A Study on the Ability in Listening Comprehension on Descriptive Text by the 2nd Semester Students of English Study Program Fkip-ur

English is the most popular and most spoken language in the world which has been used effectively in many developing countries. One of the first skills that students should be learnt in English is listening. In learning language, students use listening to began the process of learning to comprehend and produce language. The problems that usually faced by students while listening are lack of control over the speed at which speakers speak, inability to concentrate (topic, effort, technical problems), and also established learning habit in listening perfectionism.This descriptive research was conducted in order to find out the students' ability in listening comprehension on descriptive text. The data were collected using test in the form of multiple choice. The test covered four components of listening comprehension question; finding main idea, finding detail, identifying inference, and identifying restatement.The sample of this research was the second semester students of English study program of FKIP-UR who had passed English Listening1 subject in first semester. They consisted of 3 classes: A, B, and C, and using cluster sampling technique, class B was chosen as the sample of this research. Before the data were collected, the try out was conducted in order to make sure that the test was good and valid. There were 7 rejected items and those items were revised before having been distributed to the sample. From the data analysis, it was found out that the students' ability in listening comprehension on descriptive text was in poor level with the average score 48.33. The result of the students' ability on listening comprehension of descriptive text was in poor level for finding main idea (44.81),identifying restatement (40.37), while finding detail was in good level (60.37), and for identifying inference was in average level (50.00).Based on the finding, it was suggested that the students need to improve their listening ability by practicing more on listening exercise and should motivate themselves to listen more listening materials. Other researchers can also focus on how to overcome the high level of difficulty of listening comprehension materials, particularly in listening to descriptive text

A COMPUTER TOOL FOR TRAINING PILOTS’ LISTENING SKILLS IN AVIATION ENGLISH

A methodology of training pilots’ listening skills by means of a computer tool is highlighted in the article. Various computer exercises are used to enhance the learners’ level of English as well as improve their listening skills. English is one of the crucial factors influencing flight safety; pilot’s ability to listen, hear, interpret and react to controller’s information in English is of paramount importance during radio communication. It is emphasized that the development of computer software and appearance of new computerized tools predetermine the search for new methods of teaching Aviation English to future pilots and air traffic controllers. One of the ways how to enhance the level of professional training is implementation of ICT in the teaching and learning process. Computer technologies and technical means of language training can simulate the flight situations that a pilot may encounter during his/her professional activity. In the article the authors demonstrate one of the useful methods – application of a computer tool for training listening skills in Aviation English. The computer tool is aimed at training pilots’ listening skills. It can be used to prepare students for achieving ICAO Operational Level (Level 4) or higher according to the ICAO Language Proficiency Requirements. It consists of six tasks based on general aviation English and phraseology of radio communication. Based on the proposed methodology the experiment with Aviation graduate students was carried out, which was based on the implementation of the computer tool into the course «Phraseology of radio communication». Listening skills’ assessment was conducted according to three criteria: cognitive (knowledge), operational (skills), psychological (abilities) and their descriptors. According to the level of listening skills three levels – low, medium and high were differentiated. The results of the experimental study indicate that there have been positive changes in the distribution of students’ levels of listening skills in the phraseology of radio communication in English with the introduction of the computer tool: the number of students with high- and medium-level of listening skills increased whereas that of low-level listening skills decreased

Removal of As(III) and As(V) from water using green, silica-based ceramic hollow fibre membranes via direct contact membrane distillation

Arsenite [As(III)] and arsenate [As(V)] removal by direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) using novel hydrophobic green, silica-based ceramic hollow fibre membranes derived from agricultural rice husk was investigated in this work. The green ceramic hollow fibre membranes were prepared from amorphous (ASHFM) and crystalline (CSHFM) silica-based rice husk ash and modified to be hydrophobic via immersion fluoroalkylsilane (FAS) grafting of 1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorodecyltriethoxysilane. Superhydrophobic contact angle values up to 157° and 161° were obtained for ASHFM and CSHFM, respectively. Remarkably, the membrane surface morphology mimicked a look-alike lotus-leaf structure with decrement in pore size after grafting via the silane agent for both membranes. The effect of arsenic pH (3–11), arsenic concentration (1–1000 ppm) and feed temperature (50–80 °C) were studied and it was found that feed temperature had a significant effect on the permeate flux. The hydrophobic CSHFM, with a flux of 50.4 kg m−2 h−1 for As(III) and 51.3 kg m−2 h−1 for As(V), was found to be the best of the tested membranes. In fact, this membrane can reject arsenic to the maximum contaminant level (MCL) limit of 10 ppb under any conditions, and no swelling mechanism of the membranes was observed after testing for 4 hours

English Speaking and Listening Assessment Project - Baseline. Bangladesh

This study seeks to understand the current practices of English Language Teaching (ELT) and assessment at the secondary school level in Bangladesh, with specific focus on speaking and listening skills. The study draws upon prior research on general ELT practices, English language proficiencies and exploration of assessment practices, in Bangladesh. The study aims to provide some baseline evidence about the way speaking and listening are taught currently, whether these skills are assessed informally, and if so, how this is done. The study addresses two research questions: 1. How ready are English Language Teachers in government-funded secondary schools in Bangladesh to implement continuous assessment of speaking and listening skills? 2. Are there identifiable contextual factors that promote or inhibit the development of effective assessment of listening and speaking in English? These were assessed with a mixed-methods design, drawing upon prior quantitative research and new qualitative fieldwork in 22 secondary schools across three divisions (Dhaka, Sylhet and Chittagong). At the suggestion of DESHE, the sample also included 2 of the ‘highest performing’ schools from Dhaka city. There are some signs of readiness for effective school-based assessment of speaking and listening skills: teachers, students and community members alike are enthusiastic for a greater emphasis on speaking and listening skills, which are highly valued. Teachers and students are now speaking mostly in English and most teachers also attempt to organise some student talk in pairs or groups, at least briefly. Yet several factors limit students’ opportunities to develop skills at the level of CEFR A1 or A2. Firstly, teachers generally do not yet have sufficient confidence, understanding or competence to introduce effective teaching or assessment practices at CEFR A1-A2. In English lessons, students generally make short, predictable utterances or recite texts. No lessons were observed in which students had an opportunity to develop or demonstrate language functions at CEFR A1-A2. Secondly, teachers acknowledge a washback effect from final examinations, agreeing that inclusion of marks for speaking and listening would ensure teachers and students took these skills more seriously during lesson time. Thirdly, almost two thirds of secondary students achieve no CEFR level, suggesting many enter and some leave secondary education with limited communicative English language skills. One possible contributor to this may be that almost half (43%) of the ELT population are only at the target level for students (CEFR A2) themselves, whilst approximately one in ten teachers (12%) do not achieve the student target (being at A1 or below). Fourthly, the Bangladesh curriculum student competency statements are generic and broad, providing little support to the development of teaching or assessment practices. The introduction and development of effective teaching and assessment strategies at CEFR A1-A2 requires a profound shift in teachers’ understanding and practice. We recommend that: 1. Future sector wide programmes provide sustained support to the develop teachers' competence in teaching and assessment of speaking and listening skills at CEFR A1-A2 2. Options are explored for introducing assessment of these skills in terminal examinations 3. Mechanisms are identified for improving teachers own speaking and listening skills 4. Student competency statements within the Bangladesh curriculum are revised to provide more guidance to teachers and students

Characterization of amorphous silica and crystalline silica from rice husk ash on water filtration application

The presence of water pollution which consists of heavy metals, fecal and others has produced a major problem. These can lead the water to the toxicity and the impurity of water will be disrupted. Therefore, it would not be safe to drinks and could be threatening to live health. In addition, the current market now is dealing with high-cost production to develop ceramic membranes and has been using expensive material to make the filtration system works. In order to challenge the issue, the preparation of ceramic water filtration at low-cost production and using an effectively silica from natural waste rice husk was evaluated. Rice husk was fired at 700ºC and 1000ºC respectively and produced rice husk ash which mutated to amorphous and crystalline silica. Five samples were fabricated after been mixed with the compositions of rice husk ash, kaolin clay, and wheat flour, used at 40:40:20 ratios by weight respectively. The fabrications of the ceramic membrane were conducted by using dry pressing. The samples then were dried in the oven at 60ᵒC for 1 hour followed by sintering at 1000ᵒC respectively. These samples (OO, C1, C2, N1, and N2) were tagged based on unwashed and washed material with the chemical. The properties of silica which are the microstructure and pore size, from rice husk ash were obtained by using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) and x-ray diffractometer (XRD). Effect of silica content in ceramic filtration membrane was investigated and characterized in term of porosity, density, water absorption, membrane hardness, pore size, flow rate, the turbidity of water (before and after filtration) and pH value. From the result, sample C2 was the best option to support the objective by 98.60% silica content, 64.82% of porosity, 1.1433 mg/cm3 of density, 40.59% of water absorption, 171.0 Hv of hardness, 0.177 l/hr of flowrate and pH of 7.62 of water after filtration. In general, the quality of the ceramic filter membrane is reliant on the raw material, while the flow rate and water clarity are dependent on the pore size of the filter membrane

A Review and Assessment of Technology and Materials For English Language Teaching and Learning

As an increasing number of materials and language learning resources have become available online, English language learners of any level can easily access an unlimited number of websites and applications at the swipe of a finger. For teachers and students concerned with the quality of these online tools, being directed to websites that are trustworthy and truly educational can become a daunting task. This two-part article aims to support teachers in this challenge. In Section One, titled Website Review and Assessment for Listening Instruction , the results of a review and assessment conducted to determine the quality of readily available online resources and study materials intended for English language teaching and learning are presented. In Section Two, titled Online English Language Course Assessment, a review and assessment of an online language course suitable for either self-study or for use within the context of the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom will be presented

Teaching Trial and Analysis of English for Technical Communication

In this article is described the usage of English for technical communication (ETC), it is a novel development of English for specific purpose on the demand of the society for improving students' ability in communicating technical information. В статті описано використання англійської мови для технічної комунікації, як нестандартного розвитку англійської мови з спеціальних причин на потреби суспільства для доведення здатності студентів в комунікації технічної інформації