Language attitudes among urban Moroccan youth following recent developments in language policy and linguistic landscape

This study explores the important and complex relationship between language attitudes, language policy (LP) and linguistic landscape (LL) (Spolsky, 2004; Shohamy 2006). In 2011, following the Arab Spring and the shockwaves it created in the region, a referendum on constitutional reforms was held in the Kingdom of Morocco. The reforms led to the recognition of the Tamazight language as an official state language, making Morocco the first nation to do so in North Africa. The Tamazight language and the Tifinagh script have become ubiquitous in major cities, particularly in the national capital, Rabat. This study surveyed and interviewed urban Moroccan youth in Rabat regarding their attitudes toward the recent changes in language policy and the alterations in their linguistic landscape. The youth were especially chosen for this study because of their ability to indicate future trends and inspire new linguistic paradigms. Previous studies into language attitudes in North Africa have mainly focused on competition between French and Arabic (Bentahila, 1983; Chakrani, 2010) and none has incorporated the element of linguistic landscape and its ability to alter attitudes and perceptions (Landry & Bourhis, 1997). This study primarily focuses on attitudes toward Tamazight, but also investigates attitudes toward English, French, Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) and Moroccan Arabic (MA). Findings from the study show what appear to be a softening of negative attitudes toward Tamazight and may even signal a positive evolution of general attitudes among the urban youth population toward the indigenous language, further proving the theory that an individual’s surroundings and environment impact their attitudes and perceptions over time (Shohamy, 2006)

Estimating cost savings through adoption of the best-practice technique: Evidence from the Malaysian manufacturing sector

By using the input-output approach, this article attempts to estimate costs of production by using the 1978 vintage and best-practiced techniques, based on the vintage hypothesis that as time progresses and price rises, adopting the best-practice technique will give more cost saving and use less amount of inputs for each unit of output produced, rather than the old techniques. This paper has identified three component production costs of vintage technology, domestic materials, imported input, and labour. It was found that costs of production for the best-practice technique are less than those of the older one (vintage), supporting the vintage hypothesis. Thus, there is a strong argument for the economy to adopt the best-practice technique because it is absolutely a considerable advantage in terms of saving in the per unit cost of production

Problems that Teachers of Public Schools Encounter in Al Ain City

This study aims to identify the educational problems encountered by teachers of public schools in the city of Al Ain, United Arab Emirates by answering the following research questions; (a) what problems are faced by teachers of public schools in the city of Al Ain, United Arab Emirates? (b)Are there significant differences in the problems faced by teachers of public schools in the city of Al Ain, regarding the variable of gender and educational cycle and years of experience? (c) How can we overcome the problems faced by teachers of public schools in the city of Al Ain, United Arab Emirates? To achieve the objectives of the study and answer the research questions, a questionnaire was prepared to identify the problems faced by teachers of public schools in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates; the questionnaire was designed after reviewing the related literature and previous studies. The questionnaire, quantitative research tool, consists of 43 items covering three main groups; problems related to students, problems related to the profession, and problems related to parents. The validity of the questionnaire was measured and approved by a panel of educational experts. The reliability and internal consistency of the tool was measured by calculating the coefficient Cronbach’s alpha after a pilot sampling of 27 participants. Cronbach’s alpha for the whole items of the tool is (0.89); it is (0.75) for items related to students; (0.82) for items related to the profession, and (0.88) for problems related to parents. The study population consisted of all teachers (4098) in schools of Al Ain educational Office for the academic year 2012-2013. (1100) teachers were sampled in a randomly stratified manner and the sample represents almost 19% of the study population. The study findings can be stated as follow; (a) the total score of the problems faced by teachers of public schools in Al Ain, was in a medium level, and its mean score was (1.75). Regarding the problems related to parents, the largest problems faced by teachers of public schools, ranked the first in a mid-degree and its mean score was (2.03). Lack of parent’s care in following up their children academically was the most common problem faced by teachers. The problem related to the profession ranked the second in a mid-degree and its score was (1.63). The low teacher’s salary compared to the salaries of other profession was considered one of the biggest problems teachers face related to the profession. While the problems related to students, respectively, ranked the third to a low degree and a mean score of (1.59). The student’s lack of motivation for learning is the biggest problem they face. There are significant differences of all the problems faced by teachers of public schools related to students, profession and parents due to the variance of gender. Male teachers are facing problems related to students and parents more than female teachers; whereas, female teachers face problems related to the profession more than male teachers do. There are significant differences of all the problems faced by teachers of public schools related to students, and parents due to the variable of educational cycle. The problems faced by teachers of public schools relating to students and their parents are varied according to the cycle. When moving to the next cycle the problems increase and vice versa. The problems mean scores are converging in the third cycle and joint schools. The results showed no significant differences in the problems faced by teachers in term of profession. There was no significant difference between problems faced by teachers of public schools and cycle related to the profession

Career indecision: a cross-sectional survey among students of National Youth Skills Training Institutes

The purpose of this study is to compare several factors namely gender, academic achievement, working experiences and participation in career intervention programs on career indecision among students of one Malaysia premier skills training institution that offers various technical and vocational programs. Career indecision is measured by Career Factors Inventory (CFI) that was adapted from Chartrand, Robbins, Morril and Boggs. The inventory contains four factors which are two information factors and two personal emotional factors. The information factors are Need for Career Information (NCI) and Need for Self-Knowledge (NSK). The others two personal emotional factors are Career Choice Anxiety (CCA) and Generalized Indecisiveness (GI). The survey is conducted to 292 students that were randomly selected from a National Youth Skills Training Institute (IKBN) in the state of Selangor, Malaysia. Data is analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistics with utilized of SPSS program. The finding shows career indecision among students is at high level. Furthermore, it shows no difference between gender, academic achievement, working experiences and participation in career intervention programs on student’s career indecision. Several suggestions are made in improving career indecision among students in IKBN

Expression of Tumor Suppressor Genes during Breast Cancer Progression in the Rat

Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer and the leading cause of cancer deaths among women in the United Arab Emirates and all over the world. Although many factors contribute to the high incidence of breast cancer, a considerable number of cases are related to environmental factors. In this study, breast cancer was induced in female rats using a single dose, 80 mg/kg body wt, of the environmental carcinogen 7,12- dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA). The aim was to characterize some of the early cellular and molecular changes that occur during breast cancer development in the DMBA-treated rat model. Mammary gland tissues of control and DMBA-treated rats were processed for: i) routine histological examination, to define the initial histopathological changes that occur in mammary gland tissues, ii) immunohistochemical probing using anti-PCNA and anti-BRCA1 antibodies to characterize and correlate the localization of these cell cycle proteins during progression to cancer, iii) Western blotting, to analyze the alteration of p53 protein expression in pre-neoplastic and neoplastic lesions of the mammary glands, iv) polymerase chain reactions using primers specific for PCNA, BRCA1, and p53 genes followed by single stranded conformational polymorphism (SSCP) or restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) assays to detect possible mutations in these genes during development of breast cancer. Microscopic examination revealed a wide range of pre-neoplastic and neoplastic lesions in the mammary glands of DMBA-treated rats. They provided a sequence representing the multistep process of breast cancer formation. The earliest morphological change observed was moderate dilatation of the terminal ducts and accumulation of extruded dead cells in their lumens. These changes were referred to as the stage of cell death . It was followed by stages of hyperplasia, dysplasia, and then in situ cribriform carcinoma. Finally, the invasive cribriform and papillary carcinomas developed. In addition, some DMBA-treated rats developed benign tumors: lactating adenoma and squamous cell papilloma. Immunohistochemical localization of PCNA revealed an initial down regulation during the stage of cell death followed by a gradual increase in the number of PCNA-labeled cells during the following stages of breast cancer development. Probing for BRCA1 protein suggested a gradual defect in its translocation from the cytoplasm to the nucleus during breast cancer progression. In control rats, BRCA1 was present in the nuclei of terminal duct epithelial cells. However, in the pre-neoplastic lesions, BRCA1 was localized in both the cytoplasm and nuclei of the epithelial duct cells. In all malignant lesions, BRCAI was mainly found in the cytoplasm. Western blotting revealed that the expression of p53 protein during breast cancer development was initially down regulated. However, with progression toward malignancy, upregulation of the mutant form of p53 was observed. These changes were associated with polymorphism in p53 gene, which was detected in exon 5 using SSCP assay. However, no polymorphisms were detected in the PCNA and BRCA1 genes. Because some recent studies suggested that the use of multiple alkaloids may have some synergistic inhibitory influence on cancer cell growth, the effect of crude extract of Vinca alkaloids on the progression of breast cancer was tested in DMBA-treated rats. A daily treatment of these rats with 200 mg/kg body wt of Vinca alkaloids for 21 days starting 1 week after DMBA administration induced about 50% decrease in the incidence of mammary gland neoplasia. When these tumors were compared with those of DMBA-treated rats, the former were smaller in size, exhibited a smaller number of PCNA-labeled cells, and showed down regulation in the expression of both PCNA and mutant p53 proteins. In conclusion, characterization of the early changes that occur during breast cancer development may provide some clues for better understanding of its pathogenesis and would hopefully improve modalities for its prevention and/or early detection

Parallel Homologous Search With Hirschberg Algorithm: A Hybrid MPI-Pthreads Solution.

In this paper, we apply two different parallel programming model, the message passing model using Message Passing Interface (MPI) and the multithreaded model using Pthreads, to-protein sequence homologous search. The protein sequence homologous search uses Hirschberg algorithm for the pair-wise sequence alignment

Relationship between implementation of cooperative vocational education and job offering among apprentice of national dual training system in Malaysia.

The objective of this research is to examine a relationship between implementation of cooperative vocational education and job offering among apprentice of national dual training system in Malaysia. Furthermore, the study also identifies several factors to predict job offering to the respondent. The total respondent of the study are 285 apprentices which enrolled for Malaysian Skills Certificate Level 2 at various types of programs and companies that offer national dual training system. These respondents were selected through stratified random sampling based on location of training institutions. Data was analyzed by frequency and percentage for descriptive statistics and logistic regression for inferential statistics. The result shows MNC and GLC companies’ offers block release training mode meanwhile SME companies’ offers day release training mode. The result shows that the three combination independent variables significantly predict getting a job offer. However, only type of company and training mode are significantly contributing to the prediction. Further chi square analysis results indicate that getting a job offer are significantly different in regards respondent program of study, training mode and type of company they attached during the SLDN program