European Journal of Social Sciences

 

Volume 37 Issue 1  
February 2013

Teacher’s Perception about Constructivist Learning
5-20
Chanoknat Chuenmanee, Wassana Chanyoo, Sornwanee La-the and Chokchai Yuenyong
 
Abstract:
The purpose of this research was to investigate the reflection of the CLES result on teacher’s perception about constructivist learning through interpreted paradigm. The participant groups of this study included 28 Grade sixth students of a primary school in the rural part of Khon Kaen Province, during 2011 school year; a primary school science teacher; and 3 colleagues of participant teacher. Data obtaining from data collection, were investigated, analyzed, and interpreted the answers in order to interpret the teacher’s perception about constructivist learning. Then, they were interpreted once more with peer debriefing, and investigated by member checking. Finally, presented the finding in descriptive form. The research findings founded that 1) we can use The CLES to urge the teacher, the CLES indicates teacher to aware about their classroom environment. In the 2nd survey, the level of scale 5: Student Negotiation Scale increased from sometimes to be often because of the teacher change her instruction. After the 1st reflection she made more opportunity for her student to share their opinions with her and their classmates; 2) the teacher had alternative conception e.g. she confused in sink and float concept; 3) the teacher does not understand the nature of science; 4) the director and policy have effects to the teacher; and 5) the teacher does not understand about constructivism. Moreover, in Thai context the meaning of the word ‘constructivist’ results in teacher misunderstanding.
Keywords: Teacher’s perception, constructivist learning environments
 
Glimpses of African Suicidality: Suicide and Culture in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart and Elechi Amadi’s the Concubine
21-31
Mensah Adinkrah
 
Abstract:
At present, there is a paucity of information regarding suicidal behavior in many African societies. This is regrettable given that suicidal behavior is a growing social and public health problem in many African societies. Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart and Elechi Amadi’s The Concubine are both classical works in African literature that provide vivid depictions of cultural attitudes, beliefs and practices regarding suicide in pre-colonial Eastern Nigeria. These works, therefore, serve among a few potential sources of information for the student or researcher seeking information about traditional cultural beliefs and practices concerning African suicidal behavior. The current paper provides an analysis of suicidal behavior depicted in these two novels, then relates this information to actual data on suicide in contemporary African societies, particularly Ghana.
Keywords: Suicide, Ghana, Culture, Chinua Achebe, Elechi Amadi, African literature, Things Fall Apart, The Concubine
 
 
The Implementation of Regulation: Securities and Brokerage Supervision
32-39
Sid Suntrayuth
 
Abstract:
This paper has the objectives of investigating the effectiveness of securities brokerage regulation implementation and examining the variables related to its effectiveness at the Thailand Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The researcher has developed a proposed model derived from public policy implementation, financial regulation, capital markets supervision, and review of the supervision and related literature. The research employed both qualitative and quantitative methods, which provided insight into the relationships among variables. The results of empirical analysis revealed that communication, regulator capacity, regulatory objectives, and attitudes of regulator are related to the effectiveness of securities brokerage regulation implementation. The empirical results also suggested that the communication factor has the closest relationship and is also the predicting variable for the effectiveness of securities brokerage regulation implementation. The results of the analysis confirm the theory and concept of implementation. To ensure the effectiveness of regulation implementation, the greatest emphasis should be placed on the communication process of the supervisory agency. Moreover, the target group should be given the same significance as the supervisory agency. The effectiveness of regulation implementation requires the effort of both the supervisory agency and the target group.
Keywords: Securities Brokerage Regulation, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Public Policy, Effectiveness of Regulation Implementation
 
 
The Setting in Time and Organisation of the Akan Oral Narrative: A Case Study of Akan Folktales
40-49
Patricia Beatrice Mireku-Gyimah
 
 
Abstract:
This paper presents the organisation of Time in the Akan Oral Narrative in terms of Genettean Time, according to Order, Duration and Frequency. The paper is based on the author’s collection of 50 Akan Folktales. The tales were collected, transcribed and translated into a narrative text in English as part of this study. It is observed that Time Order in the Akan Oral Narrative is mainly in the past tense; there are Flashbacks, but there are also hints of anticipation or Amorces, and the present tense is also used. Of Time Duration, there are descriptions which do not add to story time but there are others which do. Whereas some events are jumped over, others spanning long time periods are just summarised. Sometimes, some characters take over the narration from the narrator when they engage in dialogue, or reveal what is on their mind so that story time becomes equal to narrative time. This means that all five narrative speeds, namely Pause, Slow-Down-Scene, Ellipsis, Summary and Scene in Genettean metalanguage, are observed in the Akan Oral Narrative. Concerning Time Frequency, an event may occur once and be told once; or occur many times but get told only once. Some may occur a number of times and be told that number of times or even occur only once but told many times. Hence, there are Singulative Frequency Type 1, Singulative Frequency Type 2, Iterative Frequency, and Repetitive Frequency respectively. Scene in Time Order is a notable mechanism which reduces omniscience oppression and thereby helps ensure plausibility in the discourse.
Keywords: Akan Oral Narrative, Discourse, Story, Narrative, Genette, Time Order, Time Duration, Time Frequency
 
 
Examining Expatriates Work Involvement in Gulf Countries
50-57
S. Ganesan and V. Badrinath
 
Abstract:
Gulf countries are significantly contributing to the global oil and gas requirements. Gulf countries economy primarily depends on hydrocarbon processing industries. It requires highly skilled work force. Lack of in-house competency and resources in gulf countries unable them to fulfill the need for huge number of qualified and experienced work force. Hence, gulf countries largely depending on expatriates work group to fulfill this competency gap and demand. Over 100 nationalities are contributing in gulf countries oil & gas segment. One of the important social factor in gulf countries, although the expatriates work for decades, they cannot obtain the nationality here. This study made an attempt to evaluate the expatriates work involvement as they know that these countries are not their permanent living place for life. There are five independent variables has been taken for this study namely demographic factors, remuneration, communication, motivation and recognition and their effects on work involvement. Expatriates working in UAE, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain are contributed in the randomized data collection. The results revealed that the impacts are significant on the work involvement by these variables which has taken into account for this study.
Keywords: Work involvement, communication, motivation, recognition, employee retention.
 
 
An Exploratory Investigation of Perceived Time Pressure and Brand Switching Due to Promotion for different Products
58-68
Volkan Dogan and Behçet Yalin Özkara
 
 
Abstract:
This study investigated the impacts of perceived time pressure and brand switching due to promotion on the basis of three different products (i.e. mobile phones, shoes, and margarine). It also examined the relationship between perceived time pressure and tendency of brand switching due to promotion. The results indicated a positive relationship between perceived time pressure and tendency of brand switching due to promotion. The results also revealed that perceived time pressure and tendency of brand switching due to promotion varied depending on gender. On the other hand, there was not a significant difference between the time pressure perceived by brand loyals and brand switchers on the basis of mobile phone, shoe and margarine products. Comparison of tendency of brand switching between brand loyals and brand switchers on the basis of mobile phone, shoe and margarine products indicated that there was not a significant difference in terms of mobile phones only. Also, in terms of being a brand loyal or a brand switcher, perceived time pressure was effective only on mobile phone users. Finally, tendency of brand switching due to promotion was effective in terms of being a brand loyal or a brand switcher on the basis of all the three products.
Keywords: Brand Switching, Brand Loyalty, Time Pressure, Promotion.
 
 
Community’s Way of Live in Eua-a-thon Housing Udon Thani Province 3 (Banjan)
69-79
Komsun Pilasombut, Bunlert Wongpho and Winyoo Sata
 
Abstract:
The objective of this research was to study people’s way of life, and administration and management of Eua-a-thon Housing Community, Udontani Province 3 (Banjan) by using qualitative research method from the field study. The area of study consisted of Eua-a-thon Housing Community , Udon Thani Province 3 (Banjan), Udontani Province, including 428 households, 938 population, 53 key informants, 43 households of dwellers, 5 community boards, and 6 persons of state enterprise public sectors. They were selcetd by Purposive Sampling. The instruments using in this study consisted of both structured interview, and unstructured interview. Data were collected by observation and interview techniques. The statistic and data analysis, content analysis was conducted by categorizing the concepts from concrete or experienced phenomenon. Then, they were interpreted as well as developed the analytic induction The research findings found that the people’s way of life in Eua-a-thon Housing Community was the situation of livelihood in physical aspect, found that the Eua-a-thon Housing Community was adequately physical situated which was good as well as standardized including basic public utility in order to serve the need of low-income dwellers. For environmental aspect, found that the scenery as well as environment in community were beautiful, peaceful, clean, and nice to live. For social and cultural aspect, found that community had quality of life, warm society, culture and tradition with good relationship with each other. For economic aspect, found that there were changes in new occupation and work origin in order to be relevant to environmental condition as well as living place. For community administration and management, Eua-a-thon Housing Community, Udontani Province, the physical and environmental aspect, found that there was systematic community services. For community property and community business development, found that there was no readiness in administration and management . For organizational management of community and society, and quality of life development, found that every division in community had good collaboration, shared responsibility, and awareness of community development. For debtor management, found that there were no problems since the dwellers paid directly at the bank. For water activity management, found that it was satisfied by the community people.
The conclusions of this study were: the way of life in Eau-a-thon Housing Community was changed in their physical, environmental, social, cultural, and economic aspects. There were major findings as: the moving to live in new community caused the changes in their way of life in occupation and management. The recommendations of this study were: the planning for developing low income people’ s way of life, the integrated guidelines for developing Eau-a-thon Community so that the sustainably nice-living place had to be constructed by the government further.
Keywords: Way of Life, Administration and Management, Eau-a-thon Housing Community
 
 
Location Based Services Prediction in Mobile Mining: Determining Precious Information
80-92
AVenkatesh. J, Sridharan.K and Manoojkumaar.S.B
 
 
Abstract:
The restoration which are award with to the wireless mobile devices such as PDA mobile from wherever, at any time using Information Service and Application Provider are enhanced by mining and forecast of mobile user behaviors. We suggest a new data mining determine ability for a mobile exchange information foretaste to better replicate the customer perform patterns in the mobile business environment that presents Location Based Services (LBS) and an revolutionary mining model called Cluster based Temporal mining mobile sequential patterns. As a result, the intend and development of knowledgeable mining algorithms for information discovery in an MC surroundings whereas fully scrutinize the intrinsic affiliation between poignant and purchase patterns are taken as the purpose of this article. Conducting the mining on the rousing and purchase patterns of customers in an MC environment is called the mining of mobile chronological pattern. A dissimilar precedence on the factors connecting large item sets, traversal trails, Efficient and particular, Consumes less time then bearing in mind User clusters and time segmentation concurrently, complete information regarding personal mobile behaviors is predicted.
Keywords: Data mining, Cluster, mobile behaviors, efficiency, patterns
 
 
Customs Cooperation of the ASEAN States and International Law
93-100
Sergey Ovchinnikov
 
 
Abstract:
Cooperation in international customs is realized through the norms the international customs law, a branch of international public law. In this study, we investigate the customs cooperation of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) states from the point of view of international law. The main objective of this paper is to analyze concrete examples of the regulation of international customs cooperation in the ASEAN, such as multilateral agreements, the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) and ASEAN Agreement on Customs. This paper attempts to cover the organizational and legal aspects of customs cooperation of the ASEAN States, both among themselves and with other countries.
Keywords: ASEAN, International Customs Law, International Customs Cooperation, Free Trade Area.
 
 
Citation Practices: A Comparison of Native and Nonnative Speakers of English
101-110
Nayel Al-Shara'h and Ghaleb Rabab'ah
 
Abstract:
This study aims to explore differences in citation practices used by native and nonnative English speakers, and the frequency of occurrence of each citation type. Five (5) MA EFL theses written by Arab students were analyzed and compared to 5 MA EFL theses written by native speakers of English. These theses were collected from Pro-quest Database. They were analyzed according to Swales’ (1990) categorization of citation types: integral and non-integral, and the frequency of occurrence of each type. The study revealed that non-native speakers used more citations than native English speakers, especially with regard to integral-verb and non-integral citation types. However, it was found that native English speakers used the noun-phrase citation type more frequently than did the nonnative speakers. The findings may be attributed to nonnative writers' use of wordiness, and the influence of their mother tongue, Arabic which minimally uses the passive voice construction.
Keywords: Citation Practices; Integral Citations; Non-integral Citations; Native Speakers; Nonnative Speakers.
 
 
Challenges Facing the Application of Strategic Management in Arabic Business Organizations: The Case of Telecom Sector in Jordan
111-120
Ahmed Yousef Dudin
 
 
Abstract:
The aim of this study was to investigate the attitudes of employees in telecom sector in Jordan towards the challenges facing Strategic Management in Arabic Business Organizations in general and the Telecom Sector in Jordan in particular, and it aimed also to know the effect of gender, experience and job title of the employees on their attitudes.
To achieve the aim of the study a questionnaire was distributed among 150 employees (60 males and 90 females) working at two telecom companies: Zain and Orange. The questionnaires were collected and data was analyzed statistically using suitable statistics.
Results showed that there are statistically significant differences in the employees' attitudes towards the challenges facing the application of strategic management in telecom sector in Jordan: Zain and Orange, it also showed that there are statistically significant differences at (a= 0.05) in the employees' attitudes towards the challenges facing the application of strategic management in telecom sector in Jordan due to the gender variable, and there are statistically significant differences at (a= 0.05) in the employees' attitudes towards the challenges facing the application of strategic management in telecom sector in Jordan due to experience variable and job title variable.
Keywords: Strategic Management
 
 
Characteristics and Efficiency of Manufacturing Firms in Nigeria
121-138
Adeoti John Olatunji and Adeoti Adetola Ibidunni
 
 
Abstract:
This paper discusses the determinants of allocative efficiency of a sample of firms in Lagos, which is Nigeria’s manufacturing hub. The findings demonstrate that though the surveyed firms have invested in technology and skills that may improve technical efficiency; the allocative efficiency is generally low. The allocative capabilities of the firms have an average efficiency of only 20% of the frontier firm. This confirms the existence of cost efficiency crisis that often indicates Nigeria as a high cost manufacturing environment. The results of the estimation of the allocative efficiency model show that cost efficiency increases with firm size, decreases with local ownership, increases with skills intensity, and increases with investment in technology hardware. Other determinants of allocative efficiency such as age of firm, age of main production equipment, and the proportion of production hours using public utilities as source of power have coefficients that are positive but statistically insignificant.
Keywords: Allocative efficiency, manufacturing, technology, Nigeria
 
 
How to Tackle Poverty, Social Injustice and Inequality? Scandinavian Welfare State as an Example
139-148
Gamze Tanil
 
 
Abstract:
In today’s world, all nations face challenges of poverty, social injustice and inequality, so these concepts are widely discussed by politicians, economists and academicians. Every state attempts to arrange its social policies depending on its social, political and financial circumstances. However, even the biggest economies struggle finalizing poverty, and providing social justice and equality. This is because of the fact that these concepts are more related to politics and understanding of the welfare state. Although being small nations, Scandinavian countries achieved the elusive combination of social equality and economic efficiency, and proved to be the best examples of efficient and working welfare states, which other nations might take lessons from. This article has three goals: Firstly, it aims to outline the special features which constitute the distinctiveness of the Scandinavian welfare state. Secondly, it provides a detailed description and discussion of these features on theoretical and practical grounds. Thirdly, by pointing out the results achieved, it attempts to drive out lessons from the accomplishments of the Scandinavian welfare state. These lessons may help and inspire other states in their fight with poverty, social injustice and inequality.
Keywords: Scandinavian welfare state, universalism, social justice, equality, social welfare, occupational welfare, fiscal welfare
 
 
Inclusion: The Practice of Inclusive Education–Case Study of Best Practices in the United States
149-159
Suchada Bubpha, Prawit Erawan and Prasong Saihong
 
 
Abstract:
Inclusive education currently receives much attention from the international community. A number of schools and classrooms are undergoing instructional transformation toward inclusion. Inclusive education has thus become an important step in educational management in this new millennium, as it allows all children to learn together based on their human rights. The present research aimed to identify the best practices of inclusive education in the United States that are applicable to schools in Thailand. It employed mixed methods research using both quantitative and qualitative approaches. The results provide knowledge on the need for inclusive education in schools in Thailand, serve to clearly identify the problems, and provide a guide to plan for the study of inclusive best practices overseas. Conclusions are made on the conceptual framework to develop an inclusive education model that is suitable and effective given school realities. The results also offer bodies of knowledge for further application, for the benefit of children with special needs, school teachers and administrators, parents, communities, and organizations involved in educational management for children with special needs in Thailand.
Keywords: Inclusion, Inclusive Education, Inclusive School, Whole School Approach
 
 
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) – Importance, Impacts and Benefit (A Review)
160-170
Muhammad Tariq Khan, Naseer Ahmed Khan, Sheraz Ahmed and Mahfooz Ali
 
 
Abstract:
CSR has become so important that many business organizations have realized the need for being committed towards CSR and have re-branded their core values to include social responsibility. The focus is not limited to people or society only but it covers wide areas like environmental excellence, human rights and other issues that organization must integrate into their core business. CSR is not only related with ethical firm behaviors but it is also related with other types of organizational behaviors such as active communication and network relationships. There are different models of CSR and these models are widely studied these days.
Keywords: CSR, Societal Obligations, Organizational Behaviors, Values, Business Practices