This paper aimed at specifying the leading obstacles which faced by Iraqi EFL secondary school teachers in teaching English language. According to studies and observations, lack of adequate materials, overcrowding classrooms, lack of infrastructures, and low job satisfaction are the main barriers to English language teaching in Iraq. Data were collected from 130 EFL teachers from Iraqi schools through a standard questionnaire. The data were analyzed using a descriptive statistic to summarize and present it in a meaningful way. The findings supported previous studies regarding the classroom overcrowding, lack of teaching aids and materials, and dilapidated facilities. Furthermore, regarding job dissatisfaction and salary, interesting and eye

This study aims to document and describe the speech sounds and sound inventory that are present in Sorani which is dialect of Kurdish and compare the results with their English counterparts.  The research concentrates on the voicing system and the quality of Sorani sounds which are measured by using the voice onset time (VOT) of the stop consonants, and the first three formants of the vowel sounds; the closure duration of voiceless stop consonants in medial position is measured as well.

Ten native speakers of the Sorani dialect (5 males and 5 females) participated in this experiment. All speakers are between 20 and 50 years of age, were born in Sulaimanyiah, migrated to the US, and remain in the US at the time of recording.

The main problem of the current study concentrates on applying critical discourse analysis to examine textual, discoursal and social features of reduplication in some selected English newspaper headlines. The main aim of the current study is to analyze the linguistic features of reduplication by adopting Fairclough's three-dimensional model (2001). This study sets forth the following hypotheses: (1) English headline – newspapers comprise various textual, discoursal and social features ;(2)the model of analysis is best suited for the current study.To achieve the aims and verify the hypotheses, a critical discourse analysis approach is used represented by Fairclough's socio-cultural approach (2001).The present study has examined the use of

The present study aims at scrutinizing the impoliteness types, causes, and purposes utilized by Iraqi English language learners when refusing marriage proposals. Thus, it attempts to answer the questions: (1) what are the impoliteness formulas used by the Iraqi learners of English in refusing marriage proposals?, and (2) What are their impoliteness triggers/causes and the purposes? The study is significant in bridging the gap that few linguistic types of research concentrate on studying intentionality and emotions allied with impoliteness. Data were collected from 35 Iraqi learners of English responding to 6 situations of marriage. The data were analyzed using Culpeper’s (2011) formulas of impoliteness and Bousfield’s (2007) impolite

Objective: To identify barriers to healthcare access, to assess the health literacy levels of the foreign-born Arabic speaking population in Iowa, USA and to measure their prevalence of seeking preventive healthcare services. Methods: A cross-sectional study of native Arabic speaking adults involved a focus group and an anonymous paper-based survey. The focus group and the Andersen Model were used to develop the survey questionnaire. The survey participants were customers at Arabic grocery stores, worshippers at the city mosque and patients at free University Clinic. Chi-square test was used to measure the relationship between the characteristics of survey participants and preventive healthcare services. Thematic analysis was

The Turks used the Ottoman Turkish language from the thirteenth century to the twentieth century.  During this period and under the influence of Islamic civilization, a large number of words and structures were used from the Arabic and Persian languages, Therefore, many Arabic grammatical structures were used in the Ottoman Turkish language, such as the definite article simply because it was widely used.

The paper is concerned with the use of the Arabic definite article in the Ottoman Turkish language, and the aim of this contrastive study is to find out the similarities and differences between the two languages ​​in terms of meaning and structure. Since linguistic studies depend on the practical side or applied approach, two

The linear segment with parabolic blend (LSPB) trajectory deviates from the specified waypoints. It is restricted to that the acceleration must be sufficiently high. In this work, it is proposed to engage modified LSPB trajectory with particle swarm optimization (PSO) so as to create through points on the trajectory. The assumption of normal LSPB method that parabolic part is centered in time around waypoints is replaced by proposed coefficients for calculating the time duration of the linear part. These coefficients are functions of velocities between through points. The velocities are obtained by PSO so as to force the LSPB trajectory passing exactly through the specified path points. Also, relations for velocity correction and exact v

The present study was conducted to investigate the relationship between critical thinking, epistemological beliefs, and learning strategies with the academic performance of high school first-grade male and female students in Yazd. For this purpose, from among all first-grade students, as many as 250 students (130 females and 120 males) were selected by using multistage cluster sampling. The data needed were then collected through using California Critical Thinking Skills Test, Schommer's Epistemological Beliefs Questionnaire, Biggs’ Revised Two Factor Study Process Questionnaire. The findings indicated that there is a positive significant relationship between critical thinking and academic performance and achievement. Moreover, four fa