Native versus non-native speaker teachers’ perceptions about English varieties in designing/developing EFL Curriculum Development

This study seeks to identify the perceptions of teachers, native speakers, and non-native speakers in terms of the influence of teaching varieties of English on EFL curriculum development and teaching designs and which of these factors could predict how the English curriculum should be developed for a particular variety and culture. Using the Teaching Varieties Influence Survey (TVIS), this study introspected 126 respondents of native-speaker teachers (NESTs) and non-native-speaker teachers (non-NESTs) to reflect their views using t-tests, correlation coefficients, and stepwise multiple regression analysis. General findings from this study revealed no statistically significant differences in the two samples’ views of the influence of English variety in English as an International Language (EIL) on EFL learners’ curriculum development, indicating that both groups perceive English variety in the EIL curriculum as influential in determining other factors that contribute to the development of an EFL curriculum. NESTs believe that people in charge of the English curriculum will determine what variety to choose. In contrast, non-NESTs believe that units of curriculum analysis, reasons for learning English, and factors to consider in dialect choice will determine how the English curriculum is developed vis-à-vis a particular dialect. The article concludes by discussing these findings and their pedagogical implications in an EFL context

Impact of the Target Culture on Foreign Language Learning: A Case Study

This study provides the profile of college student of English in advanced levels of study in the English Department of a College of Languages & Translation, Saudi Arabia. Utilising qualitative data collection methods, the responses and scholastic history of the student provide insights into his personal qualities and aptitudes as a native-like speaker of English as proven by CEPA scores and direct communication with the case in English. The story of the student indicates a strong influence of the second language culture on the learning of this language. The case has been studied and presented against a rich research and literature backdrop that explored culture and language concepts and their interrelatedness from different perspectives, emphasising the significance of acculturation as part of second/foreign language acquisition/learning. The paper ends on notes and implications for pedagogy and further research in culture and language in EFL learning settings. Key words: Culture; Language; Acculturation; EFL; Sapir Whorf Hypothesis; Socio-linguistic identity; Case studyResumé: Cette étude fournit le profil d'étudiant universitaire d'anglais dans les niveaux avancés d'étude dans une université de langues et la traduction du département anglais,de l'Arabie Saoudite. En utilisant des méthodes de collecte de données qualitatives, les réponses et l'histoire scolastique de l'étudiant fournit des aperçus dans ses qualités personnelles et aptitudes comme un orateur semblable d'anglais comme prouvé par le grand nombre CEPA et dirige la communication avec le cas en anglais. L'histoire de l'étudiant indique une influence forte de la deuxième culture de langue en apprenant de cette langue. Le cas qui a été étudié et présenté contre une recherche riche et un fond de littérature qui a exploré la culture et des concepts de langue et leur été en corrélation de perspectives différentes, soulignant la signification d'acculturation comme la partie d'acquisition de seconde langue étrangère. Le journal finit sur des notes et des implications pour la pédagogie et la nouvelle recherche dans la culture et la langue dans l’installation de l’enseignement de EFL. Mots-clés: Culture; Langue; Acculturation; EFL; Sapir Whorf Hypothèse; Identité sociolinguistique; Etude de ca

Effects of Using Culture-laden Texts on Culture-specific Translation Skills in Arab Students

This work explores the possibility of translating culture-laden texts from English into Arabic, relying on a corpus of literary texts representing the local cultures of the 16th. and the 18th. century England. Furthermore, it taps into the applicability of SL cultural texts to help students appropriately render a culture-specific lexicon. The present study makes use of an experimental research design to check whether the use of literary texts may help EFL learners enhance their culture-specific translation skills in a traditional instruction setting. Finally, its findings indicate that the use of culture-laden literary texts can be efficient in introducing the culturally loaded lexicon of the English language, thereby inducing improvements in translational writing skills of EFL learners of translation

Particulate suspension slip flow induced by peristaltic waves in a rectangular duct: Effect of lateral walls

AbstractThis paper looks at the influence of lateral walls on peristaltic transport of a particle fluid suspension model applied in a non-uniform rectangular duct with slip boundaries. The peristaltic waves propagate on the horizontal sidewalls of a rectangular duct. The flow analysis has been developed for low Reynolds number and long wavelength approximation. Exact solutions have been established for the axial velocity and stream function. The effects of aspect the ratio β (ratio of height to width) and the volume fraction density of the particles C on the pumping characteristics are discussed in detail. The expressions for the pressure rise and friction forces on the wall of a rectangular duct were computed numerically and were plotted with variation of the flow rate for different values of the parameters. It is observed that in the peristaltic pumping (Δp>0,Q>0) and retrograde pumping (Δp>0,Q<0) regions the pumping rate increases with an increase in M, while in the copumping region (Δp<0,Q>0) the behavior is quite opposite. Furthermore it is also observed that the pressure rise increases in the upper half of the channel and decreases in the lower half of the channel with the increase in lslip parameter

The Bandwagon Effect in the Adoption of ELearning Systems in Language Learning– An Appraisal

The purpose of this study was to investigatethe factors affecting the adoption of e-learningmanagement system (LLMS) in mandatory and voluntaryEFL learning settings, through an application ofthe technology acceptance model (TAM) to e-learningwithin an EFL programme in a Saudi Arabian southernuniversity. The study, through a descriptive method ofresearch involving quantitative data gleaning techniques,investigated the level of acceptance of onlinelearning in college students with regard to CompetingBehavioral Intention and Behavioural Intention, thefactors that voluntariness affect in adopting e-learning,and the effects of perceived network externality on voluntariness,behavioural intention to use e-learning, perceivedusefulness and perceived ease of use.. Findings ofthe study revealed that perceived net-work externalityexerts a significant direct effect on Blackboard use intentions,perceived usefulness, and perceived ease ofuse. This re-search implied that, at the very inception,mandatory usage is necessary for overall adoption ofthe LLMS. It was also revealed that the massive use ofe-learning endeavours has been created by a bandwagoneffect; therefore, the LLMS should be developedto target changes in perceived usefulness, perceived easeof use, and perceived network externality rather than toemulate to current practices in EFL computer-mediatedenvironments. Practical alternatives included enhancingcontent quality, developing a simple and easy-to-usesystem, and enhancing students' computer self-efficacyin ways inducing better foreign language learning results

Cerium (IV) ammonium nitrate-mediated reactions: Simple route to benzimidazole derivatives

AbstractThe reaction of o-phenylenediamine with aromatic aldehydes in MeOH at room temperature catalyzed by cerium (IV) ammonium nitrate (CAN) afforded either 2-aryl-1-arylmethyl-1H-benz-imidazoles and/or 2-aryl-substituted benzimidazoles

Effects of coagulation on the two-phase peristaltic pumping of magnetized Prandtl biofluid through an endoscopic annular geometry containing a porous medium

In this article, motivated by more accurate simulation of electromagnetic blood flow in annular vessel geometries in intravascular thrombosis, a mathematical model is developed for elucidating the effects of coagulation (i.e. a blood clot) on peristaltically induced motion of an electrically-conducting (magnetized) Prandtl fluid physiological suspension through a non-uniform annulus containing a homogenous porous medium. Magnetohydrodynamics is included owing to the presence of iron in the hemoglobin molecule and also the presence of ions in real blood. Hall current which generates a secondary (cross) flow at stronger magnetic field is also considered in the present study. A small annular tube (endoscopic) with sinusoidal peristaltic waves traveling along the inner and outer walls at constant velocity with a clot present is analyzed. The governing conservation equations which comprise the continuity and momentum equations for the fluid phase and particle phase are simplified under lubrication approximations (long wavelength and creeping flow conditions). The moving boundary value problem is normalized and solved analytically (with appropriate wall conditions) for the fluid phase and particle phase using the homotopy perturbation method (HPM) with MATHEMATICA software. Validation is conducted with MAPLE numerical quadrature. A parametric study of the influence of clot height (δ), particle volume fraction (C), Prandtl fluid material parameters (α, β), Hartmann number (M), Hall parameter (m), permeability parameter (k), peristaltic wave amplitude (φ) and wave number (δ̅ ) on pressure difference and wall shear (friction forces) is included. Pressure rise is elevated with clot height, medium permeability and Prandtl rheological material parameters whereas it is reduced with increasing particle volume fraction and magnetic Hartmann number. Friction forces on the outer and inner tubes of the endoscope annulus are enhanced with clot height and particle volume fraction whereas they are decreased with Prandtl rheological material parameters, Hall parameter and permeability parameter. The simulations provide a good benchmark for more general computational fluid dynamics studies of magnetic endoscopic multi-phase peristaltic pumping