Sumerianz Journal of Education, Linguistics and Literature
Online ISSN: 2617-1201
Print ISSN: 2617-1732
Quarterly Published (4 Issues Per Year)
Journal Website: https://www.sumerianz.com/?ic=journal-home&journal=33Archive
Volume 1 Issue 1 (2018)
Exploring Ambiguity Based on the Grammatical Differences Between Chinese and English
Authors : Feng Li
Abstract:Natural language is highly ambiguous, i.e. linguistic ambiguity is very common at every level --- phonological, lexical, pragmatic and syntactic. This is true of both English and Chinese. Being two widely different languages, English and Chinese possess distinctive grammatical features. This article explores ambiguity from the perspective of grammatical differences between Chinese and English, and identifies the interesting finding that a syntactically ambiguous expression in one language may be perspicuous when put in the other; in other words, syntactic ambiguity in one language may be avoided when expressed in the other.
Pages: 29-34
Application of ICT as Teaching Tool in Electrical Installation in Nigerian TVET Institutions
Authors : Rasid Bin Abdurazaq Bala Hussaini
Abstract:As information and communication technologies get its way into the educational environment, it may be difficult for the teaching and learning activities especially in TVET institutions to remain unchallenged. This study focuses on the application of ICT as teaching tool in electrical installation in Nigerian TVET institutions to prepare teachers capable to use ICT in TVET institutions. This study selects 10 participants and used descriptive method to investigate current status of the five TVET institutions in Jigawa state which was selected randomly to be the sample of this study. Semi-structured interview was conducted as primary source of data collection method. At data analysis stage, a thematic analysis as inductive method was used to analyze the data. Summary of the findings of the study: ICT Infrastructure at the TVET institutions: Colleges need more accurate more reliable equipment (computers, interactive white boards, digital cameras, digital video cameras, video conferencing systems and virtual learning systems. Internet access is not available for student teacher at two institutions out of five-the sample. The syllabuses are not up to date; most of the students can’t use the Technological devises confidently. The instructional aspect is almost absent in the syllabuses. Teachers’ trainers need training courses in technological and instructional aspects. Teachers’ trainers don’t have educational, technological and financial support. This paper identifies some of the challenges affecting ICT integration as teaching tool and make recommendations on how to promote ICT usage in teaching of electrical installation in TVET schools.
Pages: 24-28
The Unconscious, History and Power in Ahmed Yerima’s Mojagbe
Authors : Taiwo Stanley Osanyemi
Abstract:Human obsessive inclination for power is depicted in Ahmed Yerima’s Mojagbe, a historical play that interrogates human callousness and intrigues through the use of the unconscious - dream’s patterns. Existing scholarly engagements on historical plays and power have focused on the socio-economic predicaments resulting from the unscrupulousness and lackadaisical attitudes of some leaders especially in African society, sometimes ignoring the dramatic technique engaged by the dramatist to address the thematic affiliation. This study aligns with this untoward, however, it examines the use of the unconscious as the playwright’s dramatic technique in order to investigate the psychic context of the characters and privilege the psychic context above the historical content. The major focus is to examine the various patterns of the unconscious in the text and relate them with socio-political realities of its time. The play is subjected to critical analysis that is influenced by psychoanalysis as the theoretical framework. It is discovered that the patterns of the unconscious used in the play are nightmare are daydreaming. They are used as technique of flashback and foreshadowing to both the physical and psychological conflicts in the play. They also serve as the signifiers of the protagonist’s traumas and autocratic and callous behaviors. The unconscious, therefore, is the significant strategic technique in Ahmed Yerima’s reconstruction of history.
Pages: 19-23
Fuzzy Logic: History, Methodology and Applications to Education
Authors : Michael Gr. Voskoglou
Abstract:Fuzzy Logic has been evolved today to a valuable extension and necessary supplement of the traditional bi-valued Logic of Aristotle, with applications covering almost all the specter of human activities. This new logic of infinite values, developed rapidly during the last 50 years, is based on the notion of fuzzy set introduced by Zadeh in 1965. The target of the present review article is twofold: First to give to the non expert a general idea about the content and the perspectives of Fuzzy Logic. Second to present applications of it to Education (student assessment), which constitute part of the author’s research work during the last twenty years on building fuzzy models representing several real life situations. Thus, the article includes a brief account of the history and development of Fuzzy Logic, the ways of dealing with the uncertainty in a fuzzy environment, the use of the Centre of Gravity (COG) defuzzification technique as an assessment method, as well as the triangular fuzzy numbers (TFNs) and their arithmetic. Note that the COG technique is the most popular defuzzification method used in fuzzy mathematics, whereas the TFNs is the simplest form of fuzzy numbers, which play in general an important role in fuzzy mathematics, analogous to the role of the ordinary numbers for the traditional mathematics.
Pages: 10-18
The Town and Gown Relationship and Sustainable Community Development in Nigerian Contemporary Universities
Authors : Kofo A. Aderogba
Abstract:Often, universities exist around communities and sometimes towns do grow and develop beside them. Thus, a type of relationship emerges. The study examined the relationship between the universities and their host communities in Nigeria with a view to adduce solutions for sustainable Town and Gown relationships. Tai Solarin University of Education is used as case study. There were 220 samples that ranked the levels of “effort” and “comfort” in a town-gown relationship using Likert five-point scale ranging from “Very Negative” to “Very Positive.” The 220 copies of the questionnaire distributed were returned; analysed and presented with the aid of a table of percentile. Like any good marriage, there has been ongoing courtship that led to more “engaged” campus and community. The campus contributes physical development, consumers, jobs and educated residents. The community has also been of assistance to the university. Sturdier and more successful town-gown efforts may take time, commitment, patience, creativity and willingness from both parties to give and take. The university public relations and marketing professionals may be saddled with the instrumental role in developing and enhancing these relations. They must be cheer leaders for the community and the university. The institutional leadership and the Public Relations Unit of the university may be positioned as the town-gown ambassador. The work recommends that there must be sturdy Town and Gown Association for each university and its community. Each should aspire to be active members of the International Town and Gown Association (ITGA), based in Clemson, Southern California.
Pages: 1-9