scholarly journals Are Saudi Girls Motivated to Learn English?

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arab World English Journal ◽  
Salwa Al harthi

This paper is based on data drawn from Ph.D. research investigating the relationship between language and motivation. It specifically describes the motivating and demotivating factors that influence young female language learners in the Saudi context. This study aims to investigate what factors could motivate female learners of ESL classrooms. Further, the author utilizes sociocultural theory to explore what factors could affect participants’ motivation as female Muslim Arabs. She also supportsher arguments using data drawn from classroom observations, pupil focus group interviews and one-to-one teacher interviews. The current study involves 132 second-year pupils from a secondary public school in Taif city and three Saudi English language teachers.The findings indicate the impact of various social factors relevant to the Saudi identity, culture and everyday life on girls’ ESL learning in the Saudi context. Participants’ beliefs and practices of ESL appear to be influenced by certain imaginative views towards their local identities and cultures, their possible selves in the future, and the linguistic communities. In addition, findings regarding autonomy indicate that identity and culture attributes affects teachers’ and learners’ roles in the classroom and their motivation both inside andoutside the classroom. Finally, the study recommends extending the setting of the sample for future study to include more than one city in order to compare cultural and social attributes that impact ESL, ascultures and identities vary from one area to another in Saudi Arabia.

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arab World English Journal ◽  
Salwa Al harthi

This researchinvestigates the relationship amongsecond language learning, identity, culture, and motivation in Saudi Arabia (SA). SA’s education system concentrates on teaching, while identity and social aspects have only been given little attention. The researcher seeks to redress this balance by exploring the impact of pupils’ negative views toward the linguistic communities and of themselves as Muslim pupils. It aims to investigate how negative views toward the English language speaking communities could affect or demotivate Arab Muslim female learners to learn the language. The researcher supports the arguments using a qualitative approach and data drawn from pupils’ focus group interviews and one-to-one teachers’ interviews. The current study involves 132 second-year pupils from a secondary public school in Taif city, in SA and three Saudi English language teachers.The findings indicate the impact of various social factors relevant to the Saudi identity and culture on pupils’ English as a second language (ESL) learning in the Saudi context. Participants’ beliefs and practices of ESL appear to be influenced by certain negative views towardthe English- speaking communities.Finally, the study recommends extending the setting of the sample for future study to include more than one city in order to compare cultural and social attributes that impact ESL, ascultures and identities vary from one area to another in SA.


Author(s):  
Brynne D. Ovalle ◽  
Rahul Chakraborty

This article has two purposes: (a) to examine the relationship between intercultural power relations and the widespread practice of accent discrimination and (b) to underscore the ramifications of accent discrimination both for the individual and for global society as a whole. First, authors review social theory regarding language and group identity construction, and then go on to integrate more current studies linking accent bias to sociocultural variables. Authors discuss three examples of intercultural accent discrimination in order to illustrate how this link manifests itself in the broader context of international relations (i.e., how accent discrimination is generated in situations of unequal power) and, using a review of current research, assess the consequences of accent discrimination for the individual. Finally, the article highlights the impact that linguistic discrimination is having on linguistic diversity globally, partially using data from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and partially by offering a potential context for interpreting the emergence of practices that seek to reduce or modify speaker accents.


Author(s):  
Guoliang Yang ◽  
Zhihua Wang ◽  
Weijiong Wu

Little is known about the relationship between social comparison orientation and mental health, especially in the psychological capital context. We proposed a theoretical model to examine the impact of ability- and opinion-based social comparison orientation on mental health using data from 304 undergraduates. We also examined the mediating effect of the four psychological capital components of hope, self-efficacy, resilience, and optimism in the relationship between social comparison orientation and mental health. Results show that an ability (vs. opinion) social comparison orientation was negatively (vs. positively) related to the psychological capital components. Further, the resilience and optimism components of psychological capital fully mediated the social comparison orientation–mental health relationship. Our findings indicate that psychological capital should be considered in the promotion of mental health, and that the two social comparison orientation types have opposite effects on psychological capital.


2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 412-428
Author(s):  
Hilla Peretz ◽  
Michael J. Morley

ABSTRACTWe offer a preliminary examination of whether national and organizational level contexts amplify or reduce the effects of de-globalization on the performance of MNCs. Theoretically, we borrow ideas from both event system theory and institutional fit to propose a model explicating key dimensions of the relationship between de-globalization, national and organizational context, and MNC performance. We then test our ideas using data assembled from 283 MNCs in 20 countries. We find that while de-globalization has a negative effect on MNC performance, national and organizational level contextual endowments do moderate this relationship. We discuss some implications of our findings and highlight attendant limitations.


Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 446
Author(s):  
Akinori Fukunaga ◽  
Takaharu Sato ◽  
Kazuki Fujita ◽  
Daisuke Yamada ◽  
Shinya Ishida ◽  
...  

To clarify the relationship between changes in photochemical oxidants’ (Ox) concentrations and their precursors in Kawasaki, a series of analyses were conducted using data on Ox, their precursors, nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and meteorology that had been monitored throughout the city of Kawasaki for 30 years from 1990 to 2019. The trend in air temperature was upward, wind speed was downward, and solar radiation was upward, indicating an increasing trend in meteorological factors in which Ox concentrations tend to be higher. Between 1990 and 2013, the annual average Ox increased throughout Kawasaki and remained flat after that. The three-year moving average of the daily peak increased until 2015, and after that, it exhibited a slight decline. The amount of generated Ox is another important indicator. To evaluate this, a new indicator, the daytime production of photochemical oxidant (DPOx), was proposed. DPOx is defined by daytime averaged Ox concentrations less the previous day’s nighttime averaged Ox concentrations. The trend in DPOx from April to October has been decreasing since around 2006, and it was found that this indicator reflects the impact of reducing emissions of NOx and VOCs in Kawasaki.


2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 2156759X2097956
Author(s):  
Adonay A. Montes ◽  
Erika Ramos

The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of an 8-week academic navigational capital group with English language learner (ELL) students. Minimal research exists examining ELL students’ acquisition of navigational capital skills (skills needed to navigate and succeed in academic settings) in school. We used a pre- and postintervention survey to measure the impact of the group. Results showed growth in the academic navigational capital skills of all participants. Such increases represent a starting blueprint to consider when working with ELL students.


2022 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 0-0

With the rapid development of information technology, information security has been gaining attention. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has issued international standards and technical reports related to information security, which are gradually being adopted by enterprises. This study analyzes the relationship between information security certification (ISO 27001) and corporate financial performance using data from Chinese publicly listed companies. The study focusses on the impact of corporate decisions such as whether to obtain certification, how long to hold certification, and whether to publicize information regarding certification. The results show that there is a positive correlation between ISO 27001 and financial performance. Moreover, the positive impact of ISO 27001 on financial performance gradually increases with time. In addition, choosing not to publicize ISO 27001 certification can negatively affect enterprise performance.


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