The urban Tlemcenian glottal stop in a prospective coma due to contact and accommodation: A cross-sectional investigation

Although many researchers have attempted to include age as a variable in explaining linguistic variation, the delicate mechanisms via which variability in speech relates to age-grading aspect are still incomplete in especially lesser-known Arabic-speaking communities akin to Tlemcen, an urban city in Algeria. This paper aims at cross-sectionally investigating the sociolinguistic situation occurring in the Tlemcen speech community especially concerning the use of the glottal stop, an urban realisation of classical Arabic qaf. With the help of a survey interview, questionnaire and non-participant observation, data were collected from a convenient sample of 122 participants of different age cohorts and genders from Tlemcen. The results show that the dialect contact taking place in the community is moving towards aspects of koineisation, mainly levelling and simplification. Social and psychological features are said to explain the dialectal ruralisation guided by post-adolescent and young male native urban dialect speakers, while females of all ages, including old people, are strictly preservative.

Thematic implications and representativeness in Wuthering Heights (1848): Dialect as a social reality

Since language is a brainwork of speakers who live in social and physical environments, researchers are obliged to think about the alliance between the vocabularies’ meaning in dictionaries and their significance in social use. And because the novel is a fictional piece of writing which is primarily inspired by real life and reflects realities. In Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte strives to interfere in her characters’ thought and considers their social class, culture and experience; she acts as a writer, the speaker and the reader as well. These authorial qualities gave birth to a text combined of two language varieties, the Standard English and the Yorkshire dialect which are tightly interwoven without distorting the unity and the arrangement of the story plot. This paper looks to cover the different social inclinations of E. Bronte’s depiction of dialect in addition to some critical resonances of such representation. Keywords: Wuthering Heights, dialect representativeness, social reality, thematic implications, language.

Investigating style and narrative techniques in Dickens’ Bleak House

Dickens could never get rid of his everlasting catching style even though the very novel has been said to be one of his maturities. The style is there with more repetition and mock. The latter is not obvious to readers; it is dramatically welded to the circumstances, bizarre, rare but not alien to commoners of the very epoch. One of the most stunning texts and range of words, wordiness and elements within contexts alluding, saying but revealing the hidden, forbidden and the taboo, is the introduction of his novel A Tale of the Two Cities. In the following excerpts taken from Bleak House, the introduction is dense and irregularly shaped in English: the very language of his and her majesty. Wherein the question poses itself and raises the discrepancies among form and content; a dichotomy that ought to be considered in conducting the investigation of style and stylistics upon the forthcoming texts. Keywords: Dickens, stylistics, narrative, techniques, Bleak House.

An inquiry on publishers’ criteria for recruitment of translators

This study aimed to investigate the criteria considered by Iranian publishers for admitting translators. In order to achieve this purpose, the qualifications developed by Samuelson-Brown were employed to design a 19-item Likert scale questionnaire on a continuum from ‘strongly agree’ to ‘strongly disagree’. Some of the qualifications mentioned in the questionnaire were academic degree, translation competence, work experience, proficiency test, translators’ sense of responsibility for their task and the direct relationship between the publishers and the translators. Next, it was handed out to 140 Iranian publishers who were randomly selected as the participants from different parts of Iran for data collection. The collected data were analysed both qualitatively and quantitatively using the chi-squared test to see whether there were any significant relationships between each item and the participants’ attitudes. The qualitative results showed that almost all participants agreed with considering most qualifications as their own criteria to recruit translators, of course with some variations in their opinions on the significance of the variables of interest. However, the result of the chi-squared test showed a significant relationship only between four variables of inclusion of proficiency test, computer literacy, the translators’ relationship with the publisher and gender. The results can have some practical implications on translation course developers, students and teachers.  Â

Örgütsel bağlılık sivil havacılık kabin ekipleri üzerine bir araştırma

Örgütlerin amaçlarına ulaşmasında en önemli etken, yapılan işin kalitesidir. Bir işin kalitesi de insan faktörüne bağlıdır. Bu nedenle, örgütler amaçlarını gerçekleştirmek için insan kaynağına sürekli yatırım yapmalı ve örgüt bünyesinde tutmaya çalışmalıdır; yani çalışanların örgüte olan bağlılıklarını artırmalıdırlar. Çalışan memnuniyeti ile örgütsel bağlılık arasındaki ilişkiye yönelik yapılan araştırmalarda, memnuniyetin örgütsel bağlılık boyutları üzerindeki etkileri araştırılmıştır. Araştırmaların ortak sonucuna göre; genel olarak çalışan memnuniyeti ve örgütsel bağlılık arasında istatistiksel açıdan anlamlı ilişkiler ortaya çıkmıştır. Bu çalışmada, havacılık sektöründeki çalışanların memnuniyetlerinin artmasıyla çalışanların örgüte karşı bir bağlılık duyacağı ve bunun sonucunda müşterilere daha kaliteli hizmet verileceği varsayılmıştır. Sivil havacılık sektöründe kabin ekipleri, her havayolu şirketinin ön hattını temsil etmekte ve hizmet kalitesinin sağlanmasında önemli bir rol oynamaktadırlar. Bu nedenle örgütsel bağlılık her organizasyon için yaşamsal bir öneme sahip olmaktadır. Bu araştırma, bir havayolu şirketinden rasgele seçilmiş 100 kabin görevlisinin, bağlı olduğu şirkette çalışmaktan ne derece memnun olduğunu ve bu memnuniyetinin ya da memnuniyetsizliğinin hangi faktörlere bağlı olduğunu ortaya koymayı amaçlamaktadır. Aynı zamanda yaş, cinsiyet, medeni durum, deneyim (görev süresi), eğitim durumu gibi bazı demografik özellikler açısından farklılık gösterip göstermediğinin tespit edilmesi de araştırmanın amaçları arasında yer almaktadır. Araştırmanın verileri anket yöntemi ile toplanmıştır. Bu bağlamda, çalışma iki bölümden oluşmaktadır. Birinci bölümde, örgütsel bağlılığa ilişkin kavramsal çerçeve sunulmuş ve örgütsel bağlılığı etkileyen faktörler literatüre uyumlu bir şekilde ifade edilmiştir. İkinci bölümde ise araştırma bulguları ve bu bulgulara ilişkin değerlendirmeler yapılmıştır. Kabin görevlilerinin örgütsel bağlılık düzeylerinin çeşitli boyutlarının, yaş, cinsiyet, görev süreleri, bulundukları pozisyon ve eğitim durumlarına göre farklılaştığı tespit edilmiştir. Kabin ekiplerinin çalışan memnuniyeti ve örgütsel bağlılık arasındaki ilişkide pozitif yönlü ve anlamlı ilişki olduğu tespit edilmiştir. Sivil havacılık sektöründe yer alan örgütlerin çalışan memnuniyeti ve bağlılıklarını arttırmaya yönelik uygulamalar tavsiye edilmektedir. Örgütsel bağlılık kavramı gelecek yıllar içinde örgütler açısından önemi koruyacaktır. Anahtar Kelimeler: Çalışan Bağlılığı; Çalışan Memnuniyeti, Kabin ekibi; Örgütsel Bağlılık, Sivil Havacılık

Bilingualism and reading proficiency: Experiences of Armenian, Persian and Azeri students

The study presented here is an attempt to investigate the role of bilingualism in EFL students’ reading comprehension proficiency, and to that end six classes of three high schools were randomly chosen. These high schools were Soghomonian (Armenian bilinguals), Taleghani (Turkish bilinguals) and Ershad (Persian monolinguals). They were given a questionnaire and a reading comprehension test and the obtained data were analysed through one-way analysis of variance test. The performance of the three groups was significantly different. Tukey’s HSD showed that the Armenian bilingual group was the first and best group and the Persian monolingual group was the second one; however, the Turkish bilingual group was the poor third. The results suggest that L1 literacy practices of the Armenian bilinguals have worked to their advantage to the extent that they have outperformed the other two groups. This has not been the case with the Turkish bilinguals whose lack of L1 practices has worked to their detriment.  Keywords: Bilingualism, literacy, reading comprehension, EFL students.

Göç olgusunun sosyal dişlanma ekseninde analizi

Goc olgusu, sadece goc sorunu ile mucadele eden ulkelerde degil, tum ulkelerin oncelikli olarak tartistiklari konular arasinda yerini almistir. Goclerin nedenleri; issizlik, yoksulluk, egitim cografi yapi, yoksunluk, siyasi veya istihdam kaynakli olabilir. Ancak gocun temel kaynagi isgucunun hareketliligidir. Kuresellesme sureciyle birlikte ortaya cikan gelir esitsizligi nedeniyle isgucu arz ve talebi ulusal sinirlari asarak uluslararasilasmistir. Her ulke gocle farkli bicimlerde; hedef ulke, kaynak ulke, transit ulke kavramlariyla yuzlesmek zorunda kalmistir. Dunyada 20 ila 30 milyon arasinda duzensiz goc gerceklestigi tahmin edilmektedir. Son yillarda, Turkiye cografi konumu nedeniyle gocmenlerin duzensiz olarak gecici ve transit gecis yolu olarak kullandiklari bir ulke durumundadir. Gelismis ulkeler nitelikli gocmenleri kabul etmekte dusuk nitelikli gocmenleri ise kabul etmemektedirler. Bu baglamda, goc sorunu sadece ekonomik boyutlari ile degil sosyal boyutlari ile de oldukca onemli bir sorundur. Gocmenlerin bulunduklari ulkelerde entegrasyon surecleri oldukca uzun ve guc olmaktadir. Gocmen olmalari nedeniyle issizlik ve buna bagli yoksulluk ve sosyal dislanma ile karsi karsiya kalmaktadirlar. Bu calismanin amaci, Son yillarda Turkiye’nin karsi karsiya kaldigi goc olgusunun kavramsal boyutlarinin belirlenerek, gocmenlerin karsi karsiya kaldiklari yoksulluk sorunlarinin yani sira sosyal dislanma boyutunun neden ve sonuclariyla analizi gerceklestirilecektir. Anahtar Kelimeler: Goc, Gocmen, Issizlik, Yoksulluk, Sosyal Dislanma

Connection of architectural education with the technological world in Northern Cyprus

Due to the developing economic and technological opportunities, our structural environment and living spaces vary. In line with the increasing supply and demands of human beings, technological developments are increasing day by day, and they are trying to meet the expectations. The technological developments that started with the French Revolution show themselves in our living spaces, in every environment, where human beings exist and play the first-order factor in our lives. There is a process where living spaces and designs change and technological developments restructure the social environment of human beings. Technology, which developed rapidly, especially after 1990, is no longer a necessity but has become an indispensable part of our social life. Today, our relations with each other are now in a direct connection with technology. While our living spaces are being renewed and changed so rapidly, today’s adequacy of architectural education should be questioned. Has the education given in architectural education been able to meet the rapidly increasing demands of human beings? Have technological opportunities been a part of architectural education and can they use it effectively? The answer to these questions will be tried to be answered within the scope of architectural education, which is the focus of the research. In particular, the extent to which architectural design, which has a great place in the virtual reality environment, is supported during the university education process will be explored and the relationship between technological developments and design education will be revealed. In addition to the resource and data analyses to be carried out at all universities that provide architectural education accredited by YOK throughout Northern Cyprus, the research will also include observation methods and reports. Keywords: Architectural education, technology, living spaces, virtual reality, design, North Cyprus.

Student attitudes towards computer-assisted language learning and its effect on their EFL writing

This study aimed to assess the attitudes and perceptions of English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) students towards the use of computer-assisted language learning (CALL) programs and their perceived view on an online writing system that was developed in the present study by means of a questionnaire as well as an asynchronous discussion forum. An online writing system was developed and a sample of 30 EFL learners, studying at Sharif University of Technology in Iran, was assigned to the study. The CALL attitudes of the participants were assessed by a CALL questionnaire, which indicated that Iranian students attached a high value to CALL. Moreover, the comments of the participants that were posted on a discussion forum were analysed with the aid of Henri’s framework (1992), which revealed the presence of certain concepts and themes within the views of learners towards the use of computers in their educational settings. Keywords: Computer-assisted instruction (CAI), computer-assisted language learning (CALL), EFL writing, student attitudes.

The comparative effects of different gloss types through screencast on vocabulary learning and working memory of Iranian EFL learners

Screen cast as a viable digital tool to enhance vocabulary learning and retention is quite rare in many language contexts in Iran. It was stipulated that the application of different gloss types as a new pedagogical technique could be of value for this purpose. Therefore, the present study aimed at investigating the effect of different gloss types presented through screen cast on learning vocabulary and working memory (WM). For this purpose, 60 male Iranian EFL learners were assigned to three equal groups (i.e., two experimental and a control group). After pre-tests, the experimental groups were taught vocabulary through different gloss types (i.e., lexical and topic-level) by means of a screen cast presentation. The control group was instructed through traditional techniques. The analysis of the data in post-tests revealed that the experimental groups outperformed the control group. It is thus suggested that gloss types presented via screen cast can boost EFL learners’ vocabulary knowledge and WM. This result can have pedagogical implications for EFL teachers and material developers. Keywords: Gloss types, screen cast, vocabulary learning, working memory.