scholarly journals The Impact of Limited Code Switching on the Achievement of the Jordanian English Language Learners

Author(s):  
Samer R. Hmeadat

    The study sought to investigate the impact of limited and regulated code switching on the achievement of the Jordanian EFL learners. To achieve the aim of study, the use of code-switching was intended to be integrated within the code of conduct which made up the backbone of the class management.  The study sample consisted of (105) students from the eighth and ninth grades in Berein Secondary School, The Second Directorate of Education in Zarqa District. The subjects were divided into four groups; two experimental groups consisted of (51) male students who were taught through using code-switching. The other two control groups consisted of (52) male students who were taught the same content through the conventional strategy. Questionnaires were distributed into (100) male and female English teachers in different public and private schools to know their attitudes toward using code-switching in their daily lessons in EFL classrooms.  To achieve the goals of this study, the researcher chose both the quantitative design (achievement test) and the qualitative design (interviews and questionnaire) to conduct his study. Analysis of One-Way ANOVA was performed to test the statistical significance of the differences among groups. The results revealed that there was a statistical significant difference at the level (α =0.05) in the mean scores between the experimental groups and the control groups in favor of the experimental groups. The result showed that there were statistically significant differences between the mean scores of the subjects of the experimental groups who were taught through the code of conduct and using the code-switching.  

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-55
Author(s):  
Ali Nouri ◽  
Fataneh Esmaeilli ◽  
Saman Seifpour ◽  
Mahmoud Talkhabi ◽  
Anahita Khorami

This study is a mixed method design which employed both quantitative and qualitative methods in order to investigate the impact of dialogic learning on students’ attention and academic achievement. Data were collected using several instruments, including: the Attention Network Test; academic performance tests and semi-structured interviews. Results of Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) indicated that there is a statistically significant difference between the mean scores of students of the experimental and control groups on the executive control in favor of the experimental group after controlling the IQ score and pre-test scores. Further, there is a statistically significant difference between the mean scores of student of the experimental and control groups on the academic achievement tests (except of mathematics) in favor of the experimental group. The qualitative data also supported the quantitative findings. Therefore, dialogic teaching has significantly greater and more positive changes on some aspects of attention and academic performance.


2004 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 140-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Schreiber ◽  
Martin Kostolny ◽  
Joachim Weipert ◽  
Klaus Holper ◽  
Manfred Vogt ◽  
...  

Background:Creation of an extracardiac cavopulmonary connection has been proposed as a superior alternative to the lateral intracardiac tunnel for the completion of total cavopulmonary connection.Methods and results:We made a retrospective review of our experience with 125 patients undergoing a total cavopulmonary connection between June 1994 and January 2003. Our experience with the extracardiac connection for completion began in 1999. Since 1994, we have constructed an intracardiac tunnel in 50 patients, and an extracardiac connection in 75. Of the total number, 83 had undergone an earlier partial cavopulmonary connection. Additional intracardiac procedures were performed in 43 patients at time of completion, in 25 of those undergoing extracardiac completion, and in 18 of the patients having an intracardiac procedure. The mean size of the tube used for completion was 19 mm. The mean cross-clamp time for placement of the intracardiac tunnel was 77 min, with a median of 80.5 min, and a mean cardiopulmonary bypass time of 139 min, with a median of 131 min. For construction of the extracardiac connection, a mean cross-clamp time in 24 of the 75 patients was 54 min, with a median of 54 min. Mean cardiopulmonary bypass time for all the patients with an extracardiac connection was 100 min, with a median of 88 min. Reoperations were needed in 10 patients, 6 having intracardiac and 4 extracardiac procedures. Of these, 5 were early and 5 late, including one take down. None of the patients died after these interventions. Taken overall, 8 patients died, with 5 early deaths. In the multivariable analysis, cardiopulmonary bypass time of more than 120 min, atrioventricular valvar replacement, and banding of the pulmonary trunk prior to the total cavopulmonary connection, all reached statistical significance for early death, whereas only heterotaxy syndrome remained as the sole risk factor for late death. There was no significant difference in survival between the modifications used.Discussion:Whereas we could not identify any clinical superiority for the extracardiac approach in the short-term, the concept of extracardiac completion has helped to simplify the overall procedure. Longer follow-up will be required to elucidate any potential advantages.


Author(s):  
Samer Radwan Ahmed Hmeadat

Aim: To investigate the effect of the CoRT(Cognitive Research Trust) program for the development of thinking skills on the achievement of the Jordanian English language learners. The length of the program did not exceed more than three months and a half, starting from the warming-up period in the first semester to the achievement test. Methods: The study sample consisted of (86) students from the seventh grade in Al Nahda Islamic Modern Private Schools, The First Directorate of Education in Zarqa District. The subjects were divided into four groups. Two experimental groups consisted of (34) male students who were taught two units in the curriculum (Aim High1) through the CoRT program. The other two control groups consisted of (34) male students who were taught the same content through the conventional strategy. Analysis of ANOVA was performed to test the statistical significance of the differences between the experimental group who was taught through the CoRT and the control group who was taught through the conventional method. Result: It revealed that there was a statistical significant difference at the level (α =0.05) in the mean scores between the experimental group and the control group in favor of the experimental group. Interestingly, the current study adopted the experimental design. Conclusion: There were statistically significant differences between the mean scores of the subjects of the experimental groups who studied through the CoRT as a new instructional model and the control group who studied through the conventional method in favor of the experimental groups.


2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 125-133
Author(s):  
Zahra Rezaieyazdi ◽  
Sima Sedighi ◽  
Masoumeh Salari ◽  
Mohammadreza H. Fard ◽  
Mahmoud R. Azarpazhooh ◽  
...  

Background: The relationship between SLE and traditional risk factors for cardiovascular events was evaluated. Methods: The data regarding sixty patients with SLE and 30 healthy controls (age and sex matched) were gathered using SLEDAI forms. Venous blood (10mL) from all the participants was examined for hs-CRP, homocysteine, VCAM1, CBC, anti-DNA antibody, C3, C4, low-density lipoprotein (LDL), cholesterol, FBS and triglyceride. : The IMT of carotid arteries was determined bilaterally by ultrasound. Other measurements included insulin levels via Elisa (Linco/Millipore Corp) and the HOMA-IR index for insulin resistance. Results: The mean age (in years) in the test and control groups was 28.8±10.3 (18-52) and 33.8±9.13 (18-48), respectively. Results: The mean age (in years) in the test and control groups was 28.8±10.3 (18-52) and 33.8±9.13 (18-48), respectively. : The average IMT in the test group was directly related to serum levels of VCAM1 (p<0.001), homocysteine (p<0.001), cholesterol (p<0.009), LDL (p<0.001), TG (p<0.001), and FPG (p=0.004). The association between other risk factors, insulin resistance, carotid IMT and SLEDAI, was nonexistent. Mean insulin and insulin resistance levels in all the participants were 0.43±2.06 µU/mL and 0.09±0.44, respectively. There was no significant difference between the test and control groups regarding serum insulin and insulin resistance levels (p=0.42 and p=0.9, respectively). None of the risk factors, such as hsCRP, VCAM1, or homocysteine, were shown to be related to insulin resistance (p=0.6, p=0.6, p=0.09, respectively). Conclusion:: Our findings did not show an increase in the prevalence of atherosclerosis in patients with SLE. There was no association between IMT and insulin resistance. However, the former was associated with FPG, total cholesterol, LDL, TG, homocystein and VCAM1.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalia Banasik ◽  
Dariusz Jemielniak ◽  
Wojciech P?dzich

BACKGROUND There have been mixed results of the studies checking whether prayers do actually extend the life duration of the people prayed for. Most studies on the topic included a small number of prayers and most of them focused on people already struggling with a medical condition. Intercessory prayer’s influence on health is of scholarly interest, yet it is unclear if its effect may be dependent on the number of prayers for a named individual received per annum. OBJECTIVE We sought to examine if there is a noticeable increased longevity effect of intercessory prayer for a named individual’s well-being, if he receives a very high number of prayers per annum for an extended period. METHODS We retrieved and conducted a statistical analysis of the data about the length of life for 857 Roman Catholic bishops, 500 Catholic priests, and 3038 male academics from the US, France, Italy, Poland, Brazil, and Mexico. We obtained information for these individuals who died between 1988 and 2018 from Wikidata, and conducted an observational cohort study. Bishops were chosen for the study, as they receive millions of individual prayers for well being, according to conservative estimates. RESULTS There was a main effect for occupation F(2, 4391) = 4.07, p = .017, ηp 2 = .002, with pairwise comparisons indicating significant differences between the mean life duration of bishops (M=30489) and of priests (M=29894), but none between the academic teachers (M=30147) and either of the other groups. A comparison analysis between bishops from the largest and the smallest dioceses showed no significant difference t(67.31)=1.61, p = .11. Our main outcome measure is covariance of the mean length of life in each of the categories: bishops, priests, academic teachers, controlled for nationality. CONCLUSIONS The first analysis proved that bishops live longer than priests, but due to a marginal effect size this result should be treated with caution. No difference was found between the mean length of life of bishops from the largest and the smallest dioceses. We found no difference between bishops and male academics. These results show that the impact of intercessory prayers on longevity is not observable.


Author(s):  
Natuya Zhuori ◽  
Yu Cai ◽  
Yan Yan ◽  
Yu Cui ◽  
Minjuan Zhao

As the trend of aging in rural China has intensified, research on the factors affecting the health of the elderly in rural areas has become a hot issue. However, the conclusions of existing studies are inconsistent and even contradictory, making it difficult to form constructive policies with practical value. To explore the reasons for the inconsistent conclusions drawn by relevant research, in this paper we constructed a meta-regression database based on 65 pieces of relevant literature published in the past 25 years. For more valid samples to reduce publication bias, we also set the statistical significance of social support to the health of the elderly in rural areas as a dependent variable. Finally, combined with multi-dimensional social support and its implications for the health of the elderly, meta-regression analysis was carried out on the results of 171 empirical studies. The results show that (1) subjective support rather than objective support can have a significant impact on the health of the elderly in rural areas, and there is no significant difference between other dimensions of social support and objective support; (2) the health status of the elderly in rural areas in samples involving western regions is more sensitive to social support than that in samples not involving the western regions; (3) among the elderly in rural areas, social support for the older male elderly is more likely to improve their health than that for the younger female elderly; and (4) besides this, both data sources and econometric models greatly affect the heterogeneity of the effect of social support on the health of the elderly in rural areas, but neither the published year nor the journal is significant. Finally, relevant policies and follow-up studies on the impact of social support on the health of the elderly in rural areas are discussed.


Trauma ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 146040862094972
Author(s):  
Ahmed Fadulelmola ◽  
Rob Gregory ◽  
Gavin Gordon ◽  
Fiona Smith ◽  
Andrew Jennings

Introduction: A novel virus, SARS-CoV-2, has caused a fatal global pandemic which particularly affects the elderly and those with comorbidities. Hip fractures affect elderly populations, necessitate hospital admissions and place this group at particular risk from COVID-19 infection. This study investigates the effect of COVID-19 infection on 30-day hip fracture mortality. Method: Data related to 75 adult hip fractures admitted to two units during March and April 2020 were reviewed. The mean age was 83.5 years (range 65–98 years), and most (53, 70.7%) were women. The primary outcome measure was 30-day mortality associated with COVID-19 infection. Results: The COVID-19 infection rate was 26.7% (20 patients), with a significant difference in the 30-day mortality rate in the COVID-19-positive group (10/20, 50%) compared to the COVID-19-negative group (4/55, 7.3%), with mean time to death of 19.8 days (95% confidence interval: 17.0–22.5). The mean time from admission to surgery was 43.1 h and 38.3 h, in COVID-19-positive and COVID-19-negative groups, respectively. All COVID-19-positive patients had shown symptoms of fever and cough, and all 10 cases who died were hypoxic. Seven (35%) cases had radiological lung findings consistent of viral pneumonitis which resulted in mortality (70% of mortality). 30% ( n = 6) contracted the COVID-19 infection in the community, and 70% ( n = 14) developed symptoms after hospital admission. Conclusion: Hip fractures associated with COVID-19 infection have a high 30-day mortality. COVID-19 testing and chest X-ray for patients presenting with hip fractures help in early planning of high-risk surgeries and allow counselling of the patients and family using realistic prognosis.


2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-85
Author(s):  
Sunni L. Sonnenburg-Winkler ◽  
Zohreh R. Eslami ◽  
Ali Derakhshan

AbstractThe present study investigates variability among raters from different linguistic backgrounds, who evaluated the pragmatic performance of English language learners with varying native languages (L1s) by using both self- and peer-assessments. To this end, written discourse completion task (WDCT) samples of requesting speech acts from 10 participants were collected. Thereafter, the participants were asked to assess their peers’ WDCTs before assessing their own samples using the same rating scale. The raters were further asked to provide an explanation for their rating decisions. Findings indicate that there may indeed be a link between a rater’s language background and their scoring patterns, although the results regarding peer- and self-assessment are mixed. There are both similarities and differences in the participants’ use of pragmatic norms and social rules in evaluating appropriateness.


SLEEP ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 44 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. A180-A181
Author(s):  
Mustafa Jafri ◽  
Gabrielle Rosa-Acosta ◽  
Jose Flores Martinez ◽  
Elizabeth Schofield ◽  
Cy Wilkins ◽  
...  

Abstract Introduction Untreated polycythemia leads to complications including thrombosis. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is commonly associated with secondary erythrocytosis, which testosterone therapy can perpetuate. Effects of positive airway pressure (PAP) on elevated hematocrit (HCT) is unknown. We hypothesize PAP adherence can reduce HCT in men with OSA and polycythemia. Methods Retrospective chart review of male outpatients with newly diagnosed OSA and HCT≥45% at or 3 months before polysomnography (PSG) was conducted. Intervention group consisted of patients initiating PAP for OSA. HCT within 6 months of PAP initiation and PSG were recorded for intervention and control groups, respectively. Primary endpoint was time-to-HCT reduction of HCT&lt;50% plus 3% decrease. Cox proportional-hazards analysis was used to assess time-to-HCT response. Demographics, smoking history, testosterone administration, STOP-Bang score, AHI, and PAP compliance data were obtained. Patients excluded if PAP not indicated, or if PSG, PAP compliance, or repeat HCT were unavailable. Results 41 men with OSA had HCT≥45%, of which 16 had HCT≥50%. Median age was 60 years and median BMI was 32 kg/m2. 28 started PAP. 21 met definition for PAP compliance within 6 months. Median AHI of intervention and control groups were 23 and 19 events/hr, respectively. Mean baseline HCT of both groups were 49 and 50, respectively. No significant difference in age, BMI, smoking history, testosterone therapy, and baseline HCT between both groups noted. 39% of intervention group exhibited HCT response at 1 or more longitudinal assessments, versus 38% of control. Intervention group had higher mean STOP-Bang than control (mean 5.9 vs. 4.6, p=0.01) and trended towards higher mean baseline AHI (27.4 vs. 19.0, p= 0.06). Time-to-event analysis controlling for STOP-Bang and AHI demonstrated PAP was not associated with time-to-HCT response (HR = 1.3, 95% CI = 0.4–4.4). In moderate-severe OSA patients, 40% of intervention group had HCT response compared to 14% of control, though difference was not significant (HR = 2.5, 95% CI = 0.3–20.0). Conclusion Moderate-severe OSA patients trended towards reduction in HCT with PAP, although not statistically significant. Testosterone administration did not affect HCT response to PAP in this cohort. Larger studies are required to determine HCT response to PAP in these patients. Support (if any):


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document