Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Teachers' beliefs and practices towards communicative language teaching in the expanding circle

Although communicative approach has been adopted by many textbooks and curricula all over the world, research findings indicate that communicative language teaching (CLT) tenets in classrooms are scarce, with most teachers declaring dedication to the communicative approach but applying more traditional structural approaches in their real practice. The literature suggests that one of the reasons of the inconsistency between theory and classroom practice may be due to neglecting teachers' beliefs. In an effort to recognize teachers' beliefs towards the communicative approach within the English as a Foreign Language context of Iran, a Likert-type scale was developed and validated. The present study concentrates on the development and use of the questionnaire on a sample of 154 Iranian English language teachers whose classroom practices were also observed and evaluated for further investigations. Based on collected data, it was revealed that the majority of teachers had high levels of perception about CLT tenets. However, the study conversely showed that there is a clear mismatch between their beliefs and practical application of CLT.
Shared Leadership of Teachers through their Interpersonal Communication Competence

This paper examines how the interpersonal communication competences of teachers can predict their shared leadership. The empirical research for this paper was undertaken with teachers working at lower and upper secondary schools in Lithuania. The conducted regression analysis revealed that interpersonal communication skills have a significant predictive power for the shared leadership behavior of teachers. Specifically, the study uncovered that the dimensions of interpersonal communication competence, such as clarity, credibility, and familiarity, have an important positive relationship with shared leadership. The results emphasize a need to focus on the development of teachers’ interpersonal communication, stimulating shared leadership in teacher communities. The theoretical and practical implications of teacher leadership and their communication are discussed in this paper.
Self-Leadership and interpersonal competences of future aspiring professionals in the Arab Middle East: Reference to FIRO-B

Article history: Received: June 11, 2019 Received in revised format: June 29 2019 Accepted: July 3, 2019 Available online: July 3, 2019 The interpersonal competences and good relationship among employees are directly linked to the team effectiveness and indirectly to the higher productivity at the workplace. Therefore, the aim of this study is to identify interpersonal needs of Arab business students by using Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation-Behaviour instrument (FIRO-B). The study is based on the survey of 192 business students in the UAE. The results have also revealed that the gender and academic level of participants had an influence on their interpersonal needs. The study has shown that it is essential to have different approaches towards students on the bases of their interpersonal needs and, by doing so, to try to enhance their interpersonal and communication skills. Moreover, the gender and academic level of students should be considered when organizing training in the improvement of students’ soft skills. © 2019 by the authors; licensee Growing Science, Canada
Unraveling Public Health Crises Across Stages: Understanding Twitter Emotions and Message Types During the California Measles Outbreak

Social media can be used to assess public opinions and emotions during different stages of a crisis. Guided by the Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication (CERC) model, this study examined a systematic sample of 2,881 tweets from a corpus of over one million tweets posted during the initial, maintenance, and resolution stages of the 2015 California measles outbreak. It found that the public showed the greatest interest (as measured by the number of tweets and retweets) in the initial stage of the crisis, but their interest drastically declined afterward. The expression of humor/sarcasm was significantly more frequent in the initial stage than in the maintenance or resolutions stage, while the expression of reassurance increased significantly from the initial, maintenance, and resolution stage. The emotion of alarm/concern was most frequently expressed during the initial stage. For message types, the public were more likely to tweet about their personal opinions and less likely to tweet about resources during the initial stage. These findings allow public health professionals to better design messages in response to the public’s concerns and emotions during public health crises.
Feeding practice outcome for preterm infants in two neonatology units in Buraidah, Saudi Arabia

Wecarried out a follow-up study to investigate variation in short-term outcome for preterm infants in 2 hospitals in Buraidah. We compared gestational age, birth weight, head circumference at birth and length of stay. Outcome measures were weight gain/day, feeding pattern on discharge and feeding pattern 1 month after discharge. Mean weight gain was significantly higher in hospital A, 9.6 [ +/- 19.7] g/day compared to -1.2 [ +/- 29.5] g/day in hospital B [P = 0.049]. The proportion of infants exclusively breastfed 1 month after discharge was 37.5% in hospital B compared to 13.2% in hospital A [P = 0.0224]. There are clear hospital level differences in short-term outcome in the same region, emphasizing the need for continuous follow-up and evaluation of differences in a perinatal audit
Unpacking the Theory of African American Offending: A Qualitative Exploration of Racial Socialization Processes and Their Effects on African American Male College Students

In 2011, Dr. James Unnever and Dr. Shaun Gabbidon introduced a Theory of African American Offending, which posits that African American offending is motivated in part by common experiences of racism. They argue that these experiences contribute to a shared worldview that includes both an accumulation of bad feelings toward pro-social institutions and legal cynicism toward the justice system, leading to decreased social bonds and a greater predilection toward delinquency. They also suggest that racial socialization can help to mitigate these effects of racism. Previous studies have found support for this idea, but few have examined the mechanisms by which racial socialization takes place. The current study uses qualitative interviews to explore the racial socialization process among a sample of Black male college students in a Midwestern public university. The findings reveal that racial socialization processes vary widely among male college students in terms of content (police contact, dating, safety), sources (parents, grandparents, peers, and other adult role models), timing, and the effect on social bonds to White-dominated institutions. Implications of the findings for the research on race, racial socialization, social problems, and criminological theory are presented and discussed.
The Preliminary Research of Developing HOT Project-Based-Speaking Assessment to Stimulate the Students’ Critical Thinking and Creativity

2013 curriculum encourages the senior high teachers to successful develop Higher Order Thinking (HOT) assessment in the teaching and learning process. Therefore, this study is conducted to investigate the preliminary research of developing project-based-speaking assessment to stimulate the students’ critical thinking and creativity in English learning. This study uses descriptive qualitative method at SMA N 15 Semarang. The data are gathered through observation, interview, and questionnaire which are aimed to know the existing of the implementation of HOT project assessment. The first results indicated that the English teacher never gave and developed project-based-speaking assessment to stimulate the students’ critical thinking and creativity in English learning. The teacher got difficulties in constructing items for HOT speaking assessment and arranging the learning instruments as the needs of the implementation 2013 curriculum. Likewise, the students also never did any speaking project in English learning, and they often got bored during the teaching and learning process. In conclusion, both English teacher and students never did any project-based-speaking assessment in English learning. (Abstract) Keywords—preliminary research, project-based-speaking, assessment, critical thinking, creativity (key words)
Watching accessible cartoons: The speed of closed captions for young audiences in the United States

ABSTRACT Closed captions facilitate access of the deaf and hard of hearing community to mass media communication. Contrary to other countries that edit and shorten the subtitles to adjust them to the average spectator’s reading speed, the United States favors verbatim captions. This means that longer subtitles are provided to receivers, who thus need to read them faster. This paper presents the main findings of a study that explores the speed at which closed captions are currently delivered in television programs aimed at young audiences in the US. Results show average captioning speeds to be aligned with those usually suitable for adult readers, and high percentages of fast subtitles, which could challenge the reading skills of the young, hearing-impaired addressees.
Stuck in Place? A Field Experiment on the Effects of Reputational Information on Student Evaluations

Abstract:Studies suggest that students' prior performance can shape subsequent teacher evaluations, but the magnitude of reputational effects and their implications for educational inequality remain unclear. Existing scholarship presents two major perspectives that exist in tension: do teachers primarily use reputational information as a temporary signal that is subsequently updated in response to actual student performance? Or do teachers primarily use reputational information as a filter that biases perception of subsequent evidence, thus crystallizing student reputations and keeping previously poor-performing students stuck in place? In a field experiment, we recruited a random sample of 832 junior high school teachers from the secondmost populous province of China to grade a sequence of four essays written by the same student, and we randomly assign both the academic reputation of the student and the quality of the essays produced. We find that (1) reputational information influences how teachers grade, (2) teachers rely on negative information more heavily than positive information, and (3) negative reputations are crystallized by a single behavioral confirmation. These results suggest that students can escape their prior reputations, but to do so, they must contradict them immediately, with a single confirmation sufficient to crystallize a negative reputation.
Using Relational-Cultural Theory to Conceptualize International Student Transitions

ABSTRACT In this article, Relational-Cultural Theory (RCT) is applied to international student transition experiences. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe the lived experiences of international students transitioning to college life in the rural United States using the principles of RCT. Five women and four men enrolled at a mid-sized university agreed to participate in the study. In the data analysis phase, four components of RCT emerged as themes. The authors provide implications for campus-based mental health professionals (e.g., college counselors).
Positive Deviance as a Mediator in the Relationship Between High Performance Indicators and Entrepreneurial Orientation

Objective: The purpose of the article is to investigate positive deviance as a mediator in the effect of high performance indicators on organisational entrepreneurship. Research Design & Methods: The research was carried out on a representative and random sample of 406 enterprises using multi-source cross-sectional design. The main analytical technique is structural equations modelling. Findings: The impact of high performance indicators on positive deviance is somehow ambiguous. Some of the factors influence positive deviance in a positive way (continuous improvement, openness and action orientation, management quality) and some in a negative way (workforce quality, long-term orientation). Positive deviance has a positive effect on all three dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation. However, rather unexpectedly, the effect is the weakest for innovativeness. The study revealed general indirect effect of high performance factors on dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation with the mediation of positive deviance. Implications & Recommendations: The study has implications for research and practice. It partly explains the effects of high performance indicators for organisational entrepreneurship. Companies that are in pursuit of higher organisational entrepreneurship can use it as a good way of supporting it. Contribution & Value Added: The study contributes to research on high performance and entrepreneurship mainly by drawing attention to positive deviance as a mediator in the effect of high performance factors on organisational entrepreneurship. Article type: research article
Managing the Growth of Peer Review at the Royal Society Journals, 1865-1965

This article examines the evolution of peer review and the modern editorial processes of scholarly journals by analyzing a novel data set derived from the Royal Society’s archives and covering 1865-1965, that is, the historical period in which refereeing (not yet known as peer review) became firmly established. Our analysis reveals how the Royal Society’s editorial processes coped with both an increasing reliance on refereeing and a growth in submissions, while maintaining collective responsibility and minimizing research waste. By engaging more of its fellows in editorial activity, the society was able to establish an equilibrium of number of submissions per reviewer that was relatively stable over time. Nevertheless, our analysis shows that the distribution of editorial work was significantly uneven. Our findings reveal interesting parallels with current concerns about the scale and distribution of peer review work and suggest the strategic importance of the management of the editorial process to achieve a creative mix of community commitment and professional responsibility that is essential in contemporary journals.
Board Characteristics, Audit Committee Characteristics and Abnormal Accruals

This paper examines the relation between governance (as measured by board and audit committee characteristics) and accounting quality (as measured by abnormal accruals) in a setting where there is no a priori reason to suspect systematic management of earnings. Using data from Singapore and Malaysia, we find both board size and audit committee independence are related to lower abnormal working capital accruals. Furthermore, the relation between audit committee independence and higher quality accounting exists only when the abnormal accruals are income increasing. This suggests that audit committees are effective in the financial reporting process by reducing the level of income increasing abnormal accruals. The results also indicate that audit committees are effective only when all members are independent directors.
An investigation of environmental education instructors: motivations, autonomy, experience, and their influences on student outcomes

Drawing upon elements of self-determination theory and motivation-hygiene theory, we conducted and analyzed semi-structured interviews with environmental education (EE) instructors and their supervisors to examine the roles of organizational practices in influencing instructor motivations and feelings of autonomy, competence, relatedness, and sense of job meaningfulness. We identified two instructor types, based on their long-term commitment to EE: exploratory and career. Motivations were largely shared between instructor types. However, exploratory instructors tended to feel more motivated by professional development opportunities, while career instructors reported being more motivated by a commitment to their organization’s mission. A sense of shared organizational and personal values appeared to drive feelings of both relatedness and meaningfulness. Both employee types desired more feedback on their work. The authors recommend that organizations focus on instructor job enrichment to further promote motivations. This may include undertaking a participatory evaluation process that works to clarify organizational mission and develop feedback tools.
The effect of humility on emotional and social competencies: The mediating role of judgment

Abstract Leadership competencies are important contributing factors of successful performance among leaders. As theory suggests, humility can have a significant effect on building emotional and social competencies. In this study, we examine the effect of humility on competencies both directly and indirectly, through its effect on judgment. We designed and conducted a self-reported survey to measure humility, judgment, and emotional and social competencies among 165 management students. The results of our study showed that humility had a significant positive effect on emotional and social competencies, including self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management. In addition, judgment had a significant mediating role on the relationship between humility and competencies. These results provide support for the important role of humility on personal learning and development as was previously discussed in the literature. Considering its important role, strategies have been recommended in the discussion section to improve humility both at personal and organizational levels.
Evaluating the Educational Services Quality of a Military Medical University (SERVQUAL Model): A Descriptive Analytic Study

Background: Educational quality assessments are those activities you undertake to demonstrate the accuracy and precision of your monitoring. A good strategy for increasing educational services quality can be achieved by considering the result of SERVQUAL (Gap Analysis) model. Objectives: Quality measurement of educational services that are offered at the Military University of Medical Science is evaluated based on the SERVQUAL model in this study. Methods: This study is a descriptive-analytic study. In this study, the dimensions of the quality of service provided by the SERVQUAL (Gap Analysis) model have been investigated in Five dimensions including tangible, responsiveness, empathy, reliability, and assurance. Data set of this sectional analytical descriptive study coordinates 317 students and 102 professors’ observations in the mentioned university. Stratified sampling method, according to the number of students and professors in each faculty (five faculties) and SERVQUAL questionnaire, were used. Descriptive statistics and statistical inferences were done by SPSS23 software. Results: Based on the findings, a negative gap was observed in all dimensions of the model. Empathy dimension (-2.215) had the maximum gap value, while the responsiveness dimension (-2.109) had the minimum gap value based on the student’s viewpoint. Moreover, based on the professor’s viewpoint maximum gap was related to physical dimension (-1.866) and the minimum gap was related to the responsiveness dimension (-1.292). Unlike professors, students who are studying in different faculties have not same idea regard to services quality. The quality gap can be sufficiently predicted by using the logistic regression model with assuming age as a predictor variable. Professor’s viewpoint is not affected by their age and gender. Conclusions: Based on the results, student’s and professors’ expectations are greater than their perceptions. Empathy and physical dimensions are the priority of the model as they have a positive relationship with the quality.
The phonetics of newly derived words: Testing the effect of morphological segmentability on affix duration

This research was partially funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgmeinschaft (Research Unit FOR2373 ‘Spoken Morphology’, Projects PL 151/7–1 and PL 151/8–1) and the Strategischer Forschungsfonds der Heinrich-Heine-Universitat Dusseldorf, which we gratefully acknowledge.
Risk Perception and Safety Knowledge of Scuba Divers

This study was aimed to identify a study on risk perception and safety knowledge and awareness of scuba diver. In order to achieve this purpose, a total of 310 customers over the age of 20 were selected as study participants form diving pools and dive resort in Seoul, Gyeonggi, Gangwon, Gyeongsang area using the convenience sampling method. However, only data from 295 customers were used after screening the data for reliability. The instrument for data collection was a questionnaire, and descriptive statistics, inter-item consistency reliability, t-test, ANOVA, post hoc test, correlation analysis, pearson chi-square test were conducted on the data using the SPSS 21.0 version statistical package program. The followings are the results: First, risk perception differs significantly according to age, education level, occupation and participation period. Second, participation period and safety knowledge have positive correlation.
How Teaching Method (Alternative/Frontal) Affects Achievement in Mathematics for Boys and Girls in Grades Four to Six Who Are Learning in a Computer-Assisted Environment

A comparison of teaching methods in mathematics (frontal vs. computer enhanced and/or other alternative methods) in two urban elementary schools (479 students; grades 4 - 6; total 18 teachers) indicated that a significant difference in the achievement of the students resulted from the latter method, particularly for girls in the case of answering word problems. Follow-up studies corroborated the findings, indicating that the teaching method is a decisive factor in student achievement in math and that enhancing teaching with computer practice is of prime importance. This study’s basic assumption is that there will be a correlation between the teaching method (alternative or frontal) in the mathematics class in primary schools were mathematics learning is computer assisted and the pupils’ achievements in mathematics. This led to study the relationship between pupils’ progress in various types of mathematical word problems, and the teaching method by which they were taught, and in correlation to the factors of pupils’ age (grades 4 - 6), gender, and initial level of mathematical knowledge (poor, average, advanced). The results showed that the alternative teaching method clearly led to higher achievements overall but especially so for word problems in the case of girl, which in fact demonstrated the highest progress of all the factors studied. The results were corroborated in the region-wide government-administered tests given two years after the initial data collection. The study thus shows that the teaching method used in the mathematics classroom is a central and extremely influential factor in pupils’ progress in mathematics and shows the importance of fully coordinating the teaching in the classroom with the mathematical activities on the computer. The results point to an urgent need to fully coordinate classroom instruction with the computer activities, something that is vital in any situation where learning is amended with computer work.