Role of Motivation in English Language Learning: A Real Challenge

One of the most important Laws of Learning is the Law of Readiness. It is a big challenge for the teachers to kindle a strong desire in pupils to learn English Language swiftly which is not their Native Language. Motivation plays a very important role in the process of learning a Language. Intrinsic Motivation is a kind of motivation that comes from inside. Extrinsic Motivation emanates from external pressures such as essential for job or any other obligation. The differential success of ESL learner proffers us to examine the strategies utilized by successful Language Learners. The teachers can help students improve their performance laying more focus on learning strategies which proved fruitful. Language teachers can effectively teach by virtue of developing interest in students for Language Learning. Passion is very key to Motivation. Passion establishes a link between intrinsic goals and aspirations. Successful Language Learning can be achieved by means of passion. The role of ELT teacher is to devise ways and means to connect to this Passion. Learners need quality instruction, feedback, interaction and chance to have progress and to maintain Motivation for Language Learning as well. A good instructor must utilize the sources of Intrinsic Motivation to establish a connection with Extrinsic factors that can be brought to a classroom setting. It is also very significant for instructors to identify student’s motives and needs etc and thereby evolving proper motivational strategies. Motivation may erode during designing a Language course. The Teachers have to bear in mind that Learners differ in interest expectations from one another

Diasporic Sensibility in Mistress of Spices by Chitra Banerjee

Diaspora is a sort of displaced and dispossessed community or culture in different cultural setup. Various issues emanate from diaspora as ethnicity, migration, incompatibility and identity crisis etc. In recent times, a gaggle of Indian women writers have left their indelible mark on the sand of Diasporic Literature, some of the distinguished names are: Bharati Mukherjee, Kiran Desai, Meera Alexander, Jhumpa Lahiri, Geete Mehta, Suneeta Peres de Coasta and Chita Banerjee Divakaruni etc. These writers have enriched Diasporic literature with their invaluable versatile writings by portraying the immigrant experiences. Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni has cemented a secure place at the Parnassus of South Asian Diasporic literature. Deeply rooted in cultural ethos, Divakaruni’s novels weave around myth, magic, reality, cross cultural impact, customs, and identity crisis etc. The novel The Mistress of Spices (1997) presents diasporic sensibility exploring and identifying the various kinds of problems faced by immigrants. The people come from different countries born and brought up in different cultural background and lose sheen in the glamour of pell-mell of western civilisation craving for identity. The paper is a humble attempt to explore the diasporic sensibility and gauge the immigrant experiences felt by the writer and carried through the characters of the novel forward

Glycogen storage diseases-time to flip the outdated diagnostic approach centered on liver biopsy with the molecular testing

The glycogen storage diseases (GSDs) are a group of inherited metabolic disorders that result from a defect in any one of several enzymes required for either glycogen synthesis or glycogen degradation. The traditional diagnostic approach is based on the invasive hepatic or muscle biopsies, which are neither cost effective nor convenient. Molecular (gene testing) has emerged over the course of past few years as a robust alternative diagnostic tool, which not only confirms the diagnosis of GSDs but also clearly differentiates the types of GSDs allowing the initiation of the type-specific appropriate treatment for the particular type of GSDs. The aim of this update is to highlight the limitations of undertaking a liver biopsy for the diagnosis of GSDs; and to further describe the pros of the molecular testing for better patient centered care

Love, Sex and Self in the Poetry of Kamala Das

Kamala Das is one of the most outstanding poets emerging out of the quintessential quartet of pioneers of Indian English poetry post-Independence. Bold, brisk, blazing, and lurid portrayal of love, sex and self by her shook the very foundation of stereotyped male-dominated literary world. She is pre-dominantly a poet of love and sex. She considers love’s last form as divine and it coalesces the lovers inseparably united. Sex is the biological urge and a cogent conduit to express love towards the beloved. Love is a bliss: its manifestation mustn’t be repressed, but celebrated. She emphasises the physical consummation of love in all its hues inalterably. Her poetry is the sombre spectacle of myriad human emotions like love, sex, intricate human emotions, and universalization of the personal self

Negotiating with Self: A Critical Study of the Poetry of Sylvia Plath

Like coruscating comet, Sylvia Plath is an iridescent star illuminating the firmament of American English Poetry. She is highly venerated and viewed as a cult figure in modern American poetry. The entire corpus of her poetry is emblematic of her personal pain, her personality, and regressive recantation with the outward forces and   outer world’s menace. Her poetry is the eternal destination where the chariot of her creativity and life yearns to reach to. Her ‘Self’ in different guises turns mordant metaphor in her poetic pursuit; her Self becomes leit motif in her entire journey of poetic excellence. She observes the outer world with keen observant eye and sees life from the serene spectacle of death. The dynamics of the perspectives of her poetry enthusiastically explores variegated conflicts and complexities of life her negotiation with her selves unabashedly. Towards the fag-end of her brilliant poetic career, her philosophy of life soaked in all vigour, verve and vim converges into the cool confluence of her divided selves. Surprisingly, she perspicaciously peels of the different layers circumscribed around her with psychic honesty and flawless artistic excellence, and opens heart to her readers nonchalantly. Hurts, hate and haze doesn’t petrify her, instead vivifies her fortitude to supersede seething solitude

Gita Mohanty’s Poetry: An Outcry of a Humanised Soul

Gita Mohanty is reckoned as a very stellar modern Indian poet residing in America. She is very intelligent, intriguing and intense human being, and her aesthetic attributes spurred me stoutly to write a paper on her poetry. She is an adjunct Biology professor in the U.S. A. She is a passionate poet with a primly and pellucid thoughts and progressive outlook. Poetry to her is an inner conversation with her soul. She is a humanist and radiates humanistic gestures of goodwill with her facile pen in the maze of her beautiful pieces of verse. She is a philanthropist and serves selflessly blind children and underprivileged in India. Her poetry reflects robustly her love for humanity, Indian ethos, Indian culture, Indian philosophy and pertinence of life nonchalantly. Despite living in a foreign country, she never sever ties with her motherland and always reminisces the liveliness of Indian culture and vibrancy of life found in the country. She is a prolific writer and relentlessly posts her poems on various literary fora: Global Literary Society, Motivational Strips, Atunis Poetry, and World Writers’ Web. The present paper, however, is a humble attempt to pry into her mind and art, and to present perspicuous appraisal of her poetry from biographic, thematic and spiritual perspective

Trend analysis of lab tests requisitions of COVID-19 prognostic biomarkers at a clinical chemistry reference laboratory-an observational study

Background: Biochemical parameters, such as C-reactive protein (C-RP), Procalcitonin (PCT), Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and Ferritin are associated with COVID-19 severity and prognosis. This trend analysis of COVID-19 prognostic biomarker requisitions is aimed at providing a reflection of the clinical practices adopted amidst the peak of the pandemic. This knowledge of the prognostic biomarkers utilized, will further aid to classify patients based on their risk, for optimal resource allocation and improve outcomes.Material & methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at the clinical chemistry laboratory at the Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH), Karachi Pakistan. A team consisting of two clinical chemistry consultants reviewed the COVID-19 prognostic biomarkers tests performance data from March to July 2020 using the integrated laboratory information management system (ILMS). The test statistics of March to July 2020 when COVID-19 cases were on the rise in the country were compared with those of the same months from 2019. The changes in the test groups were expressed in percentages. Microsoft Excel for windows 2019 was used for data analysis.Results: The total specimens received for testing in 2020 (n = 574,092) showed a percent decline of approximately (-) 33% compared to 2019 (n = 858,756). Contrary to the overall decline in volumes an upward surge was noted for the prognostic biomarkers. From March to July, the highest percent change was noted for LDH (+155.1%), followed by PCT (+66.7.1%), C-RP (+26.5%) and Ferritin (+22.1%) in 2020 compared to the same time frame in 2019. The highest percent change was noted in June.Conclusion: During the COVID 19 pandemic, a significant increase in utilization of laboratory services was seen for COVID-19 prognostic markers

Love, Sex and Man-Woman Relationship in Nissim Ezekiel’s Poetry

Nissim Ezekiel is undoubtedly the fountain-head of Modern Indian English Poetry post-independence. The present paper explores the various dimensions in his treatment of the theme of love, sex, and man-woman relationship in his poetry. He is a keen observer of life and human nature in all its diversity. He prodigiously projects love in its exquisite variety beginning from physical and culminating into divine. He considers sex as the source of joy and a conduit to express love towards someone in best possible way. He has described the vivid vignettes of man-woman relationship in his poetry nonchalantly. He uprightly upholds utility of love and sex as the foundation of happiness and joy

Is it T3 thyrotoxicosis? A case of falsely elevated tri-iodothyronine (T3) levels leading to a diagnosis of multiple myeloma

We are presenting a case of falsely elevated T3 levels in a patient due to interference from monoclonal immunoglobulins. A 56-year-old, clinically euthyroid man referred to the endocrinology clinic of the Aga Khan university, Karachi Pakistan, for possible T3 thyrotoxicosis after thyroid function tests revealed total T3 \u3e12.32 nmol/L (reference range 0.6-2.79), normal TSH, and total T4 level. There was a mismatch in clinical and laboratory parameters and preliminary laboratory results were suggestive of thyroid binding globulin abnormalities. Further evaluation in this context unmasked multiple myeloma. The presence of monoclonal immunoglobulins can lead to assay interference and spurious results. To the best of our knowledge, this is the second case defining the cause of falsely elevated T3 levels, due to assay interferences with binding of T3 only to monoclonal immunoglobulins

Impact of COVID-19 on laboratory professionals-A descriptive cross sectional survey at a clinical chemistry laboratory in a developing country

Background: The lab professionals at one end are at increased risk of contracting the infection while on the other end have to deal with the various challenges during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak. This survey was undertaken to analyze the lab professionals\u27 perspectives, in terms of the challenges, financial implications, fears, motivation and satisfaction from organizational processes and policies adopted, amid the COVID-19 crisis.Material & methods: The study utilized a cross-sectional survey design. The survey was administered online via the google docs survey tool from medical laboratory professionals (n = 64) serving at the section of Clinical Chemistry, department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, the Aga Khan University (AKU), Pakistan from June 4th to 14th 2020. A team consisting of three Clinical Chemistry consultants serving as faculty at the section, designed the survey questionnaire. The responses were recorded on a five-point Likert Scale (1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = neutral, 4 = agree and 5 = strongly agree). The statistical analysis was performed using the Microsoft Excel 2013. Frequency and percentages were calculated for gender, experience and designation while descriptive results based on the responses were also recorded.Results: The response rate was 78% (n = 50). 60% responded that the current lifestyle adopted during the pandemic was not better than the traditional one. The fear of employment termination and financial challenges were being faced by 42% and 78% respondents respectively. The quality of family life was improved in 54% cases while 96% were of the view that their social activities at work have suffered. Whereas, 22% were not satisfied by the measures taking by the management during the outbreak.Conclusion: The findings of this survey provide laboratorians\u27 perspective, in times of such crisis and provides us certain lessons to prepare for such unpredicted situations in future