AN INVESTIGATION OF ACADEMIC WRITING PROBLEMS LEVEL FACED BY UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS AT AL IMAM AL MAHDI UNIVERSITY- SUDAN

Academic writing skills mostly involve the linguistic competence development of the students which many English Second Language learners may identify it as a challenging task. The main objective of this study is to look into various challenges encountered by English Second language students in academic writing in ordinary graduation project in the context of universities. Specifically, this research focuses on identifying the problems faced by the Arts Colleges within the University of Al Imam Al Mahdi, Sudan. The researcher used the student’s project graduation to investigate the problems encountered by the students when they used their academic writing skills. To state the obstacles recognized by the examined students in academic writing skills, the researcher employed a descriptive method. The findings of this research revealed the most problematic area faced by the students. Finally, the results of this research may help the scholars to reflect on teaching practices and urge the goverment to help teachers’ attempts to enhance the academic writing skills of their students at the University of Al Imam Al Mahdi, Sudan. Keywords: academic writing, students, problems

Involving Parents in CALL: An Empirical Study

The study examined Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) together with parental participation on Saudi students’ English language achievement. A teaching-learning software, pre-posttest, observation checklist, and semi-structured interviews were constructed. Two intermediate sections with 25 students at each took part in the study. The study reported the effectiveness of parental involvement on students’ overall performance in English language learning. Key words: EFL, CALL, Intermediate class, Parental participation, Saudi Arabia

Warfare in early Islam

Abstract available: p3

The Complications of Learning and Understanding English Prepositions among Students at AL Imam AL Mahdi University in Sudan

The purpose of this study is to show the difficulties and analyze the various problems Sudanese students in the Arts College in the University of AL Imam AL Mahdi, face while learning and comprehending English prepositions. The focus of this study is therefore, on categorizing the types of challenges faced by these students. The research methods used were a survey followed by a report based on the results of the survey. The survey which comprised 12 items, explored the types of challenges faced by the respondents while learning the English prepositions. To portray the types of challenges faced by the students, the survey responses were analyzed and reported. In the report, the researcher described the problems and also suggested recommendations on the ways to overcome the challenges faced by the students. Thus, the findings of the study portrayed the factors which contributed to the problems in learning prepositions and also the ways to overcome these challenges. It is hoped that the findings of this survey and the suggested recommendations, will assist teachers in their classroom teaching of prepositions in the University of AL Imam AL Mahdi

Al-Munşif min al-Kalām 'alā Mughnī lbn Hishãm by Taqï al-Dīn al-Shumunnī [d. 1468]

Ibn Hishām al-Ansārī is considered one of the most outstanding figures to have appeared in the history of the field of Arabic grammar. Thus, some biographers compare him to the illustrious Sîbawayh. The greatest of all Ibn Hishām's works is without doubt Mughni al-Labīb 'an Kutub al-A 'ārīb, written by the author for the benefit of fellow scholars and researchers, and not for beginners or regular students. A number of scholars have undertaken to write commentaries on this work, the most famous of these being Ibn al-Sā'igh and al-Damāmīnī. These were followed by al-Shumunnī, who intended his explanation to be a judgment between these two commentaries and the book of Ibn Hishām on their points on which they disputed. Nevertheless, except for an old uncritical edition dating from 1888， none of these commentaries has been published, despite their profound importance. The aim of the current research is thus primarily to bring into the open, in a modem academic style, a portion of the commentary on Mughriī al-Labīb known as al-Munşif min al-Kalām 'alā Mughriī Ibn Hishãm, written by Taqï al-Dīn al- Shumunnī; something not previously seen for this work. Considering the great size of the work, I have restricted myself to just a part of it, equaling about a third of the text, while hoping that my future endeavors will be primarily aimed at completing the work. In addition, the current thesis consists of an academic study consisting o

Comparative advantage of various regions in the world economy

The study would like to make comparism in the international comparative advantages for the developing economic structure concerning the capital, skilled and unskilled human resources of the main economies and country-groups in order to realise the sustainable development. According to Salvatore, Dominic, who emphasized some principles of theory of comparative advantage accompanying his opinions, namely most nations would like to realise free trade for themselves in order to get better profit and price incomes and most of them continue to impose many restrictions on international trade. The US has the most favourable Revealed Comparative Advantage in the world economy, even against Japan and EU in field of capital and skilled workers. After the US, Japan has more comparative advantage against the EU. From three highly developed regions the EU is the last one. Based on the country – groups, in United States the capital was 0.11, skilled 0.06 and unskilled -0.30. In European Union capital was 0.03, skilled 0.01, unskilled -0.06, in the same time in Japan capital was 0.07, skilled 0.15 and unskilled was -0.50 according to field of Revealed Comparative Advantages. Also in spite that OPEC countries have somehow little more favourable positions than other developing countries, they have so mush high level of unskilled workers and considerable less skilled workers. In Eastern Europe including Russia, capital was - 0.08, skilled -0.31, unskilled 0.36. In OPEC capital was - 0.09, skilled -0.29, unskilled 0.45. Their position is little similar than the Eastern Europe, including Russia, in filed of Revealed Comparative Advantages. The data show that the highly developed countries can play role for the future sustainable development and economic growth based on the skilled human resources, which help the innovation development. The innovation development can not be realised without skilled human resources. Also free flow of four elements results in decreasing of expanditures of production, including the labour force, as employee, finally takes possibility to achieve higher level of work efficiancy with using skilled workers, advanced technology and R&D – research and development - to ensure competitive position either on the world market or local markets

DEVELOPMENT OF WATER RESOURCES IN BAHRAIN: A COMBINED APPROACH OF SUPPLY-DEMAND ANALYSIS

Bahrain is an arid country with acute water shortage problems. The demand for water has increased substantially over the last four decades, leading to over-exploitation from the already scarce renewable groundwater resources. This has caused a significant decline in groundwater levels, a drastic storage depletion, and serious deterioration in groundwater quality. The imbalance between the available water supply and the projected water demand has been growing rapidly, imposing a major constraint on the country's socio-economic development. Resolving these problems or at least mitigating their adverse impacts primarily requires a major shift from the supply-oriented approach to water planning, which is currently being emphasised, towards a greater emphasis on demand-side management policies. In this thesis, a combined approach of supply-demand analysis is employed to investigate the water and management problems in the study area, with the ultimate objective of establishing a supply-demand analytical framework to aid in the formulation of an integrated water management policy. The existing water resources are comprehensively assessed in terms of availability and development constraints. The water use patterns and demand characteristics are systematically analysed. The results of these analyses are shown to have important implications from the water resources planning and management perspective. Using data from cross-sectional surveys, separate water demand functions of both linear and log-linear functional forms are estimated for the major water use activities. The empirical evidence presented in this research suggests that certain socio-economic, demographic, physical, climatic, and technological factors affect water use. The variables household size and household/per capita income are found to be the most important determinants of residential water use, with a priori expected signs. Average price, however, does not have a statistically significant effect. Estimated income elasticities vary from 0.12 to 0.22; household size elasticities range from 0.30 to 0.41. Empirical estimates for summer and winter residential demand functions suggest some interesting findings with respect to the seasonal variability in water use. Per capita income elasticities of municipal demand of between 0.15 - 0.33 are estimated. Both the residential and municipal income elasticity estimates appear to correlate favourably with some estimates found in the literature. Not surprisingly, average price elasticity of per capita municipal demand is estimated to be -0.066, indicating an extremely inelastic demand. In general, the empirical findings from both the non-residential and agricultural surveys give less reliable statistical results, perhaps owing to the insufficiency of data and/or lack of specific explanatory variables. However, the variables number of bathrooms and presence of swimming pool may be adequate indicators of the non-residential water use, while gross cultivated area appears to be the best single predictor of the agricultural water use. Industrial water demand is shown to be significantly and directly related to the variables measuring production level, number of employees, and factory floor area. Validity tests for the selected analytical models are made. The water supply and demand relationships are examined and water balances for the specified planning period are computed. The improved trend forecasting procedures provide encouragingly accurate results when compared to the actual water use. Three alternative water management scenarios are developed. Comparison among these scenarios indicates that Scenario C, which integrates the supply and demand management policies, is the most efficient option for achieving optimal water resources development and management. Policy recommendations to enable effective formulation and implementation of this option are presented

SUDANESE STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF USING FACEBOOK FOR VOCABULARY LEARNING AT UNIVERSITY LEVEL

This paper aims to explore Sudanese students’ perception of using Facebook for vocabulary learning at university level. Numerous studies have undertaken exploration on the use of innovative methodologies for foreign language learning. However, the role of Facebook in such context is underexplored, culminating in this particular work. 100 first and second year students pursuing their Bachelor degree with major in English at University of AL Imam AL Mahdi of the academic year 2016-2017 were selected to take part in this study. Quantitative research method was utilized to yield perspective understanding of their involvement with the particular platform. The findings reveal that the students have positive perceptions regarding the use of Facebook for vocabulary learning. The students have also expressed the assistance of Facebook in learning new things through the useful information available on the site. This paper concludes that Facebook is a potential platform for improvement of university students’ vocabulary knowledge.  Keywords: Facebook, language learning, social media, Sudan, vocabulary, tertiary educationCite as: Al Mubarak, A.A. (2017). Sudanese students’ perceptions of using Facebook for vocabulary learning at university level. Journal of Nusantara Studies, 2(1), 170-176.  http://dx.doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol2iss1pp177-19