COMPARISON OF READING ALOUD STRATEGIES VERSUS SILENT READING STRATEGIES USED ON PAKISTANI UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ READING COMPARISON FOR READING PROFICIENCY & LITERAL READING SKILLS

Reading is the best way to give knowledge. Reading is an essential part of learning. No one can neglect its importance. There are many strategies for reading. Among them, one is silent reading strategy while another one is reading aloud strategy. Pakistan is a developing country where the English language is used as a second language because the national language is Urdu. Students’ base for English conversation and writing is poor in such condition reading aloud strategy is important especially for poor readers. No one can neglect its importance, and that is why the importance of read-aloud strategy is increasing as compared to silent reading strategy. The present study was conducted in a Pakistani university. A comparative analysis of read-aloud strategies versus silent reading strategies was done. Data was collected from M.Phil. Masters, and BS program students through questionnaires. The study is based on an experimental and questionnaires were used, the targeted sample was from English department in which 20 students and teachers of BS program were selected while 170 respondents including 100 male and 70 female were selected for the questionnaire. Findings show that read aloud strategies is better than silent reading because in Pakistan English language used as a second language. Students had shown a better response for reading aloud strategies for reading proficiency and literal reading skills.  Article visualizations

The effectiveness of reading aloud strategies on literal reading comprehension, reading proficiency and text level difficulties

Reading aloud is an important learning strategy that can boost the consistency of the reading comprehension skills of students, which can enable them to overcome the challenges of high-level instructional materials. Due to poor school English standards, Saudi students enter at university level with a weak reading background and to fill the gap there was need to investigate for which this research study was conducted. The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of using Reading Aloud Strategies (RAS) on low reading proficiency Saudi students’ literal reading comprehension skills and reading proficiency against text level difficulties. The ability to comprehend information and facts that are clearly expressed in the text is referred to as literal reading comprehension. It is the basic level of reading comprehension. A number of reasons, including a lack of word reading, vocabulary, reading expertise, and the reader's ability to create meaning from the text of learning material are referred to as text level difficulty. This study employed a mixed-method design with triangulation approach. Three research instruments were administered in the study: a reading comprehension test, a student questionnaire, and an interview protocol for teachers and students. SPSS software was used to analyse the quantitative data analysis, and Atlas t.i8 was used to analyse the qualitative data. The participants comprised 100 first year students at a college level English taking reading course at an English Language Centre of King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia. Fifty (50) students were assigned into an experimental group where the strategies of reading aloud were applied, and silent reading strategies were used in the control group with fifty (50) students as well. The experimental results were significant on literal reading comprehension skills, and reading proficiency as the p value was below 0.5., and the correlation was significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed). The reading comprehension test utilised high-level text in the reading passages adhering to the administrative guideline of the university. The findings of the reading comprehension test show that the gain score of Silent Reading Strategies (control group) was 3% and RAS was 17% (experimental group). There was a difference of 14%, but it was not a high growth on text difficulty. In addition, findings of the student questionnaire and (30) students’ interview protocol revealed majority of the students believed that RAS worked effectively to improve their literal reading comprehension skills and reading proficiency. The results of the teacher interview protocol also revealed that they had the same opinion similar to the student. However, through the interview protocol data, the students believed that RAS could help them to understand higher level text difficulties whereas the teachers thought RAS were not effective on the difficult texts. Therefore, there is a significant contribution of using RAS to assist low proficiency Saudi students when difficult texts are used as instructional materials, and this should be further investigated. It is recommended that Saudi students use Reading Aloud Strategies meaningfully, and these strategies may be implemented in future studies. There is a continuing need for RAS research-based protocols, ideally in the Alhasa region. It also recommended that investigation on RAS in among Saudi students is carried out comparing students of different gender. To compare results, the analysis could also be extended to other EFL environments. The study was confined to one provincial institution in the province of Alhasa. Further research is also required at Master level for the use of RAS by Saudi students for text level challenges as master level students are also weak in reading comprehension skills having text difficulties

A Survey of Reading Comprehension Difficulties for Saudi Students with English Text

The study investigates the reading interest of Saudi students’ reading interests in English, the obstacles hindering their reading efforts, the person who helps them choose their reading materials, the factors that determine their choice of reading materials and the reasons why they read. The statistical analysis of the questionnaire returned by 460 Saudi students revealed that the students have a broad range of reading interests. The top of which are stories, adventure books, books about religion, and magazines about the internet, newspaper world events, publications about innovation in technology, sports magazines, novels, poetry, and plays. On the other hand, they dislike books about economics, sociology, astronomy and mathematics. The findings also showed that the obstacles that hinder their reading efforts are of casual visits to the libraries, inability to get books quickly, non-availability of reading materials, time constraints, lack of local libraries, beliefs of having better things to do than reading. It was also noted that the difficulty of reading materials provided by Department of English Language and Literature, opinions that Reading Comprehension is not as important as improving other language skills were the hindrances that created obstacles for their text comprehension. Moreover, the beliefs that there is no relationship between reading and other language skills, and lack of family interest in reading were also the findings that showed the reading difficulties of Saudi students with English text comprehension. Furthermore, the research revealed that the students choose their reading materials by interest, teacher’s request, the main character, length and literary quality. The studies show that the students read for improving their language, learning something, improving their academic achievements, keeping in touch with the local, economic, cultural, scientific and political developments, improving their local status, keeping in view with what is happening around the world and entertainment. Also, the students depend on themselves, their teachers and their class fellows for choosing their reading materials. Recent studies have shown that there has been a continual decline in the average reading ability among the students studying in the schools, colleges and language centers across Saudi Arabia. The current studies assess Reading Comprehension of English Text of senior Saudi students majoring in English

EFFECTIVENESS OF READING ALOUD STRATEGIES FOR DEVELOPING READING HABITS

Read aloud strategy is essential; it determines the success of the future. The focus of present study was on read-aloud strategy and other reading strategies. Mainly the purpose of this study was to check the effectiveness of different reading strategies, which could be helpful at elementary level. The present study was based on reading habits of students at elementary level. The study was conducted in a Govt. Girls Elementary School Fateh Wala, Multan. Data was collected from grade 8 students. Data was collected with the help of questionnaire; pretest, posttest was also used to collect data from students. A sample size of 25 students was taken in which ten were female, and 15 male students had participated. Ten teachers also participated in this research work in which 5 were male teachers and five were female. A comparative analysis was conducted for students reading habits with reading-aloud and silent reading strategy. Atlas ti 8 updated version was used for literature review. Results include the finding that read aloud strategy is better than silent reading and other reading strategies at elementary level.  Article visualizations

Effectiveness of reading aloud strategies for developing reading habits

Read aloud strategy is essential; it determines the success of the future. The focus of present study was on read-aloud strategy and other reading strategies. Mainly the purpose of this study was to check the effectiveness of different reading strategies, which could be helpful at elementary level. The present study was based on reading habits of students at elementary level. The study was conducted in a Govt. Girls Elementary School Fateh Wala, Multan. Data was collected from grade 8 students. Data was collected with the help of questionnaire; pretest, posttest was also used to collect data from students. A sample size of 25 students was taken in which ten were female, and 15 male students had participated. Ten teachers also participated in this research work in which 5 were male teachers and five were female. A comparative analysis was conducted for students reading habits with reading-aloud and silent reading strategy. Atlas ti 8 updated version was used for literature review. Results include the finding that read aloud strategy is better than silent reading and other reading strategies at elementary level

Multiomics characterization of preterm birth in low- and middle-income countries

Importance: Worldwide, preterm birth (PTB) is the single largest cause of deaths in the perinatal and neonatal period and is associated with increased morbidity in young children. The cause of PTB is multifactorial, and the development of generalizable biological models may enable early detection and guide therapeutic studies.Objective: To investigate the ability of transcriptomics and proteomics profiling of plasma and metabolomics analysis of urine to identify early biological measurements associated with PTB.Design, setting, and participants: This diagnostic/prognostic study analyzed plasma and urine samples collected from May 2014 to June 2017 from pregnant women in 5 biorepository cohorts in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs; ie, Matlab, Bangladesh; Lusaka, Zambia; Sylhet, Bangladesh; Karachi, Pakistan; and Pemba, Tanzania). These cohorts were established to study maternal and fetal outcomes and were supported by the Alliance for Maternal and Newborn Health Improvement and the Global Alliance to Prevent Prematurity and Stillbirth biorepositories. Data were analyzed from December 2018 to July 2019.Exposures: Blood and urine specimens that were collected early during pregnancy (median sampling time of 13.6 weeks of gestation, according to ultrasonography) were processed, stored, and shipped to the laboratories under uniform protocols. Plasma samples were assayed for targeted measurement of proteins and untargeted cell-free ribonucleic acid profiling; urine samples were assayed for metabolites.Main outcomes and measures: The PTB phenotype was defined as the delivery of a live infant before completing 37 weeks of gestation.Results: Of the 81 pregnant women included in this study, 39 had PTBs (48.1%) and 42 had term pregnancies (51.9%) (mean [SD] age of 24.8 [5.3] years). Univariate analysis demonstrated functional biological differences across the 5 cohorts. A cohort-adjusted machine learning algorithm was applied to each biological data set, and then a higher-level machine learning modeling combined the results into a final integrative model. The integrated model was more accurate, with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) of 0.83 (95% CI, 0.72-0.91) compared with the models derived for each independent biological modality (transcriptomics AUROC, 0.73 [95% CI, 0.61-0.83]; metabolomics AUROC, 0.59 [95% CI, 0.47-0.72]; and proteomics AUROC, 0.75 [95% CI, 0.64-0.85]). Primary features associated with PTB included an inflammatory module as well as a metabolomic module measured in urine associated with the glutamine and glutamate metabolism and valine, leucine, and isoleucine biosynthesis pathways.Conclusions and relevance: This study found that, in LMICs and high PTB settings, major biological adaptations during term pregnancy follow a generalizable model and the predictive accuracy for PTB was augmented by combining various omics data sets, suggesting that PTB is a condition that manifests within multiple biological systems. These data sets, with machine learning partnerships, may be a key step in developing valuable predictive tests and intervention candidates for preventing PTB

Biosafety measures for Alicyclobacillus spp. strains across various levels of biohazard

Alicyclobacillus bacteria are important contaminants in the beverage industry because their spores remain in the product after usual pasteurization. At the same time, their impact on human health has yet to be characterized, as it is generally assumed to be low or non-existent. However, these bacteria are causing quality concerns mainly due to odor and taste changes of the product. Since potential health effects are not precisely known, an experimental assessment was performed, including a biosafety assessment of six viable and non-viable vegetative and spore forms of Alicyclobacillus spp. strains using cell cultures and rodent study. The monolayer of Caco-2 (Cancer coli-2) cells was investigated for its adsorption effect on the epithelium of the small intestine of mice. Lactate dehydrogenase leakage (LDH) and transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) tests were used to ensure the integrity of the cell membrane and tight junctions. The methylthiazole tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay examined in vitro cytotoxicity in Caco-2 and HepG2 cell lines. The hemolysis of erythrocytes was spectrophotometrically measured. The results showed negligible cytotoxicity or non-toxic response in mice. In conclusion, Alicyclobacillus spp. exhibited biocompatibility with negligible cytotoxicity and minimal safety concerns.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Research Significance of Clinical Linguistics for Children on Language Speech Therapy in Pakistan: A Paediatric Survey Research

Background: Studying paediatrics’ clinical linguistics can accurately assess the needs and demands of this field and can facilitate impactful and practical advancements in this domain. Objectives: This research aims to identify the research goals of clinical linguistics in Pakistan, as limited studies have been conducted on this subject.Materials and Methods: A comprehensive analysis was conducted on linguistic and speech therapy studies published till 2023 to ascertain the quantity and developmental trajectory of research conducted on clinical linguistics. Findings: The field of linguistics has seen the highest number of research studies undertaken by speech therapists in phonetics/phonology (39%). In comparison, the lowest number of studies have been focused on pragmatics (24%). Linguistics has conducted limited research on diseases, accounting for just 0.4% of the studies. Some of these studies concentrate on aphasia, making up 19% of the research. Consequently, it is necessary to explore other illnesses as well

Essential Oils Based Nano Formulations against Postharvest Fungal Rots

Postharvest phytopathogenic rot fungi affect the quality and quantity of perishable fruits and vegetables. About 30–40% peaches deteriorate annually after harvest in world whereas 40–50% losses are reported from Pakistan. Our research envisages importance of an eco-friendly plant essential oils based nano formulations as a management strategy against postharvest deteriorating fungal rots by enhancing their shelf-life and to attenuate reliance on synthetic fungicides. Plant essential oils mode of action against fungal postharvest rots is responsible of rupturing plasma membrane of fungal cell wall. The natural ripening process of perishable commodities does not get affected by the presence of antifungal packaging in the form of plant essential oil nano formulations as no significant alteration in weight loss of produce was recorded. Challenges in applying EOs for microbial suppression in postharvest systems include optimizing their positioning in commercial fruit storage containers. Several innovative approaches are analyzed in terms of work environment and implementation regarding disease management along with future perspectives in concerning field