Flipped classroom pedagogy in higher education in EFL contexts: Findings and implications for further research

The primary aim of this article is to examine the existing findings of flipped classroom (FC) pedagogy in higher education institutions (HEIs) for teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) context. Relevant studies have been scrutinised based on keywords, such as higher education, online learning, blended or hybrid teaching, flipped classrooms, and English language instruction in EFL environment. A total of 54 out of the selected 162 articles were analysed using the critical review process as the research methodology, and data were analysed using the content analysis technique. The findings revealed that flipped classroom (FC) had been applied in different parts of the world over many years. But, most of the studies are in science and engineering. Flipped classroom (FC) in the English as foreign language context has remained untapped. Most of the studies conclude that flipped classroom (FC) has more benefits compared to its drawbacks. This review makes several recommendations for further study

Evaluation Employees’ Organizational Commitment—Evidence from Iran

Today, the ultimate approach of an organization in any society is to attract as many beneficiaries as possible. Due to the nature-oriented development of their rural communities, they have to satisfy their interest groups more than other communities. When it comes to rural development in Iran, there are many credible organizations that directly and indirectly engage with the target community. The absence of organizational tasks leads to failure in achieving predetermined goals. Allen and Meyer’s standard organizational commitment questionnaire was used as a data collection tool. Descriptive statistical measures such as focus and dispersion indices were used to analyze the results. Inferential statistical measures such as the mean difference comparison test and the correlation coefficient were also used. The results showed that the level of organizational commitment among employees of Jihad-e-Agriculture Organization in Isfahan Province is 55%. The results also showed that the most important factors affecting employees’ organizational commitment were social responsibility, psychological factors and income satisfaction, which could explain up to 50% of employees’ organizational commitment

The Oedipus complex in fiction

This study aims to know The Bookseller’s Notebooks intersects with The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Oedipus Rex. We analyze the novelist’s proficiency at expressing contemporary human issues innovatively and artistically, focusing on the emotional struggle between parents and children. In particular, the study sheds light on the emotional and social struggles suffered by a marginalized, despised, and rejected societal group, namely illegitimate children (foundlings). The study’s findings suggest that more comparative studies of intertextuality between non-local works of literature should be attempted. This way, literature and literary criticism may enhance our understanding of other’s cultures to facilitate acceptance and peaceful coexistence

Unlocking Customer Satisfaction of Halal Restaurant in South Korea through Online Review Analysis

The purpose of this study is to examine customer satisfaction of halal restaurants that have received halal certification from the Korea Muslim Federation (KMF). A total of 1,544 reviews from 11 halal-certified restaurants in South Korea were collected from Google reviews using SCTM 3.0 (Smart Crawling and Text Mining). UCINET 6.0 is used to analyze the network centrality and perform CONCOR analysis. This study quantitatively identified the relationship among five dimensions: halal cuisine, Islamic dining, food menu, service and value. However, Islamic dining, service, and value were positively impacted to customer satisfaction. This study indicates that the Halal label is a significant factor in the dining preferences of halal restaurant customers in South Korea. The results of this study may be useful in marketing halal restaurants in South Korea which have not applied for halal certification from the Korea Muslim Federation

Discourse analysis on online gender-based humor: Markers of normalization, tolerance, and lens of inequality

Language is one of the most powerful means through which sexism and gender discrimination are perpetrated and reproduced (Menegatti and Rubini, 2017). The study examined the contrarian features of gender-based online humor in relation to the mainstreaming of gender and development (GAD). Discourse analysis was used as a method in examining discourse markers of online gender-based humor in terms of defaulting jokes as normal, tolerating sexist jokes, and perceiving that inequality in gender is reality. Fourteen (14) participants who are persons in power or authority, persons based on their educational attainment, persons based on their gender roles, and persons from different generational classifications participated in the study which utilized online gender-based-mapper, one-on-one interviews, and FGD-oriented instruments for the extraction and analysis of the research. After the analysis, it was revealed that the normalization of online gender jokes was prevalent in social media. Normalization proceeds as a way of life in making things light in the conversation and making these conversations intending to have enjoyment and entertainment. For tolerating sexist jokes, it appears that the actors in the online set-up manifest the markers for tolerance through “negligence” which seems to be alarming language production and language distribution to as many social media players

Investigating Relationship between Environmental Knowledge and Attitudes towards Electric Vehicles: An Emerging Economy Context

In order to investigate the impact of environmental information on the purchase of electric automobiles, the present research applied the Theory of Planned Behavior. Using primary data (n = 214), the proposed research model was validated using covariance-based structural equation modelling. The findings confirmed a positive relationship between attitudes towards electric vehicles and environmental knowledge. It was discovered that purchase intentions and perceived consumer effectiveness were significantly related. Control over availability also has a significant impact on buyers’ intentions. The study’s findings were unable to show a significant indirect relationship between environmental knowledge and purchase intentions. However, in this study, purchase behavior was significantly predicted by individuals’ purchase intentions. In particular, females were found to have stronger buy intentions than their male counterparts when it came to the effects of consumer perceived efficacy and control over availability (significant moderation of gender). The study’s empirical findings had a variety of theoretical and practical ramifications

Environmental Concerns, Green Consumption Value and Green Buying Intentions

The research developed a framework to investigate the influence of green consumption value and green buying intentions using the behavioral reasoning theory to look at the gap between attitudes and intentions. A cross-sectional research design was used to collect data from 698 respondents in Ghana. The result shows a positive and significant association between buying green foods and attitudes toward green foods, and motive against buying green foods have a non-significant relationship with attitudes to green foods; there is a positive significant association between green consumption value and attitudes toward green foods, motives for buying green foods, and motives against buying green foods. The mediation of motives for buying green foods on green consumption value and attitudes to green foods is positive. Motives for buying green foods influence green buying intentions through attitudes toward green products. And mediation of motives against buying green foods on green consumption value and attitudes to green foods is negative and does not harm green buying intentions using attitudes to green foods. Governments must reward individuals or groups that protect the environment and also put together educated programs that spell out the consequences of a degraded environment to the nation

Difficulties and strategies of teaching Spanish language to collegiate Chavacano learners

Spanish-based creole, Chavacano, is widely known for its close resemblance to the actual Spanish language especially in lexicons. Its Spanish-like quality seems to capture most of the vocabulary of the language. The purpose of this study was to determine the difficulties of Chavacano speakers in learning Spanish. Narrative data from eight Spanish language teachers teaching in southern Philippines were used to analyze the challenges of their students, as well as to determine the emerging strategies used by these teachers. The findings indicated that collegiate Chavacano learners had trouble in learning the verb conjugation, the structure, and its grammar in general. Additionally, the teachers observed that their students are “not very motivated” in learning the language. Notably, students do not consider Spanish as an important language in their future career. In regards to strategies, inductive methods were the most dominant strategies that Spanish language teachers harness and implement in their classrooms. The narrative data in this study set a new theoretical context for language learning which is essential in the fields of education, communication, linguistics, and learning. Nevertheless, this study encompassed how teachers were able to harness the Spanish language teaching within their challenging classrooms

Sociolinguistic dimensions of dialect space of Ukraine and Poland

The aim of the research is to analyse the use of lexical, grammatical and morphological dialectisms-Polonisms in speech by the inhabitants of Nadsanie in various spheres of life (family, household, business, and education). The research involved the following general scientific and sociolinguistic methods: diagnostic (questionnaire), discursive, and intentional methods; the statistical method—mathematical processing of data obtained during the experiment; and the descriptive method—description and recording of the results. The following results were found through the application of the said methods for the analysis of respondents’ answers. Hence, the use of lexical, grammatical and morphological dialects tends to gradually decrease in older and middle age groups, the actual disappearance among young people. Given the socio-historical situation of modern Ukraine, sociolinguistic study of dialectisms-Polonisms showed how the independence of their own state contributes to the development of their own ethnographic dialectisms, as well as the gradual decline and disappearance of other languages. Further research involves the study of dialectisms-Polonisms in other territories of Western Ukraine and the areas which are close to the Polish border. The studies of other groups of dialectisms-Polonisms (in particular, phonetic and syntactic) and the elements of dialectisms-Ukrainianisms in the Polish language are also promising

Emotion concept disgust and its German counterparts: Equivalence determination based on language corpora data

Our two-stage methodology was tested in order to determine the most accurate equivalent for Anglo-Saxon emotion concept (EC) disgust among German ekel, abneigung, abneigung and abscheu. At the first stage, the authors identified the closest in terms of content equivalents to disgust on the basis of the comparison of the German ECs names definitions in explanatory and bilingual dictionaries. It was established that equivalence with disgust, albeit incomplete, is shown only by the nouns Ekel and Abscheu, which are so semantically close to each other that they can be used interchangeably in some contexts. At the second stage, on the basis of a comparative analysis of the most frequent collocates of the concept names disgust, ekel and abscheu in representative corpora of the English and German languages, (a) the relevant content of these concepts was established and (b) a comparison of their semantic structures was made according to the criteria of arousal and valence. A comparison of the semantic structures of disgust, ekel and abscheu revealed that both German concepts show numerous overlaps with disgust. At the same time, abscheu is semantically more similar to disgust than ekel. This indicates that the transfer of disgust to the German language community by means of ekel and abscheu can be quite adequate, since both of these concepts evoke associations in representatives of German-speaking culture similar to those that arise in Anglo-Saxons in connection with disgust