Author：Liu,Yipeng;Cao,Xuanwei;Xing,Yijun

Author：Xing, Minjie ; Zou, Bin ; Wang, Dongshuo

Abstract:This chapter studies a wiki project that electronically links English students learning Business Chinese in the UK and Chinese students learning Business English in China. The focus is placed upon enhancing English/Chinese language skills and intercultural communication competence. Students' messages on the wiki illustrate that cultural values and cultural competence are important parts of business communication. The results of a questionnaire survey and a focus group interview indicate that the interaction between language learners and native speakers not only helped students improve each other's language, but also allowed them to understand the business norms and behaviours in another culture. The chapter concludes with a proposal that wikis can be a platform for enhancing language output and intercultural communication competence, if well designed and monitored. © 2013 by IGI Global. All rights reserved.

Author：de la Garza,Armida;Ding,Peng

Author：Jordan, Eoin ; Coyle, Mark

Abstract:This chapter examines a semester-long Moodle-based programme of monitored quizzes designed to encourage first-year Chinese students at an English medium university in China to engage in English language self-study and autonomous learning. Usage statistics and questionnaire data were collected and analysed in order to investigate overall quiz participation rates, usage patterns across the semester, and the extent to which the programme affected students' attitudes towards self-study. The results indicated that participation rates in the quizzes were high, although activity on the programme pages did decline as the semester progressed. Students also reported via the questionnaire that the programme had helped them learn how to organise their own self-study. However, statistics from Moodle revealed that many participants were not taking the quizzes on a regular, weekly basis, as had been intended, suggesting that the programme may have only been partially successful in fostering autonomous study skills. © 2013 by IGI Global. All rights reserved.

Author：Ding,Peng

Author：Zou, Bin ; Xing, Minjie ; Xiang, Catherine H. ; Wang, Yuping ; Sun, Mingyu

Abstract:Educational technologies continue to advance the ways in which we teach and learn. As these technologies continue to improve our communication with one another, computer-assisted foreign language learning has provided a more efficient way of communication between different languages. Computer-Assisted Foreign Language Teaching and Learning Technological Advances highlights new research and an original framework that brings together foreign language teaching, experiments and testing practices that utilize the most recent and widely used e-learning resources. This comprehensive collection of research will offer linguistic scholars, language teachers, students, and policymakers a better understanding of the importance and influence of e-learning in second language acquisition. © 2013 by IGI Global. All rights reserved.

Author：Chang,Ying;Chen,Jie

Abstract:Direct state provision of housing remains an important element of housing regime in many countries. This chapter traces recent experience of public housing development in Shanghai. It focuses the roles of two major public housing programmes, namely Relocation Housing and the new PRH (public rental housing) programme, in Shanghai's recent socio-spatial dynamics. It is shown that the public housing programme in Shanghai is mainly a result of deliberate urban development policy in line with other strategies such as city marketing, and gentrification. Thus we suggest that the Shanghai municipality government appropriates the new public housing regime as institutions to buttress local economic competitiveness. Our analysis is augmented with data from a questionnaire survey of PRH tenants in Shanghai. Finally, we identify challenges for the future development of public housing sector in China.

Author：Zhong,Sheng

Abstract:The chapter problematizes the nature of ‘culture’-led urban regeneration practices in Shanghai by differentiating between the intentions of regenerative efforts and the real outcomes of policy initiatives. Based on the case study of Shanghai Sculpture Space, the chapter reveals that Shanghai’s so-called ‘culture’- led urban regeneration program implemented through public-private partnership was actually propertyled. The biggest beneficiaries of the process were landed interests. The heavy involvement of the local state and government-linked institutions, however, did not result in the honoring of community sociocultural needs that a genuine culture-led urban regeneration project would require.

Author：Fang, Lei ; Guan, Sheng-Uei ; Zhang, Haofan

Abstract:Rule-based Genetic Algorithms (GAs) have been used in the application of pattern classification (Corcoran & Sen, 1994), but conventional GAs have weaknesses. First, the time spent on learning is long. Moreover, the classification accuracy achieved by a GA is not satisfactory. These drawbacks are due to existing undesirable features embedded in conventional GAs. The number of rules within the chromosome of a GA classifier is usually set and fixed before training and is not problem-dependent. Secondly, conventional approaches train the data in batch without considering whether decomposition solves the problem. Thirdly, when facing large-scale real-world problems, GAs cannot utilise resources efficiently, leading to premature convergence. Based on these observations, this paper develops a novel algorithmic framework that features automatic domain and task decomposition and problem-dependent chromosome length (rule number) selection to resolve these undesirable features. The proposed Recursive Learning of Genetic Algorithm with Task Decomposition and Varied Rule Set (RLGA) method is recursive and trains and evolves a team of learners using the concept of local fitness to decompose the original problem into sub-problems. RLGA performs better than GAs and other related solutions regarding training duration and generalization accuracy according to the experimental results. © 2013 by IGI Global. All rights reserved.