Abstract: Buddhist scriptures in South Korea were handed down in the form of transcription from China. Previous studies have examined the transcriptions in the Buddhist scriptures from religious, linguistic, and philosophical perspectives, but have overlooked their types and processes. The purpose of the research is to examine the types and characteristics of transcription in Buddhist scriptures. The sample of the research targeted the Chinese-Korean translation of words, phrases, and sentences in the Vajracchedika Prajnaparamita Sutra. A literature review and descriptive approach were applied to analyse the sample. The findings indicate that the types of transcription were classified as the four categories: Sanskrit, Chinese, Korean transcriptions, and phonetic variants. In the Sanskrit transcription, Korean directly transcribed Sanskrit. In the Chinese transcription, Korean transcribed Chinese pronunciation in the source language, because Korea borrowed Chinese characters from ancient times. The Korean transcription reflected its own pronunciation by domestication of translation. Finally, the phonetic variants showed alterations over time. These findings represent that Buddhist scriptures preferred transcription over meaning-based translations, because of prescribed translation norms: Five Losses of the Original Form and Three Untranslatables, and Five Types of Untranslatables. This research suggests that Buddhist scriptures choose transcription to preserve the original content without loss of meaning.

Abstract: Using a combination of fieldwork and secondary sources, this paper offers a critical appraisal of Mexico’s social housing policy agenda. Specifically, the study poses two research questions: Does the subsidized construction of mass-produced “social interest” housing fulfill its objectives as the primary means of providing decent housing for low and moderate-income households? And, to what extent does “densification” work as a strategy for combating urban sprawl and promoting more sustainable urban development? In both cases, the study concludes that social housing policy has largely failed to achieve its purported objectives. Notwithstanding undeniable improvement in the quality of housing and provision of essential urban services, Mexico’s social housing agenda largely disregards the messy details and complexity of local social, cultural and environmental contexts, resulting in incoherent policies that are disarticulated from the real lives of vulnerable households. Rather, the twin policy discourses of decent housing and sustainability actually allow the Mexican government to achieve three covert objectives: 1) demonstration of unfettered and unrelenting progress towards “development”, in line with international standards and the expectations of multilateral organizations; 2) generation of much-needed employment opportunities in housing-related industries; and 3) assuring the profitability of a small group of national and regional construction firms which control the country’s social interest homebuilding industry. In light of these findings, this study highlights the potential of a non-normative, place-specific approach to policy, which accounts for complexity and local context and promotes collaboration among residents, community organizations, and other stakeholders.

Abstract: The teaching and learning of Accounting in South African schools happens in English which is a second language for the majority of teachers and learners. Given that the Accounting discipline itself has its own conceptual jargon, teaching and learning in a second language is likely to present added complexity for both teachers and learners. This paper explored the teaching of Accounting threshold concepts in English Second Language (ESL) context. The study was underpinned by Shulman (1986)’s theory on teacher knowledge. In this qualitative interpretive study, semi-structured interviews, lesson observation, video recording and video stimulated recall were employed to generate data from three Accounting teachers. The research participants were purposively selected. Data was analysed using thematic analysis. This assisted researchers to make sense of data. Key findings showed that Accounting teachers predominantly used IsiZulu when teaching Accounting threshold concepts. When teachers teach, they emphasised technical recording instead of conceptual clarity. They infused codeswitching when using prior knowledge to illuminate the understanding of concepts and also infusing learners’ native language for practical application of taught concepts. The paper also provided the discussion of findings. The latter part of the paper discusses the conclusion drawn from the findings on the teaching of Accounting concepts in schools.