The findings were summarized below.
1. Except “disgusted”, “individual”, “secret” and “frivolous” impression, the reddish colors tended
to have “trust”, “sexy”, “cute”, “stylish”, “luxury”, “energetic”, “feminine”, “elegant”, “sweet”,
“pretty”, “passionate”, “romantic”, “intellectual”, “mature”, “fresh” and “stable” impressions.
2. The green color was found to be the most “disgusted” lipstick color.
3. The black color was ranked as the most “individual” and “secret” lipstick color.
4. The cyan color was the most “frivolous” lipstick color.
5. The bluish lipstick color tended to have “secret” impressions.
6. The most “retro” lipstick color was deep red color.
7. The less colorful lipstick colors were found to tend to have “old-fashioned” impression.
Old –fashioned
Intellectual
Passionate
Disgusted
Individual
Energetic
Feminine
Romantic
Frivolity
Mature
Elegant
Luxury
Secret
Stylish
Sweet
Pretty
Stable
Retro
Fresh
Trust
Sexy
Cute
Figure 4: The Lipstick colors are ranked along impression scales.
3.3 The relationship between impressions and color attributes

To see the relationship between impressions and color attributes of lipstick colors, the stepwise
multiple regression analysis was used. The 22 impression scales were used as dependent variable,
color attributes independent variables. The color attributes included CIELab L*, C*, a*, b*, and h,
representing lightness, chroma, redness-greenness, yellowness-blueness, and hue angle, respectively.
The results were summarized in Table 1. The performance of each regression model indicated by
correlation coefficient (r) is also given in Table 1.
The results showed that the “retro” and “old-fashioned” impressions were found insignificant for
fitting the impression values by using color attributes values. Except these two impressions, the r
519
vales range between 0.49 and 0.92, indicating that the impressions of lipstick colors were
successfully predicted by using color attributes.
Table 1: The results developed from multi-regression analysis.
The findings are summarized below.

1 The redness-greenness value (a*) was found to affect many impressions. The reddish lipstick
colors tended to have “trust”, “sexy”, “cute”, “stylish”, “luxury”, “feminine”, “elegant”, “sweet”,
“pretty”, “passionate”, “romantic”, “intellectual”, “mature”, “fresh” and “stable” impressions. On the
contrast, the less reddish lipstick colors tended to have “disgusted”, “individual” and “frivolity”
impressions.
2 Both “energetic” and “passionate” impressions were found to have positive correlation with
chroma of lipstick colors, indicating more colorful, more energetic and passionate.
520
3 The “mature” impression was found to be prompted by less lightness and more reddish colors.
4 The “secret” impression was determined by hue angle of lipstick color, indicating the more
bluish lipstick color, the more “secret’ impression.
Summary
The aim of the current study is to explore the relationship between the impression and lipstick colors.
Twenty-nine observers were asked to assess 20 lipstick colors on 22 impression scales. The data
obtained from experiment were used to develop regression models successfully. The results showed
the reddish colors determined most of impression of lipstick color. If the future study can distinguish
the difference of reddish lipstick colors, it would be very helpful for cosmetic industry. Additionally,
the impression of “retro” and “old-fashioned” cannot be fitted by using color attributes, reflecting
there are other attributes affecting the impressions of lipstick colors.
References
1. Ou L-C. Quantification of Colour Emotion and Colour Harmony. Derby, UK: University of
Derby, UK; 2004.
2. Ou L-C, Luo MR, Woodcock A, Wright A. A Study of Colour Emotion and Colour Preference
Part I: Colour Emotions for single Colours. Colour R&A 2004;29:232-240.
3. Ou L-C, Luo MR, Woodcock A, Wright A. A Study of Colour Emotion and Colour Preference
Part III: Colour Preference Modelling. Color Research and Application 2004;29(5):381-389.
4. Gao X-P, Xin JH, Sato T, Hansuebsai A, Scalzo M, Kajiwara K, Guan S-S, Valldeperas J, Lis
MJ, Billger M. Analysis of Cross-Cultural Color Emotion. Color Research and Application
2007;32:223-229.
5. Xin JH, Cheng KM, Taylor G, Sato T, Hansuebsai A. Cross-Regional Comparison of Colour
Emotions Part 1: Quantitative Analysis. Color Research and Application 2004;29,
No.6:451-457.
6. Berlin B, Kay P. Basic Colour Terms: Their Universality and Evolution. Berkeley and Los
Angeles: University of California Press; 1969.
7. Lin H, Luo MR, MacDonald LW, Tarrant AWS. A Cross-Cultural Colour-Naming Study. Part
III -- A Colour-Naming Model. Color Research and Application 2001;26:270-277.
8. Lin H, Luo MR, Tarrant AWS, MacDonald LW. A Cross-Cultural Colour-Naming Study: Part
II-Using a Constrained Method. Color Research and Application 2001;26:193-208.
9. Lin H, Luo MR, Tarrant AWS, MacDonald LW. A Cross-Cultural Colour-Naming Study: Part
I-Using An Unconstrained Method. Color Research and Application 2001;26:40-60.
521
Finance
Room D, 2F
2015/8/27 Thursday 14:45-16:15
Session Chair: Prof. Michiko Miyamoto
ASMSS-2924
Baseball Sentiment: The Effect of Taiwanese MLB Players’ Performance on the Taiwan Stock
Market
Chia-Chen Teng︱Chung Yuan Christian University
ASMSS-2863
Event Study of a Stockholders’ Special Benefit System and Shop Events in Japan
Michiko Miyamoto︱Akita Prefectural University
ASMSS-2848
Do Firms Manage Tax Differently in Response to the Adoption of International Financial
Reporting Standards? Evidence from China
Agnes W. Y. Lo︱Lingnan University
Raymond M. K. Wong︱City University of Hong Kong
ASMSS-3007
Uniform Accounting System in Indian Universities
Uttam Kumar Das︱Tripura University
ASMSS-2861
The Relationship between Ownership Structure and the Quality of Financial Reporting of
Listed Firms in the Stock Exchange of Thailand: The Empirical Evidence from Accounting
Restatement Perspective
Pattaraporn - Pongsaporamat︱Naresuan University
ASMSS-3054
Revisiting the Causal Nexus between Medical Care Expenditures and Economic Growth in
Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan: 1990-2013
Chia-I Pan︱Feng Chia University
Yu Wei Chang︱New York Chiropractic College
Yu Yu Chang︱La Sierra University
522
ASMSS-2924
Baseball Sentiment: The Effect of Taiwanese MLB Players’ Performance on the
Taiwan Stock Market
Chia-Chen, Teng
Chung Yuan Christian University
andy0713@hotmail.com
Abstract
Inspired by the association between sports results and stock returns in the Western countries, this
study examines the impact of Taiwanese players’ performance in the U.S. Major League Baseball
(MLB) on the Taiwan stock market. We find that the Taiwan stock markets significantly rise after
Taiwanese’ players in the MLB have wins while losses do not any significant effect, contrary to the
results of prior empirical studies. We argue that when game results are not critical where losses will
lead to eliminations from the games, the effect of wins can be stronger than that of losses.
Introduction
Some studies document a relationship between stock returns and soccer games’ sentiment. Edmans,
Garcia, and Norli (EGN) (2007) find an asymmetric effect from World Cup game results on 39 stock
markets, where losses have a significant negative effect on the losing countries’ local markets,
whereas victories do not have any significant effect. The aggregate sentiment found by EGN spills
over from the numerous local markets to the U.S. market where soccer is not very popular, causing a
negative effect in the U.S. stock market (Kaplanski and Levy, 2010). Conducting firm-level analysis,
Chang et al. (2012) reveal that a team’s loss in a National Football League (NFL) game leads to
lower next-day returns for locally headquartered stocks of Nasdaq firms. EGN (2007) argue that the
asymmetric reaction to wins and losses results from the inherent asymmetry of the competition
format. That is, a loss means that the team is no longer in the competition, whereas a win merely
advances the team to the next round. Therefore, the impact from a loss is much stronger than the
impact from a win, consistent with Kahneman and Tversky’s (1979) prospect theory.
The prior studies usually investigate the relationship between stock returns and critical game results
where a team’s performances will lead to only advances or eliminations. However, in some long-run
competitions or professional events, one single loss or win will not cause a team to be eliminated or
advanced. In such cases, the impact of a loss in a game may not be stronger than that of a win. For
instance, in a professional baseball game a team’s loss or a pitcher’s loss will not eliminate the team
or pitcher from the competition, but add a record to the loss column. On the other hand, a team or a
pitcher will become valuable if the team or the pitcher has many more wins than losses in total in the
whole season. Nevertheless, there is little empirical evidence that investigates the relationship
523
between stock returns and game results that will not advance a team to the next stage or eliminate a
team from the competition immediately.
In this study we begin to fill this gap by examining the link between local stock returns and baseball
sentiment in Taiwan. More specifically, we investigate the sentiment effect of Taiwanese baseball
pitchers or batters (hereafter players) in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the U.S. on Taiwan’s stock
markets. We choose Taiwan as study subject because unlike soccer in Western countries, baseball is
the most prevalent sport in Taiwan. Being a player in the MLB is regarded as a “spotlight of Taiwan”
and is one of the most honorable accomplishments for Taiwanese baseball players. In addition, MLB
games, especially those involving Taiwanese players, are regularly broadcasted by Taiwan’s local
networks. The MLB viewing figures, media coverage, and relevant merchandise sales suggest that
baseball is of great national interest in Taiwan. Finally, national newspapers once report that when a
Taiwanese player such as Chien-Ming Wang has a win, the probability that the Taiwanese stock
market will rise next day is 68% in the years of 2007 and 2008.
Therefore, our analysis is based on the relation between performances of Taiwanese players in MLB
and Taiwanese stock market during the period 2007 and 2008 when they have the most outstanding
performances in their careers in MLB. The most surprising finding is that Taiwanese players’ wins
have a significantly positive effect on Taiwanese stock market returns (measured by the Taiwan’s
main index TAIEX) while their losses do not any significant effect. On the robustness checks, we
also find that these Taiwanese players’ wins have significantly positive effect on most of the index
returns of different industries such as food, finance, and construction but their losses do not have any
effect. Finally, following the prior studies, we form various portfolios using the publicly traded firms
that are more susceptible to investors’ sentiment such as younger, less profitable, and smaller firms
and find the wins of these players have significantly positive impact on the portfolios’ returns while
the losses do not have any significant effect.
Our paper adds to the literature in the following ways: First, unlike previous study results, our article
shows that a loss of a game does not always lead to the drop of returns in the stock market while a
win of a game could cause the market to rise. This is probably because the consequence of a loss is
not so serious that the team will be eliminated from a competition. Therefore, if a team has a second
chance to play in a competition, the impact from a win may be stronger than that from a loss. Second,
prior studies link the connection between the performances of national teams and their stock markets.
We further deepen the literature by studying an “indirect” sports effect on the Taiwan stock market
and suggesting that even these Taiwanese players who play for foreign teams, since they are
considered “icons of Taiwan”, their performances could impact the local market. Obviously, the
effect of sports sentiments can grow strong and transcend the literal national image. Third, as
Kaplanski and Haim (2009) indicate, their study and EGN (2007) focus on the World Cup effect on
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the U.S. market and international markets with national football teams. Future research should study
the effect on the MSCI World Index and other international indices. Therefore, we extend the sports
sentiment from soccer to baseball, for which prior studies have not yet investigated. We also expand
the effect on indices from international markets dominated by soccer to the baseball-prevalent
Taiwanese market.
The remainder of the study plan is organized as follows. Section 2 presents some evidence between
sports and sentiment, the background for Taiwanese baseball development, and the justification for
the selection of Taiwanese baseball players by MLB team. Section 3 presents the data and
methodology to examine the significance of the effect. Section 4 offers empirical results. Section 5
concludes.
Review of the Literature

Sports sentiment influences a stock market’s prospects in an asymmetric way. EGN show that a loss
in the World Cup elimination phase leads to a next-day negative stock returns while a win does not
have any significant effect. They conclude that a change in investor mood cause the loss effect.
Inspired by EGN’s article, Kaplanski and Levy (2010) document that the aggregate negative effect of
losses in the World Cup can spill over to the U.S. market and be exploited significantly and
economically. Chang et al. (2012) undertake a firm-level analysis between National Football League
(NFL) game results and the return patterns of Nasdaq firms headquartered geographically near the
NFL teams. They present that a team’s loss leads to lower next-day returns for locally headquartered
stocks. The effect increases for a surprising loss and a critical loss. In conclusion, prior studies
indicate that losses of games can impact investors’ sentiments and lead to negative market returns.
The effect is especially stronger in the elimination stage where a loss can lead to elimination and a
win only moves a team to the next round, conforming to the prospect theory.
However, some studies document that the impact of a win on the mood, abilities, and life can be
stronger than that of a loss. For instance, Hirt et al. (1992) report that Indiana University college
students estimate their own performance to be significantly better after watching a win by their
college basketball team than after watching a loss. Schwarz et al. (1987) document that the outcome
of two games played by Germany in the 1982 World Cup significantly changed subjects’
assessments of their own well-being and their views on national issues. A related study by
Schweitzer et al. (1992) presents that assessments of both the probability of a 1990 war in Iraq and
its potential casualties were significantly lower among students rooting for the winning team of a
televised American football game than among fans of the losing team.
Unlike numerous sports sentiment based on Western markets, very few studies use Asian markets as
samples that usually have their own sports preferences. In addition, we argue that when game results
525
are not so critical where a final win depends on the long-term performances and a loss will not lead
to elimination, the effect of a loss may not be stronger than that of a win. In this paper, we attempt to
investigate the association between sports sentiment and stock returns in the Taiwanese market.
More importantly, we adopt a non-critical-game perspective to examine the link between sports
irrationality and market returns. Below we present the development of baseball in Taiwan, its
meanings for Taiwan, and its possible sentiment effect on Taiwanese people.
Baseball has developed in Taiwan for over one hundred years since the late 19 th century. The year
1968 marked a milestone for the development of baseball in Taiwan. A Little League team from the
remote indigenous village of Hongye in Taitung County, eastern Taiwan, twice defeated a
championship team from Japan. From 1969 to 1996, Taiwan won 17 championships in the Little
League World Series and won several championships in the Junior Baseball Series and Senior
League World Series. Nearly the whole country stayed up late to watch the games on TV or listen to
the broadcasts. After the “three championships”, baseball became the “national interest” of the
Taiwanese people.
After withdrawing from the United Nations in 1971, citizens of the Republic of China (R.O.C.) came
to regard baseball players as “national heroes” who could recover their ethnic self-esteem through
the players’ bats. During the 1980s, Taiwan’s baseball teams won many times in the top spots in the
World Baseball Championship. Since the performances of Taiwan’s baseball teams were quite
steady during this period, Taiwan along with Cuba, the U.S., Japan, and South Korea made up the
top 5 countries in the baseball field. At the 1992 Barcelona Olympics where baseball was held as a
formal competition for the first time, Taiwan’s national team won the silver medal, marking the high
point of Taiwan baseball in the 1990s.
Although Taiwan’s baseball teams have performed well in international games, local players’ career
prospects did not take off so well. Most of them could only play for domestic teams sponsored by
public sectors or for local professional teams with poor compensations compared to foreign
professional teams in the U.S. or Japan. Therefore, working for foreign professional baseball teams
has become one of the top goals that Taiwanese players target.
The outstanding performance of Taiwanese player Wang Chien-Ming in the MLB in 2005 inspired
Taiwanese fans’ enthusiasm for U.S. professional baseball. Many Taiwanese fans watched Wang
play on TV through the transmission of satellites and paid attention to his daily life in the U.S. The
public media also kept Taiwanese fans informed of his pitching performances so that they could
cheer for Wang and the Yankees. In 2006, Wang won 19 games and in 2007 he had another 19 wins.
In 2008, Wang recorded a win against Chicago White Sox, making him the fastest Major Leaguer to
record 50 wins as a starter since Swight Gooden, who won his 50 th game in his 82nd start in 1986.
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Wang also became the quickest Yankee to 50 wins since Ron Guidry, who accomplished this in his
82nd start.
Because of Wang’s outstanding performances in the MLB, former President Chen Shui-Bian called
Wang Chien-Ming the “pride of Taiwan”. In 2009, one of the national papers reports the association
between his game results and Taiwanese stock market returns. The local newspaper indicates that the
probability that the market will rise is as high as 68% when Wang has a win based on past two-year
Wang’s game outcomes. Following the possibly positive link, investing institutions argue that Wang
usually participates in the games between the midnight and noon of Taiwan’s time when many
investors may watch the games and engage in stock trading. Some investors’ mood may be
influenced because of Taiwanese players’ performances.
Given the evidence that baseball is “Taiwan’s interest”, that these Taiwanese MLB baseball players
are regarded as “national icons” by the locals, and that MLB baseball game results affect fans’
sentiment, we hypothesize that their performances impact Taiwanese investors’ views on future local
stock prices and the effect of a win may be stronger than that of a loss.
Data and Methods

We specifically analyze the association between Taiwanese players’ performances and stock market
returns during the two years 2007 and 2008 when three Taiwanese players play in the MLB
including Wang Chien-Ming, Kuo Hong-Chih, and Tsao Chin-Hui. To measure the effect of
Taiwanese players’ on stock returns, we collect the market index and firms’ return data from Taiwan
Economic Journal (TEJ). The database is the most comprehensive source for Taiwan’s stock markets
and firms. We collect the Taiwanese players’ performance data from the official MLB website
(mlb.mlb.com). We then match the returns data with the period 2007-2008 when Taiwanese players
took part in U.S. MLB games.
Following ENG (2008), we use two-stage pooled ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analysis to
measure the effect of investors’ sports sentiment on stock returns. We choose to use the first trading
day after the games are finished to ensure the players’ and teams’ performances are known. The null
hypothesis is that players’ performances would not affect the stock market, given that the market is
efficient and investors are rational. The alternative hypothesis is that players’ wins will lead to a
positive stock market reaction, while losses will lead to a negative stock market reaction based on
previous psychological and financial behavioral literature.
To estimate the impact of players’ performances on Taiwan’s stock market returns, we use the
following two-stage models:
 i,t  0  1Wi,t   2 Li,t  ui,t (1)
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where subscript i indicates the player, subscript t indicates the date, and W (L) equals one if the
Taiwanese player has a win (loss), and zero otherwise. In this model, the  i,t denotes the residuals of
the regression below:
4
Rt   0   Rt i    2i Dit  3H t   4 St  5U t 1   t , (2)
1 i1
where Rt is the TAIEX daily return,  0 is the regression intercept coefficient, Rt-1 is the first
previous day returns, Dit , i = 1, 2, 3, and 4, are dummy variables for the day of the week - Monday,
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, respectively, Ht is a dummy variable that takes the value one if
the trading day occurs before a national holiday including New Year, Chinese New Year, National
Day, Mid-Autumn Festival, Tomb Sweeping Day, and Dragon Boat Festival. (see Kim and Park
(1994) and Teng and Liu (2013)), St is a dummy variable for the annual MLB baseball season
(typically April to September), and Ut-1 is the U.S. stock market return.
We construct the above model based on previous studies of the time-series variability of stock
returns. We include the lagged index returns, Rt-1 to account for the first-order serial correlation.
Baseball players often take part in games in certain seasons. Therefore, one may suspect that the
results are due to a seasonal effect rather than because of the players’ performance. To deal with this
possibility, we add a seasonal dummy variable to capture any seasonal effect during the period of the
year. As international stock markets are integrated, the return on the Taiwanese stock index will be
correlated across the globe, and we include the lagged U.S. stock market return for a correlation. The
U.S. returns variable is on the CRSP value-weighted capital index and lagged by one day.
We run the regression above as an OLS regression with various control variables. In addition, returns
may have time-varying volatility. To adjust a possible heteroskedasticity and autocorrelation in
standard errors, we adopt the Newey and West (1987) method to deal with such a bias.
Empirical Results
Table 1 reports the descriptive statistics between game results of Taiwanese MLB players and mean
TAIEX index return. Deducting the missing data, we have 127 observations in total during the study
period. Table 1 shows that if a Taiwanese has no win or loss in a competition (i.e. he just plays in the
games and is not responsible for the team’s win or loss), the mean TAIEX index return is close to
zero. On the other hand, if the Taiwanese player has a win, the mean TAIEX index return would rise
about 0.7% on average, while if he has a loss, the index would be down for about -0.2% on average.
It appears that a Taiwanese player’s win have stronger effect on the Taiwanese stock market.
[Insert Table 1 about here]
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Effects of Taiwanese MLB players’ performances on TAIEX and OTC indexes
Table 2 presents our main empirical relation between Taiwanese MLB players’ performances and
main indexes in Taiwan: TAIEX and OTC. The coefficient of the dummy variable Win for the
TAIEX is significantly positive and for the OTC is not significant. On the other side, the dummy
variable Loss is not significant in both indexes. These results indicate that sports sentiments from
Taiwanese MLB players’ good performances have significantly positive impact on index returns
while bad results do not. This outcome is different from the prior results that game losses have
significantly stronger negative effects on stock returns in critical competitions.
[Insert Table 2 about here]
Effects of Taiwanese MLB players’ performances on various industry indexes

To further investigate how the sports sentiments from Taiwanese MLB players’ performances impact
the returns of various industries in Taiwan stock market, we obtain the index returns of industries
from TEJ and replace the TAIEX daily returns in expression (2) by these industries’ daily returns.
Previous index daily returns will also be replaced by industries’ previous daily returns. The
industries include cement, food, plastics, textile, electric machinery, paper, construction, and banking
& insurance.
[Insert Table 3 about here.]
Table 3 shows the connection between sports sentiments from Taiwanese MLB players’
performances and industries returns. The dummy variable Win is significantly positive in most of
industry indexes including cement, food, plastics, paper, and construction. These outcomes suggest
that sports sentiments from Taiwanese MLB players’ performances can further influence the various
industries’ returns in addition to the main TAIEX index returns.
Effects of Taiwanese MLB players’ performances on portfolio returns

The sports sentiments from Taiwanese MLB players’ performances may impact returns of firms that
are more susceptible to investors’ mood (Chang et al., 2012). Following Baker and Wurgler (2006),
we consider the following firm characteristic: size (market capitalization), age (number of years
since foundation), B/M (ratio of book equity to market equity), volatility (standard deviation of
monthly returns over the 12 months prior to the year of the baseball game), tangibility (gross
property, plant, and equipment scaled by lagged total assets), profitability (ROA for the three years
before the baseball game, where ROA is the ratio of earnings before interest and taxes to lagged total
assets), and dividend per share (DPS, total cash dividend divided by number of shares outstanding).
We classify publicly traded firms into quintiles based on these firm characteristics, excluding DPS, at
the end of year before the baseball season. If size, age, B/M, tangibility, or profitability is in the
529
lowest quintile, then the firm’s stock is more likely to be influenced by sports sentiment. Similarly, if
DPS equals zero which means the firm does not issue and dividend, this kind of firm is supposed to
be more susceptible to investors’ mood change. We then compose these firms in the lowest quintile
and firms with zero DPS into portfolios and calculate their both equal-weighted and value-weighted
daily returns. Finally, we replace the TAIEX daily returns in expression (2) by these portfolios’ daily
returns. Previous index daily returns will also be replaced by portfolios’ previous daily returns.
[Insert Table 4 about here.]
Table 4 presents the association between Taiwanese MLB players’ performances and portfolios’
returns by the two-stage pooled OLS approach. The coefficients for the dummy variable Win are
significantly positive in the groups for SIZE, B/M, VOLATIVITY, TANGIBILITY, ROA, and DPS
in the equal-weighted returns while the coefficients for the dummy variable Loss are not significant.
Table 4 also reveals the results for value-weighted portfolios’ returns. We find that the Win variable
is significantly positive in the groups of SIZE, AGE, VOLATIVITY, and DPS. These results confirm
that Taiwanese players’ wins have significantly positive effects on firms that are more susceptible for
investors’ sentiment for sports.
Conclusion
Our study investigates the relation between Taiwanese MLB players’ performances and the local
stock market returns. Contrary to the prior studies in the sports sentiment, our empirical results
indicate that a win of a Taiwanese MLB player is followed by higher stock returns, including the
main TAIEX index, various industry indexes, and portfolios composed of firms that are more
susceptible to investors’ sports sentiment. On the other hand, a loss of Taiwanese MLB players does
not significantly affect local stock market returns. Our test results suggest that if games results do not
lead to the teams’ elimination, positive game outcomes can generate positive sports moods and
significantly create positive returns of local stock markets. Therefore, the competition format plays
an important role in determining whether the investors’ sports sentiment shifts to positive or negative.
If a game result is critical, a team’s loss can lead to negative mood reaction and stock returns
whereas if a game outcome is not critical, a team’s win can lead to positive sentiment and market
returns.
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Financial and Quantitative Analysis, 29(1), 145-157.
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531
Table 1 Number of Wins and Losses of Taiwanese Players in MLB and Mean Daily Return on
the First Trading Day
This table reports the number of wins and losses of Taiwanese MLB players over the period of
2007-2008 in the MLB. The mean returns are calculated from the daily return on the TAIEX index
(from TEJ database) on the first trading day after players have wins, losses, and no wins or losses.
No Wins or Losses Wins Losses
N Mean SD N Mean SD N Mean SD
78 -0.004 1.579 29 0.703 1.647 20 -0.248 1.397
Table 2 MLB Game Results and TAIEX and OTC Daily Stock Returns
The analysis is based on wins and losses in MLB games. The table shows the ordinary least squares
(OLS) estimates of and from
 i ,t   0  1Wi ,t   2 Li ,t  ui ,t
where Wit is a dummy variable that takes the value one if the player i have a win and zero otherwise,
and Lit is a dummy variable for losses defined analogously. The  i,t ’s are the raw residuals defined by
the regression
4
Rt   0   Rt i    2i Dit   3 H t   4 S t   5U t 1   t ,
1 i 1
where Rit denotes the TAIEX and OTC index returns on date t. Rt-1 is the previous day’s TAIEX or
OTC index returns. Dit , i = 1, 2, 3, and 4, are dummy variables for the day of the week - Monday,
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, respectively. Ht is a dummy variable that takes the value one if
the trading day occurs before a national holiday including New Year, Chinese New Year, National
Day, Mid-Autumn Festival, Tomb Sweeping Day, and Dragon Boat Festival. St is a dummy variable
for the annual MLB baseball season (typically April to September). Ut-1 is the U.S. CRSP
value-weighted return. ***, **, and * indicate a significance level of 1%, 5%, and 10%, respectively.
The t-statistics values are adjusted for the heteroskedasticity and autocorrelation in standard errors by
using the Newey and West (1987) method.
532
Table 3 MLB Games Results and Industry Daily Stock Returns
 i ,t   0  1Wi ,t   2 Li ,t  ui ,t
and Lit is a dummy variable for losses defined analogously. The  ’s are the raw residuals defined by
i, t
the regression
4
1 i 1
where Rit denotes the industry index return on date t. Rt-1 is the previous day’s industry index return.
Dit , i = 1, 2, 3, and 4, are dummy variables for the day of the week - Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,
and Thursday, respectively. Ht is a dummy variable that takes the value one if the trading day occurs
before a national holiday including New Year, Chinese New Year, National Day, Mid-Autumn
Festival, Tomb Sweeping Day, and Dragon Boat Festival. St is a dummy variable for the annual
MLB baseball season (typically April to September). Ut-1 is the U.S. CRSP value-weighted return.
***, **, and * indicate a significance level of 1%, 5%, and 10%, respectively. The t-statistics values
are adjusted for the heteroskedasticity and autocorrelation in standard errors by using the Newey and
West (1987) method.
533
Table 4 MLB Game Results and Portfolios’ Returns
 i ,t   0  1Wi ,t   2 Li ,t  ui ,t
and Lit is a dummy variable for losses defined analogously. The  i,t ’s are the raw residuals defined
by the regression
4
1 i 1
where Rit denotes the portfolios’ return on date t. Rt-1 is the previous day’s portfolios’ return. The
portfolios are composed by firms which are more likely to be influenced by sports sentiment by
specific firm characteristics. Specifically, firm characteristics include SIZE, AGE, B/M,
VOLATILITY, TANGIBILITY, PROFITABILITY, and DPS. We classify publicly traded firms into
quintiles based on these firm characteristics, excluding DPS, at the end of year before the baseball
season. If size, age, B/M, tangibility, or profitability is in the lowest quintile, then the firm’s stock is
more likely to be influenced by sports sentiment. Similarly, if DPS equals zero which means the firm
does not issue and dividend, this kind of firm is supposed to be more susceptible to investors’
sentiment. We then compose these firms in the lowest quintile and firms with zero DPS into
portfolios and calculate their both equal-weighted and value-weighted returns. Dit , i = 1, 2, 3, and 4,
are dummy variables for the day of the week - Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday,
respectively. Ht is a dummy variable that takes the value one if the trading day occurs before a
national holiday including New Year, Chinese New Year, National Day, Mid-Autumn Festival,
Tomb Sweeping Day, and Dragon Boat Festival. St is a dummy variable for the annual MLB
baseball season (typically April to September). Ut-1 is the U.S. CRSP value-weighted return. ***, **,
and * indicate a significance level of 1%, 5%, and 10%, respectively. The t-statistics values are
adjusted for the heteroskedasticity and autocorrelation in standard errors by using the Newey and
West (1987) method.
534
535
ASMSS-2863
Event Study of a Stockholders’ Special Benefit System and Shop Events in Japan
Michiko Miyamoto,
Department of Management Science and Engineering, Akita Prefectural University,
Yurihonjo, Akita 015-0055 JAPAN
miyamoto@akita-pu.ac.jp
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to compare the impact of shareholders’ special benefit plan and the
impact of sales promotion of the worldwide recognized ice cream scoop shop have on its daily stock
returns. The empirical results suggest that the averaged abnormal returns and cumulative abnormal
returns are increased toward the date of allotment in order to capture shareholders’ special benefit.
It implies that the shareholders’ special benefit successfully attract investors, particularly individual
ones. The results also show that each sales campaign affects the stock price in some extent.
Keyword: Event study, Shareholders’ special benefit, Sales campaign
1. Introduction
Stock prices are affected by a number of factors and events, some of which influence stock prices
directly and others that do so indirectly. One of factors which affect stock prices is announced
earnings (e.g., Ball & Brown . (1968), Joy, Litzenberger, and McEnally (1977), Watts (1978),
Rendleman, Jones and Latane (1982), and Foster, Olsen, and Shevlin (1984)). Knowledge of the
contents of the forthcoming earnings announcement is known to yield an abnormal return. Many
firms conduct marketing activities to promote products, brands or stores as such are one way to
increase sales, and profit margin. Srinivasan and Hanssens (2009) explore marketing concepts such
as brand equity, customer equity, customer satisfaction, product quality, marketing -mix actions, and
research and development, and establish the links among marketing actions, value creation, and
observed market values.
Dividends are treated as a proxy for estimated future earnings. The dividends increase will send a
message to the market that the future earnings will increase, and vice versa (Miller and Modigliani,
1961). Using the event study on event window surrounding the day of dividend announcement, a
significant positive reaction between stock dividend announcement and stock return have found, but
it was a significant negative relation between cash dividend announcement and the stock return
(Wang, 2014).
536
A system called “kabunushi-yutai” in Japan, which translated means “a shareholders' special benefit
plan,” is a gift that a growing number of Japanese companies send to stockholders as a courtesy, to
show their appreciation for the support of their stockholders. According to Daiwa Investor
Relations (2015), number of companies which conduct shareholders' special benefit plans in 1992
was 247, has grown to 1,150, about 30% of entire Tokyo Stock Exchange listed companies of 3,600,
at the end of September, 2014 (see figure 1).
“A shareholders' special benefit plan” is non-taxable gifts, which give away “kabununi-yutai -ken,”
i.e., “the stockholders complimentary tickets.” The practice seems to be unique to Japanese
corporations, which give special treatment to shareholders when there are no dividends to distribute.
If the company is a manufacturer, it may actually give away its products or discounts on its products.
In the case of Japan Air Lines (JAL), shareholders received coupons that could be used for discounts
of up to 50 percent on air fares, tours, hotels and other JAL-related services (Brasor & Tsubuku,
2010).
Fig. 1.: Number of companies conduct shareholders' special benefit plans

Source: Daiwa Investor Relation 2015
The stockholders complimentary tickets system works like those of dividends. In order to receive
these tickets, shareholders have to be in the shareholder list of a certain day. The Oriental Land
group, the operator of Tokyo Disney Resort, for example, provides complimentary passports twice a
year to the Oriental Land stockholders whose names are listed on the registered and/or beneficial
stockholders' lists as of September 30 and March 31, in proportion to the number of stocks held. In
addition to the current stockholder benefit program, Oriental Land will distribute a complimentary
passport ticket for stockholders for Tokyo Disney Resort’s Anniversaries, held every five years
537
(OLC Group, 2015). The shareholders' special benefit plan seems to attract many individual
investors to the stock market.
impact of sales promotion at one of the worldwide recognized ice cream scoop shop have on the its
daily stock returns. The shop is one of the affiliates of a Japan-based company mainly engaged in
the operation of ice cream store chains, as well as the manufacture and sale of ice cream products.
The shop offers various kinds of ice cream, sherbet and specialty desert. In order to boost sales, the
shop holds several price related and seasonal promotions. The stock of the shop’s parent company
is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
The author applies an event study method to isolate the events and measure the abnormal returns of
this shop for 2011 and 2012 in terms of the shareholders' special benefit plan and sales campaign
activities.
The rest of the paper is organized as follows. Section 2 introduces previous research using the stock
price and dividend and previous research using event study, and the hypotheses are stated. Chapter 3
describes data. Chapter 4 presents the methodology. Chapter 5 presents the results of the event
studies. The results are discussed in Chapter 6.
2. Literature
How dividend policy decisions affect a firm’s stock price have been studies for many years by
scholars using data of the stock exchanges around the globe. Charest (1978) selected dividend
information from the 1947-67 period of the New York Stock Exchange, and analyzed the risk and
return behavior of common stocks around dividend changes. He found that stocks’ residuals after
dividend changes tend to be anomalous as if the Exchange was slow in digesting dividend
information.
Liu & Hu (2005) summarize literatures in dividend payment policy in China. Wei Chen et al (1999)
analyzes the dividend policy of Shanghai stock market and study the existence and character of the
signaling effect of dividend policy in this market. This study showed that the degree of Cumulative
Abnormal Return (CAR) was very different from different dividend policy. Wang’s result of 4,586
stocks listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchange for the period of 2006 to 2012 (2014)
indicates that dividend announcement depicts positive impact on stock return at the time of
announcement as well as immediately after such announcements. There was a positive reaction after
the dividend announcement; however, there was a significant negative relation between dividend
announcement and the stock return in cash dividend. Qiao et al (2001) found that there was
significantly positive statistical relationship between the dividends and mix dividend policies of firms
538
on the stock market. But their study showed that the market was not sensitive with cash dividends.
Kumar et al. (2012) found that not only do stock returns reflect the firm’s dividend data when
published but they also anticipate future dividend growth to some extent, based) calendar year from
January 2009 to December 2009. Patel and Prajapati (2014) find the empirical evidences of stock
dividend announcement on selected 20 companies of the Bombay Stock Exchange in India, and try
to investigate the existence of abnormal returns. Their sample data was drawn from companies listed
on the Bombay Stock Exchange that have announced dividend over the period of January 2008
through December 2011. They found that Abnormal Returns on event day during any period of
dividend announcement, whereas Cumulative Average Abnormal Returns has been found significant
on event period 57 times positive move, 49 times negative move and 64 times constant or near to
zero volatility.
As for “kabunushi yutai” in Japan, Nose (2015) hypothesizes that stock prices would increase toward
the date of allotment for “Kabunushi Yutai” by using data samples of 624 companies. His
empirical result shows that positive dairy abnormal returns (AR) are observed three months prior to
the event day, i.e., the allotment day for “kabunushi yutai.” AR and raw return (RR) at the right
allotment day (the event day) are negative and statistically significant; however only marginal share
drops are observed. Isagawa and Suzuki (2008) test liquidities and prices of 187 companies which
have introduced “kabunushi yutai” systems for the period of 1998 and 2005. Their empirical findings
include the liquidity ratio of those companies increased after the introduction of the system, since
they could attract more individual investors. As liquidity improves, their stock prices are increased as
well.
The author has formed two hypotheses based on the previous researches as follows;
Hypothesis 1: Kabunushi Yutai allotments are expected to generate a significant positive market
reaction.
Hypothesis 2: Sales campaigns are expected to be associated with a significantly positive share
market reaction.
3. Data
The actual sales data used in this study were obtained from an ice cream shop in a large shopping
mall located in Akita, a northern part of Japan, by the courtesy of a shop owner. This shop is one of
franchisees of the world’s largest chain of ice cream specialty shops. Ice cream and frozen desserts’
sales data available from this source included daily and hourly sales from January 2011 to December
2012. The sales data were primarily recorded at the checkout counter. Figure 2 shows sales by
month.
539
The shop offers seasonal events along with calendar events; January (New Year), February (St. St.
Valentine’s Day), March (Easter), October (Halloween), and December (Christmas). It also
announces the addition of a new flavor every month, e.g. Oreo Chocolate Mint in May. In April, the
shop’s parent company has been hosting a charitable event, and any customer, who contributes, can
receive a free scoop of ice cream.
Fig. 2.: Sales by Month
During the Golden Week, a collection of four national holidays within seven days in Japan, starts on
April 27 and lasts until May 9, the shop’s official campaign offers customers with a double scoop,
can order at more than 30 percent off the regular price. Their parent company launches nationwide
summer advertising campaign, using a popular young male idle group to attract teenagers in Japan.
The shop continuously offers various campaigns to boost sales; these events certainly help boosting
sales, not only for summer, but for cold winter season. Fig. 2 shows sales revenue by each month at
the shop, and Fig.3 shows sales revenue by each campaign during 2012. Table 1 shows a list of
major campaign periods for 2011 and 2012.
As for the shareholders' special benefit plan, the parent company provides complimentary coupons
that could be exchanged to their ice cream products twice a year to their stockholders whose names
are listed on the registered and/or beneficial stockholders' lists as of June 30 and December 31, in
proportion to the number of stocks held.
540
Fig. 3. : Sales Revenue by Different Campaign Events during 2012
Table 1: A List of Major Campaign Periods

2011 2012
Valentine's day campaign Jan.23-Feb.14 Jan.24-Feb.14
Easter campaign Mar.24-Apr.22 Mar.26-Apr.24
Triple campaign Jun.1-Jul.16 Jun.1-Jul.18
Snowman campaign Jul.21-Sep.9 Jul.23-Sep.4
Halloween campaign Sep.29-Oct.31 Oct. 1-Oct.31
Christmas campaign Nov.16-Dec.25 Nov.16-Dec.25
4. Methodology
4.1 Event Study
The event study methodology is the appropriate tool to investigate the relation among a right
allotment for “shareholders' special benefit,”sales campaigns, and a stock price reaction. Event
studies yield as an outcome abnormal returns (ARs), which are cumulated over time to cumulative
abnormal returns (CARs) and then averaged over several observations of identical events to averaged
abnormal returns (AARs) and cumulative averaged abnormal returns CAARs. These event study
results are then oftentimes used as dependent variables in regression analyses. Returns of day t-20 to
day t-20 were used to estimate the parameters of the market model, where the Tokyo Stock Price
Index (TOPIX) is a proxy of market index. Then a market model is estimated for each firm during
this period by regression firm-specific returns on TOPIX returns. The abnormal return of the i th
stock, is obtained by subtracting the normal or expected return in the absence of the event, from the
actual return in the event period. For any security i the market model equation is expressed as
follows:
Rit   i   i Rmt   it (1)
541
Determine Abnormal Return (AR) in event windows and post-event windows using the estimated
result of estimated market model as follows:
ARit  Rit  ( i   i Rmt ) (2)
where t=-t1,...,+tn,
CAR for the event period from is obtained as follows:
t2
CARi   ARik (3)
k t1
4.2 Testing for Significance

A test statistic is computed to check whether the average abnormal return for each stock is
statistically different from zero as follows.
AR
t  N (4)
SD AR
where SD AR is standard deviation, AR is average abnormal return, and N is the number of
companies.
5. Results
5.1 The Shareholders’ Special Benefit
First, average abnormal returns (AAR), cumulative average abnormal returns (CAAR) for the period
from 17 days before to 19 days after the event days (a right allotment day for the shareholders'
special benefit) of the end of June and the end of December, 2011 and 2012 are calculated (see fig. 6
~fig. 9). Just like the previous study (Nose, 2015), the stock price increased toward the date of
allotment for “the shareholders' special benefit” in order to capture it. Especially, in June, 2011, the
stock price was almost unchanged for an entire month except just before the last day when the
investor can obtain the right of allotment for the shareholders' special benefit (see fig. 8). AAR and
CAAR are popped up, which imply that investor bought shares in order to obtain the right.
5.1 The Effects of Campaigns Events

Next, average abnormal returns (AAR), cumulative average abnormal returns (CAAR) during
beginning and ending days of sales campaigns for 2011 and 2012 are calculated (see fig. 10~fig.15).
The event days are set for the actual event days, for example, if it is Valentine’s Day, the event day
would be February 14. AAR and CAAR are calculated in order to observe the stock movement for
particular sales promotional campaigns. As for the various sales campaigns, the stock price tends to
increase during the campaigns periods. However, AAR and CAAR are almost unchanged in
February, even before the St. Valentine’s Day (see fig.10). It is common for Japanese women to
give chocolates to men, not ice creams on Valentine's Day. The benign ice cream sales may affect
542
the stock price during the Valentine's Day campaigns. As far as other campaigns concerned, after
the triple campaign, AAR and CAAR drop and then become benign. After the Christmas day, AAR
and CAAR drop sharply and bounce back (see fig.15).
0.1 0.1
0.05
0 0
-19
-17
-15
-13
-11
1
3
5
7
9
13
-9
-7
-5
-3
-1
11
15
17
19
-0.05 -20 -17 -14 -11 -8 -5 -2 1 4 7 10 13 16 19
-0.1
-0.1
-0.15 -0.2
AAR CAAR AAR CAAR
Fig. 6.：The end of June, 2011 Kabunushi Yutai Day Fig. 7.：The end of December, 2011
Kabunushi Yutai Day
20
0.4
15
0.2
10
0
5
-17
-15
-13
-11
1
3
5
7
9
-9
-7
-5
-3
-1
13
11
15
17
19
-0.2
0
-5 -19 -16 -13 -10 -7 -4 -1 2 5 8 11 14 -0.4
AAR CAAR AAR CAAR
Fig. 8.：The end of June, 2012 Kabunushi Yutai Day Fig. 9.：The end of December, 2012
Kabunushi Yutai Day
0.2
3
0 2
-28 -24 -20 -16 -12 -8 -4 0 4 8 -14 -10 -6
1
-0.2
0
-0.4 -1 -14 -10 -6 -2 2 6 10 14 18 22 26 30
-2
-0.6
AR-2011 CAR-2011
AR-2011 CAR-2011 AR-2012 CAR-2012
AR-2012 CAR-2012
Fig. 10.：Valentine’s Day Campaign Fig. 11.：Easter Campaign
6. Conclusion
impact of sales promotion of the worldwide recognized ice cream scoop shop have on the its daily
stock returns. The empirical results suggest that the AAR and CAAR are increased toward the date
of allotment for “kabunushi yutai” in order to capture shareholders’ special benefit, which supports
the hypothesis 1. It implies that the shareholders’ special benefit successfully attract investors,
particularly individual ones.
543
1
4
0.5 2
0 0
22
-14
-11
-8
10
13
16
19
-5
-2
-8
-5
1
4
7
-10 -7 -4 -1 2 5 8 11 14 17 20
-0.5 -2
AR-2011 CAR-2011
AR-2011 CAR-2011
AR-2012 CAR-2012
AR-2012 CAR-2012
Fig. 12.： Triple Campaign Fig. 13.：Snowman Campaign

0.6
0.4
0.4
0.2
0.2 0
-15 -12 -9 -6 -3 0 3 6 9 12
0 -0.2
-21 -18 -15 -12 -9 -6 -3 0 3 6 9 -0.4
-0.2
AR-2011 CAR-2011 AR-2011 CAR-2011
AR-2012 CAR-2012 AR-2012 CAR-2012
Fig. 14.：Halloween Campaign Fig. 15.：Christmas Campaign
The mixed results are obtained for the hypothesis 2. Each sales campaign affects the stock price in
some extent. However, there are some campaigns do not have impact on the stock price. The ice
cream has a high seasonality, but that sales themselves are becoming more prevalent as a means of
promotion at the shop like this company tries to achieve. Managerially implication for a seasonally
uncertain retail environment; there should be a focus on objectives such as the movement of stock
and maintenance of traditional seasonal sales that consumers may have come to expect. To achieve
these objectives, retailers in highly seasonal industries should concentrate on carefully planning the
promotion, coordinating all media used in the most effective manner as a means of support for the
campaign.
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544
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545
ASMSS-2848
Do Firms Manage Tax Differently in Response to the Adoption of
International Financial Reporting Standards? Evidence from China
Agnes W. Y. LOa and Raymond M. K. WONGb,*
a
Department of Accountancy, Lingnan University, Tuen Mun, N.T., Hong Kong
b
Department of Accountancy, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
*Corresponding author: ac.raymond@cityu.edu.hk
Abstract
This study examines the influence of the adoption of International Financial Reporting
Standards (IFRS) on tax planning activities in China. Although prior research finds that firms
manage taxable income downward via discretionary accruals in response to a reduction in tax
rates, we argue that the adoption of IFRS (which allows taxable income to be deviated from
book income) provides room for firms to engage in different types of tax planning activities.
Our empirical findings support this argument and show that firms switch from managing
discretionary accruals to managing book-tax differences to defer their taxable income in the
post-IFRS period. Nevertheless, the overall tax shelter activities conducted by firms are not
significantly different in the pre- and post-IFRS periods. This study contributes to the debate
on the unintended consequences of IFRS adoption. Our findings suggest that IFRS adoption
would not increase the level of tax shelter activities. Instead, a decrease in the book-tax
conformity level after IFRS adoption would allow firms to report their true earnings without
tax considerations, thus enhancing the informativeness of reported earnings.
Keywords: IFRS adoption; tax planning; discretionary accruals; book-tax differences
JEL Classification: M41; H25
546
ASMSS-3007
Uniform Accounting System in Indian Universities
Uttam Kumar Das
Uttam Kumar Das, Finance Officer, Tripura University
fo@tripurauniv.in
Ministry of Human Resource Development, Govt. of India has introduced Uniform

Accounting System in all Central Universities. In order to ensure a true and correct picture of
the State of affairs, it is a mandate to follow Uniform Accounting System. All Educational
Institutions are followed a common format for presentation of their financial statements to
ensure proper accountability financial discipline in end use of fund and to meet the needs of
the stakeholders. The new System of Uniform Accounting has been introduced in all Central
educational institutions including all central Universities from the year 2013-14.
Indian Education Sector is one of the fastest developing and a primary sector of the country.
Now a days, the system is changing rapidly with private including foreign Universities
entering the field. In view of the rapid changing in education system in India, the
Government is taking various measures to improve the quality of education in India. To
ensure more accountability in financial resources, the Ministry of Human Resources has
recently introduced Uniform Accounting Standard for Educational institutions. In recent year
the Government is increasing financial aid to Educational Institutions particularly in the form
of concession and other factors, the accountability of the financial resources used by the
educational institutions are needed. A sound accounting & financial reporting frame work
act as an important ingredients for promoting accountability and for development of
education scenario.
To overcome the various limitation, the Ministry of Human Resource Development given
this responsibility to the Institute of Chartered Accountant of India (ICAI) to formulate a
common Accounting Standard for all Central Educational Institution.
The Institute of Chartered Accountant of India (ICAI) submitted the recommendation to the
Ministry for implementation a Uniform Accounting System. Accordingly the Controller &
Auditor General of India approved this recommendations with some modifications. The main
object of the accounting standards are:
i) Uniformity in presentation of financial statements,
ii) Transparency in financial information,
iii) Development of Accounting Manual,
iv) Promoting Disclosure,
v) Better utilization of scarce resources available with the institutions,
vi) Identification of new areas of revenue generation.
vii) Shifting from cash basis of accounting to accrual basis of accounting.
For preparation of Uniform Accounting in all Central Universities following are the Master
Chart:
1) Liabilities
2) Assets
3) Income
4) Expenditure
5) Identification of Vouchers
547
6) Adjustment of following during Bank Reconciliation
. Stale Cheques
. Dishonored Cheques
. Letters of Credit Payments
. Interest
. Bank Charges
. Unlinked Credits
. Unlinked Debits
7) Compilation of Asset Accounts
8) Setting-up of Inventory Accounts
9) Identifying Earmarked/Endowment funds
10) Listing of Investments (fund-wise)
11) Listing sponsored projects with opening balances
12) Separating Fellowships
13) Unutilized grants carried forward
14) Forwarding to the Actuary
15) Calculation of Interest income accrued and due/ accrued but not due
16) Calculation of Income accrued
17) Setting up Outstanding Liability for expenses, assets and civil works and accrued
income
18) Closure of all imprest accounts as on 31st March
19) Significant Accounting Policies
20) Ascertain claims/Liabilities
21) Capital Commitments
22) Annual Accounts
23) Separation
24) Identify and list
Government of India has set a target under 12 th plan to increase GER (Gross Enrolment
Ration) to 25% by 2016-17. In addition to that more fund is allocated for research and
development purpose. Now it is mandatory to know what is the actual effect of such research
to the society. In this back ground some specific information/heads and disclosure are being
included in the financial statement in each and every Educational Institutions. It is now
necessary to reflect in the financial statements whether any revenue is earning by the faculty
members as consultancy fee or as patent right or from development of any software.
Institute of Chartered Accountant of India (ICAI) said that the accounting standards should
enable stakeholders “to define transparently the revenue earned through various sources,
recognize segment, reporting of accounts, recognize costs and revenue separately for
programmes and for research and teaching activities; define relevant financial ratios, identify
if surpluses are being generated and the manner in which the surpluses are utilized or
invested; (and) disclose related party transaction”.
___________________________________________________________________________
Source : Implementation of Accounting Standards published by ICAI.
548
ASMSS-2861
The Relationship between Ownership Structure and the Quality of
Financial Reporting of Listed Firms in the Stock Exchange of Thailand:
The Empirical Evidence from Accounting Restatement Perspective
Pattaraporn Pongsaporamat
Naresuan University, Phitsanulok, Thailand
E-mail address: iam_nunn@hotmail.com
Abstract
This study investigates the relationship between ownership structure and the quality of
financial reporting of listed firms in the Stock Exchange of Thailand. Prior research in this
area mainly used quality of earnings or abnormal accruals to proxy for the quality of financial
reporting. Unlike prior research, this study employs firms’ accounting restatements to reveal
the poor quality of financial reporting. The characteristics of ownership structure in this study
consist of ownership concentration, institutional ownership, foreign ownership, government
ownership, family ownership and political connected firms. The results are consistent with
the hypothesis that the characteristics of ownership structure are associated with the quality
of financial reporting. The findings show that concentrated ownership firms and political
connected firms are positively associated with their accounting restatements. This indicates
that concentrated ownership firms and political connected firms have more tendency to
restate their financial statement, therefore they have low quality of financial reporting. On the
other hand, family ownership firms are negatively associated with their accounting
restatements which is consistent with Wang (2006) that founding family ownership is
significantly positively associated with the quality of financial reporting. Finally, the study
find no significant relation between firm characteristics and the quality of financial reporting.
Keywords: Ownership structure / Accounting Restatement / Quality of financial reporting /

Thailand
1. Introduction
At present, accounting information disclosed by companies is one of the most important
information sources for investors and analysts in evaluating a company (Breton and Taffler,
1995). The financial reporting’s user such as suppliers, regulators or investors requires the
accurate and reliable data for making their decisions. However, investors frequently focus on
the firms’ earnings rather than other information. As a result, management have the strong
incentive to manipulate their earnings in order to fulfill the investors’ need.
Association for Investment Management and Research (AIMR) found that a vast majority of
portfolio managers and securities analysts’ surveys indicated corporate disclosures and the
quality of financial reporting are very important. Robinson and Munter (2004) define high
quality of financial reporting as overall financial reporting, including disclosures, which
results in a fair presentation of a company’s operations and financial position. Prior literature
frequently employed the earnings quality or earnings management to proxy for the quality of
financial reporting because the principle concern of many users has been whether earnings
are overstated. However, this study use financial restatement to signal for the quality of the
financial reporting because when firms restated their financial reporting, the creditability of
those firms, which is the critical attributes of the financial reporting, has been substantially
impaired. Prior research indicates several factors that affect the quality of financial reporting
549
such as management opportunities, analysts forecast, and leverage requirements. One stream
of research argues that ownership structure is also the famous factors that affect the quality of
accounting data because there are different ownership structures in different firms. Different
ownership structures influences differently company performance, the degree and manner of
management control and so on (Namazi and Kermani, 2008). For example, Garcia-Meca
and Ballesta (2009) investigate the relationship between ownership structure and the quality
of earnings by using ownership concentration, institutional ownership, and managerial
ownership to measure ownership structure. Cornett, Marcus and Tehranian (2008) use
institutional and managerial ownership to measure ownership structure.
In order to investigates the relationship between ownership structure and the quality of
financial reporting of listed firms in Thailand. This study employs firm’s accounting
restatements to measure the quality of financial reporting. The ownership structure in this
study consist of ownership concentration, institutional ownership, foreign ownership,
government ownership, family ownership and political connected firms. The empirical results
are consistent with the hypotheses. The results show that concentrated ownership firms and
political connected firms are positively associated with their accounting restatements. This
indicates that concentrated ownership firms and political connected firms have more
tendency to restate their financial statement, therefore they have low quality of financial
reporting. On the other hand, family ownership firms are negatively associated with their
accounting restatements, which is consistent with the alignment effect that family ownership
creates greater monitoring by controlling owners.
2. Literature Review And Hypotheses

Prior literature provides mixed results on the relationship between the ownership structure
and the quality of financial reporting. Prabowo and Angkoso (2006) suggest that financial
statements are one main device to reduce the agency problem. Although there are other
mechanisms such as efficient market for corporate control, governmental regulation, efficient
job market for managers and managerial stock ownership program. Thus, the entrenchment
effect and the alignment effect of ownership structure are employed to explain those mixed
results.
2.1 Ownership concentration and the quality of financial reporting

Prior research indicate two alternative effects of ownership concentration on the quality of
financial reporting: alignment and entrenchment. According to the alignment impact, the
quality of financial reporting in ownership concentrated firms are likely to increase because
ownership concentrated firms provides sufficient incentive to larger shareholders to monitor
management (Ramsey and Blair, 1993). Ownership concentration may cause positive changes
in firm by increasing control, but other mechanism may act reversely. Shipper (1989) shows
that ownership concentration cause management behavior improvement in respect to low
quality of reporting. In addition, Stiglitz (1985) suggests that concentrated ownership might
inversely influence the value of firm, given the capacity of larger shareholders to exploit their
dominant position at the cost of minority stockholders. Wang (2006) investigates the
association between the presence of concentrated owners and the incidence of fraud. The
study finds that high ownership concentration is linked with a higher likelihood of fraud and
a tendency to commit fraud. Moreover, Lui and Lu (2007) find a positive and significant
association between the level of ownership concentration and earnings management
practices. Therefore, the concentrated ownership reduces the quality of financial reporting.
Because of the listed firms in The Stock Exchange of Thailand generally have the controlling
shareholders. The concentrated ownership can imply the concentration of shares in the hands
550
of a few shareholders, making the entrenchment hypothesis is even more relevant. Thus, the
prediction about the relationship between ownership concentration and firms’ accounting
restatement is as follow:
H1: the ownership concentration is positively associated with the probability of firms’
accounting restatement.
2.2 Institutional ownership and the quality of financial reporting

The studies on the institutional ownership effects on the quality of financial reporting reveal
the mixed results. Chung, Firth, and Kim (2002) find the inverse relationship between
financial reporting quality and institutional ownership. Their result supports the efficient
monitoring hypothesis that institutional investors can have abilities and resources to monitor
managers effectively in comparison to individual investors. In addition, Velury and Jenkins
(2006) examine the quality of reporting proxy by the earnings quality in the conceptual
framework of FASB. The result shows the positive relation between the institutional
ownership and earnings quality
On the other hand, some research demonstrate the negative relationship between institutional
ownership and financial reporting quality. In this view, the institutional investors are
short-term oriented. Balsam, Bartov, and Marquardt (2000) believe that institutional owners
are professional investors who have long-term focus. They also state that institutional
investors are more able to manage firms’ accounting data than non-institutional investors,
because they have access to the relevant and timely information. In addition, Roodposhti and
Chashmi (2011) find a significant positive relationship between earnings management and
institutional ownership for the sample firms in Iran. According to the mixed results, it is
ambiguous from prior literature how the institutional ownership affects the quality of
financial reporting. However, this study hypothesize that institutional investors can have
abilities and resources to monitor managers effectively and can prohibit managers from
manipulate the accounting data. Therefore, the prediction about the relationship between
institutional ownership and firms’ accounting restatement is as follow:
H2: the institutional ownership is negatively associated with the probability of firms’
2.3 Foreign ownership and the quality of financial reporting

Foreign ownership is found to improve corporate governance. Firms in developed economy
countries perform better governance than firms in developing economy countries (LaPorta
et.al 1999). Therefore, foreign investors, especially from the developed economies, bring
better standard of corporate governance from their countries on average to force their
invested Thai firms to comply with it. Gillan and Starks (2003) argue that foreign investors
play a central role in prompting change in many corporate governance systems through either
direct monitoring by using their voting right to influence management decisions or indirect
monitors by threatening to sell their shares. As mention above, the prediction about the
relationship between foreign ownership and firms’ accounting restatement is as follow:
H3: the foreign ownership is negatively associated with the probability of firms’ accounting
restatement.
2.4 Government ownership and the quality of financial reporting

Government enterprises tends to emphasis political objectives rather than economics
efficiency and have failed to confront the emerging competition from private enterprises
(Naughton, 1995). Moreover, Shleifer (1998) documents that government enterprises is
frequently show the corporate inefficiency due to the factors such as bureaucratic
551
interference, conflicting objectives, and weak managerial incentives. The investigation of the
effect of government ownership on the quality of financial reporting is controversial topics.
Wang and Yung (2011) claim that there is less evidence and it is not clear whether business
manager in government ownership firms would behave in the same way as their counterparts
in private companies regarding financial reporting. However, several studies on Chinese
state-owned enterprises suggest that government ownership is associated with earnings
management in the form of related parties transactions (Chen and Yuan, 2004; Liu and Lu,
2003). In addition, Shleifer and Vishny (1989) also suggest that managers in government
ownership firms are more likely to mask firm performance and limit information disclosure
for the benefit of controlling parties. According to prior research and agency theory mention
above, the prediction about the relationship between government ownership and firms’
accounting restatement stated is as follow:
H4: the government ownership is positively associated with the probability of firms’
2.5 Family ownership and the quality of financial reporting

Family ownership could affect the quality of financial reporting in one of two competing
ways; the entrenchment effect and the alignment effect. The entrenchment effect is consistent
with the traditional view that family firms are less efficient because ownership concentration
creates incentives for managers to expropriate wealth from outside shareholders (Shleifer and
Vishny, 1997). Fan and Wong (2002) argue that family ownership limits accounting
information flows to outside investors. As a results, family members have the incentive and
opportunity to manipulate accounting data for private rents. Contrary, the alignment effect
argues that family ownership creates greater monitoring by controlling owners. Demsetz and
Lehn (1985) suggest that family ownership might monitor firms more effectively because of
their long-term and sustainable presence in the firm, and the intention to preserve the family
name. Accordingly, the alignment effect predicts that family firms are less likely to engage in
opportunistic behavior in reporting financial statement. There are many research which
consistent with the alignment effect. For example, Ali, Chen, and Radhakrishnan (2007)
suggest that family firms have higher earnings quality than non-family firms, although family
firms disclosed the less information compared to non-family ones. In addition, Wang (2006)
suggests that founding family ownership is significantly associated with lower abnormal
accruals, greater earnings informativeness, and less persistence of transitory loss component
in earnings, after controlling for potential bias from time-series correlation, executive
compensation, and nonfamily blockholder ownership. According to the alignment effect, the
prediction about the relationship between family ownership and firms’ accounting
restatement is as follow:
H5: the family ownership is negatively associated with the probability of firms’ accounting
restatement.
2.6 Political connected firms and the quality of financial reporting

Facio (2006) examine how the quality of the accounting information reported by publicly
traded firms is affected by the existence of political connections. They use the definition and
measure of the political connected company and use the standard deviation of firm’s
discretionary accruals as a proxy of earnings quality. They find that the political connected
firms provide lower quality of accounting earnings than do their non-connected peers. As
mention above, the prediction about the relationship between the political connected firms
and firms’ accounting restatement is as follow:
H6: the political connected firms are positively associated with the probability of firms’
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3. Research Design
3.1 Sample
The sample used in this study consists of all non-financial Thai listed firms in SET index in
year 2011. From the samples, incomplete or missing data firms and rehabilitation firms were
removed. The data regarding accounting restatement are hand collected from SET Market
Analysis and Reporting Tool (SETSMART) database and SET Information Center.
Financial-firms are exclude due to the difference and more restricted regulations. The data for
the ownership structure and firms characteristics are obtained from the company’s annual
report submitted annually to the Stock Exchange of Thailand. The company’s annual report
provides ownership data that includes the top 10 shareholders in the firm. It also provides a
list of a firm’s affiliated companies and the shareholdings. Finally, this study collects
accounting data from consolidated financial statements instead of separated financial
statements because the consolidated financial statements represent the results of overall
activities of firms, which include firm and their subsidiaries, not only the activities of one
single firm as shown in separated financial statements.
3.2 Model for Testing Hypotheses

To test whether ownership structures are associated with the accounting restatement, the
dummy variable of restatement is regressed on the ownership structure variables and control
variables. The following model are used for hypothesis testing.
RESTATE i   0  1CONCENTi   2 INSTITUTEi   3 FOREIGN i   4 GOVERN i
  5 FAMILYi   6 POLITIC   7 SIZEi   8 LEVi   i
4. EMPIRICAL RESULT
Table 1, presents the descriptive statistics of dependent and independent variables used in this
study. The variables consist of CONCENT (the percentage of share held by shareholder who
owning 5% or more of firm's shares), INSTITUTE (the percentage of firm's share held by
institute investors), FOREIGN (the percentage of firm's share held by foreign investors),
GOVERN (the percentage of firm's share held by government or state owner), FAMILY (the
percentage of firm's share held by a singer shareholder or member of his or her family by
either blood or, marriage), SIZE (the natural logarithm of firm’s total assets), LEV (total
debts to total assets of firm), RESTATE (an indicator variable with the value of “1” if firm
has financial reporting restatement in year 2011, “0” if firm does not have financial
reporting restatement), and POLITIC (an indicator variable with the value of “1” if one of
firm's family member is a member of parliament or a minister).
Table 1, Panel A reports the descriptive statistics of independent variables which are
continuous variables. The average of ownership concentration is 55.57% with the maximum
of 97.81% which indicates that listed firms in The Stock Exchange of Thailand generally
have the controlling shareholders. The average percentage of shares held by the institute
investors, foreign investors, and government are 12.91%, 11.96%, and 1.91%, respectively.
The percentage of family shareholders in Thai listed firms is 33.00% on average with the
maximum percentage of 99.64%. The high percentage of family shareholders is consistent
with Wiwattanakantang (2001) that firms more than 80 percent of Thai listed firms have the
controlling shareholders and most of them are controlled by
family.
553
Table 1: Descriptive Statistics
Panel A: Continuous Variables
Variable Minimum Maximum Mean S.D.
CONCENT 0.00 97.81 55.57 19.69
INSTITUTE 0.00 85.00 12.91 14.73
FOREIGN 0.00 94.02 11.96 17.73
GOVERN 0.00 77.28 1.91 9.42
FAMILY 0.00 99.64 33.00 24.38
SIZE 16.54 27.97 22.11 1.58
LEV .000 2.07 0.48 0.28
Panel B: Nominal Variables
Variable 1 % 0 %
RESTATE 113 29.2 274 70.8
POLITIC 166 42.9 221 57.1
Table 1, Panel B reports the descriptive statistics of RESTATE and POLITIC variables which
are nominal variables. The results show 113 firms (26.2%) have restate their financial
statements while 274 firms (70.8%) have not. In addition, the result also shows 166 firms
(42.9%) have political connections in year 2011.
The regression of the financial reporting restatement on firms’ ownership structure and firms’
characteristics are performed and shown in Table 2. The pseudo R2 is equal 16.7%. The
model shows that ownership concentration (CONCENT) is positively significantly related to
financial reporting restatement (RESTATE). This result supports hypothesis 1 that the
ownership concentration is positively associated with the probability of firms’ accounting
restatement. The finding is consistent with the entrenchment hypothesis that the concentrated
ownership reduces the quality of financial reporting. Therefore, concentrated ownership firms
have a tendency to manipulate accounting data and to commit fraud (Wang, 2006). Moreover,
this result is consistent with Fan and Wong (2002) which indicates that concentrated
ownership and associated pyramidal and cross-holding structures are negatively associated
with the quality of accounting information in seven East Asian countries, including Thailand.
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Table 2: Regression of the financial restatement and ownership structure
Expected Parameter
Sig.
sign estimates
Intercept -0.571 0.767
Ownership structure variables:
CONCENT + 0.031 0.000 ***
INSTITUTE - 0.002 0.823
FOREIGN - 0.001 0.876
GOVERN + 0.001 0.920
FAMILY - -0.011 0.047 **
POLITIC + 0.966 0.000 ***
Control variables:
SIZE +/- -0.111 0.204
LEV +/- 0.369 0.407
Pseudo R-square 0.167
N=387
Note: ***, **, and * represent significance at the 1%, 5% and 10%, respectively.
The regression being estimated is
RESTATEi   0  1CONCENT i   2 INSTITUTEi   3 FOREIGNi   4 GOVERN i
  5 FAMILYi   6 POLITIC   7 SIZEi   8 LEVi   i
Where;
RESTATE = an indicator variable with the value of “1” if firm has financial restatement in year
2011, “0” if firm does not have financial restatement in year 2011.
CONCENT = the percentage of share held by shareholder who owning 5% or more of firm's share
in year 2011.
INSTITUTE = the percentage of firm's share held by institute investors in 2011.
FOREIGN = the percentage of firm's share held by foreign investors in 2011.
GOVERN = the percentage of firm's share held by government or state owner in year 2011.
FAMILY = the percentage of firm's share held by a singer shareholder or member of his or her
family by either blood or, marriage in year 2011.
POLITIC = an indicator variable with the value of “1” if one of firm's family member is a
member of parliament or a minister during the year 2011, “0” if not.
SIZE = natural logarithm of firm’s total assets in year 2011.
LEV = total debts to total assets of firm in year 2011.
In addition, the results in Table 2 also show that political connection (POLITIC) is
significantly related to financial reporting restatement (RESTATE). The coefficient of
POLITIC is significantly positive at 1%, thus hypothesis 6 is supported. This result indicates
that the political connected firms have low quality of financial reporting since they have more
probability to restate their financial reporting. These association is consistent with Chaney,
Faccio, and Parsley (2007) that the political connected firms provide lower quality of
accounting earnings than do their non-connected peers.
Contrary, family ownership (FAMILY) is negatively significantly related to financial

reporting restatement (RESTATE). The regression result is also shown in Table 2. The
negative association between family ownership and financial reporting restatement is
consistent with predicted sign in hypothesis 5. According to the prior research, family
ownership could affect the quality of financial reporting in one of two competing ways; the
entrenchment effect and the alignment effect. The result of this study supports the alignment
effect that family ownership creates greater monitoring by controlling owners and less likely
to engage in opportunistic behavior in reporting accounting data (Demsetz and Lehn, 1985).
555
The intuition behind this relation is the intention of family owner to preserve their family
name and to maintain their sustainable benefits.
Furthermore, the regression results are not support hypothesis 2, 3, and 4. The institute
ownership (INSTITUTE), foreign ownership (FOREIGN), and government ownership
(GOVERN) are not significantly associated with the financial reporting restatement.
Moreover, the INSTITUTE and FOREIGN have positive relations with financial reporting
restatement, which contrary with predicted sign. The positive relation means that when
institute owner and foreign owners are increased, the quality of financial reporting of such
firms are decreased. However, the coefficient of GOVERN is consistent with predicted sign
that means firms with government ownership have a tendency to restate their financial
reporting.
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ASMSS-3054
Revisiting the Causal Nexus between Medical Care Expenditures and
Economic Growth in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan: 1990-2013
Chia-I Pan
Feng Chia University
Email: joy52222@gmail.com
Yu Wei Chang
New York Chiropractic College
Yu Yu Chang
La Sierra University
Abstract
This study applies Granger Causality test based on Toda & Yamamoto (1995) approach to
investigate the causal link between medical care expenditures and economic growth for
Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan over 1992 to 2013. Empirical results indicate that medical
care expenditure-growth nexus hold for South Korea. However, for Japan this relationship
holds true only when the ratio of 65 years population over total population serve as a control
variable. On the other hand, we find growth-medical care expenditure nexus when we do not
take into account the 65 elder population ratios into our model. Furthermore, we find no
relationship between the medical care expenditures and economic growth in Taiwan.
Keyword: Medical Care Expenditure, GDP, National Health Insurance , The ratio of 65
years population over total population
I. Preface
Since the publication of a survey of 13 developed countries titled “Medical-care Expenditure:
A Cross-national Survey” in The Journal of Human Resources by Newhouse (1977), research
on the relationship between cross-national medical care expenditure and economic growth
has begun. Medical care expenditure has been viewed as a constituent variable of economic
growth. This argument is based on the theory that medical care expenditure is considered a
human capital investment (Grossman, 1972), and human capital is an important factor
influencing the rate of economic growth. Scholars who support this growth theory include
Lucas (1988), Barro (1996), and Lopez Casasnovas et al. (2005). With respect to health and
economic growth, the survey results and policy recommendations clearly indicate that human
capital affects economic growth. Dormont et al. (2008) also support the ability to anticipate
each country’s economic growth from its medical care expenditures. In recent decades,
there have also been numerous empirical studies of the reverse phenomenon, i.e., the ability
of economic growth to affect medical care expenditure (Smith et al., 2009). Sghari and
Hammami (2013) confirm that in most developed countries, the causality between economic
growth and medical care expenditure is bidirectional.
According to data released by the World Health Organization (WHO), despite large
differences in the countries’ medical care expenditures, they are all confronted by two issues:
a continued increase in medical care expenditures and an increase in the proportion of
medical care expenditure as part of gross domestic product (GDP). Today, many countries’
economies are slowly recovering after a financial crisis. With limited resource allocation,
will medical care expenditure crowd out capital investment in non-medical industries, and
558
thus affect the economic growth of each country, or will recessionary economic growth
hamper medical care expenditures? The causality between these issues is the main topic of
this paper. Bloom et al. (2010) show an association between age structure and economic
growth, pointing out that Asia is transforming from having a high proportion of youth to a
high proportion of elderly people. The reasons for this demographic shift are a decline in
the total fertility rate and prolonged life expectancy. An extended life span contributes to an
increase in the savings rate, so Asia’s aging population does not significantly impede
economic growth. However, Aísa and Pueyo (2004) believe that prolonged life expectancy
in advanced nations may not stimulate economic growth because advanced nations already
have more advanced medical technology and a longer life expectancy. Further life
expectancy extensions may require relatively high public medical care expenditures, which
supplants governments’ capital investment in non-medical care expenditures, thus hindering
economic growth.
To clarify the causality between economic growth and medical care expenditures, this paper
cites three East Asian countries whose health care systems have features that distinguish them:
Japan, which has the world’s highest elderly population ratio; South Korea, which has the
world’s highest medical-care-expenditure growth rate; and Taiwan, which has not only the
world’s highest negative growth in birth rate but also the world’s highest satisfaction level
and coverage rate with respect to the implementation of its national health insurance program.
GDP is used as the substitution variable for economic growth, and the percentage of the
population aged 65 and above (inclusive) is added as a control variable when comparing the
causality between economic growth and medical care expenditure in Japan, South Korea, and
Taiwan. This paper makes two major contributions. First, it is the first study to explore
whether bootstrap causality exists between medical care expenditure and economic growth in
three East Asian countries, focusing on each country’s background, medical treatment system,
and government policies for an explanation. Second, the concrete evidence, especially that
which is obtained by adding the ratio of the elderly population, render the results more
consistent with reality, giving the conclusions more explanatory power.
II. Literature Review

Research on the relationship between economic growth and medical care expenditure
includes a study by Sghari and Hammami (2013) on the causality between real per capita
medical care expenditure and per capita income in developed countries. Using per capita
GDP as the substitution variable for income, that study finds that most countries support
Granger’s bidirectional causality. Amiri and Venteloub (2012) and Chen et al. (2014)
support this view. Erdil and Yetkiner (2009) explain in greater detail that in addition to a
bidirectional Granger causality, when only a unidirectional Granger causality exists between
each country’s real per capita GDP and its real per capita medical care expenditures, then the
data are heterogeneous in nature. They also indicated that low- and middle-income
countries typically exhibit unidirectional causality from GDP to medical care expenditures,
but the unidirectional causality in high-income countries is from medical care expenditures to
GDP. Mehrara and Musai (2011) study countries in the Organization of Petroleum
Exporting Countries (OPEC). The results include significant causality of income from
petroleum and economic growth on medical care expenditure, but medical care expenditure
had no significant effect at all on GDP. In summary, the aforementioned studies show that
national income and income attributes will affect the causality of economic growth on
medical care expenditure.
559
Häkkinen et al. (2008) study welfare in the Northern European country of Finland to
determine whether income and population aging have a significant effect on medical care
expenditures. They note that although medical care expenditures increase with age, the
relationship is not significant. In addition, they do not find any significant positive correlation
between income and medical care expenditures, emphasizing that even in the welfare state of
Finland, medical care expenditures are more strongly affected by medical treatment policy
than by an aging population. Some scholars believe that a nation’s policy and system are also
factors that influence medical care expenditures. For example, White (2007) studies the real
growth rate of per capita medical treatment expenditures in the United States and finds it to
be significantly higher than in other high-income countries in the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development (OECD) because of systemic factors specific to the United
States. Hagist and Kotlikoff (2005) make the same argument. They study the growth rates
in the medical care expenditures of 10 OECD countries and find that the rate of growth in
each country’s medical care expenditures greatly exceeds its GDP growth rate. The increase
in each OECD country’s medical care expenditures is caused by those countries’ different
characteristics. One aspect of the increase is caused by changes in population structure;
another is caused by increases in welfare levels. This indicates that because of each country’s
different characteristics, the relationship between medical care expenditure and economic
growth varies, an observation that emphasizes the significant influence of population
structure. Herwartz and Theilen (2003) show that the national characteristics and different
medical care systems of each country have become increasingly important for explaining the
dynamic role of medical treatment. To summarize, the economic classifications of the
aforementioned national characteristics include economic policy and income level, whereas
the medical classifications include a country’s medical system and its medical insurance
system. There are also other factors, such as welfare levels, the structure of population
distribution, etc., all of which will affect the causality between economic growth and medical
care expenditure.
Population-structure studies include that of Tamakoshi and Hamorib (2015), who use data
from 47 countries and conclude that in Japan, the elderly population ratio has a significant,
positive effect on medical care expenditures. Bloom et al. (2010) note that the transformation
in the proportions of the Asian population is caused by the decline in the total fertility rate
and increased life expectancy. The economic results of population aging depend upon
economic behavior by people of all ages. The three Asian countries in this study are each
confronted with different population aging conditions. Japan is has the largest elderly
population in the world. In 2013, the percentage of the elderly population reached 25.06%.
Japan also has the fastest growth rate among countries with elderly population ratios of more
than 20%. Although the proportion of South Korea’s population that is elderly has not
become a serious issue yet, in the last 20 years, the rate of its population’s aging has outpaced
Japan’s 3%, with an annual average growth rate of 4%. In 2013, Taiwan had the lowest
fertility rate in the world. Therefore, this study incorporates the ratio of the elderly population
as a control variable.
III. Research Methodology

An important issue for analyzing time series causality is the need to consider the possible
existence of cross-sectional interdependence and homogeneity across countries. This is
because the high degree of globalization and rapid international information and financial
transfer make countries very sensitive, resulting in very strong reactions to economic shocks
in other countries. Therefore, prior to causality testing, preliminary analysis on the time series
data must be performed. Namely, it is necessary to determine cross-sectional interdependence
560
and homogeneity across the data. This paper will list four types of test
results—CD𝐵𝑃 , CD𝐿𝑀 , CD, and LM𝑎𝑑𝑗 —in the empirical process.This paper will also list three
types of homogeneity test results—S̃, ∆̃, and ∆̃𝑎𝑑𝑗 —in the empirical process. This paper uses
the bootstrap panel causality approach proposed by Konya (2006) to study whether there is
causality between each country’s medical care expenditures and economic growth.
Consequently, Toda and Yamamoto (1995) propose a revised version of the Granger
causality test: the Granger non-causality method. This approach uses finite order time-series
data to create a vector auto regression model (VAR).
The bootstrap causality method uses seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) to manage the
problem of cross-sectional interdependence in the time series data. It uses Wald tests for
causality to solve for each country’s critical value by using the bootstrap method to target
heterogeneity in national characteristics.
If the concrete evidence demands three variables, then the model can expand to a
three-variable model. The simultaneous equations are as shown below (3 − 2):
𝑙𝑦1 𝑙𝑥1 𝑙𝑧1
𝑦1,𝑡 = 𝑎1,1 + ∑ 𝜃1,1,𝑖 𝑦1,𝑡−𝑖 + ∑ 𝜔1,1,𝑖 𝑥1,𝑡−𝑖 + ∑ φ1,1,𝑖 𝑧1,𝑡−𝑖 + 𝑐1,1,𝑡

𝑖=1 𝑖=1 𝑖=1
⋮
𝑦𝑁,𝑡 = 𝑎1,𝑁 + ∑ 𝜃1,𝑁,𝑖 𝑦𝑁,𝑡−𝑖 + ∑ 𝜔1,𝑁,𝑖 𝑥𝑁,𝑡−𝑖 + ∑ φ1,𝑁,𝑖 𝑧𝑁,𝑡−𝑖 + 𝑐1,𝑁,𝑡

𝑖=1 𝑖=1 𝑖=1
The simultaneous estimation equations for the three-variable model in the other direction are
as follows:
𝑥1,𝑡 = 𝑎2,1 + ∑ 𝜃2,1,𝑖 𝑦1,𝑡−𝑖 + ∑ 𝜔2,1,𝑖 𝑥1,𝑡−𝑖 + ∑ φ2,1,𝑖 𝑧1,𝑡−𝑖 + 𝑐2,1,𝑡

𝑖=1 𝑖=1 𝑖=1
⋮
𝑥𝑁,𝑡 = 𝑎2,𝑁 + ∑ 𝜃2,𝑁,𝑖 𝑦𝑁,𝑡−𝑖 + ∑ 𝜔2,𝑁,𝑖 𝑥𝑁,𝑡−𝑖 + ∑ φ2,𝑁,𝑖 𝑧𝑁,𝑡−𝑖 + 𝑐2,𝑁,𝑡

𝑖=1 𝑖=1 𝑖=1
Wherein 𝑖 = 1,2, ⋯ 𝑁 𝑡 = 1,2, ⋯ 𝑇 (3 − 2)
The three-variable model has one more term than the two-variable model. The first group
∑𝑙𝑦
𝑖=1 φ1,𝑁,𝑖 𝑧𝑁,𝑡−𝑖 represents all Granger effects of Nth country’s variable 𝑧 on 𝑦 at time 𝑡.
1
In the same way, the term 𝑙 represents the length of the lag period, and φ1,𝑁,𝑖 ≠ 0
represents the effect of Nth country’s variable 𝑍 on y in lag period 𝑖, and is used to
represent the error term in the first group of Nth country’s variable 𝑧 on 𝑦 in a Granger
effect situation. The setup of the three-variable model only discusses the direct impact in
Granger causality but overlooks the indirect effect of each variable.
IV. Empirical Results
Table 4-1
Statistical Results of Cross-sectional Interdependence and Slope Homogeneity Tests
Between Each Country’s Medical Care Expenditure and GDP
Adding in Elderly Population Ratio
Research Method Test Name Prior to Adding Control Variable
as Control Variable
561
Probability P Probability P
Statistical Value Statistical Value
Value Value
Breusch & Pagan (1980) CDBP 98.8192 0 117.2583 0
Pesaran (2004) CDLM 61.8334 0 63.9754 0
Pesaran (2004) CD 58.7172 0 59.4862 0
Pesaran & Yamagata (2008) LMadj 88.8192 0 30.7140 0
Swamy (1970) S_tilde 112.7529 0 163.5241 0
Swamy (2008) Delta_tilde 17.1037 0 16.4405 0
Swamy (2008) Delta_tilde_adj 18.3416 0 18.0885 0
Table 4-2
Results of the Bootstrap Causality Test on the Effect of Medical Care Expenditure on Economic
Growth
Prior to Adding the Ratio of the 65 and Over (Inclusive) Population Added the Ratio of the 65 and Over (Inclusive) Population Occupying
Occupying the Total Population as Control Variable the Total Population as Control Variable
Bootstrap Bootstrap Bootstrap Bootstrap Bootstrap

Bootstrap
Causality Causality Causality Causality Causality
Causality
Wald Test 90% 95% 99% 90% 95% 99%

Value Relationship Relationship Relationship Wald Test Value Relationship Relationship Relationship
Critical Critical Critical Critical

Critical Value
Value Value Critical Value Value Value
Taiwan 43.80304 62.90408 131.60175 Taiwan 48.0943

48.1444 0.71682 36.3074 106.94885
Japan 8.94971 65.05878 116.88355 Japan ＊ 33.28629 51.15289

46.1998 32.9482 113.49455
South South
＊ 52.17181 73.27412 124.82062 74.36137
Korea 46.3980 Korea 1.46488 50.7380 110.50317
Note: ＊Represents 10% Significance Standard
Table 4-3
Results of the Bootstrap Causality Test on the Effect of Economic Growth on Medical Care
Expenditure
Prior to Adding the Ratio of the 65 and Over (Inclusive) Population Added the Ratio of the 65 and Over (Inclusive) Population Occupying
Occupying the Total Population as Control Variable the Total Population as Control Variable
Wald Test Bootstrap Bootstrap Bootstrap Wald Test Bootstrap Bootstrap Bootstrap
Value Causality Causality Causality Value Causality Causality Causality
90% 95% 99% 90% 95% 99%

Relationship Relationship Relationship Relationship Relationship Relationship
Critical Value Critical Value Critical Value Critical Value Critical Value Critical Value
Taiwan 38.93298 55.38693 72.06233 139.47578 Taiwan 4.62826 44.98854 65.04295 201.59721
Japan ＊47.21183 44.53984 64.45123 131.63338 Japan 31.63244 43.06053 63.36459 111.77367
South South
56.60168 58.83247 86.03384 149.65106 6.58336 47.1015 75.16328 162.49811
Korea Korea
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Note: ＊Represents 10% Significance Standard
By observing the data in the appendix, one can see that the average amount of Taiwan’s
medical care expenditures is not quite half of South Korea’s and 5.2% of Japan’s. Taiwan’s
medical care expenditure amount is clearly on the low side. The annual average growth rate
of South Korea’s during twenty two years medical care expenditures is as high as 10.7%, but
Japan’s and Taiwan’s medical care expenditures are only about half of South Korea’s at
approximately 4.2% and 5.7%, respectively. The ratio of South Korea’s medical care
expenditures occupying GDP from 1992 to 2006 lagged behind Taiwan’s; however, since
2007, the ratio of South Korea’s medical care expenditures occupying GDP has exceeded that
of Taiwan. From 2007 to 2013, Taiwan’s medical care expenditures accounted for an
annual average of 4.7% of GDP, but South Korea’s medical care expenditures accounted for
an annual average of 7.6% of GDP for seven years. South Korea’s medical care expenditure
as a fraction of GDP has clearly grown substantially. Using 2012 and 2013 as examples, the
ratio of Taiwan’s medical care expenditures occupying GDP lagged behind South Korea’s by
1.0-1.1%.
South Korea and Taiwan are the countries with lower annual averages in the ratio of the 65
and over (inclusive) population, at 8.4% and 9.2%, respectively. Since South Korea’s
experience of the 1997 Asian financial crisis, which led to a temporary reduction in the
amount of medical care expenditures in 1998, the amount of its medical care expenditure rose
continuously for nine years until South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak, representing a
conservative party, made small reductions in the amount of medical care expenditures during
his first two years in office. Taiwan should be quite fearful of making inadequate financial
preparations for national health insurance, having implemented total medical expenditure
regulations to strictly control the amount of medical care expenditures regardless of economic
prosperity or recession. Taiwan has not decreased its medical care expenditures since 2001.
Medical care expenditures are consistent with government-established control policies, which
is the reason that Taiwan’s medical care expenditure growth rate has extremely small
fluctuations. Since 2005, Japan’s elderly population ratio has exceeded 20%. By 2013,
Japan’s elderly population was as large as 25.1%. The growth of Japan’s elderly population
has been both rapid and steep. In the 20 years of Japan’s lost economy, the country
continued to increase the proportion of medical care expenditures occupying GDP and
allowed the amount of its medical care expenditures to continue to expand. The reason is
Japan’s severe problem of an aging population. The economic and social problems generated
by an aging population are Japan’s greatest trial. Comparing Taiwan and South Korea again,
one can see that although Taiwan’s 9.2% elderly population is 0.8% more than South Korea’s
8.4%, South Korea’s elderly population growth rate of 4.0% is faster than Taiwan’s elderly
population growth rate of 2.5% by nearly 1.5%; it is even faster than Japan’s elderly
population growth rate of 3.2%.
V. Conclusion
The South Korean government’s strategy was to maintain the best ratio for all of the medical
care expenditure items. However, the substantial increase in the growth rate of medical care
expenditures and the increase in the amounts of all of the medical care expenditure items
caused South Korea’s medical care expenditure growth rate and its ratio of self-pay medical
care spending to total medical care expenditures to be the highest in the world. Under an
all-out effort by the South Korean government policy to act in concert with civilians in the
medical industry, South Korea achieved economic growth that was stimulated by increases in
medical care expenditures.
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Japan’s grimmest 21st-century challenge is the aging of its population: one in four Japanese is
over the age of 65. Japan is already developed: it was Asia’s first industrialized country.
People in the over-65 population are postponing retirement. The workplace has a large
number of veterans with high savings rates and productivity, which explains how economic
growth can significantly affect medical care expenditures. However, when the control
variable for the effect of the elderly population is added, economic growth is shown to not
have a significant effect on medical care expenditures. Furthermore, Japan’s aging population
can also explain not only Japanese society’s great ability to spend on the elderly population
that is in need of medical care but also how to support the unidirectional, significant Granger
causality from medical care expenditures to economic growth. In addition to the aging
population issue, Japan and South Korea’s medical insurance policies are at odds. South
Korea’s self-pay medical care ratio is high, whereas Japan’s public medical expenditure ratio
is high. During the study period, the Japanese government’s public medical care expenditures
accounted for an annual average of 80.9% of total medical care expenditures. Confronted by
the two decades of a lost economy, Japan’s government needed to provide for a high ratio of
public medical care expenditures. This shows the effect created by government increases and
reductions in medical care expenditures when a government is confronted by both economic
prosperity and recession.
Taiwan has implemented national health insurance, a system with the highest level of public
satisfaction in the world that has a good reputation as the world’s model for health insurance.
The core value embodied in Taiwan’s health insurance is universal coverage, which not only
protects the public’s right to fair medical treatment but also alleviates the social problem of
poverty caused by illness. Taiwan’s system is government-run, but employers assume a
higher proportion of financial responsibility to truly achieve universal use and affordability.
Therefore, when the Taiwanese government was creating the national health insurance
system and policy, it primarily considered social insurance. To control the financial risk of
medical expenditures, the Taiwan Government implemented a medical Global Budget
System to strictly control the growth of medical care expenditures. In addition,
second-generation national health insurance was implemented to create new sources of
revenue. Therefore, the nonexistence of significant causality between Taiwan’s medical
care expenditure and economic growth is an inevitable result.
Reference
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growth for a longer life?. Economics Bulletin, 9(3), 1-10.
Bloom, D. E., Canning, D., Hu, L., Liu, Y., Mahal, A., & Yip, W. (2010). The contribution of
population health and demographic change to economic growth in China and India.
Journal of Comparative Economics, 38(1), 17-33.
Erdil, E., & Yetkiner, I. H. (2009). The Granger-causality between health care expenditure
and output: a panel data approach. Applied Economics, 41(4), 511-518.
Hagist, C., & Kotlikoff, L. (2005). Who's going Broke? Comparing growth in healthcare
costs in ten OECD Countries (No. w11833). National Bureau of Economic Research.
Häkkinen, U., Martikainen, P., Noro, A., Nihtilä, E., & Peltola, M. (2008). Aging, health
expenditure, proximity to death, and income in Finland. Health Economics, Policy and
Law, 3(02), 165-195.
Herwartz, H., & Theilen, B. (2003). The determinants of health care expenditure: testing
pooling restrictions in small samples. Health Economics, 12(2), 113-124.
Konya, L. (2006). Exports and growth: Granger causality analysis on OECD countries with a
panel data approach. Economic Modelling, 23(6), 978-992.
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Pesaran, M. H. (2006). Estimation and inference in large heterogeneous panels with a
multifactor error structure. Econometrica, 74(4), 967-1012.
Sghari, M. B. A., & Hammami, S. (2013). Relationship between health expenditure and GDP
in developed countries. IOSR Journal of Pharmacy, 3(4), 41-45.
Toda, H. Y., & Yamamoto, T. (1995). Statistical inference in vector autoregressions with
possibly integrated processes. Journal of econometrics, 66(1), 225-250.
White, C. (2007). Health care spending growth: how different is the United States from the
rest of the OECD?. Health Affairs, 26(1), 154-161.
Tamakoshi, T., & Hamori, S. (2015). Health-care expenditure, GDP and share of the elderly
in Japan: a panel cointegration analysis. Applied Economics Letters, 22(9), 725-729.
565
Education (4) / Society (2)
Room A, 2F
2015/8/27 Thursday 16:30-18:00
Session Chair: Prof. Ester, S.M. Leung
ISLLLE-1219
Empowering Research Subjects to Become Researchers: A Case Study of Medical
Interpreters in Hong Kong
Ester, S.M. Leung︱Hong Kong Baptist University
ISLLLE-1214
Designing Comprehensive Environmental Education in Elementary Schools Using
Existing Materials on Main Subjects
Run Tian︱Tokyo Institute of Technology
Tadaharu Ishikawa︱Tokyo Institute of Technology
ISLLLE-1211
The Challenges of Facilitating Students Investment in EFL Learning through
Multimodal Composing
Lianjiang Jiang︱The University of Hong Kong
ISLLLE-1256
Higher Degree Research (HDR) Supervisor Development: A Focus on Research
Literacies
Terry Royce︱University of Technology, Sydney
566
ISLLLE-1219
Empowering Research Subjects to Become Researchers: A Case Study of
Medical Interpreters in Hong Kong
Ester, S.M. Leung
Associate Professor, Translation Programme, Hong Kong Baptist University
Email address: engester@hkbu.edu.hk
The underpinning principle of participatory action research (PAR) approach is to involve the
stakeholders to participate in the research process as researchers so that they can 'make a
difference' to the issues they are concerned of, rather than being simply the
'subjects-understudied' of a research project. PAR was particularly chosen for my project
entitled, "Community Interpreting in Hong Kong" which aims at improving the medical
interpreting services provided to the ethnic minorities in Hong Kong. By employing PAR as
an approach and principle for this project, it allows the participation of the interpreting
services users, providers as well as the interpreters themselves in researching how
interpreting services have been organised and put into better practices. Results of the research
project include a set of code of practices, and training material developed based on
information volunteered by the interpreter-trainees and the service users. Also, an association
is co-founded by the researcher and the interpreters, to advocate for professional and ethical
interpreting services as well as to provide training opportunities to interpreters to help
professionalize the interpreting services in the public services sector in Hong Kong.
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ISLLLE-1214
Designing Comprehensive Environmental Education in Elementary
Schools Using Existing Materials on Main Subjects
Run Tian
Department of Environmental Science and Technology, Tokyo Institute of Technology,
Yokohama, Japan
Email: tian.r.aa@m.titech.ac.jp
Tadaharu Ishikawa
Department of Environmental Science and Technology, Tokyo Institute of Technology,
Yokohama, Japan
Email: riversky@depe.titech.ac.jp
Abstract
The importance of interdisciplinary environmental education (EE) in elementary school is
recognized worldwide, but a practical approach for such instruction has not been established.
Especially in China, The interdisciplinary approach is difficult to implement because of the
separation of subjects under the professional teaching system. The present study proposes an
implicit EE program that does not require plenty of extra hours, materials, and teachers, as it
will relate the environment-related articles appearing in the current textbooks of major
subjects. The idea was tested by analyzing one set of textbooks used in an elementary school
in China. Case studies on the scenario of “domestic wastes” and the composite scenario of
“animals and food” are presented in this paper, and the feasibility of the concept is discussed.
The analysis showed that exercises for calculation training in the form of story problems in
Mathematics are useful in leading children to deepen their interest in and understanding of
the environmental issues they learn in Social Studies and Science. Further, the stories in
Language will have the same function of EE if environmental issues are given deeper
consideration in the process of composing the textbooks.
Key word: environmental education; elementary school; cross-subject; implicit program.
Introduction
The term “environmental education” (EE) appeared around 1970, and its importance became
recognized worldwide through the Beograd Conference in 1975 and Tbilisi Conference in
1977 [1]. EE aims to develop in students the internal capacity, such as respect toward and
concern for the environment, as well as practical ability to solve associated problems by
nurturing social commitment with scientific knowledge, technological application, and
logical explanation. Elementary school education plays a basic role in EE, especially with
respect to internal development [2].
Germany, one of the leading nations in EE, began the evaluation of EE programs and
teaching materials for elementary school children in 1980 based on three criteria, namely,
local concentration (lokale konzentration), interdisciplinary approach (interdisziplinarität),
and hands-on orientation (handlungs orientierung) [3]. These criteria are currently adopted in
EE guidelines in many countries. Among them, the interdisciplinary approach (i.e., EE
coverage in many subjects) is often regarded as the most important to build up the overall
capacity of students, as frequent discussion from different angles would deepen children’s
interest [4].
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In practice, however, the interdisciplinary EE program has not been properly organized
owing to the many requirements for each subject regulated by national criteria. In the case of
Japan, the EE guideline lists environment-related topics from each subject, but the links
among them are left to teachers to address, without any suggestions for integration [5]. In the
case of China, the target of this study, the interdisciplinary approach is more difficult to
implement because of the requirements of the professional teaching system in elementary
school; a professional teacher takes charge of one subject, which is different from other
countries where one teacher (usually the homeroom teacher) teaches all of the main subjects.
The current study presents a scheme for comprehensive education in elementary school that
could accommodate interdisciplinary EE under the present Chinese system. In the proposed
type of EE, environment-related topics in the existing textbooks of school subjects are used to
construct a number of scenarios, and then interfaces among the originally independent topics
are designed under specific scenarios. The concept was tested by analyzing one set of
textbooks used in an elementary school in China. Case studies on the scenario of “domestic
wastes” and the composite scenario of “animals and food” are presented, and the feasibility
of the concept is discussed.
Study Framework
Background
The guideline on elementary school education in China provides 24 school hours for EE in
six years of education (90 minutes per semester on average), which is less than 79 school
hours as the actual results in Japan [7]. According to a survey by Yao in 2008 [8], however,
only 60% of schools in city areas and 6% in rural areas satisfied the above criterion. Liu [9]
reported three reasons for the low rates: teachers’ indifference to EE, lack of a practical EE
program, and lack of professional EE teachers.
However, the underlying practical condition seems more complicated. The professional
teaching system enhances the independence of one subject, and each teacher is occupied with
efforts to motivate children to achieve high marks for them to succeed in the competitive
examination for excellent junior high schools. As a result, schools assign many hours to
major subjects, which are important for the examination. EE is not provided with enough
hours for teachers to design a program or plan a series of classes on environmental scenarios,
except for specially assigned schools (Green schools). Further, positions for professional EE
teachers are limited. In addition, the chance of supplemental EE by NGOs is less developed
in China compared with other countries.
The authors do not intend to criticize the above system but consider a possible form of EE
befitting the current system, given that reforms to the present educational system focusing on
EE will cause friction at many sides. The basic idea of this study is to form an “implicit EE
program” by connecting the environment-related topics contained in the existing textbooks of
school subjects. The program will not need plenty of extra hours, materials, and teachers if
the teachers of existing subjects are interested in environmental issues.
Outline of comprehensive EE
From the viewpoint of program topics, Social Studies and Science are the closest to EE:
Social Studies cover topics on environmental issues in daily life, whereas Science includes
those on the anthropogenic changes in natural environment. Meanwhile, Language and
Mathematics are not directly related to EE. However, textbooks for Language contain a
variety of stories introducing the linguistic rules and new characters at each stage of
children’s growth, in which environmental issues can be mentioned. Textbooks for
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Mathematics prepare exercises for children to master their calculation skills; exercises can be
related to EE, such as story problems. If the stories and exercises are well connected with the
environment-related topics in Social Studies and Science through a number of scenarios, the
implicit EE program will lead children to the essential ideas for environmental consciousness.
The EE guideline in Japan classifies the items of EE to four categories [10]: (1) wastes and
resources, (2) nature and life, (3) energy and global warming, and (4) Earth-friendly society.
In this study, several sample scenarios were created based on this classification. This work
shows a scenario on “domestic wastes” from #1 and a composite scenario of “animals” and
“food” from #2. The textbooks adopted by the elementary school attached to the Northeast
Normal University were used for the investigation. The textbooks have different publishers
but are common for each subject (Table 1). All of the textbooks are provided for 12 grades
from 1A to 6B. In addition, the published textbooks follow the official composition following
the education guideline for each subject. Textbook selection by schools generally depends on
the convenience for teaching.
Table 1. Textbooks used in this study

Subject Publisher
Social Studies Beijing Normal University Press
Science Educational Science Publishing House
Language Changchun Press
Mathematics Beijing Normal University Press
Case Studies
“Domestic wastes” scenario
Table 2 shows the units that contain topics related to “domestic wastes.” The topics appear
about once a year on average. The three topics in Social Studies and Science (2, 3, and 7) are
the main issues in the units, discussions on which will include environmental problems.
However, the four topics in Language and Mathematics (1, 4, 5, and 6) are sample stories and
example exercises, and teachers may not use them to raise children’s awareness of the
environment. Each material is summarized as follows:
Table 2. Units containing topics related to domestic wastes

Grade Social Studies Science Language Mathematics
1A (1) Classification
1B (2) Waste can be utilized
2A (3) I love my hometown
3A (4) Oceans
4B (5) Beautiful future
5B (6) Fraction calculation
6B (7) The environment
(1) In the unit “Classification” in Mathematics 1A, many examples for classification familiar
to children are presented; furniture, stationery, fruits and vegetables, drinks, and wastes (Fig.
1). From the figure of garbage boxes, teachers can lead children to consider which waste is
for incineration or recycling, and which waste “is not waste” but can be reused. From the
examples of fruits and vegetables, they can consider that peels and cores may be eaten
through certain methods of cooking. From the examples of drinks, the future of containers,
such as cans, plastic bottles, and cartons, can be discussed. Short quizzes for 10 to 15 minutes
(a quarter of one school hour) will help the class consider about the practical meanings of
classification in relation to waste problems.
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(a) Fruits, vegetables, and drinks (b) Wastes
Fig. 1. Illustrations for classification examples (Mathematics 1A)
(2) Pages on “Waste can be used” in Social Studies 1B introduce many examples of
handicraft made from used cans, cardboards, foam, polystyrene, and other materials (Fig. 2a).
Although these pieces will not last long and may return to being waste, children will learn
that the definition of wastes is not unique; waste materials may be reused. If the teachers of
Social Studies lead the children to remember the “classification” in Mathematics in the
previous semester by communicating with the teacher of Mathematics, then the children can
grasp the general ideas of EE across the two subjects.
(3) In the unit “I love my hometown” in Social Studies 2A, a number of illustrations show
wastes being thrown on the streets and children discussing with the teacher ways for keeping
their town clean and beautiful (Fig. 2b). Their ideas for improving the town environment are
also illustrated on the next page. The lesson demonstrates the extension of the waste problem
from the home to the town, and the Social Studies teacher can explain the connection.
(a) Creating handicrafts using used materials (b) Ideas to keep towns clean
Fig. 2. Solid wastes (Social Studies 1B and 2A)
(4) The unit “Oceans” in Language 3A introduces poetic articles on the beauty and mystery
of the oceans, accompanied by illustrations of various aquatic lives and resources (Fig. 3a).
The unit is not related to wastes. Interestingly, the illustration shown in Fig. 3b is inserted in
the unit “The age of electronics,” which comes before “Oceans” and presents the negative
impacts of modern civilization. The illustration implies the disposal of waste to oceans. The
waste problem is thus expanded to the ocean. If the Language teacher shares the topics of
waste disposal problems with the Social Studies teachers, then the former could comment on
ocean pollution.
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(a) Ecosystems in the ocean (b) Pollution of the ocean
Fig. 3. Oceans (Language 3A)
(5) The unit “Beautiful future” in Language 4A starts from the story of “a little blue skirt”
written by an American: A girl was awarded the first prize for contributing to the class, and
she was given a blue skirt. In seeing the beautiful skirt, her mother felt proud of her daughter,
but at the same time, she considered the girl’s shirt as well as hands and legs to be too dirty.
She washed the girl and changed her shirt. Then, she felt that their home was too dirty for the
cleaned girl to live in. They cleaned their home. The father was glad to see the cleaned home
and his beautiful girl when he came home in the evening, and he thought he should clean the
garden and the entire house the next morning. Upon seeing their beautiful house, the
neighbors thought they must clean their own houses and streets. As a result, the entire town
became beautiful. If the Language teacher shares the idea of environmental conservation, he
will lead the children to remember what they learned in Social Studies 2A. In this way,
Language can contribute to EE if the textbooks provide the stories that satisfy not only the
requirement of Language learning but also promote ideas on the environment.
(a) Girl and her reward (b) Discussions

Fig. 4. The blue skirt story (Language 4A)
(6) At the end of the unit “Fraction calculation” in Mathematics 5B, many exercises are
prepared in the form of story problems. Figure 5 shows an exercise with the topic “recycling
used paper.” The importance of recycling is written in the first sentence, and information on
the amount of used paper and recycling ratio is given in the text of calculation conditions. In
their calculation, children will know that the amount of used paper is huge. A careful teacher
would indicate that the present recycling ratio in China (1/10) is much smaller than the world
average (1/2). In this way, Mathematics can contribute to EE by taking the topics related to
environmental problems in story problem exercises.
Fig. 5. Story type exercises on waste problem (Mathematics 5B)
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(7) A quarter of Science 6B is devoted to environment issues; the problem of waste disposal
is the largest topic. The volume of garbage produced in Beijing is shown at first (Fig. 6a),
then the treatment methods and their merits and demerits are explained (Fig. 6b), and the
importance of “collection of garbage by type” (Figs. 6c and d), which appeared in the unit
“Classification” in Mathematics 1A (Fig. 1b), is emphasized in the last part. This recurrence
was not plotted by the publishers, given that the two textbooks have different publishers
(Table 1).
(a) Garbage dumping (b) Merits and demerits of landfill
(d) Garbage collection boxes

(c) Collection of garbage by type
Fig. 6. Illustrations in the unit on waste problems
“Animals” and “Food” composite scenario

An important factor in EE is “human dilemma.” People enjoy the urban life in modern
society, which offers convenient traffic, a variety of appliances, and plenty of delicious food,
but not the hazards caused by them, such as air and water pollution, destruction of nature, and
global climate change. Human beings must find the point of compromise through
comprehensive and balanced consideration. The contradiction between “Value of lives” and
“Food from lives” was taken as an example for teaching and discussing the human dilemma.
Table 3 lists the articles on “animals” and “food” indicated by the symbols A and F,
respectively. To save space, only those articles important for the scenario composition are
described.
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Table 3. Articles on “Animals” (A) and “Food” (F)
Article A-2 (Animals are our friends) in Social Studies 2B asks children which animal they
like the best and the reason for their choice, expecting that they become friendly to other
creatures. The next section A-3 (Wildlife protection) indicates that many wild creatures are
endangered and then emphasizes the need to protect them using many illustrations and
pictures. This topic is adopted for the exercise in the unit “Addition and subtraction” (A-4) in
Mathematics 2B, where a girl’s comment “The better the environment is, the more wildlife
species increase!” is added (Fig. 7a). It is the rare case that a Mathematics textbook expresses
a value judgement corresponding to that in Social Studies. This coordination across subjects
may have been plotted by the publisher, as both textbooks were published by one company.
Three articles on wildlife in Language (A-5, A-6, and A-10) appeal that animals and birds
have families (parents and children) as do humans, using poems and stories. The expected
outcome is to encourage the children’s sympathy toward other creatures, regardless of the
differences in species of animals and style of expressions.
(a) Mathematics textbook 2B (b) Language textbook 3A

Fig. 7. Illustrations on protection of wildlife
In contrast to the psychological appeal in Social Studies and Language, Science describes the
facts on human and animal lives. A-9 in Science 5A introduces the idea of food chains
showing the relation among typical animals: Birds eat caterpillars before butterflies, snakes
eat eggs before birds, and hawks eat snakes. Then, a question is put forth on the results of
anthropogenic changes to grassland with consideration for three factors: grassland, rabbits,
and hawks. The teacher expects the answer “With the reduction of grasslands, the number of
rabbits must decrease owing to the decrease of their food supply, and with the decrease in
number of rabbits, hawks will decrease in number because they cannot kill and eat enough
rabbits.” The lesson clearly shows that animals are not friends among themselves; they kill
and eat one another to survive. The Science teacher, who may not be aware of the articles that
the children read in Language, will say that these facts are scientific. However, how can the
children find the point of compromise between them? Who can help them find the answer in
the present professional education system?
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Fig. 8. A part of a food chain (Science 5A)
Topics on “food” appear six times in total, as shown in Table 3. Pages of F-3 in the Science
4B textbook (before the article A-9 on the food chain) provide information on human foods in
daily life, and a research is recommended to classify the foods from animals or plants as well
as cooked or fresh (Fig. 9). The dish in the picture contains types of meat. If the teacher
encourages the children to remember this part when they study the food chain, then the
children will realize that humans are also involved in the food chain to survive. The lesson
will give them a deeper understanding of the relation between humans and animals compared
with the idea “We are friends” provided in their Language class.
Fig. 9. Research subject in Science 4B
Meanwhile, F-2 in Social Studies 2A introduces the production process of crops and
vegetable. The unit expects children to understand that food is produced through the effort of
a large number of farmers, and therefore, people must appreciate them and should not waste
food. At this point, valid questions include “How wide is the total farmland in China? How
are farmlands created?” The textbook does not refer to these points, but children will easily
notice that the land was grassland and forest, where a variety of animals inhabited. One
reason for not wasting food is that farmlands were developed at the cost of wildlife. The
realization will lead children to consider the meaning of the article on wildlife protection
(A-3) in Social Studies 2B.
Other articles on food, namely, F-4 in Mathematics 5B, F-5 in Social Studies 6A and F-6 in
Language 6A, emphasize the importance of not wasting food, which may be attributed to the
eating habits in China, especially in urban areas. Indeed, the environmental damage due to
massive food production using excess chemical fertilizers and agrochemicals, as well as the
impoverishment and population outflow of farm villages, is growing in severity in China [11].
The circumstances may be too difficult for elementary school children to grasp, but
suggestions will be useful as introduction to studies in junior high school and higher
education programs, given that this issue is one of the major national problems for
sustainable development.
The last unit of Science “The environment” summarizes the environment-related topics that
the children learned in Science for the last six years. The last page of the unit appeals for the
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need to protect endangered wildlife species, and introduces the construction of natural
reserves in China. The unit is concluded with the line “Give your opinions for preserving the
environment” (Fig. 10). It is not easy to find solutions only in the domain of science.
However, if the students can synthesize what they learned in other subjects, they could come
up with various answers, including those for the food problem. The scenario sharing in the
implicit EE program among teachers will increase this possibility.
Fig. 10. The parting words in the last unit in Science
Discussion
Table 4 shows the standard time allocation in elementary and junior high school, and the
percentage of minimum credit requirement in high school in China [12]. Content-unclear
subjects are eliminated. In elementary school, the hours for Language and Mathematics stand
out, whereas those for Social Studies and Science, which are the most environment-related
subjects, are less than the hours for even Gymnastics and Arts. By contrast, the percentages
of hours for Social Studies and Science increase in high school, with consideration for the
children’s growth stage. Thus, Language and Mathematics should be utilized for EE in
elementary school through the proposed implicit program.
Table 4. Standard time allocation in elementary, junior high and high school (%)
School Sociology Language Math Science English Gym. Arts
Elementary 7 to9 20 to 22 13 to 15 7 to 9 6 to 8 10 to 11 9 to 10
Junior high 11 to 13 20 to 22 13 to 15 7 to 9 6 to 8 10 to 11 9 to 10
High school 17.2 8.6 8.6 15.5 8.6 9.5 12.1
Three stories listed in the column of Language in Table 3 (A-5, A-6, and A-10), other than the
story on the blue skirt ((5), Table.2), expect the children to consider other creatures from a
sentimental view. This was a common tone and pattern in the other stories relating to
different aspects of the environment (water, resources, etc.) in Language study. Although
Language study has the important theme of developing humanity, more practical stories to
prompt actions for improving the environment, similar to the blue skirt story, should be
included.
Meanwhile, Mathematics exercises contain a variety of story problems. Table 5 lists the
topics used for calculation training. The meaning of each environmental issue is also
explained briefly in the story problems. Choosing topics for calculation training offers
freedom, and if the topics are linked to the items in Social Studies and Science in the same
semester, then the children’s interest toward environmental issues will be deepened, as shown
by the example in Fig. 5, where protection of wildlife is encouraged.
576
Table 5. Topics of story problems for calculation training in Mathematics
The Social Studies and Mathematics textbooks analyzed in this study were published by one
company. The four topics in the Mathematics exercises marked with double asterisks in Table
5 have counterparts in lessons in Social Studies. The publisher may have considered the
linkage of contents across subjects. Thus, encouraging publishers to design linkages among
textbooks with environment-related topics will enhance the implicit EE program, and it may
raise the teachers’ consciousness toward the environmental problems they discuss.
Conclusion
This study proposed an implicit EE program, which facilitates interdisciplinary EE under the
current elementary school education system in China. The implicit program does not need
plenty of extra hours, materials, and teachers, as it connects the environment-related articles
appearing in the textbooks of major subjects.
The case study on a set of textbooks showed that the design of several scenarios for the
implicit program is possible through teamwork among the teachers, and that exercises for
calculation training in the form of story problems in Mathematics lead children to deepen
their interest in and understanding of the environmental issues they learn in Social Studies
and Science. Further, the stories in Language will have the same function as EE if publishers
consider environmental issues more in the process of composing the textbooks.
References
[1] Robert, L. C. and Simmons, B., The history and Philosophy of Environmental Education,
The Inclusion of Environmental Education in Science Teacher Education, 2010, pp,3-16.
[2] Ishikawa, T. and Hosoi, S., Environmental education at primary school and estimation
of its results –A case study in Siogama city-, Environmental systems research, 1994,
Vol.22, pp.323-332.
[3] Nguyen T. T., Improving environmental education in primary schools in Vietnam,
Doctoral degree of Waseda University, 2002, pp54-55.
[4] Sajima, T and Nakayami, K., Environmental Education of the world, pp33-34.
[5] Science Council of Japan., Proposal: Promotion of Environmental Education focused on
school teaching, pp4-6.
[6] Research Institute for School Education., The current situation of education in foreign
countries, 2006.
[7] Saitama Prefectural Education Center., The implementation of education for sustainable
development in elementary and junior high schools, Research Report, 2012, Vol.359,
pp.22-23.
[8] Yao, W., Situation and improvement of primary school Environmental Education in
Tongling area, China educational Technology and Equipment, 2008,Vol. 11, pp71-72.
577
[9] Liu, G., The perspective and rational thinking of Environmental Education in primary
school, Educational Science Research, 2011, Vol. 14, pp115-116.
[10] Ministry of the Environment of Japan., Environmental education applied in classrooms,
Accessed Feb 10, 2015 https://www.eeel.go.jp/env/nerai/index.html.
[11] Hua, X. and Jiang, X., The pesticide pollution and control countermeasures in China,
Environmental Science Research, 2003, Vol.03, pp40-43.
[12] Ministry of Education of China., The experimental program for compulsory education
curriculum, 2001.
578
ISLLLE-1211
The Challenges of Facilitating Students Investment in EFL Learning
through Multimodal Composing
1
Lianjiang Jiang,
English language education, The University of Hong Kong, HKSAR, China
E-mail: jianglianjiang@gmail.com
Abstract
A growing concern for English language teachers working in digitalized instruction
environments is students' reluctance to invest in English learning (Ushioda, 2013). Given that
multimodal composing, i.e. the production of multimodal texts that combine semiotic
resources such as words and images, is becoming commonplace for English learners,
theorists of multiliteracies and social semiotics have called for its importing into language
classrooms to engage students with English learning. Yet little research has investigated the
challenges of doing so, especially in EFL classrooms. The present report is concerned with
the pedagogic tensions perceived by five college English teachers and twenty-two focal
students in Mainland China when they participated in a year-long collaborative action
research that engaged students with video production of various genres and topics. Based on
a thematic analysis of the data gathered through observations, interviews, informal exchanges
and written reflections, the report discusses findings that reveal ideological struggles
experienced by both teachers and students over the specification of time, space and text when
multimodal composing was integrated into the pedagogic discourse of their traditional EFL
curriculum. These findings call for attention to the impacts of high-stakes testing culture and
a linguistic view of literacy on multimodal curricular innovation in L2 classrooms and to how
the tensions could be gradually resolved.
579
ISLLLE-1256
Higher Degree Research (HDR) Supervisor Development: A Focus on
Research Literacies
Terry Royce
Graduate Research School, University of Technology, Sydney (UTS)
City Campus, 15 Broadway, Ultimo, Sydney, Australia 2007
Phone: (02) 9514 2485
Email: terry.royce@uts.edu.au
Abstract
At the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) doctoral supervisors, in order to maintain their
supervisory status, are required to participate in at least three out of a program of ten modules
in a Supervisor Development Program run by the Graduate Research School. This program is
offered to teaching and research staff who come from all the diverse faculty areas at UTS.
One of the module offerings in the program deals with the research literacies relevant to the
supervisor-supervisee relationship in its early stages: Research Questions & Beginning
Writing. A core focus of this module is on the early stages of working with doctoral students
and the practicalities of their doctoral investigations and writing (another module deals with
the final stages). In particular, it looks at formulating research questions/problems, initial
research processes and beginning writing, all of which need to be contextualised within the
supervisee’s specific discipline/field of practice. The module also foregrounds practical
methods for supervisors to use to help students get started on their writing, and how to give
guidance and effective feedback on the work that students do. This paper discusses the
module’s aims, its activities, its evaluation, and presents a sampling of the practical strategies
used.
580
Poster Sessions–August 26
Poster Session (4)
Management / Culture /Education /Finance / Psychology / Society /
Language / Linguistics/Literature
Room D, 2F
2015/8/26Wednesday 14:20-15:20
ASMSS-2919
The Relationship between Differential Leadership and Team Performance: The
Mediating Effect of Group Cohesion
Yu-Chuan Tung︱National Kaohsiung University of Applied Sciences
Wen-Hsin Chang︱Yuan Hospital
Yi-Ping Lin︱National Kaohsiung Marine University
ASMSS-2908
A Study of the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights on the Cultural and Creative
Products in Taiwan
Chien-Cheng Yen︱Ming Chuan University
Nan Su︱Yunlin University of Science and Technology
Wan-Li Wei︱Ming Chuan University
ASMSS-2920
The Relationships of Relationship Governance, Trust, and Relationship Learning in
Marketing Channels: The Evolution of Relationship Life Cycle Perspective
Yi-Ping Lin︱National Kaohsiung Marine University
Yu-Chuan Tung︱National Kaohsiung University of Applied Sciences
ASMSS-2986
Reimagining Creative Marketing under Global Perspectives in Higher Education
Ching-Jung Hsieh︱WuFeng University
ASMSS-2982
A Study on the Product Design Thinking under the Background of Big Data
Jiang Chao︱Chung Yuan Christian University
Sheng-Wen Wang︱Chung Yuan Christian University
Chen-Hui Gao︱Ningbo University of Technology
ASMSS-2946
Customer-To-Customer Interaction, Post-Encounter Mood, Trust and Customer
Satisfaction: The Example of Military Simulation
Fang-Yi Su︱National Kaohsiung University of Applied Sciences
Shu-Kuan Hsu︱National Kaohsiung University of Applied Sciences
581
ASMSS-3000
A Study of Integration Chinese and Western Medicine: An Ontology-Based Perspective
Kwoting Fang︱National Yunlin University of Science and Technology
ASMSS-3016
Friends or Non-Friends? How Do WOM Senders' Relation Backfire Message
Persuasiveness
Yu-Jen Chen︱Lingnan University
Amna Kirmani︱University of Maryland
ASMSS-2945
Exploring Antecedents of Knowledge Contribution on ISD Teams: Social Exchange and
Transactive Memory Perspective
Sheng Wu︱Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology
ASMSS-3032
Study for the Discussion of Fence Landscape Design in Southern Taiwan’s Fishing Port
Areas
Ning-Chen Hsu︱Chung Yuan Christian University
ASMSS-2997
An Early Evaluation of the Challenges and Prospects Faced by Taiwan’s Traditional
Crafts Industry in the Maker Movement
Chi-Wen Chuang︱Chung Yuan Christian University
ASMSS-2885
The Relationship between Sleep Habits and Behavioral Problems in Taiwanese
Preschoolers Aged 3 to 6 years
Ming-Jae Lo︱National Taichung University
582
ISLLLE-1265
The Development and Application of Mobile Curriculum for Learning Aboriginal
Language
Shu-Ling Huang︱National Chi Nan University
Jian-Hung Chen︱National Chi Nan University
Jian-Jing Li︱National Chi Nan University
Li-Juan Chen︱National Chi Nan University
ISLLLE-1263
An Evaluative Study on DNA-Based Biotechnology Labs in Improving the High School
Students Learning of Molecular Biology Concepts
Su-Ling Hwang︱National Chung Hsing University
Yang-Tsung Chung︱National Chung Hsing University
ASMSS-3017
The Competency Model of ERP Engineer
Ling-Hsiu Chen︱Chaoyang University of Technology
Chiao-An Wang︱Chaoyang University of Tecnology
Chen-Yang Shih︱National Taiwan Normal University
ASMSS-2928
The Effect of Ownership Structure on Bank Performance and Risk during the
2007-2008 Financial Crisis
Hsiu-I Ting︱National Taipei University of Technology
Vincent F. Yu︱National Taiwan University of Science and Technology
Ming-Chun Wang︱National Kaohsiung First University of Science and Technology
Yi-Ling Chen︱National University of Kaohsiung
ASMSS-2898
Comparison of the Social Security of the Old Aged in Global Aging Trend- An Example
of the Cross-Straits between Taiwan and China
Chiu-Lan Ssu︱Mackay Junior College of Medicine, Nursing, and Management
Hao-Feng Chang︱Chung Hua University
ASMSS-2999
Exploring the Manipulations of Interactive Infographics
Sheng-Wen Wang︱Chung Yuan Christian University
Tzu-Fan Hsu︱Chung Yuan Christian University
583
ASMSS-3027
Application of Digital Street Furniture Design in Multicultural History ─A Case Study
of Zhongshan North Road
Yung-chin Tsao︱Tatung University
Chong-Xian Shen︱Tatung University
Wei-Ren Lin︱Tatung University
ASMSS-2998
Methods of Applying Color Planning in Brand Visualization –
A Case Study of the Restaurant Aubergine
Chang-Ching Tsai︱Chung Yuan Christian University
Wen-Tsong Huang︱Chung Yuan Christian University
ASMSS-2802
How Message Sidedness in Health Claims Influences Consumers’ Evaluation
Hung-Chou Lin︱National Taiwan Normal University
Sheng-Hsien Lee︱Yu Da University of Science and Technology
ISLLLE-1221
Facilitating English Language Learner’s Argumentative Wrinting in a
Computer-Supported Collaborative Writing Environment
Hsiu-Ting Hung︱National Kaohsiung First University of Science and Technology
ISLLLE-1260
Acquisition of Cantonese Sounds by Hong Kong Pre-School Children - A Replication
Study
Manwa Lawrence Ng︱University of Hong Kong
Sze-Wan Ngai︱Yan Oi Tong
Eric Tik Sang Tong︱University of Hong Kong
ISLLLE-1233
Stylistics across Cultures: An Examination of Wole Soyinka’s the Bacchae of Euripides
and the Original
Frank Ugwu Okoh︱Nwafor Orizu College of Education
ISLLLE-1232
“Sons of Achebe”: Okey Ndibe and Chimamanda Adichie as Heirs to a Grand
Narrative Tradition
Vincent Onyema Chukwu︱Nwafor Orizu College of Education
584
ASMSS-2919
The Relationship between Differential Leadership and Team Performance:
The Mediating Effect of Group Cohesion
Yu-Chuan Tung
National Kaohsiung University of Applied Sciences
Email: panela@cc.kuas.edu.tw
Wen-Hsin Chang
Yuan Hospital
Yi-Ping Lin
National Kaohsiung Marine University
Abstract
Recent research indicated that differential leadership not only exists in the Chinese society
(Hu, Hsu, & Chen, 2004; Chen, Yu, & Son, 2014), it is also found in the western contexts
(Boies & Howell, 2006; Liden, Erdogan, Wayne, & Sparrowe, 2006; van Breukelen, Knost,
van der Vlist, 2002; Wu, Tsui, & Kinicki, 2010). Differential leadership refers to the
managers treat different subordinates in varying levels of leadership behaviors. In high
differential leadership, leader spends more time to instruct, provides more suggestions to
solve the problems, and more challenging opportunities to some subordinates than to others
(Wu et al. 2010). In low differential leadership, the managers treat all the subordinates almost
equally (Boies and Howell, 2006). The managers adopt differential treatment to their
subordinates may base on the aspect of situational leadership theories and LMX theory (Wu
et al., 2010). LMX theory address that leaders differentiated the subordinated to ingroup or
outgroup based on the different relationships. Leaders tend to provide more resource and
support to ingroup (Uhl-Bien, Graen, & Scandura, 2000). From a situational leadership
theories view, effective leaders adopt different way to lead the followers based on the various
competency of subordinates, resource and task structure (van Breukelen et al., 2002; Wu et
al., 2010). Liden et al. (2006) mentioned that high differential leadership may not bring
negative results for group performance. As long as the leader can clearly determine which
subordinates can develop high-quality relationship, it further improves the performance of the
group. Hence, differential treatment toward the various subordinates may result in positive
outcomes.
This study explored the effects of differential leadership at group-level. We addressed that
differential leadership can positively contribute to group performance through social and task
cohesions. The initial sample for the current study was composed of 70 work groups with 330
group members from organization in diverse industry (including health care, construction,
insurance, semiconductor, Metal Products Manufacture, private employment agencies). These
group included department in marketing, sales, production, R & D, finance, human resource,
MIS). Research indicated that the diverse group and organizational context enhance the
generalizability of our findings (Wu & Kinicki, 2010). Within group response rate less than
80% were excluded in this study. The final sample of 230 members and 51 leaders on 51
groups had an average number 5.51 people on each group; groups range from 4 to 9 member.
The results indicated that: (1) Differential leadership was positive associated with group
social cohesion.(2) Group social cohesion was positive associated with team performance.(3)
Social cohesion mediate the relationship between differential leadership and team
performance. However, task cohesion failed to mediate the relationship for differential
585
leadership with team performance. The results showed that the leader selectively treat the
subordinates differently, let the subordinates play their roles within team based on their
competency and motivations, then the team members are satisfied with their team, the social
relationships among the team members are harmonious and closed, thus contribute to team
performance.
References are available as on request.
586
ASMSS-2908
A Study of the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights on the Cultural
and Creative Products in Taiwan
Chien-Cheng Yen*
Department of Product Design, Ming Chuan University, 5 De Ming Rd., Gui Shan Distract,
Taoyuan, Taiwan
*E-mail address: ccyen@mail.mcu.edu.tw
Nan Su
Department of Construction Engineering, Yunlin University of Science & Technology, 123
University Road, Section 3, Douliou, Yunlin 64002, Taiwan
E-mail: sun@yuntech.edu.tw
Wan-Li Wei
Department of Product Design, Ming Chuan University, 5 De Ming Rd., Gui Shan Distract,
Taoyuan, Taiwan
E-mail address: wanliwei@mail.mcu.edu.tw
Abstract
Implanting creativity, knowledge and economic values into design planning, and then
interpreting the added values of products with culture has already become a strategy for
Taiwan to develop its economy and image, as well as that for enterprises to increase
competitiveness on the international market. This study was conducted via content analysis
and individual case studies, focusing on comparing the protection elements and protected
subjects among Copyright Act, Patent Act, and Trademark Act and on analyzing real cases of
intellectual property rights (IPR). The study also sought to understand the level of protection
that developed nations and Taiwan grant to cultural and creative products and the actual
operation of protection measures on such products in these developed nations, providing the
cultural and creative industries with a reference about regulating IPR, and thereby defending
the works of designers, developing the economy of the cultural and creative industries, and
improving enterprises’ competitiveness in design skills. Another major aim of the study was
to help more designers understand and value the protection that IPR exerts on cultural and
creative products and avoid infringement of IPR due to excessive referring or over-imitation.
Keywords: Cultural and Creative Products, Intellectual Property Rights, Intellectual Property
Management
1. Introduction
Under the globalization movement, it has become an international trend to establish the stage
for the cultural and creative industries and to transform culture and arts from the general
consumers’ goods they were once thought to be into producers’ goods with higher economic
values (Chen, 2011). As UN statistics show, the cultural and creative industries in some
European countries have even contributed more to the economy than the electronic industry
and its supporting industries combined (UNCTAD, 2008). A number of studies have also
indicated that the growth rate of employment in the cultural and creative industries is
significantly higher than that in other industries. In addition, the cultural and creative
industries have performed better in innovation than other industries. Thus, the cultural and
creative industries have garnered widespread attention around the globe, and are considered
587
to be one of the solutions to curb economic recession (Hesmondhalgh & Pratt, 2005; Foord,
2008; Potts & Cunningham, 2008; Pratt, 2009; Wang, 2010).
As for the design industry, the appearance, color, image, shape, and symbol, aside from
functionality and user-friendly interface, are all essential factors in creating trends that are
attractive to the consumers. In other words, the exterior of a product and its effects on
consumer choice are areas that the design industry focuses more on apart from the functions
of a product. However, it is worthy to note that the exterior is often easily prone to replication
and imitation, and further understanding of the IPR is therefore indispensable for designers to
protect their works from infringement.
The possibility that one may be subject to lawful punishment due to infringement litigation
against one’s own creative works, trademarks, and product designs, and the possibility that
some design companies may file lawsuits against competitors over IPR infringement in order
to cripple competitors’ sales and circulation of commodities are concerns that designers need
to be cautious of. This is especially true considering that a lot of design works have inevitably
incorporated elements from other designers’ works. As a result, designers must know how to
determine whether their cultural and creative products violate the Patent Act, Copyright Act,
and Trademark Act. Only under the protection of IPR are the designs, creative development
and the tangible as well as intangible properties secure from infringement, thereby preventing
consumers from unknowingly buying counterfeit goods, ensuring safe transactions, and
fostering the development of the cultural and creative industries.
In summary, the cultural and creative industries strive to gain “revenues generated by making
things different”. The soul of the industries lies in the appearance, characteristics, culture,
design, knowledge, and patents of their products, and encompassing these essential elements
on the outside are the intellectual property rights. Thus, inclusion of complimentary measures
relevant to intellectual properties rights is paramount in promoting the cultural and creative
industries. Without the protection of the IPR, the creative and cultural industries can hardly
propel forward (Lin, 2008). Therefore, effective management of IPR is the most important
tool when one needs to go offensive and defensive in a competition. Designing and filing
litigation involve different primary regions in the human brain. Designing and creating and
their perceptions are regulated by the right hemisphere, whereas the filing litigations, which
heavily relies or language ability and logics, is regulated by the left hemisphere (Chen, 2008).
Therefore, when designers encounter disputes over IPR such as Patent Act, Copyright Act
and Trademark Act., they may difficult to identify the ore controversy. This is a problem
designers frequently encounter, but only few of them put efforts into further investigation.
Comparing the legal requirements of IPR with the effectiveness of legal protection of Patent
Act, Trademark Act, and Copyright Act and analyzing IPR-related individual design cases,
this study aims to understand the level of protection for cultural and creative products in
developed nations and Taiwan and provide the cultural and creative industries with a
reference about managing intellectual properties.
“Culture” refers to the forms of all human activities and the display of these activities as
symbolic structures. In short, it is the lifestyle of an entire society (Leong and Clark, 2003).
“Culture” is one’s lifestyle; Design reflects one’s taste; Creativity is one’s recognition
through emotional experiences. Industry is a medium through which cultural design is
realized (Lin, 2009). The cultural and creative industries, as their name implies, are industries
that combine culture and creativity. There are many definitions of “culture”. Broadly
588
speaking, it refers to the people who live together in a society, who identify themselves with
similar habits, customs and believes. In a narrow sense, culture refers specifically to “art”, the
product of people’s creation embodied in a new form. Regardless of varied definitions,
cultural creativity is the incorporation of national, ethnic, and individual creativity into
existing cultures, creating and giving them new values as well as appearances (Wikipedia, n.
d.).
Throsby (2001) points out the three features of cultural products that are consistent with the
views of most researchers in the cultural and creative industries. : (1) the integration of
creativity into production activities; (2) The production and delivery of symbolic meaning
involved in such activities; (3) Intellectual properties that contain some pattern (Hirsch, 1972;
Caves, 2000).
The cultural and creative industries are emerging industries in which systematic researches
are so far lacking. Richard E. Caves (2000) is the first scholar that conducts in-depth analysis
of the creative industries. He identifies 7 characteristics of the creative industries: (1)
uncertain demand ； (2) require diverse skills; (3) differentiate products; (4) vertical
differentiated skills and talent; (5) Creative professionals care about their product or work; (6)
time is of the essence; (7) durable products and durable rents. These characteristics create
differences that set the creative industries apart from other industries. For example, traditional
workers are not too concerned about the quality of products and the company they work for;
they are more concerned with the pay. In contrast, creative professionals usually place more
emphasis on artistic accomplishments rather than market performance, a phenomenon that
can complicate a transaction in which both traditional workers and creative professionals are
involved (Caves, 2000). Throsby (2001) also believes that artistic creation includes cultural
and economic values, and that artists care about not just a product’s commercial values but
also its cultural values. These creative workers, albeit pursuing market values in the process
of creation, also desire to fulfill their dreams and obtain artistic accomplishments, rendering
the works of creative professionals unpredictable.
Hearn et al. (2004) points out that, compared to technological industries, creative industries
face the difficulty of correctly determining and identifying with its corresponding IPR.
Technological products are usually protected by patents, which immediately add commercial
values to products upon its attainment. Conversely, creative products governed by the
Copyright Act do not possess commercial values until after their initial launchings.
Furthermore, obtaining subsequent royalties depends on precise calculations and effective
marketing from representatives.
Possible implications that may arise from the cultural and creative industries include whether
referencing background music is considered a violation of video works, whether the design of
a wallpaper infringe another artist’s graphical work, whether the creation of a draft contains
plagiarized elements, and whether one’s logo design which coincides with another’s weakens
an existing trademark (Chen, 2010). If creative professionals do obtain copyrights, patents,
and trademarks, and further utilize all protection measures, they can file lawsuits against
those that profit from copying their works. Consequently, the concept of IPR is the key
component in linking the cultural and creative industries with creative economy.
Without the protection of IPR, the major beneficiaries may be the manufacturers that only
copy and mass produce, not the creative professionals that have invested time and efforts into
their works. With the protection of IPR, the original creators can monopolize their
intellectual properties and receive a proportion of profits from derivative products such as
589
adaptations into movies and animations. That is to say, creative professionals only need to
produce once to obtain profits from both their works and derivative products. Therefore, the
cultural and creative industries must require the protection of IPR in order to generate
revenues or even expand satellite products, i.e., the cultural and creative industries are a
knowledge industry that is supported by intellectual skills.
3. Methods
This study was conducted via content analysis and case studies. Firstly, theories and literature
related to the laws that govern the cultural and creative industries and intellectual properties
were collected and organized in order to provide relevant decrees and theoretical basis for the
successive research and analysis. Secondly, comparison between the legal requirements of
IPR and the effectiveness of protective measure of Patent Act, Trademark Act, and Copyright
Act was carried out in order to understand the actual operation of protection measures on
cultural and creative products in developed countries. Lastly, an empirical analysis of an
actual case was used to determine whether the case involves violation of IPR, helping
designers and the legal personnel to better understand controversies, and to propose solutions
that can resolve similar cases in the future.

Intellectual property rights have their limitations. They are not a single code or law; they
consist of several laws and executive orders. In principle the intellectual property laws take
the followings as their core: Patent Act, Trademark Act, Copyright Act, Trade Secret Law
and Anti-Unfair Competition Law. The most relevant laws to the cultural and creative
industries are the Patent Act, Trademark Act, and Copyright Act. Therefore, this study only
includes discussions of these laws. Table 1 puts these laws in Taiwan along with the purposes,
subjects, requirements and periods of conservation (Lin, 2007) in order to clearly illustrate
the differences among these laws.
Table 1: Comparison table for patent right, copyright and trademark right
590
4.1 Management of the Publications of Cultural and Creative Products
Copyright is one of the core competitiveness of the cultural and creative industries, since it is
very important for the survival and development of the creative industries. Some scholars
think the core of the cultural and creative industries is publishing. In essence, the United
Nations and the world named "cultural and creative industries" as "cultural industries" when
they began developing the policies. Cultural industries then take publishing as a core, which
provides spiritual products for auditory and visual enjoyment. Therefore, narrowly speaking,
by law, the cultural industry is included in the copyright industry, which also includes:
publishing, journalism, broadcasting, filming and television, Internet services, advertising,
computer software industry, information and digital services industries, and so on. Generally
speaking, copyright excludes the arts, art production, performing arts, entertainment, cultural
property, education, sports and tourism industries. Therefore, because the core of copyright is
the cultural industry, then we can also call it, copyright industry.
As to the belonging of intellectual property rights, there is a common issue for transferring a
lot two-dimensional art works into three-dimensional in product design; the former belongs to
the range of “artistic works” of Subparagraphs 4, Paragraph 1, Article 1, “Taiwan Copyright
Act”. And, artistic works include paintings, prints, comic, comic strip (cartoon), drawing,
model calligraphy (calligraphy), sculpture for font painting, arts, crafts and other works of art;
the industrial product design has been included in the range of crafts or other works of art.
Furthermore, there should be distinguished into two concepts in artistic works: pure art works,
and applied art works. In addition to be equipped with the connotation of fine art, applied art
works also need to have practical value. The industrial design products are not only
commonly used life products, but also because the creative ingenuity, artistic beauty have
been put into the products by designers, so that makes us a higher lifestyle taste when using
them. Typically, it includes handicrafts and industrial products with artistic which can be
mass production. Besides, there are some works belong to fine art which may be generalized
into applied art after modifying or commercialization. On the other hand, some works from
applied art also can be divided into "connotations" and "practical function," which can be
evaluated with different judgments in law (Hsieh & Chang, 2006). Therefore, the concepts of
fine art and applied art are worthy to discuss when they still have the possibility and necessity
of interlacing in law application.
The relationships between applied art and industrial design products as well as arts crafts are
very complicated, and each country has its own way of protecting creative properties.
Although Japan has enacted laws that limit art crafts within the so-called "one product
produced”. However, the Japanese scholars argued that people should not exclude those
things as they are daily necessities out of art because it is a possibility to experience certain
thoughts or emotions from creators, and that is something has been added to the human spirit
activities, no matter how few the components are, they should still be protected (Hsieh &
Chang, 2006). According to German Copyright Act, Paragraph 1, Article 2: one should
include all arts as architectural art and works of applied art as the Conservation Subjects,
however, the new type of work, such as product design, multimedia works can also be
protected. The premise is that it should has individual intellectual creations content in the
works (Paragraph 2, Article 2, German Copyright Act), that also means, through certain ways
to make people can feel the ingenious that the intellectual content has been provided in the
work. The standard as to most of the work types are not specifically high; it only requires a
certain level of the creation, which refers to the “little coin” in Copyright, however, according
to the German judicial practice, it requires higher standard of the creativity for industrial
design products (Fan, 2013).
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4.2 Management of the Trademark of Cultural and Creative Product
Trademark is a mark for products or services. It is a logo used by the production,
manufacturing, processing, distribution of goods, or services provided by a certain enterprise,
institution or organization. In marketing circulation, trademark generally uses text, graphics,
color, or their combination to draw or indicate on industrial products, packaging, signs or
advertisements. Trademark is also a bridge between the consumer - transaction – enterprises.
Trademark presents a certain standard of the quality of the product or services, and based on
the trademark, consumers can make the most suitable choice. The functions included in
trademark are: (1) trademark is a product of the commodity economy; (2) trademark is a
mark with a significant difference; (3) trademark is a sign of a legal nature; (4) trademark is a
symbol of reputation, and it is a need to use trademark for economic activity; (5) trademark is
a reaction of the design ideology and culture of the times (Fan, 2007).
Fig. 1: Trademark of Crown Van Lines Co. Fig. 2: Trademark of Crown Worldwide Group.
(Source: Crown Van Lines Co., LTD.) (Source: Crown Worldwide Group)
In the case study, in 2000, the plaintiff, Crown Van Lines Co., Ltd. has brought up the
indictable denounce for their trademark right has been infringement by the defendant, Crown
Worldwide Group. The statement was the trademark of Crown Worldwide Group is similar to
theirs, which cause the counterfeiting, so the plaintiff asked to claim damages to the
defendant, the reasons are as following: plaintiff acquired the exclusive right of their service
mark, "the Gulf and the CROWN" (Fig. 1) are composed of the Chinese character of “Crown
Van Lines Co., Ltd.”, graphic of the shield, and the white number "1" and the English word
"CROWN" in the shield; among them, the Chinese wording of “CROWN VAN LINES CO.,
LTD.” and the number "1" take a big part of the trademark, and make a strong impression.
On the other hand, in Fig. 2, it is the trademark that has been used by defendant, the wording
“CROWN WORLDWIND GROUP” and the graphic of crown has been divided into two
lines and placed next to a yellow crown (Chen, 2010).
Figure 1 belongs to the plaintiff, and the trademark right has been given and registered as No.
3190 by the BSMI (Bureau of Standards, Metrology & Inspection, Taiwan) in 1st of October,
1988. Which gave the plaintiff the rights to provide transportation, and warehousing services;
the extension has been proved and it is still valid now. The plaintiff made a statement of since
the defendant, Crown Worldwide Group, used the similar trademark for similar business
service as transportation, and warehousing without the permission from plaintiff. And, the
defendant even put a lot of advertisements on the China post for attracting business to obtain
illegal benefits. Therefore, the plaintiff made a proposition that their trademark has been
infringed, and they recognized that defendant has used similar trademark, and has caused
confusion among the relevant consumers, which is referring to Article 61, and Article 62 of
Taiwan Trademark Act. According to Article 62 of Taiwan Trademark Act, defendant has
confirmed to infringe the trademark mark, and according to Article 61 of Taiwan Trademark
Act, the plaintiff is entitled to claim damages.
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4.3 Patent Management of Cultural and Creative Products - Taking Design Patent for
an Example
Article 2 of the Patent Act of Taiwan classifies the patent into the following three categories:
invention patent, utility model patent, and design patent. In the subject of the development of
the product design, the intellectual property rights are referring to those items can be
protected by law, such as inspiration, ideas, concepts, names, design, and the development
process for new products; it is also one of the most valuable assets for the enterprise. The
concept of all product design protection can be divided into two types: copyright protection
stage or design patent protection stage. The result should be protected by copyright in the
stage of generating the ideas, design sketch, and the formatting of the conceptualization
(including development of the concept, the selection and improvement of the concept and the
concept testing) (Taiwan Copyright Act, Article 10); it is worth to mention that Conservation
Subjects coming from the foregoing stage of concept need to have expression and that refers
to Copyright, 10.1 of Article (Taiwan Copyright Act, 10.1 of Article). German Copyright Act
calls it as works, according to the Article 2 Paragraph 2: this law refers only to the individual
work that is from intellectual creation (German Copyright Act, Article 2).
After the product has been prototype production, mold making, and manufacturing, it will be
protected when applying the design patent and has been approved. Therefore, practically, for
the intellectual property rights applied on the product design protection, it usually will be
advocated copyright for those design concepts without clear commercial values, and for those
products with commercial values will be protected by design patent (Yang, 2013). Comparing
design patent to copyright, the former is more close to industrial property and focused on the
needs of industrial applications and the identifiability in the market, also has higher standard
for novelty. In determining of if there is an infringement, the main measure is based on
whether the appearance of the product is infringed design patent, which means whether there
are visually significant difference from the consumers' perspective. However, copyright
provides protection for product design from the esthetics point of view, and mainly puts
emphasis on the original design and prohibits product being copied. Furthermore, there are
differences between copyright and design patent on the starting point, focus, right duration
and the specific connotation of rights; copyright takes consideration from an aesthetic point
of view, which is different from design patent from the view of industrial property protection.
The two rights mentioned above have not yet been provided that have to be mutually
exclusive for certain situations. Mainland China considers that product design can be
protected by two systems as appearance design patent and copyright; however, above two
need to have a certain extent of overlapping protection (Chiao & Chiang, n. d.). The German
scholars also have the proposition that the Conservation Subjects of copyright normally
require to have a higher creation level and authors' personality needing to be highlighted; as
for the creation level of design patents is lower, it just needs to have the creation model of
objectivity to be called as Conservation Subjects (German Copyright Act, Article 2).
5. Conclusions and suggestions

Law is supposed to be rational, but the design puts emphasis on emotion; so, designers
normally have no ideas when they are facing a problem related to plagiarism. However, the
legitimate rights of designers and the cultural and creative entrepreneurs can only be
protected by the intellectual property rights. Therefore, it needs to pay careful attention on if
the cultural and creative product design is actually against the Copyright Act, Patent Act, or
Trademark Act.
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Copyright is one of the core competitiveness of cultural and creative industries. The purpose
of establishing copyright protection mechanism in product design and development is to
encourage and reward the product design with practicality, novelty and uniqueness, but also
for the long-term interests of the community. For the design concept without clear
commercial value, it usually takes copyright to protect it, but for the product with commercial
value it takes design patent to protect it. Although designers will be protected by the
Copyright Act, and should be able to be protected from not being infringed the rights from
others, based on the public welfare, the rights should be appropriately limited to give others a
reasonable space for taking as reference. Therefore, if “creative commons licenses” can be
adopted, it not only can protect the right of the authors, but also allows users to understand
the conditions for using or distributing the design works of cultural and creative products.
Trademark is the main element for cultural and creative products to build up the brand
marketing. It can be used to prevent some vendors from trying to provide a similar name after
others just to confuse the consumers for an unfair purpose. Regarding the judgment of
whether the trademark is involved being too similar to the others will take an overall
observation, compare the main part and an isolation observation with time and space different.
It is suggested that, in order to prevent the lawsuit for similar design, designers had better to
create their own creative and recognizable trademark, with a self-concept development and
strict attitude when designing the trademark logo; besides, designers also should actively
strengthen their legal knowledge of the design community.
Usually product design is the most competitive one in cultural and creative industries. It
needs to apply for the patent to protect the creative rights. The Conservation Subjects are
different for design patent and the art work in Copyright Act. The former refers to the
combination of product's shape, pattern or color to create a new design with aesthetic feeling
and suitable for industrial application. It is worthy to mention that cultural and creative
product design may belong to the compound intellectual property rights; it requires a further
study whether the design patent and copyright has a cross-protection for each other. There
often appears an uncertain situation that needs to make a right judgement when there is a
conflict between design patent and copyright. It is suggested to refer to the previous
judgements from the advanced countries to build a specific reference rule for the judiciary,
cultural and creative industries and the designers. Hoping through this study to allow
increasingly industry members, officers, and scholars pay attention to the protection of
cultural and creative industries by intellectual property rights. It is also hoped to keep one's
design creation from coping by others. In addition, it also should pay attention to not
over-referring or over-imitation other people’s works during design creation process to
prevent from being trapped in a law cage due to unwittingly infringing intellectual property
rights.
6. Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan, Republic of
China for funding this study under Project MOST 103-2410-H-130 -054 -.
7. References
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Chen, H. W. (2008). The impact of the right side of the brain teaching model on children's
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University of Taipei, Taipei, Taiwan.
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http://www.taiwanncf.org.tw/media/tforum/20111213.htm.
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design - When design meets the law. Taipei: Wu-Nan Book Inc.
Chiao, J. T., & Chiang, N. T. (n.d.) The copyright protection of the design of industrial
product. Patent article, 46. http://www.chinaipmagazine.com/journal-show.asp?id=873
Crown Van Lines Co., Ltd. http://www.crownvan.com.tw/front/bin/home.phtml.
Crown Worldwide Group. http://www.crownworldwide.com/
Fan, C. C. (2013). German copyright act. Beijing: Intellectual Property Rights.
Fan, L. P. (2007). Trademark design and the rise of the branding. Beijing: Intellectual
Property Press.
Foord, J. (2008). Strategies for creative industries: An international review. Creative
Industries Journal, 1(2), 91-113.
Hearn, G., Cunningham, S., & Ordonez, D. (2004). Commercialisation of knowledge in
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Hesmondhalgh, D., & Pratt, A. C. (2005). Cultural industries and cultural policy.
International Journal of Cultural Policy, 11(1), 1-14.
Hirsch, P. M. (1972). Processing fads and fashions: An organization-set analysis of cultural
industry systems. American Journal of Sociology, 77, 639-659.
Hsieh, M. Y., & Chang, K. F. (2006). Copyright case collection (5) - Art Works. Taipei:
Intellectual Property Office, Ministry of Economic Affairs.
Leong, D., & Clark, H. (2003). Cultural-based knowledge towards new design thinking and
practice – A dialogue. Design Issues, 19(3), 48-58.
Lin, C. F. (2007). Intellectual roperty rights ─ Case study. Taipei: Wu-Nan Press. Lin, H. H.
(2008). Intellectual property rights of cultural and creative industries.
http://www.docin.com/p-277106356.html.
Lin, R. T. (2009). A study of integrating culture and aesthetics to promote cultural and
creative. Journal of National Taiwan College of Arts, 82, 81-105.
Potts, J., Cunningham, S., Hartley, J., & Ormerod, P. (2008). Social network markets.
Journal of Cultural Economics, 32, 167–185.
Pratt, A. C. (2009). The creative and cultural economy and the recession. Geoforum, 40, 495–
496.
Throsby, D. (2001). Economics and Culture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
UNCTAD (2008). Creative economy report 2008: The challenge of assessing the creative
economy towards informed policy-making. United Nations.
Wang, M. Y. (2010). Research of the Retrospect and Prospect of the Cultural and Creative
Industries. Paper presented at the 15th Modern China Symposium, Taipei, Taiwan.
Wikipedia (n.d.). Cultural and creative industries.
http://zh.wikipedia.org/zh/%E6%96%87%E5%8C%96%E5%89%B5%E6%84%8F%E7
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Yang, C. H. (2013). The Relationship between copyright and design patent of industrial
design from an essence side. Paper presented at the Copyright Act Symposium -
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595
ASMSS-2920
The Relationships of Relationship Governance, Trust, and Relationship
Learning in Marketing Channels: The Evolution of Relationship Life Cycle
Perspective
Yi-Ping Lin
National Kaohsiung Marine University
Email address: yplin@mail.nkmu.edu.tw
Yu-Chuan Tung
National Kaohsiung University of Applied Sciences
Abstract
Cooperative interorganizational relationships become a new paradigm of research, and there
are many researches for the characteristic on different stage of life-cycle of relationship. But
there is few to study the factor for evolution and applied relationship governance mechanism
in different stage. This research find that the relationship governance mechanisms are divided
into authority, price/incentive, and relationship norms mechanisms. The life-cycles of
relationship are divided into build-up, expansion, maturity, and decline stage. The type of
trust is divided into calculus-based trust, knowledge-based trust, identity-based trust. The
relationship learning consists of information sharing, interpretation or sense marking, and
memory integration. The study also examines the interaction between trust and relationship
learning.
However, it is a dynamic process to relationship development. The relationship of the partner

is not exactly so will develop into the last stage. The commercial exchanges maybe stop in
initial stage of relationship development. The relationships that manufacturers adopt the
relationship governance mechanism are different to some extent in different relationship
developing stage. Do different relationships mean the different promotion factor at
developing stage? What is the interaction between trust and relationship learning?
Distinguish the research issue of the above can contribute to offering the business to operate
partnership management. This research is a survey study based on key person from case
company and its distributor which to understand the main relationship governance
mechanism that manufacturer will be applied in each relationship life cycle stage. This study
find that these three mechanisms may be used separately, but typically are used in
combination. Figure 1 shows the results of this study. Economic incentives remain the major
governance mechanism, but relationship norms provide an important basis for establishing
long-term business relationships, and the authority mechanism can be used to standardize all
procedures, as well as strengthen procedural control. The purpose of relationship learning is
to improve future behavior in a relationship so as to make relationship become mutually
beneficial. And with the experience of relationship development, to examine the interaction
between trust and relationship learning that helps to develop such relationship.
596
Figure 1: The results of this study
Keywords: Life-Cycle of Relationship, Relationship Governance, Trust, Relationship

Learning, Distributor
597
ASMSS-2986
Reimagining Creative Marketing under Global Perspectives in Higher
Education
Ching-Jung Hsieh
Lecturer, Department of Marketing and Distribution Management, WuFeng University
Doctoral Student, NCYU
Email: daphne@wfu.edu.tw
Abstract
The concept of creative marketing has become a global technology for us to survive in this
competitive world when the earth has become a global village under the rapidly development.
In addition, financial market turmoil sparked by subprime mortgage losses and a lot of people
were out of work. Moreover; the proportion of population impacts in the low birth rate
more seriously. The enrollment rate of university has risen every year and the score of
entrance exam is lower than before. The university faces more serious competition in
recruit students. In order to operate the communication system which links the components
of the administrative policy in Taiwan’s higher education, applying creative marketing has
turned to be very urgent and necessary. Higher education institutions (HEI) world wide face
challenges as a consequence of a changing environment in Taiwan. In addition, global
education has been the main trend in the 21st century, and it needs to deepen the students’
understanding in the complexity and value of multicultural society; moreover, it intends to
construct students’ global perspective so that the student may adapt in the globalized
environment and contribute to construct a more equal and sustainable world. The method of
document analysis was employed in this study to explore how creative marketing would be
applying under global perspectives in higher education. Through analyzing relevant
documents and literatures, this study discusses creativel marketing and tries to propose
strategies to assist university to recruit students and to deal with administrative process,
official document, managing faculty and so on. The progress in the area of information and
communication technologies under creative marketing strategy is accelerating some of these
trends. To reimagining how to apply creative marketing under the viewpoint of
globalization is the most important one in dealing with these problems like how to
communicate with the community by sincere, the best way is to apply creative marketing.
To sum up, creative marketing under global perspectives is a new issue of modern schools
and plays an important role in higher education.
Keyword: creative marketing, global perspectives and higher education
598
ASMSS-2982
A Study on the Product Design Thinking under the Background of Big
Data
Jiang Chaoa,*, Wang Sheng-wenb, Gao Chen-huic
a,b
Ph. D. Program in Design, Chung Yuan Christian University
200 Chung Pei Road, Chung Li District, Taoyuan City, Taiwan
a
jcnb1982@163.com, bocean.richard@gmail.com
c
Department of Industrial Design, Ningbo University of Technology
201Feng Hua Road, Jiang Bei District, Ningbo City, China
360802513@qq.com
Abstract
The big data technology has already been effecting in the optimization of steps as production,
logistics, warehousing and sales. In the design thinking stage of product concept formation,
the feedback of user information, exploration of the society needs and comprehensive
evaluation of the sustainable system can directly relate to various information, fully fulfill the
advantageous of the big data in trend forecast and data finding, and provide technical support
upon the process optimization and problem improvement for design innovation. Taking the
information feedback in data environment into account in the process of product development
even features as effective means for product innovation and upgrading. Through the literature
discussion, this study is to explain the technology, thinking and application characteristics of
big data and the information requirements of product design industry, to differentiate and
analyze the linkability between design thinking and big data thinking in various terms as
ways of thinking, technical characteristics, expression methods and service objects, and
discuss the big data-oriented product design thinking modes.
Keywords: Big Data, Design Thinking, Product Design, Innovative Approach
1. Introduction
1.1 Research Background
Social information of politics, economy, culture and history is constantly getting into
datamation via various means and ways. Based on the analysis of these data, better
understanding and knowledge upon the social environment will be acquired (Fu Yu-hui,
2013). Nowadays, the cloud technology, mobile network, IOT (Internet of Things) and other
various terminal equipment are getting higher popularization, mass of data will be created in
all kinds of social activities of human beings and leave socialization traces (Liu Tao, 2014).
And all of these data are known as “big data”. Being the social and technical hotspot today,
big data is under extensive research by various industries with the results being applied into
consumption investigation, information general survey, trend prediction, phenomenological
cognition and behavior pattern analysis.
The popularization of the big data technology provides the possibility to conduct extensive
user investigation and correct trend analysis. Under the influence of sustainable design
concept, the product design conception is expanded to the satisfaction of the users' actual
needs, as well as the discussion regarding to the solution of the system-based thinking
problems. Issues that product design needs to handle may be the coordination in all kinds of
technology upgrading and software development for user information, which are all directly
linked to the each technical of big data. During the process of product design thinking, ideas
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of thinking and technological means of big data is essential to both the investigation and
collection of relevant user-focused information and the IT-based new product development.
1.2 Research Purpose

The study is carried out based on the following specific objective:
(1) To analyze the relevance and similarities & differences between the technical thinking of
the big data and design thinking;
(2) To explore the innovation methods in product design which based on the big data thinking
and technologies.
2. Literature Discussion
2.1 Product Design Thinking
The essence of product design is the technical solution for various problems in people’s
social life and regards the effective mastering of all kinds of information concerning the
design issue as the premise for practical development of the design. The design thinking
requires establishing the culture of innovation in the interdisciplinary integration, exploring
the user requirements through ways of insight, observation and empathy, carry out the
convergent and radiant thinking relying on the analysis, synthesis and visual mode and
exploring the feasibility of design execution through experiences and participations (Tim
Brown, 2010). Design thinking needs to take into account the rationality, causality and logics
and the interactional understanding through analysis and experiences is an efficient method to
deal with the world (Teal R., 2010). Thus the new product development is just the
concentrated reflection of design thinking in aspects of thinking model, subject overlapping,
idea innovation, etc. The product design needs to handle may be the coordination in all kinds
of technology upgrading and software development for user information, which are all
directly linked to the each technical of big data.
2.2 Big Data Application in Product Design

Big data is not only a resource but also a research method and a new scientific research
pattern. This research pattern does not care about the scattering of the data but emphasize the
quantity of data; it dose not require the accuracy but pursue its representativeness; it dose not
look into the causality but focus on the rule conclusion(Wu He-quan, 2014). The big data
thoughts and technologies have already been extensively applied in product design. Google
company applies the data to fix the toolbar color and drop shadow. An advanced industrial
and technological research institute of Japan by 360 sensors quantifies the body shape,
gesture and weight of a man has developed the auto anti-theft system based on the sitting
position (Viktor Mayer-Schonberger, &Kenneth Cukier, 2013). There are also companies that
design sneakers based on the foot pressure distribution status of the computer dyno graphy
(Industrial Designers Society of America, 2003).
From the above literatures, it is concluded that the big data thinking is highly related to the
design thinking and the big data, as a research method, has been extensively applied to the
various areas of our social lives, also including relevant achievements of the product design.
A systematic clarifying of the connection between the big data thoughts and design thinking
and the exploration of their combination can be conducive to gain design innovation
approaches that complying with the application prospect of the big data technology and the
current social characteristics.
3. Discussion & Analysis

3. 1Integrity, Variety and Relevance of Data Information
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(1) Integrity
Big data is the synthesis of the mass data and complex data, which other than the traditional
random sampling analysis receives the technical data based on the experiments and sensors
and the social data related to human activities by analyzing the accurate prediction results of
all the data (Hou Xi-lin, Li Tian-zhu, Ma Jia, &Liu Xiao-qin, 2014). Do obtain
comprehensive and integral data of research groups as far as possible through relevant
technological means to conduct correct analytical prediction. During the product design
thinking, it is necessary to systematically integrate all kinds of information concerning the
design topics to receive rational solutions. It needs to coordinate technical information that is
related to the environmental cost, material technology, assembling process and human scale
of the product and also the social elements including consumer psychology, market trend,
value orientation and gender consciousness so as to attain a systematic and perfect thinking of
the product scheme (Richard Morris, 2009). Both of them requires an overall and integrated
information arrangement in the mode of thinking and treatment target and both have to deal
with the technical and social information, which are both cross-cutting modes of thinking.
There are differences upon the processing object between both as the integrity of big data
lays stress on the number of samples, while the integrity of design thinking is on the
systematic research of related factors of the product.
(2) Variety
The design thinking depends on multi-sensory interactions, a large number of information
based on diverse sensory knowledge of designers plays a significant role in the process of
design to be used for understanding the problems, broadening the mind and searching for
solutions (Poulsen SB, &Thøgersen U., 2011). All kinds of pictures and video records,
statistical tools and oral investigation analysis, tactile experience of spatial size and materials
based on body and auditory effect of equipment are all included into the whole objects of
design thinking. Those are extremely similar with the diversity the big data technology is
facing, and the words, figures, videos, images and geographical locations and other all kinds
of data are within the scope the big data structure has to consider. The diversity of design
thinking is directing at dimensionality diversity for the same object, while the diversity of big
data is at the type diversity for group data.
(3) Relevance
The social understanding of the design thinking to the users has to set up both relation and
individual aspects (Postma C, Lauche K, &Stappers PJ., 2012). The value of design thinking
is to serve the typical demands of social individuals based on the study upon the social
common problems. In terms of technological dimension, design thinking is required to
balance the systemic optimization on all kinds of product information and inspect with
relevant vision. The application thinking of big data also emphasizes the relevance so as to
provide individual products and services for the customers (Hou Xi-lin, etc., 2014). The big
data thinking is based on the relevance to service individuals. Improving ways of specific
application can be obtained through the exploration upon the relevance between data. If we
take the study of relevance in design thinking as a manner, well the exploration of relevance
in big data is exactly the purpose.
Both design thinking and big data have their commons in information integrity, variety and
relevance, while some differences upon the data objects and research targets, in a manner of
speaking, big data is the method for design thinking and the latter is the ultimate object for
big data.
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3.2 Thinking Nature of People-Oriented
The nature of people-oriented of the design thinking is a consensus of all the design
categories. For the big data, people are the key source of the data formed both directly and
indirectly. Even for the information formed based on IOT and machinery communication and
the various data formed in the network system by the internet users indicating their living
tracks, their final logic orientation and service target is still the people (Ren Tian-Yu,
Duan-mu Qing-duo, &Fei Yi-yong,2014). Both the service target and thinking mode of the
design thinking and big data are “people oriented”, which is the social foundations for them
to serve common value system.
3.3 Visual Features of Information Expression

Data is the raw material the various technical means directly receives, which without the
structure of the figures, coordinates, words and pictures can hardly reflect the rules and
relations of the natural science and social science, and visualization of data is the main
expression method of big data. It is extensively applied to express the logic relation among
the data and reflect the social phenomenon by means of infographics. Understanding the
World of Rendgen Sandra (2014) has used the information visualization means to express a
large number of data based on the big data so as to reflect the natural environment, scientific
technology, economic development, social life, cultural transmission and other topics. The
design thinking needs to apply the visualization means from the procedure arrangement,
problem research, trend analysis, concept organization, scheme idealization to the user
experience investigation. We can see that both of them have applied the information
visualization as common means in the aspect of facilitating decision making by information
consolidation.
From the above analysis we can see that the big data thinking and design thinking are
consistent in the thinking layers, service targets and expression means, and we can even say
that they are the similar thinking modes based on different scientific angles and application
areas interacting as both purposes and manners. The similarities and differences of both can
be obvious from the Table 1. The application of big data technology into the design thinking
has sufficient operation reasons in the technology, information and thinking aspects.
Table 1 Comparison of big data and design thinking

Big Data Design Thinking
(Technology subject) (Social sciences)
Interrelation Technological means Application purpose
Integrity Comprehensiveness of all Systematization

samples
Information
characteristics Variety Different types of groups data Different dimensionality of single object
Relevance Research object Way of thinking
Value system People-oriented
Means of expression Visualization
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4. Design Thinking based on Big Data
Many additional elements are related to the design thinking as the cultural shock, comments,
individual and group acceptance those the reasons effecting the design (Gray C. M., 2013).
The designers have to pay more attention to the social requirements and search for the
professional help, and besides, they have to acquire more sociological, psychological and
public political background knowledge (Melles G., de Vere I., &Misic V., 2011), and the big
data technology has provided a much more convenient way for them to receive these
information. In the field of product development, the information processing of big data
provides technical support for the interaction and feedback of user information and functions
as an important way to achieve intelligentization and informatization innovation.
4.1 Exploration of Social Requirement Nature

The appearance of mass unstructured data brings a very important exploration dimension for
people to understand the development rules of the world, i.e. people can reveal the internal
rules of the social development that have not been disclosed before through analysis of the
big data. The design thinking needs to pay attention to the natural users' requirements of the
social environment and the big data technology's prediction of the social living means and
market trends can provide clear reasons and enforceable solutions for design thinking..
4.2 Optimization of Marketing Information Prediction

Creative designing rests on a cyclic combination of abductive, deductive and inductive
reasoning processes (Pauwels P., De Meyer R., &Van Campenhout J., 2013), such reasoning
processes usually come from limited samples, even from the designers' forecasting on the
causality. The biggest change of big data technology is that it has abandoned the pursuit for
causality that has been replaced by the relevance. When analyzing more data, we no longer
need to depend on the random sampling and a large number of data can help the traditional
industries to get a better understanding of the customers' needs, and provide individual
services. The application of big data technology can decrease the subjective factors in certain
degree and can check the design issues more systematically and overall, besides, it is able to
provide new modes and methods beyond the traditional design framework in terms of
creative design rules and social problem solutions.
4.3 Feedback of Individual Data of Users

The information are collected by big data technology can efficient feedback the consumers'
behavior ways, cognitive habits, aesthetic tendency, social consciousness and consumption
abilities. These information are also the basis for the design thinking of products, therefore
the specific product scheming plan can only be carried out after analyzing these information
effectively. The thinking of project based on the feedback mechanism of user’s data performs
as the technical route under the consumption trend such as intelligentization, individuation
and transparency of information during the current product development and also the typical
reflection of big data in the area of improvement on the interactive experience between
products and human beings.
The big data technology has provided new means and methods for the design thinking to
make out the market trend, master the consumption concepts of users and redefine the pattern
of user behavior to provide new technological means for product design innovation
optimization.
5. Conclusion
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The natural consistency between the design thinking and big data in terms of technical
features, mode of thinking and service target is helpful to the rational application of
corresponding technologies in the design innovation. The introduction of design thinking into
the application of big data technology can systematically connect all kinds of data relations,
help the purely technical expressions to reflect a more overall thinking about the users,
society, industries, environment and the entire system of human beings, express the specific
features by means of design and all kinds of abstract concepts and social phenomenon. The
application of big data technology into design thinking can help people to comprehend social
& technical nature behind product problems，search the best solutions, facilitate daily life and
create greater business benefits.
Acknoledgement
it is a research result of general scientific research project of the Education Department of
Zhejiang Province in 2014 (No. Y201431863), thanks for the funding support.
6.References
Fu Yu-hui, Thinking in Big Data and New Media Development, Chinese Media Technology,
2013(11), pp.68-70.
Liu Tao, Thinking in Big Data and the Movie Creation of Content, Contemporary Cinema,
2014(06), pp.9-14.
Hou Xi-lin, Li Tian-zhu, Ma Jia, & Liu Xiao qin, The Analysis of Enterprise Innovation
Opportunity Based on Big Data, Science & Technology Progress and Policy, 2014.
Tim Brown, Change by Design: How Design Thinking Transforms Organizations and
Inspires Innovation, New York: HarperBusiness, 2010.
Teal R., Developing a (Non-linear) Practice of Design Thinking, International Journal of Art
& Design Education, 2010, 29(3), pp.294-302.
Wu He-quan, Thinking in Big Data, Science & Society, 2014 (01), pp.1-13.
Viktor Mayer-Schonberger, & Kenneth Cukier, Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform
How We Live, Work and Think, Boston: Eamon Dolan/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt,
2013.
Industrial Designers Society of America (Compiler), Design Secrets: Products, Gloucester:
Rockport Publishers, 2003.
Richard Morris, The Fundamentals of Product Design, London: Fairchild Books AVA, 2009.
Poulsen SB, &Thøgersen U., Embodied design thinking: a phenomenological perspective，
CoDesign, 2011, 7(1), pp.29-44.
Postma C., Lauche K., &Stappers PJ., Social Theory as a Thinking Tool for Empathic Design,
Design Issues, 2012, 28(1), pp.30-49.
Ren Tian-Yu, Duan-mu Qing-duo, & Fei Yi-yong, Talking about the Future Construction of
Cultural Quarters, Modern Science Museum and Urban Planning Library--- Alliance of
Big Data, IOT and Cloud Computing, Brand (latter half of the month), 2014(08),
pp.19-20.
Rendgen S, &Wiedemann J., Understanding the world: the atlas of infographics, Köln:
Taschen, 2014.
Gray C. M., Factors That Shape Design Thinking, Design & Technology Education, 2013,
18(3), pp.8-20.
Melles G., De Vere I., &Misic V., Socially responsible design: thinking beyond the triple
bottom line to socially responsive and sustainable product design, CoDesign, 2011,
7(3/4), pp.143-54.
Pauwels P., De Meyer R., &Van Campenhout J., Design Thinking Support: Information
Systems Versus Reasoning, Design Issues, 2013, 29(2), pp.42-59.
604
ASMSS-2946
Customer-To-Customer Interaction, Post-Encounter Mood, Trust and
Customer Satisfaction: The Example of Military Simulation
Fang-Yi Sua*
National Kaohsiung University of Applied Sciences, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
*Email: mriisgsht@gmail.com
Shu-Kuan Hsu
National Kaohsiung University of Applied Sciences, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Email: skhsu@cc.kuas.edu.tw
Abstract
The agenda of customer interactions within service settings is as an important aspect of the
service experience and a driver of a customer’s feelings of satisfaction. This research
examines how customer-to-customer interaction (CCI) affects customer’s satisfaction in
service environments. 212 customers of 6 workshops of Military Simulation, in Taiwan, were
surveyed. Results indicate customer’s post-encounter mood and trust separately play the
mediator roles between CCI and customer’s satisfaction.
Keywords: Customer-to-Customer Interaction, Mood, Trust, Satisfaction
605
ASMSS-3000
A Study of Integration Chinese and Western Medicine: An Ontology-Based
Perspective
Kwoting Fang
National Yunlin University of Science and Technology
Email:fangkt@yuntech.edu.tw
Abstract
Given the progress of the industry, the advance knowledge about disease, an unintended
outcome, often inevitable, has brought a call of using medical treatments for caring
psychological and physical disorder situations. That these developments are fueled by
medical treatments might misleadingly suggest that traditional Chinese medicine and Western
medicine are separate and independent for diseases. A lot of effort has been spent on the
traditional Chinese medicine around the world, however, from a practical and technologic
standpoint, the traditional Chinese medicine, especially adopted knowledge engineering
associated with Western medicine for integration to treat diseases, is scare in Taiwan.
The purpose of this project is twofold. First, it heeds the call for mapping and merging need,
to build up the domain ontology, using Protégé, together with traditional Chinese and
Western medicine knowledge to diagnose, recover, and support functions in a complex
integration situation. Second, from the practical and validity standpoint, it combines
ontology engineering and decision tree technique to systemically analyze the real medicine
treatment records, using case-based reasoning, to retrieve, reuse, revise and retain the
knowledge for treatment care between traditional Chinese and Western medicine.
606
ASMSS-3016
Friends or Non-Friends? How Do WOM Senders' Relation Backfire
Message Persuasiveness
Yu-Jen Chen
Lingnan University (Hong Kong)
Email:yujenchen@ln.edu.hk
Amna Kirmani
University of Maryland (USA)
Abstract
Consumer purchase decision and behavior is often influenced by friends' recommendation.
Prior research has studied the role of message source in persuading message recipients. From
an individual level perspective, recommendation messages from senders who are close to
receivers tend be more persuasive (Brown and Reingen 1987). From an aggregate level
perspective, source size (e.g., number of product ratings) and overall evaluation for the target
(e.g., average product rating) tend to be more impactful (Chevalier and Mayzlin 2006). While
these views explain when and how a communication source can impact message receivers
independently or aggregately, little is known about how the relation between recommenders
may affect message persuasiveness. For example, imagine that two friends, Tom and Mary,
simultaneously share the same article with me, how likely will I “read and "like" the article
when Tom and Mary are friends to each other versus when they are not friends?
Based on model of communication (Berlo 1960), when a communication source is perceived

as credible, the message is more persuasive. The construct of source credibility can be further
divided into multiple dimensions such as expertise and trustworthiness and each of them can
affect persuasibility independently (McGinnies and Ward 1980). In the context of
multiple-senders communication, we suggest that communicators' relation can affect
perceived credibility of the aggregate source. This is because their decision to share the
information is believed to be independent, which subsequently affects credibility and
therefore more persuasive. We tested this conceptual framework in two lab experiments.
In Study 1, we manipulated source relation by asking undergraduate participants to list two

friends they met in college (high relationship closeness), or two friends they met in high
school (high relationship closeness), or one from high school and one from college (low
relationship closeness). We then presented a New York Times article and asked them to
imagine that this article was shared by the two friends. Next, we asked their intention to like
this article as the measure of persuasion. As predicted, people in the low relationship
closeness condition indicated higher liking intention than those in the high relationship
closeness condition (Mlow=3.15 vs. Mhigh=2.32; F(1,75)=4.83, p<.03).
We speculate that the result from Study 1 was driven by source credibility. If so, when we
highlight the importance of group cohesion among the friends, message recipients may not
consider source credibility as the first priority. We tested this in Study 2 by randomly
assigning 106 participants into a 2 (relation closeness: high or low) x 2 (group salience: high
or low) between-subjects design. As predicted, a 2 x 2 ANOVA revealed a significant
interaction effect (F(1,102)=9.93, p<.01). Importantly, we replicated study 1 in the low group
salience condition such that participants were more likely to like when the source was low
relation than when it was high relation (Mlow=4.85 vs. Mhigh=3.26; F(1,102)=7.94, p <.01).
607
However, when the group was made salient, participants were more slightly likely to like
when the source was high relation than when it was low relation (Mlow=4.00 vs. Mhigh=4.92;
F(1,102)=2.69, p=.10).
References
Berlo, David K. (1960), The Process of Communication, New York, NY: Holt, Rinehart, &
Winston.
Brown, Jacqueline Johnson and Peter H. Reingen (1987), “Social Ties and Word-of-Mouth
Referral Behavior,” Journal of Consumer Research, 14(3), 350–362.
Chevalier, Judith A. and Dina Mayzlin (2006), “The Effect of Word of Mouth on Sales:
Online Book Reviews,” Journal of Marketing Research, 43, 345-354.
McGinnies, E., & Ward, C. (1980), “Better liked than right: Trustworthiness and expertise as
factors in credibility,” Personalit
608
ASMSS-2945
Exploring Antecedents of Knowledge Contribution on ISD Teams: Social
Exchange and Transactive Memory Perspective
Sheng Wu
Department of Information Management,
Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taiwan
shengwu@mail.stust.edu.tw
Abstract
Teamwork research has recognized knowledge management as an important research issue.
In a team, a Transative Memory System (TMS) is a collective system for encoding, storing,
and retrieving information that is distributed across team members. The TMS can be viewed
as a knowledge set possessed by group members, coupled with an awareness of who knows
what. In this study, we integrate research on social exchange factors (mutual communication,
mutual commitment, and reciprocity), TMS factors (knowledge stock, knowledge location,
credibility, and coordination) and collective mind to develop and test a set of hypotheses
regarding knowledge contribution. Drawing on data from a study of 101 teams (493
members); our statistically significant findings supported all of our hypotheses. The results
are discussed and implications for academics and practitioners are provided.
Keyword: Knowledge Management, Knowledge Contribution, Transactive Memory System,
Social Exchange Theory, Collective Mind
1. Introduction
In response to the global competition brought by the information technology, enterprises may
mostly utilize team structure to confront the multivariate and non-structural challenges. Team
is a structure, which is formed comprising two or more individuals. The main advantage of a
team lies in high flexibility, which can be adjusted when confronting different challenges.
Individuals in a team may share and cooperate with one another via relationship of skills or
work so as to upgrade the abilities of problem solving so that the specific problems in the
common goals of a team can be solved (Katezenbach & Smith, 1993; Sundstrom, 1990). An
organization may take advantage of the characteristics of flexible performance and prompt
response of a team to promote competitiveness for confronting various challenges.
TMS in a team can be viewed as a knowledge management system, wherein team members
enhance the information processing abilities by way of mutual understanding and
communication of each field of expertise to confront various challenges of tasks. The
interactive memory theory focuses on the distribution and integration of intellectual expertise
in the hope of maximizing the product value of knowledge in a team; in addition, with respect
to the management, a manager may enhance TMS in a team via training and communicating
to reinforce the maintenance and development of TMS and the importance of completing
team’s tasks. Further, the theory alleges that, upon establishing a new team, the professional
expertise of each member shall be valued. It requires selecting members with differentiated
and complementary expertise to facilitate the development of TMS in a team. With regard to
maintaining a team, the alteration of team members shall be avoided as much as possible; the
stability of a team shall be maintained to facilitate the establishment of the mutual trust
among team members.
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Many studies indicate that TMS have positive influence on team work. All the past research
results also show that knowledge management in a team is very important. For example,
when a team encounters a problem, promoting problem solving capacity of a team by
understanding each team member’s expertise and obtaining members’ knowledge via
communication and coordination is another performance of team knowledge management,
which also demonstrates the efficacy of TMS of a team. It can be understood from above that
influencing TMS of a team is very important for implementing a process of knowledge
management. The main purpose of this study is to discover the leading influence factors of
TMS of a team on the basis of Social Exchange Theory (SET).
2. Literature Review and Hypotheses

2.1 Knowledge Contribution
In the early period, many knowledge management studies focused on knowledge sharing as
research target (Quinn et al. 1996, Lin & Lin, 2001). The study of knowledge sharing is
mainly directed to employees or internal or external teams that exchange and discuss
knowledge mutually through various channels, including communications, network meetings,
which comprises the main purpose of knowledge interchange, extending the use value of
knowledge and generating synergy of knowledge. In recent years, many scholars have further
considers that exploring knowledge contribution is more important in practice than exploring
knowledge sharing. The reason is that knowledge sharing only involves knowledge
transmission; it cannot be known if knowledge is effectively useful to others. Therefore, the
study of knowledge contribution is directed to not only knowledge sharing but also the
factors of knowledge contribution (Kankanhalli et al. 2005, Watson & Hewett 2006).
2.2 Transactive Memory System (TMS)

TMS is firstly proposed by Wegner et al. in 1985. The main idea is derived from group mind,
which is developed from psychology and sociology. The idea of group mind is mainly used to
explain that a team is constituted by a group of individuals with similarities, where the group
may comprise a common mind in a course of development for a period of time. This means
that team members may have the same point of view toward some subject matters. Therefore,
group mind is also called social agency (LeBon, 1903; McDougall, 1920; Ross, 1908;
Wegner et al., 1985). However, the study of group mind encounters difficulty in
measurement due to no representative of a team can be found. Even if a member of a team is
appointed as the representative of the team, no sufficient evidence can be demonstrated that
the mind of the appointed member may represent that of the team. Therefore, many
researchers try to explain the phenomena in terms of genetics and social psychology. On the
other hand, Wegner et al. (1985) propose the concept of TMS, alleging that the closed
relationship among people is established upon the knowledge acquired, memorized, and
generated by one another.
TMS is a kind of mutual dependent cognition. In detail, it refers to the way a group of people
acquiring, memorizing, and generating knowledge. Wegner further provides detailed
explanation in 1986 (Wegner, 1986), indicating that TMS comprises a group of members
having knowledge, wherein the members understand who knows what under mutual closed
relationship and the members also may extend their expertise via comprehension of
knowledge location in a group (Faraj & Sproull, 2000). This series of processes, including
encoding of team members, storing and retrieving information, may be called transactive
process (Wegner et al., 1985).
610
2.3 Social Exchange Theory (SET)
SET explores interpersonal interaction in terms of cost-benefit, which is similar to the
exchange theory in economy. What SET explores are the invisible social cost and benefit
exchange (such as respect, reputation, friendship, care, etc.), which have no clear rules or
contracts to regulate and manage. Both the exchange theory in economy and Set assume that
partial exchange only occurs when personal gain is greater than cost; while exchange theory
in economy focuses on extrinsic benefit, SET focuses on intrinsic rewards (Thibaut & Kelley,
1959; Blau, 1964; Gefen & Ridings, 2002). The main different between economical exchange
and social exchange lies in that social exchange does not guarantee that invested cost brings
about equivalent reward due to lack of clear rules or contracts to manage interactions between
each other and lack of specific rights and obligations. On the other hand, economical
exchange between each other can be guarantee, e.g., by a contract to further ensure the rights
and obligation of each other (Thibaut & Kelley, 1959; Blau, 1964). In the perspective of SET,
most of the social interaction can be imaged as social exchange, and the theory is directed to
dealing with issues of psychological, social, and material exchanges. Nevertheless, the
process of knowledge contribution belongs to social interaction among people. Thus, it is
very suitable to explain knowledge contribution behaviors in terms of SET.
Considering the findings in the literature review, this paper therefore proposes the research
model shown in Figure 1. As shown in the model, this study attempts to contribute to the
TMS research stream by applying TMS to the area of knowledge management.
3. Research Methodology
3.1 Subjects
The study targeted ISD team member as its major subjects. Questionnaires were filled out by
ISD team members from information management departments at universities in Taiwan.
These ISD teams belonged to a senior graduation project development effort. Every team
manager was on team with 3-7 members. Respondents were primarily team manager from
teams which had been working on year-long projects. A total of 101 teams (493 members)
participated in the study.
611
3.2 Reliability and Validity
The partial least squares (PLS) model was employed to test our measurements and proposed
hypotheses. This study employed SmartPLS 2.0 M3 (Ringle et al., 2005). Reliability can be
ensured through composite reliability (CR>0.7) with all the CR values fall between 0.85-0.92,
Cronbach’s alpha (>0.7) with all the alpha values fall between 0.76-0.89, and factor loading
(>0.7) with all the factor loading values fall between 0.71-0.90. The convergent validity
should be tested when multiple indicators are used to measure one construct. This can be
examined by testing the CR (>0.7) and average variance extracted (AVE>0.5) by constructs.
For the required discriminant validity, the correlation between construct pairs should be
lower than 0.90 and the square root of AVE should be higher than the inter-construct
correlation coefficients. The all values indicate that all minimum requirements were met
(Fornell & Larcker, 1981).
4. Data Analysis and Results

In this paper, we assessed the hypotheses via structural equation modeling because of its
ability to validate multiple causal relationships simultaneously. This study used SmartPLS
2.0 M3 with bootstrapping as a resampling technique (500 random samples) to estimate the
structural model and the significance of the paths. Path coefficients (t value) and R2 values
were used jointly to evaluate the model. First, we found that mutual communication (β=0.34),
mutual commitment (β=0.29) and reciprocity (β=0.23) have an impact on TMS. This result
indicates that H1, H2 and H3 were also supported. In addition, the combination of mutual
communication, mutual communication and reciprocity explains more than 50% of the
variance of TMS (R2=53.6%). Second, Hypothesis 4 proposed a link between TMS and
collective mind. Based on our findings, TMS is significantly associated with collective mind
(β=0.70). TMS explains 40% of the total variance of collective mind. Hence, H4 is supported.
Final, we found that both TMS (β=0.42) and collective mind (β=0.31) have an impact on
knowledge contribution. Therefore, H5 and H6 are supported. These two variables explain
over 40% of the variance of knowledge contribution (R2=44.6%).
5. Conclusion
This study focused on understanding how ISD teams’ mutual communication, mutual
commitment, reciprocity, TMS and collective mind affect knowledge contribution. Data from
our survey of 101 ISD teams supported all of our proposed hypotheses. Result of statistical
test show that the mutual communication of team has relatively strong weighting, compared
with mutual commitment, reciprocity on TMS. The TMS has relatively strong weighting,
compared with collective mind on knowledge contribution.
The academic contribution of this study is establishing the dimensions of TMS and its
measurement scale, which can serve as a fundamental mode for the future researches as
reference in the study of TMS to integrate SET and TMS. With respect to practical
implication, the research result may be provided to relevant enterprises for more efficiently
utilizing management mechanism to improve the efficiency of project teams. Furthermore,
enhancing communications among team members may benefit the extension of the scope of
interactive memories to facilitate the degree of knowledge contribution.
This study is not without limitations. First, the independent and dependent variables of this
study are from the same respondent. In future, to avoid the risk of common method variance
need to collect data from different sources or different time slots. Second, this study sample is
student team. However, past research show that organizational culture and norm have
significant impact teamwork process. Therefore, result of this study should not over
generalization to team of corporate. Third, it does not measure how the mutual
612
communication, mutual commitment, reciprocity, TMS, collective mind and knowledge
contribution of ISD teams change over time. All measures of these constructs are taken at a
single point in time.
References
[1] Blau, P.M. (1964), Exchange and power in social life, New York: John Wiley and Sons.
[2] Faraj, S., & Sproull, L. (2000). Coordinating expertise in software development teams.
Management Science, 46(12), pp.1554-1568.
[3] Fornell, C. & D. F. Larcker (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with
unobservable variables and measurement error. Journal of Marketing Research, 18(1),
pp.39-50.
[4] Gefen, D. & Ridings, C.M. (2002), “Implementation team responsiveness and user
evaluation of customer relationship management: A Quasi-experimental design study of
social exchange theory,” Journal of Management Information Systems, (19:1), pp.47-69.
[5] Kankanhalli, A., Tan, C.Y., & Wei, K. K. (2005), „Contributing knowledge to electronic
knowledge repositories: An empirical investigation,“ MIS Quarterly, (29:1), pp.
113-143.
[6] Katzenbach, J. R., & Smith, D. K. (1993). The wisdom of teams: Creating the
high-performance organization Harper Business.
[7] Le Bon G. 1903 (1895). The crowd: A study of the popular mind, T. Fisher Unwin,
London.
[8] Lin, F., & Lin, S. (2001). A conceptual model for virtual organizational learning.
Journal of Organizational Computing and Electronic Commerce, 11(3), pp.155-178.
[9] McDougall (1920), W. The group mind , New York: Putnam & Son’s. ch1. pp.1-28.
[10] Quinn, J. B., Anderson, P., ＆ Finkelstein, S. (1996), “Managing professional intellect:
Making the most of the best,” Harvard Business Review, 74, pp.71-80.
[11] Ringle, C. M., S. Wende & A. Will (2005). SmartPLS 2.0 (M3). Hamburg.
[12] Ross, E. A. (1908). Social psychology: An outline and source book The Macmillan
company.
[13] Sundstrom, E. (1990). Work teams: Applications and effectiveness. American
Psychologist, 45(2), pp.120-133.
[14] Thibaut, J.W. & Kelly, H. (1959), The social psychology of groups, New York: Wiley.
[15] Watson, S., & Hewett, K. (2006). “A multi-theoretical model of knowledge transfer in
organizations: Determinants of knowledge contribution and knowledge reuse,” Journal
of Management Studies, 43(2), pp.141-173.
[16] Wegner, D. M. (1986). Transactive memory: A contemporary analysis of the group
mind. In B. Mullen and G. R. Goethals (Eds.), Theories of group behavior (pp.185-208).
New York: Springer-Verlag.
[17] Wegner, D. M., Giuliano, T., & Hertel, P. T. (1985). „Cognitive interdependence in
close relationships,”. Compatible and Incompatible Relationships, pp.253-276.
613
ASMSS-3032
Study for the Discussion of Fence Landscape Design in Southern Taiwan’s
Fishing Port Areas
Ning-Chen Hsu
PhD Graduate, College of Design, Chung Yuan Christian University,
No. 200, Chungshan N. Rd., Chungli City, Taoyuan County, Taiwan
Email:j83666@gmail.com
Abstract
Taiwan is located in geographical environment surrounded by the sea, which the fishery is an
important part of Taiwan’s economic development; however, marine culture has been
overlooked for a long time, causing that fishing ports to this day in Taiwan under the impact
of globalization should especially redefine regional environment and re-planning urban visual
space based on the relevant mechanism problems for new ecology and industrial policy, etc..
These are important indicators for the development of culture creativity industry.
In the campus planning, traditional fence concept has been broken to gradually transform into
open-type penetrable fence, trying to make the whole fishing port area full of marine creative
style for the beginning of new fishing village culture. Case study method was adopted based
on qualitative research by collecting literature to conduct field investigation and record the
fence forms, spatial images in 8 schools intended to study, and the interviews from local
residents, tourists and school teachers and students for further analysis of strengths and
weakness after being rebuilt.
This study aims at the influence of the rebuilt of the fence in the campus on many ways, and
explores the role of rebuilt fence played in the community to bring more vigor of positive
effects for community aesthetic education and environmental sustainability, extending to
quality of life, output value of the tourism for the improvement of local cultural style.
Keywords: Taiwan fishing port, fence landscape, environmental sustainability, community

aesthetics
1. Introduction
For more than a decade, the government has been implementing local remediation to change
Taiwan people’s impression on regional cultural construction; culture that is a transformation
status with representation meaning and inheritance generally can be used as the basis of
people’s communication, response and development, as well as correction of the relevant life
attitude and knowledge. Taiwan located in Pacific west bank has a special marine style,
trying to look back upon the old cultural barriers, developing another new culture and facing
the challenge of future life under the urge of globalization.
Ocean country flaunted by Taiwan government in recent years caused coastal construction
and tourism planning one after another, the outcomes of which have received positive
responses from all citizens; consequently, each village and township also followed to activate
the reshape of fishing village, and thus today’s fishing village is no longer unlike a place
filled with disorder and stink odor in the old days but a new fishing village culture with
innovation. Such a culture may drive community economy in the whole fishing village and
also facilitate residents to value community environment, attracting young men to back
614
hometown for the operation of the relevant businesses. Nowadays, Taiwan’s booing economy
even though must bear historical burden, Taiwanese’s intelligence and tough characteristics
will soon open a way for themselves. Art culture in the current community of local fishing
village is gradually treasured, which the relevant marine style artistic works and displays of
cultural activities are gradually increasing in an attempt to transform new style of the fishing
village into a new trend for Taiwan’s coastal fishing villages.
1.1 Research Motivation

In recent ten years, each city has continuously torn down the fence from its public sector to
close to the crowd with the open form, producing the penetrating vision in the environmental
space to receive people’s positive comments. Public fields also learned it in succession
afterwards, e.g. After “Chungshan Park” at the center of Kaohsiung City was rebuilt into
“Urban Spotlight” all fences were dismantled for the re-planning of park recreation site
actually used for residents’ activities. Advertising lamp boxes with artistic atmosphere were
designed at the border line where the fences of Chungcheng Cultural Center were torn down
to enhance the beauty of city culture. Elementary schools at all levels also knocked down
their fences or changed the forms of fences with no longer traditional brick walls and the cold
iron bars from 2006 till now; most schools have designed the fences for their regions based
on local characteristics. This study assumed that school’s fences may enclose broader spaces
available for image promotion and packing toward local characteristics, allowing students to
know the histories or atmospheres of their hometowns from childhood. Making good use of it
will produce effects different from the previous monotonousness.
1.2 Research Purpose

The study based on the improved design for elementary schools’ fences in fishing port area
considered if it could be used to change the images of fishing village as a basic survey
principle since the fences generally were used to isolate from the outside world and protect
children safe in early years. Such changes of the fence in the campus, including the modeling
from tradition to innovation, working alone to jointly participation and the form from close
and impenetrability to open and penetrability, maybe a completely new outlook visually
looks even more beautiful in the environment along with plant cover and the location of
public art; however, whether did such changes accomplish local residents’ living with more
aesthetic feelings? In fact, they could generate the effect of positive development for local
cultural creative industries as the changes did attract outside tourists’ sights to quickly
understand local characteristics and cultural industries for more improvements of the fishing
village images.
1.3 Research Scope

Natural landscape of Taiwan’s coastline is very beautiful along with the diversity of creatures
and plants; Taiwan is faced with Taiwan Strait in the west and the Pacific in the east, in
which each urban settlement has its own cultural backgrounds and stories; both big or small
fishing ports and harbors are built on the land along the coastline. (Dai, Chang-Fung(戴昌鳳)，
2003，p180). The main respondents came from elementary schools in Class I-fishing ports in
southern Taiwan’s coastal region. According to fishery law, facility size of administration
branch in Class I-fishing port must be equipped with berthing area more than 200,000 sq.m.,
anchoring ships number more than 100 to 300 ships, and land facilities including fish market,
discharge port, feed water, refuel, adding ice, fish processing, freezing carrier repair machine
and complete maintenance equipments, available for fishing boat’s shelter and anchorage in
regardless of the typhoon or the monsoon season.
615
Class I-fishing ports in southern Taiwan are as follows: Anping fishing port, Chiangchun
fishing port, Tainan City; Hsingder fishing port, Chienchen fishing port, Kaohsiung City.
There’re five Class I-fishing ports in Yenpu fishing port, Pingdong County, and elementary
schools distributed in this area are as follows:
Fishing port area Elementary School (E.S.)
Chiangchun fishing port Chiangchun E.S., Kunshen E.S., Ouwang E.S., Changping E.S., Linghe E.S.
Anping fishing port Hsimen E.S., Shihmen E.S., Yizai E.S., Yuguan Branch of Yizai E.S., Anping E.S.,
Chuji E.S.
Hsingder fishing port Chiehding E.S., Chengung E.S., Shalun E.S., Hsingder E.S.
Chienchen E.S., Shihchia E.S., Renai E.S., Lechun E.S., Aichun E.S., Huhsing E.S.,
Rueifeng E.S., Mingcheng E.S., Guanhua E.S., Rueihsien E.S., Chengchang E.S.,
Chienchen fishing port
Fogung E.S., Mingchuan E.S. Hongmaogang E.S.
Yenpu fishing port Donggang E.S., Donghsing E.S., Donglung E.S., Dongguan E.S., Yisu E.S., Datan
E.S., Haibin E.S.
After field investigation, close and impenetrable fence were found in 28 elementary schools,
in which open and penetrable fence found in 8 schools excluding those closely planted and
green fences without being crossed. 8 schools i.e. Hsimen, Shihmen, Shalun, Mingcheng,
Mingchuan, Hongmaogang, Donghsing and Datang Elementary Schools are included in the
research scope.
1.4 Research Methods

Case study method was adopted based on qualitative research by collecting literature to
conduct field investigation and record the fence forms, spatial images in 8 schools intended to
study, and the interview from local residents, tourists and school teachers and students for
further analysis of strengths and weakness after being rebuilt. The study will make
appearance records and conduct interviews for 8 elementary schools in fishing port area to
understand the general situation of local fishing villages.
2. Literature review
2.1 The Meaning of Fence Culture
Fence in literal meaning has the function to isolate something or someone from inside and
outside. Regional space that is used to separate inside from outside for some territorialities in
human life can highlight the distribution of power; the strong in the history always had ability
to build fences for some purposes to govern the party without power. Nowadays, people
vigorously advocate freedom and democracy to demolish the fence that symbolizes the power
one after another as the story like collapse of Jericho in Old Testament; for the Israeli at that
time, it meant the destruction of the pagan power and manifestation of the Hebrew religion
power; Berlin Wall built under the exercise of power couldn’t but face the coming of new
situations and the fate of the demolition. Each factor may bring different egocentric
awareness to create complicated psychological states under interaction of many factors（Guo,
Chung-Ren(郭中人), 2007,p.196）. Fence or enclosure has become a vocabulary of scope
limitation in the territory of freedom and democracy.
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2.2 The Impact of the Community Overall Construction
In recent decade, the government has been promoting community overall construction
causing that the part of culture and art is gradually taken seriously; education has also
commenced at the basic compulsory education and the relevant humanity and art courses are
generally open to become a great upsurge in the promotion of community environment
improvement. Community overall construction is a new noun and new concept in Taiwan
after 1994, the idea of which came from Japan’s Machizukuri, England’s community
architecture and American community design, etc. Endoh Yasuhiro explained Machizukuri
and said, “Machizukuri not only values improvement of hardware environment, but also put
software fields, such as resident’s health, welfare, education and community’s formation in
the vision to simultaneously consider the improvement of physical environment and
promotion of intangible life quality”.
2.3 The Fence in the Campus

The fence in the campus has traditional and modern characteristics; traditional fence that is
close and impenetrability isolate the sight from inside and outside as if children were always
educated behind closed doors in the past in an enclosed teaching situation; Safety is the
priority of building model in the main form of brick structure. External function is mainly for
isolation and internal function to prevent students from going out. Recently, it’s not hard to
find school fence has been changed in countries and towns. The appearance of
semi-perspectivity or perspectivity along with advertising effects showed the differences
from the past, and designers’ characteristics were deliberately presented or odd shape
formative objects decorated on some buildings or issues. Maybe unique and exclusive
modeling tactics produced under the old values could be acclaimed in a certain age, it’s more
important for a school to play the role of education to notice how the harmonization of region
and the design of time convey the concept of environmental protection. (郭中端、堀込憲二，
2004，p6）.
3. Research contents
3.1 Filed Investigation Data from the fences in Elementary Schools
Investigation data for open and penetrable fence in 8 schools, including Hsimen and Shihmen
Elementary School, Tainan City, Shalun, Mingcheng, Mingchuan and Hongmaogang
Elementary School, Kaohsiung City, Donghsing and Datang Elementary School, Donggang
Township, Pingdong County. Classification figures for fence appearance are used to analyze
as follows:
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Hsimen E.S.
Photo caption Red brick wall is the Green fence Location of work of A big stone inscription Walkway to
characteristics of art by the gate school
locally ancient city.
Shihmen E.S
Photo caption The gate Walkway to school Fence inlaid with The modeling of d read brick
students’ works of migratory bird walls
ceramic arts black-faced spoonbill
Shalun E.S.
Photo caption Interesting curve Guide line and Students’ works Fish-modeling gate Green fence
wooden pavement
Mingcheng
E.S.
Photo caption Gate decoration Eco-green fence Plant cover Students’ works Walkway to
school
Mingchuan
E.S.
Photo caption Wall appearance and Fence with local Inlay of modeling Fence with local birds Walkway to
red advertising banner marine pattern and engraved hollow school
characteristics characteristics
Hongmaogong
E.S
Photo caption Fence inlaid with Bus shelter outside Short fence with Fence with local Walkway to
students’ works of the fence modeling marine characteristics school
ceramic arts and modeling
Donghsing
E.S.
Photo caption Windmill responded Wave modeling Fence with fish Fence with fish Walkway to
by wind blowing modeling modeling school
Datang E.S.
Photo caption Image of the gate Green fence Ancient style Wooden railing and Walkway to
pavilion plant cover school
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3.2 Analysis of General Situation for Fishing Port Community
Tainan City with its coastline length 18.25 km and the main port Anping Port faces Taiwan
Strait in the west. New Anping Port has been developed since early 1979 to complete the
renovation of Anping fishing port, which will bring prosperity to Tainan City’s fishery.
Hsimen and Shihmen Elementary School located at sightseeing Old Street have significant
cultural style and features with red bricklaying on the walls and green plants on the fences
separated both inside and outside. The modeling of black-faced spoonbill on the fences in
Shihmen Elementary School promote the information relating to animal conservation as
spoonbill is a very precious species in the list of Taiwan’s protected wild animals（盧昭彰，
2006，p.180）. Propaganda of seasonal characteristics for precious migratory bird is a good
idea to attract tourists.
There was no pedestrians and vehicles separated in Kaohsiung City’s Shalun Elementary
School before the reconstruction of the fence. It was in chaos when the cars that shuttled
students entered the campus in rainy days. After the rebuilt based on the design of green
environmental protection, inside and outside separation is more obvious causing the order of
student transport much better.
Kaohsiung City’s Chienchen Fishing Port brought the growth of economy with its role of
Kaohsiung Export Processing Zone Administration in early days. Now, Software Science
Park, multi-function Economic and Trade Center, Dream Mall, several department stores and
shopping malls constitute a good working and living area, in which Chienchen Fishing Port
and part of Kaohsiung port are located. The fence design is part of an important image for the
school; with sufficient budget, many schools would add public arts for more cultural
temperaments. It’s much special for Hongmaogang Elementary School to deal with the fence
in the campus as it was a school built for the residents of village relocation. The old village in
Hongmaogang port was re-planned to an important conservation area that all residents must
move to Hsiogang District, and thus whatever street names and schools, etc. were new built.
Consequently, the more precious is that school teachers, students and residents jointly
participated in the production. In fact, a wonderful campus should be a place not only has
beautiful green environment, but also coheres life community and solidifies shared memories.
There’s nothing deeper experience in such meaningfulness than the whole village moved
from Hongmaogang port (胡寶林，2006，p135).
In addition to good geographic location, Donghsing Elementary School in Donggang

Township did its best to promote green environmental protection, combining the ocean,
humanity, sightseeing and environmental protection to shape local characteristics and
highlight unique visual aesthetics. The fence of the school gate located at the main route the
tourists head for Donggang Township, on which sunflower-shape windmills responded by
wind blowing always catch people’s sights to slow down the cars when passing by; fence
design based on semi-open style provides community people with bigger recreation space,
and no trouble for school children safety as the distance is far from the gate to atrium.
4. Conclusion
Regarding local characteristics: With joint efforts of school and local people, fishing village
has gradually presented its characteristics with effectiveness of positive response received
from community construction to change traditional concept of school education for teaching
only. School’s active participation in community construction has broken the sense of fence
to increase interaction between school and community. The fence in the school becomes the
window of community culture when people and school work together to practice the ideal of
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community, producing new image in the fishing village. Fishing village will be no longer a
place for fishing and sunning net or dirty environment which was known before. Modern
fishing village successfully renovate the environment after having visual aesthetics, allowing
outside tourists to love and enjoy locally cultural creative industry. The fence being
beautified can even present different characteristics in fishing village area from those in other
countries and towns.
Regarding school education: Break the fence to form the perspective teaching. The age of
teacher’s authoritative teaching has become history, and interaction and aesthetic feeling have
added in democratic and open educational methods. Penetrable or semi-penetrable fence may
generate different spatial effects: how much visual aesthetic feeling of students’ impressions
toward rebuilt fence will be increased through effect calculation and teaching quality
evaluation. Such discussions will make outside tourists know more about the characteristics
of fishing port that has local charm itself, and go deep into fishing port area to share beautiful
marine taste with residents for it’s no longer a place full of fishy smell; the increase of
tourism output value may remove catering culture in fishing village for sustainable operation.
References
[Sensation of Spatial Vision] 郭中人,2007, ISBN：978-957-12-0660-8。
[Practical record of environmental works]郭中端、堀込憲二著,2004,ISBN：986-7487-33-8。
[Fishing ports of Taiwan] 戴昌鳳,2003, ISBN：986-7630-00-9。
[Fishing ports of Taiwan]黑潮海洋文教基金會編著, ISBN：986-7630-38-6。
[Fishery of Taiwan] 胡興華,2002,ISBN：957-2803-16-6。
[Ancient maps of Taiwan/Japanese ruled period] 李欽賢著,ISBN：957-2803-13-1。
[Popularization of fishery] 胡興華，2004， ISBN：957-0195-86-X
[Environment．People．Life] 盧昭彰,2006,ISBN：986-412-315-7。
[New aesthetics of the space of public art]胡寶林撰文攝影,2006, ISBN：86-7487-64-8。
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ASMSS-2997
An Early Evaluation of the Challenges and Prospects Faced by Taiwan’s
Traditional Crafts Industry in the Maker Movement
Chi-Wen Chuang
Ph.D Program in Design, Chung Yuan Christian University，
No.22, Aly. 6, Ln. 262, Guoji 1st Rd., Taoyuan Dist., Taoyuan City 33061, Taiwan
E-mail address: kaiyang9699@gmail.com
Abstract
Since the Industrial Revolution, machines have been used in favor over human labor for mass
production. This trend has had a tremendous impact on the traditional crafts industry.
However, along with the advent of the Maker movement, sweeping changes have been made
to our preconceptions toward production and consumption patterns. These changes have
helped to break traditional supply chain hierarchies, allowing for a reimagining of the
manufacturing process. Today, a large number of makers of traditional craft products need no
longer rely on corporations to meet economy scale order demands. Instead, they take their
own approach to manufacturing, producing handcrafted items in low quantities to fulfill niche
markets in the maker’s spirit.
The Maker movement has brought the traditional crafts industry many new opportunities and
prospects. Through co-creation, Taiwan’s scattered traditional crafts industry has come
together to form cooperative production and sales coalitions. This has allowed traditional
crafts makers of low-volume niche items to thrive, creating a long tail effect. With limited
resources, traditional crafts makers are less able to place a strong emphasis on developing
sustainable and environmental practices. 3D printing technology has allowed these craft
makers to reduce their production costs significantly. Traditional crafts are made with a focus
on creating one of a kind or tailored items, effectively unlocking the power of crowdfunding,
whilst promoting cross-disciplinary methods of co-working as a replacement for the capitalist
systems of the past.
The Maker movement involves not only the application of 3D printing technology, but
encompasses the notion that every person is a manufacturer. This notion can be viewed as a
continuation of the spirit of traditional craft makers. Behind the driving force of the Maker
movement, newer technologies such as 3D printing are bound to have a great impact on the
traditional crafts industry, which prides itself on its unique and longstanding techniques and
production methods. Yet at the same time, these technologies also serve to highlight the value
of preserving the skills and techniques of traditional craft makers. On a spiritual level, the
maker’s spirit has been significant in helping to promote the value and use of traditional
crafts in our everyday lives.
Keywords: Maker, Maker Movement, Traditional Crafts, Long Tail Effect
1. Examining motivation and awareness of issues

Exploring the context behind the development of traditional crafts from a global point of
view, traditional crafts were jolted by the shifts in mass production during the Industrial
Revolution. This leads to the loss of an increasingly large number of traditional craft
techniques and methods. In response, during the mid-19th century, William Morris
(1834-1896) initiated the “Arts & Crafts movement,” which ran between 1880 ~ 1914.
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Machines had replaced human labor and the result was large amounts of unemployment. Due
to the poor quality of goods produced by the machines of the day, the problem of industrial
goods lacking aesthetic value was raised. Looking back, the Arts & Crafts movement was
ultimately unable to stem the shift toward an era of mass production. It did, however, serve as
to highlight the value society places in the existence of traditional crafts.
Taiwan's traditional crafts must inevitably face the current industrial situation and the
constant risk of being swallowed. We can no longer resist the fate that human labor will be
replaced by machines. Mass produced factory goods can be made at profit ratios highly
advantageous to costs once a certain economic scale is reached. Mass manufacturing
corporations are the largest beneficiaries of the 80/20 rule, also called the Pareto Principle.
Still, there is no need to be too pessimistic about the state of the traditional crafts industry.
Once the storm that is the Industrial Revolution subsides, the Maker movement will truly
have arrived. Just as the Industrial Revolution brought a series of changes, the Maker
movement of digital manufacturing is also accompanied by a series of shifts in
preconceptions towards manufacturing and consumption patterns. These changes can be as
far reaching as to completely change the landscape of the manufacturing hierarchy and our
notions of manufacturing as a whole.
As Taiwan's traditional crafts industry has evolved over time, most existing traditional craft
products began to be handcrafted in low quantities by craftsmen to fulfill niche markets. The
landscape of Taiwan's traditional crafts industry is in line with the long tail effect,
emphasized by the Maker movement. There is a lot of overlap between the supporting
concepts behind makers and crafts. Taiwan's traditional crafts can no longer avoid being a
part of the Maker movement, whilst the current situation and future prospects for the
traditional crafts industry are certainly worth a closer look
2. The situation faced by taiwan’s traditional crafts industries in the maker

movement
Previous notions of manufacturing were that an absolute control of the production process
must be achieved. As a result, production shifted to factories as large amounts of equipment
were necessary to achieve total control over the manufacturing process. For most craftsmen,
the costs of entering the market are far too great. Even if craftsmen can collect all of the
necessary manufacturing tools, large expenses must also be spent on production molding and
prototyping. Regardless of whether a profit is turned or not, these are sunk costs which
cannot be avoided. For this reason, craftsmen must be able to receive order quantities large
enough to achieve economies of scale. This is a difficult task in a capitalist economy where
capitalists are the ones with mass production capabilities and control over the supply chain.
Craftsman armed with only their personal skills and creativity are often unable to compete
with capitalists for orders. In this scenario, craftsmen ultimately just have ideas, but no way
of executing or achieving them.
Starting with the British Arts and Crafts movement and developing into Japanese Mingei
movement and Yen Shui-Long's crafts revival movement, each of these movements started
with the hope that through the popularization of crafts products, quality of life could be
increased. Taking Morris as an example, experience tells us that out of all of the products he
designed, regardless of whether it was curtains or wallpaper, an over emphasis on
handcrafting resulted in an unrealistically high cost of production. Regardless of how well
made the item is, it still cannot compete with the low-price competition from industrial
manufacturers. These are problems that can be resolved in the Maker movement.
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In the Maker movement, Taiwan's traditional arts industry would no longer need to rely on
business from large corporations or attempt to compete with them through mass production.
Craftsmen can simply hone their craftsmanship in a particular area without worrying about
overall market size. Craftsmen can just worry about finding a niche market, and are no longer
subject to the whims of large corporations. Whether or not they can find a manufacturer
willing to mass produce their product for them would no longer be an issue. There is then
even less need to worry about finding a sales channel or means to distribute their products.
The production of traditional crafts emphasizes quality and originality of design, with less
fear of being out-competed due to price. Customers in niche markets are willing to spend
more on products that are one of a kind or help them stand out from the crowd.
3. Prospects for Taiwan’s traditional crafts industry in the maker movement

3.1 Traditional Crafts Industries form Cooperative Regional Coalitions
Taiwan's twenty year history of community development has yielded excellent results in the
exploration and nurturing of regional and local crafts industries. For example: Wanli grass
weaving in Miaoli, Fengyuan lacquerware in Taichung, Chushan bamboo crafts in Nantou
and more. Prior to the Industrial Revolution, these regional or local crafts were distributed in
a cooperative fashion according to local needs. However, in the post-Industrial Revolution
era, these craftsmen can no longer compete with the cheap prices of mass produced products.
Along with the Maker movement comes the globalization of communities and the formation
of a global village. The functionality of centralized systems, such as governments, is reduced
as government organizations continue to be carved up into an increasing number of pieces.
Due to this, co-ops, or similar coalitions, are now better placed to play pivotal roles in the
economy of goods. Previous community-centered production and marketing cooperation
models fit well with the emphasis on decentralized co-creation of the Maker movement. If
traditional community-centered crafts makers can form autonomous cooperatives, they will
then be able to replace centralized capitalist organizations which only focus on profit. With a
focus on refining single items and a loyalty to the communities they jointly share, these kinds
of regional and local cooperatives have helped to shape Taiwan into an exemplary location
for a thriving traditional crafts industry in the Maker movement.
3.2 Traditional Crafts Industry's Focus on Niche Markets and Low-volume Production
Model Closely Adheres to the Long Tail Principle
The production of handcrafted items requires the devotion of larger amounts of time per item
produced and the costs are also typically much higher in comparison to mass production.
Time intensive production processes are one of the primary reasons that traditional crafts are
unable to compete in terms of price. Standardized products produced in higher quantities at
lower costs have managed to attract mainstream consumers. However, a number of niche
consumers still exist, even though they have been forced to accept standardized goods which
do not meet their needs. This continually lowering of consumer expectations is called
“Customer Sacrifice.”
Mass production and the flooding of a market with standardized products is the perfect
application of the 80/20 rule. In contrast, there is little existing market demand and a lack of
appropriate distribution channels for the handcrafted products made by traditional craftsmen,
which are high cost and produced in low quantities. Now, in the Maker movement, through
far-reaching online platforms, such as the National Taiwan Craft Research and Development
Institute's online store (a specially created platform for the distribution of Taiwan's regional
or local crafts), the Facebook pages of craftsmen themselves, or other popular online blogs
623
etc.; niche consumers are more easily able to find and purchase items that perfectly meet their
requirements. In the past, traditional crafts were only available to well-connected consumers
in niche groups. Now, through the internet, these crafts can begin to meet the long hidden
demands of existing consumer groups. The Maker movement emphasizes personal style over
mainstream consumption patterns. This has given new sales channels to small quantity, niche
makers of handcrafted goods that could not find physical stores willing to carry their goods.
This trend towards a large diversity of items being sold in relatively low quantities has
formed a long tail market which is in line with the Maker's spirit of diversity.
3.3 3D Printing Technology Lends a Helping Hand to the Reduction of Traditional

Crafts Production Costs
Due to the expiration of laser sintering patents used in 3D printing, affordable 3D printing
and digital manufacturing tools are now available to the general public. 3D printing is a game
changing technology and has played a crucial role in bringing about the Maker movement.
Although traditional crafts which place great emphasis in skill and production methods have
yet to use 3D printing directly in the production process, 3D printing still serves as a practical
tool for mold designing and prototype development.
Since 2007, the National Taiwan Craft Research And Development Institute has used the
name "Yii" as the flagship brand for representing Taiwan's crafts. The "Yii" brand previously
showcased intricate crafts, but was ridiculed under the premise that none of the showcased
items could be produced in large enough quantities, and was subsequently labeled a "dead
brand." To take the bamboo cantilever chair named the "Chair-43" for example (Figure 1), a
technological development team was called in to assist the production of the chair using 3D
printing. The production team was able to use 3D printing to significantly reduce the
complexity of the prototyping process using 3D rapid prototyping (RP). This effectively
decreased the overall production process and reduced the associated costs.
Figure 1: < Chair-43>, by Konstantin Grcic and Chen, Gao-Ming, 2007.
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3.4 Traditional Crafting Avoids Overproduction and is in Line with Concepts of
Sustainable Development
The unintended results of the Industrial Revolution, where machine production and mass
manufacturing has begun to replace handcrafting, is the encouragement of excessive
consumption behavior. The use of oil to fuel production has resulted in the excessive and
indiscriminate use of non-renewable fossil energies. In addition, the majority of plastic
products, which replaced traditionally crafted products, are also highly damaging to the
environment.
However, the emphasis of traditional crafts should not be purely on environmental

friendliness. It is more important to achieve sustainability. In 2008, the National Taiwan Craft
Research And Development Institute proposed the "Green Craft" plan and direction for
development. Aside from emphasizing the use of natural materials, an even greater emphasis
was placed on environmental and energy saving production processes. Higher costs but better
quality are common to crafted goods. In comparison to mass produced, cheap plastic products,
craft products are much more practical and durable, whilst also being more environmentally
friendly to manufacture. A long history of over consumption has resulted in irreversible
damage to the environment. Crafts can pave the way to revisiting previous attitudes toward
life whilst creating a model for the economics of happiness. This would allow us to replace
the model of unrestrained consumption growth in capitalist societies.
3.5 Traditional Crafts Meet Personalized Needs, Fulfilling the Concept of Consumerism
Through Experience
Consumer-oriented pricing strategies depend on consumer satisfaction indexes rather than an
evaluation of whether the market price is advantageous in regards to manufacturing costs.
Each item of traditionally crafted goods are produced and tailored by hand for the consumer.
Each item is customized and is specific to their constituent materials, intended consumer
group, and purpose of use. These kinds of "made just for me" niche products are able to
satisfy niche consumer groups, and these people are typically willing to pay a higher
premium to satisfy their demands.
In the experience economy of the Maker movement, aside from an increased demand for
customized consumer experiences, consumers can go a step further and attend craft
workshops led by craftsmen who will help them design the product they want according to
their personal needs. Taiwan's House of Workmanshop, was established by an alliance of
craftsmen, and provides DIY crafting courses in combination with sightseeing activities. The
feeling of satisfaction consumers receive comes not only from the product that they purchase,
but also from the overall experience itself.
3.6 Prevalence of Crowdfunding Platforms Reduce Market Entry Barriers

Many individual crafts studios that create and produce their own products have a limited
amount of financial resources available to them. In addition to having to cover all production
expenses, they also need to find sales channels which allow them to market and distribute
their product. The cost of handcrafted products are generally higher than commercially
produced products. These handcrafted goods are therefore unable to compete with other
goods in a mature market, heavily influencing the ability of traditionally crafted goods to
enter the mainstream market. In the current landscape, crowdfunding is a welcome
mechanism for removing market entry barriers that craftsmen face when establishing their
businesses. An old tatami store that has operated for over 60 years in Tainan has collaborated
625
with a younger generation of designers to successfully crowdfund new creative merchandise
using Taiwan's earliest operating crowdfunding platform, flyingV (Figure 2).
Figure 2 : The Taiwan's earliest operating crowdfunding platform-flyingV

(https://www.flyingv.cc/)
Unlike in the past, where interest from loan financing was also a substantial part of the
startup costs, crowdfunded platforms in the Maker movement provide consumers with a way
to support a product which is still in the production phase. In this manner, customers can be
found before any costs are incurred by the maker. In addition, crowdfunding platforms also
provide an arena for craftsmen to test how well a product appeals to the market. This allows
crafts to be designed directly according to consumer feedback, rather than behind closed
doors.
3.7 Taking Back Control from Capitalists, Cross Disciplinary Co-working Becomes the
Trend
Manufacturing activities within a capitalist economy place an emphasis on effectiveness and
efficiency. Workers are seen as "living production machines." However, since the Maker
movement, craftsmen no longer need to mass produce. Craftsmen can now earn reasonable
profits by focusing on creating better products. In fact, where demand exceeds supply,
craftsmen may reap even higher profits. Changes to the supply chain hierarchy allows
craftsmen to take initiative instead of having to wait for capitalists to manufacture their orders
for them. This has effectively created a reversal of the conceived roles of white collar
(capitalists) and blue collar (craftsmen) workers.
It is worth clarifying that none of this means that we can accomplish everything on our own.
Globalization has brought decentralization, whilst new cooperative economic models have
begun to replace outdated concepts of centralized competition. The advent of the Maker
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movement is driven by individuals in different professional disciplines or from different
countries, to create a cross-disciplinary, or cross-space, co-working environment. The
"Chair-43" bamboo cantilever chair was created in a cross-border cooperative effort between
well-known German designer, Konstantin Grcic, and domestic bamboo artisan, Chen
Gao-Ming. Several technical experts from various fields were also involved in the product
manufacturing process, providing cross-disciplinary technological expertise and experience.
Such concepts adhere to advocating the replacement of competition with cooperation in the
Maker movement.
4. Conclusion
The Maker's spirit sings a similar tune to that of traditional crafts. Both place an emphasis on
revisiting past ways of life, where material items we needed were made by ourselves rather
than purchased. In the past, craftsmen were responsible for everything from production, to
sales, and services. There was little distance between consumers (buyer) and craftsmen
(seller). This kind of image serves as a contrast to the scenario seen in the Industrial Age,
where standardized products are produced using the same molds on the same product line.
The only options made available to consumers are lifeless machine made products, instead of
painstakingly-made handcrafted goods filled with the heart and soul of different craftsmen.
Today, we mostly talk about the impact of 3D printing when bringing up the Maker
movement. There is seldom discourse regarding the spiritual aspects of the Maker movement.
In reality, the Maker's spirit is an extension of the spirit found in traditional crafts. Current
discussion of 3D printing technology only touches on the concept of "work." In other words,
the technological advances made by manufacturers through digital technology. This kind of
discussion does not address the spirit of traditional crafts or, for that matter, any aspects or
concepts relating to aesthetics or art. Advances in technology and material sciences actually
serve to highlight the value of traditional crafting techniques and use of natural materials. The
traditional crafting industry is an intangible cultural asset that closely represents all aspects of
our life and the current state of society. An important topic for future discussion is the
question of how to fully utilize digital technology as a supplementary tool in the Maker
movement, and how we can use it to facilitate the application of traditional crafts to our
everyday life.
5. References
B. Joseph Pine II & James H. Gilmore (2013). The Experience Economy. Taipei City:
Published by Manager Today: Family Media Cite Subsidiary Company.
Chris Anderson. (2013) Makers: The New Industrial Revolution; Taipei City: Commonwealth
Publishing Co., Ltd.
Jeremy Rifkin (2013) The Third Industrial Revolution: How Lateral Power Is Transforming
Energy, the Economy, and the World, Taipei City: Published by Manager Today: Family
Media Cite Subsidiary Company.
Jeremy Rifkin (2014) The Zero Marginal Cost Society: The Internet of Things, the
Collaborative Commons, and the Eclipse of Capitalism. Taipei City: Business Weekly
Publications: Family Media Cite Subsidiary Company.
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ASMSS-2885
The Relationship between Sleep Habits and Behavioral Problems in
Taiwanese Preschoolers Aged 3 to 6 years
Ming-Jae Lo
National Taichung University
Email:mjlo@ms3.ntcu.edu.tw
Abstract
Sleep is a physiological process essential to life. This study assessed the prevalence and
association of sleep habits and behavioral problems, and whether sleep habits predicted
daytime sleepiness, attention, and aggressive behavior among preschool children. A
cross-sectional design was adopted, and children ranging in age from 3 to 6 years (mean age
= 4.59 y; 50.83% girls) were recruited from certified public or private kindergartens in
Taiwan. Using stratified random sampling, we distributed 1,750 copies of a questionnaire
entitled Self-Designed Preschool Children’s Sleep Habits and Behavioral Problems and
collected 1,204 effective samples. Primary caretakers completed the questionnaire by
providing information about the sleep habits and behavioral problems of their children. The
behavioral problems (ranked from low to high) of preschool children were as follows;
aggressive behavior was minimal, followed by daytime sleepiness. The most common
behavior outcome was inattention. Multiple regression analysis revealed that those
kindergarten children with less daytime sleepiness, better attention and less aggressive
behavioral outcomes had whose slept more than 10.01 hr, went to bed before 9:00 p.m., and
watched television less than 1 hr per day on weekdays. Positive sleep habits are crucial for
preventing daytime sleepiness, inattention, and aggressive behavior, and improving normal
neurobehavioral development in preschool children.
Keywords: sleep habits, daytime sleepiness, inattention, aggressive behavior
628
ISLLLE-1265
The Development and Application of Mobile Curriculum for Learning
Aboriginal Language
Shu-Ling Huang, Jian-Hung Chen, Jian-Jing Li, Li-Juan Chen

National Chi Nan University
Email:suli2@ncnu.edu.tw
In view of the situation that aboriginal language has disappeared gradually and been
anticipated to be revived in recent years, this study gathers the academic researchers and
aboriginal language experts who have abundant teaching experiences in the research team to
develop the digital immersion learning program and construct the mobile platform for
learning Atayal by means of the systematic analysis on Atayal and knowledge evaluation.
The purpose is to provide a series of mobile learning programs about the aboriginal language
and solve difficulties of the shortages of learning materials and teachers nowadays.
Furthermore, this study applies the digital immersion Atayal learning programs and platform
to the experimental lessons with flipped learning for understanding the feasibility of applying
flipped learning to aboriginal language education. As a two-year project, according to the
research purpose, this study developed immersion Atayal mobile learning programs by theory
analysis, content analysis and ADDIE model for the design of digital materials at the first
year, and then investigated the effects of applying flipped learning to immersion Atayal
mobile learning programs by experimental research and interview. The result of this study
aims to promote students’ efficiency and outcomes in learning the aboriginal language.
This project gathers a research team that consists of experts in academic research field and
aboriginal language teaching to systematically conduct content analysis and knowledge
evaluation on Atayal for developing digital immersion programs and constructing the mobile
learning platform applied with Atayal language immersion. Therefore, it can solve current
difficulties in teaching aboriginal language due to shortages of learning materials and
teachers. In addition, this project applies digital Atayal immersion programs and teaching
platform to the flipped classroom as a course experiment whose purpose is to realize the
feasibility of flipped classroom used for teaching aboriginal languages. Eventually, this
project reviews learning performance of digital Atayal immersion programs based on the
result of the teaching experiment to examine, assess and revise the materials for mobile
learning. Thus, the teaching materials can be adopted broadly to promote the performance of
learning aboriginal languages.
629
ISLLLE-1263
An Evaluative Study on DNA-Based Biotechnology Labs in Improving the
High School Students Learning of Molecular Biology Concepts
Su-Ling Hwang* and Yang-Tsung Chung

Institute of Professional Development for Educators
National Chung-Hsing University, Taichung 402, TAIWAN
*E-mail: slhwang@dragon.nchu.edu.tw
Abstract
This study was done to determine if DNA-based biotechnology labs is effective in improving
the high school students' understanding of molecular biology concepts including nucleic acid
biotechnology terminology and techniques. The three activities of biotechnology labs that
occurred within the curriculum of regular high school biology were micro-pipetting and
isolating DNA, investigating GMO foods by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and sample
loading for gel electrophoresis. This evaluative study was based on Stufflebeam's CIPP
model. Data collection included one-on-one student interviews, student-homework and tests,
classroom observation, teaching materials, and document of project meeting. The results
indicated that the students’ gains in conceptual understanding were substantial with the
biotechnology labs, and they had more positive attitudes toward the hands-on and interactive
curriculum modules.
Introduction
Nucleic acid biotechnology is one of the most revolutionary and influential technology in
1980s. Today, the applications of biotechnology affect everything from agriculture to
criminal law to medical research. It is especially important that the next generation citizens
possess a broad understanding of biotechnology vocabulary and concepts. Incorporation of
biotechnology labs into regular high school biology classrooms may serve to provide access
for all students to quality experiences that foster scientific literacy and that ignite interest in
biological science. The aim of this study was to systematically assess the effect on the high
school students in terms of conceptual understanding of molecular biology as a result of
implementing DNA-based biotechnology labs as part of the regular biology curriculum. The
three major activities of biotechnology labs that occurred within the curriculum of
compulsory high school biology were micro-pipetting and isolating DNA, investigating
GMO foods by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and sample loading for gel electrophoresis.
Data collection
A total of 189 persons participated in this project: 2 professors, 1 associate professor, 1
assistant professor, 5 biology teachers, and 180 high school students (16-17 year old). Data
630
collection included one-on-one student interviews, student-homework and tests, classroom
observation, teaching materials, and document of project meeting.
Results and conclusions

Overall, the results of this study indicated that the students’ gains in conceptual
understanding were substantial with the biotechnology labs, and they had more positive
attitudes toward the hands-on and interactive curriculum modules. These results indicated
that DNA-based biotechnology labs, such as DNA extraction, polymerase chain reaction
(PCR), and gel electrophoresis, can and should be implemented as part of the high school
biology curriculum. However, because most other high schools in Taiwan are not well
equipped like this school, more effort to simplify the experimental procedures are needed
before these curriculum modules are introduced into the other schools. In addition, more
supplementary or auxiliary media should be made or introduced to help students prepare for
the hands-on or interactive modules.
References
[1] Bigler, A. M. and Hanegan, N. L. Student content knowledge increases after participation
in a hands-on bio technology intervention. Journal of Science Education and
Technology, 2011, pp.246-257.
[2] Dawson, V. An exploration of high school (12-17 year old) students’ understanding of,
and attitudes towards biotechnology processes. Research in Science Education, 2007,
pp.59-73.
[3] Kidman, G. What is an “interesting curriculum” for biotechnology education? Students’
and teachers’ op posing views. Research in Science Education, 2010, pp.353-373.
[4] Steele, F. and Aubusson, P. The challenge in teaching biotechnology. Research in Science
Education, 2004, pp.365-387.
[5] Stufflebeam, D. L. The relevance of the CIPP evaluation model for educational
accountability. 1971, Ohio State University, Ohio, USA.
631
ASMSS-3017
The Competency Model of ERP Engineer
Ling-Hsiu Chen, Chiao-An Wang

Chaoyang University of Tecnology
Email:ling@cyut.edu.tw
Chen-Yang Shih
Abstract
Upgrading of industrial structure is in a critical moment of transition, industry professionals
for the development of high value-added products demand very earnest, and now is in the
high unemployment rate environment, for graduates who just entered the community is a big
challenge, but companies are also faced with finding talent and training professionals
dilemma. How to improve the graduates entering the job market as soon as possible, and
reduce the time cost of corporate training professionals in the cost, so it is quite important in
enhancing the strength of the job market and vocational training unit school unit, as a very
important role. The purpose of this study is hoped that through the main tasks in a systematic
understanding of the Oracle ERP engineers and content of the work, as an important
reference to the school curriculum while nurturing talent planning and teaching-related
content, the use of science to solve the problem of the gap.
Keywords: competency analysis, competency model, ERP engineers, in-depth interviews,

qualitative data analysis
1. Introduction
In recent years, China's industrial structure change, labor-intensive industries from the
original into a sophisticated, automated and even technology-driven service industry, and the
industry also felt the reference competency helps build industry provides enterprise
employing the standard reference design, for Careers reduce costs or planning training
content ； The industry benchmark competency can also provide schools and training
institutions and curriculum planning accordingly adjusted to the ability of trainees close to
industry needs, in order to make graduates more in line with industry standards demanded
talent, so teachers and students have a very important responsibility. Do teachers have the
professional knowledge and skills relevant practical experience and teaching ability, will
have a direct impact on whether students entering the job market in all aspects of the
workplace required capacity, and therefore subject to periodic review and the review of
technical and vocational teachers nurture of other related issues. In addition, students also
need to have curriculum objectives planning competency in line with the conditions set by the
632
needs of the workplace, in order to fast convergence in the workplace after graduation,
applicable to the workplace. Therefore, practice on how to improve students practical ability
and shortening the school by fall, vocational education now and in the future is to explore the
issue.
2. Literature review
This chapter describes the competency of development, meaning, purpose, and competency
analysis; this study hope through the operation of information on business practices, such as
the time required for the task of business operations, job content, capacity, care occupations
are those with this standard threshold, the first standby conditions, as well as customer
satisfaction and work efficiency, and with the guidance of professor, instructor, and industry
experts in-depth interviews, in order to better understand the practical operation of surface
information, then complete ERP engineer competency mode.
2.1 Competency development, meaning and purpose

2.1.1 Competency development
Competency of this term, was first originated in the McClelland (1963), Harvard University
psychologist claims, but found that the effectiveness of the quality depends on the workers'
attitudes, knowledge, qualities, "so that these ideas began to competency prototype. With the
development of science and technology, as well as changing patterns of work, has been put
forward by most scholars define the relevant competency. The Boyatzis (1982) proposed
competency refers to the basic personal qualities and the ability to output effective or
excellent job performance, while the basic personal traits include: motivation, skills,
self-concept or social role, and knowledge utilization.
2.1.2 Competency definition and meaning

Competency means that people have to make a few basic characteristics of an outstanding
performance at work, and these qualities include explicit visible, as well as internal hidden in
simple terms that is KSAOs (Knowledge, Skill, Ability & Others). The Competency also
implies the expression or thinking, this power can work or personal life analogy to a variety
of situations, and can be a value for quite a long period and then the body of time. In Spencer
& Spencer (1993) proposed that the five patterns of competency qualities are motivation,
traits, self-concepts, knowledge, skills and other five; wherein the competency knowledge
and skills, tend to see as well as surface properties ; and self-concept, traits and motives, is a
more hidden, deep and is located in the center of the personality capabilities. It can also be
likened to the "iceberg model" in part out of the water like competency in exon visible
qualities, and is equivalent to the inner part of the underwater hidden qualities. Purpose
Function Mode
2.1.3 Purpose competency mode

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Dalton (1997) competency mode refers to constitute each of the work required of the
competency, and the knowledge, skills, behaviors, and personal qualities of the potential in
each of the competency. Further explanation, Raymond (1999) competency mode can be used
to define the needs of training and development to staff at work tasks. When conducting staff
training, staff can clearly understand the competency of the present and the type of work
required for the future, and then towards the goal. Today, competency model can be applied
to the selection of staff, performance management as a basis for designing training
curriculum planning, planning personal development and career planning, as a payroll basis
of standard jobs and so on. It can be seen, the competency mode function can be applied to
the surface of all human resource management, human resources management system also
has integrated design and planning for the system's.
2.1.4 Competency analysis method

Commonly used methods of competency analysis interviews, surveys, meetings and other
four categories fourteen methods designed to use all kinds of methods, the cost and a
different focus, in comparison after this fourteen methods, this study competency of
interviews, this method of process and implementation methods are described below.
Competency Interview, this term is Hermann (1989) suggested that its main purpose is to
conduct interviews with the general competency of the difference between interviews.
Interviews object competency for the analysis of the staff positions and / or the immediate
supervisor is limited. In addition to restrictions on an object outside the competency is part of
the interview structured interview, the problem is more systematic and specific to the
competency of his office based.
Respondents were asked questions are required in certain circumstances, include specific
examples. Then the interviewer again for these specific instances, further asked respondents
to be described in detail. After the interview respondents job descriptions, work activities /
content, duties, and responsibilities to clarify the relationship between the ability and the
responsibility of, the interviewer will be compiled into a list of these competency 8-12 fields
and be named . To this end the following method for process and explained:
1. Asked respondents：
First, the interviewer asked respondents: 「 In this job in ERP engineer, your main
responsibilities, can you please describe it include? or can you please describe what things do
you do at work, it is how to accomplish this task?
2. Prompt and thorough inquiry：

When the respondents answered, interviews and in-depth inquiry could prompt:「There are
other major events you'll be on the job if you can describe it in detail has handled most
rewarding think has done the most or What is the efficiency of the work content is? Why?」
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3. The main responsibility statement：
Information obtained as much as possible for the job through the respondents' answers. The
interviewer during the interview process will change the way several times to ask questions
and directions, and get the most important responsibilities of the post. In addition, you can
use the issue of the preceding two steps back and forth to confirm the positions of all the
work content and responsibilities.
4. The exact detailed description of the main responsibilities：

When the respondents described the main responsibilities of the position, the interviewer will
ask its responsibilities for every job exactly statements. The interviewers asked respondents
to try each one to a more specific description of job responsibilities, or give an example to
illustrate. Sometimes, we can try to make the respondents to compare the differences in work
responsibilities, in order to clarify and expound its meaning。
5. Use tools to help respondents induction：

Through the above steps, perhaps it can effectively help respondents to focus on some of the
competency of that office, but some may miss some part. Then you can use a number of tools
to help respondents summarized the position of the organization and the content of all the
competency. For example, you can provide a card, and with the following guiding words:
「Some experts believe that the connotation of competency should include workflow,
communication skills, self-learning ability, problem solving, if this point of view, you are just
in work responsibilities whether a complete description on? there needs to be part of the
add? 」the interviewer may be the subject of respondents in each of the core responsibilities
of the preceding raised, and confirm each description is complete.
6. Repeat steps 1-5：

Repeat the above steps, and the competency of the job responsibilities are clearly described,
this way, the interview will end.
7. Compare and summarize interview and classification：

At the end of the interview after all, than the content of each interviewer raised, summarize
and classify one by one, the final goal is to list the contents of the competency are divided
into areas of 8-12, and make a name.
3. Research methodology
3.1 Interviewees
Interview method competency on the basis of this study section describes, we selected three
IT industry and expert in ERP in-depth interviews with us, the basic competency of
information experts (see Tables 3.1)。
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Table 3.1 ERP competency engineer expert interviews list
As a result of this study, competency interview method, and thus get a lot of qualitative data,
this study uses qualitative research methods to deal with, induction and analysis of qualitative
data.
3.2 Qualitative research step

Qualitative research after collecting sense data, as evidence, reasoning, answer research
questions in the process. Qualitative research usually has five steps. Step 1, select research
problems; step 2, design research methods, including the selection of the study, to develop
data collection methods; Step 3, the actual collection of information (such as: observation,
interviews), and researchers observed in the natural situation, the interviews, collect objects,
then see and hear codifying materials; step 4, analyze the information obtained, "data
analysis" intention to collect the raw data from the chaff, categories, leads significance of
course, after this process the raw data before it can become the evidence as a basis to answer
research questions; step 5 conclusions to answer questions.
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Selection -
ERP Engineer
competency mode
Design Method -
Selection of objects and
develop data collection
methods
Gather information -
Depth interviews with
selected experts
Data analysis -
Qualitative data analysis
Five ladder of abstract
methods
Conclusions -
Complete ERP
engineers build
competency-oriented
model
Fig. 1 The study was conducted step
In this study, based on the above qualitative research study procedures described step (Fig.
1)：
1. Selection: survey engineer at ERP industry's main tasks and job content, as an important
reference to the school curriculum at nurturing talent planning and teaching content related to
it, with a gap of science to solve the problem, and then set up the competency of ERP
Engineer mode.
2. Design Methods: The subjects were undergraduate students in general and the use of the
main methods for the in-depth interviews with industry experts collected data.
3. The information gathered Methods: This study used qualitative research will be
conducted in-depth interviews with experts, in-depth interviews with semi-structured or
essentially open-ended problem-oriented research, and their interview skills are similar,
interviews can be compared an objective point of view to understand the real views and ideas
of the respondents, and therefore the authenticity of the interviewees expressed primarily on
research into validity.
4. Data Analysis: According to the information available, this study used abstract five
637
ladder to process, analyze and generalize qualitative data. Carney (1990) proposed five ladder
of abstraction, but a more holistic data transformation analysis point of view, he thought to do
analysis that is rising levels of abstraction. Elevate the level of abstraction point of view, it
allows the analyst to present themselves in concept to know the stage, and to understand the
future direction and purpose of advancing, while presenting "abstract five ladder" (Fig 2),
which analyzed the following steps:
(1) Prepare a text information.
(2) For the text encoding, labeled category.
(3) Identify the theme and trend.
(4) Detection of inspiration and discovery.
(5) The establishment of the deep structure, the whole information system, into this deep
interpretation architecture.
Comprehensive:
3B Organized into a The data included
deep structure in interpretation framework
3
Cross-check analyzes nuclear
Development and detects proposition 3A The detection hypothesis temporarily variety found
To establish a framework to explain team simplify data groups to
analyze trends The thrust of the analysis data
drawn chart
2
Then the bag and collection 2 Find the whole thrust
of information of the trends in data
Looking for Relationship Profile: memo written analysis
Identify the focus and fault data
1
1B, Try coding, to find
Summary of information the right set of categories
and the bag Profile ID
On the interpretation of architecture of relationships,
writing analysis memo
1a Produced a
document that can be
analyzed
Arrange individual interviews to outline
The transcripts of interviews transcript
Fig. 2 Abstract five ladder
In this study, data analysis stages of qualitative data analysis based on abstract five step
ladder, the steps described below：
(1) The text of: in-depth interviews with experts in the transcript of the text edited and wrote
the outline labeled focus, trying to associate words and sentences in order to make the revised
labeling sequence.
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(2) conceptualization: The information obtained (sentence / paragraph) to complete the
translation, began the concept of data coding and classified as imparting information, but to
look for the spirit of code, to form a suitable classification systems and data collection, Such
as: section 06, the original "Gallery aspect there is insufficient space on a routine, the lack of
storage space, and that this time we will give it to add new disk space" so it will be classified
in the "increase database disk space "and" problem solving. " Due to the text verbatim copy
huge amount of data and therefore its interception of a small section of this study for example
(see Tables 3.2.1)。
Tables 3.2.1 Examples _ Transcript coding
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(3) proposition: the exploration and re-bag collection of data and information related degree
total integration.
(4) graphic: inspiration and discovery as the preliminary results, and continued analysis and
data correlation, emphasis and omission to make amendments.
(5) Preliminary results obtained Oracle ERP engineer function mode. This study conducting
qualitative data analysis phase process, thus taking into account the issues of reliability and
validity, and Guba , EG & Lincoln (1985) & Miles & Huberman (1994) have proposed a
single method of data collection, the single observer, and a single prejudice theory, so in
order to increase the reliability and the results validity, this study chose to use "the analyst
triangle correction method" in order to enhance the relationship between data and
interpretation, for overcoming the problem of a single bias. Triangulation refers to the use in
the course of the study many different forms of methods, materials, and theoretical observer
to check nuclear and determine the sources of information, data collection, data collection
strategies, time and validity of the theoretical framework, etc. , for reducing the researcher's
personal biases, it is one of the qualitative data research indispensable tool. Triangulation in
quantitative research, the primary purpose in establishing the validity of the study, in order to
construct their interpretation of the conclusions. In this study, the analyst triangle correction
is defined by a different researcher, to examine research findings and results. This study
analyzes were engaged by two ERP teaching more than 5 years and have business counseling
professor of information management system and a relevant experience with ERP 2 years of
experience as a graduate of the inquiry with a class, in the collection of data and analysis
competency mode ERP Engineer in the process, analysts will be invited to read the transcript
and in order to encode and induction.
5. conclusions: the completion of the establishment of ERP engineer competency mode.
4. Results
In this study, the competency of the competency s of the relevant information for this method
of analysis competency interview thus obtained, then the qualitative data analysis method
abstract of five stepped through three analysts consistency conclusions from major job
competency mode of ERP Engineer mission is "Maintaining normal trading", "Custom
program development" ", "System import", and "Creating reports", a total of four tasks (see
Tables 4.1)。
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Tables 4.1 ERP Engineer competency mode
After the completion of ERP engineer tasks, and then aggregated to establish its data into
ERP engineer behavioral indicators Resources and provision number (see Tables 4.2).
Tables 4.2 ERP engineer behavioral indicators Resources
After the completion of ERP engineers behavior index references, and then by three auxiliary
analysis under the terms of the interview to be aggregated and summarized data
corresponding to each of the competency of the connotation of behavioral indicators of ERP
engineers build a competency connotation menu and provision numbers and competency
connotation contains the knowledge, skills and abilities of the three items (see Table 4.3).
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Table 4.3 ERP Engineers connotation menu competency
Finally, the competency of the connotation of each behavioral indicators corresponding to the
complete coding lash ERP engineer behavioral indicators and competency correspond connotation
(see Table 4.4).
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Table 4.4 ERP engineers behavioral indicators and competency correspond connotation
5. Research proposals and discussions

In recent years, political, economic and social situation of rapid change, changes in industry
structure, gradual relocation of labor-intensive industries, service sector output and accounts
for more than manufacturing workers, so the overall industry toward high-tech, information
technology, and automation direction development of. However Workplace human hierarchy,
the line fluctuates and workplace occupational demand the ability to produce a gap, so that
university graduates can not find work, produced to meet the requirements of business and
can not find talent.
For technical and vocational education and training in the industry issues discussed quite a bit,
for technical and vocational education in view of the general consensus inadequate interact
with industry, teachers lack practical experience, course design industry to participate less,
the lack of substantive content, teachers promotion is too academic, lack of incentives to
promote university-industry cooperation. Review of technical and vocational education in our
country dominated by academics, industry participation and lack of problems, narrowing the
gap with a vocational graduate student ability and industry needs. Hope the results of this
study will be available in the academic curriculum planning, to achieve academic and
business competency requirements of integration.Results of this research and in-depth
interviews with industry experts for qualitative data analysis, and then through a triangle
correction method of analysis, behavior of the statements and the results and discuss the
necessary pointer. Finally, the ERP engineer to competency pointers and competency with
ERP engineer connotation;
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ure research will be more extensive survey and in-depth interviews with industry experts,
better access to current trends in the industry and experience, then detail adjustment
competency of ERP and planning engineers, increasing convergence degree of consistency,
can reach the realm of academia and business competency requirements of integration.
6. Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Republic of
China, Taiwan for financially supporting this research under Contract No.
103-2511-S-324-001.
References
[1] Ministry of Education, WWW Policy White Paper, "The Ministry of Education Personnel
Training White Paper".
[2] Zhang Fenfang, Qualitative Data Analysis Five steps：Climb the ladder in the abstract,
2010
[3] Lin Jinding, Yanjia Feng and Mei Flower，Qualitative Research Methods：Interviews
pattern analysis and implementation steps, 2005
[4] Boyatzis, R., The Competent Manager: A Model for Effective Performance. New York:
John Wiley & Sons, 1982.
[5] Spencer, L., & Spencer, M.. Competence at work: Models for superior performance.
NewYork, NY: John Wily, 1993.
[6] Dalton, M.,. Are competency models a waste? , Training and Development,51(10)：
46-49., 1997
[7] Raymond, A. N.,. Employee Training & Development, New York︰McGraw-Hill,1999
[8] Hermann, G., D. Manual on occupational analysis. Centre for Research in Education and
Work, School of Education, Macquarie University, Sydney., 1989
[9] Carney, T. F.. Collaborative inquiry methodology. Windsor, Ontario, Canada:University
of Windsor, Division for Instructional Development, 1990
[10] Guba,E.G.&Lincoln,Y.S.Naturalistic inquiry.Beverly Hills,CA:Sage Publication, 1985
[11] Miles,M.&Huberman,A.,Qualitative Date Analysis. CA: Sage, 1994
644
ASMSS-2928
The Effect of Ownership Structure on Bank Performance and Risk during
the 2007-2008 Financial Crisis
Hsiu-I Ting
Department of Information and Finance Management
National Taipei University of Technology, Taiwan
E-mail: hiting@ntut.edu.tw
Vincent F. Yu
Department of Industrial Management
National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taiwan
vincent@mail.ntust.edu.tw
Ming-Chun Wang
Department of Money and Banking
National Kaohsiung First University of Science and Technology, Taiwan.
E-mail: gregory@nkfust.edu.tw
Yi-Ling Chen
Department of Asia-Pacific Industrial and Business Management
National University of Kaohsiung, Taiwan
E-mail: ylchen@nuk.edu.tw
Abstract
This paper investigates the effect of ownership structure, particularly state ownership, on
bank performance and risk from the perspective of bank governance during the 2007-2008
financial crisis. Our results show that European and North American banks have significantly
negative abnormal returns during the financial crisis, especially in North American countries.
Even though state ownership is associated with lower abnormal returns, lower profitability,
and higher risk, it has a mitigating effect on profitability and risk in the post-crisis period.
The findings are consistent with the government support hypothesis.
JEL classification: G01; G21; G32
Keywords: Financial crisis; Bank governance; Ownership structure; Government support

hypothesis
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ASMSS-2898
Comparison of the Social Security of the Old Aged in Global Aging Trend-
An Example of the Cross-Straits between Taiwan and China
SSU Chiu-Lan*
Mackay Junior College of Medicine, Nursing, and Management
92, Shengjing Rd., Beitou Dist., Taipei City, Taiwan 112 R.O.C.
*Corresponding Author: nih3630@gmail.com
Chang Hao-Feng
Institute of Technology Management, Chung-Hua University
707, Sec.2, WuFu Rd., Hsinchu City, Taiwan 30012, R.O.C.
The population of baby boom generation has gradually stepped to gerontism. Global
population is speedily aging; therefore, caring, maintaining and satisfying essential life
become the critical issues in the world. According to the United Nations report, the estimated
aged population will increase to 2 billion in 2050 which is duly 21% to the ratio of the whole.
In the future coming 50 years, aged population will increase 4 times as before; especially
those at the age above 80, it will be 5 times as it was, so incredibly going up. Hence, old aged
social security is a problem of the world in common. When aged people withdraw from labor
market, a social risk of income breakdown will possibly be happened apparently. However,
the economic function toward aged population in traditional family will gradually be declined
because of the decreasing birth rate phenomenon, the average life span extension, the
population structure changed, and the aging population accelerated. In addition to the support
of caring and concerns from family and community, government should provide the aged a
more appropriate social security to meet the need of aging social life and to maintain and
satisfy elder’s living, that is an important indeed. In response to this trend, reviewing the
model and current situation of social security system and strengthening social security
measures to prepare well for aging people is a critical issue to individual and government in
the aging society. This study will explore the aging population developed trend from
Cross-Straits between Taiwan and China, the needs of social security, current situation
expansion, and the institutional measures and contents to proceed to the comparative analysis;
it also examines the challenges facing to the related social security policies in between the
Cross-Straits. The results can be a reference for future academic research and policy
upgrading.
This study demonstrated that adapting to the coming of ageing society. Taiwan and Mainland
China progressively plan and establish old-age pension measures. In addition, the social
security system in both Cross-Strait countries presents convergence, which mainly focusing
on the maintenance of old-age economy. Among these, Taiwan adopted the way of close to
646
overall popularization which includes all aspects of aged population for maintaining their
basic economy security from retirement and an old-age pension system of per social
insurance, national pension insurance, social welfare and rescue subsidy. Similarly, Mainland
China promoted the urban and rural integration policy, which referred to actively develop
health and social insurance system from endowment insurance for supporting old-age basic
economy demand. However, due to the broad of Mainland China territories, the insurance
system is difficult to be popularized and promoted. Additionally, the large discrepancy
between urban and rural caused the old-age social security policy to be without consistency
and with no ensured system. To response, for the reason of closely interflowing on politics,
economy, and culture in both sides; the experience interflow in promoting old-age social
security system, applying and managing of insurance pension system can be a key issue for
future discussion.
Keywords :Aging Society、Social Security、Endowment Insurance、Annuity Insurance
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ASMSS-2999
Exploring the Manipulations of Interactive Infographics
Sheng-Wen Wang*
Ph.D Program in Design, Chung Yuan Christian University，
*E-mail address: ocean.richard@gmail.com
Tzu-Fan Hsu
Department of Commercial Design, Chung Yuan Christian University，
E-mail address: nightshift1943@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
The infographics conveys information in a quick and convenient way, which makes use of
visual elements to core message within the shortest time through data analysis and
simplification. The infographics consists of static, dynamic, and interactive. With the
developing of science and technology, the interactive infographics is getting more popular due
to its ability for users to variously control the visualization and the amounts of information. In
order to explore the manipulations of interactive infographics, this study conducted a survey
and used a cluster analysis to classify the sampled stimuli. The results showed that the
manipulations of interactive infographics are divided into the three types: Browsing,
Instructing and Manipulating. The results could be reference for design planning, and a basis
for the future studies of interactive infographics.
Keywords: Interactive Infographics, Manipulations, Browsing, Instructing, Manipulating
1. Introduction
st
The 21 is an age so-called the information surplus. We are bearing a lot of information every
day. So the process for connecting the message with information and then processing is getting
more and more focused on its behavior given new meaning. The infographics is to quickly
display the visualized works produced from the complicated information, data and knowledge
to present the visualized information in a clear and accurate way.
The quickest route for receiving information by human beings is going through the visual. John
Medina, the molecular biologist indicates in his works that The visual is our main organ, which
occupies about 50% of resources in the brain. The study shows, 50-80% of human brain are
used for the visual processing, such as the summary of painting, visual memory, color, shape,
movement, pattern, space and picture. The human beings possesses the capability of quick
seeing patterns and trend, which is a main factor of critical element in the information
visualization for the design of information and chart. (Randy Krum, 2014)
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The information visualization has become a main stream in the recent popular media. Under
the situation of significant information increase, there are three main concepts behind the
process for effective vision development and planning, 1. Aligning goals in statistics and
design, 2. Inferring insights based on the numeric data, 3. Using data visualization as a method
of storytelling. (Grace Krafte, 2013)
In addition, the increasing development in science and technology as well as the popularity on
internet and digital devices brings up the quick circulation of infographics, which could be
loaded with more information and the application of infographics interactive also becomes
more and more popular.
This study is mainly target for the study on the form of expression for interactive infographics
by cluster analysis and summarizes the types of interactivemodel commonly used recently. It
is expected that could be the basis and evidence for the future studies.
2. References
The infographics is a kind of tool recently developed for information transmission through the
method like data, illustration and written description and knowledge optimization to convert
the information to image and systematically transmit the message to the readers.
The so-called infographics means a kind of method applied in flat design to convert the
complicated data and issue process to the visualized graphic that could be easily understood by
the others after summarization. In English, infographics is a new word by combining
information and graphics, which could also be called information graphics.
The infographics is to comb the complicated and mass information in a way of simplification
from complicity. The generalized meaning for the infographics means the expression on
information, knowledge and data through the way of visualized design, which is often used on
the maps, labels and symbols, new report, teaching courses, technical document, etc. Justin
Beegel, the founder and president of Infographic-World believes that the information chart is a
way of communication that could effectively transmit the message. A good infographics must
be across the barrier of age, language and possesses the advantage of simplicity, clear and
easier for understanding.
2.1 Development of Infographics

In 1875 Florence Nightingale, an English nurse used the image message to persuade Queen
Victoria to improve the condition of military hospitals. She made use of communication
through image message to develop a form of polar area diagram. During Crimean War, she
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described the number of people died every month as well as the reasons to successfully
persuade the English Queen to support the battlefield medical treatment.
Henry Charles Beck, an English Electro-mechanical Engineer broke the way of expression for
traditional maps. On the map of metro network in London in 1933, it used the simple and
standard line in color to express the complicated and intersect metro communication lines. He
designed the first general metro map for the modern metropolitan with its influence continuing
up to now.
In modern times, the real confirmation on infographicsis from the earlier news media called
Diagram or Graphic journalism. Till 1993, The Society for News Design (SND) started to hold
Malofiej International Infographics Awards in Pamplona, Spain aiming for infographics in the
direction of media. From then on, the word of Infographics started to use widely.
The infographics is extensively applied in the daily life, which is to optimize the mass
information and data to effectively integrate and transmit the information. Doug Newsom
(2004) defines the tool for information visualization to include: charts, diagrams, graphs,
tables, maps as well as list, etc., of which the horizontal bar charts, vertical column charts and
pie charts, etc. are the mostly wide used.
2.2 Infographics and Data Visualization

According to the definition by Michael Friendly on The Science of Visual Representation of
Data, the infographics is produced after the visualization of information, which means that the
information or data are expressed in a way of visualization, including the characteristics or
variance of information.
Infographics and Data Visualization are often confused during the discussion due to their close
in meanings. However, the visualized information is to express the quantified data in a kind of
chart and infographics is to combine one or more than one result of visualized information or
other data elements to create a complete content of storytelling.
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Table 1: Comparison between Infographics and Data Visualization
2.3 Interactive Infographics

According to the difference expressed on the media, the infographics could be roughly
summarized as three kinds of expression: (1) Static Infographics: It is mostly used on the
newspapers and magazines, which is easier for transmission through internet; (2) Motion
Infographics: It makes infographics moving through the image and cartoon software in
combination with the acoustic effects. Compared with the static infographics, it added the
condition of time, which is a kind of way for linear expression; (3) Interactive Infographics:
Compared with the static infographics, it could be click and interactive by possessing the
non-linear characteristics so that the users could make their own decision on the content to be
browsed or searching of specific data information, initiative to create the content that is
intended to express, etc.
In July 2013, General Survey of Taiwan 2013 Public Media Evaluation was published.
Among the usage rate of 5 biggest medias (TV, network, newspaper, broadcast, magazine), it
is the first time for the network ahead of newspapers to be stable positioned on the 2 nd news
media. This information discloses that the modern electronic media is becoming one of the
main resources for most of population gaining information in the information society.
So the capability of description and expression by image could be more direct for
transmitting the meaning, emotion of text to the reader so that the ordinary flat surface
thinking could be converted to the lively and vivid pictures when the internet network is
gradually becoming the platform for information reading, the continuous coming out of
dynamic hypertext and weakening of text. The data visualization or infographics are born in
response for the proper time and conditions so that it could help the viewers to quickly
understand one abstract concept, content of abundant brief news, highlighting of key points.
At the same time it could also encourage the viewers to further understand the content of
image.
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The paper focuses on the interactive infographics as the main target for study. Due to the fact
that the visualized information was attracting the extensive attention in recent years, the
infographics is also widely used in the development of digital media industry, which almost
covers all forms of expressions. Because of the characteristics on its non-linear development,
it could express the visual design through interactive program after the summary and
induction of mass data, which could also provide the users with reason for further exploring
information.
Different from the static infographics or dynamic infographics, it still belongs to the one-way
information transmission. The readers could only read the limited information through the
fixed media platform. The interactive infographics could bear much more information and
data and integrate the program design and visual design, which could summarize and induce
the mass data as well as the self-control of browsers on the volume of information to be
expressed or not. Compared with the image of static information, this kind of design could
keep the readers staying on the information for more time. (Randy Krum, 2014)
3. Methodology
While in designing infographics, the browsers must be the central part. It is necessary to
consider the content of information and the suitability of transmission so that the browsers in a
way of quick, sharp and accurate could understand the information within the shortest time. So
it is the method for expression is somewhat the key for influence. The key for interactive
infographics operations is to tell what kind of method and interactive design could be used for
message transmission.
The study focuses on the form or expression and category analysis for interactive infographics.
By taking the cluster analysis, it induces the similarity of sub-clustering to ensure that the target
of observation could possess high homogeneity as well as high heterogeneity in the same
clustering. For the judgment on the result from clustering, the result after combination could be
expressed in a visualized tree structure through the system dendogram by clustering analysis,
induce on people’s inclination towards the inclination of interactive infographics. Through this
objective result from clustering, it could provide the later researching an operational basis for
the primary study on different category of website infographics.
3.1 Design for Researching

This study is mainly focus on the researching and analysis on the form of expression for
current interactive infographics. For the sampling from the stimulant, it follows the data for
network ranking in 2012 publicized by Amazon (Alexa, 2012). Among the relevant website
for interactive infographics, visual.ly possesses the ranking of browsing by the maximum
users. So our study chooses this website as the source of stimulant for experiment as well as
taking the number of time for browsing as a sample. After collecting interactive infographics
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(located in http://visual.ly/view) with the viewed number above 10000 time recorded by the
website, we could get 59 samples. Then we sieved and categorized the stimulant by 40
students with learning digital media for more than two years according to this categorization.
And then input the data into the relevant software for the cluster analysis with the description
below:
1. Distance Matrix: Before clustering analysis, it is necessary to convert the data to
distance matrix so that the clustering calculation could be started. This study makes use of
computer aided perceptual system software, CAKE (Computer Aided Kansei Engineering)
developed by Chuang and Chen (2003). Its attached function for calculation of clustering
analysis value: Parser for Cluster Date is used for the calculation of distance matrix for the
clustering of testees.
2. Clustering Analysis: Through the distance matrix received from CAKE software, it
could be further brought into SPSS software for the clustering analysis. It could view the
process of cluster agglomeration through its step analysis model cooperated with the system
dendrogram as well as agglomeration schedule so as to induce the category of individual
combination model with its structural characteristics.
3.2 Statistics Analysis

After analysis, we can find that it could be divided into three clusters (refer to Figure 1).
Based on the result of classification on the trainees, those three kinds of cluster could be
defined as Browsing, Instructing and Manipulating, which could cover all interactive
models in our institute.
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Figure 1: System Dendogram after Clustering Analysis.
1. Browsing: Most of them only need to follow the instruction for implementation or do
similar to the browsing of website. It could be shifted to any different pages to view the
complete structure and content of information.
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2. Instructing: Its interactive model is the most pure and direct. Usually it uses the click to
select the articles or instruction to display the relevant information, which is frequently used
together with image, information with more complicated chart.
3.
4. Manipulating: This category shows the strongest interactive effect with its
characteristics of using the actual action to replace the immediate feedback. Its information
feedback possesses the time axis, information analysis, etc. compared with the current
common interactive models, which is the topic for treatment of long time with age and
history depending on the dragging of time axis to browse the content of information at
different timelines.
5.
4. Conclusions
In recent years, the infographics is growing in an explosive way. The format of infographics
has successfully integrated into various kinds of new media category, which has become an
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important source and media for people gaining, integrating and transmission of information in
their daily lives. With the fast growing science and technology, the platform for information is
diversified. The traditional flat media could not be satisfied with the speed for knowledge
updating from the readers and listeners. So the form of expression for interactive infographicsis
becoming more important. This study implemented the statistic investigation through the status
sampling, clustering analysis to summarize three forms of expression for interactive
infographics: 1. Browsing, 2. Instructing and 3. Manipulating. Its relevant result could be used
for the designers’ reference in their interactive infographics design and could also be the basis
for its further studies.
In the part for follow up study, we shall extend the result of study and investigate the interactive
model on different topics. It is expected that the expression for interactive infographics could
become more complete.
Acknowledgment
This study was supported in research Grant (MOST 103-2410-H-033 -036) from the Ministry
of Science and Technology, Taiwan.
References
Dur, B. I., Filipczak-Bialkowska, A., Bresciani, S., Ge, J., Niu, Y., Othman, A., ... & Wils, D.
(2014). Interactive Infographics on the Internet. In International Conference on
Communication, Media, Technology and Design, Department of Visual Communication
Design, TOBB University of Economics and Technology.
Index from Find (Foreseeing Innovative New Digiservices),http://www.find.org.tw/
find/home.aspx dated May 29, 2014.
Index from Shih Hsin University (General Survey of Taiwan 2013 Public Media Evaluation),
http://cc.shu.edu.tw/~cjc/downloads/activity/
2013/7-12/102091801.pdf dated May 29, 2014.
Krafte, G. The Transformation of Information Visualization: An Evolving Form of
Interactive Storytelling.
Lin, M. J.(2014). A Study of Applying Temporal Infographics with Modern Graphic Design
History to Interactive Interface Design (Master’s thesis). National Taiwan Normal
University, Taiwan.
Medina, J. (2008). Brain rules: 12 principles for surviving and thriving at work, home, and
school. Pear Press.
Ru, G., & Ming, Z. Y. (2014, September). Infographics applied in design education.
In Advanced Research and Technology in Industry Applications (WARTIA), 2014 IEEE
Workshop on (pp. 984-986). IEEE.
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Translated by Hu Weijun. Visualized Chart for Information: Technique for Expression for
Better Looking Information at Age of Mass Data (Original Writer: Randy Krum).
Taipei City: Qifeng Information (Year of Publication for Original: 2014)
Ware, C. (2004), Information Architects, New York : Graphic Press.
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ASMSS-3027
Application of Digital Street Furniture Design in Multicultural History ─A
Case Study of Zhongshan North Road
Yung-chin TSAO
Tatung University, NO. 40, Sec 3, Zhongshan N. Rd., Taipei 104, Taiwan(R.O.C)
tsao@ttu.edu.tw
Chong-Xian SHEN, Wei-ren LIN

Tatung University, NO. 40, Sec 3, Zhongshan N. Rd., Taipei 104, Taiwan(R.O.C)
lin0504000@gmail.com
Abstract
Zhongshan North Road in Taipei, Taiwan is of great historical and cultural, the transfer of
power, religious and cultural characteristics of the street. In this study, representing
Buddhism, Taoism, Catholicism, Confucianism on Chungshan North Rinzai Temple protect
the country, Dalongdong Baoan Temple, Sheng Duofu Church, Confucius Temple and other
cultural attractions are four different religions as an object, and in the adjacent MRT
Yuanshan station as a starting point, use Ubike along religious attractions can be reached, the
application of digital technologies for 4 types of environmental media street furniture design,
providing foreign travelers experience a new culture.
Keywords: cultural creativity, environmental media, digital street furniture
1. Study Purpose
The main purpose of this study to the neighboring Zhongshan North Road, Taipei Taiwan's
major cultural attractions for the object, try to develop a combination of digital technology
and environmental media in various cultural attractions Street, street furniture, in order to
provide travelers multicultural experience.
2. Study Process
Research process (Figure 1), according to the following four stages.
1. The first survey summarized Zhongshan North Road in Taipei near a cultural
characteristics of the various cultural attractions, and religion as the axis, selected to represent
different religious objects of interest.
2. Survey of row passengers walking distance of the attractions of the line, and analysis
and comparison of time, distance, difficulty and other factors, the majority of travelers are
more likely to decide the line to move the line.
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3. The actual site measurement of interest related to the space dimension to the selection
set the number of bits of street furniture in place.
4. According to the characteristics of the attractions of the religious implications, for the
development of four different religious and cultural experience of the digital media
environment conceptual design.
Zhongshan North region cultural attractions investigation
Four spots cultural characteristics survey
Street furniture set position can be adaptive survey
Yuanshan MRT reach attractions transportation path analysis
Environmental Media on product design concepts unfolds
Conclusions and Recommendations
Fig. 1: Study process
3. Street furniture set position can be adaptive survey

Four near-site inspection of the distance, set the location of street furniture evaluate an
adaptive.
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Fig. 2:Taipei Confucius Temple Fig. 3:Baoan Temple
Fig. 4:Rinzai Temple protect the country Fig. 5:Shengduo Fu church
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4. The Taipei MRT Tamsui Line faith " Yuanshan " station to the attractions of the
traffic path analysis
Tab. 1 MRT Yuanshan Station to Baoan Temple
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Tab. 2 Yuanshan MRT station to the Confucius Temple
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Tab. 3 MRT Yuanshan Station to Shengduo Fu Church
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Tab. 4 MRT Yuanshan Station to reach Temple protect the country
5. The environmental media use on the street furniture design

For cultural characteristics of the four spots, combined with the development of digital media design
concepts environment.
(1) protect the country Rinzai Zen temple digital street furniture - Ancient Bell - Planner (. Fig 6)
1. Design Concepts
○
1 When not in use, the function is timekeeping.
○
2 .Passenger use the phone to scan QR CODE, will present 108 kinds of trouble on the text body
clock, the phone will display the operating instructions. Guests can use the phone light bell (meaning
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knocked trouble), mobile light knock trouble writing, it will fall on the ground show, then gradually
disappear, symbolize the troubles were knocked off eliminated.
○
3 .After the bell, the phone will show visitors the trouble to knock on the screen and asks whether to
upload the Internet community.
Fig. 6:hematically situation Fig. 7 device the analog signal Fig. 8 schematically analog phone screen
content
(2) Digital Confucius Temple Street furniture - Evil - Map Dashboard

1. Design Concepts
○
1 . Subject to peep keyhole shape with the introduction of Dashboard
○
2 . Experience Evil (front has a key hole, lure passers-peek of desire)
○
3 . When passers-by near to spy on, it will start from the sensor, the side display looks wistfully eyes,
looks bad behavior from the perspective of a third party is a person hand Photo taken foot gingerly
making peeping. When passers-by close to three seconds to spy on its own alarm will sound, and the
side of the display to fist fight back eye pattern, which means do not look at things not supposed to
see.
○
4 key hole inside a small display, when you want to peep peep person close to something, the internal
display screen dissuasive reserved words "Evil"
Fig. 9 Map Dashboard
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Internal keyhole
display
Operating motioned
Fig. 10:usage scenarios simulation
(3) Digital Shengduo Fu Church Street furniture - the Holy Cross Day -AR Reality bus kiosks
1. Design Concepts
○
1 . Appearance to the Holy Cross section of the arch shape unique experience to go arches
(symbolizing Heaven Gate)

○
2 . Arches internal experience AR reality, like living in the joy of the Holy Cross Day atmosphere.
Fig. 11:Holy Cross Day bus pavilion arch shape Fig. 12 Holy Cross Day -AR reality
simulation
(4) Security Palace - Digital street furniture - Tati - swabs - Sports swab device
1. Design Concepts
○
1 . Subject to charge the phone holder.
○
2 . Qiantong settings sense sensors, hand-shake around Qiantong can be measured: BMI / Fat /
metabolism / heartbeat. Sign Jieyou QR CODE, mobile scanning solution to sign.
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Fig 13 Paosheng - swab - Sports swab device Fig 14 Tati - swabs - sign barrel
6. Conclusions and Discussion

The street furniture is a combination of traditional religious and cultural semantics, the actual situation
of the application of digital technology to generate interactive scenarios, allowing visitors to
experience through continuous themed cultural attractions, enhance the depth of experience.
The study by digital technology, combined with environmental media, creating new cultural
experiences. Buddhism, Taoism, Catholicism, Confucianism Rinzai Temple protect the country,
Dalongdong Baoan Temple, Sheng Duofu Church, Confucius Temple and other four different
religious and cultural attractions as the object, the digital street furniture to experience the process of
adding to let travelers feel innovation sense and variability of factors that will arouse an interesting
experience. With "religious culture" Images of the use of the product can while allowing users to
understand the religious culture.
7. Acknowledgements:
Thanks to this study, the Taiwan Ministry of Science and Research Project
(MOST103-2420-H-360-001) of subsidy funds, grateful.
8. Reference
1. Mackenzie, D. ,1997,Green Design: Design for the Environment, 2nded. London: Lau-rence
King Publishing.
2. Vanhuele,M.,1999,“The Effect of Ambient Advertising“, HEC School of Management.
3. Norman,Donald A.,2005,Emotional Design: Why We Love (or Hate) Everyday Things.
4. Jung-Mei Tsen,2011, Investigating the Emotional Interaction between Ambient Media and
Audience. Journal of Design,16(3)
5. Kuan-Ting Li,2010,Ambient Media Image of Product Usage,Tatung University Industrial Design
Master Thesis
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ASMSS-2998
Methods of Applying Color Planning in Brand Visualization –
A Case Study of the Restaurant Aubergine
Chang-Ching Tsai*
Ph.D Program in Design, Chung Yuan Christian University, Department of Visual
Communication Design, Chungyu Institute of Technology, 200 Chung Pei Road, Chung Li
District, Taoyuan City, Taiwan
*E-mail address: alexpacebbs@gmail.com
Wen-Tsong Huang
Department of Commercial Design, Chung Yuan Christian University, 200 Chung Pei Road,
Chung Li District, Taoyuan City, Taiwan
E-mail address: wjhuang612@gmail.com
Abstract
Brand name recognition is a very important medium between the consumer and the store.
During a new brand’s growth, the methods of how to establish impressions and worth in
consumers are important lessons for managers to learn. The question is how to deeply
implant a brand name in the hearts of consumers or even take the lead in mental brand value
in their minds after they have received information from a commercial? Aside from a brand
name being easily readable and remembered, a memorable font and/or imagery will be
needed for a consumer to sub-consciously choose a brand they find memorable or impressive.
This study uses color planning in regards to consumer habits to discuss problems with how
brands match colors and use them. The hope is to find principles on how to use colors in
brand design. This will allow the consumer to have more recognition towards a brand’s color
and strengthen their memory of it. This study will carry out three discussions. The first is to
discuss the properties and preferences of human sensory towards color; The second is the
color analysis of catering market brands and comparison with the first discussion's results;
The third will attempt to understand the industry's considered factors when it comes to color
and their often used colors through interacting with the manager of the Aubergine restaurant.
Through analysis and induction of information, the resulting principles were applied to
Aubergine's current color design. The results were presented practically.
Keywords: Color Planning, Brand, Visual Application, Brand Color Matching
1. Research motivation and goal

Brand design has always been about prioritizing themes and elements. Color design is usually
determined through a designer's personal experiences. However, brands and the environment
have a constantly interacting relationship. Colors are also a perceptive tool in our daily lives
that we cannot go without. During the reproduction process of the visual environment, the
visual element plays the role of linguistics symbols as the tool of the narrative environment
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(Chang, 1998). If design elements related to manager business stories and consumer
preferences (Which are acquired through interviews) are added to brand colors, then that
brand's impressiveness and likability will definitely increase. Brands usually cannot design
things like signs, environmental messages, or bus commercials based on specific
demographic preferences. As a result, the diversity of outdoors commercials has caused them
to lose their meaning from being overloaded with too many words or colors. Brand color is
the major part of the brand identity symbol with the clear visual recognition effect (Hsu,
2012). Therefore, make good use of color planning to play the identification function of
brands. The brand visual style and use of color in the plan of organization and attractiveness
for consumer segments have reached a good brand visual communication.
2. Literature reeview
The most important thing in brands is to leave a strong impression on the consumer. This sort
of impression comes from the support and memory from colors. Furthermore, ColorImage are
the conceptions and thoughts people have when see colors, also known as the mental feeling
from seeing colors (Lai, 1997). The tools to observe the relativity of a color and its mental
association range from light colors to color managing tools. These will help to decide which
color is most appropriate to use.
2.1 Presentation of Color Lights

Colors created by a light source have two properties: One is the light surface color, which is
the color of the surface of the light; the other is the rendering properties of the light source,
which is the effect the light has on the object it is shining on (Chan, 1991). Furthermore, the
presentation of color lights is decided by the allocation of energy on a light's spectrum. The
light's color will decide the atmosphere of a room. "Atmosphere" is a mental feeling so a
light's suitable temperature needs to be chosen to create the proper atmosphere.
2.2 The Planning and Applying of Color Management

During the course of design color choices need to be made with a plan. However, during the
execution of the color plan some color performances will have different colors and interfaces.
Since color is such an important element when it comes to displaying information, properly
using color will be able to transfer information reliably and invoke emotions. Therefore,
knowing how to apply colors is essential for effectively transferring information. It is also for
this reason that color is such an important research topic in the research of visual
communication effects, especially when it comes to the interactions between people and color.
(Maureen, 2004) Being able to design colors through intuition is an art. Also, the foundations
of good color design principles comes from a person's intuition and deep understanding of
color under different materials.
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In the research field of human and color interaction, the issue of legibility was mentioned.
Here, the term "legibility" refers to the visibility of color, which means how clear or not a
color(s) appears to be. It primarily comes from a color's properties, especially the reversible
figure (Lin, 1997). This must be included as a non-optional decision in color planning when
text design and applications are underway. Different materials for different scenarios will
have obvious differences.
Color correlation refers the harmonization that may happen when two or more colors have
similar or identical properties. These properties have a considerable effect on color
harmonization. Whether it's from light colors or object colors, equal color coloring (Two
colors with same hues) and equal value coloring (Two colors with same chroma and value)
both have higher color harmonization (Chuang & Yeh, 1998). Therefore the use of color and
the effect of displayed text are definitely related. The related font and color comparing also
needs to be done carefully from a professional viewpoint.
Besides taking into account the current color tools when setting a color plan, objective factors
should also be considered. These include preferences, jobs, company elements, etc. Therefore,
the color results reach the needs of proprietors, and the combination of standard color
property and corporate image further complete the mission of color.
2.3 Color Association

The mental association of color is based on the habits of many user's outwards living habits,
experiences, territory, race, culture, age, sex and inwards mental conditions, emotions, etc.
These factors create an objective mental perceptive experience. Therefore the symbolism of
color association all have common emotions and general mental symbolism similarities under
certain boundaries (Zeng, 1992). Color association allows people in their daily lives not only
to experience objective things from reality to reminisce on past happenings, it also can create
new unexperienced images in the brain on the foundation of knowledge and experience one
already has (Chang, 1995).
2.4 Visual Perceptive Association of Color

This can be further discussed from the angle of psychology. A person's mental perceptive
description of color can be divided into spatial consciousness and spatial cognition. Spatial
consciousness refers to a person's figurative mental perception towards space and spatial
cognition refers to a person's created abstract mental associative perception towards space as
well as the created abstract mental emotional reactive perception towards space.
2.4.1 A person's figurative mental perception towards space

Color can give a person the feeling of a distance's length, or the size of area and volume.
There also are spatial mental perceptions such as forwards, backwards, expansion,
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contraction, etc. Bright colors or colors such as red, yellow, and white have the effect of
expanding outwards. These are known as expansive colors. Dull colors or colors such as blue
or green have the effect of contracting inwards. These are known as contractive colors (Lin,
1991). Also, Goldstein has discovered in human neurology experiments that light source
colors with longer wave lengths are related to expanding and that light source colors with
shorter wave lengths are related to contracting (Arnhein, Li translated, 1976). Red light
represents one's inner movements; yellow light gives a feeling of giving off light. This is
much like inwards to outwards movements and gives people a feeling of getting closer; Cyan
light invokes concentric movements which gives people a feeling of getting farther
(Kandinsky, Wu translated, 1985).
2.4.2 A person's abstract mental associative perception towards space

The terms for a colors warmth and coldness are coined as warm colors and cool colors which
is inferred through the empirical method of the similarity to temperature. For example, the
color red is very similar to the colors of the sun or flames which are also both of high
temperature and a figurative state of heat. Therefore, red gives off the feeling of warmth and
stuffiness and is classified as a warm color; the color blue is similar to the colors of the sky or
water. Water is figurative state of low temperatures and chilliness. Therefore, the color blue
is classified as a cool color. Hideo etc.（1991）have discovered the following in a research
experiment on residents regarding the relationship between four mental feelings (Warm, hot,
cool, and cold) and environments lit red and blue: the highly colorful red light gives people a
feeling of heat while the less colorful blue gives people a feeling of coolness and chilliness.
The color with middling colorfulness purple gives people a feeling of nobility and mystery.
These principles can be followed to help create a color plan closer to the needs of the client.
3. Design tractics and methods

This study uses the restaurant Aubergine as its study case. Firstly, we planned the color
scheme on project planning. Secondly, we designed the brand recognition with design
policies. Thirdly, in response to customer needs and design projects instruct, we imported
the standard corporate identity system manner into our project. The food industry strongly
emphasizes the importance of the food's look, smell, and taste. This time's color design aims
to turn the Aubergine brand into one loved by the people. With this in mind, the plan 's
planning executed the following tactics and investigation methods:
1. Brand story: A brand story isn't creating any new content. It is creating a bridge between
the consumer and the brand.
2. Brand origins: A brand's creation describes the creator's hardships and eventual
turnarounds through the course of creating the brand.
3. Managing ideals: The brand's management background and company founding ideals
4. Current market investigation: The pros and cons as well as needs of the market's current
state.
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5. Confirming design ideals: How to combine the brand designs key points and color
needs.
6. Design steps: The handling of the brand's design methods and steps.
Through understanding the management ideals of the client, we can know that the brand must
communicate the color of the original Japanese store. The previous had too little purple area
and too red. The client wishes for the store is give off colors that have a sense of nobility
mixed with exotic mystery, but without deviating from local consumer preferences.
Design steps are split into five phases: Concept development, initial draft proposal, final draft
fixing, production & release, execution & supervision. These design method phases helps
designers from start to finish. All have complete work efficiency and work methods which
can guarantee a plan's execution be finished in time.
3.1 Concept Development

In this stage large amounts of concept art of the logo and supporting art will be drawn with
the company's ideals and design vision integrated. For the fonts we decided to focus on a
calligraphy style to present a style of Japanese cuisine and show the specialty of Aubergine.
3.2 Initial Draft Proposal

After deep discussions with the client involving the original work, purple was decided as the
main color for the color that led into the logo, was used on the outdoors sign, used for interior
decoration, applied to napkins and chopstick holders, etc. The color purple gives off a feeling
of nobility and mystery, and also fits with the image of Aubergine. Therefore 5~10 types of
purple were chosen from the PANTHONE color samples. A color plan simulation was also
held for consideration of the client's choice. The colors include the warmer reddish purple as
well as the cooler blueish purple. The client can pick the color based on preference and
decorations in order to achieve the highest amount of value from the brand color.
3.3 Final Draft Fixing

After finalizing the draft after discussions with the client, parts which were neglected in
planning will be fixed. The finalization will be double-checked after the client checks the text
and the colors one more time. The decision of the colors can be adjusted accordingly based
on the client's needs. The PANTONE color samples will act as the main topic of discussion
and guidance. The client will decide the color sample's color code, which would then decide
that color's usage standard and number in various media. At this time, the draft would
undergo measurement and material recommendations. The production method of the tools
will be different based on the company's needs.
3.4 Production & Release

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When all the aforementioned work is finished, collaboration plans with assisting companies
are started. Considerations for the cooperating skills and working quality are the key points of
this stage. The most important thing for brand design in the executing stage is to find a
suitable cooperating company. The planning of work time and work quality will be the key
deciding factor for the client's final check.
3.5 Execution and Supervision

Supervising work schedule and maintain quality assurance must be continued until all cases
are online and running without any problems. During the execution and release stage, a work
flow checklist must be made with the company. When each phase of work is finished, they
must be check to see if there are no problems. The edited content can be standardized through
numbers of times to raise the accuracy of the editing and ensure that each phase is complete.
4. Design and application

4.1 The【Aubergine】Brand's Visual Design
The function of a brand's design is the main point of concern when it comes to visually
communicating a brand's image. Standard Chinese fonts communicate a local cultural quality
from the brand. These words can combine into various messages suitable for the brand. (As
seen in Figure 1) This includes how to have a standard color present a different color through
the logo's design. (As seen in Figure 2) The brand's single color with a white contrast or black
with a white contrast plan can be seen in Figure 3.
Fig. 1: Brand's Grid Concept Fig. 2: Brand's Standard Colors
Fig. 3: Brand's black with a white contrast and single color with a white contrast
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4.2 The Applied Design of【Aubergine】
After the logo has been designed , it can also be used on outdoor signs, indoor signs, light
boxes of display cabinets, business cards, shop cards, menus, cell phone accessories, etc. (As
seen in Figure 4-9) This can correctly communicate the brand's image and color.
Fig.
Fig.4:4:Outdoor
OutdoorSign
Sign Fig. 5: Indoor Sign
Fig. 6: Display cabinet light box Fig. 7: Business Card
Fig. 8: Gift: Cell-phone Accessory Fig. 9: Business card, shop card, light box, menu
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5. Discussion and conclusions
The importance of a brand's visual aspect is growing more and more emphasized in business
design as time goes on. Ranging from shop imagery to product packaging, all of these can be
categorized by color during the visual planning. The food industry hopes that through the
execution of the brand design project that the consumer will have more memories of the
brand and create reasonable interactions in purchases on later dates. Good design can allow
consumers to feel joy through the process of shopping, and the effect that the related color
design planning work is gradually getting more and more emphasized practically. For
example, when creative culture products begin product sales towards a specific target
demographic (Also known as custom product communities), the atmosphere which is brought
to the consumers by the color will be closely observed.
Although this time's design experience has achieved the client's needs through interviewing
them on what color image they wanted, many details are still lacking. For example, issues
like how to more accurately set the PANTHONE color samples of more detailed colors,
setting support colors, etc. were all fields that could've tried harder to look for ways to
achieve them. This would help future color selections be more objective and closer to the
consumer's preference. In reality, up to this day there still has not been a clear and perfect
color planner framework. The actual executed phases and methods of testing are different
based on the needs of each company and the properties of the product.
In this study's color integration and plan of the Aubergine, the color image that Aubergine
wanted to communicate was wholly created. From a management standpoint, the image of
Japanese curry that the manager wanted to communicate was successfully created, and color
was correctly used as the brand's memory element. The company owner thinks that this brand
renovation plan has successfully turned over the industry image of Aubergine. The clean base
color and the calligraphy style title are very clearly distinctive from other stores of the same
nature.
Anything related to color performance and application are all categorized and executed into
the company's management system. Factors like management ideals, market goals, product
features, marketing methods, etc. are all put together for form a wholesome plan. It is not
based off a single designer's or color expert's own preferences and unrestrained
self-expression. We hope that this study's discussions has offered restaurant brand's some
color plans as guidance which will help future restaurant design in more accurately achieving
their client's desired needs.
References
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Publisher.
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[2] Chan, C.-H., 1991. Building Light Environment. Taipei, Shushinbooks.
[3] Chang, C.-C., 1998. Visual Analysis in Design Development - an Urban Landscape
Example, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology.
[4] Chuang, M.-C. & Yeh, C.-L., 1998. Influence of an Integrated Color Interval of Object
Colors on Color Harmony, Journal of Design, 3 (2), 113-130.
[5] Hsu, H.-L., 2012. Application of Color in Modern Brand. Hundred Schools in Art, 28 (8),
221-222.
[6] Kandinsky, 1985. Concerning the Spiritual in Art, WU, M.-L.translator, Taipei, Artist
Publisher.
[7] Lai, A. C., 1997. Color Imagery and Color Culture. Taipei, Visual Communication
Culture Publisher.
[8] Lin, S.-Y., 1991. Color Epistemology, Taipei, San Min Publisher.
[9] Maureen, C. S., 2004. Color in information display principles, perception, and models.
StoneSoup Consulting. Course 20. SIGGRAPH.
[10] OHNO Hideo,1991, The Interactions between Thermal Sensation and Hue-Heat
Impression Under Various Thermal Conditions, Journal of Architecture Planning and
Environmental Engineering. 142, 45-52.
[11] Sheng, C.-H., 1995. Psychology of Architecture Environment, Taipei, Garden City Publisher.
[12] Zeng, W.-G., 1992. The Study on the Relation of Light Environmental Immanent and
Constitutionally in Building – Research on the Mental Experimentation with Different
Factors of Light-Source Color, Chung Yuan Christian University.
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ASMSS-2802
How Message Sidedness in Health Claims Influences Consumers’
Evaluation
Hung-Chou Lin
Email:kevinathk@gmail.com
Sheng-Hsien Lee
Yu Da University of Science and Technology
Abstract
Although previous studies in the literature of consumer behavior have examined the effect of
message sidedness, it still remains unclear whether one-sided or two-sided messages are more
persuasive. Moreover, most of the previous studies regarding to message sidedness mainly
focus on the effect of message sidedness in advertising on consumers’ behavior, it is
unknown how consumers respond to different message sidedness when a one-sided or
two-sided message in health claims shown on the package of a healthy food product. The
present research aims at exploring the underlying mechanisms how consumers respond to
different message sidedness in health claims when they evaluate healthy food products.
The present research applies heuristic-systematic model (HSM) and explores the underlying
mechanisms how consumers respond to different message sidedness in claims when they
evaluate healthy food products. In addition, personality traits and selected context are also
discussed in the present research to provide a broader understanding in the literature of
message sidedness. The results of the present research indicate that two-sided messages in
claims are more persuasive than one-sided messages because they pass the “sufficiency
threshold＂. In this case, individuals need sufficient cognitive resource to systematically
scrutinize the information before making the product evaluation.
In addition, the results of this article show that individuals＇mood state, product involvement
and self-rated health moderate the relationship between message sidedness in claims and
product evaluation. It argues that individuals in a positive mood evaluate healthy food
product more favorably when a one-sided message is used, while individuals in a negative
mood evaluate healthy food product more favorably when a two-sided message is used.
Moreover, it reveals that individuals with low involvement evaluate healthy food product
more favorably when a one-sided message is used, while individuals with high involvement
evaluate healthy food product more favorably when a two-sided message is used. Besides, it
shows that individuals in good self-rated health evaluate healthy food product more favorably
when a one-sided message is used, while individuals in poor self-rated health evaluate
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healthy food product more favorably when a two-sided message is used. Finally, both
theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Keywords: message sidedness, heuristic-systematic model, food product evaluation, mood

state, product involvement, self-rated health
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ISLLLE-1221
Facilitating English Language Learner’s Argumentative Wrinting in a
Computer-Supported Collaborative Writing Environment
Hsiu-Ting Hung
Department of English
National Kaohsiung First University of Science and Technology, Taiwan
hhung@nkfust.edu.tw
ABSTRACT
This study contributes to research on argumentative writing in the field of computer
supported collaborative learning by exploring English language learners’ argumentative
writing experiences with the mediation of a social bookmarking and annotation technology,
Diigo, in a computer-supported collaborative writing (CSCW) environment. In this study, a
posttest-only quasi-experimental design was adopted to investigate whether and how
participation in CSCW tasks promoted the learners’ argumentative writing performance and
learning engagement. Data sources for this study included written English arguments,
learning questionnaires, and focus-group interviews. The collected data were analyzed
quantitatively and qualitatively to answer the following research questions: (1) Do English
language learners’ argumentative writing skills develop differently after they participate in
various types of CSCW tasks? (2) Do learning motivation and engagement vary among
English language learners after participation in various types of CSCW tasks? (3) What
challenges do English language learners most often encounter in the processes of
collaborative and argumentative writing? The results of this study indicate that the type of
CSCW tasks influences students’ argumentative writing performance and perceptions. This
paper concludes by providing strategies to facilitate learners’ online collaboration and
argumentation.
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ISLLLE-1260
Acquisition of Cantonese Sounds by Hong Kong Pre-School Children - A
Replication Study
a
Manwa L. Ng, b Sze-wan Ngai, a Eric Tik Sang Tong
a
Speech Science Laboratory, Division of Speech and Hearing Sciences, Faculty of Education,
University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
b
Yan Oi Tong, Hong Kong
Email:manwa@hku.hk
Abstract
The importance of a standardized language assessment for developing children has been
well-documented. It not only provides valuable information regarding children’s language
development, but also serves as a language screening step for those who may be at risk of
delay or disorder in speech sound acquisition. Currently there are only two standardized tests
available for assessing an individual’s sound development. They are the Cantonese
Segmental Phonology Test (CSPT) and Hong Kong Cantonese Articulation Test (HKCAT).
Both tests were developed a while ago; HKCAT was made available in 2002 and CSPT was
firstly developed in 1993. Considering the change in language learning environment and
ever-changing education requirements, these tests may have become less suitable for
assessing children’s language performance. Also, the normative data associated with these
tests could be out-dated and become less valid. In addition, both tests are not freely available
to speech therapists and parents. A newly designed assessment examining
Cantonese-speaking children’s sound development that is simpler and more accurately is
apparently needed. The present study will attempt to establish a Cantonese Articulation
Screening Tool (CAST) for future development of a copylefted and publicly available
articulation assessment tool. The CAST will be carefully developed and evaluated by a team
of experts consisting of practicing speech therapists, educators, and speech scientists who are
experts in Cantonese phonology and child development. The aim of the project will be to
obtain and report data from kindergarteners in Hong Kong regarding their phonological
development, in an attempt to depict children’s Cantonese sound acquisition at different ages
(from K1 to K3).
In the project, a total of at least 400 K1 to K3 children from different local kindergartens will
be recruited. They will only be native speakers of Cantonese and they will have no reported
congenital or developmental disorders. Demographic information including their family
background, medical history, linguistic environment and developmental events will be
obtained.
To develop the CAST, the word list will be carefully designed and evaluated by two
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experienced speech therapists. This process guarantees the validity and reliability of the
CAST for phonological assessment. To obtain language data from the children, researchers
who are speech therapy students will carry out interviews with the children and administer
the CAST assessment. Data entry will be carried out by another researcher in order to
minimize bias. Participating kindergarteners will be assessed for articulation competency by
using the CAST. Preliminary observations reveal while the majority of the students exhibit a
normal developmental pattern, some noticeable disorder patterns are found from the
screening results.
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ISLLLE-1233
Stylistics across Cultures: An Examination of Wole Soyinka’s the Bacchae
of Euripides and the Original
Frank Ugwu Okoh

Department of English and Literature, Nwafor Orizu College of Education, Nsugbe
E-mail: okohfu@gmail.com
Abstract
The paper examined stylistic features in Wole Soyinka’s The Bacchae of Euripides and the
original play by Euripides. It did so by taking a comparative analysis of both plays (the
original and the adaptation) to see the similarities and dissimilarities, especially as both
writers are from different ages and cultures. This analysis revealed certain affinities and
divergences. While both writers have a knack for alliterative usages, especially stigmatism
and a high preference for content over grammatical words, Soyinka’s style is more deviant
and his employment of compound epithets and compounding is less remarkable than
Euripides’. Both, however, demonstrate a keen sense of descriptive pictorial imagery and
language, thus painting the picture of things as they are, and by so doing, elucidating
character, enlarging mood, clarifying action, concretizing setting, making atmosphere
palpable and consequently, whetting our understanding of the message as well as themes of
the works under study.
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ISLLLE-1232
“Sons of Achebe”: Okey Ndibe and Chimamanda Adichie as Heirs to a
Grand Narrative Tradition
Vincent Onyema Chukwu

Department of English Language and Literature, Nwafor Orizu College of Education
Nsugbe, Nigeria.
E-mail:vinceonyema@gmail.com
Abstract
“Sons of Achebe” originally applied to his contemporaries who, consciously or
unconsciously, used his narrative structure and style. This paper proposes that the tradition
has continued as the bedrock of African fiction in the twenty-first century. To establish its
position, it gives a brief account of Achebe’s literary concerns and compares them with
those found in Ndibe’s Arrow of rain and Adichie’s Half of a yellow sun. The exercise
shows that they use Achebe’s archetypal structure since they are still “writing back” to
project the impact of colonialism on post-independence Africa, even when they tacitly
modify his tragic vision to suit their fictional worlds. Flat symbolic heroes are giving way
to those who deviate from the norm in their struggles for survival. In addition, they still use
an informed transliteration. Adichie goes further to enhance her craftsmanship by having
Igbo interspersed with English in her story.
Keywords: craftsmanship, tragic vision, archetypal, post independence, bedrock
Abbreviations:
AR= Arrows of pain
HI= Hopes and impediments
HYS= Half of yellow sun
Introduction
Nnolim (1988:1) used the phrase “sons of Achebe” to describe Chinua Achebe’s
contemporaries who found his subject-matter and techniques so very fascinating that they
chose to emulate him. Nnolim identified such “sons” as the Ghanaian Ayi Kwei Armah and
Kenya’s Ngugi wa Thiong’o. Within Nigeria, John Munonye, Elechi Amadi, Onuora
Nzekwu, T.M. Aluko and Flora Nwapa share this progeny.
Achebe’s active literary period began in 1958 with the publication of Things Fall Apart
and continued until Anthills of the savannah (1987). Between these two, there were four
other major works – No longer at ease, Arrow of God, A man of the People, and, for the
purpose of this study, Girls at war and other stories. Going by the doyen’s artistic
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precupations, one would have thought that his works would date with the incidents in
society, which informed them: On the contrary, it has been observed that his narratives
remain very much alive and their influence on emerging Nigerian novelists has remained as
strong as ever at the dawn of the twenty-first century. Recent writers - Okey Ndibe and
Chimamanda Adichie -bright stars who incidentally share ancestry with him - are two such
new “sons” and may be seen as heirs to his grand narrative tradition. In this paper, an
attempt will be made to review this narrative heritage and established that these two new
Nigerian writers are heirs to it.
Achebe’s narrative tradition

Nnolim (1988) goes further to determine what constitutes this tradition. Achebe’s disciples
are those who write archetypal and situational novels. They also depict post-independence
African societies under the influence of neo-imperialism.
His Things fall apart and Arrow of God are archetypal and situational; each depicts the
impact of European colonialism on traditional African societies; in each, the themes of
conflict emanating from a clash of cultures and its effects on African communities are
presented. The protagonists – Okonkwo, and Ezeulu - are alienated personalities
symbolizing their societies. Thus, what happens to each is the fate of his community. This
may explain why Ker (2003:125) inverts the paradigm as follows:
The protagonist of Things Fall Apart is not Okonkwo but Umuofia. The same can also be
said of Arrow of God whose main character is not Ezeulu, impressive as he is, but the
community of Umuaro. Both communities, to use Achebe’s terse proverb, are like the
lizard; if it loses its tail it soon grows another. Okonkwo and Ezeulu are tails of the lizards,
Umuofia and Umuaro.
If one accepts that both novels present group-felt experiences, then the group, in each case,
is the community. The question is: “with whom does one’s sympathy lie - Okonkwo or
Umuofia; Ezeulu or Umuaro?” The tragic effect dwells perpetually with the community;
the individual’s involvement is ephemeral. It is also significant to note that the same
individuals have excesses which contribute to communal tragedy: Okonkwo’s desecration
of the land by killing his foster-child and his inability to read the clear signs, on his return
from exile, for which reason he murders the court messenger, are errors of judgment which
hasten the collapse of Umuofia; but for Ezeulu’s unbridled arrogance, his one-sided
compromising disposition and his dislocation of the godhead to serve his selfish purpose,
Umuaro’s tragedy may have been averted.
This tragic vision, with its emphasis on the community, is meant to present a human
society which has treasured, but expendable, values the losses of which have devastating
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consequences. Achebe makes the point: it is important to stress the humanity of the Negro
by portraying him in a well ordered community, to make strangers like Joseph Conrad and
Joyce Cary learn that Africa “with all its imperfections – was not one long night of
savagery from which the first European acting on God’s behalf redeemed” its people (Hope
and Impediments, 1988: 30).
Still on the writer’s fictional community and its personae, one observes too that, since these
two stories are set in a male dominated traditional society, they appear to downplay the role
of women but for crucial exceptions in Things Fall Apart where there are portraits of a
spiritually magnificent and socially indispensable womanhood in Chielo, the priestess of
Agbala (70-6) in Ani, the Eart-Goddess, and in that question which Uchendu asks
Okonkwo: “Can you tell me … why it is that one of the commonest names we give to our
children is Nneka, or ‘Mother is Supreme’?” (Things fall apart, 1962:94).
In novels set in the rural past, Achebe’s major objectives were to demonstrate how
colonialism had destroyed a virile civilization and to challenge the stereotype myths and
images of the black man created by Europeans. As he says, “By ‘writing back’ to the West
we were attempting to reshape the dialogue between the colonized and the colonizer”
(There was a Country, 2012:55). Elsewhere he states the argument of the colonized: in
choosing to treat the Negro as beasts of burden, the white man has blocked the chance of a
dialogue (HI: 15).
The alternative to dialogue is writing, ‘writing back’, hence the archetypal tradition.
With regard to novels set, in part, in the city and, in part, in the rural community, stories
which depict post-independence, A Man of the people is the best example. The highlight is
that, this time, communal tragedy is the sole aftermath of inept indigenous leadership
represented by those like Chief, the Honourable M.A. Nanga, prodded by post-colonial
powers such as British Amalgamated. Though the despoilers are blacks who have acquired
white attitudes, and hopes of redemption are dimmed by the appearance of others like Odili
Samalu in opposition, the archetypal structure is still underneath as the new elite trample
upon wholesome traditional values just as their white predecessors had done. A prevailing
state of hopelessness grips society giving rise to post-independence disillusionment, a
major theme of the African novel. Obiechina (1975:54) offers the condition that leads up to
it: “a gulf separated fulfillment from hope… and disillusionment set in …”. In Nigeria, this
precipitated a coup d’état and a counter, culminating in an ethnic cleansing and a civil war.
Achebe’s novel ends with a military takeover of government.
That story seems to have a continuation in “Girls at War”, the title piece in a collection,
Girls at War and Other Stories. This short story deals with tragedies brought upon
individuals by war. As Innes (1990:123) asserts, unlike the first four novels, where
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protagonists aspire “to be central to their communities … the (short) stories dwell on the
perspectives and situations of those who have never seen themselves as holders of power,
(those) concerned with physical and psychological survival …”. The environment
(community) has turned hostile, unleashing destruction on itself as represented by Gladys,
Reginald, the “scarecrow crowd of rags and floating ribs” at relief centres (Girls at war,
1977:107), etc.
It is also in a story such as this that the author allows some measure of individuality. There
is even erotic intimacy as observed in the bunker and “shelling” scenes. These and other
comic scenes inform the humour, often dry, inherent in the story.
Achebe has also left a linguistic heritage. Onwubu (1976:48-9) observes that the novel in
Africa “has come under the influence of language suggestive of oral origins”. The
consequence is that the stories read like transliterations. It is a trend identified with Tutuola,
Okara and Achebe. However, whereas the first two use style which approximates that of
the Onitsha Market literature, Achebe employs an informed transliteration observed in an
outstanding difference between the narrator’s pronouncements and dialogue when spiced
with proverbs.
To conclude this extremely brief review of Achebe’s narrative tradition, one should note
that emphases have been placed on his fictional mode (paying attention to plot structure,
theme, tragic vision and character) and style. Attempts will now be made to determine how
Okey Ndibe’s Arrows of rain and Chimamanda Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun have
benefited from this narrative tradition, for which their authors may be addressed as “Sons
of Achebe”
Okey ndibe’s arrows of rain

This is the story of a man paying the price of culpable silence. Ogugua, a journalist with
The monitor, a reputable daily based in Langa, the capital of Madia, fails to report the rape
and murder of a prostitute named Emelia (lyese) by Major Isa Palat Bello. By this failure,
Ogugua violates an injunction from his visionary grandmother: “Don’t fear any man, but
fear lying. Remember this: a story that must be told never forgives silence. Speech is the
mouth’s debt to a story” (Arrows of rain, 2000:97).
Soon, there is a coup d’état and Major Bello becomes military head of state. Afraid that
this powerful man with whom he had played rival would hunt him down, Ogugua becomes
a fugitive who finally settles down at the B. Beach for twenty years, feigning dementia,
dwelling in the open air, and feeding from the dustbins of nearby hotels. He now assumes
the name Bukuru and hopes, by running from his past, to secure peace. But this cannot be,
not when the betrayal of a loved one and shirking of paternal responsibility are involved:
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Emelia/Iyese is murdered because she has refused to grant Bello the paternity of her baby
boy, who, according to a letter received after her death, belongs to Ogugua.
As Okolo (2008:60) puts it, “Iyese does not rest in peace … she haunts Ogugua endlessly”.
A military vice-task force, instituted to rid the city of prostitutes and other criminals,
perpetuates gang rapes at the B. Beach. And Bukuru cannot but watch such atrocities and
listen to shrill, prolonged cries of victims at night.
In a failed attempt to rescue a victim, he is arrested. In court, he accuses Major-General Isa

Palat Bello, the head of state, of rape and murder. He is to die for this delayed mission.
This novel draws a lot from Things fall apart, A Man of the people and “Girls at war”. The
rural community of Amawbia is akin to the world of Umuofia. The village square is still a
prominent feature of the landscape. In Achebe’s work, it is the venue of the famous
wrestling match between Okonkwo and Amalinze, the Cat and of the meeting of the men
of title. In Arrows of rain, Ogugua’s blind grandmother awaits him there from where she
leads him home to witness the death of his father. Amawbia still has the kind of herbs
which Okonkwo, in the earlier narrative, fetches from a nearby bush for the cure of
Ezinne’s “iba”; to stabilize Ogugua’s mother’s pregnancy, in the later story, all that Nne
needs do is to collect, leaves and all is well again.
There is no denying the fact that modernity has affected society. In Achebe’s story, a short
distance-Umuofia to Mbaino, or to Mbanta seems like that between two worlds. In Ndibe’s
tale, technology has compressed the universe. Within seven hours, thirty minutes, Ogugua
arrives Amawbia from Langa via Onitsha. Not many young men sit in their Obi to drink
palm wine anymore; there are bars, in the village, where people like Man-Mountain
Buzuuzu go to spend good times. It is no longer necessary to have interpreters to
communicate with villagers when those like Ogugua’s father can mesmerize an audience
with such highflating words as “Bragadocio. Hocus pocus. Tintinabulation. Jiggery
pockery. Brouhaha” (AB:88). But the temple of rural life remains basically the same.
Amawbia, in Arrow of rain, shares the same status as Anata or Urua in A Man of the
People: traditional values, beliefs, etc.
In both novels, the urban setting is the seat of government: Bori and Langa respectively.
An insightful reading reveals that both cities approximate Lagos. “Odili” is an igbo name;
so are Anata and Urua. Going by historical evidence, the temporal setting of the earlier
novel is the mid-sixties. At that time, Lagos was still the capital of Nigeria. In the later
narrative, there is a lot of the country’s history to suggest that Langa is, indeed, Lagos.
The two novels dwell on the theme of post-independence disillusionment. Leadership, in
each, is characterized by corruption and insensitivity. M.A. Nanga, in the first story, is a
replica of James Amanka or Sogon Yaw, in Prime Minister Askia Amin’s cabinet in
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Arrows of rain. Also in each work, a military intervention occurs. What Ndibe adds is an
indepth depiction of military dictatorship and the fear of violence which it unleashes on the
community. But at bottom, it is an archetypal novel.
Achebe’s characterization has influenced Ndibe too. It is instructive to observe that in

Things fall apart, Okonkwo commits suicide; the same fate befalls Ogugua in Arrows of
rain. And Chielo’s portrayal presages Nne’s. Nne, Ogugua’s grandmother, is the
impressive spiritual female through whom the author fosters of traditional dimension. She
is a paragon of ancient wisdom, functions as a seer capable of sensing the virtue or vice in
people by the smell of their spirits, in spite of her physical blindness, and she is also a
herbalist. Her uprightness is unquestionable; through her, the novelist unveils the sanctity
of traditional life. She is like Naana in Armah’s Fragments.
Ndibe, like Achebe, does some “writing back”. To create an adequate temporal setting, he
traces significant historical events in Nigeria and concludes that this nationhood “was
new-fangled, strange and entirely of British conception” (AR:80). By this, the root of
political instability and misrule is traced to European imperialism.
Finally, for Ndibe, the use of an informed kind of transliteration, in Achebe’s tradition, is
notable. The first-person narrator is as chatty as Odili in A man of the people. But, as is the
case with this predecessor, Ogugua’s language adheres to the rules of English diction
except when dialogue is laden with proverbs. Nne’s advice to her grandson, referred to
earlier, is rendered in language suggestive of Igbo origin. So is her retort to Ogugua’s
father. She asks: “Why not? Are you not a man? Were you not born with seedpods hanging
between your thighs?” (AR:90; emphasis added). The last question conveys the Africans
traditional reticence in the discussion of issue related to sex. We also observe this in the
chief of Utonki’s chat with Iyese: “Last night, we heard our son crying the cry of manhood.
It put much happiness in our breasts” (AR: 136).
Again, humour is generated often through dialogue as in the instance cited above. Another
example is in Buzuuzu’s attempt to define “communism” (komanizim) for Iji as they sip
palm wine in a village bar:
“It was invented by a man called Karl Marx”
“God will bless him.
“There is no God in communism”.
“Really? No God? … let me ask you, … can I go and fuck one of the chief’s wives when
you bring the komanizim?” (AR:84)
688
Chimamanda adichie’s half of a yellow sun
Nixon (2006: 1 of 3) in a review of Adichie’s novel, in suggests that it is a story of all the
antecedents which have give modern Nigeria its shape: … a novel about an imploding
nation riven by religious strife and bloody wrangling over who controls the military, the
civil service, the oil; a novel about looting, roadside bombs, killings and reprisal killings
set against a backdrop of meddling foreign powers ...
These situations eventually spell danger and insecurity for all.
Half of a yellow sun has a straightforward plot. Ugwu’s aunt brings him to live with
Odenigbo, a mathematics lecturer at the university at Nsukka, and a fervent pan-Africanist,
who turns his Odim Street residence into an informal centre for explosive and often rowdy
discussions of issues affecting the continent. Soon, Olanna, one of the twin daughters of
Chief Ozobia, a wealthy industrialist based in Lagos, returns from Britain and, rather than
accept to be bait in her father’s hook for attracting juicy contracts, chooses to take up a
lectureship at Nsukka and live with Odenigbo. Her other twin, Kainene, moves to
PortHarcourt to run their father’s business in the oil-rich city. Her boyfriend, Richard, a
British writer, resident at Nsukka, spends his weekends in her house.
This stable condition is shaken up when a coup d’etat and a counter take place, followed by
a pogrom in Lagos and the North, resulting in secession and civil war. Nsukka falls to the
federal troops. Odenigbo’s family, continue to relocate in Biafra as the fledgling republic
loses territory: first to Abba, then to Umuahia and, finally, to Kainene’s house at Orlu after
the fall of Port-Harcourt.
Human conditions worsen. Death tolls rise daily, a good many due to severe hunger and
Kwashiorkor. Conscription of child soldiers is rife. Even Ugwu becomes a victim and
suffers a nigh-fatal injury at a war-front.
The war ends abruptly. But it has taken some of Odenigbo’s colleagues- Okeoma,
professor Ekwenugo, and Kainene, Olanna’s sister.
So much is reminiscent of Achebe’s setting in “Girls at war” in which place names are real;
Enugu, Awka, Nkwerri, Owerri and the Uli Airstrip-all in Biafra. Adichie makes her spatial
setting more expansive - Nsukka, Enugu, Abba, Umunnachi, PortHarcourt, Umuahia and
Orlu, in the sessionist enclave; then Kano and Lagos in Nigeria. Olanna and Arize witness
the molestation of the Igbo in Lagos. The former narrowly escapes death, thanks to her
Muslim boyfriend, Mohammed, in Kano, where she has that very bitter experience of
seeing the corpses of her massacred uncle, Mbaezi, and his wife, Ifeka. Arize, her cousin,
does not survive the holocaust.
689
The time setting is similar in Achebe’s “Girls at War” and Adichie’s Half of a yellow sun.
Each captures the prevailing mood at the declaration of Biafra and neady days which
marked the commencement of war, the shrinking of Biafra and the austere socio-economic
realities of the peak period. In both stories, the role of CARITAS and WCC are highlighted.
In Achebe’s short piece, we see how Reginald, dissatisfied with the supply he receives
from one of these agencies, goes to the other where a fellow protestant is in charge. In
Adichie’s work, while the likes of Adanna are dying of the Harold Wilson Syndrome
(Kwashiorkor), Olanna is getting regular supplies of egg-yoke, milk, stockfish, etc. through
such highly placed colleagues as Professor Ezeka whose life - style has improved
tremendously since being appointed Director of Mobilization in war-torn Biafra. Just as
Adichie’s Augusta’s boy friend can still take her to shop in Libreville in the midst of object
poverty, so can Adichie’s Professor’s wife still live in grand style; plush red sofa, “ A
dollhouse with tiny exquisite doll plates and teacups” brandy and freezers (HYS:349). (It is
like Odili’s experience in Bori, A man of the people, where Jean takes him on a tour of two
parallel cities: one a world of scented closets and trimmed lawns; the other of hovels and
bucket latrines. In the manner of Achebe’s narrative tradition, Adichie’s world is one in
which the community is a victim of post-independence inept and corrupt leadership. She,
however, adds that under a military dictatorship, the powerful tend to manifest great
impunities. In the end, the dead and such perpetually alienated personalities as Odenigbo,
Olanna, Ugwu, etc. are the lizards’ tails; Biafra is the tragic protagonist. The same tragic
vision!.
Adichie also does a lot of talking back or writing back. Using the forum of Odenigbo’s
informal assembly, she draws attention to the role of European powers in fanning the
embers of disunity in Nigeria. The North-South dialogue is brought to the fore often. Susan,
to whom Richard is protégé on his arrival in Lagos, feels threatened only when he talks to
European ladies. “black women were not threatening to her, were not equal rivals”
(HYS:57). Her attitude to the pogrom does not accord humanity to those involved
(HYS:157).
Though Richard receives all the ridicules for being British, Adichie appears to use him as
an instrument for writing back. Richard is like Camara Laye’s clarence in The Radiance of
the king. His voluntary acceptance of Biafran citizenship is an affirmation of the black
man’s humanity. For him, Kainene’s disappearance and the end of Biafra stand for a bitter
abortion of hope.
Talking about Kainene, she is Adichie’s effort to portray that superior, spiritual female
essence in the tradition of Achebe. Kainene is elegantly sacred (not eunuch-like) and
690
extremely intelligent. She is not a woman of many words, but hers is the only critical voice
in the novel. It is just natural that she should die like the unrealizable dream of Biafra.
Though tragedy is still communal, Adichie adopts that same individuality of character
which one finds in Achebe’s short stories. Each man is a victim of the same woes but each
takes them on as an individual. Eroticism is rife as a psychological defence against forces
that tend to frustrate man’s attempts to remain sane. Adichie unabashedly delineates orgies:
Ugwu thinking about feeling Nnesinachi’s breasts, even those of his sister, Anulika;
Chinyere sneaking up to Ugwu, in the boy’s quarters, lying on her back throwing her legs
apart; Odenigbo’s mother offering Amala to her son in Olanna’s absence; Olanna’s loud
and uncontrollable moans when she makes love to Odenigbo, etc. This is in the tradition
Achebe has established in “Girls at war”.
Adichie is also an heiress to the style of informed transliteration. There is strong evidence
of Igbo origin in the dialogue between Ugwu’s aunt and Odenigbo:
“What is wrong with his mother?”
“Sah, her chest is on fire”
(HYS:90)
When Olanna visits Edna to report her woe as a result of Odenigbo’s infidelity, the former
says: “My grandfather used to say that other people just fart but his own fart always
released shit” (HYS:236). It is a proverb used in dialogue. It is easy to contrast the syntax
with that of the narration. What Adichie has added is the outright use Igbo words and
phrases and her craft is so dependable that rather mar the story, these interspersing create
an aesthetic appeal peculiar to the author.
Conclusion
Some effort has been made to compare Chinua Achebe’s narrative art with those of two
young Nigerians, Okey Ndibe and Chimamanda Adichie. By this review, it has been
established that these twenty-first century novelists depend very extensively on the doyen’s
narrative tradition. It is definite that the novels they write are still archetypal as long as they
aim at writing back somehow. However, the white man is now only a shadow, but one that
is bound to haunt the African literary landscape for some time. They also adapt Achebe’s
tragic vision, settings, themes and characterization, but they make allowance for
individuality, giving more human flesh, desires and pursuits to characters instead of the
legendary approach. They also endorsed the existing linguistic framework. For these
reasons, these two recent novelists may be seen as heirs to a grand narrative tradition.
691
References
Nnolim, Charles (1988), “The Sons’ of Achebe; example of John Munonye” in Kriteria: A
Nigerian journal of literary research, vol. 1, No 1, February, pp 1-13.
Achebe C. (196), Things fall apart, London: Heinemann.
Achebe C (1964), Arrow of God, London: Heinemann.
Ker, David I. (2003), Studies in African and African-American culture: the African novel and
the modernist tradition, New York: Peter Lang Publishing Inc.
Achebe C. (2012), There was a country: A personal, history of Biafra, London: Penguin
Group.
Achebe (1965), A man of the people, London: Heinemann.
Obiechina, Emmanuel (1975), Culture, tradition and society in the West African novel,
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Innes, C.L. (1990), Chinua Achebe, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Achece, C. (1977) Girls at war and other stories, London: Heinemann.
Onwubu, Chukwuemeka (1976), “Language and literature”: transliteration in neo-African
literature, WAJML, September pp 46-51
Ndibe, Okey (2000), Arrows of rain, Oxford: Heinemann.
Okolo, Ifeyinwa Genevieve (2008), “Indigenous thought in African urban Fiction”, Being a
Masters essay in the Department of English submitted to the Faculty of Arts in partial
fulfillment of the Degree of Master of Arts, University of Ibadan, Nigeria, June 2008.
Nixon, Roy (2006) “A Biafran Story” : a Sunday book Review, The New York Times
http://www. nytimes.com/2006/10/01/books/review/Nixon.t.html? r=o, retried
4/20/2015.
Adichie, Chimamada (2006), Half of a yellow sun, Lagos, Nigeria: Farafina.
Achebe C. (1988), Hopes and impediments: selected essays 1965-1987,
oxford: Heinemann International.
692

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Conference Proceedings

25-27 August, 2015

＊Information and Registration

08:00-17:30 August 26, 2015

08:15-17:00 August 27, 2015

Higher Education Forum (HEF)

Tel: + 886 2 2740 1498〡www.prohef.org

＊Presentations and Equipment

＊A Polite Request to All Participants

Materials Provided by the Conference Organizer:

Materials Prepared by the Presenters:

A 60cm*160cm Poster Illustrates 1.Wider than 60cm (left)

Osaka International House Foundation

Osaka International House Foundation is a public-service corporation founded by Osaka City

(2F Floor Plan)

ASMSS International Committee Board

Pedro Gardete, Stanford University

Abbas Gholtash, Marvdasht Branch

Placide Poba-Nzaou University of Quebec in Montreal

Van Thinh Nguyen Seoul National University

Khairiah Jusoh Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

Chun-I Fan National Sun Yat-Sen University

Habibis Saleh Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

Chi Wai Chan The Open University of Hong Kong

Jui-Sheng Chou National Taiwan University of Science and Technology

Seong-Rin Lim Kangwon National University

Magdalen Ki Hong Kong Baptist University

Jing-Chie Lin National Central University

Yih-Hwang Lin National Taiwan Ocean University

Abd Rahim Bin Romle Universiti Utara Malaysia

Ali M Algahtani King Khalid University

Suhsen Liu National Quemoy University

Noor Abidah Mohd Omar Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

Wan Ibrahim Wan Ahmad Universiti Utara Malaysia

Ramesh Babu Nimmagadda Indian Institute of Technology Madras

Norazizah Shafee Universiti Putra Malaysia

Ronda Jean Everson Korea Christian University

Henry Ma The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Sou-Sen Leu National Taiwan University of Science and Technology

Ming Hour Yang Chung Yuan Christian University

Iong-Zong Joy Chen Dayeh University

Touraj Taghikhany Amirkabir University of Technology

Dayou Cheng Harbin Institute of Technology

Michiko Miyamoto Akita Prefectural University

Ester, S.M. Leung Hong Kong Baptist University

Ibtisam Mustafa Kamal Soran University

Michio Sanjou Kyoto University

Juhng Perng Su National Dong-Hwa University

Time Schedule Venue

"Teaching for Understanding: Theorizing What to Teach through Action

Professor Huk-Yuen Law

Department of Curriculum and Instruction,

The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Keyword：Service Design、Business Model Canvas、Business Model、Service Modeling

2. Questionnaire and Analysis

Hiroshi Hazama’s interpretation of the relationship between business familism and

The post-WWII feature of “business welfarism” of Japanese business management was

In terms of the differences before/after WWII, in addition to management measures, Hiroshi

The said are the theories of pre-and-post-Japanese business management proposed by

According to the pre-and-post WWII Japanese business management theories proposed by

Abdul Shukor Shamsudin*

Hamzah Abdul Rahman

Abd. Rahim Romle