Working with Vocabulary at Tertiary level in Bangladesh

Providing vocabulary instructions is one of the most effective ways through which EFL teachers in Bangladesh can facilitate the tertiary learners' development of communicative competence in English. Because weak knowledge of vocabulary causes learners' comprehension ability to suffer and this troubled comprehension creates barriers in achieving the target competence level in all major skills. Therefore, our present study aims to find out the difficulties that teachers and students face in teaching and learning vocabulary in English at tertiary level in Bangladesh. The study has been done through questionnaire survey both from teachers' and students' point of view. And with the help of some statistical tools, the present study concludes that the problem primarily lies within the vicinity of teaching techniques. Keywords: Audio-lingualism, lexical set, synonym, antonym, word formation, flash card, EFL

The Scenic Picture of Underworld Presented in the Spanish Tragedy: From Islamic Perspective

The picture of underworld in The Spanish Tragedy Act-1 scene-i by Thomas Kyd may be encountered with Islamic view In this text this picture is extracted from Greek Mythology where the writer shows how after death a person has to toil to attain the Ferry to enter into the realm of Hades or underworld then how a person faces a trial to get settled in eternal world the terrible furies on way to the King s palace the unbearable punishment of some miscreants etc Al-Qur an and Al-Hadith also provide the picture of a dying person and his reaction the interior period to pass the Final Day of Judgment the process of trial and finally a person s last destination This article is an attempt to compare and contrast between the pictures of the underworld stated in Al-Qur an and Al Hadith and in the Text The Spanish Tragedy Act I Scene

MALDI-TOF: A Rapid Identification of Dairy Pathogens

Abstract The proposed research study is a field validation study to benchmark against proven methods, a new methodology for the detection of microorganisms (Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry or MALDI-ToF) isolated from dairy farm and critical for safety and quality. The MALDI-TOF is a relatively new molecular technique extremely advantageous in terms of cost effectiveness, sample preparation easiness, turn-around time and result analysis accessibility. Although already successfully deployed in clinical diagnostic, it has not been evaluated for agricultural applications yet. In the dairy industry, Mastitis causes the most financial loss and a rapid diagnostic method as MALDI-TOF, will assist in the control and prevention program of mastitis, in addition to the sanitation and safety level of the dairy farms and processing facility. In the present study, we prospectively compared MALDI-TOF MS to the conventional 16S rRNA sequencing method for the identification of environmental mastitis isolates (481) and thermoduric isolates of pasteurized milk (248). Among the 481 environmental isolates, 454 (94.4%) were putatively identified to the genus level by MALDI-TOF MS and 426 (88.6%) were identified to the species level, but no reliable identification was obtained for 17 (3.5%), and 27 (5.6%) discordant results were identified. Future studies can help to overcome the limitation of MALDI database and additional sample preparation steps might help to reduce the number of discordance in identification. In conclusion, our results show that MALDI-TOF MS is a fast and reliable technique which has the potential to replace conventional identification methods for most dairy pathogens, routinely isolated from the milk and dairy products. Thus it’s adoption will strengthen the capacity, quality, and possibly the scope of diagnostic services to support the dairy industry

An investigation into the equivalency of three performance dimensions: evidence from commercial banks in Bangladesh / Nusrat Jahan.

This study evaluated the three dimensions of performance of commercial banks in Bangladesh by analyzing the trend of the Malmquist Productivity Index (MPI) of the Total Factor Productivity (TFP), Return on Asset (ROA) and Total Stock Return (TSR) over the period 2011 to 2015. The study developed an empirical framework with the intention to examine the equivalency of three dimensions of performance. Since, the measures of performance are different, they cannot be tested in their original form; hence, the growth rate of each category of performance measures were estimated and tested to examine the comparability among them. Evaluation of profitability revealed a decreasing trend and evaluation of stock performance suggests that investors are incurring losses on their investment over the selected period. Evaluation of productivity indicates that productivity regress was recorded initially but at the end of the studied period a modest productivity growth was recorded. Finally, this study was able to ascertain the anticipated equivalency of outcome of the three dimensions of performance

Teaching and Learning Pronunciation in ESL/EFL Classes of Bangladesh

The main concern of this paper is to explore the approach of teaching pronunciation at tertiary level in Bangladesh. Like other ESL countries, students' poor pronunciation becomes the cause of anxiety for the teachers. Importance of teaching pronunciation cannot be denied because, our students are mostly from Bengali medium where achieving good pronunciation is neglected. So, at tertiary level, ESL teachers should help their students to develop their pronunciation skills. Without learning correct pronunciation other aspects of English language like grammar, vocabulary become useless. This present study aims to find out the difficulties that teachers and students face in learning and teaching pronunciation at tertiary level in Bangladesh. For the study purpose questionnaire survey was conducted with a view to knowing teachers' point of view. To know the students' point of view, Focus Group Discussion (FGD) was arranged in Dhaka. The participants were the students of different universities of Bangladesh

Determinants of Tipping Behavior: Evidence from US Restaurants

This study aims to analyze people’s tipping behavior to assess the factors that determine both the likelihood of leaving a tip and tip size in US restaurants. A total 2,334 away from home eating events are considered in this study based on the nationally representative National Household Food Acquisition and Purchase Survey (FoodAPS) dataset. Two different tipping scenarios are considered for full-service restaurants to examine differences in customers’ behavior under two different situations. Considering that households’ tipping decisions and tip sizes are functions of the demand for personal interest (D #, ) and the demand for social interest (D&#), different socio-demographic, behavioral and economic factors are used as proxies for D # and D&#. Results show that households’ average tip size varies from 16% to 19% depending on the particular restaurant and tipping scenario. Hypothesis testing and regression analysis confirm that households’ average monthly income has no influence on the tip size, rather demographic and cultural factors like gender, race and birthplace are significant determinants of tipping behavior. The overall analysis demonstrates that households’ tipping decisions and tip sizes are functions of their social interest. Thus, it is evident that consumers view tipping more as a social norm rather than purely self-interested rational behavior

Interrelationships Among Marketing Mix Strategies, Service Quality and Firms’ Business Performance in Readymade Garments Sector, Bangladesh

The garment industry in Bangladesh has experienced substantial growth over the past three decades. The sector plays a crucial role in the nation's economic development by providing employment opportunities to a significant number of individuals, particularly women and those with limited skills. Although significant, the contribution of this factor to the country's GDP remains relatively modest. To maintain competitiveness in the marketplace, it is crucial to adopt a suitable marketing mix strategy. The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of marketing mix strategies on the business performance of Bangladeshi garment organisations. This investigation further assesses the role of service quality as a mediator between marketing mix strategies and firm business performance. McCarthy's (1964) four P's—product, place, price, and promotion—serve as the basis for this study's marketing mix components. This study's data were collected using a self-administered survey questionnaire. A total of 327 employees from various garment factories in CEPZ were conveniently chosen for this investigation. The data was analysed using SPSS 24.0 and Smart PLS 3.0. The study's findings indicate that the strategies related to product, place, price, and promotion had a substantial linkage with the service quality of firms. Furthermore, the service quality significantly mediates the correlation between marketing mix strategies and the business performance of the garments industry. The findings suggest that companies can gain a competitive edge by prioritising their marketing strategies and improving the quality of their related services.