THE ANALYSIS OF STUDENTS’ DIFFICULTIES IN COMPREHENDING TOEFL READING TEXT AT ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY OF OGAN KOMERING ILIR KAYUAGUNG

The objective of this research is to find the difficult skills in TOEFL reading text faced by the students of English Language Education Study Program of Islamic University of Ogan Komering Ilir Kayuagung. The subject of this research was students English Department Isalamic University Ogan Komering Ilir To conduct this study, the descriptive qualitative was used. To collect the data, TOEFL reading test and interview were used. To analyze the data, data reduction, data display, and drawing conclusion or interpretation. The result of the study showed that students had difficulty finding main idea questions (66.6%), organization ideas (72%), stated detail question (60%), unstated detail question (62%), implied detail question (75%), transition question (74%), reference (56%), vocabulary (54.5%), question about where in the passage (55%), and tone purpose (63%). It was happened because most of the students did not like reading scientific text, had low motivation, and had limitation vocabulary.

ANALYSIS ON THE STUDENTS’ COMMON DIFFICULTIES IN TOEFL READING COMPREHENSION (A CASE STUDY ON THE SECOND SEMESTER OF ENGLISH STUDY PROGRAM AT ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY OF INDRAGIRI TEMBILAHAN)

The problem in this study was the students’ common difficulties in TOEFL Reading Comprehension. This study only used one variable. The research method used in this study was a descriptive research. The purpose of this study was to know the students’ common difficulties in TOEFL Reading Comprehension on the second semester of English Study Program at Islamic University of Indragiri Tembilahan. The total of the sample used in this study were 23 students, the technique was used to take the sample is total sampling. In collecting the data, the researcher used a test. After the data has been collected, the result of test showed that the skills that are considered to be the most difficult ones in TOEFL reading, which is skill 3. This skill is identifying stated detail questions correctly. It is the highest percentage (84%) with the total of incorrect answer is 210 from 5 items. Then, it is followed by skill 5 (82%) with the total of incorrect answer is 82 from 2 items, which is finding pronoun reference. It is the second most difficult skill for the students. The third most difficult skill is skill 7. It is responding of transition question achieve 81% with the total of incorrect answers is 81 from 2 items. Next, skill 10 is considered to be the fourth most difficult skill in TOEFL reading comprehension. The questions are about the use of context to give meaning of difficult word which is counted 80 % from the total of incorrect answers is 120 from 3 items. Then, the fifth most difficult skill in TOEFL reading comprehension is skill 1, which is consisting the questions about answering main idea questions correctly, students made 78% of the total incorrect answers is 156 from 4 items.

The Politics of Succession in Saudi Arabia

This chapter explores the succession dynamics that came to prominence in Saudi Arabia after the accession of King Salman to the throne in January 2015 and the acceleration of the generational handover of eventual power to the grandsons of Abdul-Aziz Al Saud. Joseph Kéchichian examines the politics of Saudi succession and offers an in-depth perspective on the new actors who will reshape Saudi leadership in the years and decades ahead. Kéchichian analyzes the momentous changes in the Saudi policy landscape unveiled during the early months of King Salman’s reign and assesses the unprecedented replacement of the Crown Prince in April 2015 in the context of the (seemingly) decisive resolution of the generational transition question that had become a parlor game for analysts and commentators alike.

Responsiveness, Reliability, and Minimally Important and Minimal Detectable Changes of 3 Electronic Patient-Reported Outcome Measures for Low Back Pain: Validation Study (Preprint)

BACKGROUND The Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMDQ), visual analog scale (VAS) of pain intensity, and numerical rating scale (NRS) are among the most commonly used outcome measures in trials of interventions for low back pain. Their use in paper form is well established. Few data are available on the metric properties of electronic counterparts. OBJECTIVE The goal of our research was to establish responsiveness, minimally important change (MIC) thresholds, reliability, and minimal detectable change at a 95% level (MDC95) for electronic versions of the RMDQ, VAS, and NRS as delivered via iOS and Android apps and Web browser. METHODS We recruited adults with low back pain who visited osteopaths. We invited participants to complete the eRMDQ, eVAS, and eNRS at baseline, 1 week, and 6 weeks along with a health transition question at 1 and 6 weeks. Data from participants reporting recovery were used in MIC and responsiveness analyses using receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curves and areas under the ROC curves (AUCs). Data from participants reporting stability were used for analyses of reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC] agreement) and MDC95. RESULTS We included 442 participants. At 1 and 6 weeks, ROC AUCs were 0.69 (95% CI 0.59 to 0.80) and 0.67 (95% CI 0.46 to 0.87) for the eRMDQ, 0.69 (95% CI 0.58 to 0.80) and 0.74 (95% CI 0.53 to 0.95) for the eVAS, and 0.73 (95% CI 0.66 to 0.80) and 0.81 (95% CI 0.69 to 0.92) for the eNRS, respectively. Associated MIC thresholds were estimated as 1 (0 to 2) and 2 (–1 to 5), 13 (9 to 17) and 7 (–12 to 26), and 2 (1 to 3) and 1 (0 to 2) points, respectively. Over a 1-week period in participants categorized as “stable” and “about the same” using the transition question, ICCs were 0.87 (95% CI 0.66 to 0.95) and 0.84 (95% CI 0.73 to 0.91) for the eRMDQ with MDC95 of 4 and 5, 0.31 (95% CI –0.25 to 0.71) and 0.61 (95% CI 0.36 to 0.77) for the eVAS with MDC95 of 39 and 34, and 0.52 (95% CI 0.14 to 0.77) to 0.67 (95% CI 0.51 to 0.78) with MDC95 of 4 and 3 for the eNRS. CONCLUSIONS The eRMDQ was reliable with borderline adequate responsiveness. The eNRS was responsive with borderline reliability. While the eVAS had adequate responsiveness, it did not have an attractive reliability profile. Thus, the eNRS might be preferred over the eVAS for measuring pain intensity. The observed electronic outcome measures’ metric properties are within the ranges of values reported in the literature for their paper counterparts and are adequate for measuring changes in a low back pain population.