ChatGPT, the end of L2 academic writing or a blessing in disguise?

This paper provides an overview of the challenges and opportunities presented by ChatGPT and other AI-based technologies for writing skills, particularly academic writing in English as a second language. The paper includes a descriptive account of my interview with ChatGPT regarding the opportunities that it has presented and the challenges posed for L2 students and teachers. In addition, the paper offers some practical activities that can be implemented in L2 academic writing classes

An Exploration of EFL Teachers’ Challenges and Strategies during the Pandemic: A Case of Emergency Blended Synchronous Education

With the lockdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, educational institutions had to make swift educational decisions such as emergency blended synchronous education without thoroughly scrutinizing its effects. This study explores the experiences of a group of seven EFL teachers of a blended learning model during the pandemic in Northern Cyprus higher education. The study adopted a qualitative design by interviewing seven teachers on their experiences during the pandemic, particularly focusing on a blended instructional mode of education over the fall academic semester in 2020. The study results reveal that the study participants employed various strategies to cope with the challenges ascribed to the blended mode of delivery. The study's findings offer some implications for second language teachers and the use of technology in second language education. Keywords: EFL teachers, challenges, emergency blended synchronous education, blended educatio

An Exploration of EFL Teachers’ Challenges and Strategies during the Pandemic: A Case of Emergency Blended Synchronous Education

With the lockdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, educational institutions had to make swift educational decisions such as emergency blended synchronous education without thoroughly scrutinizing its effects. This study explores the experiences of a group of seven EFL teachers of a blended learning model during the pandemic in Northern Cyprus higher education. The study adopted a qualitative design by interviewing seven teachers on their experiences during the pandemic, particularly focusing on a blended instructional mode of education over the fall academic semester in 2020. The study results reveal that the study participants employed various strategies to cope with the challenges ascribed to the blended mode of delivery. The study's findings offer some implications for second language teachers and the use of technology in second language education. Keywords: EFL teachers, challenges, emergency blended synchronous education, blended education</jats:p

The oral academic discourse socialization of doctoral students at a Northern Cyprus University

This study explored oral academic discourse socialization experiences of doctoral students at an English-medium tertiary institution in Northern Cyprus. It was a qualitative study involving audio-recording of a graduate class oral academic discourse and conducting interviews with the graduate candidates. Analysis of the oral academic discourse data showed that through participation in academic discussions the students negotiated their knowledge, constructed identity and agency. Analysis of the interview data also suggested the graduate candidates’ identity and agency co-construction as well as the novelty of the graduate candidates’ challenging socialization experiences over their academic studies in the graduate context. Overall, the study seemed to indicate that the participants’ socialization experiences facilitated their academic learning and development of academic discourse competence. The results of the present study are discussed in relation to the pertinent research to date.</jats:p

Primary diffuse large B-cell lymphoma of the bone mimicking osteomyelitis

In this article, we report a 34-year-old man who presented with progressive hip pain and osteolytic bone lesions . Primary workup included Core needle biopsies manifested as osteomyelitis; however as no sign of remission was observed, an open biopsy considered which revealed primary bone lymphoma.</jats:p

Web scraping technique for producing Iranian consumer price index

Data pervasiveness was made possible by the advent of new technologies such as the Internet and the World Wide Web in every human and non-human activity. This created an exponential increase or data explosion in data generation, coined under the term Big data. Alternatively, Big Data sources can contribute to the reduction of the response burden or they can be used only to study some economic or social phenomena before designing a statistical survey which is inherently expensive to pilot. Also, incorporating Big Data sources into official statistics means maintaining a net competitive advantage and relevance of the official statistics products compared to those provided by a plethora of commercial players, with reference to large corporations that are active in the field of information technology. In this paper, the web scraping technique was used to extract the daily prices of the food and drinks products in order to replace them with conventional prices which had been used for price indices. Moreover, these sorts of new datasets enable us to calculate the indices in smaller time scales like weekly or daily basis in comparison to the conventional approach which is possible only on monthly basis. Although web scraping has its own problems, it is more economically friendly, accurate, and time-saving, especially in urban areas. Findings revealed that the web scraping technique can be applied as an effective alternative to conventional methods for CPI. Also, this technique can be used for other price statistics.</jats:p

The efficacy of intramuscular electrical stimulation in the management of patients with myofascial pain syndrome: a systematic review

Abstract Introduction Myofascial pain syndrome (MPS) is one of the most common disorders causing chronic muscle pain. Almost one-third of patients with musculoskeletal complaints meet the MPS criteria. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of intramuscular electrical stimulation (IMES) in patients with MPS through a systematic review method. Methods PubMed, Scopus, Embase, ProQuest, PEDro, Web of Science, and CINAHL were systematically searched to find out the eligible articles without language limitations from 1990 to December 30, 2020. All relevant randomized controlled trials that compared the effectiveness of IMES with sham-IMES, dry needling, or exercise therapy in patients with MPS were included. Full texts of the selected studies were critically appraised using Revised Cochrane risk-of-bias tool for randomized trials (RoB2). Results Six studies (out of 397) had met our inclusion criteria (involving 158 patients) and were entered to the systematic review. Outcome measures examined in these studies included pain, range of motion, pressure pain threshold, biochemical factors, disability, and amount of analgesic use. In the most studies, it has been shown that IMES is more effective than the control group in improving some outcome measurements such as pain. Conclusion There is preliminary evidence from a few small trials suggesting the efficacy of IMES for the care of myofascial pain syndrome. The data support the conduct of larger trials investigating the efficacy of IMES. </jats:sec