The Role of Learner-training in Acquiring Vocabulary Via Context by Iraqi Kurdish EFL University Students

تهدف الدراسة‌ إلى التحقيق في مدى تأثير تدريب المتعلمين على تعلم المفردات من السياق بشكل إيجابي على عملية اكتساب المفردات على المستوى الجامعي. تتبع الدراسة منهجاً كمياً باستخدام استبيان المعلم ويتم إجراء التحليل الإحصائي ببرنامج SPSS. وشارك أربعة وخمسون مدربا من جامعات محافظة السليمانية الحكومية والخاصة. أظهرت نتائج الدراسة الرئيسية أن تدريب المتعلمين على تقنيات داخل الفصل مثل اتباع خطوات استنتاج المعنى من السياق، واستخدام القرائن النحوية لتعزيز تخمين المفردات والتحقق من صحة التخمين باستخدام القاموس أيضًا تدريب المتعلمين على تقنيات خارج الفصل مثل مشاهدة الأفلام و يؤدي الاستماع إلى الأغاني والتفاعل بوسائل التواصل الاجتماعي والألعاب إلى تحسين حجم مفردات المتعلم بشكل كبير. تظهر النتائج أيضًا أنه من بين الإستراتيجيات المذكورة أعلاه، فإن تدريب المتعلمين على اتباع خطوات استنتاج المعنى من السياق وتوجيه المتعلمين لاستنتاج المعنى من السياق بمشاهدة الأفلام يتفوق على الإستراتيجيات الأخرى. قد يؤدي اعتماد الطرق المذكورة في هذه الدراسة إلى تحسين مفردات المتعلمين وفهمهم بشكل إيجابي، وتسريع عملية تعلم المفردات. قد تشجع نتائج هذه الدراسة أيضًا مدربي اللغة الإنجليزية كلغة أجنبية على اتباع الأساليب اعتمادًا على مستوى فهم المتعلمين واهتمامهم.This paper aims to investigate the extent to which training learners in vocabulary learning from context has positive impact on the process of vocabulary acquisition at university level. The study follows a quantitative approach using instructor questionnaire and statistical analysis is conducted through SPSS program. Forty-five instructors from both public and private Sulaimani Province Universities were involved. The main study findings showed that training learners on inside class techniques such as following the steps of inferring meaning from context, using grammatical clues to enhance vocabulary guess and checking the correctness of the guess by using dictionary also training learners on outside class techniques like watching movies, listening to songs, social media interaction and gaming can significantly improve learner’s vocabulary size. The findings also show that among the fore mentioned strategies, training learners to follow the steps of inferring meaning from context and directing learners to infer meaning from context through watching movies are superior to other strategies. Adopting the mentioned ways in this study may positively improve learners’ vocabulary and comprehension, and also speeds up the vocabulary learning process. The findings of this study may also encourage the EFL instructors to follow the techniques depending on their learners’ level of understanding and interest

Electronic data capture for large scale typhoid surveillance, household contact tracing, and health utilisation survey: Strategic Typhoid Alliance across Africa and Asia

Background Electronic data capture systems (EDCs) have the potential to achieve efficiency and quality in collection of multisite data. We quantify volume, time, accuracy and costs of an EDC using large-scale census data from the STRATAA consortium, a comprehensive programme assessing population dynamics and epidemiology of typhoid fever in Malawi, Nepal and Bangladesh to inform vaccine and public health interventions. Results A census form was developed through a structured iterative process and implemented using Open Data Kit Collect running on Android-based tablets. Data were uploaded to Open Data Kit Aggregate, then auto-synced to MySQL-defined database nightly. Data were backed-up daily from 3 sites centrally, and auto-reported weekly. Pre-census materials’ costs were estimated. Demographics of 308,348 individuals from 80,851 households were recorded within average of 14.7 weeks range (13-16) using 65 fieldworkers. Overall, 21.7 errors (95% confidence interval: 21.4, 22.0) per 10,000 data points were found: 13.0 (95% confidence interval: 12.6, 13.5) and 24.5 (95% confidence interval: 24.1, 24.9) errors on numeric and text fields respectively. These values meet standard quality threshold of 50 errors per 10,000 data points. The EDC’s total variable cost was estimated at US$13,791.82 per site. Conclusions In conclusion, the EDC is robust, allowing for timely and high volume accurate data collection, and could be adopted in similar epidemiological settings

Leadership development, a rough road to travel : evaluation of an academic leadership training intervention program

In the literature, there is a clear gap between the number of studies about the nature of leadership practices and studies reporting about the impact of leadership training programs. The aim of the empirical study reported in this article was to raise academic leaders’ awareness in view of adopting transformational leadership behavior. Leaders from a public university were involved in a training intervention program. Content analysis of interviews data collected before and after the training helped to check the impact of the training program. Compared to the ‘before’ training situation, we find clear differences in the awareness level of leaders reflecting an impact of the training intervention program related to TL-behaviors. Next to limitations of the study, the article focuses on the design of future research

Pakistan's Next Industrial Revolution: The Case of Industrial Estates in Hazara Region

Objective: This research paper aims to identify the major hurdles in the industrial development of Pakistan. Hazara division being located on China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) route is one of the important hubs and is, therefore, the universe of this study. Method: The relevant data needed for the research was collected from Abbottabad and Haripur industrial estates using snowball sampling. An in-depth personal interview with seven industrialists in the targeted area was conducted to get an insight into the underlying causes of industrial sickness. Interviews were recorded using smart phones, were then transcribed and analyzed. The themes were deducted after listening to the recording multiple times.  Result: The themes we deduced from the interviews were Location Disadvantage and Supply Chain disruptions, Technological backwardness and low-skilled workforce, Complicated System of Taxes, Inefficient and unhelpful governmental policies, power shortage, and Threats from Cheap Chinese Goods. Conclusion: Based on the findings of this research it is concluded that the government needs to revise its policy making it more supportive for industrial development. Concrete power supply policy and preparing skilled laborers will enhance industrial development. Similarly, the industry needs to adopt a proactive policy and introduce a collective solution rather than working individually as a unit. A university-industry collaboration is needed to be developed for ensuring the technical and skilled workforce as well as keeping in pace with the advanced countries

Omega, Sadhana, and PI Polynomials of Quasi-Hexagonal Benzenoid Chain

Counting polynomials are important graph invariants whose coefficients and exponents are related to different properties of chemical graphs. Three closely related polynomials, i.e., Omega, Sadhana, and PI polynomials, dependent upon the equidistant edges and nonequidistant edges of graphs, are studied for quasi-hexagonal benzenoid chains. Analytical closed expressions for these polynomials are derived. Moreover, relation between Padmakar–Ivan (PI) index of quasi-hexagonal chain and that of corresponding linear chain is also established

Antenatal depression is not associated with low birth weight: a study from urban Pakistan

AbstractBackground: Low Birth Weight (LBW) (< 2500g) is considered as a leading cause of cognitive impairments and physical disabilities in children. The incidence of low birth weight in South Asia is as high as 33%. We investigated the association of antenatal depression with low birth weight in an urban Pakistan community. Methods: A total of 1357 pregnant women in their third trimester were recruited. They were screened for antenatal depression by using Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS). The Self Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ-20) was also used for measuring psychological distress. Birth weights of 763 mothers’ newborn babies were obtained from the hospital records. Results: We did not find a significant association between antenatal depression and low birth weight (odds ratio 0.881, 95%CI 0.732-1.060) in mothers attending a charitable hospital in urban Pakistan.Conclusion: The presence of antenatal depression is not associated with low birth weight in an urban population in Pakistan but the prevalence of depression is high during pregnancy. There is a need to develop culturally adapted psychosocial interventions to address the high rates of depression