Cultural Aspects of Arabicisation: Past and Present

The aim of this article is to examine the cultural dimensions of arabicisation, past and present. The article traces the rise and fall of arabicisation and its ramifications for science, knowledge, research and education in and through Arabic. Arabicisation has been at the heart of linguistic and cultural debate since the dawn of Islam, a debate intensified when the Arabs and their new religion came into contact with different civilizations and cultures. The rise of the Islamic empire in mediaeval times consolidated Arabic and Arab culture, attracting scholars from around the world to research different areas of science and knowledge through the medium of Arabic, which in turn became, and remained for centuries, the global donor language of knowledge and learning. With the decline of the Arab/Islamic empire, however, Arabic and Arab culture started to lose their world standing. Today, Arabic and its culture occupy a marginal position when compared to other languageslike English for instance. For different internal and external reasons, Arabic has lost its status as the major language of innovation and creative thinking. But this is not because it cannot handle the concepts of modern civilization or is unable to express them; rather the cultural position of Arabs seems to be the main reason. Instead of being the predominant language of science and technology, Arabic has been competed by other foreign languages in its own territories. The widespread use of European languages, the languages of the colonizing powers, has undermined its role. Furthermore, the lack of pan-Arab policies on language planning has contributed to the emergence of different and often disparate models of arabicisation. Transformation in the objectives and scope of the process reflects the historical developments and decline of Arab culture from medieval times to the present day. 

Disclosure of Organizational Ambidexterity Activities and Earnings Quality in Oman

Purpose: This study examines the association between organizational ambidexterity disclosure (OAD) and earnings quality (EQ) in terms of earnings persistence (PER) and value relevance (VR).   Theoretical framework: Organizational ambidexterity disclosure (OAD) is one type of forward-looking disclosure (FLD) which includes all information about exploration and exploitation activities. In accounting, the study is interested in how (OAD) affects the firm’s earnings quality.   Design/methodology/approach: This study uses the secondary data of non-financial industrial and services firms listed on the Muscat Securities Market (MSX) in Oman for a 5-year period from 2017–2021. The study uses generalized least square (GLS) and feasible general least squares (FGLS) regressions to test the hypotheses and find the results.   Findings: Results of the GLS and the robust results of FGLS show that OAD has a positive and significant effect on earnings persistence (PER) and value relevance (VR) and the coefficient of VR is stronger than the coefficient of PER, indicating the importance of OAD on the earnings quality as new evidence in the area of accounting.   Research Implications: The results provide crucial implications for researchers, investors, policy makers and managers. The study provides potential leverage points for those responsible for shaping the disclosure and transparency because of it insights on when OAD impacts EQ.   Originality/value: This study offers a novel resource-based perspective to explain how Omani firms achieve higher sustainable and value relevance earnings by investing in OA. It also provides new evidence about how an ambidextrous firm improves the sustainable and value relevance earnings

Attitudes of Students in Grade Ten towards Islamic Education per Variables (Type, Academic Achievement Level, Parents Educational Level and Parents Monthly Income) In Dhofar Governorate

The aim of this study is to identify attitudes of students in Grade Ten towards Islamic Education Subject in Dhofar Governorate per variables (Type, Academic Achievement level, parents educational level and parents monthly income). Data were collected by a questionnaire consisting of 27 paragraphs where its validity and reliability were verified. The study was conducted on male and female students in Grade Ten in Dhofar Governorate. The findings showed that attitudes of Grade Ten students towards Islamic Education subject are positive attitudes based on calculating theoretical mean on scale 6/3=2 and compare it to mean of students’ responses on the scale whereby most of the means were with (Agree) which is above 2. The study shows that there are no statistical differences between mean responses of the sample on attitudes scale towards Islamic Education subject based on (Type and Academic Achievement). However, there are statistical differences between means of sample’s responses based on the variable of the parents’ educational level. The study also concluded that there is a statistical weak, negative and inverse relationship between means of the sample’s responses on scale of attitudes towards Islamic Education subject and parents’ monthly income. The researcher used different statistical methods to demonstrate findings as follows: Frequency, mean, percentage, T-Test, ANOVA test, and Pearson correlation coefficient. The study recommends that it is necessary to enhance positive attitudes towards the subject through diverse teaching strategies, active learning, and using activities associated with the lessons

Translation and EFL in Oman

The history of the didactics of translation indicates that it has been effectively used in the teaching of foreign languages. In the case of English as a Foreign Language (EFL), translation can have a sufficiently facilitating role in its teaching and learning. Particularly for the teaching of EFL in Oman, where English is taught at all stages of the educational system, translation from and into Arabic and English may improve the mastery of English. But there is disagreement among EFL teachers on the use of translation in their classes. This paper explores the views of EFL teachers in Oman with regard to the feasibility and usefulness of translation in EFL teaching. Findings suggest that EFL teachers in Oman are almost split on this vital issue

The dynamics and determinants of Kuwait's long-run economic growth

This paper develops a quarterly macro-econometric model for the Kuwaiti economy estimated over the period 1979Q2-2013Q1, allowing us to investigate the long-run role of oil income in the development of Kuwait as well as the direct effects of oil revenue, foreign output, and equity price shocks on real output. More specifically, we examine to what extent Kuwaiti real output in the long run is shaped by oil revenue through their impact on capital accumulation, and technological transfers through foreign output. Using the same modelling strategy we also explore the role of oil income in terms of long-run private and public sector output growth (separately). The estimates suggest that real domestic output in the long run is influenced by oil revenues and foreign output (a proxy for technological progress), and technological growth in Kuwait is on a par with the rest of the world. Furthermore, while we show that both oil revenues and foreign output drive growth in the public sector, it seems that technological progress is the main (and only) driver for private sector real growth. Finally, our results show that oil revenue and global equity market shocks have a large and significant long-run impact on Kuwait's real output and public sector GDP. In comparison, the effects of the foreign output shock is muted

Full-Waveform Inversion To 3D Seismic Land Data

Full-waveform inversion (FWI) is a technique that seeks to find a high-resolution high-fidelity model of the Earth's subsurface that is capable of matching individual seismic waveforms, within an original raw field dataset, trace by trace. The method begins from a best-guess starting model, which is then iteratively improved using a sequence of linearized local inversions to solve a fully non-linear problem. In principle, FWI can be used to recover any physical property that has an influence upon the seismic wavefield, but in practice the technique has been used predominantly to recover P-wave velocity, and this is the route that is followed here. Full-waveform tomographic techniques seek to determine a highly resolved quantitative model of the sub-surface that will ultimately be able to explain the entire seismic wavefield including those phases that conventional processing and migration seek to remove such as refracted arrivals. Although the underlying theory of FWI is well established, its practical application to 3D land data, and especially to seismic data that have been acquired using vibrators, in a form that is effective and robust, is still a subject of intense research. In this study, 2D and 3D FWI techniques have been applied to a vibrator dataset from onshore Oman. Both the raw dataset and the subsurface model cause difficulties for FWI. In particular, the data are noisy, have weak early arrivals, are strongly elastic, and especially are lacking in low-frequency content. The Earth model appears to contain shallow low-velocity layers, and these compromise the use of first-arrival travel-time tomography for the generation of a starting velocity model. The 2D results show good recovery of the shallow part of the velocity models. The results show a low-velocity layer that extends across the velocity model, but lacking in a high-resolution image due to the absence of the third dimension. The seismograms of the final inversion models give a good comparison with the field data and produce a reasonably high correlation coefficient compared to the starting model. An inversion scheme has been developed in this study in which only data from the shorter offsets are initially inverted since these represent the subset of the data that is not cycle skipped. The offset range is then gradually extended as the model improves. The final 3D model contains a strongly developed low-velocity layer in the shallow section. The results from this inversion appear to match p-wave logs from a shallow drill hole, better flatten the gathers, and better stack and migrate the reflection data. The inversion scheme is generic, and should have applications to other similar difficult datasets

The Conservation, Sustainable use and Management of Mangrove Habitats in Oman

Mangroves are significant contributors to human wellbeing in many tropical and sub-tropical coastal communities and deliver a wide range of provisioning, regulating, cultural and supporting ecosystem services. Worldwide, the value of these services has been researched, but not in Oman. I explore the role of mangrove ecosystems in Oman dominated by Avicennia marina and the value of their services based on perceptions of locals, key utilisers of the ecosystem. I also examine temporal and spatial change in mangrove cover and identify the drivers of environmental change affecting these ecosystems. Perceptions were captured using self-completed questionnaires, aerial extent was estimated from aerial photgraphs and secondary fisheries data were used to evaluate the support of Omani fisheries by mangroves. Carbon sequestration was estimated through a combination of field sampling and reported allometric equations and the service of storm buffering evaluated using data from windroses and mangrove extent. For cultural services assessment, mapping and semi-structured interviews with locals were used. I found that Oman’s mangroves are mainly threatened by cyclonic events, both intense marine wave action and flash flooding from the landward side, as well as urbanisation, leading to coastal squeeze with implications for sea-level rise. While mangroves do not appear to highly support commercial fisheries in Oman, they do support ecologically important ecosystem engineers and essential prey for higher tropic levels (including commercially important species). Estimated values of carbon stock ranged from 59.90 to 133.05 t/ha, much lower values for A. marina inhabiting more favourable environmental conditions in other parts of the world. Cultural services were highly appreciated by locals, reflecting the influence of both Arabic and Islamic identity in Omani society. Intrinsic, instrumental and relational values of nature were all highlighted by locals. An Ecosystem Based Management approach is advocated for the conservation and sustainable use of mangroves in Oman