Research in the field of English language as a foreign language (EFL) has been consistently highlighted the need for communicative competence skills among students. Accompanied by the validated positive impact of technologies on students’ skills’, this study aims to explore the strategies used by EFL students in enhancing their communicative competence using digital platforms and identify the factors of developing communicative competence using digital platforms (linguistic factors, environmental factors, psychological factors, and university-related factors). The mixed-method research design was utilized to obtain data from Iraqi undergraduate EFL students. The study was conducted in the Iraqi University in Baghdad Iraq. EFL undergraduate students from the English department from the second-year grade constituted the population of the study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 EFL students to explore students’ usage of digital platforms to enhance communicative competence. A convenient sampling technique was used to select the students. The data from the interviews were analysed thematically using QSR NVivo software. Also, a survey questionnaire was demonstrated to the sample of the study to identify the challenges of development. 150 EFL students participated in the study sampled using the proportional sampling method. SPSS software was also used to analyse the data. The findings showed that students used digital platforms to develop grammar accuracy, pronunciation, vocabulary, cohesion and coherence, punctuation, and spelling. On the other hand, the challenging factors identified are grouped in four categories which are linguistic factors, environmental factors, psychological factors, an university-related factors. The findings of the study offer new insight for future directions research and recommendations to the university management as these findings could be the cornerstones of the planning for successful implementation of digital platforms in teaching and learning English in general and communicative competence in specific.
The study aims to measure the level of academic stress in the e-learning environment in three areas, students and their dealing with classmates, dealing with the professor and technical skills, and the nature and content of the curriculum among graduate students in the College of Education at King Khalid University during COVID-19 pandemic. This study was descriptive in nature (survey, comparative). The sample consisted of (512) male and female graduate students in the master's and doctoral programs. The Academic Stress Scale in the E-learning Environment designed by Amer (2021) was used. The results indicated a high level of academic stress among graduate students in the e-learning environment. The study also found that there were stati
... Show MoreABSTRACTBackground: dyslipidemia plays a crucial rule in the development of cardiovascular disease, which has become the leading cause of death in most developed countries as well as in developing countries (1). The effects of reducing low density lipoprotein – C (LDL-C) concentrations on the prevention of cardiovascular events and stroke have been well reported in many clinical trials.Objectives: Evidence supports the use of statins for lipid modifications in the primary prevention of coronary artery disease, morbidity and mortality. This study aims to determine the effectiveness of atorvastatin in treating dyslipidemia in Iraqi obese patients.Methods: 200 overweight and obese patients with hypercholesterolemia, according to NCEP ATP
... Show MoreThis research is a pragmatic study of political blame in British and Iraqi Parliaments. It aims to unfold the similarities and/or differences in terms of the pragmatic and pragma-rhetorical strategies used by British and Iraqi politicians when they exchange blame in both offensive and defensive situations. A statistical analysis is conducted to quantitatively support the findings of the pragmatic analysis. The analyses conducted have yielded different results among blame is a process composed of two stages. Each stage is distinct for its pragmatic components and pragma-rhetorical strategies. British and Iraqi MPs at the blame stage tend to utilize impoliteness as their main strategy. However, British and Iraqi MPs perform differently at the
... Show MoreStone columns are widely used globally due to theirversatility and relative wide applicability to treat different soil and foundation situations but much of the research undertaken to date has focused on their use in soft soils. In countries like Iraq the use of stone columns is still limited from a practical point of view, chiefly as many other soil conditions are commonly encountered. These include collapsible soils: soils that are prone to relatively rapid volume compressions (through collapse of metastable fabrics) that occur due to the action of load and/or increases in water content. Recent work has opened up the possibility to use stone columns in these soils by the use of encasement, thereby overcoming the impact of loss of lateral
... Show MorePlacenta previa refers to placenta which is totally or partly implanted in lower segment of the uterus. Mortality and morbidity of mother increase with placenta previa due to the increase in the incidence of bleeding during pregnancy. This study aims to define placenta previa prevalence among pregnant women at AL-Fallujah teaching hospital and to determine the risk factors and their association with placenta previa incidence in al-Fallujah city population. This retrospective cohort study investigated medical registry of 6339 gravid women in al-Fallujah teaching Hospital in Iraq. We find 13 cases of placenta previa (0.21%) amongst the 6339 cases registered. The risk factors that strongly appeared to affect the complication of pregnancy with
... Show MoreThe research aims to conduct a comparative study between the events (800) m and (1500) m track in the types of muscular strength and to identify the differences between them among Iraqi sports club players. The sample represented the players participating in the Iraqi Athletics Championship for the period between (02/11/2023) and (04 /11/2023), and their number was (16) players (8) for each event, as the selection was made intentionally. The researchers used the descriptive approach to achieve the goal of the research and used the statistical package (SPSS) to process the data statistically. According to the results collected, it was found that there was superiority among the intermediate track players (800) m in explosive power and the s
... Show MoreBackground: Dental caries is generally given the highest priority in national oral health services for adult populations. Yet, there is no study which has explored the impact on quality of life specifically related to dental caries in samples of dental students. The purpose of the current study was to assess the impact of caries experience on quality of life among dental students in three governorates in Iraq. Materials and Methods: This observational study included 1364 dental students aged 18–22 years old, from three governorates. Information on quality of life was obtained from a structured, self-administered questionnaire from the students who were willing to participate in the study. The data was collected, summarized and sta
... Show MoreBackground: Type two diabetic patients have higher risk of cardiovascular and periodontal disease. Furthermore, patients with more severe periodontal disease have higher incidence of cardiovascular disease. This study aimed to assess the association between periodontal health status and the risk of vascular disease in type 2 diabetic patients. Materials and Methods: One hundred type 2 diabetes mellitus patients and fifty apparently healthy males were enrolled in this study. Oral examinations conducted were; plaque Index, calculus index, gingival index, probing pocket depth, and clinical attachment level. For the assessment of vascular risk, arterial stiffness index was used. Results: According to arterial stiffness index, type 2 diabetic p
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