Research Practices in Cohesive Devices’ Studies: Benefiting from Chaos

This study has as its main goal exploring the possibility of benefiting from the chaotic status that permeates discourse analysis research done on cohesive devices since their inception by Halliday and Hasan (1976). These research studies have been categorised based on the foci of the research questions and the genres to which the analysed texts belong. The research practices of the reviewed papers have been analysed, compared and contrasted, and evaluated apropos the research design, methodology, literature review and findings. The analysis of the research practices found that the dominant feature of the reviewed studies is incompatibility. On a cautious note, while it is acknowledged that variance is imbued with research purposes, variance can be the product of certain flaws in the research design. This paper seeks to serve three purposes: 1) To critically survey the empirical studies conducted on cohesive devices, 2) to identify the problematic practices that led to the chaotic status, and 3) to propose a host of practices that can be followed in future research done on cohesive devices. Concomitant with this review a brief account of the cohesive devices model that was espoused by the majority of the studies addressed in this paper

Context-freeness of the languages of Schützenberger automata of HNN-extensions of finite inverse semigroups

We prove that the Schützenberger graph of any element of the HNN-extension of a finite inverse semigroup S with respect to its standard presentation is a context-free graph in the sense of [11], showing that the language L recognized by this automaton is context-free. Finally we explicitly construct the grammar generating L, and from this fact we show that the word problem for an HNN-extension of a finite inverse semigroup S is decidable and lies in the complexity class of polynomial time problems

Theories and Research on Oral Reading Fluency: What Is Needed?

Oral reading fluency skill is considered to be the bridge to reading comprehension. However, it has been neglected in many English reading programs despite the fact that different theories (including behaviorism, information processing model theory, automaticity theory, and Ehri and McCormick’s word learning theory) have shed light on this skill. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to review theories, studies and practices relevant to this skill. This study has two aims: (1) to identify the theories underpinning oral reading strategies and (2) to identify the gap in research so far conducted on oral reading fluency. Various reading-aloud techniques and assessment methods are presented in this study. Moreover, some factors that affect students’ oral reading fluency are illustrated. Significantly, the practices that this study investigates and presents concerning teaching and assessing oral reading fluency might give an inspiration for the policymakers and curriculum designers to integrate oral reading fluency in their reading programs

The Impact of Implementing ISO 26000 on Firms’ Performance: The Mediating Role of Corporate Governance

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the impact of implementing social responsibility ISO 26000 on firms’ performance in the telecommunication industry in Jordan through considering the mediating role of corporate governance.   Theoretical framework: Three telecommunication companies are licensed in Jordan: Zain, Orange and Umniah. Jordan telecommunication industry has witnessed big growth in the latest years (Obeidat, 2016.). Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is an essential factor that is expected to boost performance of Jordanian telecommunication companies (Al-ma’ani, et. al., 2019). They added that applying CSR will result in employee and customer satisfaction and increase the levels of loyalty of internal and external stakeholders. Corporate social responsibility has a highly positive effect contribution to the development of society and firm's achievement in terms of profit (Al-Kayed, 2014). This paper investigates social responsibility impact on firms' performance from the perspective of ISO 26000 seven core subjects that are organizational governance, human rights, labour practices, the environment, fair operating practices, consumer issues and community involvement and development.    Design, Methodology, Approach: A purposive sample of 350 senior employees from both organizations were given the questionnaire. There were 304 valid questionnaires for the actual analysis. Two statistical methods were employed to examine the data. The preliminary data were analysed using SPSS version 24, which also provided descriptive analysis of the sample's data collection, including means, standard deviations, and frequencies. Additionally, to evaluate whether the mediator variable is acting as a mediator or not, the Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) with AMOS 22 was used to analyse the hypothesis.   Findings: The study findings show that there is a statistically significant impact of the implementation of social responsibility ISO 26000 on firms’ performance in the Jordanian companies within the telecommunication industry. Furthermore, the study also found that corporate governance had a significant impact on firms’ performance, where the relationship is significant and positive, but it doesn’t have a mediating role between implementing social responsibility ISO 26000 and firms’ performance.   Research, Practical & Social implications: The theoretical implication is that this study is expected to be a reference for further researchers who study social responsibility especially for those who wish to conduct research in ISO 26000. For the practical implication, to achieve more validation of the study model and to achieve more generalized findings, further investigation needs to be conducted with the national perspective, developing the study model to consider other industries in Jordan.  In other words, more research could validate the same model by replicating it in a comparative study in different industries as an attempt to ascertain if the model could be more general in the different industries.   Originality: All organizations wanting to comprehend social responsibility from the perspective of ISO 26000 will find benefit in this article

The potential application of probiotics and prebiotics for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19

10.1038/s41538-020-00078-9npj Science of Food411

The Solidarity Movement : Mediation and Collaboration for Palestine Online in the UK and Ireland

This paper examines the concept of online mediation in relation to representation of Palestine through examining the UK and Ireland based solidarity movement’s contemporary collective action. Contemporary mediation of Palestine both as a location where the displacement and control of an entire people is taking place and as a symbol of an indigenous struggle that global activists relate to are prominent in the discourse of the solidarity groups, mainly in contents of their social media accounts. The paper highlights the solidarity movement’s online activism methods in relation to networking, advocacy and lobbying, and discusses the varied modes of collaboration among the diverse solidarity groups that takes place partially via online interactive platforms. It argues for the significance of the Internet as a venue for expression, for mediating messages and as a mobilising tool, as used by solidarity groups involved in the advocacy for the Palestinian cause. Through studying how online media platforms are shaping the dynamics of the movement’s communication, the text provides an understanding of the ways in which Internet platforms are contributing to the dissemination of favourable narratives. In that, the paper examines contemporary mediation of Palestine throughout social media platforms