Search results for: language teaching competence

Authors: Preethy Mary Donald, Renjith George

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Oral tori are localized non-neoplastic protuberances of maxilla and mandible. Torus palatinus (TP) is found on the midline of the roof of mouth existing as single growth or in clusters. Torus mandibularis(TM) is located on the lingual aspect of the mandible commonly between canine and premolar region. Etiology of their presence was not clear and was found to be multifactorial. Their variations in relation to age, gender, ethnicity and also the characteristics of TP and TM have become the interest of multiple studies. The objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence of torus palatinus (TP) and torus mandibularis (TM) among patients who have visited outpatient department, Faculty of Dentistry, Melaka Manipal Medical College. 108 patients were examined for the presence of oral tori at the outpatient department, Faculty of Dentistry, Melaka-Manipal Medical College. Factors such as age, gender, ethnicity of the patients and size, shape, location of the oral tori were studied. For TP, Malays (62.96%) have been found to have the highest prevalence than Chinese (43.3%) and Indians (35.71%). For TM, Chinese (7.46%) had predominated compared to Malays (7.41%) and Indians (0%). There is no significant association between occurrence of TP and TM with age, gender and ethnicity. For Torus palatinus, the most common size was Grade 1(1-3mm), most common location was molar region, and the most common shape was spindle. For Torus mandibularis, the most frequent location was canine premolar region and exists in unilateral single or bilateral single fashion. The overall prevalence rates were 47.2% for TP and 6.48% for TM. However, there is no significant association between occurrence of TP and TM with age, gender and ethnicity. The results showed variations in clinical characteristics and support the findings that occurrence of tori is a dynamic phenomenon which is multifactorial owing to the environmental factors such as stress from occlusion and dietary habits. It could be due to the genetic make-up of the individual.

Keywords: torus palatinus, torus mandibularis, age, gender

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Authors: Asha Manoharan, Sooraj A. O, Anju K. G

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Enlarged vestibular aqueduct (EVA) refers to the presence of congenital sensorineural hearing loss with an enlarged vestibular aqueduct. The Audiological symptoms of EVA are fluctuating and progressive in nature and the diagnosis of EVAS can be confirmed only with radiological evaluation. Hence it is difficult to differentiate EVA from conditions like Meniere’s disease, semi-circular dehiscence, etc based on audiological findings alone. EVA in adults is easy to identify due to distinct vestibular symptoms. In children, EVA can remain either unidentified or misdiagnosed until the vestibular symptoms are evident. Motor developmental delay, especially the ones involving a change of body alignment, has been reported in the pediatric population with EVA. So, it should be made mandatory to recommend radiological evaluation in young children with fluctuating hearing loss reporting with motor developmental delay. This single case study of a baby with Enlarged Vestibular Aqueduct (EVA) primarily aimed to address the following: a) Challenges while diagnosing young patients with EVA and fluctuating hearing loss, b) Importance of radiological evaluation in audiological diagnosis in the pediatric population, c) Need for regular monitoring of hearing, hearing aid performance, and cochlear implant mapping closely for potential fluctuations in such populations, d) Importance of reviewing developmental, language milestones in very young children with fluctuating hearing loss.

Keywords: enlarged vestibular aqueduct (EVA), motor delay, radiological evaluation, fluctuating hearing loss, cochlear implant

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Authors: Mei-Hui Liu

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This study examines the effectiveness of a blended professional development program on preservice EFL (English as a foreign language) teachers’ learning to teach speech acts with the advent of Information and Communication Technology, researchers and scholars underscore the significance of integrating online and face-to-face learning opportunities in the teacher education field. Yet, a paucity of evidence has been documented to investigate the extent to which such a blended professional learning model may impact real classroom practice and student learning outcome. This yearlong project involves various stakeholders, including 25 preservice teachers, 5 English professionals, and 45 secondary school students. Multiple data sources collected are surveys, interviews, reflection journals, online discussion messages, artifacts, and discourse completion tests. Relying on the theoretical lenses of Community of Inquiry, data analysis depicts the nature and process of preservice teachers’ professional development in this blended learning community, which triggers and fosters both face-to-face and synchronous/asynchronous online interactions among preservice teachers and English professionals (i.e., university faculty and in-service teachers). Also included is the student learning outcome after preservice teachers put what they learn from the support community into instructional practice. Pedagogical implications and research suggestions are further provided based on the research findings and limitations.

Keywords: blended professional development, preservice EFL teachers, speech act instruction, student learning outcome

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Authors: Renukswamy Chikkamath, Vishvapalsinhji Ramsinh Parmar, Christoph Hewel, Markus Endres

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Given a patent document, identifying distinct semantic annotations is an interesting research aspect. Text annotation helps the patent practitioners such as examiners and patent attorneys to quickly identify the key arguments of any invention, successively providing a timely marking of a patent text. In the process of manual patent analysis, to attain better readability, recognising the semantic information by marking paragraphs is in practice. This semantic annotation process is laborious and time-consuming. To alleviate such a problem, we proposed a dataset to train machine learning algorithms to automate the highlighting process. The contributions of this work are: i) we developed a multi-class dataset of size 150k samples by traversing USPTO patents over a decade, ii) articulated statistics and distributions of data using imperative exploratory data analysis, iii) baseline Machine Learning models are developed to utilize the dataset to address patent paragraph highlighting task, and iv) future path to extend this work using Deep Learning and domain-specific pre-trained language models to develop a tool to highlight is provided. This work assists patent practitioners in highlighting semantic information automatically and aids in creating a sustainable and efficient patent analysis using the aptitude of machine learning.

Keywords: machine learning, patents, patent sentiment analysis, patent information retrieval

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Authors: Wei Chen Chang, Ming Yu Hsiao

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The commodity takes one kind of mark, the designer how to construction and interpretation the user how to use the process and effectively convey message in design education has always been an important issue. Cultural-creative design refers to signifying cultural heritage for product design. In terms of Peirce’s Semiotic Triangle: signifying elements-object-interpretant, signifying elements are the outcomes of design, the object is cultural heritage, and the interpretant is the positioning and description of product design. How to elaborate the positioning, design, and development of a product is a narrative issue of the interpretant, and how to shape the signifying elements of a product by modifying and adapting styles is a rhetoric matter. This study investigated the rhetoric of elements signifying products to develop a rhetoric model with cultural style. Figures of speech are a rhetoric method in narrative. By adapting figures of speech to the interpretant, this study developed the rhetoric context of cultural context by narrative means. In this two-phase study, phase I defines figures of speech and phase II analyzes existing cultural-creative products in terms of figures of speech to develop a rhetoric of style model. We expect it can reference for the future development of Cultural-creative design.

Keywords: cultural-creative design, cultural-creative products, figures of speech, Peirce’s semiotic triangle, rhetoric of style model

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Authors: Naouel Zoghlami

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Spoken-word recognition involves the simultaneous activation of potential word candidates which compete with each other for final correct recognition. In continuous speech, the activation-competition process gets more complicated due to speech reductions existing at word boundaries. Lexical processing is more difficult in L2 than in L1 because L2 listeners often lack phonetic, lexico-semantic, syntactic, and prosodic knowledge in the target language. In this study, we investigate the on-line lexical segmentation hypotheses that French listeners of L2 English form and then revise as subsequent perceptual evidence is revealed. Our purpose is to shed further light on the processes of L2 spoken-word recognition in context and better understand L2 listening difficulties through a comparison of skilled and unskilled reactions at the point where their working hypothesis is rejected. We use a variant of the gating experiment in which subjects transcribe an English sentence presented in increments of progressively greater duration. The spoken sentence was “And this amazing athlete has just broken another world record”, chosen mainly because it included common reductions and phonetic features in English, such as elision and assimilation. Our preliminary results show that there is an important difference in the manner in which proficient and less-proficient L2 listeners handle connected speech. Less-proficient listeners delay recognition of words as they wait for lexical and syntactic evidence to appear in the gates. Further statistical results are currently being undertaken.

Keywords: gating paradigm, spoken word recognition, online lexical segmentation, L2 listening

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Authors: Clement Ndoricimpa

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The expression of stance is highly expected in writing at tertiary level. Through a selection of linguistic and rhetorical elements, writers express commitment, critical distance and build a critically discerning reader in texts. Despite many studies on patterns of stance in students’ academic writing, little may not be known about how English as a Foreign Language students learns to build a critically discerning reader in their texts. Therefore, this study examines patterns of stance in essays written by students majoring in business administration at English-medium University in Burundi as part of classroom assignments. It draws on systemic functional linguistics to analyze qualitatively and quantitatively the data. The quantitative analysis is used to identify the differences in frequency of stance patterns in the essays. The results show a significant difference in the use of boosters by lower- and upper-level students. Lower-level students’ writing contains more boosters and many idiosyncratic sentence structures than do upper-level students’ writing, and upper-level students’ essays contain more hedging and few grammatical mistakes than do lower-level students’ essays. No significant difference in the use of attitude markers and concessive and contrastive expressions. Students in lower- and upper-level do not use attitude markers and disclaimer markers appropriately and accurately. These findings suggest that students should be taught the use of stance patterns in academic writing.

Keywords: academic writing, metadiscourse, stance, student corpora

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Authors: Emmanuel Abayomi Rotimi

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Context: Rabbits production plays important role in increasing animal protein supply in Nigeria. Rabbit production provides a cheap, affordable, and healthy source of meat. The growth of animals involves an increase in body weight, which can change the conformation of various parts of the body. Live weight and linear measurements are indicators of growth rate in rabbits and other farm animals. Aims: This study aimed to define the body dimensions of New Zealand rabbits and also to investigate the morphometric traits variables that contribute to body conformation by the use of principal component analysis (PCA). Methods: Data were obtained from 80 New Zealand rabbits (40 bucks and 40 does) raised in Livestock Teaching and Research Farm, Federal University Dutsinma. Data were taken on body weight (BWT), body length (BL), ear length (EL), tail length (TL), heart girth (HG) and abdominal circumference (AC). Data collected were subjected to multivariate analysis using SPSS 20.0 statistical package. Key results: The descriptive statistics showed that the mean BWT, BL, EL, TL, HG, and AC were 0.91kg, 27.34cm, 10.24cm, 8.35cm, 19.55cm and 21.30cm respectively. Sex showed significant (P<0.05) effect on all the variables examined, with higher values recorded for does. The phenotypic correlation coefficient values (r) between the morphometric traits were all positive and ranged from r = 0.406 (between EL and BL) to r = 0.909 (between AC and HG). HG is the most correlated with BWT (r = 0.786). The principal component analysis with variance maximizing orthogonal rotation was used to extract the components. Two principal components (PCs) from the factor analysis of morphometric traits explained about 80.42% of the total variance. PC1 accounted for 64.46% while PC2 accounted for 15.97% of the total variances. Three variables, representing body conformation, loaded highest in PC1. PC1 had the highest contribution (64.46%) to the total variance, and it is regarded as body conformation traits. Conclusions: This component could be used as selection criteria for improving body weight of rabbits.

Keywords: conformation, multicollinearity, multivariate, rabbits and principal component analysis

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Authors: Mirela-Gabriela Bratu

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The main objective of this study is to highlight the way in which emotions are constructed discursively in the French written press, more particularly in the titles of informative articles. To achieve this objective, we will begin the study with the theoretical part, which aims to capture the characteristics of journalistic discourse, to which we will add clues of emotions that we will identify in the titles of the articles. The approach is based on the empirical results from the analysis of the articles published on the earthquake that took place on August 24, 2016, in Italy, as described by two French national daily newspapers: Le Monde and Le Point. The corpus submitted to the analysis contains thirty-seven titles, published between August 24, 2016, and August 24, 2017. If the textual content of the speech offers information respecting the grammatical standards and following the presentation conventions, the choice of words can touch the reader, so the journalist must add other means than mastering of the language to create emotion. This study aims to highlight the strategies, such as rhetorical figures, the tenses, or factual data, used by journalists to create emotions for the readers. We also try, thanks to the study of the articles which were published for several days relating to the same event, to emphasize whether we can speak or not of the dissipation of emotion and the catastrophic side as the event fades away in time. The theoretical framework is offered by works on rhetorical strategies (Perelman, 1992; Amossi, 2000; Charaudeau, 2000) and on the study of emotions (Plantin, 1997, 1998, 2004; Tetu, 2004).

Keywords: disaster, earthquake, emotion, feeling

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Authors: Hossein Ghaedamini, Salman Farahbakhsh, Alireza Amirbeigi, Zahra Saghafi, Salman Daneshi, Alireza Ghaedamini

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Background: Assessing the challenges of clinical education of medical students is one of the most important and sensitive parts of medical education. The aim of this study was to investigate the views and experiences of Kerman medical students on the factors that facilitate and inhibit the quality of clinical education. Materials and Methods: This research was qualitative and used a phenomenological approach. The study population included medical interns of Kerman University of Medical Sciences in 1400. The method of data collection was in-depth interviews with participants. Data were encoded and analyzed by Claizey stepwise model. Results: First, about 540 primary codes were extracted in the form of two main themes (facilitators and inhibitors) and 10 sub-themes including providing motivational models and creating interest in interns, high scientific level of professors and the appropriate quality of their teaching, the use of technology in the clinical education process, delegating authority and freedom of action and more responsibilities to interns, inappropriate treatment of some officials, professors, assistants and department staff with their interns, inadequate educational programming, lack of necessary cooperation and providing inappropriate treatment by clinical training experts for interns, inadequate evaluation method in clinical training for interns, poor quality mornings, the unefficiency of grand rounds, the inappropriate way of evaluating clinical training for interns, the lack of suitable facilities and conditions with the position of a medical intern, and the hardwork of some departments were categorized. Conclusion: Clinical education is always mixed with special principles and subtleties, and special attention to facilitators and inhibitors in this process has an important role in improving its quality.

Keywords: clinical education, medical students, qualitative study, education

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Authors: Kwang Yeon Kim

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This paper will explore the directly proportional relationship between the influence of Hispanophone media in U.S. markets and Hispanic population growth. Though this growth has origins across south and central America, in U.S. media markets Mexican and Cuban immigrants, have traditionally been considered the most influential. Having endured significant historical discrimination, disparagement, and ethnic framing from conventional Anglophone media, such groups have sought to form their own identities as media consuming and producing Americans of Latin American origin. Although immigrants to the U.S. have traditionally faced obstacles in access to education, children of Mexican-Americans (Chicanos) and Cuban-Americans have made significant progress in overcoming these obstacles, partly explaining their media dominance. This is particularly true in the case of Cuban-Americans, for whom such media presence is not predicted by share of population. By conducting comparative studies of Chicano media and Cuban-Americans media, common ground was found in strategies of reliance on media-driven identity formation. In contrast to the mainstream media portrayal of Latino/as with limiting, negative stereotypes, Spanish-language media’s goal is to form the identity of being Latino for those living in the United States. Providing both news from countries of origin and local news within the United States, Chicano and Cuban-American media performs rituals of recollection while rooting such populations in more proximate media paradigms.

Keywords: Chicano identity, Cuban-Americans, Hispanophone media, Latino/a community

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Authors: Bartelsen-Raemy Annabelle, Gerber Andrea

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Objectives: The adoption of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has the effect that higher education institutions in Switzerland are called upon to promote inclusive university education. In this context, our School of Social Work aims to provide fair participation and the removal of barriers in our study programmes at bachelor’s and master’s levels. In 2015 we developed a concept of reasonable adjustments for students with disabilities and chronic illness as an instrument to provide equal opportunities for those students. We reviewed the implementation of this concept as part of our quality management process. Using a qualitative research design, we explored how affected students and lecturers experience the processes and measures taken and which barriers they still perceive. Methods: We captured subjective perspectives and experience of measures by conducting 15 problem-centred interviews with affected students and three experimental focus groups with lecturers. The data was processed using structured qualitative content analysis and summarised as key categories. Results: All respondents evaluated the concept of reasonable adjustment very positively and emphasised its importance for equal opportunities. Our analysis revealed differences in the usage and perception of both groups and showed that the students interviewed were a heterogeneous group with different needs. Overall, the students described the adjustments, in particular in relation to examinations and other assignments, as a great relief. The lecturers expressed high standards for their own teaching and supervision of students and, at the same time, wished for more support from the university. However, despite the positive evaluation by the lecturers, the limits of reasonable adjustment became evident. It is necessary to consider the limits of reasonable adjustments in terms of professional skills. Conclusion: Reasonable adjustments should, therefore, be seen as an element of an inclusive university culture that must be complemented by further measures. Taking this into account, we have planned further research as a basis for the development of a diversity and inclusion policy.

Keywords: opportunities and limits, reasonable adjustment, social work education, students with disabilities

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Authors: Ahmad Mohsin, Syda Fatima, Falak Nawaz, Aman Ullah Khan

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Selection of an appropriate architectural style is vital to the success of target web service under development. The nature of architecture design and selection for service-oriented computing applications is quite different as compared to traditional software. Web Services have complex and rigorous architectural styles to choose. Due to this, selection for accurate architectural style for web services development has become a more complex decision to be made by architects. Architectural style selection is a multi-criteria decision and demands lots of experience in service oriented computing. Decision support systems are good solutions to simplify the selection process of a particular architectural style. Our research suggests a new approach using DSS for selection of architectural styles while developing a web service to cater FRs and NFRs. Our proposed DSS helps architects to select right web service architectural pattern according to the domain and non-functional requirements. In this paper, a rule base DSS has been developed using CLIPS (C Language Integrated Production System) to support decisions using multi-criteria requirements. This DSS takes architectural characteristics, domain requirements and software architect preferences for NFRs as input for different architectural styles in use today in service-oriented computing. Weighted sum model has been applied to prioritize quality attributes and domain requirements. Scores are calculated using multiple criterions to choose the final architecture style.

Keywords: software architecture, web-service, rule-based, DSS, multi-criteria requirements, quality attributes

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Authors: Archana Surendran, Kalpana C. A.

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Vitamin D insufficiency is highly prevalent in women. Vitamin D bioavailability could be reduced in obesity due to increased sequestration by white adipose tissue. Increased sun exposure due to more frequent outdoor physical activity as well as a diet rich in vitamin D could be the common cause of both higher levels of 25(OH)D and a more favorable lipid profile. The study was conducted with the aim to assess the obesity status among selected working women in Coimbatore, determine their lifestyle and physical activity pattern, study their dietary intake, estimate the vitamin D and lipid profile of selected women and associate the relationship between Vitamin D and obesity among the selected women. A total of 100 working women (non pregnant, non lactating) working in IT sector, hotels and teaching staff were selected for the study. Anthropometric measurements and dietary recall were conducted for all. The women were further categorized as obese and non-obese based on their BMI. Fifteen obese and 15 non-obese women were selected and their fasting blood glucose level, serum Vitamin D and lipid profile were measured. Association between serum vitamin D, lipid profile, anthropometric measurements, food intake and sun exposure was correlated. Fifty six percent of women in the age group between 25-39 years and 44 percent of women in the age group between 40-45 years were obese. Waist and hip circumference of women in the age group between 40-45 years (89.7 and 107.4 cm) were higher than that of obese women in the age group between 25-39 years (88.6 and 102.8 cm). There were no women with sufficient vitamin D levels. In the age group between 40-45 years (obese women), serum Vitamin D was inversely proportional to waist-hip ratio and LDL cholesterol. There was an inverse relationship between body fat percentage and Total cholesterol with serum vitamin D among the women of the age group between 25-39 years. Consumption of milk and milk products were low among women. Intake of calcium was deficit among the women in both the age groups and showed a negative correlation. Sun exposure was less for all the women. Findings from the study revealed that obese women with a higher consumption of fat and less intake of calcium-rich foods have low serum Vitamin D levels than the non-obese women. Thus, it can be concluded that there is an association between Vitamin D status and obesity among adult women.

Keywords: obesity, sun exposure, vitamin D, women

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Authors: Julian David Rios Acuna

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This paper seeks to argue that the phenomenon of ‘paramilitarism’ in Colombia exhibits the role of violence as constitutive of the political process of state formation in the country. In order to do this, it takes as its point of departure a landmark moment in the long history of private armies known as the ‘paramilitary’ in Colombia. In 2001, paramilitary commanders, politicians, and members of the military and other branches of state power singed what is known as the ‘Pact of Ralito.’ In this pact, the paramilitary appropriated constitutional and legal language. The paper argues that this appropriation shows that the paramilitary and the state express the same claim to sovereign power and therefore have the same foundation. More precisely, paramilitary power shows itself to base its power on the same foundation as the legal order, namely, extreme forms of violence where death is generative of power. In this sense, the paper shows how, by sharing its foundation, Colombian paramilitarism exhibits that state power in Colombia can be characterized as necro-power as Achille Mbembe understands it. The paper argues that paramilitarism shows state power as necro-power by constituting itself as a symptom understood, following Zizek, as that which both shows and overthrows its own foundation. In this way, paramilitarism shows the foundation of the state, thereby reconfiguring this very state. This reconfiguration, explicitly based on necro-power, the paper concludes, transforms the state into a form more appropriate to the political demands of neo-liberalism. By exhibiting its foundation in necro-power through paramilitarism, the Colombian State turns from a liberal into a (neo)liberal democracy.

Keywords: necro-power, necropolitics, paramilitarism in Colombia, state formation, state power, sovereign power

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Authors: Smiso Buthelezi, Petros Dlamini, Dennis Ocholla

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The study assesses the University of Zululand's practices for documenting, sharing, and accessing indigenous knowledge. Two research objectives guided it: to determine how indigenous knowledge (IK) is developed at the University of Zululand and how indigenous knowledge (IK) is documented at the University of Zululand. The study adopted both interpretive and positivist research paradigms. Ultimately, qualitative and quantitative research methods were used. The qualitative research approach collected data from academic and non-academic staff members. Interviews were conducted with 18 academic staff members and 5 with support staff members. The quantitative research approach was used to collect data from indigenous knowledge (IK) theses and dissertations from the University of Zululand Institutional Repository between 2009-2019. The study results revealed that many departments across the University of Zululand were involved in creating indigenous knowledge (IK)-related content. The department of African Languages was noted to be more involved in creating IK-related content. Moreover, the documentation of the content related to indigenous knowledge (IK) at the University of Zululand is done frequently but is not readily known. It was found that the creation and documentation of indigenous knowledge by different departments faced several challenges. The common challenges are a lack of interest among indigenous knowledge (IK) owners in sharing their knowledge, the local language as a barrier, and a shortage of proper tools for recording and capturing indigenous knowledge (IK). One of the study recommendations is the need for an indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) policy to be in place at the University of Zululand.

Keywords: knowledge creation, SECI model, information and communication technology., indigenous knowledge

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Authors: Kwaku Damoah

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This paper presents a methodology and software application (App) designed to empower users in accessing, retrieving, and comparatively exploring data within the hierarchical network framework of the Government Finance Statistics (GFS) system. It explores the ease of navigating the GFS system and identifies the gaps filled by the new methodology and App. The GFS, embodies a complex Hierarchical Network Classification (HNC) structure, encapsulating institutional units, revenues, expenses, assets, liabilities, and economic activities. Navigating this structure demands specialized knowledge, experience, and skill, posing a significant challenge for effective analytics and fiscal policy decision-making. Many professionals encounter difficulties deciphering these classifications, hindering confident utilization of the system. This accessibility barrier obstructs a vast number of professionals, students, policymakers, and the public from leveraging the abundant data and information within the GFS. Leveraging R programming language, Data Science Analytics and Machine Learning, an efficient methodology enabling users to access, navigate, and conduct exploratory comparisons was developed. The machine learning Fiscal Analytics App (FLOWZZ) democratizes access to advanced analytics through its user-friendly interface, breaking down expertise barriers.

Keywords: data science, data wrangling, drilldown analytics, government finance statistics, hierarchical network classification, machine learning, web application.

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Authors: Kibreab Alene Fenite

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The purpose of this study is to investigate the implementation and challenges of different assessment methods for physical education class in some selected preparatory schools of kirkos sub city. The participants in this study are teachers, students, department heads and school principals from 4 selected schools. Of the total 8 schools offering in kirkos sub city 4 schools (Dandi Boru, Abiyot Kirse, Assay, and Adey Ababa) are selected by using simple random sampling techniques and from these schools all (100%) of teachers, 100% of department heads and school principals are taken as a sample as their number is manageable. From the total 2520 students, 252 (10%) of students are selected using simple random sampling. Accordingly, 13 teachers, 252 students, 4 department heads and 4 school principals are taken as a sample from the 4 selected schools purposefully. As a method of data gathering tools; questionnaire and interview are employed. To analyze the collected data, both quantitative and qualitative methods are used. The result of the study revealed that assessment in physical education does not implement properly: lack of sufficient materials, inadequate time allotment, large class size, and lack of collaboration and working together of teachers towards assessing the performance of students, absence of guidelines to assess the physical education subject, no different assessment method that is implementing on students with disabilities in line with their special need are found as major challenges in implementing the current assessment method of physical education. To overcome these problems the following recommendations have been forwarded. These are: the necessary facilities and equipment should be available; In order to make reliable, accurate, objective and relevant assessment, teachers of physical education should be familiarized with different assessment techniques; Physical education assessment guidelines should be prepared, and guidelines should include different types of assessment methods; qualified teachers should be employed, and different teaching room must be build.

Keywords: assessment, challenges, equipment, guidelines, implementation, performance

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Authors: Szu-Kai Hsu, Po-Ching Lin

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As more and more multi-core processors emerge, traditional sequential programming paradigm no longer suffice. Yet only few modern dynamic programming languages can leverage such advantage. Ruby, for example, despite its wide adoption, only includes threads as a simple parallel primitive. The global virtual machine lock of official Ruby runtime makes it impossible to exploit full parallelism. Though various alternative Ruby implementations do eliminate the global virtual machine lock, they only provide developers dated locking mechanism for data synchronization. However, traditional locking mechanism error-prone by nature. Software Transactional Memory is one of the promising alternatives among others. This paper introduces a new virtual machine: GobiesVM to provide a native software transactional memory based solution for dynamic programming languages to exploit parallelism. We also proposed a simplified variation of Transactional Locking II algorithm. The empirical results of our experiments show that support of STM at virtual machine level enables developers to write straightforward code without compromising parallelism or sacrificing thread safety. Existing source code only requires minimal or even none modi cation, which allows developers to easily switch their legacy codebase to a parallel environment. The performance evaluations of GobiesVM also indicate the difference between sequential and parallel execution is significant.

Keywords: global interpreter lock, ruby, software transactional memory, virtual machine

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Authors: Pooja Booluck

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This project seeks to translate a chapter in Le Silence des Chagos by Shenaz Patel a Mauritian author whose work has never been translated before. The chapter discusses the attempt of the protagonist to return to her home country Diego Garcia after her deportation. The English translation will offer an historical account to the target audience of the deportation of Chagossians to Mauritius during the 1970s. The target audience comprises of English-speaking translation scholars translation students and African literature scholars. In light of making the cultural elements of Mauritian culture accessible the translation will maintain the cultural items such as food and oral discourses in Creole so as to preserve the authenticity of the source culture. In order to better comprehend the cultural elements mentioned the target reader will be provided with detailed footnotes explaining the cultural and historical references. This translation will also address the importance of folkloric songs in Mauritius and its intergenerational function in Mauritian communities which will also remain in Creole. While such an approach will help to preserve the meaning of the source text the borrowing technique and the foreignizing method will be employed which will in turn help the reader in becoming more familiar with the Mauritian community. Translating a text from French to English while maintaining certain words or discourses in a minority language such as Creole bears certain challenges: How does the translator ensure the comprehensibility of the reader? Are there any translation losses? What are the choices of the translator?

Keywords: Chagos archipelagos in Exile, English translation, Le Silence des Chagos, Mauritian culture and history

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Authors: Javeria Khurshid

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The aim of this study is to bring forth the interpretation that Agha Shahid Ali in his verses exhibits. The study will focus on the conflict and chaos in his verses, reflecting the sense of identity attached to Kashmir. His verse advertently depicts the political turmoil and social dissent in the 'un-silent' valley, and ultimately, it expresses the chaos, anguish, and suffering, a sense of longing and belonging to this conflicted state of 'being' as well as 'mind.' Agha Shahid Ali, Kashmiri- American poet who writes of Kashmiri tragedies that continue to remain unarticulated and unheard to the major parts of world, articulates the narrative that showcases the conflicted self of Kashmiris in general and Ali’s in particular. The focus of the paper will be his poetry that debunks the claims of civility and how Kashmiri identity is kept either maligned or obscured in the major narratives that arise from the mainstream writers. However, Ali’s verses are substantially broad and clear, and very brilliantly, he rewrites Kashmir in his avid and novel voice, his verses embracing the Kashmiri self, effectively anew in English language. The paper will clearly indicate how Ali remains true to his name, 'shaheed' and 'shahid,' both a martyr and witness. Ali’s fate has been intricately entangled with Kashmir, even after his untimely death. He has fully and beautifully immersed himself in the surreal world of the conflict prevalent in the Valley, and this paper will examine the grotesque and gory history that has been spanning over the years in Kashmir with never ending cycle of conflict. The originality and innovation of his poetry surfaces from the anarchy of Kashmir, spanning between its culture, historical context, the art of memory and imagery.

Keywords: identity, self, turmoil, Kashmir

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Authors: Ruth Nsibirano

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Online mode of delivery in higher institutions of learning, popularly known in some circles as e-Learning or distance education is a new phenomenon that is steadily taking root in African universities but specifically at Makerere University. For slightly over a decade, the Department of Open and Distance Learning has been offering the first generation mode of distance education. In this, learning and teaching experiences were based on the use of hard copy materials circulated through postal services in a rather correspondence mode. There were more challenges to this including high dropout rates, limited support to the learners and sustainability issues. Fortunately, the Department was supported by the Norwegian Government through a NORHED grant to “leapfrog” to the fifth generation of distance education that makes more use of educational technologies and tools. The capacity of faculty staff was gradually enhanced through a series of training to handle the upgraded structure of fifth generation distance education. The trained staff was then tasked to develop modules befitting an online delivery mode, for use on the program. This paper will present attitudes, experiences of the course writers with a view of sharing the good practices that enabled them leap from e-faculty trainees to distinct online course writers. This perspective will hopefully serve as building blocks to enhance the capacity of other upcoming distance education programs in low capacity universities and also promote the uptake of e-Education on the continent and beyond. Methodologically the findings were collected through individual interviews with the 30 course writers. In addition, semi structured questionnaires were designed to collect data on the profile, challenges and lessons from the writers. Findings show that the attitudes of course writers on project supported activities are so much tagged to the returns from their committed efforts. In conclusion, therefore, it is strategically useful to assess and selectively choose which individual to nominate for involvement at the initial stages.

Keywords: distance education, online course content, staff attitudes, best practices in online learning

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Authors: Chih-Wen Fan

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Backgrounds/ Research goals : School improvement requires change leadership, which often means discomfort. Principals are the key people that determine the effectiveness of schools. In an era of organization’s pursuit of speed and effectiveness, school administration has to be accountable and innovative. Effective principals work to improve achievement by focusing on the administrative and teaching quality of improvement. However, there is a lack of literature addressing the relevant case studies on school change leadership. This article explores how principals can use change leadership to drive school change. It analyze the driving factors of principal changes in the case school, the beliefs of change leadership, specific methods, and what impact they have. Methods: This study applies the case study research method to the selected primary school located in an urban area for case study, which has achieved excellent performance after reform and innovation. The researchers selected an older primary school located in an urban area that was transformed into a high-performance primary school after changes were enacted by the principal. The selected case was recommended by three supervisors of the Education Department. The case school underwent leadership change by the new principal during his term, and won an award from the Ministry of Education. Total of 8 teachers are interviewed. The data encoding includes interviews and documents. Expected results/ conclusions: The conclusions of the study are, as follows: (1) The influence for Principal Lin's change leadership is from internal and external environmental development and change pressures. (2) The principal's belief in change leadership is to recognize the sense of crisis, and to create a climate of change and demand for change. (3) The principal's specific actions are intended to identify key members, resolve resistance, use innovative thinking, and promote organizational learning. (4) Principal Lin's change leadership can enhance the professional functions of all employees through appropriate authorization. (5) The effectiveness of change leadership lies in teachers' participation in decision-making; the school's reputation has been enhanced through featured courses.

Keywords: change leadership, empowerment, crisis awareness, case study

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Authors: Ghazi Abdul Rehman Qasmi

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Islam is the preacher and torch-bearer of unity and solidarity. All the followers of Islam are advised to be united. Islam strongly condemns those elements which disunite the unity of Muslim Ummah. Like pearls in a rosary, Islam has united the Muslims from all over the world in the wreath of unity and forbade the Muslims to avoid separation and to be disintegrated. The aspect of unity is prominent in all divine injunctions and about worship. By offering five times obligatory congregational prayers, passion of mutual love and affection is increased and on the auspicious days like Friday, Eid-ul-fiter and Eid-ul-azha, majority of the Muslims come together at central places to offer these congregational prayers. Thus unity and harmony among the Muslims can be seen. Similarly the Muslim pilgrims from all over the world eliminate all kind of worldly discrimination to perform many rituals of pilgrimage while wearing white color cloth as a dress. Pilgrimage is a demonstration of Islamic strength. When the Muslims from all over the world perform the same activities together and they offer their prayers under the leadership of one leader (IMAM). Muslims come together on the occasion of pilgrimage to perform Tawaf (seven circuits,first three circuits at a hurried pace(Rammal) and followed by four times, more closely, at a leisurely pace, round the Holy Kaabah to perform circumambulation known as Tawaf in religious terminology,Saee(running or walking briskly seven times between two small hills Safa&Marwa), Ramy-al-jamarat (throwing pebbles at the stone pillars, symbolizing the devil). In this way dignity and sublimity of Islam is increased and unity and integrity of Muslim Ummah is promoted also. By studying the life history of Hazrat Muhammad (P.B.U.H) we come to know that our Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H) has put emphasis on unity and integrity. We have to follow the Islamic teachings to create awareness among the members of Muslim Ummah. In the light of the Holy Quran and Sunnah, we have to utilize all the sources and potential for this noble cause.

Keywords: unity, Ummah, sources, Islamic teaching

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Authors: Maryam Zahmatkesh

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Middle managers form a significant occupational category in organisations. They undertake a vital role, as they sit between the operational and strategic roles. Traditionally they were acting as diplomat administrators, and were only in power to meet the demands of professionals. Following the introduction of internal market, in line with the principles of New Public Management, middle managers have been considered as change agents. More recently, in the debates of middle managers, there is emphasis on entrepreneurialism and enacting strategic role. It was assumed that granting autonomy to the local organisations and the inception of semi-autonomous hospitals (Foundation Trusts in England and Board of Trustees in Iran) would give managers more autonomy to act proactively and innovatively. This thesis explores the hospital middle managers’ perception of and responses to public management reforms (in particular, hospital autonomy) in England and Iran. In order to meet the aims of the thesis, research was undertaken within the interpretative paradigm, in line with social constructivism. Data were collected from interviews with forty-five middle managers, observational fieldwork and documentary analysis across four teaching university hospitals in England and Iran. The findings show the different ways middle managers’ autonomy is constrained in the two countries. In England, middle managers have financial and human recourses, but their autonomy is constrained by government policy and targets. In Iran, middle managers are less constrained by government policy and targets, but they do not have financial and human resources to exercise autonomy. Unbalanced autonomy causes tension and frustration for middle managers. According to neo-institutional theory, organisations are deeply embedded within social, political, economic and normative settings that exert isomorphic and internal population-level pressures to conform to existing and established modes of operation. Health systems which are seeking to devolve autonomy to middle managers must appreciate the multidimensional nature of the autonomy, as well as the wider environment that organisations are embedded, if they are about to improve the performance of managers and their organisations.

Keywords: autonomy, healthcare organisations, middle managers, new public management

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Authors: Saule Shazhanbayeva, Denise van der Merwe

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Study hypothesis: Nazarbayev Intellectual School of Kyzylorda’s Biology teachers can use STEM-integrated learning to improve students' problem-solving ability and responsibility as global citizens. The significance of this study is to indicate how the use of STEM integrative learning during Biology lessons could contribute to forming globally-minded students who are responsible community members. For the purposes of this study, worldview is defined as a view that is broader than the country of Kazakhstan, allowing students to see the significance of their scientific contributions to the world as global citizens. The context of worldview specifically indicates that most students have never traveled outside of their city or region within Kazakhstan. In order to broaden student understanding, it is imperative that students are exposed to different world views and contrasting ideas within the educational setting of Biology as the science being used for the research. This exposure promulgates students understanding of the significance they have as global citizens alongside the obligations which would rest on them as scientifically minded global citizens. Integrative learning should be Biological Science - with Technology and engineering in the form of problem-solving, and Mathematics to allow improved problem-solving skills to develop within the students of Nazarbayev Intellectual School (NIS) of Kyzylorda. The school's vision is to allow students to realise their role as global citizens and become responsible community members. STEM allows integrations by combining four subject skills to solve topical problems designed by educators. The methods used are based on qualitative analysis: for students’ performance during a problem-solution scenario; and Biology teacher interviews to ascertain their understanding of STEM implementation and willingness to integrate it into current lessons. The research indicated that NIS is ready for a shift into STEM lessons to promote globally responsible students. The only additional need is for proper STEM integrative lesson method training for teachers.

Keywords: global citizen, STEM, Biology, high-school

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Authors: Ivannys Cappas Perez

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Worldwide the population of older adults is increasing. The World Health Organization (2022) estimates that it will double by 2050. Informal caregivers of older adults may experience contradictory impulses, overload, and multiple losses before the death of the older adult in their care. The general purpose of research was to identify and describe the affective ambivalence in informal caregivers of older adults in the face of loss and grief processes. The dimensions under study were affective ambivalence, informal caregivers of older adults, loss processes and the grieving process. A qualitative approach methodology and an empirical phenomenological design were used through Clark Moustakas' Multiangulation Model to describe, categorize and interpret, intentionality, temporality and intersubjectivity a problem never studied. Among the findings was the feminization of the role. Affective ambivalence is manifested through emotions, feelings, thoughts and behavior, including non-verbal language. The assumption of the role is highly influenced by an affective and moral factor, where a minimum of 35 hours per week are invested in without family and financial support. It was found that the participants experience objective and subjective overload. Furthermore, because of the role, they experienced loss of life, loss of aspects of themselves, loss of objects, emotional losses, and losses linked to development. On the other hand, up to two types of grief were found simultaneously. Finally, the presence of affective ambivalence was found with the same intensity 13 years after the loss of the older adult under care.

Keywords: affective ambivalence, informal caregivers of older adults, loss processes, grief processes

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Authors: Xiao Wen Xu

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There exists a challenge of accommodating/integrating people at risk and those from various backgrounds in urban areas. The success of interdependence as a tool for survival largely rests on the mutually beneficial relationships amongst individuals within a given society. One approach to meeting this challenge has been written by Ivan Illich in his book, Tools for Conviviality, where he defines 'conviviality' as interactions that help individuals. With the goal of helping the community and applying conviviality as a principle to actors in both natural and social realms of Moss Park in Toronto, the proposal involves redesigning the park and buildings as a series of different health care, extended learning, employment support, armoury, and recreation facilities that integrate the exterior landscape as treatment, teaching, military, and recreation areas; in other words, the proposal links services with access to park space. While buildings are traditionally known to physically provide shelter, parks embody shelter and act as service, as people often find comfort and relief from being in nature, and Moss Park, in particular, is home to many people at risk. This landscape is not only an important space for the homeless community but also the rest of the neighborhood. The thesis proposes that the federal government rebuilds the current armoury, as it is an obsolete building while acknowledging the extensive future developments proposed by developers and its impact on public space. The neighbourhood is an underserved area, and the new design develops not just a new armoury, but also a complex of interrelated services, which are completely integrated into the park. The armoury is redesigned as an integral component of the community that not only serves as training facilities for reservists but also serves as an emergency shelter in sub-zero temperatures for the homeless community. This paper proposes a new design for Moss Park through examining how 'park buildings', interconnected buildings and parks, can foster empowering relationships that create a supportive public realm.

Keywords: conviviality, natural, social, Ivan Illich

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Authors: Giovana Perini-Loureiro

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The purpose of this research was to identify whether the nominalizations terminating in -TION in the academic discourse of native English speakers contain the arguments required by their input verbs. In the perspective of functional linguistics, ideational metaphors, with nominalization as their most pervasive realization, are lexically dense, and therefore frequent in formal texts. Ideational metaphors allow the academic genre to instantiate objectification, de-personalization, and the ability to construct a chain of arguments. The valence of those nouns present in nominalizations tends to maintain the same elements of the valence from its original verbs, but these arguments are not always expressed. The initial hypothesis was that these arguments would also be present alongside the nominalizations, through anaphora or cataphora. In this study, a qualitative analysis of the occurrences of the five more frequent nominalized terminations in -TION in academic texts was accomplished, and thus a verification of the occurrences of the arguments required by the original verbs. The assembling of the concordance lines was done through COCA (Corpus of Contemporary American English). After identifying the five most frequent nominalizations (attention, action, participation, instruction, intervention), the concordance lines were selected at random to be analyzed, assuring the representativeness and reliability of the sample. It was possible to verify, in all the analyzed instances, the presence of arguments. In most instances, the arguments were not expressed, but recoverable, either in the context or in the shared knowledge among the interactants. It was concluded that the realizations of the arguments which were not expressed alongside the nominalizations are part of a continuum, starting from the immediate context with anaphora and cataphora; up to a knowledge shared outside the text, such as specific area knowledge. The study also has implications for the teaching of academic writing, especially with regards to the impact of nominalizations on the thematic and informational flow of the text. Grammatical metaphors are essential to academic writing, hence acknowledging the occurrence of its arguments is paramount to achieve linguistic awareness and the writing prestige required by the academy.

Keywords: corpus, functional linguistics, grammatical metaphors, nominalizations, academic English

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Authors: Durga Prasad Neupane

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This study investigates the impacts of homestay tourism on the traditional lifestyle and culture of the indigenous Tharu people in Nepal. It explores how this form of tourism has influenced the lives of Tharu individuals and their community as a whole. The study delves into the effects of tourism on various aspects, including language, socio-economic development, and cultural promotion and revival. Employing a qualitative approach and a case study design, the study gathers in-depth and comprehensive data on the impacts of homestay tourism on the Amaltari Tharu community. Building rapport with respondents, including homestay management committees, Tharu homestay owners, and non-Tharu residents, is achieved through various channels like personal interactions, phone conversations, and repeated visits. The research further combines document analysis with in-depth interviews to glean diverse perspectives and insights. The study's findings reveal that while homestay tourism presents challenges, it also holds significant potential for promoting and revitalizing the Tharu culture. Tourism has not only fostered the flourishing of Tharu traditions but has also contributed to improved educational opportunities within the community. However, the study recognizes the influence of globalization in driving changes to Tharu customs and rituals, potentially leading to a new form of cultural colonization. In this context, homestay tourism emerges as a crucial tool for preserving and revitalizing the unique ethnic identity and traditions of the Amaltari Tharu community.

Keywords: homestay, tourism, Tharu culture, cultural revival, linguistic variations

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