Integration of Cross-cultural Awareness Acquisition into Communicative Language Teaching

In order to improve their abilities in cross-cultural communication, language learners should develop not only their language competence, but also communicative competence. Therefore, the integration of cross-cultural awareness acquisition into communicative language teaching is quite necessary. And some practical measures of cultivating cultural creativity are introduced to help language learners to develop communicative competence.

Study of Revelatory Impact of College English Teaching for Cross-cultural Awareness Training

With the rapid development of the world economy and technology, Chinese cross-cultural communication with the outside world has become more frequent and widespread. It caused challenges for college English teaching in current stage. It is more urgent for us to adapt to the 21st century and cultivate cross-cultural personnel with practical language skills. This also caused widespread concern in foreign language field. English teachers who research the relations culture and language 20 years ago began to realize the importance of cross-cultural awareness training in foreign language teaching. However, compared to the fruitful theoretical results of cross-cultural awareness, training practice in college English teaching is not satisfactory. On the one hand, due to the lack of deep-rooted traditional language teaching methods and the necessity of understanding of cross-cultural awareness training, a part of the University haven＇ t implement literature teaching and develop students＇ cross-cultural awareness. On the other hand, many colleges and universities did try cross-cultural awareness trainings. However, due to lack of necessary theoretical guidance and effective implementation of the program, the effect is not very good. Many students still lack the necessary cross-cultural awareness.

The Cultivation of Cross-cultural Awareness in Junior High School English Teaching

The communication between China and other countries is becoming more and more frequently.People have more opportunities to communicate and cooperate with other English speaking countries.Therefore,it’s important to cultivate students with cross-cultural awareness.The English teaching process is bound to combine language with culture,because of the inseparable nature of language and culture.Only through a conscious understanding of the culture containing in language can people learn a language well.As for junior high school English teachers,they can not only confine to language teaching.It’s necessary to help students to understand the culture and the value of English speaking countries.

On the Cross-Cultural Awareness of an Interpreter

Cross-cultural awareness is one of the basic requirements for interpreters when they participate in intercultural communications, which is a particular way of thinking, a criterion for judgment or an acute sensitivity to be cultivated by the interpreters. Interpreters should remain aware of the possible cultural differences and conduct cultural mediating accordingly in interpretation.

Critique on the four levels of cross-cultural awareness

As the intercultural communication has become a common practice, the cross-cultural awareness has been increasingly important. Robert G Hanvey divided the cross-cultural awareness into four levels. This paper tries to analyze the reasonability of his division with some specific examples.

Cross-Cultural Awareness and Teaching English as a Second Language in the Context of Globalization

The paper focuses on the inseparability of language and culture, highlighting the significant role of cross-culturalawareness and communicative competence in teaching English as a second language （TESL） in the context ofincreasingly internationalized global world. Cross-cultural awareness has always been important in modernlanguage studies, as preparing students for effective and competent intercultural communication requires not onlymere teaching of linguistic skills like phonology, morphology, lexicology, and syntax, but also the vital componentof cultural knowledge and awareness. Communication that lacks appropriate cultural content often results in anodd or humorous situation leading to misunderstanding and miscommunication. Therefore, the present paperclaims that in TESL it is necessary to incorporate and develop aspects of cross-cultural awareness as a part of thecourse curriculum to immerse students in effective intercultural communicative competence. It is strongly believedthat developing cross-cultural awareness through learning and practicing the patterns of the current lifestyle in thetarget culture will help the learners overcome both cultural shock and intercultural communicative barriers easier,compare the target culture with their own, and find the similarities and differences between them, thus coping withcross-cultural communication problems successfully. There are many challenges related to teaching English as alingua franka in a cross-cultural context of globalization--English, not being the native language of the learners,triggers a great number of problems connected with teaching and developing cross-cultural awareness. This paperoffers some strategies for coping with them.

Cultivation of Cross-cultural Awareness in College English Translation Teaching

With my country's entry into the WTO,transnational communication has become more frequent.However,the lack of cross-cultural awareness in cross-cultural communication will cause communication barriers.Therefore,in the translation teaching of college English,attention should be paid to cultivating students'cross-cultural awareness and enhancing their ability in cross-cultural communication.Based on this,this article explains the significance of cross-cultural awareness to college English translation teaching,and analyzes the problems existing in the process of college English translation teaching,and finally proposes ways and strategies to cultivate cross-cultural awareness in college English translation teaching.Provide some reference value for workers in this field.

Cross-cultural Awareness in Tour Commentary Translation

本文旨在从跨文化交际的角度论述导游词的翻译,试图选择一种能够有效传递中国文化、促进文化交流的翻译策略。

A Cognitive Study on Politeness Intention Processing and Its Association with Pragmatic Failure in Cross-Cultural Communication

Although a large number of studies have focused on various aspects of politeness,very little is known about how politeness intention is activated cognitively during verbal communication.The present study aims to explore the cognitive mechanism of politeness intention processing,and how it is related to pragmatic failure during cross-cultural communication.Using 30 Chinese EFL university students who were instructed to finish a probe word judgment task with 96 virtual scenarios,the results indicate that within both mono-and cross-cultural contexts,the response time in the experimental scenarios was significantly slower than that of the filler scenarios.This suggests that politeness intention was activated while understanding the surface meaning of the conversation;however,the EFL learners could not completely avoid the negative transfer of their native politeness conventions when they were comprehending the conversational intention of the target language.Furthermore,no significant differences in response time were found between the groups with high and low English pragmatic competence,illustrating that transferring the pragmatic rules and principles into cross-cultural communication skills was more cognitively demanding.Overall,this study adds to the literature on politeness research and provides some implications for foreign language pragmatic instructions.

Prevalence, Awareness and Risk Factors for Hypertension in Adults Attending a Tertiary Hospital in South-East Nigeria

Hypertension, a non-communicable disease, is considered a major public health challenge because of its widespread prevalence globally coupled with its huge morbidity and mortality burden, which is largely preventable if early detection and prompt initiation of management are done. Hypertension prevalence is increasing especially in the developing world, despite this, its awareness among the general population is low. This study aimed at determining the prevalence of hypertension among adult attendees of the General Outpatient Clinic of the Federal University Teaching Hospital (FUTH), Owerri, with an assessment of the proportion of hypertensives who were aware of their hypertensive status, and identifying risk factors of hypertension in the study participants. A cross-sectional analytical study was conducted between October and November 2022 at the General Outpatient Clinic of the FUTH, Owerri. A total of 257 consenting and eligible adult patients made up of 135 males and 122 females, aged 18 years and above, were selected by systematic random sampling method. The overall prevalence of hypertension was 34.6%. The prevalence was higher in females than in males (37.7% vs 31.9%, P = 0.325). Among the hypertensive subjects 56.2% had awareness of their hypertensive status. Following a multiple regression analysis, hypertension was independently associated with age, family history of hypertension, occupation (retirees, traders, farmers and the unemployed), and marital status (being widowed). Hypertension is prevalent in our environment;the prevalence rate from this study is higher than in most studies in our environment, suggesting possibly, a rising burden. The results from the study underscore the need for increased and sustained advocacy for implementation of policies and programs directed at increased detection and management of hypertension in the different population groups such as annual wellness check for employees in the formal sector, largescale dietary and lifestyle adjustments, and know your numbers (an approach to population driven blood pressure check for all adults). Also, health workers should use any opportunity of contact with a patient to screen for hypertension.

Depressive semantic awareness from vlog facial and vocal streams via spatio-temporal transformer

With the rapid growth of information transmission via the Internet,efforts have been made to reduce network load to promote efficiency.One such application is semantic computing,which can extract and process semantic communication.Social media has enabled users to share their current emotions,opinions,and life events through their mobile devices.Notably,people suffering from mental health problems are more willing to share their feelings on social networks.Therefore,it is necessary to extract semantic information from social media(vlog data)to identify abnormal emotional states to facilitate early identification and intervention.Most studies do not consider spatio-temporal information when fusing multimodal information to identify abnormal emotional states such as depression.To solve this problem,this paper proposes a spatio-temporal squeeze transformer method for the extraction of semantic features of depression.First,a module with spatio-temporal data is embedded into the transformer encoder,which is utilized to obtain a representation of spatio-temporal features.Second,a classifier with a voting mechanism is designed to encourage the model to classify depression and non-depression effec-tively.Experiments are conducted on the D-Vlog dataset.The results show that the method is effective,and the accuracy rate can reach 70.70%.This work provides scaffolding for future work in the detection of affect recognition in semantic communication based on social media vlog data.

The Research on Cross-Cultural Critical Thinking in English Teaching: A Pedagogical Paradigm Within the Ideological and Political Course Framework

The conflation of linguistic competencies with ideological and political educational paradigms presents unique opportunities and challenges for English language teaching(ELT)in our increasingly interconnected world.This research seeks to address the role of cross-cultural critical thinking within the landscape of English pedagogy,framed by the imperatives of ideological and political education.Employing a multi-method approach,including thematic content analysis and action research,the study proposes a pedagogical model designed to integrate transcultural discourse and ideologically reflective practices into the conventional ELT curriculum.This paper argues for a reimagined approach to teaching English that encourages students to engage with diverse cultural perspectives and develop a nuanced understanding of global issues.

Awareness of the Termination of Pregnancy Act of the Laws of Zambia among Women of Reproductive Age at Kanyama First Level Hospital in Lusaka District Zambia

Background: Termination of pregnancy (TOP) in Zambia is guided by the Termination of Pregnancy (TOP) Act of 1972 and as amended in 1994 of the laws of Zambia. However, despite provision of Comprehensive abortion care services with the liberal law, statistics at Kanyama First Level Hospital in relation to unsafe illegal abortions are alarming. This study sought to understand the Awareness on the TOP Act of the laws of Zambia among women of reproductive age 15 - 49 years at Kanyama First Level Hospital in Lusaka District. Purpose of the Study: To assess awareness on the TOP Act among women of reproductive age at Kanyama First Level Hospital in Lusaka, Zambia. Methodology: A convergent parallel mixed method design was conducted using both survey and in-depth interviews among women of reproductive age at Kanyama First Level Hospital in Lusaka District. The study surveyed 370 randomly sampled women aged 15 to 49 years old while the in-depth interviews included eight women purposively sampled from the survey population. Survey data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics while qualitative data thematic analysis was used. Results: The study found that 37% of the participants were aware of the TOP Act while 63.8% viewed legalization of abortion for any reason as wrong. The study results also showed that widowed women were 8 times more likely to be aware of the TOP Act compared to single women (AOR: 8.262;95% CI: 1.105, 61.778). Women in business were significantly more likely to be aware of the TOP Act compared to those who reported having no occupation. (AOR: 2.61;95% CI: 1.246, 5.499). Limited access to information, the social stigma attached to abortion, health care providers’ attitudes, cultural norms, values and religious beliefs, restrictive legal requirements, and absence of a supportive network were some of the barriers affecting awareness and utilization of available safe abortion care services. Conclusions: The research findings concluded that a significant lack of awareness among women of reproductive age regarding the Termination of Pregnancy (TOP) Act. The majority of respondents held the view that abortion should only be legalized for medical reasons. Furthermore, there was a notable gap in knowledge concerning the penal code’s provisions on abortion.

The Transmission,Establishment and Cross-cultural Integration of Chinese Medicine in the Mainstream Healthcare,through the Eyes of a Generation of Visionaries and Pioneers

It has historically been very difficult to trace the history of the westward transmission of Chinese medicine through the accounts of its protagonists. Many of the early scholars such as Jack Worsley, Dick Van Buren, and Joe Goodman were reluctant to divulge information about the source of their knowledge, or their professional qualifications. Others, such as John Shen and Hong Yuan-bain were early 20th century immigrants who transmitted highly personalized versions of acupuncture and Chinese medicine to select disciples. Eventually, a new class of scholars appeared, including names such as Ted Kaptchuk, Peter Deadman, Nigel Wiseman, William Morris, Peter Eckman, John Mc Donald, Charles Buck, and the late Giovanni Maciocia who looked for answers back in China, developed translation methodologies and terminology, compiled the main textbooks currently in use at TCM colleges, overcame enormous scholastic adversity, developed courses and pursued the regulation and accreditation of TCM in various countries. This special issue synopsizes the path towards the global acculturation of TCM over the last 50 years, the main protagonists, the enormous accomplishments they have achieved for the profession, their philosophy, their clinical perspectives and visions for the future.

Promoting Sickle Cell Trait Awareness and Education: A Typology of Interventions in the United States to Inform Ongoing Efforts to Patients and Providers

Research Background: Sickle cell trait has no treatment or cure and predominantly affects people who are Black, but can affect anyone of any race or ethnicity. While commonly incorrectly considered benign by providers and the public, people with a sickle cell trait experience life-threatening outcomes that are exacerbated by extreme conditions. There is a severe lack of awareness and understanding of sickle cell trait and the associated health complications among sickle cell trait carriers and healthcare providers. Purpose/Aim: Interventions that aim to improve awareness of sickle cell trait differ in approaches and are not well documented in the literature. This typology aims to highlight current efforts to inform targeted interventions that raise awareness through consistent messaging, educate people and providers on sickle cell trait and the related health complications, and support the design and implementation of comprehensive sickle cell trait awareness initiatives. Methods: We conducted a scoping review of United States-based sickle cell trait interventions and performed a content analysis to identify the categories and characteristics of these efforts. We then organized the results into a typology according to established protocols. Results: Among 164 interventions, twenty-five (15%) met the typology inclusion criteria described above and were grouped into categories: Seven of twenty-five interventions were Educational Interventions (28%), three of twenty-five interventions (12%) were Combined Screening and Educational-Based Interventions, eight of twenty-five interventions (32%) were Policy and Guideline-Based Intervention, and six of twenty-five interventions (24%) were Sickle Cell Trait Organization-Led Interventions. Conclusions: There is a lack of consistency in messaging across interventions whether delivered by credible healthcare institutions or national organizations, which can result in lack of education and awareness and confusion around sickle cell trait. Categorizing interventions through a typology allows clarity and informs consistency in messaging, which should be at the forefront of future sickle cell trait efforts.

Understanding the Global Identification with China’s Stories: A Cross-Cultural Perspective

Cross-cultural storytelling is a primary way for humankind to seek mutual recognition of value orientations between cultures,which facilitates the ability to jointly address the problems of human existence in the context of globalization.In this study,we conducted an interview survey of 6,130 respondents who were college students or graduates from 107 countries.The results show that there were a number of cross-cultural values embodied in China’s stories seen by the respondents as part of a common vision for the future of humankind and widely identified guidance on collaborative responses to global challenges.These cross-cultural values are common prosperity,ecological harmony,individual-collective integration,the urgency of global peace,as well as respect for multicultural and indigenous development paths.

Awareness, Practice and Intention to Practice Testicular Self-Examination among Professional Working Males in Ghana

Background: The aetiology of Testicular Cancer (TC) is still unknown to researchers but many of the associated risk factors have been identified. These include family history, age, racial origin, cryptorchidism, urogenital malformations, testicular atrophy, and infertility. Given the lack of scientific data on the causes of the disease, it has been asserted in previous studies that the promotion of awareness and early detection are prerequisites to mitigating risks of metastasis as well as improving survival. This study is to assess the awareness, practice, and intention to practice testicular self-examination among professional working males in Accra. Methods: A quantitative cross-sectional design with a structured research instrument was used to collect data from respondants. The purposive and convenience sampling techniques were used to collect data from 300 men at Accra in Ghana. The study was conducted at two (2) Universities and a Senior High school at Accra in Ghana. The data was then analysed using descriptive statistics, logistic regression, multiple linear regression, and structural equation modeling. Results: From the study findings, 37% of male participants rated their knowledge of testicular self-examination and related symptoms as good, 28% of participants practised testicular self-examination monthly, while 65% of respondents expressed their intention to practice monthly testicular self-examination. The findings from logistic regression demonstrated that level of education, age, and marital status of participants had a significant influence on testicular self-examination. Additionally, the multiple linear regression results revealed knowledge and self-efficacy significantly predict testicular self-examination intention. The path coefficient results from the structural equation model are consistent with results from the regression models. Conclusion: This research is the first to investigate testicular self-examination among men in Ghana. The findings revealed awareness and practice of TSE are low among participants. Therefore, the research findings would improve the expertise of physicians and nurses in providing counsel, intervention, and support for patients at risk of testicular cancer.

Household Solid Waste Awareness and Practices among Residents of Windhoek, Namibia

This study explores household solid waste management (HSWM) practices and awareness among residents of Windhoek West, a rapidly urbanizing constituency in the Khomas Region of Namibia. Employing a descriptive methodology, the research investigates the interplay between public awareness, regulatory frameworks, and the availability of waste management facilities to assess their impact on waste management behaviors. Our findings indicate significant gaps in both knowledge and infrastructure that hinder effective waste management. The study reveals that while there is a high willingness among residents to engage in recycling and waste reduction, actual practices are limited due to inadequate facilities and lack of stringent enforcement of waste policies. This research identifies key factors that influence waste management practices, including demographic characteristics and access to waste management facilities. It also proposes actionable strategies such as expanding recycling and sorting facilities, enhancing educational campaigns tailored to local needs, and implementing regular enforcement mechanisms. These strategies are aimed at improving compliance with waste management protocols and fostering a culture of environmental responsibility. The results of this investigation show the critical role of ongoing education and infrastructural improvement in bridging existing knowledge gaps and facilitating effective waste management practices. This research lays a foundational step toward enhancing sustainable urban development and effective waste management in Windhoek, providing valuable insights for policymakers, community leaders, and stakeholders engaged in urban environmental management.