Geography

Event Profile: International Water & Effluent Exhibition (IWEX) which takes place at the NEC, is the UK's premier international water show and the 2007 edition promises to be the largest and busiest IWEX ever. Since its launch the event has developed into a forum for networking and training as well as one of the largest exhibitions of its type in Europe. Highlights: The IWEX event oncorporates a number of key seminars for professionals within the water industry looking at the challenges and opportunities arising within our industry. These will include debates regarding legislation, academic reviews of the latest technological advances and workshops on the practical implications. Visitor's Profile: IWEX is aimed at the following job descriptions: Engineering - chemical, civil, design, electrical, mechanical, process, Company Management - Chief Executives, Managing Directors, General Managers, Chairmen, Owners, Finance, Buyers/Purchasers, Health and safety, Operations, Plant/Site Management Production, Research/Development/Scientific, Sales & Marketing/Business, Development. Exhibitor's Profile: IWEX is the UK's no.1 marketplace for supplying to the water industry including: Contractors, Industrial water users, Utility providers, Government, Environmental agencies etc. Held every two years, the event has developed into a forum for networking and training as well as one of the largest exhibitions of its type in Europe. Organizer: Faversham House Group Limited Faversham House, 232a Addington Road, South Croydon, Surrey, United Kingdom. Tel: +(44)-(20)-86517100 Fax: +(44)-(20)-86517117

Structured along the theme A Journey Into Islamic Values which promises a succinct yet informative day detailing the intrinsic aspects and values about Islam. Organized by: Islamic Society, University of Essex

ROLE OF DIRECT TEACHING METHOD IN THE ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF STUDENTS IN ENGLISH Dr Ishtiaq Hussain , Kohat University (KUST) Dr Hafiz Inamullah , Kohat University (KUST Dr Muhammad Naseer-ud-Din , Kohat University (KUST) ABSTRACT Quality education depends upon the quality of teaching and quality of teaching depends upon the quality of teachers, curriculum and effective teaching method. Method plays a vital role in the quality teaching of language. It is a planned and systematic effort of the teacher for establishing sequence in the various parts of the teaching. The direct method, as its name suggests, is teaching the foreign language without the interference of mother tongue. It is also called “natural method” because the students learn the foreign language in the same way as they learn their mother tongue. In this method, not the word but the sentence is the unit of the grammar, while the traditional method aims at teaching English by word-to-word translation in mother tongue. The major objective of the study was to determine the role of direct teaching method in the academic achievement of students in English at secondary level. To achieve the said objective the Solomon Four-Design pre-test post-test equivalent group design” was considered to be the most useful design for this study. Following is the symbolic representation of the design: RRRRRRR R E O T O2 R C O3 - O4 R E - T O5 R C - - O6 Where R = Randomly Selected E = Experimental Groups C = Control Groups O = Observation or Measurement T = Treatment The experimental treatment to which a group is exposed i.e. independent variable. This is the strong and true experimental design. The pretest was used to measure the achievement. Pretest was used only to equate the control and experimental groups. Thus the Solomon four-group design was applied for the treatment of the data. The students of Federal Government boy’s secondary schools of Islamabad comprised the population of the study. Two sections A and B of 9th class of F G School (Urdu medium) and two sections A and B of 9th class of F.G. school (English medium) were selected as sample of the study. In this design: i. Subjects were randomly assigned to four groups. ii. Two groups received the experimental treatment (T) iii. One experimental group received a pretest (O1). iv. Two groups (control) received treatment (C). v. One control group received a pretest (O3). vi. All four groups received posttests (O2 O4O5O6) Pre- test was administered to determine the level of each student before treatment and to equalize the students of two groups. Experimental group was taught by direct method while the Control group was taught by traditional method for a period of six weeks. At the end of the treatment, a posttest was administered and scores of pre-test, posttest were served as data of the study. Applying t-test and analysis of variance tested to know the significance of difference between the scores of groups at 0.05 levels. After analyzing the secured date it was concluded that direct teaching method was more effective as a teaching-learning technique for English as compared to traditional teaching method. Students in the direct teaching method outscored than students working in traditional learning situation. Low achievers in direct teaching showed significant superiority over low achievers learning English by the traditional method. Thus direct teaching was found to be more effective method for quality teaching of English to the low achievers as compared to traditional method of teaching. High achievers, whether they were taught English by direct method or traditional method, retained learnt material at the same rate. Low achievers taught English by direct method retained more material as compared to low achievers taught by traditional method of teaching. INTRODUCTION Progress and advancement of the countries of the world are always related with the kind of education they offer to their people. Education is essential for human development. A man without knowledge is really a blind even he has eyes. Educated man is as much superior to uneducated person. It nourishes us like mother, guides us like father and delights us to like wife” (Ahmad, 1969). Language comes next to food. We are so intimately familiar with it that we take it for granted as we do breathing or walking. According to Agramal (1995) language is vehicle of thoughts and lack of command over it is bound to make the thoughts inexpressible. Jesperson (1983) defines language as a “set of human habits” the purpose, which is to give expression to thoughts and feelings, and especially to impart them others. Sweet (1992) says, “Language is expression of ideas by means of which speech sounds are combined into words, words are combined into sentences and combination of sentences gives answers to ideas and thoughts”. English has always been rated high in Pakistan. In past, it was treated as compulsory subject from class 6th to onwards in public school system. It is being offered as a compulsory subject in English medium schools and is increasingly used as a medium of instruction. The private schools offer English as a subject from nursery classes. It means that students of public schools start studying English at the age of 11 years whereas the students of English medium schools start studying English at the age of 4 years. Teaching of English is important for the following reasons:- a. English is a mean for understanding the foreign education; b. English is the language of higher education; c. English is the source of scientific and technological advancement; d. It is the medium for international commerce, trade and communication (Richards, 1991). Keeping in view the status of English, the Government of Pakistan has made a decision for introducing English as a compulsory subject from first level. The main objective of the study was to determine the role of direct teaching in the academic achievement of students English at Secondary level. REVIEW OF LITERATURE Every country has a national language, which is the means of expression of its thoughts, culture and covers the whole range of its social, cultural and official activities. In the present age of fast development in science and technology, there also arises the need of a foreign language to have an access to modern scientific knowledge and for international communication. English is a means of international communication since it has assumed the role of world language. The only language other than Urdu that understood to some extent in all part of Pakistan is English. It is reality that English has thrust its way in our life and thoughts. It is the language of legislative, law courts, commercial, markets, social circles, technology and economics because most of the information’s are largely available in English. (Tanveer, 1998). Learning a foreign language/second language is a complex process, as language is not just an act of putting meaningful words together. It needs a physical, intellectual and emotional response if we have to send or receive messages in it. Learning of a foreign language involves a new culture, a new way of thinking, feeling and acting. The learner has to be fluent, accurate and meaningful (Graff, 1985). Abid (1979) selected two groups of the students of 10th class. Their teacher’s supplementary reading approach taught the experimental group. For the five teaching periods per week containing thirty lessons. After teaching of six weeks, the experimental group showed better results significant at 0.05 levels in reading comprehension than the control group. The increase in reading speed of experimental group was significantly better at0.05 level in average students and development of interest in English language was also significantly better than that control group. It was concluded that overall performance of experimental group in all the reading aspects was significantly better than that of the control group; hence the supplementary reading method was suggested. It was better method for teaching of English reading comprehension; speed and interest .So the researcher recommended supplementary reading beside textbooks for effective reading of English. Krashen and Terrel (1983) reported that language proficiency tests can be classified as tests of linguistic competence or communicative competence that is ability to control pronunciation, morphology and syntax; communication and the ability to use language for specific purposes or some particular purpose. Lionel (1985) reported that most textbooks used in reading were judged as inadequate. The main cause identified was that textbooks take a long time to produce; therefore, the selections they contain are often out of date by the time they reach the students. As a partial solution to the problem, the researcher suggested that the students should choose short readings for the class as their assignments. PROCEDURE In order to test the relative effectiveness of independent variable, i.e. an instructional paradigm (direct teaching), the choice of most suitable design for this experiment was the basic step. A number of factors, which affect the internal and external validity of experimental designs. Relevant to internal validity, there are eight different factors (these include history, maturation, testing, instrumentation, statistical regression, differential selection, experimental mortality, and selection maturation interaction). If these factors are not controlled in the design, they may produce adverse effects, which confound the effects of the independent variables as shown by the final test scores. Whereas factors affecting internal validity operate on the scores derived from the dependent variables and, therefore, make the experiment poor as an experiment, factors affecting external validity operate upon the experimental treatments. Campbell and Stanley (1963) postulated four factors, which jeopardize external validity. “The Solomon Four-Design pre-test post-test equivalent group design” was considered to be the most useful design for this study. Following is the symbolic representation of the design: RRRRRRR R E O T O2 R C O3 - O4 R E - T O5 R C - - O6 Where R = Randomly Selected E = Experimental Groups C = Control Groups O = Observation or Measurement T = Treatment The experimental treatment to which a group is exposed i.e. independent variable. This is the strong and true experimental design, but there may be the possibility of the influence of the effect of testing and the interaction with the experimental variable (Farooq, 2001). However, in order to eliminate the influence of the effect of testing and the interaction with the experimental variable, a posttest parallel to the pretest was used to measure the achievement. Pretest was used only to equate the control and experimental groups. POPULATION The aim of this study was to investigate the relative effectiveness of direct teaching method in teaching English at secondary level. Therefore, students studying at secondary level were constituted the population of the study. DELIMITATION OF THE STUDY The study was delimited to: English medium students of 9th class. SAMPLE Two sections A and B of 9th class of Federal Government boys secondary school Tarnol, Islamabad (Urdu medium) and two sections A and B of 9th class of F.G. Model school for Boys I-9/4 Islamabad (English medium) were taken as sample of the study. Sample students of Federal Government boy’s secondary school Naugazi Islamabad were further divided into two groups, i.e. the experimental and the control groups. Both the groups were equated on the basis of pre-test scores. Each group comprised 30 students. RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS In order to equate the control and the experimental groups, a teacher made pretest was administered before the allocation of students to the experimental and the control groups. Immediately after the treatment was over, a teacher made posttest was administered to subjects of both the experimental and the control groups. The purpose of this test was to measure the achievement of the students constituting the sample. The researcher constructed these both tests after a through review of the techniques of test construction and related units of English Both the pretest and posttest were almost parallel with same difficulty level. The two chapters were taught before the start of experiment; also give a weight age of 25 percent in the both tests. Each test was composed of multiple choice test items, matching items pertaining to a combination of learning domains. These test items were based on the selected units of 9th class English five units. These five units were taught during the experiment to both the experimental and the control groups, and were intended to measure the learning out comes.. Reliability of Test The Solomon Four Design pretest posttest equivalent group design was used for the treatment to test the reliability of the posttest scores obtained by the students who formed the sample of the study. The coefficient of reliability was determined using Spearman-Brown Prophecy formula, estimating reliability form the comparable halves of the posttest and found the coefficient of correlation, which found to be 0.75. SELECTION AND TRAINING OF TEACHERS FOR EXPERIMENT One teacher from each Federal Government Boys secondary School Tarnol ,Islamabad (Urdu medium) and one teacher from F G Model school for Boys I-9/4, Islamabad (English medium) having equal qualification, equal teaching experience and considerably equal teaching potential were selected for teaching English to the control and the experimental groups. The teacher volunteered for teaching the experimental groups was provided two weeks training in Direct teaching i.e. one week for reading and one week for speech DATA COLLECTION During the experiment two different treatment patterns were applied. The control groups were provided with traditional routine situation in the classroom while experimental groups provided with direct teaching method as treatment. The experiment continued for six weeks. Soon after the treatment was over, posttest was administrated to measure the achievement of the sample subjects. ANALYSIS OF DATA Raw scores obtained from pretest and posttests were presented in tabular form for the purpose of interpretation. For the manipulation of data, the means, standard deviations, and differences of means were computed for each group. Significance of difference between the mean scores of both the experimental and control groups on the variable of pretest and post test scores was tested at 0.05 levels by applying t-test. To examine the treatment affects for high and low levels of achievement of the two groups, The Solomon four group design (2x2 analysis of variance) was applied. For this purpose, the students of two groups were divided into two halves, i.e. high achievers (above the mean score) and low achievers (below the mean score). This division was made on the basis of pretest scores. The Solomon four group designs is symbolized as below: English medium groups Experimental Control High achievers CELL 1 CELL 2 Low achievers CELL 3 CELL 4 Urdu medium groups Experimental Control High achievers CELL 1 CELL 2 Low achievers CELL 3 CELL 4 For statistical analysis the formulae followed by Garrett (1997) and Gay (2000) were applied. The following formulae were used in doing statistical analysis: I. Standard error of the difference between two means II. Computation of t-value III. Analysis of variance Step 1 = Correction term (C) = Step 2 = SS Term = Step 3 = SS Between means = Step 4 = SS Within groups = SS Total – SS Means Step 5 = ANOVA table Source of variation Degree of freedom Sum of squares Mean square F t-value Between group means Within groups M.S Within groups = SS within groups Degree of freedom within groups F-value = M.S Between group means M.S Within groups t-value = IV. Factorial design (2x2 analysis of variance) Step 1 = Correction term (C) = (X….)2 Step 2 = SS Total = X2….. –C Step 3 = SS Cell = N (D112 + d122 + d212 + S222) Step 4 = SS Within Cell – SS Total – SS Cells Step 5 = SS Treatment = N1 (d1.2 + d2.2) Step 6 = SS Achievement level = N1. (d1.2 + d2.2) Step 7 = SS Interactions + SSCells–SSTreatment – SSAchievement level Step 8 = ANOVA (2x2) table Source of variation Degree of freedom Sum of squares Mean square F P Treatment Achievement level Interaction Within cells RESULTS AND DISCUSSION This chapter is confined to the analysis and interpretation of data obtained from the pre-test and posttest. Significance of difference between the mean scores of experimental and control groups of English medium and Urdu medium on pretest and posttest were found out by applying t-test, analysis of variance and the Solomon four group design (analysis of variance). Obtained results along with analysis and interpretation are presented in the following pages. Table 1: Significance of difference between the mean scores of experimental and control groups on pre-test.(English Medium) Group N df M SD SED t-value Experimental 30 29 55.67 12.67 3.38 0.64* Control 30 29 53.50 11.08 *Not Significant df=58 t-value at 0.05 level =2.04 Table 1 indicates that the mean scores of the pretest in English of the experimental group (English medium) was 55.67 and that of the control group was 53.5. The difference between two means was not statistically significant at 0.05 levels. These findings support the views of Arnold (1942) who found that learning occurs in conducive environment and suitable surroundings. Table 2: Significance of difference between the mean scores of high achievers of experimental and control groups on pretest. (English Medium) Group N df Mean SD SED t-value High achievers of the experimental group 15 14 65.67 8.43 3.44 0.58* High achievers of the control group 15 14 63.67 8.65 *Not Significant df = 28 t value at 0.05 = 2.04 Table 2 reflects that there was no significance of difference between the mean scores of high achievers of experimental and control groups on pretest. To obtained t value through calculation is 0.58 at 0.05 level, which is less than the, table value.. Table 3: Significance of difference between the mean scores of low achievers of experimental and control groups on pretest. (English Medium) Group N Df Mean SD SED t- value Low achievers of the experimental group 15 14 42.33 7.84 2.98 0.11* Low achievers of the control group 15 14 42.67 4.21 *Not Significant df=2 t value at 0.05 = 2.14 Table 3 reflects that there was no significance of difference between the mean scores of low achievers of experimental and control group on pretest. The calculated t- value is 0.11, which is less than the table value and is insignificant at 0.05 level. Hence, the both groups could be treated as equal. Table 4: Significance of difference between the mean scores of experimental and control groups on post-test. (English Medium) Group N Df Mean SD SED t-value Experimental 30 29 79 3.29 3.25 7.48* Control 30 29 54.67 3.32 *Significant df=58 t value at 0.05 =2.04 It appears from Table 4 that difference between the mean scores on the post-test of the experimental group was 79 and the same of the control group was 54.67.The difference between the two means was found significant at 0.05 level in favor of the experimental group. These findings support the results reported by Petty (1996) that students learn effectively by direct method if they are taught immediate requirements of it. Group N Df Mean SD SED t-value High achievers of the experimental group 30 29 82.33 5.32 3.40 4.11* High achievers of the control group 30 29 68.33 9.92 Table 5: Significance of difference between the mean scores of high achievers of experimental and control groups on posttest. (English Medium) *Significant df =58 t value at 0.05 = 2.14 Table 5 shows that the difference between the mean scores of high achievers of experimental and control groups on post-test was statistically significant at 0.05 levels in favor of the experimental group. The calculated value is 4.11 which is less than table value at 0.05 levels. It supports the concept of Curran (1982) that word-to-word language learning hinders in fluency. So, the learners should avail a chance where they gallop hundreds of words accordingly. Table 6: Significance of difference between the mean scores of low achievers of experimental and control groups on post-test. (English Medium) Group N Df Mean SD SED t-value Low achievers of the experimental group 30 29 65 4.47 0.74 7.02* Low achievers of the control group 30 29 45 3.05 * Significant df =58 t value at 0.05 =2.04 Table 6 indicates that the difference between 7.02 the mean scores of low achievers of experimental group and control group on post-test was not statistically significant at 0.05 level. The calculated t- value at 0.05 level is 7.02, which is higher than table value at same level. These results support the concept of Collitzs (1926) that found students with low scores had low interest in learning a foreign language. Table 7: Significance of difference between the mean scores of experimental and control groups on pre-test. (Urdu Medium) Group N df Mean SD SED t-value Experimental 30 29 53.47 14.42 3.79 0.12* Control 30 29 53 13.92 *Not Significant df = 58 t value at 0.05= 2.04 Table 7 reflects that the mean score of the previous achievement test in English of the experimental group (Urdu medium) was 53.47 and that of the control group was 53 The obtained t-value is 0.12, which is less than the table value It supports the concepts Rivers (1981) that every child has specific potential by birth. It is the responsibility of the parents, society and teachers, how they channalize that potential in proper way. Table 8: Significance of difference between mean scores of low achievers of experimental and control groups on pre-test. (Urdu Medium) Group N df Mean SD SED t-value Low achievers of the experimental group 15 14 81.93 7.45 1.76 0.90* Low achievers of the control group 15 14 64.67 9.95 * Not Significant df =28 t value at 0.05 = 2.14 Table 8 reflects that there was no significant difference between the mean scores of low achievers of experimental and control groups on pre-test. The calculated t-value is 0.90, which is less than the table value and is insignificant at 0.05 level. So, both groups could be treated as equal. These findings support the concepts of Morris (1988) that students with low scores had also low interest in English. Group N df Mean SD SED t-value Experimental group 30 29 56.83 13.93 3.73 4.57* Control group 30 29 54.67 12.48 Table 9 Significance of difference between the mean scores of experimental group and control groups on post-test. * Significant df=58 t value at 0.05 = 2.14 Table 9 indicates that the mean scores of the experimental group (Urdu medium) was 56.83 and that of the control group was 54.67 on post-test. At posttest performance of experimental group was better than control group. These results support the concept of Rivers (1981) that students show good results if they are taught with direct method accordingly. Table 10 Significance of difference between the mean scores of high achievers of experimental and control groups on posttest. (Urdu Medium) Group N df Mean SD SED t-value High achievers of the experimental group 30 29 88.33 2.95 3.05 0.42* High achievers of the control group 30 29 66 5.56 * Significant df = 58 t- value at 0.05 =2.14 Table 10 shows that the difference between the mean scores of high achievers of experimental and control groups on post-test was statistically at 0.05 levels in favor of experimental group. The calculated value is 0.42, which is less than table value at 0.05 level It supports the concept of Petty (1996), that directs teaching has equal benefits for high, average and low achievers. Table 11: Significance of difference between the mean scores of low achievers of experimental group and control group on post-test. (Urdu Medium) Group N Df Mean SD SED t-value Low achievers of the experimental group 15 14 65 4.76 0.88 6.31* Low achievers of the control group 15 14 45 3.05 *Significant df = 28 t -value at 0.05 = 2.14 It appears from Table 11 that the difference between the mean scores of low achievers of experimental and control groups on post-test was not significant at 0.05 level. The calculated t-value at 0.05 level is 6.31 which is higher than table value at same level. The finding contradicts the views of Huchan (1985) that direct teaching is most suitable and effective for low achievers. CONCLUSIONS In the light of statistical analysis and the findings of the study, the following conclusions were drawn. 1 On the whole, direct teaching method is more effective as a teaching-learning technique for English as compared to traditional teaching method. Students in the direct teaching method outscored than students working in traditional learning situation. 2 Low achievers in direct teaching showed significant superiority over low achievers learning English by the traditional method. Thus direct teaching was found to be more effective method for teaching English to the low achievers as compared to traditional method of teaching 3 High achievers, whether they were taught English by direct method or traditional method, retained learnt material at the same rate. 4 Low achievers taught English by direct method retained more material as compared to low achievers taught by traditional method of teaching. Therefore direct teaching seemed to be more effective teaching learning technique for low achievers. 5 English textbooks mostly written for direct teaching were taught through traditional method. These showed not good results; because teachers were not conversant with the direct method. LITERATURE CITED Abid, A. K. (1979). A Study of the Effectiveness of Supplementary Reading Approach of Teaching English on Comprehension, Reading Periods and Interests of 10th grade Level (unpublished) Ph. D. thesis, Institute of Education and Research, University of Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan. (pp. 190-205). Agrammal, L. (1995). General Language Practices. Merrill Publishing, Company New York, USA. (pp. 32-34). Ahmed, N. S. (1969). Teaching of English as a Foreign Language, 1st edition, Carawan Book Deptu Urdu Bazar Lahore. (pp.34, 56). Arnold. L. (1942). Culture and Anarchy, Preface. London: Macmillan Co; Ltd, UK. (p. 98). Jesperson, O. (1983). Language, Its Natures Development and Origion.4th edition New York, USA. (p. 143). Campbell, D. & K. Stanley. (1963). Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Designs for Research on Teaching, in Handbook of Research on Teaching. Rand Mc Nelly and Company, Chicago, USA. (p. 175). Collitzs, G. (1926). Approaches to English as Second Language and its Implementations Mc Graw-Hill New York, USA. (pp. 113-120). Curran, C. (1982). Counseling-Learning: a Whole Person Model for Education. Mc Graw-Hill New York, USA. (pp. 213-224). Farooq, R. A. (2001). Understanding Research in Education. University Institute of Education and Research University of Arid and Agriculture Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Garret, H. E. (1997). Statistic in Psychology and Education. National Book Foundations, Islamabad, Pakistan. (pp. 191-192, 279-291). .Gay, L.R (2000). Educational Research Competencies for Analysis and Application. National Book Foundation, Islamabad, Pakistan. (pp.477-478,480-496). Graff, W. (1985). Language and Learning Principles. . Longmans Green and Co LTD. London, UK. (pp. 60-67). Huchan, D. (1985). A Practical Guide to the Teaching of English. The University of Chicago, Press, Ltd, USA. (pp. 13-14). Krashen, L. & Terrell, J. (1983). Second Language Acquisition Learning Skills Paragons. New York, USA. (p. 23). Lionel, M. (1985). Students Choice: Short Reading for the ESL, Classroom English Teaching Forum DC. Vol No-1 Washington, USA. (pp. 87-90). Morris, K. (1988). Developing Second Language Skills, Second edition, Chapter-5 Chicago; and Mc Nelly College Publishing Company, USA. (pp. 44-50). Petty, W. (1996). Second Report about the State of Knowledge about the Teaching of Vocabulary. National Council of Teachers Education, New York, USA. (pp. 54-56). Richards, J. (1991). The Context of Language Teaching. Cambridge University Press, London, UK. (pp. 49, 520). Rivers, W. (1981). Teaching Foreign Language Teaching. The University of Chicago, Press. Ltd, USA. (pp. 46-56). Sweet, S. (1992). Language and the Study of Language, 4th edition. Merrill Publishing Company New York, USA. (p. 45). Tanveer, M. (1998). Education and the Development of Muslim Nationalism in Pre-Partition India. University of California. (pp. 45-49).

Expected number of participants - around 350 professionals from 15-20 world countries. Working languages: English, Russian and Ukrainian. "Fruits & Vegetables of Ukraine" - it is already a very strong and internationally recognized brand for specialized international horticultural forums of Eastern Europe of highest quality. After three years of existence the Conference has been included in nearly calendars of key international and local fruit & vegetable businesses of the region. Every year the Conference gathers in Kiev from 300 to 400 professionals. Structure of the past year's "Fruits & Vegetables of Ukraine 2006. Open Market" Conference clearly demonstrates a wide interest to this event from nearly all segments of the horticultural business and confirms that the topics discussed at the event are very timely and important for all participants. It is noteworthy that in the past year's most of the participants were represented by the owners and top-management of the large companies. Active part in the conference took most of the largest fruit growers of Ukraine (apples, strawberries, peaches and other fruits), many large and medium greenhouse companies, basically all leading input suppliers, as well as companies which supplied drip irrigation systems, equipment for post harvest handling, packing and storage of fruits and vegetables, largest distributors, exports and importers of fresh produce, many large processors and several nationwide and international supermarket chains. Foreign and international companies at the conference were usually represented by input, equipment and machinery suppliers. Many importers and exporters also came to visit the conference, learn about the market and conclude fruitful contracts. There were also several international experts from other countries, who took part in the Conference. In total 37% of participants represented 16 world countries and 63% represented Ukrainian businesses. It is our strict rule that at our conferences we provide only exclusive and up-to-date information! This year's Conference is called "Fruits & Vegetables of Ukraine 2007. Meeting New Leader". While only 4 years ago we called our first horticultural conference "Market of New Opportunities". In just 4 years Ukraine has made a huge step forward in the development of the horticultural market and basically became the regional leader among the FSU countries. Below are several examples that clearly demonstrate Ukraine's progress: In 2006/07 Ukraine has exported more than 50,000 MT of fresh onions (including 20,000 MT exported to Poland and other EU countries), while only a couple of years ago Ukraine was one of the largest importers of onions. In 2004 Ukraine has 10-12 working processing plants ãîäó and in 2006 their number has grown to around 125. Most of the produced canned vegetables and fruits are exported and the market has been grown by more than 100% per year. In the past 4 years Ukraine has become one of the largest exporter of watermelons in Europe and production of melons and watermelons has more than doubled in 2006. Area under fruits and vegetables grown with drip irrigation in Ukraine has grown more than fivefold in the past 4 years (more than 100% per annum!). Presently total area of fruits and vegetables under drip irrigation in Ukraine is estimated at 45-50 thousand hectares! Ukraine has the largest area of modern greenhouses among FSU countries and continues growing it rapidly. Ukraine is the second largest producer of potatoes in Europe now after Russia. Typical cabbage harvest in Ukraine is larger than total production of cabbage in the EU-15 put together. Ukraine is one of the world leaders of gherkin production in the world and produces around 1.5mn MT of open field tomatoes every year. Ukraine is also the largest producer of cucumbers in Europe. Ukraine is one of the world leaders in cherry production and it continues to rapidly expand the area of modern cherry orchards. Considering the amount of investments into the modern orchards noted in Ukraine, the country could become a large exporter of fruits (especially apple) while presently it is a large importer. This year already Ukraine has actively exported berries. Modern cold storage facilities (including ULO or CA) are built in Ukraine more rapidly than anywhere else in the region. Without any governmental support the total size of modern storage facilities is more than doubling every year. Ukraine plans to become a WTO member in 2007-2008, which would further liberalize trade of fresh produce, inputs and equipment for horticultural business. Working languages of the Conference: Ukrainian, Russian and English Subjects discussed at the Conference: Outlook for greenhouse business of Ukraine considering global trends in consumption, logistics and energy prices. Production and price outlook for fruits, vegetables and berries in 2007/08. Potential of exports and imports of fruits & vegetables. Where to sell Ukraine's canned vegetables? Industry outlook for 2008 and strategically. Overview of vacant market niches for horticultural business of Ukraine. Presentation of modern technologies of long-term storage and transportation of fruits & vegetables. Post harvest handling of fruits, vegetables and berries - new ideas and trends. New in the technologies of fruits & vegetables production. Additional Information condictions, sponsorship packages, advertising opportunities and other information you will find on the web-site

Zagros Traditional Settlements International Conference 30 April - 2 May 2008, Sanandaj, Kurdistan, Iran CALL FOR PAPERS The first conference on Zagros Traditional Settlements will be co-hosted by the University of Kurdistan and INTBAU (International Network for Traditional Building, Architecture & Urbanism). The main theme of the conference is the socio-spatial character of traditional settlements in the Zagros Mountains area, and will bring together scholars from the Zagros region with national and international academics with experience of researching and studying traditional settlements. The conference will take place in the city of Sanandaj, which was the historic Kurdish capital for many centuries. Zagros is the name of mountains range shared between three countries of Iran, Iraq and Turkey. They make up Iran and Iraq's largest mountain range and define the western edge of the Iranian plateau and were recognised as the single physical phenomenon which has had a major influence in shaping Kurdish history, people, traditions, and culture. Conference Objectives Karaman believe that “built forms of traditional settlements spring from the physical characteristics of a site”. As the first context in which built form takes shape, there is an interface with social requirements and environment factors such as climate and the social and psychological demands of the community to achieve symbolic and expressive values over the course of time. For Rapoport, traditional built form is highly “place-specific", which means it is bound up with and determined by place, social parameters and the factor of time. Considering these leading points, the aim of this conference is to provide a platform for discussion and sharing of information on issues and challenges related to traditional settlements with special emphasis on the socio-spatial character of traditional settlements in the Zagros Mountains area. The conference also aims at stimulating inter-disciplinary discussions and networking to further enhance and enrich the knowledge of academics, practitioners and professionals in traditional settlements. Topics We would welcome papers exploring a range of issues relevant to traditional settlements. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following: ECOLOGICAL CHARACTER OF TRADITIONAL SETTLEMENTS SOCIO-CULTURAL ASPECTS OF TRADITIONAL SETTLEMENTS URBAN AND RURAL PLANNING TRADITIONAL URBAN FORM, HERITAGE ARCHITECTURE, HISTORICAL ASPECTS, VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE, RESTORATION AND REDEVELOPMENT, MANAGEMENT SCHEMES AND MAINTENANCE, TRADITIONAL ASPECTS IN CONSTRUCTION , NEW APPROACHES IN CONSTRUCTION , CASE-STUDIES FROM ZAGROS Papers should represent high-quality and unpublished work, not under review by any other scientific committee or journal. Abstract Submission The organizers invite participation by interested academics and professionals. Proposals for papers should be submitted electronically through the websites (www.uok.ac.ir/zts-confe) or as email attachments to the following e-mail: zagros@uok.ac.uk All abstracts (in English and Persian/Farsi) are limited to one A4 page and should contain the name of author(s), affiliation, postal address, email address, telephone number, title of paper, and a 300-word abstract. Contributor will be informed of acceptance of their abstract as soon as the conference committee receives the abstract. Authors of accepted abstracts will be asked to submit full papers and the guidelines for full papers submission will be provided. All accepted papers will be published in the conference proceedings Calendar Launch of the Call for Papers: 6 August 2007 - Abstract Submission: October 22, 2007 Notification of Acceptance: November 21, 2007 Full Papers Submission: February 8, 2008 Notification of Acceptance: March 10 2008 The time of conference: 30 April - 2 May 2008 Contributor will be informed of acceptance of their Conference Outline This first conference on Zagros Traditional Settlements is planned from Wednesday 30th April to Friday 2nd May, with a further informal day (Friday 3rd May) for a day tour of the Zivieh Ancient Fortress and Caraftou Ancient Cave northeast of Divandareh City. The main programme includes a day tour of the Awraman-Marivan region in the west of Kurdistan province on Friday 2nd May. Evening entertainment will be provided by local music and dance groups. Scientific Committee 1. Dr Mahyar Ardeshiri, school of art and architecture, university of Shiraz, Iran 2. Dr Ali Asgari, University of York. Canada 3. Dr. Simon Ayvazian, College of Fine Arts, University of Tehran, Iran 4. Dr Mustafa Behzadfar, Faculty of Architecture and Planning, University of Science and Technology, Iran 5. Dr. Hooshang Dabagh, Department of Civil engineering, university of Kurdistan, Iran 6. Dr. Michel Denès, École d'architecture de Versailles, École Spéciale d'Architecture, Paris, France 7. Dr Drab Diba, College of Fine Arts, University of Tehran, Iran 8. Mr Douglas Duany, Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company, USA 9. Dr Rahman Eghbali, University of Qazvin, Iran 10. Dr. Kyoumars Habibi, Department of Architecture and Urban Planning, university of Kurdistan, Iran 11. Dr Matthew Hardy, Secretary of International Network for Traditional Building, Architecture & Urbanism, UK 12. Dr Mehrdad Hejazi, Centre for Traditional Structures, University of Isfahan, Iran 13. Dr. Aboulfazl Meshkini, Zanjan university, Iran 14. Dr. Kayoumars Irandoost, Department of Architecture and Urban Planning, university of Kurdistan, Iran 15. Dr Peter Kellett, School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape, University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK 16. Dr Ahmad Khoushnouvis, Iranian Cultural Heritage Organization 17. Dr Ali Madanipour, School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape, University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK 18. Dr. Mostafa Momenee, Department of Geography, University of Shahid Beheshti, Iran 19. Dr. Babk Nasroulahbaegi, Department of Civil engineering, Azad University of Sanandaj, Iran 20. Dr Farshad Nourian, College of Fine Arts, University of Tehran, Iran 21. Dr Jahan-Shah Pakzad, Faculty of Architecture and Planning, University of Shahid Beheshti, Iran 22. Dr. Abdoreza Pakshir, school of art and architecture, university of Shiraz, Iran 23. Dr. Parviz Piran, Department of Social Research, Allameh Tabatabaiee University, Iran 24. Dr. Ahmad Poorahmad, Faculty of Geography, University of Tehran, Iran 25. Ahmed Saeednia, Urban Planning department, University of Tehran, Iran 26. Dr. Mozaffar Sarafi, Department of Geography, University of Shahid Beheshti, Iran 27. Dr. Esmaeil shieh, Faculty of Architecture and Planning, University of Science and Technology, Iran 28. Dr Graham Tipple, School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape, University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK Organizing Committee Dr. Kayoumars Irandoost, University of Kurdistan Dr. Kyoumars Habibi, University of Kurdistan Mr. Sirvan Lahoorpour, University of Kurdistan Mr. Salahedin Molanaei, University of Kurdistan Mr. Salahedin Vaiesi, University of Kurdistan Mr. Merdad Yousefzamani, Ph.D Student, University of Science and Technology Mr. Bakhtiar Bahrami, Ph.D Student , University of Tehran Mis. Sara Sulaimani, Ph.D Student, University of Science and Technology Mr. Farshid Gouroohi, Sanandaj Payam-e-Noor University Mr. Mohammed Rasouli. Kurdistan Housing and Urban Development Mr Arsalan Tahmasebi, Azad University of Sanandaj Mr. Behnam Rezwani, Azad University of Sanandaj Mrs. Senoor Ahmadi, Kurdistan General Governorship Mr Mansoor qazaqie, Sanandaj Municipality Supporting Organizations Cultural Heritage Organization of Kurdistan Institue of Research in Cultural Heritage and Tourism Sanandaj Municipality Kurdistan Housing Foundation of Islamic Revolution Kurdistan Housing and Urban Development Kirmanshah Housing and Urban Development Azad University of Sanandaj Sanandaj Payam-e-Noor University Kurdistan Construction Engineering Organization Kurdistan General Governorship Iranian Society of urban Planners (ISUP) Iranian Society of Architects (ISA) Syndicate of Consulting Architects and Planners of Iran Registration Fees All presenters and participants are requested to register for the conference by February 9, 2008. Registration process can be made via online form below or send the downloaded form to the following email: zagros@uok.ac.ir or fax: +988716660073. The fees are as follows: Registration Fee per person is listed below for different categories: (1) Author Registration Fee before February 9th, 2008 (1A) Foreign delegates : €100 (1B) Foreign students : €80 (1C) Iranian delegates: 800/000 Rials (1D) Iranian students : 600/0000 Rials 10% discounts for early birds before February 9, 2008 (2) Non-Author Registration (3A) Foreign delegates : €120 (3B) Foreign students : €100 (3C) Iranian delegates; 1/000/000 Rials (3D) Iranian students : 750/0000 Rials Payment should be made to the following account number: 1108071849 Zagros Traditional Settlements, Hooshmand Alizadeh & Salahedin Molanaei SWIFT code: BTEJIRTHSNJ The registration fee covers a CD (conference proceedings), abstract presentation, keynote speeches, 2 lunches, coffee and tea, and desserts. In order to get the full paper published in the Conference Proceedings, one registration for each article is required. Official languages English and Farsi/Persian Further details Scientific Committee Secretariat Dr. Hooshmand Alizadeh Department of Architecture and Planning Faculty of Engineering University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj, Iran Tel +98 871 6660076 Fax +98 871 6660076 halizadeh@uok.ac.irract as soon as the confer committee receives the abstract. Authors of accepted abstracts will be asked to submit full papers and the guidelines for full papers submission will be provided. All accepted papers will be published in the conference proceedi

The 19th International Conference on Water Jetting will be held in Nottingham, UK, from 15-17 October 2008. This, the original conference on this technology, is the premier event in Europe. The development of ultra high-pressure pumps in the early 1970s transformed the water jetting industry and led to the birth of this International Conference. Since the first conference, water jetting has grown into a mature industry with applications ranging from precision shaping of hard to machine materials, to environmentally friendly cleaning in many industries and the decommissioning of munitions and the removal of damaged flesh from severe wounds.

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