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Questioning the Policy of Teaching ‘Moral Education’ through English as a Foreign Language in a Private School in Dubai
Get PDFMoral Education (ME) is meant to turn all young individuals into morally autonomous adults by providing them with the required competence to judge for themselves what is morally right. To align with such holistic concepts, the UAE Government has launched ME as a school subject to promote tolerance and introduce universal values that are in accordance with the UAE vision. Many schools where students’ population consists mainly of Arabs have decided to adopt English as the medium of instruction (EMI) in teaching ME even though adopting Arabic as the language of instruction was an option at their disposal. Hence, this study is meant to question employing the EMI policy in teaching ME to Arab students in a private school in Dubai. Since teachers are one of the main stakeholders in the teaching-learning process, their perceptions of the target policy and its impact on students’ understanding of the ME syllabus were investigated through ten semi-structured interviews. A second set of qualitative interviews was administered with three of the senior management personnel at the same school to examine the issue through different binoculars. Results show that most teachers disapprove of the adopted policy; moreover, teachers’ voice was never taken into consideration by the school administration
Applying Gustav Heckmann’s Version of the Socratic Method and the Hawaiian Talk Therapy to Students with Developmental Disabilities: an Intercultural Case Study
Get PDFThis is a case study of a Greek-American young adult and a New York City non-profit Day Habilitation consumer who was diagnosed with various developmental disabilities. The methods used for therapeutic and educational interventions included Gustav Heckman’s version of Socratic Method called Socratic Enquiry used in individual sessions (one-on-one) for teaching Greek as a Second Language and English Reading and Writing along with social/behavioral skills group therapy sessions of five consumers where Hawaiian Talk Story was used. An intercultural approach was provided, as both methods were very appropriate for studying the intercultural dynamics of groups as well as individuals of diverse backgrounds in multicultural settings and the intercultural meaning of the results of those therapeutic and educational interventions
Classroom Dynamic Assessment of EFL Learners’ Oral Production: A Case of Female Intermediate Learners
Get PDFEFL learners often have problems to speak properly in English. As the purpose of teaching speaking is to improve the learners’ oral production, language teaching should maximize language use in the classrooms (Haozhang, 1997), which is achieved through implementing proper teaching techniques to require learners to learn and practice the language in EFL classes actively. Jeltova et al. (2007) know dynamic assessment (DA) as a process-oriented type of assessment which necessitates teachers and learners to interact while learners are provided with mediations based on their ZPDs. This makes DA potentially ideal for evaluating and scaffolding learners to expand their oral skills which are interactive (Son & Kim, 2017). The present study exploiting a quantitative approach, studied the effects of the Interactionist DA on developing learners’ oral production while they interacted to perform language tasks. An experimental and a control group were selected, taught, and tape-recorded based on the techniques of the interactionist DA and the traditional methods, respectively. After transcribing and analyzing the data, the findings revealed significant development in the oral production and performance of the experimental group
The Effects of Corruption on Foreign Investments in Developed and Developing Countries
Get PDFThis paper aimed to identify which elements related to the corruption impact the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) regarding developed and developing countries. In order to achieve this purpose, the member countries of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) were analysed. It was a quantitative and descriptive survey, with a sample of 78 countries and secondary data from 2012 to 2017. The results were estimated by Logistic Regression and Multiple Linear Regression, with Random Effects (RA), chosen by the Breusch-Pagan (1980) and Hausman (1978) tests. It was suggested that the corruption does not impact the inflow of FDI; however, being a developed country, with positive Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rates, and institutional quality, have positive impacts on the inflow of the FDI. Moreover, it showed that it is possible to accept, with 95% confidence, the following statement, the more developed a country is, the smaller its Capital inflow of FDI
New GRFM Approach and Fuzzy LP-Metric Weighting Score
Get PDFNowadays a thorough understanding of the business processes and the organization`s customers is the essential point to survive in the market competition. In this study, a new idea was applied to import customer purchased basket data into data mining computations. First, the products were divided into families, and we assigned a numerical code for each product in the family. The sum of these assigned numbers indicates the status of the basket. After this step, the transactions were clustered based on their basket values. Customers are then clustered in each cluster using the RFM method. Using a new fuzzy LP-metric approach and pairwise comparisons, RFM indices were weighted and we obtain customer value per cluster. Then we will proceed by averaging the customer value according to the presence of each customer in different clusters. Then we clustered customers based on customer lifetime value. 
Intercultural Story-Based Framework in Young Language Learners’ Classrooms: from alternative teaching to alternative assessment
Get PDFPlacing young learners at the center of the teaching attention and learning process is considered to be of high importance in the teachers’ attempt to help them be motivated to participate in the learning activities (Holderness, 1991, p.19). Towards that goal, young learners’ characteristics such as imagination, creativity, curiosity and love for play need to be considered carefully in the language classroom. The aim of this paper is the presentation of a story-based framework for young learners at beginner’s level pre-A1 of the CEFR (2001, p.24) through using intercultural stories. The main aim is to encourage the young learners’ creativity and develop their listening skill through incorporating both metacognitive and cognitive strategies. Listening to stories in class is a shared social experience that provokes a shared response of laughter, sadness, excitement and anticipation which is not only enjoyable but can help build up the child’s confidence and encourage social and emotional development (Ellis and Brewster, 2014, p.7)
Impact of Supra-segmental Features on Reading Comprehension in First and Second Language: A Comparative Study of Iranian EFL learners
Get PDFSupra-segmental features refer to various forms of intonation and how words and sentences are uttered. Such features challenge meaning and comprehension, too. Despite the importance of these features and their reported association with phonological awareness and linguistic comprehension, their effects on reading comprehension have not been explored. The current work investigated the impact of a remedial program on Persian and English reading comprehension of a group of English language learners (N=30 divided into experimental and control groups). The measurements tested the components of reading comprehension based on the Simple View of Reading (SVR). Additionally, supra-segmental features were assessed by Profiling Elements of Prosody (i.e., supra-segmentals) in Speech-communication (PEPS) in both languages. As a result, English and Persian elision and also Persian listening were affected by teaching supra-segmental features. Assessing the transfer of linguistic skills revealed that Persian listening and knowledge of supra-segmentals, in particular, recognizing short syllables and awareness of stress position in a sentence, contribute to English reading comprehension. It indicates that reading and listening comprehension are affected by similar cognitive processes that may lay in the knowledge of supra-segmentals. The findings also suggest that simpler systems of supra-segmentals are more likely to transfer. Pertinent pedagogical implications were presented, as well. 
Croatian Teachers During COVID-19 Pandemic
Get PDFThe teacher plays a central role in every education system. In addition to imparting knowledge and perfecting students’ skills, the teacher is also a role model on a socio-emotional, moral and speech level. However, its role has changed throughout history and depended on culture and lifestyle. Today, the education system around the world is facing a major test, and thus the role of the teacher as the central person of this process is being tested. Namely, the pandemic caused by the coronavirus switched teaching to the online form in 2020, to which some countries were less and some more ready. In the Republic of Croatia, distance learning was performed for three months in the first half of the year, and in the second half of the year, there are three models of teaching: distance, live and a combination of these two models. Given the experience of distance learning, on the one hand, there was less activity of students in completing tasks, poor understanding of the content of the material, the high workload of parents, but also many inconsistencies of teachers who in a concise time had to transfer their work entirely online (without prior education). On the other hand, it has been observed how much both students and parents are beginning to understand the importance of the teacher figure in the learning and teaching process and how difficult it is to replace teachers’ living word with any form of online teaching. That is why this paper aims to examine teachers’ attitudes about experiences with distance learning, and comparative analysis to determine the most common difficulties, challenges, and successes of this form of teaching by comparing it with classroom teaching. It is expected that the changes brought by distance learning will accelerate the digitalisation of the educational process, but also increase the understanding of the critical role of teachers as the centre of the educational process.
The Effects of Workload, Work Control and Self- Efficacy in Decision Making on Decision Making Styles
Get PDFThe aim of this study was to investigate the mediating role of self-efficacy in decision making between the relationship of workload, work control and decision-making styles. Although the decision-making process seems basically the same for every individual, it is different for each individual in terms of content. The reason for this is the methods used by individuals in making decisions and their approach to problems are different. The data was gathered from 252 government officials, chiefs, branch managers and heads of the departments of the Republic of Turkey. The data was analysed with structural equation model. The results indicate that there was a negative relationship between the level of workload and vigilant decision-making style, and a positive relationship with buck-passing, procrastination, and hypervigilance decision making styles. On the other hand, a positive relationship between work control and vigilance decision-making style, and a negative relationship between buck-passing, procrastination and hypervigilance decision-making styles were observed. At the same time, there was a negative relationship between workload and self-efficacy in decision-making, yet a positive relationship was found with work control. In addition, a full mediating role in the relationship between workload in decision-making self-efficacy, work control, vigilant, buck-passing, and procrastination decision-making styles; a partial mediating role was found in the relationship between workload and hyper vigilant decision-making style in work control were found separately. The results were interpreted with the light of literature and lead to develop practical suggestions for managers and employees
The Influence of Earnings Quality for Restatements and Auditor’s Qualified Opinion
Get PDFThe objective of the present study was to raise the cases of restatements and to evaluate whether these events were associated with the low earnings quality and with the provision of advice with a qualified opinion by audit firms. The results obtained with the analysis indicate that the low earnings quality increases the chances of republishing the financial statements. Additionally, the results indicate that there is no evidence that lower earnings quality increases the chances of issuing a qualified audit report or disapproval of the financial statements by the independent auditors. These results point to a divergence regarding the understanding of earnings quality by the auditors and by the regulatory agency