High Level Of Proficiency Research Articles

SLEEP DISPARITIES AMONG ASIAN AMERICANS: IMPACTS OF DISCRIMINATION AND ACCULTURATIVE STRESS

Abstract Although Asian Americans have shorter sleep duration and more sleep difficulty compared to Whites or Hispanics, research on Asians remains scarce. 60% of Asians are foreign-born and have high levels of limited English proficiency, which is positively associated with a range of immigrant stressors, such as discrimination and acculturative stress. Importantly, COVID-19 has exacerbated discrimination towards Asian Americans giving rise to ‘Asian hate’. In a study using data from the National Epidemiology Study of Alcohol and Related Conditions III (n=1,765), we found that individuals with high discrimination were sleeping 14.4 minutes less (SE: 6.0, p < .05) and had a higher prevalence of sleep difficulty (prevalence ratio (PR): 1.73, 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 1.33-2.24) compared to those with low discrimination. An interaction effect was observed in sleep difficulty by nativity. The association between discrimination and sleep difficulty was stronger among the U.S.-born than the foreign-born. In another study of Chinese and Korean Americans (n=400), Poisson models revealed that greater acculturative stress was associated with a higher prevalence of sleep disturbance (PR: 1.18, 95% CI: 1.06% to 1.31%). Interaction tests indicated that only women had a significant association between acculturative stress and sleep disturbance (PR: 1.30; 95% CI: 1.13 to 1.49), while the association was significant for individuals identifying as “very Asian” (PR: 1.21; 95% CI: 1.08 to 1.35), but not for those identifying as “mostly Asian” or “bicultural/western”. Future sleep health research in Asian Americans should consider the critical role of discrimination and acculturative stress.

TEACHING READING THROUGH TECHNOLOGY

Reading is considered a skill of upmost importance by both second and foreign language students and teachers. It is also a skill learners of a second language often find difficult to develop to a high level of proficiency, since fluent reading is regarded as a rapid, purposeful, interactive, comprehending, flexible, and gradually developing process. Modern technologies in the foreign language classroom can be used to assist in the development of fluency in reading, as well as in improving digital fluency. The article examines the nature of reading, the role of ICTs in the context of developing students’ reading skills and presents some ideas on how to implement technology in the ESL classroom.

Level of Involvement in Extracurricular Activities and Employability Skills of Graduating Students

This research examines the extracurricular involvement and employability skill evaluations of a broad group of graduating students from various academic institutions from Hunan Province of China. The graduates demonstrate a significant level of engagement in extracurricular activities, placing emphasis on the acquisition of skills, collaborative efforts, personal development, and acknowledgement. Graduating students demonstrate a high level of proficiency in various essential abilities such as communication, teamwork, leadership, problem-solving, and professionalism, thereby significantly improving their prospects in the job market. Nevertheless, there exists potential for enhancement in the domains of time management and organization.

Comparing the seoi-nage skill of elite and non-elite judo athletes

Seoi-nage performance requires a high level of skill and proficiency. The aim of this study was to compare the motor planning, regulation, and control skills of elite versus non-elite seoi-nage judo athletes. Twenty subjects (10 elites and 10 non-elite) performed the three-phase seoi-nage skills of unbalancing, positioning, and throwing while an optical motion capture 3D camera monitored their shoulder, pelvis, hip, and knee joint movements to calculate their force magnitude and direction. Elite athletes performed better than non-elite athletes in terms of the shoulder (247.4° vs. 208.3° in Event 4) and pelvic (235.4° vs. 194.4° in Event 4) rotation, tilt angle (15.13° vs. − 0.74° in Event 4) characteristics, as well as hip (136.1° vs. 125.0° in Event 4) and knee joint (124.0° vs. 120.8° in Event 3) flexion–extension angle. Compared to non-elite athletes, elite athletes also showed more controlled force and movement in all bodily areas. These results can help to guide the development of seoi-nage skills as judo athletes advance from the non-elite to the elite level.

Numerical Investigation of Thermophoresis and Activation Energy Effects on Maxwell Nano Fluid Over an Inclined Magnetic Field Applied to a Disk

Numerical model is conducted to investigate the behavior of an incompressible Maxwell nanofluid model flow on a convectively stretched surface, considering the effects of thermophoresis and an inclined magnetic field. The system, originally formulated as a set of partial differential equations, is transformed into a system of ordinary differential equations using similarity transformations. The resulting equations are solved using the Runge-Kutta-Fehlberg method in conjunction with the shooting technique. The obtained physical parameters from the derived system are presented and discussed through graphical representations. The numerical process is assessed by comparing the results with existing literature under various limiting scenarios, demonstrating a high level of proficiency. The key findings of this study indicate that the velocity field decreases as the fluid parameters increase, while the fluid temperature diminishes accordingly. Additionally, the heat transfer rate decreases with increasing fluid and thermophoresis parameters, but it increases with Biot and Prandtl numbers.

Cortical Thickness Is Related to Variability in Heritage Bilingual Language Proficiency.

Research suggests that bilingual experience is associated with gray matter changes, such that initial language gains are associated with expansion and language expertise is associated with renormalization. Previous studies on language proficiency development primarily focused on between-subjects, quasiexperimental comparisons of monolinguals and bilinguals. This study proposes a new paradigm to examine language expertise and cortical thickness within heritage bilinguals (n = 215), as well as between bilinguals and monolinguals (n = 145), using data combined from eight previous magnetic resonance imaging studies. In general, results highlight variability within bilinguals, finding relationships between cortical thickness and English proficiency that are relatively consistent within monolinguals, but inconsistent within bilinguals. In all participants, higher levels of proficiency in English-monolinguals' only language and bilinguals' second but stronger language-were negatively related to cortical thickness. In bilinguals, higher proficiency in the weaker, albeit first learned, language was positively related to cortical thickness. Moreover, there was an interaction between language group and English proficiency in predicting cortical thickness, such that the relationship between proficiency and thickness was stronger in monolinguals than in bilinguals. Findings also demonstrate that the regions associated with language expertise differ between bilinguals and monolinguals. Future directions for cognitive-developmental neuroscience research in bilinguals are suggested, particularly the longitudinal examination of cortical changes in relation to bilingual experiences.

Acquisition of Spanish Temporal Adverbials by Multilingual Estonian Learners

Abstract This article focuses on the temporal structures used by multilingual Estonian students when expressing the hour in Spanish. Learning linguistic structures related to time is crucial in the early stages of foreign language acquisition. However, these structures can be complex and vary across languages, as they are highly idiosyncratic in terms of vocabulary and syntax. This study concentrates on the difficulties Estonian students face with Spanish time adverbials, specifically prepositions and articles. The paper aims to answer several research questions related to the repertoire of temporal expressions in the students' interlanguage, the difficulty posed by typological differences between their native language and Spanish, the influence of English, and the impact of English proficiency on Spanish production. The analysis of a corpus of interlanguage texts from Estonian students is conducted to identify idiosyncratic structures and patterns, distinguishing them from standard structures. The findings reveal that the use of articles improves with higher proficiency levels, while the use of prepositions remains challenging. Furthermore, the study explores the influence of English and Estonian on the students' Spanish production and highlights the importance of crosslinguistic reflection and attention to functional words for enhanced accuracy and fluency. The article concludes by emphasizing the significance of language proficiency levels and crosslinguistic influence in third language acquisition and suggesting areas for further research.

Pengetahuan Perawat Tentang Penanganan Luka Di Rumah Sakit Bhayangkara Kalimantan

Problems and complications that arise due to injuries, if they do not receive proper and serious treatment, can result in lifelong disability and this causes lifelong suffering for the client. The aim of the research was to determine nurses' knowledge of emergency care for injured patients at Bhayangkara Hospital, Kalimantan. This research design uses a descriptive design, a research design that is structured in such a way that researchers can obtain answers to research questions. Research design refers to the type or kind of research chosen to achieve research objectives, and acts as a tool and guide to achieve these objectives. The research results show that a person's length of work in an organization or agency is not synonymous with high productivity. People with a long period of service do not mean they have a high level of proficiency. The longer someone works, the more skilled and experienced they are in their job.

EfficientRMT-Net—An Efficient ResNet-50 and Vision Transformers Approach for Classifying Potato Plant Leaf Diseases

The primary objective of this study is to develop an advanced, automated system for the early detection and classification of leaf diseases in potato plants, which are among the most cultivated vegetable crops worldwide. These diseases, notably early and late blight caused by Alternaria solani and Phytophthora infestans, significantly impact the quantity and quality of global potato production. We hypothesize that the integration of Vision Transformer (ViT) and ResNet-50 architectures in a new model, named EfficientRMT-Net, can effectively and accurately identify various potato leaf diseases. This approach aims to overcome the limitations of traditional methods, which are often labor-intensive, time-consuming, and prone to inaccuracies due to the unpredictability of disease presentation. EfficientRMT-Net leverages the CNN model for distinct feature extraction and employs depth-wise convolution (DWC) to reduce computational demands. A stage block structure is also incorporated to improve scalability and sensitive area detection, enhancing transferability across different datasets. The classification tasks are performed using a global average pooling layer and a fully connected layer. The model was trained, validated, and tested on custom datasets specifically curated for potato leaf disease detection. EfficientRMT-Net’s performance was compared with other deep learning and transfer learning techniques to establish its efficacy. Preliminary results show that EfficientRMT-Net achieves an accuracy of 97.65% on a general image dataset and 99.12% on a specialized Potato leaf image dataset, outperforming existing methods. The model demonstrates a high level of proficiency in correctly classifying and identifying potato leaf diseases, even in cases of distorted samples. The EfficientRMT-Net model provides an efficient and accurate solution for classifying potato plant leaf diseases, potentially enabling farmers to enhance crop yield while optimizing resource utilization. This study confirms our hypothesis, showcasing the effectiveness of combining ViT and ResNet-50 architectures in addressing complex agricultural challenges.

UPAYA MENINGKATKAN HASIL BELAJAR DAN KETERAMPILAN MENULIS KALIMAT SARAN MELALUI MODEL PEMBELAJARAN MULTISENSORI

The implementation of the multisensory learning approach offers an alternative method to enhance students' writing skills and overall learning outcomes in the Indonesian language subject. After conducting observations, it was discovered that the third-grade students at SDIT As-Salafiyah had low learning outcomes and writing skills in the Indonesian language subject for the 2021/2022 academic year. The inadequate understanding of suggested sentences by students and suboptimal learning management by the teacher were identified as the main causes for these low outcomes. This study employed Classroom Action Research (CAR), which comprised four components: Planning, Action, Observation, and Reflection. In the first cycle, student learning outcomes reached 52.38%, and in the second cycle, it increased to 85.71%, indicating that the mastery of learning outcomes had achieved the expected classical completeness of 80%. In terms of writing skills, the first cycle yielded a score of 1280 with a percentage of 60.95%, indicating a moderate level of proficiency. However, in the second cycle, the score rose to 1900 with a percentage of 90.48%, indicating a high level of proficiency. The teacher's activity observation sheet during the implementation of the multisensory learning approach showed a 62% rating in the first cycle, which improved to 86% in the second cycle, indicating a very good performance. Therefore, it can be concluded that the application of the multisensory learning model effectively enhances students' learning outcomes and writing skills.

Enhancing Employability Skills Through Communication in the ESP Classroom

Improved English communication abilities result in both better social interaction and improved career opportunities. As most job interviews are in English, candidates are often chosen based on the linguistic competence they demonstrate in the interviews. Thus, possessing a high level of linguistic proficiency in the English language leads to not only more rewarding career choices but also more chances of being hired for the position he/she is applying for. Moreover, English has become the lingua franca of the business world. As a result, one must possess a very strong command of the English language to become most successful in the professional world. The study focuses on honing the employability skills of the students in ESP classrooms through interactive communication, thereby making them employable. In this connection, an analytical study of possible aspects of employability skills is conducted which is also vital in carving career-oriented engineering students in the ESP classroom.

Reality of administrative practices among Palestinian public schools' principals from teachers' point of view

This study aims to scrutinize the administrative practices of public school principals in Palestine through the lens of teachers, while also delving into potential disparities in these practices based on gender, administrative district, educational attainment, academic stage, and years of professional experience. The researcher employed a mixed-method approach, combining both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. Two data collection instruments were utilized: a structured questionnaire comprising 52 items distributed across ten distinct domains, administered to a stratified random sample of 369 male and female educators. Additionally, focus group discussions were conducted to afford a more profound insight into the issue, encompassing 20 male and female educators from schools situated in the northern governorates. The findings underscore a high level of administrative proficiency among school principals, with an average score of 3.99 (79.8%). Notably, the domain of "Organizing" received the highest rating, while "decision-making" garnered the lowest. It is noteworthy that no statistically significant disparities in mean scores pertaining to administrative practices and their respective domains were observed based on gender or educational qualification. Nevertheless, substantial differentials emerged across administrative districts, with the "Yatta Directorate" exhibiting the highest scores. In light of these study outcomes, the researcher advocates for the sustained enhancement of administrative practices among school principals, emphasizing the imperative of continuous professional development through specialized training programs.

A Creative Writing Intervention for Second Language Acquisition Development in Multilingual Students

The primary goal of this research is to examine how creative writing-based methods impact the development of narrative skill in students who are learning Greek as a second language at the A1-A2 proficiency levels. More specifically, this study aims to evaluate the extent to which the writing abilities of A1-A2 level Second Language Learners (SLL) can progress from basic, structured stories to more complex narratives at higher proficiency levels. In this study, a total of fifty-four A1-A2 level SLL were divided into two groups: the Experimental Group (E.G.) and the Control Group (C.G.). Both groups underwent a pretest and a posttest assessment. An intervention, consisting of six class hours per week over a three-month period, was exclusively administered to the E.G. When designing the creative writing activities, the research considered the A1-A2 level writing criteria and writing competencies outlined in the Common Application Text for European Languages. The results of the study reveal that, following the intervention, there was a statistically significant difference between the two groups. The C.G. displayed only a marginal improvement across all measurement scales, while the E.G. performance reached the levels of B1-B2 in terms of written narrative skill. These findings confirm previous research indicating that creative writing, as an engaging teaching approach, empowers A1-A2 level SLL to employ specific narrative techniques, thus elevating their narrative writing skill to B1-B2 proficiency levels. As a result, the discussion underscores the importance of enriching teaching practices with effective tools such as creative writing to enhance the narrative skill of multilingual students, ultimately facilitating their acquisition of a second language.

Mapping competencies taught in public health – Experience of the Europubhealth Consortium

Abstract Background Public health education aims at producing a competent workforce. The WHO-ASPHER framework proposes a set of relevant public health competencies organised in 10 sections (e.g. science practice, leadership, law policies and ethics etc). As part of the Europubhealth consortium (EPHc), eight universities collaborate for the delivery of a 2-year international public health master course. The course includes a first-year, or foundation component (4 options), and a second-year or specialisation component (7 options). Objectives In 2020, EPHc decided to use the framework in order to map the competencies addressed, and the level of proficiency aimed at, by each Y1 and Y2 option of the Master. To that end, component's coordinators answered an 84-item questionnaire covering the whole framework. Answers were summarised by calculating mean proficiency levels for each competency section. Results There were differences in overall proficiency levels between years with, as expected, higher scores in Y2. Options in Y1 reached medium to high proficiency scores for the sections “science practice”, “health promotion” and “communication” with scores of 2.6 to 3 (on a 1 to 4 scale). When compared with Y1 on a heat-map, Y2 options displayed more contrasted profiles, typically focussing (i.e. scores > 3.5) on 3 out of the 10 sections of competencies. Except for the “collaborations and partnership” section, the training pathways offered by the EPHc seem to offer opportunities for a high proficiency level in all domains of competencies. Conclusions The mapping proved a useful exercise to identify strengths and complementarities among the EPHc. The results suggest that the EPHc master course is coherent and offers students opportunities to gain proficiency in most competencies relevant to public health practice. Key messages • Competency-based education is likely to shape the future public health workforce. • The WHO-ASPHER framework proved a useful tool to map public health competencies addressed in the teaching of the Europubhealth international Master.

Öğretmen Adaylarının Yaratıcı Özyeterlilik Düzeyleri ile 21. Yüzyıl Becerileri Öğretimi Düzeyleri Arasındaki İlişkinin İncelenmesi

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between the teaching of 21st-century skills and the creative self-efficacy of prospective teachers. The research followed a correlational survey design and involved 175 prospective teachers enrolled at a university in the eastern region of Turkey. Data collection was carried out using the "21st Century Skills Teaching Scale" and the "Creative Self-Efficacy Scale." Descriptive statistics, t-tests, ANOVA, Pearson Correlation Analysis, and Linear Regression Analysis were employed to analyze the data. The findings revealed that the prospective teachers exhibited a high level of proficiency in teaching 21st-century skills and had a strong sense of creative self-efficacy. There was no significant difference in the level of teaching 21st-century skills and creative self-efficacy among prospective teachers from different departments. However, male prospective teachers demonstrated a higher level of proficiency in teaching 21st-century skills compared to their female counterparts. Furthermore, a positive and significant relationship was observed between the teaching of 21st-century skills and creative self-efficacy.

Leading urban school teachers of Black and Brown students during social injustice and the pandemic

ABSTRACT This case study illustrates how leadership for learning and cultural competence could be used as theories of action during times of disruption to lead and transform urban teachers’ sense of self, sense of others, and motivation for change. The case study focuses on educators from a large urban charter school whose response to the pandemic and the social justice movements was using a year-long professional development to provide continuous support and foster a growth mindset among educators. Self-evaluation on the cultural proficiency scale showed that the principal and thirty teachers differed in their levels of proficiency. The principal and six teachers with middle and high levels of proficiency were then interviewed to probe their personal interpretations of the connections among their cultural competence, their awareness of structural inequities, and the ways this awareness might have impacted how they teach Black and Brown students in their classrooms. Regardless of where they were on the scale, Black and White educators benefited from self-reflections and group dialogue about how they value, model, and practice cultural proficiency with their Black and Brown students. These findings have implications for urban public charter school leadership during times of continued change and uncertainty.

Are pharmacy graduates practice ready? A validation and assessment study of curricular effectiveness in a school of pharmacy in Lebanon

Background: This study aimed to validate the programme learning outcomes (PLOs) in a Lebanese pharmacy school. It also aimed to assess curricular effectiveness through self-reported assessments of recently graduated BPharm students and investigate if academic and sociodemographic characteristics impact learning outcomes’ achievement. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted through an online questionnaire. The initial section of the questionnaire gathered data concerning academic and sociodemographic characteristics, while the second section centred around a scale-based self-declared assessment of the PLOs. Results: The validated BPharm PLOs encompassed six distinct domains, comprising a total of 20 competencies and 110 learning outcomes. All competencies were successfully extracted with factor analysis and appropriately loaded on their respective domains. The internal consistency of the competencies and domains was confirmed by Cronbach’s alpha, with values ranging from 0.741 (good) to 0.957 (excellent). The graduates indicated their proficiency across all domains, with an average percentage grade ranging from 87.29% for professionalism to 87.55% for the approach to practice and care. Conclusion: The findings reveal a valid structure of the current PLOs with robust internal consistency. The high proficiency levels of graduates across all competency domains confirm the effectiveness and structural integrity of the curriculum.

The Interplay of Contextual Variables and Language Proficiency in Request Realization

The significance of producing socially appropriate utterances, not just linguistically correct ones, has given rise to a plethora of studies on speech acts. In this regard, the performance of second and foreign language learners against the norms of the target language and the factors affecting them have yet to be thoroughly investigated. To contribute to this ongoing research, this study aimed to elicit pragmatic requestive features of Iranian EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners with respect to (a) request directness, (b) request perspective, (c) internal modification, and (d) external modification in eight social situations. This study also examined whether language proficiency and two contextual factors of social power and social distance affect Iranian EFL learners’ requests in English. Participants were a total of 60 university students or graduates who had taken TOEFL in the past 2 years and were thus categorized into low and high proficiency levels. A Written Discourse Completion Test (WDCT) was employed to elicit requests. To achieve the objectives of this study, both descriptive statistics and two-way ANOVA were employed. The results showed a significant main effect for contextual factors; participants’ choice of requestive features was affected by the two social factors of power and distance. Proficiency, however, did not have a significant effect on the pragmatic performance of participants. The findings of this study showed pragmatic development of participants on the one hand and some evidence of their underdeveloped pragmatic performance on the other hand, which makes explicit instruction a necessity.

Introduction of emergency equipment for floods, fires and riots in Augmented Reality

Indonesia is one of the countries with a high risk of natural disasters in several regions. Emergencies can result in death or property destruction. While dealing with catastrophes, swift action and anticipation are required; yet, if the community is unfamiliar with emergency equipment, it will take longer to overcome emergencies. It turns out that many people still do not understand emergency equipment information correctly. The active engagement of the community in recognizing emergency equipment can be enhanced by the provision of information. The implementation of an application utilizing Augmented Reality technology and the Fisher Yates Shuffle algorithm aims to enhance public awareness and promote active engagement in identifying emergency equipment. Once the application has been developed and constructed, the evaluation process will involve the utilization of a pre-test, post-test, and the N-Gain Score methodology. The N-Gain Score is a valuable tool for gauging the extent of the community's comprehension in identifying emergency equipment. Additionally, a Questionnaire will be employed to evaluate the level of user satisfaction with the application. The findings of the study revealed that the level of knowledge acquired by users, as assessed, was 57%. This suggests that users demonstrate a relatively high level of proficiency in understanding emergency equipment when utilizing the application. Furthermore, the overall satisfaction of users with the program received a final score of 86%, showing a high degree of effectiveness.

Strategies and Techniques of the Translation of International Law Documents

The article deals with the issue of international legal documents translation from English into Russian. Translation strategies are identified which allow achieving accuracy in the translation of legal texts. The paper uses such research methods as contextual analysis, descriptive analysis, comparative analysis, definition analysis, distributive analysis. The factors that complicate the translation of legal texts are identified, including replenishment of the legal terminology system with neologisms and abundance of specialized legal terminology and terminology of related fields of knowledge. It is pointed out that the translator must possess specialized knowledge, as well as a high level of translation and linguacultural competence, which will help to avoid distortion of meaning and violation of the logic when translating from English into Russian. The author identifies the translation techniques used in the translation of legal texts, the choice of which is determined by the analyzed principles and strategies. The research material is the English-language texts of the declarations of BRICS summits and their official translated Russian-language versions. As a result of the research, it was found that the principles of translation of international legal documents correspond to the classical principles of translation, since they require the translator to have a good understanding of the text content, a high level of proficiency in both the source and target languages, preservation of the author’s communicative intention in translation. The scientific novelty of the research lies in the identification of another principle of translation, which a translator should focus on when choosing strategies and techniques for translating international legal texts, in particular, the principle of interdisciplinarity. The author also identifies the main translation techniques, the use of which allows to achieve equivalence and adequacy in translation of legal texts. The research contributes to the development of the theory and practice of translation in general and specialized translation, in particular. In the future, it is planned to conduct comparative studies aimed at identifying the principles, strategies and techniques of translating civil and criminal law documents.