Volume 1, Issue 1 , June 2022
Volume 1, Issue 2 , December 2022
Mohammad Hossein Akbari; Reza Pishghadam
Abstract
Technology plays a crucial role in fully understanding all aspects of language and uncovering the hidden patterns, such as sense and emotion density in texts. Yet, it seems that remarkable attention has not been paid to the sensory and emotional loads of learning texts as the primary source ...
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Technology plays a crucial role in fully understanding all aspects of language and uncovering the hidden patterns, such as sense and emotion density in texts. Yet, it seems that remarkable attention has not been paid to the sensory and emotional loads of learning texts as the primary source of learning. This study attempts to present an objective way of analyzing English learning texts from both emotional and sensory perspectives to provide material developers to measure the emotional and sensory loads of the texts. For this purpose, a new kind of software was developed using two datasets; Sensicon and EmoLex. Then as an example, an English course book series, Interchange (5th ed.), was analyzed by this software to determine any probable pattern(s) concerning sensory and emotional loads. The results showed that the dominant sense in these books is hearing at all levels of language proficiency. In the emotion analysis part, the eight basic emotions were categorized as positive and negative emotions, and the results showed a higher frequency of positive emotions. It was also found that the frequency of negative emotions increases at higher levels, resulting in more authenticity.
Shima Ebrahimi; Maryam Sadat Tabatabaeian; Taqi Al Abdwani
Abstract
Struggling with basic restrictions in mental operations, information processing, and social and communicative skills, mentally-challenged children learn with delay. Numerous methods have been proposed to enhance learning among the mentally challenged. One is emo-sensory education which highlights the ...
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Struggling with basic restrictions in mental operations, information processing, and social and communicative skills, mentally-challenged children learn with delay. Numerous methods have been proposed to enhance learning among the mentally challenged. One is emo-sensory education which highlights the interplay of senses and emotions and raises teachers’ awareness of practical sense and emotion utilization in class. This study analyzed emo-sensory text on Persian literature, basic sciences, and theology books of mentally-challenged fourth-graders in terms of senses and emotions. These books were compared to those utilized for normal fourth graders. The emo-sensory text analysis revealed no significant differences between these two sets of books regarding applying emo-sensory words. Material developers merely paid attention to the visual sense, while mentally-challenged and normal children are considerably different. Various senses have to be integrated into the textbooks to enhance learning and communicative skills, which seems to have been overlooked. As a result, authors should include more emo-sensory stimuli to boost information processing and benefit the mentally challenged.
Ahmad Fawad Kakar; Kawita Sarwari
Abstract
A vast body of available literature presents controversial perspectives on the role of L1 in learning and communicating an L2. The current exploratory qualitative study attempted to investigate the reported experiences of ten Afghan EFL learners regarding their L1 (Farsi Dari) role in communicating an ...
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A vast body of available literature presents controversial perspectives on the role of L1 in learning and communicating an L2. The current exploratory qualitative study attempted to investigate the reported experiences of ten Afghan EFL learners regarding their L1 (Farsi Dari) role in communicating an L2 (English). The data collected through Skype interviews with ten participants were analyzed thematically. The findings indicated that both positive and negative transfers of L1 occur at different levels in L2. The emerging themes revealed that L2 is scaffolded with L1 proficiency; further, it helps generate ideas, improve self-esteem, and reduce anxiety. The findings also indicated some L1 interferences in L2 communication particularly pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary. The current study's findings suggest that the language instructors should be aware of the language transfers, both positive and negative, to provide quality teaching to EFL learners. Further research studies can be conducted through a different research design such as quantitative or mixed-method exploring the EFL perspectives.
Ali H. Al-Badi; Ashar Khan
Abstract
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems have recently gained significance among companies, organizations, higher education institutions, and business owners in Oman. Delving into the implementation and success of ERP systems is a time-consuming process and mostly requires longitudinal research. In ...
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Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems have recently gained significance among companies, organizations, higher education institutions, and business owners in Oman. Delving into the implementation and success of ERP systems is a time-consuming process and mostly requires longitudinal research. In line with the significance of such systems, we conducted a qualitative study to understand the practices involved in developing ERP systems from the perspectives of the software project managers and developers. In doing so, we interviewed a software project management and development team. The interview included both structured and semi-structured questions. We focused on three factors, including a) the software project managers’ and developers’ viewpoints about the ERP systems development in the HEIs, b) the methods and processes followed by the team while developing ERP systems for the HEIs, and c) the technical and non-technical challenges encountered within the development, implementation, and deployment stages.
Anna C. Bocar; Gina G. Jocson
Abstract
The primary objective of this study is to discover the challenges faced by social media users. To this end, the researchers first designed a scale and then asked 272 individuals from Indonesia and Oman to take it. Frequency, percentile distribution, and weighted mean were used to analyze the data qualitatively. ...
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The primary objective of this study is to discover the challenges faced by social media users. To this end, the researchers first designed a scale and then asked 272 individuals from Indonesia and Oman to take it. Frequency, percentile distribution, and weighted mean were used to analyze the data qualitatively. The findings reveal that the respondents in two countries spent five hours on their social media, and with its use, they got more than one hundred online friends. Facebook and YouTube were found to be the most common social media platforms used by the two groups, and keeping in contact with their family and friends was the reason that was common to them. While Indonesian respondents highly rated the majority of the positive effects of social media use, the Omani respondents showed that the use of social media affected a lot on their sleeping patterns. In closing, the two groups of respondents had common ideas in some of the indicators utilized in this study.
Peyman Nouraey
Abstract
The General Foundation Program (GFP) is a pre-requisite program for nearly all undergraduate students in Oman in both private and government higher education institutions. The GFP elements include English Language, Computing, Mathematics, and General Study Skills. The present study aimed at evaluating ...
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The General Foundation Program (GFP) is a pre-requisite program for nearly all undergraduate students in Oman in both private and government higher education institutions. The GFP elements include English Language, Computing, Mathematics, and General Study Skills. The present study aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of the GFP with special reference to its Computing element. To do so, 106 (72 females and 34 males) post-GFP students’ perceptions of their competencies in the Computing element were evaluated. Data were collected through a 5-point Likert Scale author-designed questionnaire created based on the Learning Outcomes (LOs) of the component. The chi-square results revealed statistically significant differences among the frequencies of the students’ responses in rating their competencies in Computing LOs. Based on the findings, the participants were mostly competent in all the 6 main LOs of the Computing element. In addition, a few criteria with positive effects on achieving the LOs of educational programs were discussed.
Mohammad Abbasian; Ghasem Modarresi
Abstract
Despite the theoretical importance of online learning, there is a lack of research on oral communication skills. The present study, adopting a mixed-methods design, aimed at 1) examining whether Adobe Connect and Skype could improve listening skills for pre-intermediate EFL learners and 2) exploring ...
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Despite the theoretical importance of online learning, there is a lack of research on oral communication skills. The present study, adopting a mixed-methods design, aimed at 1) examining whether Adobe Connect and Skype could improve listening skills for pre-intermediate EFL learners and 2) exploring the students’ reactions to the role of online learning in enhancing their listening skills. In doing so, a pool of 30 homogeneous Iranian pre-intermediate students participated in the study. The one-way ANCOVA results confirmed a statistically significant difference at the p<.05 level in students’ scores for the two sets of scores. Adobe Connect group outperformed the Skype group concerning listening skills. Moreover, taking the coding reliability and agreement into account, 14 common codes emerged from the students’ responses to the semi-structured interview questions regarding the role of online learning in listening development. Finally, practical implications are offered for EFL students, teachers, and syllabus designers.
Haitham Y. Adarbah; Mark. M. H. Goode
Abstract
Most businesses recognize that education and advancement opportunities are essential components of human resource development. Transfer of training is considered to be a significant problem in the process of transferring knowledge, skills, and attitudes from training to a job, even though training and ...
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Most businesses recognize that education and advancement opportunities are essential components of human resource development. Transfer of training is considered to be a significant problem in the process of transferring knowledge, skills, and attitudes from training to a job, even though training and development strive to alter the knowledge, skills, and attitudes of a trainee to bring about a positive change in the behavior of the trainee as a result. Comparatively, little attention has been paid to the vital demand factors for professional business courses (such as Computing, Accounting, Human Resources, and Marketing) and whether there are distinct segments in this marketplace. In this paper, the key variables in determining the demand for professional business courses were assessed through interviews with senior managers of professional bodies and the application of an electronic scale. Furthermore, based on the marketing theory of segmentation analysis, the key segments were tested using both summary statistics and chi-square tests. Finally, managerial and research implications of these results were discussed.
Elham Naji Meidani; Hossein Makiabadi; Mohammad Zabetipour; Hannaneh Abbasnejad; Aida Firoozian Pooresfehani; Shaghayegh Shayesteh
Abstract
The evolutionary definition of intelligence has made it a multifaceted concept. Emo-sensory intelligence (ESQ), as integration of emotional intelligence (EQ) and sensory intelligence (SQ) is the sensitivity to the emotions evoked by sensory inputs. It puts emphasis on individuals’ ...
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The evolutionary definition of intelligence has made it a multifaceted concept. Emo-sensory intelligence (ESQ), as integration of emotional intelligence (EQ) and sensory intelligence (SQ) is the sensitivity to the emotions evoked by sensory inputs. It puts emphasis on individuals’ ability to recognize, label, monitor, and manage sense-induced emotions to guide one’s behavior and establish emo-sensory communication. Among the studies done on different types of intelligence and effective communication, gender differences have been a recurring theme. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of gender in emo-sensory intelligence and emo-sensory communication. To this aim, the emo-sensory intelligence scale (ESIS) was distributed to 1500 participants. The results revealed significant differences between the two genders in ESQ for visual, olfactory, and tactile senses, demonstrating the superiority of females over males. Moreover, a significant difference was found between the two genders in their ability to identify the basic emotions triggered by their senses, and use them in their communications, with females being better than males.
Folakemi Oladoja; Dubamo Tomere
Abstract
Gender is a social construct that finds expression in cultural and ideological communicative practices. This research focuses on gendered voices and ideological communications, drawing insights from the film industry in Nigeria. The study adopts the triangulation of critical discourse analysis, polyphony, ...
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Gender is a social construct that finds expression in cultural and ideological communicative practices. This research focuses on gendered voices and ideological communications, drawing insights from the film industry in Nigeria. The study adopts the triangulation of critical discourse analysis, polyphony, and construction grammar to appraise the instances of gendered voices in Tunde Kelani’s Narrow Path, in order to tease out the underlying ideologies in the emotioncy-driven communicative contexts. Two opposing ideologies, namely, the patriarchalist and womanist dominate the interactions of the characters. While the former was characterized by the macho, parental, institutional, and communal voices, the latter was orchestrated by the solidaristic and institutional voices. The patriachalist ideals were both concretized through the same-gender and other-gender personae, the womanist ideology was basically enacted through same-gender persona. These were established through gendered constructions propelled by: presupposition, assertion, topic, and focus. High context society like the Yoruba should provide equal space for both genders to express their thoughts and partake in building a gender-unbiased society.
Minoo Alemi; Zahra Maleknia; Babak Meschi Nezami
Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript, Available Online from 13 September 2022
Abstract
This quasi-experimental study scrutinized the impact of technology-mediated TBLT in an online collaborative and individual EFL learning environment on the development of request production of 20 male and female B.A. students of TEFL. The participants were divided into two equal individual and collaborative ...
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This quasi-experimental study scrutinized the impact of technology-mediated TBLT in an online collaborative and individual EFL learning environment on the development of request production of 20 male and female B.A. students of TEFL. The participants were divided into two equal individual and collaborative experimental groups to receive online video-prompt task-based instruction on request speech act production in six distinct situations defined based on different contextual variables including distance, power, and imposition. Two similar versions of video-prompt Discourse Completion Tests (DCTs) focusing on six situations covered in online classes were given to the participants as a pretest and posttest. The results indicated that both groups’ request speech act production improved significantly after the intervention. However, there was no significant difference between the performance of the two groups. It was then concluded that both techniques are facilitative in boosting students’ pragmatic competence; however, more time is required to find out the extent to which these techniques differ in terms of their productiveness.
Anna Bocar; Ruel Ancheta
Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript, Available Online from 03 November 2022
Abstract
This study aimed to determine the effectiveness level of the communication skills of the selected participants who were non-native speakers of the English language, and examine its implications for their business skills. A descriptive method of research was utilized and a borrowed questionnaire ...
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This study aimed to determine the effectiveness level of the communication skills of the selected participants who were non-native speakers of the English language, and examine its implications for their business skills. A descriptive method of research was utilized and a borrowed questionnaire with slight modifications was administered to 145 students through purposive sampling. The results of the study showed that the majority of the participants have a moderate and high level of effectiveness in terms of their communication skills with 48% and 31% respectively. However, 21% of the participant showed a low level of communication skills effectiveness. The students who have a high level of effectiveness in their communication skills are interpreted as excellent communicators and those who have a moderate level of effectiveness in communication skills are categorized as able communicators. It implies that the participants can communicate with competence and use them in their various business skills. However, students who have low levels of communication skills need to pay attention to their communication skills so that they can be much more effective.
Saba Hasanzadeh; Golshan Shakeebaee
Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript, Available Online from 01 January 2023
Abstract
Since business without appropriate language use is impossible and language is an inseparable part of a culture, knowing about the cultural patterns of communities can also be valuable. Considering language as an essential component of any given culture, studying linguistic expressions ...
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Since business without appropriate language use is impossible and language is an inseparable part of a culture, knowing about the cultural patterns of communities can also be valuable. Considering language as an essential component of any given culture, studying linguistic expressions can reveal a society’s hidden cultural patterns, a concept known as cultuling analysis. The current study looked at the “flattery” cultuling demonstrated in Persian and English films. To achieve this, excerpts of dialogues from 100 Persian and 100 English films were taken and analyzed by means of cultuling analysis (CLA) methodology from linguistic, cultural, and psychological angles. The result showed that flattery can happen in formal and informal situations among people from both equal and unequal status. Moreover, Iranian people’s use of flattery displayed cultural patterns of overstating, high context, power distance, low trust, and collectivism, while English people’s use of this cultuling revealed their hidden culture, including low-context, high-trust, understanding, individualism, and power distance.
Akin Gürbüz; Mehmet Abi; Bekir Canlı
Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript, Available Online from 29 January 2023
Abstract
A common challenge for most students in intercultural contexts both in their academic studies and future careers is balancing speaking opportunities for talkative and less talkative students. The differences in individuals’ communication styles due to their backgrounds may lead to some ...
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A common challenge for most students in intercultural contexts both in their academic studies and future careers is balancing speaking opportunities for talkative and less talkative students. The differences in individuals’ communication styles due to their backgrounds may lead to some concerns about intercultural competencies. In this respect, this study intends to explore the possible relationship between students' confidence in communication levels, their self-perception of English proficiency levels, and cultural styles. For this purpose, three questionnaires were carried out by the participation of 106 students at a state university. The obtained data were analyzed by conducting ANOVA tests. The findings indicated that participants have low to medium levels of English proficiency and as their language levels increase, their cultural self-awareness and cross-cultural communication levels increase as well. In addition, there is a significant relationship between their levels of confidence in communication and having outgoing personalities.
Nasim Boustani; Taki Al Abdwani
Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript, Available Online from 15 February 2023
Abstract
Vocabulary growth predicts communication ability and communication without vocabulary is impossible. The study was done among 50 EFL learners to examine the effect of music-based instruction on their vocabulary retention and attitudes. They were divided into experimental and control groups. First, a ...
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Vocabulary growth predicts communication ability and communication without vocabulary is impossible. The study was done among 50 EFL learners to examine the effect of music-based instruction on their vocabulary retention and attitudes. They were divided into experimental and control groups. First, a pre-test was conducted to fulfill the homogeneity assumption. Then, the photo dictionary part of the “English for Schools Prospect 1” book was set to music and the experimental group underwent music-based practices. While the control group received audio-visual instruction. Immediately after the instructions, a 20-item test was given to the groups. Subsequently, a 9-item attitude scale was distributed among the teacher, observer, and groups. After two weeks, a long-term memory test was conducted between the two groups. Results presented that the experimental group significantly outscored in the short- and long-term memory tests compared with the control group. Moreover, results from the attitude scale indicated that they welcomed music-based instruction allowing more profound vocabulary learning and communication ability than the audio-visual practices.
Faeze Pouria; Tahereh Zamani Behabadi
Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript, Available Online from 10 March 2023
Abstract
The current study, following a mixed-methods design, aimed at: 1) investigating whether internet-based applications including Adobe Connect and Shaad for online teaching could improve communication and vocabulary knowledge for pre-intermediate EFL learners, 2) examining if the difference varies with ...
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The current study, following a mixed-methods design, aimed at: 1) investigating whether internet-based applications including Adobe Connect and Shaad for online teaching could improve communication and vocabulary knowledge for pre-intermediate EFL learners, 2) examining if the difference varies with respect to the learners’gender and 3) detecting learners’ reactions to the role of online learning in improving their vocabulary knowledge. In doing so, 34 Iranian pre-intermediate EFL students were selected to take part in the study. The results of one-way ANCOVA confirmed that the Adobe Connect group outperformed the Shaad group with respect to vocabulary knowledge. As for gender, the results of the t-test confirmed that there was statistically no significant difference in students’ scores. The commonalities from the interviews indicated that it was a novel experience and a challenging task to learn new words. Finally, practical implications were offered for EFL students and teachers.
