Syrian Refugees and Quality of Education in Jordan

The Syria crisis has considered the world's largest humanitarian crisis since World War II. In other words, it has triggered the world's biggest refugee's crisis currently. Jordan has topped a list of ten countries which host more than half of the world’s refugees, according to an Amnesty International (AI) report. Jordan, which has taken in over 2.7 million refugees, was ranked as the top refugee-hosting countr

Challenge and potential of future agricultural development in Jordan:role of education and entrepreneurship

The paper examines the status of agriculture development in Jordan, current challenges and potential of future development. Aim of the study is to find out the role of education and entrepreneurship in fostering agriculture development in Jordan through: introducing new technologies into the sector; applying modern and global marketing perspective, and youth entrepreneurship empowerment. This study is based on theoretical approach based on secondary research, and primary research includes two surveys were carried out at this study. Like various studies this study confirmed that water scarcity is the main challenge facing agriculture development in Jordan, and the sector is less developed than other sectors in the country. Nevertheless, this study added that youth entrepreneurship low participation in the sector is not only due to financial shortage and youth insufficient knowledge, but it's due to their low attitude to working in agriculture too. Therefore, it is suggested that there is a need for significant paradigm shift in the education system to meet the needs of the market. Also utilizing the role of R&D to enhance the management of water resources and emphasize desalination and wastewater reuse, and change youth's attitude to working in agriculture. Add to the aforementioned that there is a need to provide more financial and technical support to attract and help youth entrepreneurs to invest in the sector

The Effect of Using Web-Site Games on Saudi Pupils' Reading Comprehension, Vocabulary Acquisition, and Motivation

This study aimed at investigating the effect of using web-site games on the route and the rate of Saudi pupils' reading comprehension, vocabulary acquisition, and motivation quantitatively and qualitatively. The sample of the study consisted of forty male pupils from Madinah Directorate of Education. Anwar AL-Faihaa' School was randomly chosen from the total number of basic schools in that directorate in the first semester of the academic year 2011-2012. In that school, there were two sixth grade classes:  Section (A) consisted of 20 students and it was assigned as an experimental group, while the other was decided to be a controlling group. It was also consisted of 20 students. Data were collected with twelve weeks via a pre-posttest design for equivalent group. The results of the study indicated that students who were taught using web-site games had better results than those who were taught using the traditional method. The researcher concluded that web-site games could facilitate pupils' reading comprehension and vocabulary acquisition since they motivate students and make them involved in the teaching process. Accordingly, the Ministry of Education represented by the Directorate of Curricula should accompany the main English textbooks with links to web-site games that do not harm or contradict with our traditions and our culture. Additionally, there is a need for more computerized games to teach other language components and skills. Moreover, the educational philosophies, methodologies, and curricula should be rearranged to design other web-sites of educational games as integral strategies to meet the needs of the new age since they contribute to the development of students'  language skills and mental growth. Keywords: Web-Site Games, Motivation, Reading Comprehension, Vocabulary Acquisition, Saudi Pupils

The Effect of Teaching Literature on EFL Students' Pragmatic Competence

A language learner can derive from the inclusion of literature in the educational curriculum for language learning. This study investigates the importance of literary discourse in developing the foreign language learners' pragmatic competence. Two sections of ninth stage students from Al-Jazeerah Schools in Amman Private Directorate of Education have been randomly sampled in the study.  Students were then assigned into two groups, the control group and the experimental group. Both groups were administered an identical pre-test which showed a uniformity in the results with insignificant variation. A syllabus based on literary texts including all the genres of English literature was designed for the experimental group. For the control group, core language textbooks covering the same components were selected for instruction. Both  groups were instructed for a full semester . By the end of the semester, they were given a post-test. The results of the study suggested that the literature syllabus sounded good for developing the learner's pragmatic competence ,  in the sense that there was a significant difference in the performance of the two groups,  in favor of the experimental group. The findings also drew the instructors  ,  curriculum developers, and course designers' attention towards integrating more literature centered language activities in the process of language teaching. Finally, the study proposed some pedagogical implications related to literature-based  syllabus to general design. Key words: Literature, pragmatic competence, ninth grade, authenticity

Using Hybrid Power Generation to Ensure the Reliability of Power System in Jordan

There is an increase in the growing of interest in renewable energy system, especially solar and wind for their availability and cost of running competition in the Middle East. Hybrid systems of renewable energy generation have two or more different sources usually generate different types of ensuring the continuous supply of electrical charges. The system is considered to consist of wind turbines, batteries, optical, and conventional diesel generators to power a variable load at a speed of 62 kWh / day with the peak load of 6 kW, peak load.  The study was based on real data on wind speed and solar radiation to Amman city. There are several options available compared to using a software package HOMER Technical and economic view, economic, and possible low of pollutant emissions. Keywords: Hybrid system, Optimal system design , Economy, Environment, HOMER software DOI: 10.7176/JETP/9-5-04 Publication date:June 30th 201

The Effect of Using Authentic Videos on English Major Students' Prosodic Competence

This study aims to investigate the effect of using authentic videos on the prosodic competence of foreign language learners. It is hypothesized worldwide that authentic videos have a positive effect on the EFL learners' supra segmental competence. The population of the study included 32 students majoring in English Language at Taibah University in KSA during the academic year 2011/2012. The sample consisted of two sections, a control group and an experimental one. A pretest was administered to both groups to ensure that they were homogeneous. The control group was taught supra segmental aspects of language using a traditional approach while the experimental group was taught authentic videos. About four months later, a posttest was administered. The results of the study showed that there was much progress in the experimental group which significantly outperformed the control group in the different aspects of prosody. These findings confirm the hypothesis which read videos can have a positive effect on the EFL learners' supra segmental competence.  Keywords :Supra segmental competence, authentic videos ,Saudi English major students as  EFL learners, Intonation, Pronunciation, Stress, Pause , Juncture , Rhyme ,  and Prosodic aspects of language

Jordanian early primary stage teachers' self-reported practices to develop their pupils reading in Arabic

This study examines teachers’ practices for developing early primary stage (6-9 year-old) pupils’ reading in Arabic in the northern region of Jordan using a 25-item self-assessment checklist and a semi-structured interview. The subjects reported that their practices stem more from extrinsic motivation (e.g. responding to calls for enabling children to take part in literary competitions) than from intrinsic motivation (e.g. a personal interest in reading). The findings showed that 22 items of the Checklist scored moderate to little degrees of practice, which was further confirmed by the results of the interview. Besides, although there were no statistically significant differences among the subjects’ reports of their practices which may be attributed to the effect of gender and academic qualification, statistically significant differences were found due to teaching experience, having studied literacy-related coursework in pre-service preparation, and having a personal interest in reading. The study concludes with relevant implications for reading instruction and teacher education.peer-reviewe

The Effect of Performance Based Assessment on Language Accuracy of Tenth Grade English Language Students at Mafraq Borough Directorate of Education

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of using performance-based assessment on tenth grade students' language accuracy achievement in Mafraq Borough Directorate- Jordan. Equivalent pre/post-test two group design was used. through a pre/post-test comprehension test with grammar components was constructed to measure students' achievement in language accuracy. The sample of this study consisted of 128 tenth grade students; sixty-four were male students from The First Secondary School for Boys, and sixty-four were female students from Princess Alia Bent Al-Hussein School for Girls during the first semester of the academic year 2009/2010.  The subjects of the study were distributed among four groups (a female experimental group and control group, and a male experimental group and control group). The experimental groups were evaluated using performance based Assessment, while the control groups were evaluated via traditional pencil and paper test. The subjects were (32) male students for the experimental group and (32) male students for the control group, while the female students for the experimental and control group were (32) and (32) respectively. Those subjects were distributed among four purposefully selected sections in two schools that were also selected purposefully. The findings of the study indicated that there were statistically significant differences in the post- test between the control group and the experimental group in favor of the experimental group, and there was a statistically significant difference in the students' achievement due to gender in favor of females. There was statistically significant difference due to the interaction between gender and group in favor of female students in the experimental group. Keywords: Performance Based Assessment. Language Accuracy. 10th grade students. Mafraq. Jorda

Low-cost ventilation strategies to improve the indoor environmental quality by enhancing the natural ventilation in multistory residential buildings

Indoor environmental quality (IEQ) influences a building’s livability. Because most people spend ~65% of their time at home, methods and design strategies to achieve high-quality indoor environments are worth investigating. This study investigates the performance of the indoor environmental quality through implementing various low-cost natural ventilation strategies on a typical apartment in the multistory residential buildings in Amman, Jordan. A simulation software was used to conduct a detailed data analysis based on the ventilation rate, indoor operative temperature, relative humidity, and CO2 concentration in the base case apartment unit and propose design strategies. The simulation results were compared with the results obtained in the base case, analyzed, and discussed to determine the most efficient ventilation strategy. The proposed strategies improved the indoor air quality most of the time when compared to the base case, and maintain it within relevant international standards. The results provide a foundation to improve the IEQ in newly developed residential apartments by providing architectural design guidelines for achieving an effective natural ventilation system

Hidden impurities in transparent conducting oxides: study of vacancies-related defects and impurities in (Cu–Ni) co-doped ZnO films

The effect of hydrogen and nitrogen impurities on the physical properties of transparent conductive oxides is investigated in this study. Therefore, 5 wt.% of copper and 5 wt.% of nickel co-doped zinc oxide ((Cu–Ni)/ZnO) films were prepared using the sol–gel method. The (Cu–Ni)/ZnO films were annealed in an oven at 500 °C for 2 h under air, vacuum, nitrogen, and argon atmospheres. The synthesized zinc hydroxide film was transformed to zinc oxide film during the annealing by evaporating H 2O. Films annealed under the mentioned atmosphere including as-prepared one were characterized by analyzing with UV–Vis and FTIR spectra in addition to the 2D mapping electrical conductivity of the surface measured by the 4-point probe. The annealed films under air, vacuum, and argon atmospheres led to generate H-related impurities bounded to the oxygen vacancy (H O) which they act as shallow donor defects resulting in forming (Cu–Ni)/ZnO films into n-type materials. Whereas, the film annealed under a nitrogen atmosphere has N-related defects bounding to the zinc vacancy (N Zn) which they act as shallow acceptor defects resulting in transforming the film from n-type to p-type. These defects affect the optical, electrical, and optoelectronic properties of the (Cu–Ni)/ZnO films