China English and College Intercultural Education:A Cultural Linguistic Perspective

In the era of globalization,English as an international language(EIL) is also the medium of intercultural communication for the international community.Based on the theory of cultural linguistics(CL),which regards language as culture-oriented rather than structure-oriented,Sharifian(2009,p.4) has proposed that varieties of English which constitute EIL result from the interaction between the English language and different local cultures.CL suggests that China English(CE) should be understood in this light:It is not a substandard interlanguage,but a variety of English with its own cultural value and right.This paper intends to systemically analyze the nature of CE and its value in intercultural communication so as to better understand current intercultural education.Over a long time,much emphasis has been laid on the importance of adapting to the target language culture to the neglect of home language culture in our College English classrooms,thus resulting in what is known as Chinese cultural aphasia.In the light of CL,intercultural communication competence(ICC) encompasses not only knowing English and adapting to its culture,but also using CE to introduce the native culture in which CE plays an irreplaceable role.Therefore,CE is undoubtedly a key remedy for Chinese cultural aphasia.More research on CL should be conducted as it provides felicitous disciplinary guidance for our college intercultural education.

The Impact of Foreign Bank Strategies on the Behavior and Performance of Czech and Slovak Banks in the Financial Crisis

In this paper, the authors analyze the impact of the specific ownership structure of the banking sector in Czech and Slovakia on the performance and applied strategies of particular banks during times of crisis. Did the multinational banks pursue a coherent regional strategy to cope with the risks resulting from the crisis, or did they focus on finding local solutions？ The aim of this paper is to find answers to these questions. A case study is going to be used as a basic research method. Two members （Slovak and Czech） of four multinational banking groups are examined in the crisis year 2009, whereby both a qualitative analysis of the annual reports regarding strategic business or risk management decisions and a comparative quantitative analysis of selected financial data and risk indicators are employed. The authors have found that Czech and Slovak banks generally tried to follow the main strategic directions given by their parent banks during the financial crisis. However, particular financial results and risk profiles of respective subsidiaries of multinational banks still differ because of market factors specific to the different countries in which the subsidiaries are located.

On the Lateral Behavior of the Backfill of a Skew Abutment

It is generally accepted that the interaction between a bridge and its abutment＇s backfill soil is highly nonlinear, especially under a strong earthquake loading that contains a velocity pulse. For bridges with skew abutments, the superstructure-abutment interaction can dominate the overall bridge performance. This study puts forth a new approach for predicting the lateral capacity of a skew abutment using verified high-fidelity three-dimensional continuum finite element （FE） models. The core idea is that the lateral capacity of a straight abutment is bounded from above and below by that of the abutment of a skew bridge that has the same deck-width, and that of another skew bridge （with the same angle） that has the same backwall length as the original/straight bridge, respectively. This postulation is then used in reverse to estimate the lateral capacity of a skew abutment, given the capacity of a straight but otherwise identical one with an arbitrary length. In prior research, the latter information had already been obtained in closed-form expressions that use physical parameters, such as backfill cohesion, internal friction angle and density, backwall height, and backwall-backfill friction angle. The approach presented here is constrained by the assumption that bridge deck will not rotate during loading. While this assumption is generally violated in a strong earthquake--because a skew bridge will tend to rotate, especially if its in-plane torsional rigidity is low, the model presented does serve as an anchor for parameterizing more advanced （e.g., macro-element plasticity） models that allow rotation, and also as fully parametric lateral response models for torsionally stiff （ile., multi-span, multi-bent） skew bridges.

Illocutionary Force and Translation： A Case Study of Chinese Renditions of The Merry Wives of Windsor

This research seeks to contribute to translation studies by examining the illocutionary force of the speech act theory. It identifies two senses of illocutionary force： The active function of language is defined as lFl and the varying degrees of the strength of the speech act are defined as IF2. The implications of the two senses ofillocutionary force for translation studies are discussed in a case study of the translation of directives in Chinese versions of Shakespeare＇s play, The Merry Wives of Windsor. Translation shifts in transferring IF2, as manifested in pragmatic duality features of directness/indirectness, tone articles, repetition of verbs, action measure verbs, upgrader ＂,给我＂ and honorific addressing terms and vocatives are discussed. The notion＇s potential as a criterion to evaluate translation quality is also explored.

Using hot-vapor bypass for pressure control in distillation columns

Distillation column control is widely explored in literature due to its complexity and importance in chemical and petrochemical industries. In this process, pressure represents one of the most important variables to be controlled. However, there are few studies about how pressure affects the dynamic behavior of distillation columns and most research on distillation column control involve direct manipulation of cooling fluid through the condenser. Nevertheless, such an approach demands constant changes in cooling fluid flowrates that are commonly by the order of tons per hour, which can be difficult to work or even unfeasible in a real plant. Furthermore, this strategy is usually avoided, as it can cause fouling and corrosion acceleration. The hot-vapor bypass strategy fits well as a solution for these issues, eliminating the need to dynamically manipulate cooling fluid flowrates in the condensation unit. This work presents the modeling and simulation of a conventional distillation column for the separation of water and ethanol, in which a comparative study between a conventional pressure control and a control using hot-vapor bypass was performed. The main results were obtained through dynamic simulations which considered various disturbances in the feed stream, and demonstrated superior performance by the hot-vapor bypass system over the usual scheme proposed in literature, while evaluating the lntegral Absolute Error （IAE） norm as the control performance index.

Evaluation of Nonlinear Finite Element Module for the Simulation of Fuel Behavior

Because zirconium alloy cladding is the first containment barrier for fission products, its mechanical integrity is the most important concern. In view of the mechanical integrity, stress and strain are the main factors that affect the cladding performance during normal or off-normal operation, which induces force interaction between the pellet and cladding. In the case of a normal operation period, to estimate the cladding stress and strain, various models and codes have been developed using a simplified 1D （one-dimensional） assumption. However, in the case of a slow ramp during start-up and shut-down and a fast transient such as an AOO （anticipated operational occurrence）, it is difficult for a 1D model to simulate the cladding stress and strain accurately due to its modeling limitation. To model a large deformation along the radial and axial directions such as a ＂＇ballooning＂ phenomenon, FE （finite element） modeling, which can simulate a higher degree of freedom, is an indispensable requirement. In this work, an axisymmetric two-dimensional FE module, which will be integrated into the transient fuel performance code, has been developed. To solve the mechanical equilibrium of the pellet-cladding system, taking into account the geometrical and material non-linearities, the FE module employs an ESF （effective-stress-function） algorithm. Verifications of the FE module for the cases of thermal and elastic analyes were performed using the results of ANSYS 13.0.

The Development of Verb Morphology in the Advanced Learner Variety: A Longitudinal Study of L2 French

This article presents a longitudinal profile of the advanced learner＇s use of verb morphology in L2 French, with the aim of tracking how such usage evolves within the advanced learner variety over a two-year period, as well as exploring how use of particular morphological forms relates to use of others. The forms are wide-ranging, and concern markers of past time, futurity, conditionality, reverse-order, as well as the subjunctive and 3rd person plural present tense irregular forms which are deemed to constitute ＂fragile zones＂ in the advanced learner variety. Results are presented in quantitative terms which allow frequently used forms to be identified against less frequent forms as the study progresses. The effect for naturalistic exposure through study abroad as opposed to regular classroom instruction is explored in terms of the effect of such differential exposure conditions on the emergence and use of the various forms concerned. Findings point to the complexity of morphological development in the advanced learner, whereby development is neither linear nor uniform across the morphological forms, while there is also considerable individual variation between learners. Results are discussed in relation to the advanced learner＇s acquisitional profile.