Search results for: natural processing language

Authors: Abdel-Tawab H. Mossa

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Synthetic pesticides are widely used in large-scale worldwide for control pests in agriculture and public health sectors in both developed and developing countries. Although the positive role of pesticides, they have many adverse toxic effects on humans, animals, and the ecosystem. Therefore, in the last few years, scientists have been searching for new active compounds from natural resources as an alternative to synthetic pesticides. Currently, many commercial natural pesticides are available commercially worldwide. These products are recommended for uses in organic farmers and considered as safe pesticides. This paper focuses on the adverse effects of natural pesticides on mammals. Available commercial pesticides in the market contain essential oils (e.g. pepper, cinnamon, and garlic), plant extracts, microorganism (e.g. bacteria, fungi or their toxin), mineral oils and some active compounds from natural recourses e.g. spinosad, neem, pyrethrum, rotenone, abamectin and other active compounds from essential oils (EOs). Some EOs components, e.g., thujone, pulegone, and thymol have high acute toxicity (LD50) is 87.5, 150 and 980 mg/kg. B.wt on mice, respectively. Natural pesticides such as spinosad, pyrethrum, neem, abamectin, and others have toxicological effects to mammals and ecosystem. These compounds were found to cause hematotoxicity, hepato-renal toxicity, biochemical alteration, reproductive toxicity, genotoxicity, and mutagenicity. It caused adverse effects on the ecosystem. Therefore, natural pesticides in general not safe and have high acute toxicity and can induce adverse effects at long-term exposure.

Keywords: natural pesticides, toxicity, safety, genotoxicity, ecosystem, biochemical

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Authors: Dace Aleksandraviča

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The paper presents a theoretical exploration of the emerging field of 21st-century ecolinguistics, which examines the multi-faceted relationship between language, ecology, and identity in our rapidly changing global landscape. In an era characterized by unprecedented linguistic and cultural hybridity, understanding the interplay between language and environment is paramount. This paper delves into the concept of hybrid identities, examining how individuals negotiate their linguistic and cultural affiliations within diverse ecological contexts based on relevant prior contributions in the field. Drawing upon interdisciplinary perspectives from linguistics, environmental studies, and cultural studies, the research investigates the ways in which language shapes and is shaped by environmental realities. The abstract underscores the importance of ecolinguistic approaches in fostering environmental stewardship and promoting sustainable practices. By acknowledging the intrinsic link between language, culture, and ecology, it becomes possible to cultivate a deeper appreciation for linguistic diversity and empower individuals to navigate their hybrid identities in a rapidly changing world. In line with that, the paper hopes to contribute to the growing body of literature on ecolinguistics and offer insights into how language can serve as a tool for both environmental conservation and cultural revitalization.

Keywords: ecolinguistics, hybrid identities, language, globalization

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Authors: Aran Hakki, Corina Cirstea, Julian Rathke

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Formal methods are yet to be utilized in mainstream software development due to issues in scaling and implementation costs. This work is about developing a scalable, simplified, pragmatic, formal software development method with strong correctness properties and guarantees that are easy prove. The method aims to be easy to learn, use and apply without extensive training and experience in formal methods. Petra is proposed as an object-oriented, process calculus with composable data types and sequential/parallel processes. Petra has a simple denotational semantics, which includes a definition of Correct by Construction. The aim is for Petra is to be standard which can be implemented to execute on various mainstream programming platforms such as Java. Work towards an implementation of Petra as a Java EDSL (Embedded Domain Specific Language) is also discussed.

Keywords: compositionality, formal method, software verification, Java, denotational semantics, rewriting systems, rewriting semantics, parallel processing, object-oriented programming, OOP, programming language, correct by construction

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Authors: Tamrat Tesfaye, Bruce Sithole, K. Shabaridharan

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The use of natural dyes to replace synthetic dyes has been advocated for to circumvent the environmental problems associated with synthetic dyes. This paper is a preliminary study on the use of natural dyes extracted from eucalyptus and mango trees. Dyes extracted from eucalyptus bark gave more colourized material than the dyes extracted from eucalyptus leaves and mango pills and leaves. Additionally, the extracts exhibited a deeper colour shade. Cotton fiber dyed using the same dye but with different mordants resulted in fabric that exhibited different colours. It appears that natural dyes from these plants could be effective dyes for use on cotton fabrics especially considering that the dyes exhibited excellent colour fastness.

Keywords: natural dyes, mango, eucalyptus, cotton, mordants, colour fastness

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Authors: J. Zach, J. Hroudova, J. Brozovsky

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Thermal insulation materials based on natural fibers represent a very promising area of materials based on natural easy renewable row sources. These materials may be in terms of the properties of most competing synthetic insulations, but show somewhat higher moisture sensitivity and thermal insulation properties are strongly influenced by the density and orientation of fibers. The paper described the problem of hygrothermal behavior of thermal insulation materials based on natural plant and animal fibers. This is especially the dependence of the thermal properties of these materials on the type of fiber, bulk density, temperature, moisture and the fiber orientation.

Keywords: thermal insulating materials, hemp fibers, sheep wool fibers, thermal conductivity, moisture

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Authors: Akiyoshi Wakatani

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This paper describes the Message Passing Interface (MPI) implementation of ADETRAN language, and its evaluation on SX-ACE supercomputers. ADETRAN language includes pdo statement that specifies the data distribution and parallel computations and pass statement that specifies the redistribution of arrays. Two methods for implementation of pass statement are discussed and the performance evaluation using Splitting-Up CG method is presented. The effectiveness of the parallelization is evaluated and the advantage of one dimensional distribution is empirically confirmed by using the results of experiments.

Keywords: iterative methods, array redistribution, translator, distributed memory

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Authors: Ahmed El-Ghorab

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Indigenous foods are promising sources of various chemical bioactive compounds such as vitamins, phenolic compounds and carotenoids. Therefore, the presence o different bioactive compounds in fruits could be used to retard or prevent various diseases such as cardiovascular and cancer. This is an update report on nutritional compositions and health promoting phytochemicals of different indigenous food . This different type of fruits and/ or other sources such as spices, aromatic plants, grains by-products, which containing bioactive compounds might be used as functional foods or for nutraceutical purposes. most common bioactive compounds are vitamin C, polyphenol, β- carotene and lycopene contents. In recent years, there has been a global trend toward the use of natural phytochemical as antioxidants and functional ingredients, which are present in natural resources such as vegetables, fruits, oilseeds and herbs.. Our future trend the Use of Natural antioxidants as a promising alternative to use of synthetic antioxidants and the Production of natural antioxidant on commercial scale to maximize the value addition of indigenous food waste as a good source of bioactive compounds such as antioxidants.

Keywords: bioactive compounds, antioxidants, by-product, indigenous foods, phenolic compounds

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Authors: Yara Bajnaid, Malak Zaidan, Eman Dakkak

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This research explores the use of Artificial Intelligence in Duolingo, a popular mobile application for language learning. Duolingo's success hinges on its gamified approach and adaptive learning system, both heavily reliant on AI functionalities. The research also analyzes user feedback regarding Duolingo's AI functionalities. While a significant majority (70%) consider Duolingo a reliable tool for language learning, there's room for improvement. Overall, AI plays a vital role in personalizing the learning journey and delivering interactive exercises. However, continuous improvement based on user feedback can further enhance the effectiveness of Duolingo's AI functionalities.

Keywords: AI, Duolingo, language learning, application

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Authors: Rika Aoki

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The aim of this paper is to investigate whether being bilinguals facilitates or impedes the perception of a third language. The present study conducted a perception experiment in which Mandarin-Japanese bilinguals categorized a Voice-Onset-Time (VOT) continuum into English /b/ or /p/. The results show that early bilinguals were influenced by both Mandarin and Japanese, while late bilinguals behaved in a similar manner to Mandarin monolinguals Thus, it can be concluded that in the present study having two languages did not help bilinguals to perceive L3 stop contrast native-likely.

Keywords: bilinguals, perception, third language acquisition, voice-onset-time

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Authors: Magali Mari, Fabrice Clement

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The present study investigated the influence of implicit stereotypes on adults’ visual information processing, using an eye-tracking device. Implicit stereotyping is an automatic and implicit process; it happens relatively quickly, outside of awareness. In the presence of a member of a social group, a set of expectations about the characteristics of this social group appears automatically in people’s minds. The study aimed to shed light on the cognitive processes involved in stereotyping and to further investigate the use of eye movements to measure implicit stereotypes. With an eye-tracking device, the eye movements of participants were analyzed, while they viewed everyday scenes depicting women and men in congruent or incongruent gender role activities (e.g., a woman ironing or a man ironing). The settings of these scenes had to be analyzed to infer the character’s role. Also, participants completed an implicit association test that combined the concept of gender with attributes of occupation (home/work), while measuring reaction times to assess participants’ implicit stereotypes about gender. The results showed that implicit stereotypes do influence people’s visual attention; within a fraction of a second, the number of returns, between stereotypical and counter-stereotypical scenes, differed significantly, meaning that participants interpreted the scene itself as a whole before identifying the character. They predicted that, in such a situation, the character was supposed to be a woman or a man. Also, the study showed that eye movements could be used as a fast and reliable supplement for traditional implicit association tests to measure implicit stereotypes. Altogether, this research provides further understanding of implicit stereotypes processing as well as a natural method to study implicit stereotypes.

Keywords: eye-tracking, implicit stereotypes, social cognition, visual attention

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Authors: Sanjay Singh, Sushil Kumar, Rashmi Jain

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Quantum registering is another pattern in computational hypothesis and a quantum mechanical framework has a few helpful properties like Entanglement. We plan to store data concerning the structure and substance of a basic picture in a quantum framework. Consider a variety of n qubits which we propose to use as our memory stockpiling. In recent years classical processing is switched to quantum image processing. Quantum image processing is an elegant approach to overcome the problems of its classical counter parts. Image storage, retrieval and its processing on quantum machines is an emerging area. Although quantum machines do not exist in physical reality but theoretical algorithms developed based on quantum entangled states gives new insights to process the classical images in quantum domain. Here in the present work, we give the brief overview, such that how entangled states can be useful for quantum image storage and retrieval. We discuss the properties of tripartite Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger and W states and their usefulness to store the shapes which may consist three vertices. We also propose the techniques to store shapes having more than three vertices.

Keywords: Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger, image storage and retrieval, quantum entanglement, W states

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Authors: Anood Al-Shibli

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Designing a learner corpus is not an easy task to accomplish because dealing with learners’ language has many variables which might affect the results of any study based on learners’ language production (spoken and written). Also, it is very essential to systematically design a learner corpus especially when it is aimed to be a reference to language research. Therefore, designing the Omani Learner Corpus (OLEC) has undergone many explicit and systematic considerations. These criteria can be regarded as the foundation to design any learner corpus to be exploited effectively in language use and language learning studies. Added to that, OLEC is manually error-annotated corpus. Error-annotation in learner corpora is very essential; however, it is time-consuming and prone to errors. Consequently, a navigating tool is designed to help the annotators to insert errors’ codes in order to make the error-annotation process more efficient and consistent. To assure accuracy, error annotation procedure is followed to annotate OLEC and some preliminary findings are noted. One of the main results of this procedure is creating an error-annotation system based on the Omani learners of English language production. Because OLEC is still in the first stages, the primary findings are related to only one level of proficiency and one error type which is verb related errors. It is found that Omani learners in OLEC has the tendency to have more errors in forming the verb and followed by problems in agreement of verb. Comparing the results to other error-based studies indicate that the Omani learners tend to have basic verb errors which can found in lower-level of proficiency. To this end, it is essential to admit that examining learners’ errors can give insights to language acquisition and language learning and most errors do not happen randomly but they occur systematically among language learners.

Keywords: error-annotation system, error-annotation manual, learner corpora, verbs related errors

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Authors: Alonge Isaac Olusola

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Taking a cue from countries such as China and Japan, there is no doubt that the teaching and learning of Mother Tongue ( MT) or Language of Immediate Environment (LIE) is a potential source of development in every country. The engine of economic, scientific, technological and political advancement would be more functional when the language of instruction for teaching and learning in schools is in the child’s mother tongue. The purpose of this paper therefore, is to delve into the genesis of the official recognition given to the teaching and learning of Nigerian languages at national level with special focus on Yoruba language. Yoruba language and other Nigerian languages were placed on a national pedestal by a Nigerian Educational Minister, Late Professor Babatunde Fafunwa, who served under the government of General Ibrahim Babangida (1985 – 1993). Through his laudable effort, the teaching and learning of Nigerian languages in schools all over the nation was incorporated officially in the national policy of education. Among all the Nigerian languages, Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba were given foremost priorities because of the large population of their speakers. Since the Fafunwa era, Yoruba language has become a national subject taught in primary, secondary and tertiary institutions in Nigeria. However, like every new policy, its implementation has suffered several forms of criticisms and impediments from governments, policy makers, curriculum developers, school administrators, teachers and learners. This paper has been able to arrive at certain findings through oral interviews, questionnaires and evaluation of pupils/students enrolment and performances in Yoruba language with special focus on the South-west and North central regions of Nigeria. From the research carried out, some factors have been found to be responsible for the successful implementation or otherwise of Yoruba language instruction policy in some schools, colleges and higher institutions in Nigeria. In conclusion, the paper made recommendations on how the National Policy of Education would be implemented to enhance the teaching and learning of Yoruba language in all Nigerian schools.

Keywords: language of immediate environment, mother tongue, national policy of education, yoruba language

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Authors: Khaled Abkar Alkodimi

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This paper attempts to explore Bishop’s eco-poetics and environmental consciousness from an ecocritical perspective. It focuses on her representations of animals, environments, and natural phenomena and the connection between a broad range of human activities and flora, fauna habitats. Indeed, Bishop shows a sense of human responsibility towards the earth in her peculiar treatment of place and livestock, which appears to be more than a static growth process. Her poetry is totally contrary to egoism and egotism, and this can be easily noticed in her subjective understanding of nature and creatures. The findings show Bishop as an eco-poet who committed herself and her poetry to highlight the significance of nature and world life at large. This is obvious through her representation of natural phenomena such as seasonal cycles, weather, and physical and ecological elements, including air, earth, and water, which essentially constitute and inform the poet’s environmental thoughts. Examining Bishop’s conception of a human relationship with ‘external nature through the examination of her poetic language, this study shows how the environmental imagination can suggest social responsibility to readers.

Keywords: elizabeth bishop, eco-criticism, eco-poetry, environmental consciousness, man-nature relationship

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Authors: Dong Liu

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By sending a high-frequency probe wave and a low-frequency pump wave to a specimen, the vibroacoustic method evaluates the defect’s severity according to the modulation index of the received signal. Many studies experimentally proved the significant sensitivity of the modulation index to the tiny contact type defect. However, it has also been found that the modulation index was highly affected by the frequency of probe or pump waves. Therefore, the chirp signal has been introduced to the VAM method since it can assess multiple frequencies in a relatively short time duration, so the robustness of the VAM method could be enhanced. Consequently, the signal processing method needs to be modified accordingly. Various studies utilized different algorithms or combinations of algorithms for processing the VAM signal method by chirp excitation. These signal process methods were compared and used for processing a VAM signal acquired from the steel samples.

Keywords: vibroacoustic modulation, nonlinear acoustic modulation, nonlinear acoustic NDT&E, signal processing, structural health monitoring

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Authors: Emrah Çimen, Mustafa Demirelli, Burcu Yilmaz Şahinbaşkan, Mahmure Üstün Özgür

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Natural colours are used on a large area such as textile, food and pharmaceutical industries by many researchers. When tannic acid is used together with metal salts for dyeing with natural dyes, antibacterial and fastness properties of textile materials are increased. In addition, the allegens are removed on wool fabrics. In this experimental work, some red rose petals were applied as a natural dye with three different dyeing methods and eight different mordant salts. The effect of tannic acid and different metal salts on dyeing of wool fabric was studied. Colour differences ΔECMC (2:1) and fastness properties of dyed fabrics were investigated and compared with each other. Finally, dark colours and adequate colour fastness results (4+) were obtained after dyeing of wool fabrics with FeSO4.7H2O, FeCl3.6H2O and CuCl2.2H2O in the presence of the tannic acid.

Keywords: natural dye, red rose petals, tannic acid, mordant salts, wool fabric

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Authors: Yessica A. Aguilera

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English is currently the only foreign language included in the national educational curriculum in Chile. The English curriculum establishes that once completed secondary education, students are expected to reach B1 level according to the Common European Reference Framework (CEFR) scale. However, the objective has not been achieved, and to the author’s best knowledge, there is still a severe lack of English language skills among students who have completed their secondary education studies. In order to deal with the fact that students do not manage English as expected, team-based learning (TBL) was introduced in English language lessons at the Universidad Federico Santa María (USM). TBL is a collaborative teaching-learning method which enhances active learning by combining individual and team work. This approach seeks to help students achieve course objectives while learning how to function in teams. The purpose of the research was to assess the implementation and effectiveness of TBL in English language classes at USM technical training education. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected from teachers and students about their experience through TBL. Research findings show that both teachers and students are satisfied with the method and that students’ engagement and participation in class is higher. Additionally, students score higher on examinations improving academic outcomes. The findings of the research have the potential to guide how TBL could be included in future English language courses.

Keywords: collaborative learning, college education, English language learning, team-based learning

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Authors: Marvelyn F. Carolino, Charlene R. Cunanan, Gellien Faith O. Masongsong, Berlinda A. Ofrecio

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This study delves into the language usage differences among men, women, and individuals with other gender preferences. It specifically centers on the sociolinguistic aspects within the English majors at the College of Education of Rizal Technological University-Pasig, spanning from the first-year to fourth-year levels. The researchers employed a triangulation approach for data collection, utilizing a validated self-made questionnaire, interviews, and observations. The results revealed that language usage among different genders is influenced by a combination of cultural norms, social dynamics, and technological factors. Cultural norms significantly shape how respondents use language, as they conform to expected speech patterns based on their gender. Social factors, such as peer pressure, were found to impact language usage for individuals of all genders. This influence was viewed as constructive for personal development rather than inhibiting performance or communication. In terms of technological factors, respondents strongly agreed that the time spent on social media and educational applications influenced their language use. These platforms provided opportunities to expand and enhance their vocabulary. Additionally, the study employed hypothesis testing through the z-test formula to assess the impact of demographic profiles on language usage differences among genders. The results indicated that gender, economic status, locality, and ethnicity did not show statistically significant differences in language use. This lack of significant variation in findings was attributed to the relatively homogeneous demographic profile of respondents, primarily composed of females with low-income backgrounds and Tagalog ethnicity. This demographic similarity likely minimized the diversity of responses.

Keywords: gender, language, sociolinguistics, differences

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Authors: Jordana Lenhardt

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This paperwork aims to promote a reflection on the critical literacy and multiliteracies concepts in the English language teaching, under an emancipatory perspective, in the English language classroom at the Federal Institute of Mato Grosso (IFMT), Rondonópolis Campus. Some Authors place the relationship between the world conscience and the self-conscience in a direct reason, compromising one to the other, and others defend that emancipatory teaching practice must be connected in all the spheres of the social context; with this paperwork, we intend to analyze students’ interactions with the English language, in order to verify if they demonstrate critical conscience about language and the world around them. The study is still at a preliminary level and is grounded in discourse critical analysis and systemic-functional linguistics. We understand that text is irremediable, linked to a context, and that the linguistic selection made by the speaker builds social representations. This research foresees the analysis of some students’ speeches in an interview about their classes at the Federal Institute in the city of Rondonópolis and the methodology being used on them. Discourse critical analysis explains that, through the awareness of the language uses, learners can become more conscious of the coercions in their own language practices, the possibilities of risks, and the costs of the individual or collective challenges, to engage themselves in emancipatory linguistic practice. The critical language conscience contributes, on the other hand, to make students more aware of the practices in which they are involved, as producers and consumers of texts, of the social forces, ideologies, and power relations, their effects on the identities and social relations, as well as the discourse role in the social and cultural processes.

Keywords: multiliteracies, critical literacy, emancipation, social transformation

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Authors: Shahid-ul-Islam, Faqeer Mohammad

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The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of annatto, teak and flame of the forest natural dyes on color, fastness, and antimicrobial property of protein based textile substrate. The color strength (K/S) of wool samples at various concentrations of dyes were analysed using a Reflective Spectrophotometer. The antimicrobial activity of natural dyes before and after application on wool was tested against common human pathogens Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Candida albicans, by using micro-broth dilution method, disc diffusion assay and growth curve studies. The structural morphology of natural protein fibre (wool) was investigated by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Annatto and teak natural dyes proved very effective in inhibiting the microbial growth in solution phase and after application on wool and resulted in a broad beautiful spectrum of colors with exceptional fastness properties. The results encourage the search and exploitation of new plant species as source of dyes to replace toxic synthetic antimicrobial agents currently used in textile industry.

Keywords: annatto, antimicrobial agents, natural dyes, green textiles

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Authors: Qirat Naz

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The aim of this research study is to explore the perspectives of migrants and interpreters from diverse backgrounds on language barriers, their English language proficiency and access to health care facilities. A qualitative research methodology was used including in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. Data was collected from 20 migrants who have difficulty conversing in the English language and 12 interpreters including family members and friends who provide translation services as part of accessing health care. The findings seek to address three key research questions: how language is a barrier for non-national language speakers to access the health care facilities, what is the impact of various socio-cultural and linguistic backgrounds on health compliance, and what is the role of interpreters in providing access to, usage of, and satisfaction with health-care facilities. The most crucial component of providing care was found to be effective communication between patient and health care professionals. Language barrier was the major concern for healthcare professionals in providing and for migrants in accessing sufficient, suitable, and productive health care facilities. Language and sociocultural background play a significant role in health compliance as this research reported; respondents believe that patients who interact with the doctors who have same sociocultural and linguistic background benefit from receiving better medical care than those who do not. Language limitations and the socio-cultural gap make it difficult for patients and medical staff to communicate clearly with one another, which has a negative effect on quality of care and patient satisfaction. The use of qualified interpreters was found to be beneficial but there were also drawbacks such as accessibility and availability of them in a timely manner for patient needs. The findings of this research can help health care workers and policy makers working to improve health care delivery system and to create appropriate strategies to overcome this challenge.

Keywords: migration, migrants, language barrier, healthcare access

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Authors: Chamindi Dilkushi Senaratne

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Communicating via a text or an SMS (Short Message Service) has become an integral part of our daily lives. With the increase in the use of mobile phones, text messaging has become a genre by itself worth researching and studying. It is undoubtedly a major phenomenon revealing language change. This paper attempts to describe the morphological processes of text language of urban bilinguals in Sri Lanka. It will be a typological study based on 500 English text messages collected from urban bilinguals residing in Colombo. The messages are selected by categorizing the deviant forms of language use apparent in text messages. These stylistic deviations are a deliberate skilled performance by the users of the language possessing an in-depth knowledge of linguistic systems to create new words and thereby convey their linguistic identity and individual and group solidarity via the message. The findings of the study solidifies arguments that the manipulation of language in text messages is both creative and appropriate. In addition, code mixing theories will be used to identify how existing morphological processes are adapted by bilingual users in Sri Lanka when texting. The study will reveal processes such as omission, initialism, insertion and alternation in addition to other identified linguistic features in text language. The corpus reveals the most common morphological processes used by Sri Lankan urban bilinguals when sending texts.

Keywords: bilingual, deviations, morphology, texts

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Authors: Hsiu Tan Liu, Chun Jung Liu

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It has multiple purposes to develop a sign language receptive skills test. For example, this test can be used to be an important tool for education and to understand the sign language ability of deaf children. There is no available test for these purposes in Taiwan. Through the discussion of experts and the references of standardized Taiwanese Sign Language Receptive Test for adults and adolescents, the frame of Taiwanese Sign Language Receptive Skills Test (TSL-RST) for deaf children was developed, and the items were further designed. After multiple times of pre-trials, discussions and corrections, TSL-RST is finally developed which can be conducted and scored online. There were 33 deaf children who agreed to be tested from all three deaf schools in Taiwan. Through item analysis, the items were picked out that have good discrimination index and fair difficulty index. Moreover, psychometric indexes of reliability and validity were established. Then, derived the regression formula was derived which can predict the sign language receptive skills of deaf children. The main results of this study are as follows. (1). TSL-RST includes three sub-test of vocabulary comprehension, syntax comprehension and paragraph comprehension. There are 21, 20, and 9 items in vocabulary comprehension, syntax comprehension, and paragraph comprehension, respectively. (2). TSL-RST can be conducted individually online. The sign language ability of deaf students can be calculated fast and objectively, so that they can get the feedback and results immediately. This can also contribute to both teaching and research. The most subjects can complete the test within 25 minutes. While the test procedure, they can answer the test questions without relying on their reading ability or memory capacity. (3). The sub-test of the vocabulary comprehension is the easiest one, syntax comprehension is harder than vocabulary comprehension and the paragraph comprehension is the hardest. Each of the three sub-test and the whole test are good in item discrimination index. (4). The psychometric indices are good, including the internal consistency reliability (Cronbach’s α coefficient), test-retest reliability, split-half reliability, and content validity. The sign language ability are significantly related to non-verbal IQ, the teachers’ rating to the students’ sign language ability and students’ self-rating to their own sign language ability. The results showed that the higher grade students have better performance than the lower grade students, and students with deaf parent perform better than those with hearing parent. These results made TLS-RST have great discriminant validity. (5). The predictors of sign language ability of primary deaf students are age and years of starting to learn sign language. The results of this study suggested that TSL-RST can effectively assess deaf student’s sign language ability. This study also proposed a model to develop a sign language tests.

Keywords: comprehension test, elementary school, sign language, Taiwan sign language

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Authors: Fakieh Alrabai

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This paper presents an experimental study designed to explore some of the learner’s individual and interpersonal factors (e.g. persistence, interest, regulation, satisfaction, appreciation, etc.) that Saudi learners experience when learning English as a Foreign Language and how learners’ perceptions of these factors influence various aspects of their motivation to learn English language. As part of the study, a 27-item structured survey was administered to a randomly selected sample of 105 Saudi learners from public schools and universities. Data collected through the survey were subjected to some basic statistical analyses, such as "mean" and "standard deviation". Based on the results from the analysis, a number of generalizations and conclusions are made in relation to how these inherent factors affect Saudi learners’ motivation to learn English as a foreign language. In addition, some recommendations are offered to Saudi academics on how to effectively make use of such factors, which may enable Saudi teachers and learners of English as a foreign language to achieve better learning outcomes in an area widely associated by Saudis with lack of success.

Keywords: persistence, interest, appreciation, satisfaction, SL/FL motivation

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Authors: Sri Wartini

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Based on the sovereignty over natural resources principle, the Indonesian government has an authority to exploit the natural resources within a national jurisdiction of Indonesia. The forest is one of the natural resources which is very valuable for Indonesia. It becomes the source of raw material for many industrial activities, such as pharmaceutical industry, pulp industry, and household furniture industry. Hence, it contributes to the economic development of Indonesia. However, the exploitation of the forest may cause negative impacts, such as environmental pollution and environmental degradation. The implementation of the sovereignty over natural resources principle in Indonesia may jeopardize the forest and affect the sustainability of the forest if there is no appropriate policy of the government to exploit the forest in a sustainable manner. The exploitation of the forest in Indonesia, in some extent, has caused serious impact to environment and biodiversity. Hence, in order to sustain and to maintain the forest as the valuable resources to the future generation, the government of Indonesia has already adopted many programmes and action plans. The aim of the research is to undertake a critical examination of the issues relating to the the implementation of sovereignty over natural resources to the exploitation of the forest in Indonesia. It is a normative research and the methodology employed in this research is library research. While the approaches employed in the research are conceptual approach., statutory approach, and comparative approach. The research finds that the implementation of sovereignty over natural resources principle in the exploitation of the forest in Indonesia is limited by other principles of international environmental law, such as sustainable development principle, intergenerational principle and common concern principle which have been adopted in the government policy and various regulations regarding the exploitation of the forest in Indonesia.

Keywords: Environmental damage, negative impacts, pollution, the sovereignty over natural resources

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Authors: Adriana Aparecida Rodrigues Leite

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Linguistics and grammar conceptions are necessary to comprehend the structure of a language. On one hand, grammar depicts structural rules and instructions. On the other hand, linguistcs is a science which intends to understand the changes that occur in a language. Ferdinand de Saussure throughout his book called: Cours de linguistique générale (Course of general Linguistics) developed theories that portray explanations which defines linguistics as a real object of study of a language. It differs from grammar which is seen by Saussure as an element without scientific pattern. By that means, this research plans to decipher whether Ferdinand de Saussure would be against these conceptions and rules proposed by grammar. Besides that, this paper was based on the exploratory approach to pose concrete principles and facts to provide a response for the problem. This research is divided in the following sections: Introduction, Ferdinand de Saussure, Linguistics Conceptions, Linguistics for Saussure, Grammar Conceptions, and Grammar for Saussure. The result obtained from the analysis of the problem is highlighted in the section: Final Considerations.

Keywords: linguistics, grammar, ferdinand de saussure, language

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Authors: Ticiane Rossi, Maurício C. Araújo, José O. Brito, Harold S. Freeman

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Natural dyes are gaining interest due their expected low risk to human health and to the environment. In this study, the wash fastness of a natural coloring matter from the liquid waste produced in the steam treatment of eucalyptus wood in textile fabrics was investigated. Specifically, eucalyptus wood extract was used to dye cotton, nylon and wool in an exhaust dyeing process without the addition of the traditional mordanting agents and then submitted to wash fastness analysis. The resulting dyed fabrics were evaluated for color fastness. It was found that wash fastness of dyed fabrics was very good to cotton and excellent to nylon and wool.

Keywords: eucalyptus, natural dye, textile fibers, wash fastness

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Authors: Azeem Alphonce

Abstract:

In Pakistan, there is a variety of skin tones and colors across all provinces. However, a fair complexion is one of the standards of beauty among females in Pakistan, which creates insecurities in dark-complexioned females. This research is a critical discourse analysis of the language used on beauty products for females in Pakistan. The purpose was to analyze the language used on female beauty products using Van Dijk's three-stage socio-cognitive model to understand what message is received from the few words written and repeated across the packaging of various facial products, why such language is used and what are its wider socio-cognitive effects? The criterion for the selection of beauty products was skin whitening terminologies and the language used on these products. The results showed that over 57 per cent of products utilized skin-whitening terms. The adjectives written on the package indicate that fairer skin is the ultimate beauty goal of females. The analysis explored how the language reinforces unfair beauty standards and perpetuates colorism. It was concluded that female beauty products utilize discriminatory discourse by marginalizing individuals of darker skin tones. Fairer skin is promoted, whereas darker skin is referred to as a problem, flaw or imperfection. Socially shared mental models seem to have caused beauty companies to exploit and promote perceptions of colorism in society. Therefore, such discourse should be prevented, and beauty companies should utilize their discourse to promote acceptance of various skin tones.

Keywords: language, skin whitening products, beauty standards, social mental models

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Authors: Vertika Goswami, Gargi Sharma

Abstract:

The rapid evolution of fintech has led to the rise of robo-advisor platforms that utilize artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to offer personalized investment solutions efficiently and cost-effectively. This research paper conducts a comprehensive sentiment analysis of investor experiences with these platforms, employing natural language processing (NLP) and sentiment classification techniques. The study investigates investor perceptions, engagement, and satisfaction, identifying key drivers of positive sentiment such as clear communication, low fees, consistent returns, and robust security. Conversely, negative sentiment is linked to issues like inconsistent performance, hidden fees, poor customer support, and a lack of transparency. The analysis reveals that addressing these pain points—through improved transparency, enhanced customer service, and ongoing technological advancements—can significantly boost investor trust and satisfaction. This paper contributes valuable insights into the fields of behavioral finance and fintech innovation, offering actionable recommendations for stakeholders, practitioners, and policymakers. Future research should explore the long-term impact of these factors on investor loyalty, the role of emerging technologies, and the effects of ethical investment choices and regulatory compliance on investor sentiment.

Keywords: artificial intelligence in finance, automated investment, financial technology, investor satisfaction, investor sentiment, robo-advisors, sentimental analysis

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Authors: S. Vijayakumar, S. B. Rathna Kumar, Navnath D Jagadale

Abstract:

Learning and teaching are the challenges ahead in the education of the students with hearing impairment using sign language (SHISL). Either the students or teachers face difficulties in the process of learning/teaching. Communication is one of the main barriers while teaching SHISL. Further, the courses of study or the subjects are limited to SHISL at least in countries like India. Students with hearing impairment mainly opt for sign language as a communication mode. Subjects like physics, chemistry, advanced mathematics etc. are not available in the curriculum for the SHISL since their content and ideas are complex. In India, exemption for language papers is being given for the students with hearing impairment. It may give opportunity to them to secure secondary/ higher secondary qualifications. It is a known fact that students with hearing impairment are facing difficulty in their future carrier. They secure neither a higher study nor a good employment opportunity. Vocational training in various trades will land them in few jobs with few bucks in pocket. However, not all of them are blessed with higher positions in government or private sectors in competitive fields or where the technical knowledge is required. E learning with sign language instructions can be used for teaching languages and science subjects. Computer Based Instruction (CBI), Computer Based Training (CBT), and Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI) are now part-and-parcel of Modern Education. It will also include signed video clip corresponding to the topic. Learning language subjects will improve the understanding of concepts in different subjects. Learning other science subjects like their hearing counterparts will enable the SHISL to go higher in studies and increase their height to pluck a fruit of the tree of employment.

Keywords: students with hearing impairment using sign language, hearing impairment, language subjects, science subjects, e-learning

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