Mother Tongue Influence on English Pronunciation: A Case study in College Students

Mother tongue interference can affect students’ English speaking skill especially in pronouncing the words intrinsically. Considering Tamil language is the dominant mother language used by students at College level, the students as EFL learners often use their mother tongue in daily communication and at campus, and College students pronounce English words in a different way. This study investigated the forms of Tamil language interfering students in pronouncing English words, and how they were interfered. This was a descriptive study in the field of English pronunciation elaborated in a qualitative way. Recorded interviews and pronunciation testing were the main techniques of collecting data. Interview guide, validated pronunciation test, and document analysis were the instruments. In conclusion, the interference was positive since Tamil language’s phonemic sounds have some similarities to those of English, so this condition does not potentially change the meanings of English words

A Study on the Necessity of Blended Learning in Classroom after the Pandemic Period

Rescheduling the usual elements of educational materials predominantly helps the learner to seek knowledge much easier than before. Developing e-sources is the next level of advancement in providing support for all learning categories. This study is an attempt to find out the necessity of blended learning in the classroom after the pandemic period .This study was conducted with a quantitative research design using a survey methodology to gather data about the learners’ interest among the blended learning from the sample of 50 undergraduate students in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. The necessity of updating to the present scenario is challenging the teachers to upgrade themselves and support the students. During the pandemic, the teaching and learning process is quite difficult to acquire education, but the integration of technology balances the mutuality. The core objective of this study is to examine the effects of the online mode of education among students and find out the requirements of blended learning for future education

Act of Altruism in Nicola Davies’ Whale Boy

Eco-consciousness deals with the concern of human beings towards nature. Nature protects humans in all aspects unless they harm them. This act of selflessness is referred to as “altruism” in literature. Altruism is the literary term describing humanity or kindness. The kind behaviour of nature is characterised as a non-profitable aid to humans. There won't be any expectations, yet kindness will be expressed in a natural way. According to ethology, altruistic behaviour can be found in humans and animals. It is merely distinguished as a kinship between the two different groups. The novel Whale Boy deals with the behavioural attitudes of a whale and a boy. Nicola Davies, an English zoologist and author, described the kind behaviour of a wild creature towards humans. The novel centers on Michael Fontaine, a young boy who wants to go whale-watching and fishing in the deep ocean off the coast of his island. Nicola Davis focuses on marine wildlife and the issue of whaling and conservation. This article relates to the relationship between Michael and the whale. Thus, through the act of altruism, the article attempts to reflect the kinship between whales and humans

A Conscientious Study of Blended Learning and Cardinal Tools

Evaluating the contexts, activities and relationships of participants in education is a complicated structure that necessitates numerous ideologies and levels of assessment, specifically when it comes to technological developments. Blended learning is a method of instruction that integrates offline and virtual-based education. This article highlights the characteristics of technology and features in blended learning, which enhances the learner engagement in higher education. It showcases some of the digital technologies including video encapsulation and online learning systems that may assist in learning and teaching. This paper delineates the consequences faced by the teachers of higher education while explaining the conceptualization of blended learning. It also suggests the implications that can be practiced for the optimization of blended learning evaluating the learner engagement. It also identifies methods to improve the effectiveness of the teachers in evolving demands in blended learning for higher education

Prognostic model to predict postoperative acute kidney injury in patients undergoing major gastrointestinal surgery based on a national prospective observational cohort study.

Background: Acute illness, existing co-morbidities and surgical stress response can all contribute to postoperative acute kidney injury (AKI) in patients undergoing major gastrointestinal surgery. The aim of this study was prospectively to develop a pragmatic prognostic model to stratify patients according to risk of developing AKI after major gastrointestinal surgery. Methods: This prospective multicentre cohort study included consecutive adults undergoing elective or emergency gastrointestinal resection, liver resection or stoma reversal in 2-week blocks over a continuous 3-month period. The primary outcome was the rate of AKI within 7 days of surgery. Bootstrap stability was used to select clinically plausible risk factors into the model. Internal model validation was carried out by bootstrap validation. Results: A total of 4544 patients were included across 173 centres in the UK and Ireland. The overall rate of AKI was 14·2 per cent (646 of 4544) and the 30-day mortality rate was 1·8 per cent (84 of 4544). Stage 1 AKI was significantly associated with 30-day mortality (unadjusted odds ratio 7·61, 95 per cent c.i. 4·49 to 12·90; P < 0·001), with increasing odds of death with each AKI stage. Six variables were selected for inclusion in the prognostic model: age, sex, ASA grade, preoperative estimated glomerular filtration rate, planned open surgery and preoperative use of either an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor or an angiotensin receptor blocker. Internal validation demonstrated good model discrimination (c-statistic 0·65). Discussion: Following major gastrointestinal surgery, AKI occurred in one in seven patients. This preoperative prognostic model identified patients at high risk of postoperative AKI. Validation in an independent data set is required to ensure generalizability