Archives-November 2012

Reading is one of the most important skills in second language learning. This is especially true at the tertiary level because it secures success in academic learning and facilitates in other parts of language learning (Carrell, 1989). However, teaching reading is somewhat complicated as reading is an intricate and complex cognitive process itself. In Malaysia, the issue of non-proficient graduates in the English language is continually being debated, which implies that the students are not well-prepared to cope with academic literacy (David & Govindasamy, 2006; Pandian, 2000). Along the same line, a growing body of research suggests that the beliefs, attitudes, expectations and perceptions of pre-service teachers should be highly addressed (Pajares, 1992; Young, 1998; Kagan, 1992). Thus, the present study seeks to explore the self-perceptions of the undergraduates of a Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) program, as readers and also as future teachers of ESL reading. It is hoped that through this study, a better understanding of the perceptions can be obtained so as to increase the quality of new teachers entering the world of teaching. It is assumed that those students who possess positive self-perceptions as readers will also have positive self-perceptions to become reading teachers.

Changes in soil properties, soil organic C (SOC) and total nitrogen (TN) stocks associated with different heating temperatures from 50, 100, and 150 kg/m2 dry biomass that provided for different heat intensities were compared with natural soil temperature of arable land adjacent to the burnt plots. Soil samples were collected in three replicates from control and burnt plots and soil temperatures were measured with soil thermometer placed at surface and sub-surface layers, while gas emissions were measured with sensitive gas dictators. The induced temperatures were highly variable at the soil surface whereas below 15cm depth, the temperature rise was not more than 370C. Modifications of various soil physico-chemical parameters caused by fire were related to increasing temperatures. The passage of fire promoted SOC and TN stocks, mean weight diameter, the aggregation of 2 mm stable structures which become even more resistant to disrupting action of water. The pH decreased to 5.4 at higher temperatures following burning before ashes mineralized. However, both organic matter and ECEC increased at increasing soil temperature. Potassium content remained surprisingly constant as the soil temperature increased. Air quality measurement revealed that NO2, SO2 H2S and CO2 were above the limits indicating air pollution through these activities. Despite the merits of quick release of occluded nutrients, heating temperatures of slash-and-burn method of land clearing altered soil and air quality.

The present research reviewed the effect of share issued and long-term loan on stock returns and price of shares of companies admitted into Tehran SE between the years 2001 and 2005. This research attempted to determine whether different methods of financing like share issued and long-term loans affect the price and return of shares or not, or that their effects are different or similar. We used t-test to test the hypothesis. Also, the Kolmogorov-Smirnof Test was employed to determine the normality of the data. The results obtained in this research were shown that the average share prices and share return is higher in companies that had financed via share issued than the companies which have used the long-term loan facilities.

Teaching is found to be a stressful occupation and educators around the globe are experiencing hi- levels of stress (Dinham, & Scott, 1998; Gmelch, 1993; Kyriacou, 2001). In 2000, Wiley reported that the consequences of job stress can take the form of behavioral characteristics like Disturbing the interpersonal relationships or decrease in the work performance. The study is conducted to find the sources of stress at Higher Education in Punjab. For the Purpose, 289 full-time faculty members were selected to identify the stressors generating high stress from 12 Public and Private Universities of Punjab. The study revealed that the sources of stress vary significantly with respect to Gender. Also, it checks the association & significant difference of faculty job stress with respect to background variables like Age, Designation, salary etc. Finally an analysis on the stress coping strategies was also carried out on the basis of Gender.

Business process outsourcing is a subset of outsourcing that involves the contracting of the operations and responsibilities of specific business functions or processes to a third-party service provider. It is typically categorized into back office outsourcing - which includes internal business functions such as human resource or finance and accounting, and front office outsourcing - which includes customer-related services such as contract centre services. The bpo industry is a people oriented industry and human capital largely contributes to the top line and bottomline of the company. Thus, one of the major functions of this industry is recruitment & selection of the right employee. Due to high attrition rates prevalent in this industry, hiring of employees needs to be a fast track job with aggressive timelines. If not done so, the organisation might get impacted on its profit margins. Therefore efficient and effective hiring of employees is very vital in this industry. Hiring is also the first platform when an eligible candidate comes in direct contact with the organisation. The image formed then is the image the candidate takes forward. This image so created by the candidates hence becomes the market/public image of the organisation, which is very significant for the success of the organisation. The present study seeks to apply the principles of six sigma in making the hiring process of the organisation efficient and time bound.

In this paper, we study some of the properties of homomorphism in (Q, L)-fuzzy subgroup of a group and prove some results on these.

Fourteen accessions of Moringa oleifera Lam. made up of thirteen accessions collected from four geographical regions of Ghana and one from India were propagated and characterised using descriptors of International Plant Germplasm Resource Institute, IPGRI, with slight modifications. Analysis of variance showed significant differences in eighteen agro-morphological traits while similarity was observed in three qualitative morphological traits. General linear modelling analysis grouped the accessions into two distinct clusters based on phenology, vegetative, and pod morphological characteristics. Phenological and pod yield data were found to be reliable markers in distinguishing among the moringa accessions. The results of the characterisation showed the existence of an intra-specific diversity of the fourteen accessions of moringa studied. Cluster analysis based on morphological data revealed one major and one minor cluster with a genetic diversity (dissimilarity) range of 0.483 to 0.997. From principal component (PC) analysis, PC1 and PC2 contributed 55.50% and 23.27% respectively, with total variation of 79.27. However, each accession showed specificity to its regions of collection, and therefore implies these moringa accessions are not mixed up but could be considered as pure breeds.

The global financial crisis, brewing for a while, really started to show its effects in the middle of 2007 and into 2008. Around the world stock markets have fallen, large financial institutions have collapsed or been bought out, and governments in even the wealthiest nations have had to come up with rescue packages to bail out their financial systems. Indian economy began to slow down in 2007-08 (April-March) after reaching a GDP growth of 9.8 per cent in the last quarter of 2006-07. In fact, Indian economy grew at an annual average rate of 8.8 per cent during the five years ending 2007-08. In the first half of the financial year 2008-09, the growth rate dropped to 7.8 per cent. The global crisis has hit India through a “sudden stop” of capital inflows and a collapse of both external and domestic demand. The growth of the economy dropped to 6.7 per cent in 2008-09 from 9.0 per cent in the previous year and is slowly increased to 8% in 2009-10 and 8.5% for the financial year 2010-11. The present paper is an attempt to analyze the impact of global recession on Indian economy, how the Indian economy recovered and also analyze whether the global crisis still influencing the Indian economy

During the recent decade, the anthropogenic activities have become dominating factor towards the problem of climate variability and change. This climate variability has become the centre of many scientific studies. The objective of this paper was to investigate the total wheat yield during the time period of 1989-2009 and the overall impact of climate on the wheat yield in the provinces of Pakistan. The key meteorological variables that influenced the wheat yield were identified, the correlation and regression functions between climate relevant wheat yield and these variables were established. The correlation analysis revealed a significant relationship between wheat yield and climatic variable and regression analysis revealed that high level of variance in wheat production could be explained by climatic parameters under study. The findings of the research suggested an intensification of research as well as the appropriate measures at raising wheat yields.

Rural markets have become integral part of global market. The negative impact of all the recent economic crisis on urban India has been more than offset by encouraging performance in rural areas. To explore and understand rural market is crucial for any marketers today. Rural market is like goldmine with lot of difficulties. This needs to formulate a well designed strategy to feel the pulse of the rural consumers and to tackle the mystic rural market. Many companies go to rural markets, still to make money, not to guide or help or develop rural consumers. The rural marketers must think rural for long-term success instead of short-term profit. In this context this paper highlights the emerging trends and challenges in Indian rural Market.