Translanguaging Pedagogy in the EAP Classroom of Private Universities in Bangladesh

Translanguaging has become a topic of discussion in recent decades. Private institutions at Bangladesh’ s tertiary level have adopted English as the Medium of Instruction (EMI) to strengthen students’ language abilities and make them proficient in English so they may confidently face the world. However, English remains the only language of instruction in educational institutions, as students only converse in English with their teachers but use their mother tongue with their classmates. Recent international research has demonstrated that when the target language is taught in the mother tongue, translanguaging is an effective technique. This study adopted a mixed-methods technique to determine teachers’ and students’ views toward translanguaging. The statistics indicate that students have a favorable opinion of the technique, whereas teacher perceptions differ. Nonetheless, it also suggests that students demand maximum exposure to their original language, which is not attainable in EAP contexts. Due to their existing knowledge and experience, teachers cannot accept translanguaging. The research indicates that there is a moderate amount of mother language usage in EAP classrooms

Adrenal myelolipoma: Report of three symptomatic cases

Myelolipoma is a rare benign tumour composed of mature adipose tissue and nonnal haemopoietic elements. Although it can occur in extra-adrenal sites, it typically occurs in the adrenal glands. Being small and asymptomatic in most cases, myelolipomas are incidentally discovered at autopsies and now-a-days. by imaging. The tumour becomes symptomatic when it attains a large size, when it ruptures, or when it is associated with endocrine abnormalities of the adrenals. We report three cases of adrenal myelolipoma with symptoms like abdominal pain and discomfort, obesity and hypertension. One of the cases also had a co-incidental Ilydatid cyst of liver. Diagnosis of myelolipoma was suspected on imaging (computed tomography and ultrasound scan) and was confirmed by histopathology. The patients were followed up for one year after surge1y. One patient was found well and symptomless. One sustained hypertension but was otherwise healthy. The remaining patient, who had hypertension and renal complications previously, developed fluctuating hypertension and chronic renal failure about six months after operation

A new deterministic model of strange stars

The observed evidence for the existence of strange stars and the concomitant observed masses and radii are used to derive an interpolation formula for the mass as a function of the radial coordinate. The resulting general mass function becomes an effective model for a strange star. The analysis is based on the MIT bag model and yields the energy density, as well as the radial and transverse pressures. Using the interpolation function for the mass, it is shown that a mass-radius relation due to Buchdahl is satisfied in our model. We find the surface redshift ($Z$) corresponding to the compactness of the stars. Finally, from our results, we predict some characteristics of a strange star of radius 9.9 km.Comment: one new figures and minor revisions have been done. To appear in Eur.Phys.J.

Factors Affecting Teachers’ Implementation of Communicative Language Teaching Curriculum in Secondary Schools in Bangladesh

This study focuses on the selected factors affecting teachers’ implementation of the Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) curriculum in secondary schools in Bangladesh. The study is explorative, interpretivist, and qualitative in nature. A phenomenology approach, under qualitative method, was adopted to explore how teachers experience the phenomenon of CLT based curriculum change. Four schools were chosen, two from Dhaka (Urban), the capital of the country, and two from the villages in Chandpur (Rural). Eight selected participants were chosen from these schools based on a purposive sampling. Semi-structured interviews, classroom observation and document analysis of curriculum, assessment, and teaching materials were the instruments of data collection. The finding of the study suggests that the shift from traditional Grammar Translation Method (GTM) to CLT was needed a positive outlook from all the selected factors in the context of change; however, this did not happen. Numerous factors such as, needs of classroom teachers, complexities regarding the mismatch of teaching syllabus and material with assessment, unequipped classrooms, and quality of teacher development facilities have challenged teachers to implement CLT as it was intended in the curriculum. The study suggests some recommendations to ensure the effective implementation of CLT curriculum. Future research is also recommended based on other factors and stakeholders

Factors Affecting Teachers'Implementation Of Communicative Language Curriculum In Bangladesh

This study focuses on the selected factors affecting teachers’ implementation of the NCTB’s Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) curriculum in secondary schools in Bangladesh. The study aims to reveal the factors that challenge teachers’ implementation of CLT in the English classrooms in secondary level. The study is qualitative in nature and adopted phenomenology approach to explore how teachers experience the phenomenon. Four schools were chosen from Dhaka, the capital of the country. Eight (8) participants were chosen from urban schools. Semi structured interview, observation and document analysis of curriculum, assessment, and teaching materials were the instrument of data collection

Cross-cultural adaptation of the short-form condom attitude scale: Validity assessment in a sub-sample of rural-to-urban migrant workers in Bangladesh

Background: The reliable and valid measurement of attitudes towards condom use are essential to assist efforts to design population specific interventions aimed at promoting positive attitude towards, and increased use of condoms. Although several studies, mostly in English speaking western world, have demonstrated the utility of condom attitude scales, very limited culturally relevant condom attitude measures have been developed till to date. We have developed a scale and evaluated its psychometric properties in a sub-sample of rural-to-urban migrant workers in Bangladesh. Methods. This paper reports mostly on cross-sectional survey components of a mixed methods sexual health research in Bangladesh. The survey sample (n = 878) comprised rural-to-urban migrant taxi drivers (n = 437) and restaurant workers (n = 441) in Dhaka (aged 18-35 years). The study also involved focus group sessions with same populations to establish the content validity and cultural equivalency of the scale. The current scale was administered with a large sexual health survey questionnaire and consisted of 10 items. Quantitative and qualitative data were assessed with statistical and thematic analysis, respectively, and then presented. Results: The participants found the scale simple and easy to understand and use. The internal consistency (α) of the scale was 0.89 with high construct validity (the first component accounted for about 52% of variance and second component about 20% of the total variance with an Eigen-value for both factors greater than one). The test-retest reliability (repeatability) was also found satisfactory with high inter-item correlations (the majority of the intra-class correlation coefficient values was above 2 and was significant for all items on the scale, p < 0.001). The 2-week repeatability assessed by the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient was 0.75. Conclusion: The results indicated that Bengali version of the scale have good metric properties for assessing attitudes toward condom use. Validated scale is a short, simple and reliable instrument for measuring attitudes towards condom use in vulnerable populations like current study sample. This culturally-customized scale can be used to monitor the progress of condom uptake and promotion activities in Bangladesh or similar settings. © 2013 Roy et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd

EIA- A Teacher Education Project in Bangladesh: An Analysis from Diversified Perspectives

English in Action (EIA) is an ongoing teacher education project which places mobile technology at the centre of its action. Most of the studies carried out focused on the changes EIA brought in teachers’ classroom actions. Along with this, they also explored the classroom to observe whether the input given during training program is implemented in real life. No study has been conducted that compares and contrasts the components of mobile learning in general and the components EIA is using. This study, particularly, drew a comparative analysis between the mobile learning and EIA initiated mobile learning to reveal the extent it matched or mismatched to the components of mobile learning. It also scrutinized teachers’ behavior in the classroom after participating in EIA. It also penetrated to find the contents to be reviewed. Qualitative method was used to conduct this study. The result revealed that the components of EIA match to the mobile learning ones to the extent that EIA entails those suiting the context. Few elements were seemed absent as they are less suitable in such context. Besides, teachers were found bringing changes in their classrooms. The introduction of action research and reflective teaching were suggested to add to EIA’s program

The ideology towards English as a medium of instruction (EMI) adoption in higher education in Malaysia : a case study

English as a medium of instruction (EMI) has been implemented in the context of higher education in non-native English-speaking countries mainly to attract international students through internationalisation while helping local students achieve success in the job market and pursue further education both locally and globally. In the context of Malaysian higher education, Malay has been adopted as the medium of instruction (MOI) and should be implemented in public and private universities. However, EMI has been adopted for some of the programs in public universities, and private universities adopted English as their MOI. Therefore, the purpose of this case study is to uncover the institutional (university language policy) and individual level (lecturers) ideologies about English and EMI adoption in a public research university (Purple University, pseudonym) in Malaysia. Data were collected from the two oldest and largest schools of the university with an emphasis on undergraduate degrees, the School of Management and the School of Industrial Technology. In order to establish triangulation in the data collection methods, data were collected through interviews with lecturers and content analysis of university websites, admission requirements in the EMI program, and curriculum analysis. Six themes emerged from the findings of the study, including English as the language of choice for MOI, EMI and the internationalisation of higher education, English as an academic language, the role of EMI in the development of English language communication, and the economic and social relevance of English in Malaysia. The study also revealed that despite the lack of a defined language policy governing the use of English in Malaysia, there is agreement on the adoption of EMI at the meso and microlevel stakeholders of the university

Wealth inequality and utilization of reproductive health services in the Republic of Vanuatu: insights from the multiple indicator cluster survey, 2007

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Although the Republic of Vanuatu has improved maternal indicators, more needs to be done to improve equity among the poorest in the use of reproductive health services to expedite the progress towards the Millennium Development Goal 5(MDG 5) target. While large developing country studies provide evidence of a rich-poor gap in reproductive health services utilization, not much is written in terms of Pacific Islands. Thus, this study aims to examine the degree of inequality in utilization of reproductive health services in a nationally representative sample of Vanuatu households.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This paper used data from the 2007 Vanuatu Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS). The analyses were based on responses from 615 ever married women, living with at least one child below two years of age. Outcomes included antenatal care (ANC) and use of birth attendants at delivery, place of delivery, and counseling and testing for HIV/AIDS. Descriptive statistics and multivariate logistic regression methods were employed in the analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Findings revealed that the economic well-being status of the household to which women belong, played a crucial role in explaining the variation in service utilization. Inequality in utilization was found to be more pronounced between the poorest and richest groups within the wealth quintiles. In adjusted models, mothers in the richest bands of wealth were 5.50 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.34-22.47), 2.12 (95% CI: 1.02-3.42), 4.0 (95% CI 1.58-10.10), and 2.0 (95% CI 1.02-5.88) times more likely to have assisted delivery from medically trained personnel, have institutional deliveries, and have counseling and testing for HIV/AIDS.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Association between household wealth inequality and utilization of ANC and delivery assistance from medically trained personnel, institutional delivery, and counseling and testing for HIV/AIDS suggest that higher utilization of reproductive health care services in Vanuatu poor-rich inequalities need to be addressed. Reducing poverty and making services more available and accessible to the poor may be essential for improving overall reproductive health care utilization rate in Vanuatu.</p