As film-making has evolved, subtitling has become “a translation practice that consists of presenting a written text, generally on the lower part of the screen”, which seeks to deliver “the original dialogue of the speakers” (Diaz-Cintas and Remael 2007: 8). Subtitle translation in the field of Audiovisual Translation has attracted increasing interest from scholars, who believe that the quality of subtitling is an important criterion when evaluating the quality of a film. Inspired by Even-Zohar’s (1978) polysystem theory and Gottlieb’s (1992) typology, this comparative study focuses on the subtitling of English-language animation films, which represent one of the main foreign film genres introduced to Chinese audiences, in order to identify effective strategies to improve the quality of translated subtitles from the perspective of cultural awareness. I propose three main hypotheses in this research: 1) that the length of a film subtitle translated into Chinese is generally greater than the corresponding original English text; 2) that effective translation is contingent on the use of Chinese idioms and traditional expressions within translated subtitles; 3) that effective translation is contingent on the use of popular expressions within contemporary Chinese culture. The methodologies employed to address these hypotheses are: a self-built parallel corpus (as the main research tool) comprising 15 sets of animation film subtitles; a questionnaire survey; and interviews with relevant AVT practitioners and scholars. The research findings are: 1) the length of a film subtitle translated into Chinese is generally greater than the corresponding original English text; 2) the two discussed types of expression are effectively employed in the data; 3) unnecessary, erroneous or inappropriate uses, among others, were highlighted by the data; 4) the frequency of using popular expressions is higher than for traditional expressions; 5) there is frequent use of the typology strategies of paraphrase, transfer, condensation and transcription, as well as newer strategies of globalization and localization.

The aim of this research is to study and compare the use of social media by public relations departments in the Saudi Telecommunications Company (STC) and The Saudi Ministry of Commerce and Industry (Saudi MCI). An integration of cross-sectional and archival research designs was implemented using both secondary and primary data. Qualitative primary data was collected through face-to-face semi-structured interviews, with 12 purposively selected senior public relations and communications’ officials PR and communication practitioners working at STC (n= 7) and Saudi MCI (n= 5). Quantitative primary data was collected through web-administered surveys designed using Google survey Forms (N= 511) and whose links were placed in the STC (n= 262) and Saudi MCI (n= 249) with Facebook pages and Twitter handles. Quantitative data was analysed using SPSS version 21, after data preparation and arrangement in Microsoft Excel 2013 Interview and archival data were analysed using inductive content and thematic analysis, which led to the development of thematic maps. The findings showed that both STC and Saudi MCI use social media to publicise their activities through public information, lobby public support for their positions, enhance information quality and provide a question and answer platform for their publics. Findings show that both STC and Saudi MCI were ethical in their PR practices. The usage of Facebook and Twitter changed the way STC and MCI PR practitioners engage with their publics and stakeholders by easing contacts between the organisation and the public, allowing the public access to important information and enabling the public a voice in the engagement especially through criticising the organisation. The findings also showed that the private and public organisations in Saudi Arabia exploit the social media affordances comprising visibility, editability, persistence, and association.

Libya's recent past has limited any potential economic and political benefits, such as interaction, cooperation and association, which positive perceptions of the country might bring about. However, following the revolution of 17 February 2011, Libya has employed public relations communications in its public diplomacy efforts. Yet these efforts have not been subject to any evaluative assessment with regard to public relations communications models, methods, strategies, and themes provided to foreign publics abroad. The key aim of this study is to provide an enriched understanding of Libyan institutions’ public relations practices post 2011 revolution, utilizing the interpretivist paradigm and inductive reasoning due to a lack of previous studies addressing Libyan public relations practices for public diplomacy purposes. Content analysis and interviews were used to investigate the behaviours, opinions, and attitudes of public relations practitioners in Libyan institutions in Egypt and the UK. Anholt’s Nation Brand theory and Grunig’s Excellence theory are proposed as a theoretical framework used to gain a comprehensive understanding of the practice of public relations adopted by Libyan institutions. The findings indicate that this practice depends heavily on a one-way communication model aimed at publicity that concentrates on two key themes: People and Governance. Two image-repair strategies have been utilized by these institutions: the reduction of offensiveness and corrective action. However, the findings also suggest that Libyan institutions in Egypt and the UK do not employ any evaluation strategies to assess the success of their public relations efforts. The study concludes that Libyan public relations practice has not adopted the new concept of public diplomacy in its communication efforts; instead, it has adopted the old, narrow concept of public diplomacy: providing information to that public, most likely through the publicity model. The study is the first to present a comprehensive understanding of the practice of public relations of Libyan institutions abroad. The theoretical framework may be utilized for future academic studies concerning the converging relationship between public relations and public diplomacy. The study also offers a set of recommendations to improve public relations practices in Libyan institutions abroad.

The aims of the current research are threefold. Firstly, to investigate the relationship between second language self-efficacy (SLSE) and second language tolerance of ambiguity (SLTA) among Saudi L2 learners at two levels of specificity; general and domain-specific. Secondly, to examine the change that takes place in second language writing self-efficacy (SLWSE), tolerance of ambiguity (SLWTA), and the interaction between them over time and what factors contribute to it. Finally, to apply a relatively new dynamic systems theory (DST) perspective for the interpretation of research findings with the aim of obtaining a holistic view of the currently investigated areas. To that end, participants were asked at the outset of the study to complete two general questionnaires that assess their general senses of perceived self-efficacy in learning English, Questionnaire of English Self-Efficacy (QESE) developed by Wang and Pape (2005), and assess their tolerance of ambiguity in relation to their English language learning, Second Language Tolerance of Ambiguity Scale (SLTAS) developed by Ely (1989). In the second phase of the research, data were collected at different timescales using domain-specific questionnaires, SLWSES which was developed from Shell, Murphy and Bruning (1989) and SLWTAS which was developed from Ely (1989). Along with that, every time participants completed their domain-specific questionnaires, they were asked to write an essay to explain their evaluations, elaborate on their responses and to give examples to support their choices. The findings of this research fill in the gap in SLA literature by indicating a significant correlation between SLSE and SLTA. Additionally, results reveal that the interaction between SLWSE and SLWTA is dynamic, as it changes over time from being significant to not significant. Factors that contribute to these results were discussed. The study concluded with highlighting its implications, for both theory and practice, and outlining its limitations and recommendations for further research.

This study explores the potential added value of interactive digital technology to early-years music education through the development of software artefacts and their application in the primary classroom. The aims of the study are to investigate and identify new designs and approaches for classroom music-making with technology, to integrate educational theory and software development in this field, and to promote musical creativities at the individual and social level. Following a constructivist-interpretivist approach, a range of qualitative methods are applied in the pursuit of these goals. The emerging educational methodology of Software Design as Research (SoDaR) is combined with an emergent model of Grounded Theory, adapting a new methodological approach for the unique purposes of this project, as well as examining how this model could be applied to similar projects. Findings can be summarised as follows: Rudimentary and familiar actions can be harnessed, through digital interfaces, as a means of affording creative expression in novice musicians; Meaning-making structures are as vital as music-making structures in such activities, allowing creative ownership and communication to emerge through basic narrative elements; Through this process of interactive and representational engagement, digitally-supported environments can allow learners to construct musical concepts for themselves, at the individual and social level. This research has implications for music education: Appropriate digital technologies and approaches can support the process of musical learning in social settings. Furthermore, such technologies, and the framework for their use in the classroom, can be developed through a process grounded in empirical educational research. Closer working links between educational practice and research, and the development and testing of digital resources, are recommended to ensure that a meaningful and active music education, and the valuable opportunities for personal, social and creative development and expression that this affords, is available and accessible for all learners.

This research project surveyed the Influence of ethnicity in newspaper coverage of the Plateau State conflict in North-Central Nigeria. It analyses how conflict journalists reported this violent episode that has spanned nearly twenty years and the significance of this coverage. The conflict has been between the Plateau State indigenous communities (indigenes), on the one hand, and the Hausa/Fulani ethnic group (settlers), on the other hand. Scholars have examined this violent conflict from economic, political, ethno-religious and social perspectives aimed at understanding the causative factors and ameliorate the conflict's problems. Despite these efforts, no study to this point has been done on how ethnicity influenced newspaper journalists' coverage of this violent phenomenon. This, therefore, is the gap in knowledge which this study attempts to close. The research deployed agenda-setting, news framing, and human right oriented journalism as conceptual explanatory frameworks for this enquiry. Through then, this research attempted to understand how conflict journalists constructed and framed the news and reports they produced, by analysing two sets of primary data gathered in the project: Semi-structured interviews with some key journalists (reporters and editors) and newspaper texts of 'The Nigeria Standard' and the 'Daily Trust'. Findings from literature, textual and interview data obtained over the period of this research (three years) evidenced that conflict journalists of 'The Nigeria Standard' and the 'Daily Trust', in constructing their news frames, were influenced more by their ethnic affiliations than by the ethics of the journalism profession of which they were supposed to be bound by. The news framing, which they used revealed how, in some instances, reporters amplified issues, while in some others, de-emphasised them either to aggravate or downplay the conflict. The discursive strategies reporters and editors employed, (propaganda, exaggeration, litotes, and negatives stereotyping, among others) led to the inclusion and exclusion of certain frames, facts, opinions and value judgements. Through these strategies the journalists of the two selected newspapers set agenda for the reading audience. Thus, the study avows that 'The Nigeria Standard' and the 'Daily Trust' journalists' coverage of the Plateau State conflict was influenced more by ethnicity than by the ethics of journalism and consequently led to the intensification of the conflict.

The following body of research focuses on addressing the use of alternate tunings and muscle memory practice for the electric guitar. An over-reliance on existing muscle memory is commonplace among guitarists and this is often seen as a catalyst by the player to seek out new material using different fretboard patterns and shapes . While this can be effective, it is crucial to realise that often it is the sounds generated by the muscle memory the player wishes to change, not the muscle memory itself. After all, muscle memory provides enormous technical advantages for the guitarist, such as facilitating the execution of fast single note passages or being able to draw upon a range of chord voicings with ease. My research will demonstrate that by changing the tuning, not the muscle memory information, the player can in fact retain existing muscle memory while at the same time completely changing the harmonic, melodic and timbral implications of the sounds they are generating. Changing the tuning also causes the player to develop new muscle memory shapes and patterns in line with their own musical aesthetics. Indeed, should the player find themselves in the same situation with another tuning, there are virtually an infinite amount of alternatives they can try, each tuning being completely unique. This portfolio also addresses issues surrounding notation for the guitar in relation to the use of alternate tunings and muscle memory. I will evaluate different notational methods that emphasise prescriptive and descriptive aspects and assess the most suitable methods for my own research. The purpose of this research is: <ol type="i"> <li> Create new harmonies, sounds and timbres that can be derived from unorthodox alternate tunings </li> <li> Examine the effects changing a tuning has on the application of muscle memory for guitarists </li> <li> Develop an appropriate method of notation for the above </li> </ol> My portfolio of recordings is comprised of three sections: <ol type="i"> <li> A series of solo studies (track 1, disc 1)</li> <li> Early experimental improvisations (tracks 2-7, disc 1)</li> <li> A set of developed improvisations culminating in a summative improvisation for twelve guitars (tracks 1-7, disc 2).</li> </ol>

This study presents an overview of the effects of technological mediation and specifically, digital remediation, on the discourse on blues music and blues culture since the introduction of the world-wide web in 1989, and the proliferation of computer-mediated communications (CMC) from 1996. In other words, blues music and blues culture undergo transformations of form and circulation when oral practices are first committed to text as sheet music. Further evolutions occur as performances are remediated as phonograph records and through various broadcast media during the 20th century. Each successive transformation generates discourses of authenticity, ownership and value which enable and constrain definitions of the blues aesthetic. These discourses have remained largely unexamined as part of the latest cycle of remediation to digital formats and computer-mediated virtual environments since 1996. This study presents the results of examination on key sites using online ethnography, critical discourse analysis, interview and online survey in order to better understand and illustrate the development, dissemination and perpetuation of blues music and blues culture in the digital age. Specifically, this study considers the ways that blues music and blues culture are perpetuated and affected by computer-mediated communications from the perspectives of performers, cultural workers and consumers, asking what challenges are made manifest in the present by digitally mediated representations of the past. The study finds that unequal power structures and differentiated notions of individual agency predicated on race, which are inherent in the socio-political construction of the physical world, are reproduced in contemporary on-line and virtual spaces facilitated by information communications technology (ICT) and computer-mediated communications (CMC). These spaces include the multi-media social networking site Facebook, text-based forums and newsgroups, and the music and video service YouTube. The study offers suggestions for how this might be addressed in future, and proposes further areas of research in the field, specifically focussing on the interaction of blues music and blues culture with ICT and CMC.

This thesis proposes that an ensemble or community is perpetually shifting and changing, operating in the between of the subjectivities ‘I’ and ‘We’. It argues that the established ensemble does not assume a static entity, and that the notion of a fixed state of the community may not be as straightforward as often assumed. Positioned within a Practice as Research methodology, this thesis weaves together examples from a longitudinal study of an ensemble, within a closed and, subsequently, open laboratory, with the investigation into the degrees of participation between the ensemble members. This thesis entwines discourses of the ensemble and specific task-based practices, to investigate the individual movement towards, within and alongside the co-appearing of ensembles. This understanding of the collective ensemble is framed by the philosophy of ontology surrounding community as articulated by Jean-Luc Nancy (2000). This embodied practice, reveals new ways of articulating a phenomenology of ensemble practice, understood as a continuous state of fluidity between individual and collective states of being. The thesis traces the emergence of an ensemble in a closed laboratory environment, placing the practice in dialogue with specific contemporary performance collectives, followed by an account of the laboratory in varying open environments. The research is presented both as a written thesis and as an online platform, which the reader is invited to explore alongside each other. These interactions establish the context, methodology, documentation and critical analysis of the Practice as Research investigation. The online platforms can be accessed by following the URLs in the footnotes. A complementary USB memory stick provides the option to watch highlights of the tasks and ensemble, offering a visual and auditory impression of the process. This longitudinal study of an emerging performance ensemble aimed to demonstrate the between state of the individual and the collective as continually taking place. The formation of the ensemble supported participation and interaction, which revealed important implications such as the non-fixed entity of contemporary performance ensembles and the language of becoming when discussing ensembles and community.

Ankara, with its population of nearly 4.5 million, is the second largest city in Turkey after İstanbul. İstanbul is widely accepted as the centre of trade, finance, business, art and entertainment, whereas Ankara, being the capital city, is usually associated with politics only. Due to its weather and the vast number of government buildings, Ankara is deemed to be 'grey' and considered as 'lifeless', 'soulless' and 'dull' by some people. Although labelled as a 'city of politics', a 'grey city' or a 'grey city of politics', Ankara has a substantial influence on the Turkish popular music culture, which is an outcome of a strong rock music scene in Ankara, especially in the 1980s and the first half of the 1990s. This research project is composed of two components: audiovisual and written. The audiovisual component is the feature length documentary, titled <I>Black, Not Grey: Ankara Rocks!</I>, which investigates the Ankara rock music scene, and the relationship between the city and rock music, in the above-mentioned period in Ankara. This occurs through personal recollections and narratives, first-hand experiences and collective memories of rock musicians and related persons. The documentary draws on traditions of ethnographic filmmaking practices. The written component is the PhD dissertation which questions and discusses the form and the narrative style of the practical outcome of this research project, the documentary, that serves as a record of a music scene in a particular and significant period in Turkey's history.