Mobile Assisted Learning: Impact on Students’ Reading Comprehension and Belief

This study made an attempt to examine the effect of teaching students through mobile assisted language learning (MALL) on their reading comprehension performance and belief. In the study, 79 second year English language linear students in Gondar College of Teachers’ Education were taken as participants of the study comprehensively since their size was manageable. Among those, 40 of them were control group and 39 were experimental group. For this effect, the study used quasi-experimental research design. Data were collected via tests (pre and posttests) and questionnaire. The data collected using the pre and posttest were analyzed quantitatively using the independent samples t-test. The questionnaire data were analyzed quantitatively via frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation. The results of the study divulged that MALL brought difference between the experimental group (EG) and control group (CG). Particularly, with the help of the interventions provided the majority of the EG showed high level of progress in their reading comprehension performance and got affirmative belief towards the use of MALL in reading lessons. However, the CG remained constant. Based on the findings drawn, it was recommended that MALL should be practiced to maximize the students’ reading comprehension performance in EFL reading classrooms

Analyzing the Representational Aspect of Gender in Learning English as a Foreign Language: The Case of Grades 7 and 8 Students’ Textbooks in Ethiopian Context

The purpose of this study was to analyze the representational aspect of gender in learning English as a foreign language in the case of grade 7 and 8 students’ textbooks. The study used a descriptive survey research design involving a mixed approach (quantitative and qualitative methods). To collect data, content analysis was primarily employed. The data were analyzed quantitatively using frequencies and percentages and qualitatively using narrations. The study found out that males occur with 59.8% but females with 40.2% in grade 7 students’ textbook, and males with 57.5% but females with 42.5% in grade 8 students’ English language textbook. Moreover, it was uncovered that males appear first with 67.3% and females with 32.7% in grade 7 students’ textbook, and males with 61.1% but females with 38.9% in grade 8 students’ conversational tasks in their textbook. Accordingly, it can be concluded that EFL students’ textbooks in the Ethiopian context dominantly embed males more than females both in representations and orders of occurrence as the major acting characters in dialogical situations. Thus, it is pedagogically implied that curriculum developers and textbook designers should harmoniously consider gender representation while designing learning materials

Analyzing the Representational Aspect of Gender in Learning English as a Foreign Language: The Case of Grades 7 and 8 Students’ Textbooks in Ethiopian Context

The purpose of this study was to analyze the representational aspect of gender in learning English as a foreign language in the case of grade 7 and 8 students’ textbooks. The study used a descriptive survey research design involving a mixed approach (quantitative and qualitative methods). To collect data, content analysis was primarily employed. The data were analyzed quantitatively using frequencies and percentages and qualitatively using narrations. The study found out that males occur with 59.8% but females with 40.2% in grade 7 students’ textbook, and males with 57.5% but females with 42.5% in grade 8 students’ English language textbook. Moreover, it was uncovered that males appear first with 67.3% and females with 32.7% in grade 7 students’ textbook, and males with 61.1% but females with 38.9% in grade 8 students’ conversational tasks in their textbook. Accordingly, it can be concluded that EFL students’ textbooks in the Ethiopian context dominantly embed males more than females both in representations and orders of occurrence as the major acting characters in dialogical situations. Thus, it is pedagogically implied that curriculum developers and textbook designers should harmoniously consider gender representation while designing learning materials

Global, regional, and national burden of disorders affecting the nervous system, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

BackgroundDisorders affecting the nervous system are diverse and include neurodevelopmental disorders, late-life neurodegeneration, and newly emergent conditions, such as cognitive impairment following COVID-19. Previous publications from the Global Burden of Disease, Injuries, and Risk Factor Study estimated the burden of 15 neurological conditions in 2015 and 2016, but these analyses did not include neurodevelopmental disorders, as defined by the International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-11, or a subset of cases of congenital, neonatal, and infectious conditions that cause neurological damage. Here, we estimate nervous system health loss caused by 37 unique conditions and their associated risk factors globally, regionally, and nationally from 1990 to 2021.MethodsWe estimated mortality, prevalence, years lived with disability (YLDs), years of life lost (YLLs), and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), with corresponding 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs), by age and sex in 204 countries and territories, from 1990 to 2021. We included morbidity and deaths due to neurological conditions, for which health loss is directly due to damage to the CNS or peripheral nervous system. We also isolated neurological health loss from conditions for which nervous system morbidity is a consequence, but not the primary feature, including a subset of congenital conditions (ie, chromosomal anomalies and congenital birth defects), neonatal conditions (ie, jaundice, preterm birth, and sepsis), infectious diseases (ie, COVID-19, cystic echinococcosis, malaria, syphilis, and Zika virus disease), and diabetic neuropathy. By conducting a sequela-level analysis of the health outcomes for these conditions, only cases where nervous system damage occurred were included, and YLDs were recalculated to isolate the non-fatal burden directly attributable to nervous system health loss. A comorbidity correction was used to calculate total prevalence of all conditions that affect the nervous system combined.FindingsGlobally, the 37 conditions affecting the nervous system were collectively ranked as the leading group cause of DALYs in 2021 (443 million, 95% UI 378–521), affecting 3·40 billion (3·20–3·62) individuals (43·1%, 40·5–45·9 of the global population); global DALY counts attributed to these conditions increased by 18·2% (8·7–26·7) between 1990 and 2021. Age-standardised rates of deaths per 100 000 people attributed to these conditions decreased from 1990 to 2021 by 33·6% (27·6–38·8), and age-standardised rates of DALYs attributed to these conditions decreased by 27·0% (21·5–32·4). Age-standardised prevalence was almost stable, with a change of 1·5% (0·7–2·4). The ten conditions with the highest age-standardised DALYs in 2021 were stroke, neonatal encephalopathy, migraine, Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, diabetic neuropathy, meningitis, epilepsy, neurological complications due to preterm birth, autism spectrum disorder, and nervous system cancer.InterpretationAs the leading cause of overall disease burden in the world, with increasing global DALY counts, effective prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation strategies for disorders affecting the nervous system are needed

Mobile Assisted Learning: Impact on Students’ Reading Comprehension and Belief

This study made an attempt to examine the effect of teaching students through mobile assisted language learning (MALL) on their reading comprehension performance and belief. In the study, 79 second year English language linear students in Gondar College of Teachers’ Education were taken as participants of the study comprehensively since their size was manageable. Among those, 40 of them were control group and 39 were experimental group. For this effect, the study used quasi-experimental research design. Data were collected via tests (pre and posttests) and questionnaire. The data collected using the pre and posttest were analyzed quantitatively using the independent samples t-test. The questionnaire data were analyzed quantitatively via frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation. The results of the study divulged that MALL brought difference between the experimental group (EG) and control group (CG). Particularly, with the help of the interventions provided the majority of the EG showed high level of progress in their reading comprehension performance and got affirmative belief towards the use of MALL in reading lessons. However, the CG remained constant. Based on the findings drawn, it was recommended that MALL should be practiced to maximize the students’ reading comprehension performance in EFL reading classrooms