bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Transformational Host Communities: Justice Tourism and the Water Regime in Palestine
Authors: Isaac Rami K.
Published: July 2017

In this article, Isaac argues that since 1948, Israel's control of water resources has been the result of military actions that forced between 700,000 and 800,000 Palestinians into exile and claimed the most fertile part of the disputed territory for the state. It thereby paved the
way for subsequent military occupation. Isaac maintains that the Israeli occupation has violated the Palestinian right to the equitable and reasonable utilization of shared water resources. In his view, from the end of the 1967 war, Israel initiated its occupation of the territories of Palestine
and quickly imposed military order with a view to achieving full control over land and water resources. To Isaac, these military orders served to dissolve the pre-1967 legal systems and which consisted of Ottoman, British, Jordanian (West Bank) and Egyptian (Gaza Strip) laws. This critical
review article concentrates on the concept of justice tourism as a response to these assumed Israeli violations of Palestinian rights to equitable and reasonable utilization of shared water resources. The article sheds light on why and how justice tourism conceivably contributes to
the Palestine host communities' transformation and hence to the development of higher level self-consciousness about their rights as "a sovereign nation." (Abstract by the Reviews Editor)
The Prevalence, Incidence, and Progression of Hand Osteoarthritis in Relation to Body Mass Index, Smoking, and Alcohol Consumption
Authors: Haugen Ida K. , Magnusson Karin , Turkiewicz Aleksandra , Englund Martin
Published: July 2017

Objective.

To estimate the extent that overweight/obesity, smoking, and alcohol are associated with prevalence and longitudinal changes of radiographic hand osteoarthritis (OA).

Methods.

Participants from the Osteoarthritis Initiative (n = 1232) were included, of whom 994 had 4-year followup data. In analyses on incident hand OA, only persons without hand OA at baseline were included (n = 406). Our exposure variables were overweight/obesity [body mass index (BMI), waist circumference], smoking (current/former, smoking pack-yrs), and alcohol consumption (drinks/week). Using linear and logistic regression analyses, we analyzed possible associations between baseline exposure variables and radiographic hand OA severity, erosive hand OA, incidence of hand OA, and radiographic changes. Analyses were adjusted for age, sex, and education.

Results.

Neither overweight nor obesity were associated with hand OA. Current smoking was associated with less hand OA in cross-sectional analyses, whereas longitudinal analyses suggested higher odds of incident hand OA in current smokers (OR 2.20, 95% CI 1.02–4.77). Moderate alcohol consumption was associated with higher Kellgren-Lawrence sum score at baseline (1–3 drinks: 1.55, 95% CI 0.43–2.67) and increasing sum score during 4-year followup (4–7 drinks: 0.33, 95% CI 0.01–0.64). Moderate alcohol consumption (1–7 drinks/week) was associated with 2-fold higher odds of erosive hand OA, which was statistically significant. Additional adjustment for BMI gave similar strengths of associations.

Conclusion.

Overweight/obesity were not associated with hand OA. Contrasting results were observed for smoking and hand OA, suggesting lack of association. Moderate alcohol consumption was associated with hand OA severity, radiographic changes, and erosive hand OA, warranting further investigation.
HLA-DRB1 Alleles as Genetic Risk Factors for the Development of Anti-MDA5 Antibodies in Patients with Dermatomyositis
Authors: Chen Zhiyong , Wang Yan , Kuwana Masataka , Xu Xue , Hu Wei , Feng Xuebing , Wang Hong , Kimura Akinori , Sun Lingyun
Published: July 2017

Objective.

Patients with polymyositis/dermatomyositis (PM/DM) who express anti-melanoma differentiation associated protein 5 (anti-MDA5) antibodies frequently present with interstitial lung disease (ILD). The aim of this study was to investigate the association of HLA-DRB1 with anti-MDA5 expression in PM/DM.

Methods.

The frequency of DRB1 alleles was compared among 70 patients with PM, 104 patients with DM, and 400 healthy controls in a Han Chinese population.

Results.

Frequencies of DRB1*04:01 [17.0% vs 1.3%, corrected p value (pc) = 3.8 × 10−8, OR 16.2, 95% CI 6.6–39.7] and *12:02 (42.6% vs 19.3%, pc = 0.008, OR 3.1, 95% CI 1.7–5.7) were significantly higher in anti-MDA5–positive patients with PM/DM compared with the controls. The frequencies of DRB1*04:01 (p = 5.2 × 10−6, OR 17.1, 95% CI 5.3–54.9) and *12:02 (p = 3.8 × 10−4, OR 3.1, 95% CI 1.7–5.7) in anti-MDA5–positive patients with DM-ILD were higher than in the controls, whereas the frequencies of DRB1*04:01 and *12:02 did not differ between the anti-MDA5–negative patients with DM-ILD and controls. No difference in the frequency of DRB1 alleles, other than *04:01, carrying the “shared epitope” (SE), i.e., *01:01, *01:02, *04:05, and *10:01, was observed between the controls and patients with DM stratified by the presence of anti-MDA5 and ILD.

Conclusion.

DRB1*04:01 and *12:02 confer susceptibility to anti-MDA5 antibody production in DM, which cannot be explained by the SE hypothesis.
Clinical Utility of YKL-40 in Polymyositis/dermatomyositis-associated Interstitial Lung Disease
Authors: Hozumi Hironao , Fujisawa Tomoyuki , Enomoto Noriyuki , Nakashima Ran , Enomoto Yasunori , Suzuki Yuzo , Kono Masato , Karayama Masato , Furuhashi Kazuki , Murakami Akihiro , Inui Naoki , Nakamura Yutaro , Mimori Tsuneyo , Suda Takafumi
Published: July 2017

Objective.

Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is involved in polymyositis/dermatomyositis (PM/DM), a disease associated with poor prognoses. Chitinase-3-like-1 protein (YKL-40) has pleiotropic biological activities involved in inflammation, cell proliferation, and tissue remodeling; however, the clinical application of YKL-40 remains limited. We investigated the clinical significance of YKL-40 in PM/DM–ILD.

Methods.

Sixty-nine consecutive patients with PM/DM–ILD and 34 healthy controls were analyzed. We measured baseline and followup serum YKL-40 using an ELISA, evaluated the association of YKL-40 with clinical variables and survival, and examined YKL-40 expression in lung specimens from patients with PM/DM–ILD using immunohistochemistry.

Results.

Serum YKL-40 levels were significantly greater in patients with PM/DM–ILD compared with healthy controls (p < 0.0001). Serum YKL-40 was correlated with arterial oxygen pressure (r = –0.40, p < 0.001) and percent-predicted DLCO (r = –0.41, p = 0.01) in patients with PM/DM–ILD. Multivariate Cox hazard analysis demonstrated that higher serum YKL-40 and lower percent-predicted forced vital capacity were independently associated with a poor prognosis. Immunohistochemistry analysis demonstrated that YKL-40 expression was enhanced in aggregated intraalveolar macrophages and hyperproliferative alveolar epithelial cells in patients with PM/DM–ILD.

Conclusion.

YKL-40 is a promising biomarker for evaluating PM/DM–ILD activity/severity and predicting disease prognosis. Insights into YKL-40 might help elucidate the pathogenesis of PM/DM–ILD.
The Role of Discourse Prominence in the Resolution of Referential Ambiguities Evidence from Co-reference in Italian
Authors: Frana Ilaria
Published: July 2017

In this paper, I investigate the role of discourse prominence in the resolution of referential ambiguities displayed by anaphoric null subject pronouns (pro) and relational nouns (RNs) in Italian. I advance the hypothesis that, in case of referential ambiguity (when more than one discourse referent qualifies as possible antecedent), the preferred antecedent for pro (or RN) is the most prominent discourse referent available. I will refer to this hypothesis as the Discourse-Prominence Hypothesis of Antecedent Assignment (DPH). To support the DPH, I present evidence from two questionnaire studies on intra-sentential anaphora and RNs in Italian. Experiment 1 investigates the DPH with respect to the resolution of anaphoric pro in Italian, thus contributing to the debate on whether the referring preferences of pronouns in pro-drop languages are governed by purely syntactic factors or information (Samek-Lodovici 1996; Carminati 2002; Frana 2007; Mayol & Clark 2010). This experiment shows that the preferred antecedent for Italian pro is the DP that realizes the most prominent discourse referent (Topic), independently of its syntactic position (subject/object). Experiment 2 , tested the DPH on the interpretation of ambiguous RNs. The results of this experiment showed an interesting trend in the direction predicted by the DPH, however, the data was not statistically significant. Both experiments provide evidence against a purely syntactic account of referential ambiguity resolutions and support the idea that information about the prominence status of discourse referents influences the processor in resolving referential ambiguities.
Assessing Text Easibility of University Students’ EFL Writing in Tanzania
Authors: Akiley Msuya Erasmus
Published: July 2017

This study is a comparative appraisal of text easibility of EFL University student writers across six disciplines: Language and Linguistics, History, Development Studies, Botanical Science, Chemistry and ICT. Each of these was comparably appraised across three years of study that characterize academic length for a Bachelor’s Degree in such disciplines. The study participants were 90 in total (30 from each year of study) and were purposively selected by the criteria of their willingness to cooperate. Each was served with a short writing task relevant to their area of study but specifically requiring them to link what they were being talk with their career aspirations. Their essays were word processed, copied and pasted to Coh-Metrix software for text easibility analysis in the aspects of syntactic simplicity, word concreteness, referential cohesion and deep cohesion. The findings revealed that that deep cohesion was high in History, Development Studies, Chemistry and ICT while narrativity was poor in all disciplines except History and ICT. Narrativity was neither dominant nor poor in any disciplines except ICT. As for years of study first year students did better than other years in deep cohesion and referential and deep cohesions but generally poor in word concreteness. Third year were good in referential cohesion but poor in syntactic simplicity while first year were referential cohesion.
Impact of Budgetary Participation and Organizational Commitment on Managerial Performance in Nigeria
Authors: Oluwalope Adenuga Abiola , Sunday Ojediran
Published: July 2017

Following the prevailing uncertainties in Nigerian business environment, managers and stakeholders require the need to be poised, prepared and plan to compete favourably under the rapidly shifting condition in order to remain relevant and profitable. This study examines the relationship between budget participation, organizational commitment and managerial performance in Nigeria. Primary data were obtained from copies of questionnaire distributed to members of staff at managerial levels at Nestle NIG-food, Nigerian Breweries-drinks, Flour mills-food, 7up Bottling company-drinks, Cadbury-food, Unilever-food, Vitafoam NIG-others categorized based on the nature of their business and analysed through use of Statistical Package of Social Science (SPSS, Version 20) as correlation and regression were used to evaluate relationships among variables. Findings revealed that participation in budget activities and commitment to work done by individuals in an organization positively impacts managerial performance, hence this assertion cannot be overlooked or ignored as it supports the empirical body of positive impacts. It is therefore recommended that organizations should engage in activities that will promote budget participation and commitment and also consider other processes and events that could be explored upon towards enhancing managerial performance.
The invisibility of the patient’s family in nursing documentation: An integrative review
Authors: Laitinen Heleena , Paavilainen Eija
Published: July 2017

Objective: The objective of this integrative review is to present the current state of research knowledge regarding references to the patient’s family in documentation in health care settings.Methods: Ten (N = 10) research articles from 1998 to 2014 were found and analyzed using inductive, thematic analysis. All articles were evaluated using the critical appraisal tools developed by the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI).Results: Two main themes were revealed: the content and the structural aspects of family documentation. Quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods were used in generating the data of the reviewed articles. Reference to families in documentation was considered important in all the articles. Structural aspects consisted of semi-structured forms, summary notes and a tick-box system for marking the issues which were discussed with families. The classification system and outcomes assessment regarding family documentation were investigated, and their importance was highlighted. The content of family documentation was typified, for example, by parenting issues in mental health status and how the parents cope when a child is ill. Difficult life situations and advanced care planning brought families into the documentation, albeit rather infrequently. Similarly, references to counseling families or considering their psychosocial, spiritual and cultural dimensions were rarely found in the literature. Additionally, the family’s importance in supporting the patient’s care was often missed in documentation.Conclusions: The results show the necessity of developing both family nursing and its documentation. Consequently, in order to improve the quality of both of these, more investigation from multiple perspectives is needed.
The Use of Keyword Video Captioning on Vocabulary Learning Through Mobile-Assisted Language Learning
Authors: Mahdi Hassan Saleh
Published: July 2017

Video captioning is a useful tool for language learning. In the literature, video captioning has been investigated by many studies and the results indicated that video captioning may foster vocabulary learning. Most of the previous studies have investigated the effect of full captions on vocabulary learning. One of the key aspects of vocabulary learning is pronunciation. However, the use of mobile devices for teaching pronunciation has not been investigated conclusively. Therefore, this paper attempts to examine the effect of implementing keyword video captioning on L2 pronunciation using mobile devices. Thirty-four Arab EFL university learners participated in this study and were randomly assigned to two groups (key-word captioned video and full captioned video). The study is an experimental one in which pre- and post-tests were administered to both groups. The results indicated that keyword captioning is a useful mode to improve learner’s pronunciation. The post test results indicate that there was no statistically significant difference between the two modes of captioning on vocabulary learning. However, learners at keyword video captioning performed better that full video captioning.
Investigating Indonesian EFL Learners’ Learning and Acquiring English Vocabulary
Authors: Patahuddin Patahuddin , Syawal Syawal , Bin-Tahir Saidna Zulfiqar
Published: July 2017

The process of how EFL learners’ learning and acquiring English vocabulary has become the popular issue since English has considered as an International language in Indonesian schools. In this study, the researchers focused on verifying learners’ strategy in enhancing their English vocabulary. This study was quantitative research that employed longitudinal survey. The subject of this study was learners of junior high school in Parepare. The data gained through questioner, which was distributed to 100 students at the junior high school in Parepare. The findings indicated that the EFL learners’ strategy in learning English vocabulary such as doing the assignment, practicing English pronunciation, learning English tenses, practicing English dialogue, English translation exercise, reading English text, memorizing and writing practice. In addition, the Indonesian EFL learners acquired English vocabulary through the dictionary, reading English book, listening to and watching English songs and movies, playing the game, the internet, and reading English advertisement.
Rhetorical Structure of Superstitious Images in Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Authors: Abdulmajeed Rufaidah Kamal
Published: July 2017

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge was written in a way to inspire fear and create a somber, dark and terrifying atmosphere to attract the readers’ attention and to steer the attention of the readers to the themes of supernatural events and deep superstitions, thus highlighting these salient themes.The main aim of this study is to highlight the superstitious images in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and analyse them according to Hoey’s (1983) Problem-Solution Pattern of rhetorical structure of discourse analysis by showing how certain lexical items can signal the narrative structure of the whole texts. The discourse analysis of the stanzas that carry superstitious images shows that this theory is applicable not only to sentences but to poems as well. Stanzas as grammatical units with complete thoughts can be analysed as well since they have the same narrative structure. The results show that all the stanzas, the subject of the analysis, have the rhetorical narrative structure components. They are namely; situation, problem, response, evaluation whether positive or negative.
Challenges of Teaching English Language in a Multilingual Setting: An Investigation at Government Girls Secondary Schools of Quetta, Baluchistan, Pakistan
Authors: Rasheed Shumaila , Zeeshan Muhammad , Zaidi Najia Asrar
Published: July 2017

Baluchistan is a multi-linguistic and multi-ethnic province of Pakistan. In this region, the inhabitants for communication purpose speak a number of local languages such as Baluchi, Brahvi, Pashto, Saraiki, Punjabi, Urdu, Sindhi and Persian. Students who attend the government schools speak these languages. This study aimed to explore the challenges faced by the secondary school female teachers while teaching the English language in their multilingual classrooms. The purposive sampling was used and 10 government secondary school female teachers participated in the study. The data was collected through a semi-structured interview protocol and classroom observation checklist. The data was analyzed by using thematic analyses technique. The findings of the study revealed a number of challenges. Teaching English language in a multilingual context is an enormous challenge for the English teachers due to linguistic diversity in the classrooms. The students in the multilingual classrooms lack confidence to use English language because they hesitate to commit mistakes. The curriculum may be inappropriate for helping students to improve their English proficiency. In the multilingual classrooms code-switching is commonly used by the teachers to instruct the students. The study suggests that; the teachers may be trained to cope with the challenges they face in their multilingual classrooms.
A Study of Probable Reasons for Saudi Learners’ Weakness in Listening Comprehension
Authors: Almjlad Sultan Samah A.
Published: July 2017

This study investigates the listening comprehension problems of Saudi students. Forty Saudi postgraduate students from both genders (24 males and 16 females) participated in the study and all participants were postgraduate students at the University of Essex in the UK. The questionnaire was the only instrument used to collect data. The main findings of the study discovered were related to listeners first. Secondly, the study showed a significant difference between the academic lectures or seminars in five problems related to both listener and text, while thirdly the study showed a non-significant difference between the Saudi male and female students in terms of listening comprehension. Fourthly, the study discovered that the LC problems vary based on the learners’ academic levels as the LC problems get fewer when the academic level gets higher, confirming negative correlations between academic level and LC problems. After applying aggression analysis on some variables, the study also demonstrated that the length of studying English has a remarkable effect on the LC for Saudi students.
Investigating Iraqi EFL Learners’ Performance in Utilizing the Speech Acts of Advice and Suggestion
Authors: Darweesh Abbas Deygan , Al-Aadili Nesaem Mehdi
Published: July 2017

This study explores the pragmatic strategies of the English speech acts of “suggestion” and “advice” as used by Iraqi EFL university students. The data analyzed in this study were collected in the Dept. of English, College of Education, University of Babylon. The subjects encompass 50 Iraqi EFL undergraduate learners who are native speakers of Arabic. The gender of the subjects is taken into consideration during the execution of the speech acts in question. The instrument of the study is a discourse completion task (DCT) consisting of two questions. In responding to the questions, the participants are asked to pay heed to the social variable of status to see whether it affects the execution of the speech acts under study.
Scholastic Grammar in College English Teaching
Authors: Peng Yanghua
Published: July 2017

The research of grammar has been received much concern at home and abroad and the instruction of grammar is a focus and difficulty in English language teaching. The role of scholastic grammar has been paid little attention to for a long time. Some linguists and teachers believe that the traditional or school grammar should be the key in the classroom instruction, but others argue that scholastic grammar is a vital part in language itself. Based on the theories of second language learning and the viewpoints of Otto. Jespersen and H. Poutsma about scholastic grammar, this article conducts a research in colleges and analyzes the stylistic effect of attributive post-position from scholastic grammar perspective and finds that it is necessary to reconsider the important role of scholastic grammar in college English teaching. The paper ends with a conclusion about some implications of the present research for college English language teaching in China.
On Text Interpretation, Summary Production, and Pragmatic Fatigue in EAP Written Discourse
Authors: Alhussain Aisha M.
Published: July 2017

The intent of this interdiscursive endeavor is to argue that EAP text interpretation (reading) and production (writing) can be effectively integrated through the task of summary writing (SW), which academically-oriented students must be able to perform. A discourse-level error analysis enabled us to focus on various features of the summaries which, taken together, indicate how well the (SW) class students had mastered both the goals of text interpretation and the conventions of summary writing, the identification of superordinate and subordinate points, the inclusion of an opening statement of the gist of the primary text, explicit reference to the primary author and text, and successful paraphrasing and representation of substantial claims without pragmatic failure or cross-cultural fatigue. It is a pragmatic feasibility to teach EAP students to be discourse analysts to the extent required by this discourse relevant task, and by learning to do such analysis, they can, in psycholinguistic coinage, integrate formative techniques of comprehension by production and summative techniques of production by comprehension.
An Investigation into Stylistic Devices in Emily Dickinson’s and Sylvia Plath’s Poetry
Authors: Bukhari Romana Jabeen , Asgher Tahira
Published: July 2017

This paper focuses on the use of stylistic devices in Emily Dickinson’s and Sylvia Plath’s poetry. It differentiates between the phonological stylistic devices as alliteration, consonance and semantic stylistic devices as simile and personification. The study is carried out on five randomly selected poems from each poetess using the mixed modal research with the tool of tabulation to quantify the findings. Qualitative approach is used for analysis. The analysis provides a clear picture of the use of stylistic devices in Emily Dickinson and Sylvia Plath’s poetry.
The Discourse Analysis and Pragmatic meanings of ta:lʕ in Jordanian Spoken Arabic
Authors: Al-Khalidy Hatmal Odeh
Published: July 2017

The current study attempts to investigate the discourse analysis and pragmatic meanings of the discourse marker ta:lʕ in Jordanian Spoken Arabic as used in TV comedy series. The data analyzed consisted of some YouTube videos each one lasted approximately for 45 minutes whereas some of them lasted nearly for 15 minutes. The investigator found that, ta:lʕ has eight different meanings based on the context in which it is used. Moreover, the recordings were transcribed and analyzed for the purpose of identifying the of ta:lʕ from a discourse and pragmatics analytical point of view.
An Overview of Sociology of Translation: Past, Present and Future
Authors: Zheng Jing
Published: July 2017

Sociology of translation is a burgeoning paradigm in current translation studies and its momentum of development tends to maintain for a long time. This paper reviews the development of sociology of translation as well as major sociological theories applied in translation studies and reflects on some problems in current sociologically-informed translation studies with respect to terminology, subject of study and research model. This paper suggests that researches on sociology of translation should further clarify the object of study and systemize research methods. Meanwhile, more empirical research should be conducted on what translators actually do and say they do in the widest possible contexts of their professional practice to make sociology of translation a truly original and productive area of study.
Addressing the Problem of Coherence in Automatic Text Summarization: A Latent Semantic Analysis Approach
Authors: Omar Abdulfattah
Published: July 2017

This article is concerned with addressing the problem of coherence in the automatic summarization of prose fiction texts. Despite the increasing advances within the summarization theory, applications and industry, many problems are still unresolved in relations to the applications of the summarization theory to literature. This can be in part attributed to the peculiar nature of literary texts where standard or typical summarization processes are not amenable for literature. This study, therefore, tends to bridge the gap between literature and summarization theory by proposing a summarization system that is based on more semantic-based approaches for extracting more meaningful and coherent summaries. Given that lack of coherence within summaries has its negative implications on understanding original texts; it follows that more effective methods should be developed in relation to the extraction of coherent summaries. In order to do this, a hybrid of methods including statistical (TF-IDF) and semantic (Latent Semantic Analysis LSA) methods were used to derive the most distinctive features and extract summaries from 10 English novellas. For evaluation purposes, both intrinsic and extrinsic methods are used for determining the quality of the extracted summaries. Results indicate that the integration of LSA into features extraction methods achieves better summarization performance outcomes in terms of coherence properties within the extracted summaries.
The Effect of Vocabulary Knowledge on Chinese English Learners’ Reading Comprehension
Authors: Gu Tongqing
Published: July 2017

Vocabulary knowledge is the foundation of English learning. This study, based on vocabulary knowledge frameworks, aims to further explore the effect of two dimensions of vocabulary knowledge i.e. breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge, on two types of reading comprehension tasks, i.e., standard multiple choice question and summary writing in Chinese EFL context. 124 English majors in a Chinese university were randomly selected, and their vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension ability were tested. The results of the study showed that both breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge make contributions to reading comprehension; the breadth of vocabulary knowledge has a greater predictive power on multiple-choice reading comprehension than the depth of vocabulary, while vocabulary depth was the stronger predictor of post-reading summary writing. The results indicate that teachers need to attend to vocabulary knowledge and improve learners’ reading ability by enhancing their vocabulary knowledge.
Gender and Age Patterns on WhatsApp Statuses as Used by Jordanians: A Sociolinguistic Perspective
Authors: Al-Smadi Ala'a Mohammad
Published: July 2017

This study aims at investigating the WhatsApp statuses as used by Jordanian people from a sociolinguistic point of view. It attempts to examine the use of the WhatsApp statuses in relation to the impact of gender and age on the topic being used. To achieve this goal, 400 statuses were collected from Jordanian males and females who are divided into two main age groups: the first one consists of participants whose age is above 30 years old, and the second group whose participants are under 30 years old. Then, the data were analyzed quantitatively and categorized based on the main following topics; religious, social, political, economic and fixed statuses. The results show that gender and age have essential impacts on the statuses being used. For example, the religious statuses are the most frequently used topic by Jordanian females whereas the social statuses are the most frequently used topic by Jordanian males. However, the political and economic statuses are the least frequent statuses used among Jordanian. Moreover, the results show that the most frequently used topic among males who are above 30 years old is the fixed statuses suggested by the mobile itself whereas the most frequently used topic among males who are under 30 years old is the social topic. On the other hand, the impact of age among females is clearly manifested in the use of the fixed statuses suggested by the mobile itself. For instance, the females who are above 30 years old use the fixed statuses more dramatic than the females who are under 30 years old. Also, the fixed statuses are the second frequently used topic by the females who are above 30 years old whereas they are the third frequently used topic by females who are under 30 years old.
Acceptability of Stative Verbs in Progressive Form within Linguistic Context
Authors: Muhammad Imran , Ghani Mamuna
Published: July 2017

The controversy over the use of English stative verbs in progressive aspect has vexed the researchers throughout the ages. Traditional grammars see “progressive statives” as highly unacceptable in any context. However, Smiecinska (2002) goes in line with Kakietek (1997) who admits the acceptability of stative verbs in progressive form. The present study reports on a survey conducted among 68 EFL learners of intermediate, bachelor and master’s level studying at Govt. Postgraduate College Burewala, Punjab, Pakistan. The main object of the study was to explore the acceptability level of progressive statives. Secondly, this paper focused on examining the extent to which the context of stative verb plays its role in imposing the choice of progressive aspect. For the purpose of data collection, a questionnaire designed by Smiecinska (2002) was used with few changes in it after the pilot study was completed. The findings of the survey went along with those reported in previous studies. The majority of the participants considered the stative verbs in progressive form as acceptable with a wide margin. The results revealed that the higher the study level was, the more acceptability was. However, the study culminated in a perception that aloofness from the grammatical rules invites dependency on the context in choosing aspect for stative verb.
Difficulties Encountered by EFL Students in Learning Pronunciation: A Case Study of Sudanese Higher Secondary Schools
Authors: Ahmed Zahir Adam Daff-Alla
Published: July 2017

This study aims at investigating the problems which have been encountered by higher secondary schools students when they try to learn English pronunciation. The problem of this study is that most of the higher secondary school students in Sudan produced incorrect pronunciation for many of English words. So this study is attempted to deal with problem to find the most suitable solutions for it. The participants are Sudanese students of higher secondary schools especially at Shikan locality in Northern Kordofan State. The researcher uses the descriptive analytical approach because it is suitable for such studies. The data of this study is collected by means of recording test and questionnaire. The findings showed that the problems of pronunciation are the result of many teaching difficulties, and the strategies of teaching pronunciation are helpful in producing correct speech pronunciation. Finally the researcher recommends that: Sudanese EFL learners, who are specialized in ELT, should obtain a high level of intelligibility, and the language laboratory should exist in all the higher secondary schools to practice phonetic exercises.
Investigation of Speech Acts of the Provisional Agreement of Intent
Authors: Shehadeh Muhammad S. , Wardat Mahmud H.
Published: July 2017

This study investigated the provisional agreement of intent or the so called (Atwa) as a means of reconciling tribal disputes and conflicts from a socio-pragmatic perspective. The data consisted of forty provisional agreement documents on car accidents occasions, three video-recorded interactions and information collected via personal contacts with twelve interlocutors. The video-recorded materials and documents were categorized in accordance with politeness speech acts. The interviews concentrated on the personal details of the interlocutors in order to specify the main characteristics of those people and why they were chosen for this mission. This research finds out that frequently exchanged politeness strategies in the provisional agreement interaction include request, apology, honorifics, offering, compliment and thanking. Additionally, the researchers also found out that age, level of education, social rank, religion and socio-economic status were the sociolinguistic variables behind choosing the interlocutor.
Bring a Foreign Language and Its Cultures to Saudi EFL University-Level Classrooms
Authors: Alshahrani Ali Ayed S.
Published: July 2017

This study aims to investigate the effects Twitter has as a social networking platform on the development of Saudi EFL psychological variables (attitude, confidence, motivation, interest in L2 culture, social interaction and engagement), actual learning outcomes and the relationship between these psychological variables and their results. Twitter provides a valued accessible window to the target culture and promotes cross-cultural competence and comprehension that is focused on meaning rather than form, as well as repeated exposure to L2 cultural products, practices, perspectives and the target language. A sample of 39 students enrolled in an English course during the second semester of the 2014-2015 academic year, as well as two non-native English speakers (NNSs) working at the English Program, agreed to participate in the study. It adopts a combined inductive-deductive research approach to fulfil the research purpose and answer the research questions. The findings of this study underscore the latent use of the Twitter microblogging platform in EFL classes, as well as revealing the positive impact upon Saudi EFL students’ social interaction (engagement), enthusiasm and interest in learning more about L2 culture in English language classes.
The Assessment of Speaking Skills at the Tertiary Level
Authors: Ounis Asma
Published: July 2017

Since “English has become the lingua franca for academic interaction of learners and academics” (Koo, 2009, p. 77), the development of the EFL learners’ oral performance proficiency constitutes the central interest of current English language teaching methodologists and practitioners. The importance of speaking as a productive skill has been echoed in the literature. Indeed, it is viewed as a crucial “part of the curriculum in language teaching … and …an important object of assessment as well” (Luoma, 2004, p. 1). Thus, the prime aim of this study is to explore the prevailing conceptions and actual practices of the assessment of EFL learners’ speaking skills at the tertiary level. The respondents of the current research were 20 instructors who taught at the Higher Institute of languages in Gabes and at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities in Sfax, Tunisia. To collect the necessary data, a questionnaire survey was utilized. Then, the obtained data were analyzed using SPSS package. The findings revealed that the teachers’ conceptions of assessment are directed towards the development of the learners’ speaking skills. Despite the existence of a number of hardships, the teachers’ classroom teaching practices revealed a compete reliance on authentic, ongoing, organized and thoughtful oral language assessment procedures which were meant to sustain and boost the learners’ oral skill achievements.
Effect of Age in Second Language Acquisition: A Critical Review from the Perspective of Critical Period Hypothesis and Ultimate Attainment
Authors: Rahman Mohammad Mosiur , Pandian Ambigapathy , Karim Abdul , Shahed Faheem Hasan
Published: July 2017

This article addresses the effect of age in Second Language Acquisition (SLA), posing the relative question that whether the Critical Period hypothesis (CPH) exists in Second Language (SL), and if existing, how it is associated duly with SLA. The justification of comparing the achievement of L1 and L2 learners on the basis of Ultimate Attainment (UA) in the establishment of Critical Period Hypothesis, is also discussed. In the methodology, secondary data analysis was used to answer of research questions. To achieve a reliable result from the wide range of secondary data primarily from journal articles, a systemic search has been adopted. In conclusion, compare and contrast was made with earlier studies to show the findings of the study and to scope future research.
Response of Assorted Maize Germplasm to the Maize Lethal Necrosis Disease in Kenya
Authors: J. Sitta , F. M. Nzuve , F. M. Olubayo , C. Mutinda , W. M. Muiru , D. W. Miano , J. W. Muthomi , P. K. Leley
Published: July 2017

Maize (Zea mays L.) is the most widely grown staple food crop in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) and occupies more than 33 million hectares each year. The recent outbreak and rapid spread of the Maize Lethal Necrosis (MLN) disease has emerged as a great challenge to maize production, threatening food security for the majority of households in the Eastern Africa region with yield loss estimated to be 50-90%. The disease is a result of synergistic interaction between two viruses, Sugarcane mosaic virus (SCMV) and Maize chlorotic mottle virus (MCMV). The objective of this study was to identify maize genotypes with resistance to MLN. In season one, 73 maize genotypes comprising 25 inbred lines from research institutes, 30 lines from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT) and 18 farmer varieties were screened for resistance to MLN. In season 2, only 48 genotypes were screened after some of the inbred lines showed complete susceptibility to MLN. These genotypes were grown in three replications in a completely randomized design in polythene bags in the greenhouse at the University of Nairobi. The plants were artificially inoculated using a mixture of SCMV and MCMV. .Weekly MLN disease severity scores using a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = highly resistant and 5 = highly susceptible) and % MLN incidence were recorded and eventually converted into Area under Disease Progress Curve (AUDPC) to give an indication of the disease intensity over time. The plants were allowed to grow to flowering stage to observe the effect of the MLN on the maize productivity. Analysis of Variance revealed wide genetic variation among the genotypes ranging from resistant to highly susceptible. In season 1, three farmer varieties namely MLR2, MLR11 and MLR13 showed resistance to MLN with a mean severity score of 2. In season 2, MLN12, MLN17, MLN18, MLN19, and MLR4 showed low MLN severity ranging from 2-3. The genotypes MLR6, MLR9, MLR16 and MLR18 showed MLN severity of 3 and early maturity traits. This study also validated the presence of MLN resistance among some CIMMYT lines depicted to show resistance in previous studies. These resistant genotypes could serve as donors in the introgression of the resistance into the adapted Kenyan maize backgrounds. This will go a long way in ensuring sustainable maize productivity while improving the livelihoods of the small-scale farmers who form the bulk of the major maize producers in Kenya.
Role of Social Groups and Classes in the Islamic Revolution of Iran
Authors: Rahimian Mohammad , Shokri Abbas Keshavarz
Published: July 2017

The main objective of the paper is to study the role of social groups and classes and their alliance in the Islamic Revolution. The methodology used in this study is the qualitative document analysis. The results showed that the chasm among social forces was moderately wide before the Revolution and the alliance among social forces was weak after the Revolution and in the new regime, therefore, the extent of transfer of power was so vast which led to a large-scale revolution.
SUMMER OF DEAD DREAMS
– 1945 PRUDNIK COUNTY IN THE AWARENESS
OF ITS INHABITANTS. THE EDUCATIONAL
ACTIVITY OF THE PRUDNIK COUNTY MUSEUM
Authors: Dominiak Wojciech
Published: July 2017

Some years have already passed since the book
Summer of dead dreams by Harry Thürk (2015) was published.
Some inhabitants of Prudnik County have treated
the German perception as presented in its pages and interwoven
in the historicists’ motifs, as a non-fiction and as
a reliable source. This is why it has become essential to take
some steps to present this multithreaded post-war event
more honestly.
One of the museums’ functions is their multi-dimensional
educational activity, achieved through exhibitions and publications.
Consequently, the Prudnik County Museum in
Prudnik town has undertaken the task of showing the chequered
history of this region from 1945 to 1947 by:
a) preparing and elaborating a permanent exhibition entitled
“Seen through a net curtain. The multiculturality of
Upper Silesia based on Prudnik County”;
b) publishing a book of the same title which brings closer
the intangible heritage of Prudnik county, seen in its traditions and folk rituals of various social and cultural
groups which together form its current “ethnos”;
c) publishing a collection of eyewitness accounts by people
who remember the years 1945–1947.
The issue of changing borders and resettlements still evokes
emotions for both the Polish and German communities.
Although, the Polish and German tragedy of the civilian
population had different origins, the tragedy itself was the
same: extermination, forcing people to abandon their homes,
going into the unknown, exile, illnesses and death are
the common denominators of those sad events at the end
of WWII. The museum’s role is to familiarise the public with
a very frequently difficult and tragic history which would be
free of stereotypes and subjectivity.
FASHION AND CLOTHING EXHIBITIONS
IN A MUSEUM – METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES
AND PROBLEMS
Authors: Szaradowski Piotr
Published: July 2017

Presenting fashion in a museum involves not only
technical but also methodological questions. For a long time,
the presentation of clothing was dominated by a chronological
approach which underlined stylistic changes. The 1980s and
1990s brought some change to the catwalks; designers from
Japan suggested clothes which did not match the European
canons. Many representatives of the Old Continent then followed
in their footsteps. In order to describe those new phenomena,
in the mid-1990s a new term appeared – deconstruction
of fashion. This referred not only to aesthetics but
also to the whole system. The way people wrote and spoke
about fashion could not remain unaffected by such material
changes, and the number of research perspectives increased
quite rapidly. Recently, a trend which may be referred to as the
turn towards materiality – focusing on the object and making
it a starting point for discussion can be seen to gain strength.
It has recently been summarised by Mida and Alexandra Kim
in their book The Dress Detective. A Practical Guide to Object-
Based Research in Fashion, which also discussed the practical
side of research into clothing. The authors’ suggestions are
also an incentive to look for new contexts for objects which
have already been collected.
Resistance and Trim Modeling of a Systematic Planing Hull Series 62 (with 12.5°, 25°, and 30° Deadrise Angles) Using Artificial Neural Networks, Part 1: The Database
Authors: Radojcic Dejan V. , Zgradic Antonio B. , Kalajdzic Milan D. , Simic Aleksandar P.
Published: July 2017

Recent advances in high-speed computing, combined with the emergence of artificial neural network (ANN) techniques, for the analysis of large data sets have enabled researchers to provide the design community with higher-resolution mathematical models (MMs) for existing test data. Presently, one of the most popular planing hull prediction methods for resistance and trim are based on regressions of the Series 62 database. New MMs developed here address two major shortcomings of the original approaches; first, the equations are now continuous functions of volumetric Froude number (rather than separate regressions for each speed) and second, MM for trim is much more accurate, enabling designers to identify the double hump in trim that is associated with dynamic instabilities at higher speeds. This work includes not only the original David Taylor Model Basin (TMB) Series 62 data for 12.5° deadrise, but also the later extensions made by Delft University of Technology (DUT), including 25° and 30° deadrise. The present report, Part 1, explains the procedures used to streamline a large foundational database to prepare for the derivation of an MM. This step is usually not discussed in detail, but the success of the entire procedure depends on it. In large data sets collected over multiple decades, there are often outliers in the data and pockets of the test matrix with insufficient test data for successful fitting of MMs. Because of the lack of data in these pockets, fitting routines for MMs have no incentive to produce rational results in these areas, often leading to an unstable model. In the past, overly stiff models were used to fair through these regions, at the expense of reduced accuracy in regions where there were sufficient data. This report describes the addition of "virtual measurements" based on interpolation or engineering calculations, which enable the model to produce reasonable results in regions of limited data, while also remaining accurate in regions with sufficient data. Additionally, an iterative procedure, where preliminary MMs are used to identify and eliminate outliers and erroneous points is described. The techniques described here can be applied to improve fitting of many types of data sets in Naval Architecture.