Novelty in Multidisciplinarity

The launch of Insights into Language, Culture and Communication (ILCC) by the Academy Publishing Center (APC) is a recognition that multi-disciplinarity not only shapes the social landscape of language, culture and communication but also establishes a significant and dynamic area of investigation in contemporary communication and interaction. More specifically, the journal marks an important shift in the status of multidisciplinarity theoretically, methodologically, and empirically carving new routes through several disciplinary terrains to consolidate and advance the development of linguistics, culture and media scholarship.What makes ILCC stand out among recently emerging journals is that it serves as an international forum for the growing body of works in several interlocking disciplines, engages in critical discussions of key contemporary challenges arising from the scale and speed of new media development, and opens up an entirely new line of research premised on a wide range of disciplinary perspectives. ILCC encourages submissions from a wide range of disciplines such as: philosophy, sociology, linguistics, applied linguistics, literary studies, cultural studies, critical theory, media studies, gender studies and the visual arts, all of which assist scholars to shoehorn their multidisciplinary arguments.</p

The Impact of Netflix’s Drama on Teenagers’ Perceptions of Social Relationship

This research paper analyzes the huge change teenagers currently undergo as they watch content that affects the way they think in the present time as well as in the upcoming future. A clear example is the American streaming service of Netflix which plays an important role in influencing teenagers’ perceptions of social relationships. In light of this, the study presents and discusses the findings of the effect of Netflix on teenagers' perceptions of social relationships regarding families, friends and gender at large. It also examines the negative and positive aspects of Netflix. The study thus focuses on two theoretical frameworks; Social Learning Theory and Third Person Theory. Methodologically, the research relies on quantitative and qualitative data, as it conducts an in-depth interview with 25 parents and holds a questionnaire with 110 teenagers. The results reveal that teenagers are influenced by the content Netflix presents, as it has a significant impact not only on how they think, but also on their attitudes, social experiences, habits and cultural experiences.</span

The framing of the Arab-Israeli conflict in the writing of Thomas Friedman: a conceptual metaphor analysis

This study presents a conceptual metaphor analysis of the Arab Israeli conflict in the discourse of the journalist Thomas Freidman during the time period of 2001 till 2010. The study utilizes Conceptual Metaphor Analysis and Frame analysis in analyzing the data. The research focuses on the rendering of the metaphors used to depict the conflict in the writer’s discourse. The principal tools used in the study are Lakoff and Johnson’s cognitive Conceptual Metaphor theory (1980) and the Critical metaphor Analysis theory developed by Charteris-Black (2004). Additionally, Frame Analysis theory (Entman 1993) is also applied to provide a more comprehensive picture of the data. The analysis concluded that the representation of the conflict and the entities involved in it in Freidman’s discourse, utilized the Clash of Civilizations paradigm as developed by Samuel Huntington (1997) as a main frame to present the conflict as part of the War on Terror that was taking place at the time. Findings also showed the writer’s perspective to be leaning towards the positive rendering of the Western side of the conflict including Israel to the disadvantage of the Arab side. It is recommended that further research should focus on the representation of the conflict in the discourse of major Arab and Israeli writers so a more comprehensible picture of the images rendered by media on either side can be arrived at.  Received: 23 January 2023 Accepted: 13 February 2023 Published: 10 March 2023</p

Exploring the attitude of ESP learners towards using automated writing evaluation to assess their writing

The aim of the current study is to explore the attitudes of ESP learners towards using automated writing evaluation (AWE) to assess their writing. The mixed-method qualitative and quantitative approach is employed in this study. The sample of the study consisted of 201 second-year students from the college of engineering at the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport, Egypt. A post-experiment questionnaire was utilized to investigate the students` attitudes towards using AWE to assess their writing. The results of the study revealed that the students hold positive attitudes towards using the AWE software Grammarly since it encouraged them to self-correct their errors and revise their writings before submitting them to their teachers. Based on the findings of this study, it is recommended to conduct research on the pedagogical usage of AWE tools in writing classes, and the attitudes of the writing instructors towards using AWE tools in their writing classes. Received: 20 March 2023 Accepted: 29 April 2023 Published: 07 June 2023</p

Attitudes of English for academic purposes learners towards using asynchronous videos in enhancing writing skills

The aim of this study is to investigate the attitudes of students of English for Academic Purposes towards using asynchronous videos to enhance their academic writing skills. A pre- and a post-questionnaire, as well as semi-structured interviews, were used to collect qualitative and quantitative data. Furthermore, SPSS was used for data analysis. The research sample consisted of 88 participants from five classes who were enrolled at the College of Language and Communication at the Arab Academy of Science, Technology, and Maritime Studies. They were given instructions to make use of asynchronous videos. A positive and significant difference in the mean scores was found in the results of the pre- and the post-questionnaire, which was supported by the semi-structured interviews. The results of the questionnaires showed that M = 80.02 for the pre-questionnaire and M = 83.50 for the post-questionnaire. The mean difference was 3.47 (SD: ±13.54), and the paired t-test showed that this was statistically significant (p ≤ 0.05), which means that the students exhibited an increased positive attitude towards online learning, including asynchronous videos in an academic setting. Consequently, it is proposed that more research be conducted on the relationship between asynchronous videos and how students prefer to learn. Moreover, it is suggested that teachers and curriculum designers utilise asynchronous videos in their classes to improve students’ writing skills.Keywords: ESP, EAP, writing skills, teaching technology, post-Covid teaching, asynchronous video.  Received: 11 March 2023 Accepted: 13 March 2023 Published: 25 March 2023</p

Global variation in postoperative mortality and complications after cancer surgery: a multicentre, prospective cohort study in 82 countries

© 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licenseBackground: 80% of individuals with cancer will require a surgical procedure, yet little comparative data exist on early outcomes in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). We compared postoperative outcomes in breast, colorectal, and gastric cancer surgery in hospitals worldwide, focusing on the effect of disease stage and complications on postoperative mortality. Methods: This was a multicentre, international prospective cohort study of consecutive adult patients undergoing surgery for primary breast, colorectal, or gastric cancer requiring a skin incision done under general or neuraxial anaesthesia. The primary outcome was death or major complication within 30 days of surgery. Multilevel logistic regression determined relationships within three-level nested models of patients within hospitals and countries. Hospital-level infrastructure effects were explored with three-way mediation analyses. This study was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03471494. Findings: Between April 1, 2018, and Jan 31, 2019, we enrolled 15 958 patients from 428 hospitals in 82 countries (high income 9106 patients, 31 countries; upper-middle income 2721 patients, 23 countries; or lower-middle income 4131 patients, 28 countries). Patients in LMICs presented with more advanced disease compared with patients in high-income countries. 30-day mortality was higher for gastric cancer in low-income or lower-middle-income countries (adjusted odds ratio 3·72, 95% CI 1·70–8·16) and for colorectal cancer in low-income or lower-middle-income countries (4·59, 2·39–8·80) and upper-middle-income countries (2·06, 1·11–3·83). No difference in 30-day mortality was seen in breast cancer. The proportion of patients who died after a major complication was greatest in low-income or lower-middle-income countries (6·15, 3·26–11·59) and upper-middle-income countries (3·89, 2·08–7·29). Postoperative death after complications was partly explained by patient factors (60%) and partly by hospital or country (40%). The absence of consistently available postoperative care facilities was associated with seven to 10 more deaths per 100 major complications in LMICs. Cancer stage alone explained little of the early variation in mortality or postoperative complications. Interpretation: Higher levels of mortality after cancer surgery in LMICs was not fully explained by later presentation of disease. The capacity to rescue patients from surgical complications is a tangible opportunity for meaningful intervention. Early death after cancer surgery might be reduced by policies focusing on strengthening perioperative care systems to detect and intervene in common complications. Funding: National Institute for Health Research Global Health Research Unit

Effects of hospital facilities on patient outcomes after cancer surgery: an international, prospective, observational study

© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 licenseBackground: Early death after cancer surgery is higher in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) compared with in high-income countries, yet the impact of facility characteristics on early postoperative outcomes is unknown. The aim of this study was to examine the association between hospital infrastructure, resource availability, and processes on early outcomes after cancer surgery worldwide. Methods: A multimethods analysis was performed as part of the GlobalSurg 3 study—a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study of patients who had surgery for breast, colorectal, or gastric cancer. The primary outcomes were 30-day mortality and 30-day major complication rates. Potentially beneficial hospital facilities were identified by variable selection to select those associated with 30-day mortality. Adjusted outcomes were determined using generalised estimating equations to account for patient characteristics and country-income group, with population stratification by hospital. Findings: Between April 1, 2018, and April 23, 2019, facility-level data were collected for 9685 patients across 238 hospitals in 66 countries (91 hospitals in 20 high-income countries; 57 hospitals in 19 upper-middle-income countries; and 90 hospitals in 27 low-income to lower-middle-income countries). The availability of five hospital facilities was inversely associated with mortality: ultrasound, CT scanner, critical care unit, opioid analgesia, and oncologist. After adjustment for case-mix and country income group, hospitals with three or fewer of these facilities (62 hospitals, 1294 patients) had higher mortality compared with those with four or five (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 3·85 [95% CI 2·58–5·75]; p<0·0001), with excess mortality predominantly explained by a limited capacity to rescue following the development of major complications (63·0% vs 82·7%; OR 0·35 [0·23–0·53]; p<0·0001). Across LMICs, improvements in hospital facilities would prevent one to three deaths for every 100 patients undergoing surgery for cancer. Interpretation: Hospitals with higher levels of infrastructure and resources have better outcomes after cancer surgery, independent of country income. Without urgent strengthening of hospital infrastructure and resources, the reductions in cancer-associated mortality associated with improved access will not be realised. Funding: National Institute for Health and Care Research