Bed erosion around obstructions in rivers

Imperial Users onl

Formal Education, Skill Development and Vocationalisation: The Missing Link in India

The contribution of education depends upon the values it teaches and skills impart. Education will become the foundation stone of a sustainable society only if it succeeds in imparting necessary life skills. Education without such enabling features can get reduced to a ritual. If skill development is defined as vocational education and is separated from formal education, the later is only a means of cultural transmission and often cultural reproduction. Formal education, as the harbinger of mass education, has definitely heralded social transformations through widening its accessibility and affordability contravening the limited reach of the medieval elitist education. The achieved status of being educated is largely appreciated as mobility enabler in traditionally stratified societies like India. But the enhanced social status, if not corresponded with upward economic mobility, has limited implications. Whether education, in its present ‘adopted form and content’ can achieve the benevolent instrumental goals in India, has been apprehended by many sociologists. This paper critically analyses the prevailing form of formal education in India and depicts its insufficiency in addressing the problems related to human resource development. It suggests that vocationalisation of formal education, as practiced in many western industrial societies, can ensure social and economic development for the masses. Keywords: right to education, skill development, vocationalisation, employment generatio

Migrant Construction Workers: A Study of Sexual Behavior and Sexual Health Problems

Sex is regarded as a personal affair of an individual. It is tough to objectively study the sexual behavior of an individual or a community. One of the reasons of fast spread of Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs), Human Immunodeficiency Virus / Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) and other sexual health problems is people’s ignorance about the potential health threats during sexual behavior. The rise of these epidemics makes sociologists realize the need of carrying out scientific research on sexual behavior. This empirical study attempts to understand the issues related to sexual behavior and sexual health of the Migrant Construction Workers (MCWs) in India. The study is conducted in six districts of western Uttar Pradesh. A multistage stratified random sampling has been used to select the three hundred respondents. The findings suggest that the MCWs are marginalized people in urban spaces and more susceptible to sexual health problems. They are victims of multiple complications because of unstable nature of their employment, vulnerable living conditions, lack of health awareness and dearth of health care facilities. This study draws the attention of the policy makers and health planners towards the sexual health problems of the unorganized workers and concludes that immediate intervention is required for improving their situation. Keywords: sexual behavior, health, treatment, migration, construction worker

The Role of Using Islamic English in Solving the Difficulties in Translating Nobel Quran and Unification of Muslims

The problem with translating the Quran can be divided into translating the lingual form and the meaning. The meaning is the biggest problem because the Quran is not just another book; it is a book that is always understood differently by the readers. Several researchers emphasized that translation of the meanings of noble Quran to other languages is impossible in the same accuracy as Arabic. Words could be translated literally, but it is difficult to translate what those words mean deeply. The translation will make the meaning weaker and sometimes it changes it. Because of such difficulties, the translators of holy Quran create Islamic English; they expressed the Islamic nouns in its meanings without distortion, so several vocabularies have been appeared in English. This study aimed at investigating the role of Islamic English in solving the difficulties in translating noble Quran and unification of Muslims, It attempted to answer what is the role of Islamic English in solving the difficulties in translating and what is the role of Islamic English in unification of Muslims. The researcher prepared a questionnaire divided into two sections: the first one talks about the role of Islamic English in solving the difficulties in translating and the second one is about the role of Islamic English in unification of Muslims. The sample was chosen from English Department in the second semester of the academic year 2011. To establish the validity for the questionnaire, the method of content validity was used. It was given to a jury of specialists. The reliability also was established. The results revealed that Islamic English contributes positively in solving the difficulties in translating noble Quran and unification of Muslims. On the basis of the results of the present study, the researcher proposed a number of recommendations and suggestions for future research. Keywords: Quran, Islamic English, unificatio

The Impact of Blended Learning Strategies on Improving Jordanian EFL Students' Grammar and Vocabulary

The main purpose of the study is to measure the effect of blended learning strategy in improving EFL learners' competence in vocabulary and grammar. The sample of the study consists of 50 Jordanian undergraduate students studying English language and Literature at Al Balqa Applied University. The participants were divided equally into two groups: the experimental group learned the target vocabulary and grammar through blended learning strategies and the control group learned the same vocabulary and grammar through the traditional way of teaching. The participants sat for a pre-test and a post-test. Additional to the conventional methods of teaching, the researcher used the e-learning system developed by Al Balqa Applied University to teach grammar and vocabulary to the experimental group. The findings of the study indicated that the experimental group was significantly improved compared to the control group. The study concluded that blended learning strategy was a useful tool to enhance students' learning of English vocabulary and grammar. Keywords: blended learning; competence; EFL; grammar; vocabulary DOI: 10.7176/JEP/11-23-01 Publication date:August 31st 202

The Influence of Suggested Cornell Note-taking Method on Improving Writing Composition Skills of Jordanian EFL Learners

The study aimed at discovering the impact of suggested Cornell Note-Taking Training Model on improving writing composition skills. The sample of the study consisted of (58) English students in the second year selected randomly from the English departments in Al-Balqa Applied university. The sample was divided into two groups: experimental and control group. The researcher designed an exam and examined the students in both groups in pre-test and post-test to find the equivilance and the difference between both groups. After examination and analyzing data, the results of the study show statistical significant differences at the significance level (α≤ 0.05) between the mean scores of the experimental group which taghut by using Cornell method and the control group which used the conventional method in teaching composition

An Analysis of Students\u27 Perceptions to Just Culture in the Aviation Industry: A Study of a Midwest Aviation Training Program (Case Study)

The research will focus on the discussion of the ways in which the top-down nature of Safety Management Systems (SMS) can be used to create „Just Culture‟ within the aviation industry. Specific focus will be placed on an aviation program conducted by an accredited university, with the institution in focus being the midwest aviation training program. To this end, a variety of different aspects of safety culture in aviation and aviation management will be considered. The focus on the implementation strategies vital for the existence of a „Just Culture‟ within the aviation industry in general, and particularly within the aforementioned institution‟s aerospace program. Some ideas and perspectives will be subsequently suggested and designed for implementation, within the institution‟s program. The aspect of enhancing the overall safety output gained, from the institution, as per standards set within the greater American Aviation industry will be examined. Overall, the paper will seek to showcase the vital importance of implementing the SMS standardization model in the institution‟s Aerospace program, while providing some areas of concern. Such concerns will be based on a number of issues, which are pertinent to the overall enhancement of the institution‟s observance of aviation safety. This will be both in general application of an SMS, as well as personalized/ specific applications in areas in need of improvement. Overall, through the paper, the author hopes to provide a better understanding of the institution‟s placement, with regard to not only aviation safety, but also the implementation of an effective „Just Culture‟ within the program

The Long Term Impact of Health on Economic Growth in Pakistan

The paper investigates the impacts of different health indicators on economic growth in Pakistan. Cointegration and Error Correction techniques have been applied on the time series data of Pakistan for the period of 1972-2006. We find that per capita GDP is positively influenced by health indicators in the long run and health indicators cause per capita GDP. However, in short run the health indicators fail to put significant impact on per capita GDP. It reveals that health indicators have a long run impact on economic growth. It also suggests that impact of health is only a long run phenomenon and in the short run there is no significant relationship exists between health variables and economic growth. The major policy implication of the study is that if we desire high levels of per capita income, we can achieve it by increasing and improving stock of health human capital, especially when current stocks are at lower end. Moreover, study also points out a rather diminutive role of public health expenditure in determining the per capita GDP.Health Human Capital; Economic Growth; Cointegration, Error Correction

Performance of ultrawideband wireless tags for on-body radio channel characterisation

Experimental characterisation of on-body radio channel for ultrawideband (UWB) wireless active tags is reported in this paper. The aim of this study is to investigate the performance of the commercially available wireless tags on the UWB on-body radio channel characterisation. Measurement campaigns are performed in the chamber and in an indoor environment. Statistical path loss parameters of nine different on-body radio channels for static and dynamic cases are shown and analyzed. Results demonstrated that lognormal distribution provides the best fits for on-body propagation channels path loss model. The path loss was modeled as a function of distance for 34 different receiver locations for propagation along the front part of the body. A reduction of 11.46% path loss exponent is noticed in case of indoor environment as compared to anechoic chamber. In addition, path loss exponent is also extracted for different body parts (trunk, arms, and legs). Second-order channel parameters as fade probability (FP), level crossing rate (LCR), and average fade duration (AFD) are also investigated