bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Problems and Issues Related to Teaching Japanese to Students with Disabilities: Lessons Learned
Authors: Pimentel Carlos L.
Published: January 2018

With increased advancement in assistive technologies, an increased number of students with disabilities are attending postsecondary institutions. This has resulted in more of these students taking foreign language courses either out of interest in the subject or in order to fulfill university or college requirements. While research has shown that some faculty members have received training in providing accommodations to these students, most feel inadequately equipped and unprepared to handle the teaching of such students. The present paper explores the problems and issues associated with teaching Japanese to college students at a large midwestern university with three different disabilities: PTSD, cerebral palsy, and complete visual impairment. The paper discusses problems facing each student as they learned Japanese, challenges for instructors, accommodations provided, and some solutions.
Training Japanese Speakers to Identify Nasal Codas of Mandarin Chinese
Authors: Yang Ruining. , Nanjo Hiroaki. , Danstuji Masatake.
Published: January 2018

The aim of this study is to examine the effect of high variability training on “-n” and “-ng” in Mandarin Chinese. 46 Japanese native speakers who study Mandarin Chinese as a second foreign language at a university in Japan were divided into one experimental group and one control group. Participants assigned to the experimental group trained themselves using software, which was developed in our early research. Participants in the control group took Chinese lessons normally. Identification tasks (ITs) were conducted before and after the training. After 12 sessions, the average identification accuracy of nasal codas increased 7.1% (p < .05) in the experimental group, however, decreased 1.2% (p > .05) in the control group. Results of the training process prove that the training was effective for some participants, while had little effect on other participants. From the questionnaires, we found that there is a disagreement between the participants’ subjective ability to identify nasal codas and the actual identification accuracy in ITs. Participants underestimate their ability to identify “-n” and “-ng” before training and overestimate their ability to identify “-n” and “-ng” after training. We made a formula to predict the accuracy of ITs (y) in the last 4 training sessions (x): y = 2.13x2 - 2.35x + 1.23. This formula will help participants to grasp the training process and predict their identification ability.
Assessing Content in a Curriculum-based EFL Oral Exam: The Importance of Higher-order Thinking Skills
Authors: Bøhn Henrik
Published: January 2018

In this study data from verbal protocols and semi-structured interviews was analysed to explore Norwegian EFL teacher raters’ (n=10) orientations towards content in an oral English exam at the upper secondary school level, a context characterized by the absence of a common rating scale for the teacher raters. The content construct was mainly analysed in terms a subject matter dimension and a skills and processes dimension. The results indicated that the teachers were more concerned with the skills and processes dimension (e.g. analysis, reflection) than with the subject matter dimension (e.g. cultural knowledge). Moreover, their understanding of subject matter compared fairly well with the subject curriculum, despite instances of construct underrepresentation. The study points to the prominence of guidance for teacher raters in the assessment of content and to the significance of alerting students to the importance of higher-order thinking skills in language education at this level.
Finnish Children Producing English Vowels — Studying in an English Immersion Class Affects Vowel Production
Authors: Immonen Katja , Peltola Maija S.
Published: January 2018

The aim of this study was to examine how earlier second language teaching affects Finnish school children’s pronunciation of British English vowels. Two groups of Finnish children between the ages of eleven and thirteen were tested. The early learners studied in an English immersion class in a Finnish elementary school while the control group attended a regular Finnish speaking class at the same school. The task consisted of twenty three English stimulus words which included the twelve monophthong English target vowels in voiced and voiceless environments. The words were repeated seven times during the task. The participants produced the words after a native model and the target vowel qualities were then acoustically analysed. Statistical analysis revealed a group main effect. More specifically the analysis showed that the groups differed significantly in the way they produced target vowel second formant (F2) values. The F2 difference was only significant in the voiced context. Closer examination of the groups’ vowel qualities revealed that the control group tended to produce the F2 values higher than the early learner group in most of the target vowels. The higher F2 values can be an indication of more frontal tongue position or less lip rounding during vowel production.
Foreign Languages and Creativity — The Quiet Connection in a Globalized/Interconnected World How focusing on "deep work" can help foster creativity, and foreign language competency
Authors: Stein-Smith Kathleen
Published: January 2018

This article examines the significance of foreign language learning and multilingualism in the development of those habits of mind that foster creative thought, critical thinking, and analytical skills, all needed in the globalized interconnected world and workplace -- particularly, the role of solitude and quiet in the development of creativity and critical thinking, as well as the deep, although seldom mentioned, paradoxical, significance of quiet, and even silence, in the foreign language learning process. In addition to the traditional and contemporary reasons for studying a foreign language for cultural and communicative reasons, this article demonstrates that foreign language as a discipline develops the ability to focus through often solitary "deep work" and "deep practice" on the development of foreign languages skills that can be generalized to other subjects and tasks across the disciplines and across linguistic and cultural boundaries. Many Languages One World (MLOW) offers an illustrative example of the ability of students who have mastered other languages to turn their ability to quietly focus, in solitude, to the creation of their winning essays, to collaborative teamwork in developing a UN presentation on the Sustainable Development Goals, and to the creation and delivery of their part of the team presentation.  Future steps include incorporation of the silent period into foreign language education to foster sustainable creativity, as well as inclusion of this additional benefit of foreign language learning in promotion and advocacy for foreign languages at all levels.
EFL Instructors’ Beliefs and Practices of Formative Assessment in Teaching Writing
Authors: Guadu Zelalem Berhanu , Boersma Emily Joy
Published: January 2018

The purpose of this study was twofold: firstly to assess EFL instructors’ beliefs and practices of formative assessment in teaching writing, and secondly to determine the relationship between their beliefs and practices of formative assessment. Utilizing a mixed methods approach and an explanatory design, both qualitative and quantitative data were gathered and analyzed. The data were generated from 25 EFL instructors teaching writing skills via a five point Likert scale questionnaire and semi-structured interview as well as students’ assessment papers. The Data from the close-ended questionnaire were analyzed through descriptive and inferential statistics whereas those from open-ended questionnaire, interview and students’ papers were analyzed through description and thematic categorization. The findings showed that writing skills teachers have a positive belief toward the importance of formative assessment, and they practice it at medium level. Moreover, the statistical analysis showed a positive, moderate and significant correlation between instructors’ beliefs and their practices (r (23) =.569, p<0.01). Nevertheless, the triangulation made with the qualitative data revealed instructors’ beliefs and their actual practices are incongruent.
The Use of Contrastive Discourse Markers by English-major Saudi Female Undergraduates at Qassim University in Academic Writing
Authors: Al-Owayid Rehab Hassan
Published: January 2018

Academic writing requires a skillful use of markers and linguistic features. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the efficacy of a one-time intervention on the use of contrastive discourse markers (CDMs) by Saudi female English major undergraduates. The present study also surveyed the opinions of writing skills instructors about CDM instruction and investigated factors that may affect the use of CDMs by undergraduates. A convenience sample of 100 students was selected from Levels 6 and 8: fifty students of each were recruited from the Colleges of Arts and Sciences in Buraydah and Onayzah cities, Saudi Arabia. Pre- and post-tests were used to collect data from student participants. Data from teacher-participants were also gathered through a questionnaire. Results of t-test analysis support the hypothesis of the significant impact of the intervention on the mean scores of the intervention group, M = 10.90 vs. M = 6.24, t(98) = 12.03, p < 0.0001. There were no significant differences by grade level. The writing skills teachers reported that the knowledge of the different meanings of CDMs affects students' use of the markers. Factors such as the inadequate practice of critical thinking skills, the types of writing tasks, and reading-writing connection may influence students' use of CDMs. The results suggest that the knowledge of CDMs and the different meanings that they signal can improve learners to perform better.
Using Audiobooks for Developing Listening Comprehension among Saudi EFL Preparatory Year Students
Authors: Mohamed Manal Mohamed Khodary
Published: January 2018

The current study investigated the usefulness of using audiobooks on developing listening comprehension among Saudi English as a Foreign Language (EFL) preparatory year students. It employed the quasi-experimental design which included two groups: an experimental group (n = 44) and a control group (n = 44). The participants were EFL preparatory year students at Arar Branch, Northern Border University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Before conducting the treatment, the experimental group and the control group were pre-tested by using the pre Listening Comprehension Test (LCT) for equivalence of listening comprehension. By the end of the treatment, the experimental group and the control group were post-tested by using the post LCT. The t-test was used to calculate the differences between the mean scores of the pre and post LCT. The results showed that a statistically significant difference between the mean scores of the experimental group and the control group on the post LCT in favor of the experimental group. The results also revealed that a statistically significant difference was found in the mean scores of the experimental group between the pre and post LCT in favor of the post LCT. Thus, it can be concluded that the audiobooks helped the experimental group develop listening comprehension as they exceeded the control group on the post LCT and they achieved a better result on the post LCT than the pre LCT.
Pre-service Teachers’ Perception of Teaching Future EFL Students: A Micro-ethnography Approach
Authors: Kusumaningrum Widya Ratna
Published: January 2018

As an archipelagic state, teaching English in Indonesia is not easy to deal with. Its diverse socio-cultural context causes the assumption that to teach English as a foreign language varies. This paper studies the pre-service students’ perspective on how to teach future EFL learners in the Indonesian context. The participants of this study were 150 pre-service teachers aged 20-24 years old who had comprehended such TEFL concept in the 50-hour course. Using a micro-ethnography approach, this issue was investigated and observed for one year. It tried to understand the perception of pre-service teachers in terms of putting theories into practices. To portray this perception, this study used fieldwork, interview and questionnaire. The result showed that students had a similar perception, in which they included the Indonesian context in designing a lesson as well as acting out as classroom teachers. In the interaction process, they tried to engage students with Indonesian context rather than English context. Yet, it results into bad implication in which both pre-service teachers and their future students will not learn English in the proper context. As pre-service teachers, they should not teach in their comfort zone and start to learn to include English socio-cultural context when they teach English.
Researching Innovations in English Language Writing Instruction: A State-of-the-art Review
Authors: Zhang Weiyu , Cheung Yin Ling
Published: January 2018

With academic writing viewed as an important aspect of language instruction, there is an increasing interest on how writing education could be improved to better accommodate the needs of multilingual learners. To evaluate the empirical evidence from published research studies, we conducted a systematic synthesis of the published research that has examined innovations in English-as-a-foreign language writing instruction in China, in contexts including tertiary, secondary, and elementary schools. General claims emerged across our analyses of 56 empirical studies published in the SSCI journals in English from 2005-2015. Each claim is supported by empirical evidence: (1) corpus-based approaches are useful in analyzing students’ writing; (2) students’ affective and cognitive factors may influence the outcome of writing instruction; (3) training may help teachers improve confidence in teaching writing; (4) differences may appear between assessment-oriented teacher feedback and non-assessment-oriented teacher feedback; (5) assessment for learning influences student learning of writing; (6) instruction may help writers acquire skills and knowledge of writing for publication; (7) technology-enabled instruction can help students in their writing process; and (8) novel and authentic writing tasks can promote students’ critical thinking ability.
Values Implied in the Wratisasana Palm Manuscripts as Guideline of Politeness in Language of the Character Education: A Study of Theo-Ethno Pedagogy
Authors: Relin Relin , Rasna I Wayan , Binawati W.S.
Published: January 2018

This study is aimed at clear descriptions of 1) the values of Wratisasana manuscript as character education guideline and 2) the advantage of Wratisasana educational values. The objects of this study are Wratisasana Palm Manuscripts. The main informants are Drs. I Ketut Dalem, M.Ag., and Drs. I Gede Sura, M.Si. Samples of this study were taken from some manuscripts and the main informants. The study applied qualitative research. The data were collected by using documentation method especially interview technique. The data obtained were analysed descriptively. Some findings from the analysis are 1) values in Wratisasana manuscript are (1) compassion, (2) faith and religiosity, (3) pedagogical value, (4) honesty, (5) politeness, (6) discipline, (7) responsibility, (8) tolerance, and (9) basic foundations of life; 2) the relevant values are peace loving, fond of reading and responsible being. Based on the findings it can be concluded that the educational values in Wratisasana manuscript are 1) compassion, 2) religiosity, 3) pedagogical value, 4) honesty, 5) politeness, 6) responsible being, 7) tolerance and foundation of life. The applicable values into character education namely (1) religiosity, (2) honesty, (3) tolerance, (4) discipline, (5) hard working, (6) friendliness, (7) love for peace, (8) fond of reading, and (9) responsibility. The conclusions lead to a recommendation to use the teaching of Wratisasana manuscript as one of references for character education in this case for teaching the students about politeness in language.
The Validity of Hybridity in Derek Walcott’s A Branch of the Blue Nile
Authors: Ramin Zohreh , Arvin Monireh
Published: January 2018

With A Branch of the Blue Nile (1983) Derek Walcott makes a strong statement for the validity of a hybrid West Indian culture. He portrays the relation between European, specifically English, as well as American and African culture as one that should not be marked by a hierarchy, placing the central culture and languages at the top and African or mixed cultures/languages at the bottom. Walcott’s strategy here is to show that the so–called standards, Shakespeare’s ‘classical’ plays and their language are already of a hybrid nature, and any attempt to characterise them as homogenous entities and preserve them as such may ultimately result in their inertness. What threatens a civilisation or culture, according to Walcott, is not some form of hybridity, but rather the closing off or preservation of artistic forms from other foreign influences because it makes these artistic forms incapable of interacting with the surrounding cultural environment. The authors of this paper while appreciating all the orchestrated bonus of the existing relevant criticisms on hybridity towards Walcott’s A Branch of the Blue Nile intend to examine the use of Bakhtinian notions with regard to language exemplifying Bakhtin’s view of linguistic interanimation and his insights into the “polyglotic” and “heteroglotic” nature of the play. The purpose of this article is to provide the readers with a quest for the formation of Caribbean identity, beyond dualism, through the vernacular. Walcott portrays the vernacular as being capable of voicing the ideas necessary to define one’s identity.
A Study on the Intercultural Communicative Competence Cultivation Strategy of International Secretarial Personnel under the Background of Globalization
Authors: Wang Qiuping
Published: January 2018

Under the background of globalization, intercultural communicative competence of international secretarial personnel is becoming more and more important. Therefore, it is necessary for colleges and universities to follow the needs of society and explore how to develop the intercultural communicative competence cultivation strategy of international secretarial personnel. This paper argues that at present, colleges and universities are obviously insufficient in the training of international secretarial personnel, and still need to be optimized from the aspects of textbooks, curriculum, second class and teacher quality so as to promote the intercultural communicative competence of international secretarial personnel.
Research Material Development of Drama Appreciation Based on Local Wisdom on Student in Indonesian Literature and Language Education Program at Muhammadiyyah University of Makassar Indonesia
Authors: Anzar Anzar , Anshari Anshari , Juanda Juanda
Published: January 2018

This research is a development research which aimed to produce teaching materials of the drama appreciation based on local wisdom on the students of the Indonesia literature and language education Faculty of Teacher and the Education Muhammadiyah University of Makassar which is valid, practical and effective. This is a Research and Development (R & D) study by using 4-D model of development Thiagarajan through stages: (1) assessment or initial tracing of topics that will be constructed or reconstructed; (2) development of teaching materials products from the findings that has been achieved; (3) experimental material trial testers that have been developed at the research site and the product will be used (4) improvement of teaching materials in accordance with the findings in the preliminary situation in the field. The results of the research are (1) The teaching materials product of drama appreciation based on Bugis Makassar local wisdom is valid because the average validity of the validation result of the material expert M = 3.54 is in the "Very Valid" class. (2) The product of study material of drama appreciation based on local wisdom of Bugis Makassar is considered practical because the average value obtained is M = 2, it can be concluded that this value belongs to the class " fully implemented” (3) based on effectiveness criteria of teaching materials product based on local wisdom drama appreciation Bugis Makassar declared effective as data showed that the maximum completeness met and that 91.89% of students who received a score of 75 and above.
On Translation Strategies of English Movie Titles
Authors: Bai Zhihong
Published: January 2018

Movie titles are films’ eyes, having double effect of art appreciation and commercial advertisement, and directly playing the role of guidance and promotion. Good film names could convey the films' content as well as arouse audience's interest to get great box. With the continuous development of international cultural exchanges, film begins to get the attention of every nation increasingly as an important media in cultural exchange. With the opening of the Chinese market, we have more and more English movies. The Chinese audiences need to understand the movie titles before they enjoy the movies. But due to different cultural traditions, contexts, customs and thinking modes between the western and eastern world, the choices of their film names embodies distinctive cultural features. Movie titles convey the story to the audience to attract them. This requires the translation of movie titles to be accurate and embody the commercial values. This paper analyzes the translation strategies of English movie titles and explores a new strategy according to previous research results and research methods. This paper introduces the definition of translation strategies and some features of English movie titles and functions. Then it describes the principles of English movie titles translation and points out the translation strategies of English film titles. It is hoped that the context can help people to realize the necessity of proper translation of English movie titles, and accordingly promote the development of films in international market.
Language Function Used in ELT Textbook Focused on Medical Conversation
Authors: Susanthi I Gusti Ayu Agung Dian , Pastika I Wayan , Yadnya Ida Bagus Putra , Satyawati Made Sri
Published: January 2018

The study of language in use has become a crucial issue in every branch of study, such as medical, politics, economics, etc. In doing the interaction for those purposes people use language. The theme of this research is language in use in medical conversation, the data taken from the midwifery conversation of some textbooks of English language teaching for midwifery. This study tries to reveal the language in use in midwifery conversation. On the basis of this research, the question rises as: What kind of language functions used in midwifery conversation? In order to answer this question the theories of language in used proposed by some experts such as Leech (1974), Cook (1994) and Halliday (1985) used as references in this study.  However the formulation of language in use redesigned based on the general guidelines in giving the counseling to the patient found in three ELT textbooks mostly used in Indonesian universities especially for midwifery students, this research also presents the occurrence of macro and micro language functions, moreover this research reveals the language in use both in English and Indonesian, thus it helps the teachers in stressing every point of language in use, so that they can easy to teach the expressions and the grammar which can be used in the conversation both in English and Indonesian.
Operationalising the Concept of Mediation in L2 Teacher Education
Authors: Azadi Ghasemali , Biria Reza , Nasri Mehdi
Published: January 2018

This study aims to operationlise the mediation concept on L2 teacher education. Sixty-two EFL teachers at Isfahan high schools were selected, a 30-item questionnaire was employed, and T-test and one-way ANOVA were used. The findings revealed mediation roles of the teacher educators were instructional while integrative and participative roles were not attended. Teacher educators presented knowledge, skills, and experiences in the forms of lectures and seminars with little attention to workshops and panel discussions. BA holders showed positive perception towards mediation role of teacher educators while MA holders did not. The least experienced L2 teachers indicated the most positive attitude towards the mediation role of the teacher educators while the most experienced L2 teachers showed the least positive attitude. The findings presented L2 teachers a deep insight of the mediation concept, teacher educators a better picture of possible flaws of their role, and policy makers to amend related drawbacks.
A Study of Humor in Bone Regency: A Socio-pragmatic Review
Authors: Taufiq Andi Muhammad , Anshari Anshari , Ramly Ramly
Published: January 2018

The purpose of this study is to examine and describe the form, function, characteristics, and types of humor language style of Bone regency. This research was a qualitative research. The data were obtained from people in Bone regency whose conversation used the language style of humor. The data were collected by using observation and interview. The results of this study indicate that the humor language style of people in Bone regency tends to use the word excessively in expressing pleasure, anger, annoyance, and sympathy, and it serves as a tool of criticism to carry out all wishes and all the purpose of ideas or messages. In communicating, Bone people do not pay attention to forms of politeness in the language when they make sense of humor so that humor impressed a little bit impolite so that it tends to embarrass the interlocutors. It may also lower their self-esteem or injure and even sometimes insinuate.
An Analysis of Characteristics and Relationships of the Characters in the Big Bang Theory from the Perspective of Turn-taking Mechanism
Authors: Shi Tingting
Published: January 2018

Turn-taking mechanism was proposed by Harvey Sack and his colleagues in the 1790s, and it was the central part of conversation analysis. The researchers at home and abroad have started to make a research on it after them. The researchers abroad investigated it from the institutional talk, such as TV, telephone talk and doctor patient interaction, and so on. Others, the researchers at home mainly published some articles without analyzing the specific conversations based on the foreign studies. The paper will analyze the characters’ relationships and characteristics in the Big Bang Theory from the perspective of turning-taking mechanism. The significance of the study is to make people understand the features of the conversation. From the perspective of pragmatics, we will analyze the turn-taking mechanism, with which we can study the rule of using language.
Local Wisdom Values in Balinese Folktales That Are Relevant to Character Education for the First Grade at Primary School
Authors: Relin Relin , W. Rasna, I. , S Binawati, W.
Published: January 2018

This study was aimed at finding out: 1) what folklores are suitable to be taught to the first graders at primary school and 2) what local wisdom values are there in the folklores. For this purpose, the sample was determined purposively, i.e., the first grade teachers who teach Balinese language, experts in folktales (Made Taro, DK Djareken, Buda Gautama, Suardiana and education experts. The data were collected through documents recording method, data cards and interview. The data were processed descriptive- qualitatively. The results showed that 1) the folktales that are suitable to be taught to the first graders at primary school are as follows: 1) folktales that teach the students to speak interact and socialize politely, education, and storytelling for 5 minutes. The local wisdom values contained in folktales are: 1) compassion (karuna); 2) Tri Hita Karana; 3) Tri Parartha; 4) Lascarya 5) alertness; 6) Kharma phala; 7) politeness; 8) Tri Dandim; 9) Mitia Hrdaya. In this context, the suggestion made is that the folktales that are suitable to be taught should meet the criteria (honesty, faith, and respect) that facilitate the teaching and learning process.
The Effect of Emotional Intelligence and Gender on Writing Proficiency of Iranian EFL Learners
Authors: Mohammadi Zohreh , Izadpanah Siros
Published: January 2018

This study examined the relationship between Emotional Intelligence (EI) and mental health on writing proficiency of Iranian EFL learners. The data included two groups of males and females in intermediate and advanced level of English language learning from International Center (IT) and Iran Zamin institutes, Zanjan, Iran. The groups were compared based on their emotional intelligence and mental health on writing proficiency. The participants of this study were Iranian EFL learners. Forty out of 60 completely submitted the questionnaire forms and essay writing task, 21 samples of 40 were males from IT institute and 19 samples were females from Iran Zamin institute. They were asked to fill out the personality questionnaire of EI and writing an essay. The writings were scored by the researchers. The collected data were analyzed - using Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and independent T-Test. Overall, the statistical analysis indicated that there was no meaningful relationship between emotional intelligence and writing proficiency between the two groups of men and women. The findings of this study can lead EFL teachers and practitioners to understand the weak and strong points of each individual and, accordingly, make up for the weakness and meet the needs of different individual learners.
On the Relationship of Students' English Learning Beliefs and Learning Strategy in the University
Authors: Zhou Zhen
Published: January 2018

The research conducts a questionnaire survey and interview on students' English learning beliefs and learning strategy in a particular college in Jiangxi province in order to have a better understanding of college students' English learning beliefs and learning strategy, and the results indicate that the learning beliefs of students is in a middle level, the mean of motivation expectation is the strongest, students overestimate learning difficulties, underestimate their own learning ability, and they have certain wrong beliefs on the understanding of the nature of learning; As for English learning strategy, students' using level is medium, compensation strategy is the most frequently used, and the least frequently used is the memory strategy and affective strategy. English learning beliefs and learning strategy are closely related; English learning beliefs and learning strategy are not correlated with English achievement respectively. Therefore, teachers should help students to establish correct learning beliefs, and pay attention to gender differences in English learning, enhance male students' self-confidence, encourage female students to enhance their confidence, and guide male students to use more memory strategy and social strategy in order to improve the quality of English teaching in normal universities. The purpose of this study is to better understand the English learning beliefs and learning strategy used by normal university students, and to provide some references for improving the quality of English teaching in universities.
The Efficacy of Pair Interaction in Teaching Communicative English Grammar
Authors: R Suhartina
Published: January 2018

Grammar learning for proficiency has been debated by the language acquisition and linguists proponents. The study aimed at finding out the best grammar teaching strategies for proficiency to be used in actual communication. The study used a quasi-experimental non-equivalent control group design that involved 120 students of English Department of four different private universities in Makassar which were selected randomly from the same year intake. The data were collected through proficiency test which covered the aspects of grammar, listening, speaking, reading and writing. Multivariate analysis was used to examine the proficiency differences among students who learned grammar through pair interaction and those learned through small groups interaction in five areas of proficiency. The data analysis results and interpretation showed that students who learned grammar through pair interaction activities outperformed their peers in small groups interaction to a large extent in all areas of language proficiency. Pair-Interaction activities can be used extensively for low proficiency students in tertiary education as it provides more opportunities for students to practice accross the scheduled communicative grammar activities.
A Study on the Application of Paraphrase Strategy in the Translation from Chinese to English
Authors: Yan Yue
Published: January 2018

Paraphrase as a kind of translation strategy is often used in translation between two languages, it is also one of the ways to solve translation problems, especially the problem that two languages are not equal at word level. In this paper, the author’s material is ‘Farewell: Departing for “Downunder” ’from Six chapters from my life “downunder”, which is written by Yang Jiang. The objective is Howard Goldblatt’s English translation. The theoretical basis is Mona Baker’s explanation of paraphrase from the perspective of linguistics in her book In Other Words - A coursebook on translation. The paper only studies words and expressions, it explores the reasons to cause unequal problems at word level between English and Chinese, and it mainly studies the application of paraphrase strategy from 3 aspects with quantitative and qualitative approaches: firstly, according to Mona Baker’ s definition about paraphrase strategy in the book of In Other Words, paraphrase strategy can be divided into “Translation by paraphrase using a related word” and “Translation by paraphrase using unrelated words”, on the basis of this division, the paper counts the number of the two paraphrase strategies used by Howard Goldblatt. Then, the paper contrasts and analyzes the statistical results. At last, the author explores the reasons paraphrase strategy. And the study can improve translation.
Research Methods in TEFL Studies: Descriptive Research, Case Study, Error Analysis, and R & D
Authors: Atmowardoyo Haryanto
Published: January 2018

Articles published in International journals have rich potentials of learning sources since their publication has been scholarly processed through the hands of journal editors. Readers can get a lot of benefits from them. One lesson we might get is the way the writers conducted their researches. Thus, we can learn the research methods from the models found in journal articles. This paper will elaborate the research methods used in the teaching of English as a foreign language (TEFL). The elaboration is formulated from the research methods used by journal article writers around the world. A number of international journal articles in TEFL are taken as the corpus of the study. Using a grounded theory, varieties of research methods in TEFL are investigated. Among of them are case study, quasi experiment, qualitative experiment, meta analysis, descriptive research, activity theory, error analysis, R & D, action research, research and development (R&D), and survey method. Due to the limited space, however, the paper will only describe four popular methods: descriptive research, case study, error analysis, and R & D. The description of each method is supported with examples found in international journal articles published around the world.
Incorporating Humor to Develop EFL Learner's Speaking Ability and Willingness to Communicate
Authors: Farahani Ali Akbar Khomeyjani , Abdollahi Zahra
Published: January 2018

The present research attempted at finding out whether using humor techniques in the classroom is effective in developing EFL learner`s speaking ability, and second to investigate the effectiveness of these techniques in developing EFL learner`s willingness to communicate. For reaching the aims of this study, Iranian adult intermediate EFL learners were chosen based on intact group sampling. First, all the participants took The Oxford Placement test as a homogeneity test. Then, a speaking ability and willingness to communicate pre-test was administered to measure the participants’ initial level of speaking ability and willingness to communicate. After that, when the experimental group learnt the speaking ability using humor techniques, the control group just experienced their routine method of teaching. After conducting 8 sessions of the course treatment, a post-test with the same content as the pre-test was conducted one by one for all the participants in order to measure their achievement in English speaking ability. For data analysis, SPSS software was used to run independent samples t-test to make comparisons between the experimental and the control groups’ test scores. The results indicated that there is a significant difference in level of 95% certainty in terms of speaking ability and 99% certainty in terms of willingness to communicate between the learners’ scores in experimental group which incorporate techniques of humor in EFL classrooms and the learners of the control group.
Traumas caused by orthodontic treatment: A retrospective review
Authors: Sam George
Published: January 2018

Even though orthodontic treatment is indispensable for nearly 16-20% of the whole world population with functional efficiency, structural balance and aesthetic harmony as its main advantages and rationale, the treatment particularly with a range of removable, fixed, functional and extraoralorthopaedic appliances can cause various deleterious hard tissue and soft tissue injuries in particular, intraorally. These intraoral and extra oral hard and soft tissue injuries can be iatrogenic, self-induced, caused by bad patient compliance or just by accidents intervened by the patient while wearing the appliance. These traumas/injuries are not uncommon since an orthodontic treatment are mainly done with stainless steel [metal] and the treatment usually continues for a long period of time ranging from 6- 36 months in themajority of the cases. The high pervasiveness of individuals with dental trauma preceding to orthodontic treatment justify the safety measures that should be followed before and during treatment while bearing in mind all the possible effects of orthodontic movement on traumatized teeth. Among the major traumatic dental injuries, avulsion with subsequent tooth reimplantation entails a higher than average risk of complications, such as pulp necrosis, root resorption,and ankyloses. Therefore, it gives orthodontists numerous reasons for apprehension during orthodontic treatment.
Morphology and anatomy: leaf, petiole and seed of Disospyros kaki Thunb. (Ebenaceae)
Authors: Paudel Niroj , Heo Kweon
Published: January 2018

Background: Disospyros Kaki Thunb. is native in Asia has fleshy fruit. The anatomy of leaf, petiole and seed coat is the additional role for the phylogeny of the plant.

Methods: Plant material was Dipospyros Kaki Thunb. was selected and the experiment was done using the resin methods. For epidermal cell and stomata, we peeled the epidermal layer after that photograph was taken.  

Results: Presence of trichome hair, the density of stomata, bicollatrol type of vascular bundle, testal layer, seed xylem were the distinguishing characteristics of the plant which focus on the Ebenaceae.

Conclusions: Presence of trichome and vascular bundle is importance for the phylogeny of the plant. 
A clinical study on genital warts and HIV in Bangladesh
Authors: Jakir Hossain Md. , Siddiqi Muhammad Afser , Rahman M. Mostafizur , Khan Khairun Nahar , Imtiaj Ahmed
Published: January 2018

Background: Like other sexually transmitted diseases (STD), ano-genital warts (AGW) is associated with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and this study of AGW was conducted among HIV positive and HIV negative patients. The aim of the study was to study the risk factors and clinical presentations of ano-genital warts in HIV infected patients.

Methods: A comparative, cross-sectional, descriptive study of 25 HIV positive and 25 HIV negative (n=50) AGW patients between 15-60 years of both sex was conducted in Northern part of Bangladesh from July 2015 to December 2016.  

Results: Significant association of HIV positivity (p<0.05) was observed between age group of 15-30 years and HIV negative status (p<0.05) in age group of 31-45 years. HIV positive status significantly higher in patients with self-admitted multiple sexual partners (p<0.01), homosexuality (p<0.05) and presentation with anal warts (p<0.01). HIV negative status correlated significantly with single sexual partner admission (p<0.01) and hetero-sexuality (p<0.05). Gender did not show significant association with number of sexual partners or HIV positivity. Extra-genital or only genital warts had no association with HIV status. Co-STDs though more in number in seropositive group, did not show any significant association with HIV positivity (p>0.05). No patient presented with changes of malignancy. Four were adolescents below 19 years. Two patients had atypical presentations of giant condylomata i.e., Buschke-Lowenstein tumour (BLT).

Conclusions: HIV positivity was significantly associated with the risk factors of age below 30 years, homo sexuality and multiple sexual partners. Anal warts were significantly common in HIV positive patients. Four adolescents with AGW underline the need for high risk behaviour counselling. No patient had malignant AGW. Follow up of these patients with human papilloma virus (HPV) sub-typing is necessary. 
Analysis of frequency and risk factors for intrauterine growth restriction
Authors: Shrestha Abha
Published: January 2018

Background: Intrauterine growth restricted (IUGR) fetuses are at greater risk of developing fetal hypoxia, neonatal complications, impaired neurodevelopment, and also neonatal intensive care unit stay and neonatal mortality. They are also known to develop metabolic syndrome in adult life. So, the main objective of this study was to find out the frequency of intrauterine growth restriction, to identify the maternal and placental risk factors associated with intrauterine growth restriction and its perinatal outcome amongst pregnant women attending the Obstetric Outpatient Department in Dhulikhel Hospital, Kathmandu University Hospital.

Methods: A prospective study was conducted from June 2011 to June 2017, at Dhulikhel Hospital, Kathmandu University Hospital, Kavre, Nepal. A singleton pregnancy, above 28 weeks of gestation with clinical diagnosis of IUGR and confirmed by ultrasonography were included in the study. The statistical analysis was performed by Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS) 20.0 software.  

Results: Maternal risk factors like preeclampsia, anaemia, low pregnancy body mass index and placental factors like retroplacental hemorrhage were mainly responsible for intrauterine growth restriction.

Conclusions: Antenatal risk factors responsible for IUGR are important for the management of IUGR pregnancies and to prevent adverse perinatal outcome. 
Assessment of medication prescription pattern at Bole health center, Ethiopia
Authors: Jabo Sahle Asfaw , Tebeka Abubeker Goitabe , Asebe Degemu S. , Beri Frehiwot Zerihun , Temesgen Dejen Melese , Beyene Abebech Tefera , Gemeda Hirut Basha , Genemo Aliyi Amano , Arega Eyob Debebe , Yilma Feven Negash
Published: January 2018

Background: Inappropriate use of medicines becomes a common global problem. The aim of this study was to assess the drug prescription patterns at Bole health center, using some of the World Health Organization (WHO) core drug use indicators.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the current prescribing practices at the health center. A sample of 720 prescriptions was selected by using stratified random sampling method from 11,040 prescriptions written for the 5 month period from August 1- December 30, 2016. Data were collected from prescription papers filed in the pharmacy.  

Results: The average number of drugs prescribed per encounter was 2.03. The percentage of encounters in which antibiotics prescribed was 67.36%. The proportion of drugs prescribed by generic name and from an essential drug list was 98.14% and 99.25%, respectively.

Conclusions: The prescribing practice for antibiotic and average number of medicines per prescription shows deviation from the standard recommended by WHO. Great emphasis should be given to restrict inappropriate use of antibiotics. 
Femoral diaphysis fractures: treatment with unreamed intramedullary nailing and its results
Authors: Demiroğlu Murat
Published: January 2018

Background: Femoral shaft fractures are an important cause of mortality and morbidity in the lower extremity injuries.

Methods: 21 femoral body fractures of 19 adult patients were treated with the unreamed intramedullary nailing. Of 19 patients 14 were males and 5 were females.

Results: All fractures healed. Deep infection was not encountered. According to the Thoresen criteria, the rate of excellent-good results was 78%. In two patients, who had also cranial trauma, development of excessive callus was observed. None of the patients required a secondary operation.

Conclusions: Unreamed intramedullary nailing, if it can be implemented with closed technique and with double lock screw at the distal side, provides satisfactory results in the femoral shaft fractures.

 
Public relations for the next generation: Middle East Public Relations Association (MEPRA)’s engagement with students
Authors: Michael Noela , Gorpe T. Serra
Published: January 2018

This paper discusses the importance and benefits for students of an outside the classroom learning experience, attending an event presentation and workshop organized as part of a class assignment with the Middle East Public Relations Association (MEPRA) and industry guest speakers. This study showcases MEPRA’s outreach attempts to students of public relations and communications, which turned into a learning process for the students where not only was the learning outcome of the course achieved, but also the engagement with the MEPRA empowered the students. Data was obtained from an exploratory questionnaire sent to all students who attended the event. The sample included 75 surveys, of which 57 were deemed usable. The results of the survey indicate that the greatest gain for the students was related to awareness and knowledge (information and cognition) about the subject matter gained from the presentation by industry guest speakers at the event. This paper provides insights into the importance of fostering collaborations between a professional association and students of a federal government university in Dubai (United Arab Emirates). The study suggests that future activities driven by students, the professional association and faculty can contribute to developing professionalism in a growing profession in the UAE, ultimately leading to an effective learning environment. This study also emphasizes the importance of experiential learning in an environment where students come from conservative, close-knit families.