Saudi Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences (SJHSS) | Volume-5-Issue-02
Volume-5-Issue-02
Original Research Article
Feb. 27, 2020
Teachers’ 21st-Century Skills: How do Saudi EFL Students Evaluate their Use?
Hayat Rasheed H. Alamri
Page Numbers : 42-55
DOI : 10.36348/sjhss.2020.v05i02.003
This descriptive research method design explored how Saudi EFL female students value their teachers’ use of 21st Century Skills and how these skills improve their language skills. Two closed-item questionnaires were designed for two data collection phases and distributed to EFL female students in the Preparatory Year Programme (PYP) at Taibah University, Saudi Arabia: 548 students in phase one and 226 in phase two. The results revealed that the participants valued their teachers’ 21st Century skills very positively, ranking all items in the questionnaire “excellent”. Moreover, the results indicated that “life and career” skill set and its sub-dimension “social and cross-cultural skills” obtained the highest mean scores. The results emphasized the improvement of students’ language skills, particularly vocabulary and speaking skills, that contributed was to EFL teachers’ implementation of 21st Century skills.
Review Article
Feb. 29, 2020
Parental Involvement in the School Unit: A Case Study
Pelagia A. Stravakou
Page Numbers : 75-80
DOI : 10.36348/sjhss.2020.v05i02.006
The case study seeks to explore the issue of parental involvement /intervention in the primary and secondary teachers’ work in Greece, in order to both the cases which contribute to a favorable and pleasant school climate that effectively helps the teachers’ work and the problems and difficulties that do not contribute positively to the work of the teacher and the school unit in general to be identified. For the conduct of this study, twenty five postgraduate students who are simultaneously teachers were recruited. As a research tool written texts were used, while the texts were analyzed by the qualitative content analysis. Overall, findings indicated that Greek parents are most of the times involved in the teachers’ work and in school units in general wrongfully, without having the appropriate and adequate pedagogical knowledge, while, on the other hand, teachers behave appropriately, from a pedagogical stance, as they deal with the parental involvement.
Original Research Article
Feb. 18, 2020
In the Name of Public Interest We Evict? (Re-actualizing the Standing Position of Proletarian Jurisprudence to the Marginalized)
Iffatin Nur
Page Numbers : 21-32
DOI : 10.36348/sjhss.2020.v05i02.001
The phenomena of evictions of street vendors, homeless people, poor peasants, illegal settlers, etc. have been common in Indonesia. The weak proletariats are always sacrificed whenever they are vis a vis the bourgeois groups and rulers. If done continuously, the preservation of their religion, souls, intelligences, offspring, properties, and dignities will be menaced. So, re-actualizing fiqh mustaḍ’afīn (the proletarian jurisprudence) is urgently necessitated. This research calls for a re-conceptualisation of fiqh mustaḍ’afīn to present its importance and role in defending the rights of those oppressed group. The research was a mix-method type. Apart from studying related literature, it also employed fieldwork by interviewing a number of street vendors and government officers in Malang City, East Java, Indonesia. The results show that fiqh mustaḍ’afīn does belong to and favor those who are weak and oppressed and places those who do wrong and unjust as common enemies that must be fought.
Original Research Article
Feb. 23, 2020
Stakeholder Information Sharing and Implementation of Sustainable Community Food Security Projects in Nyando Basin, Kenya
Onyango George Nyakoyo, Abuya Isaac Odhiambo
Page Numbers : 33-41
DOI : 10.36348/sjhss.2020.v05i02.002
Sharing agricultural information among stakeholders involved in community food security projects is believed to be critical to the implementation success of the projects. Information sharing on pest and disease control, markets and prices of agricultural produce, flood control, especially for flood prone regions like the Nyando basin, is critical for stakeholders involved in community food security programming Implementation of sustainable community food security projects is a major challenge not only in Kenya, but also in many developing countries affected by acute food insecurity. Anecdotal and empirical evidence suggest that sharing of agricultural information among agricultural stakeholder stakeholders may have a positive influence on implementation of sustainable community food security projects. However, few studies have established the association between stakeholder information sharing and implementation of community. The study was conducted in the Nyando basin of Western Kenya. The Nyando basin is one of the regions in Kenya that experiences serious food insecurity. The perennial flooding and with the basin exposes the families and communities in the Nyando Basin not only to food insecurity but also to diseases that cumulatively affect the productive capacity of the families and communities living within the basin. A cross-sectional study design was used. The target population was 769 people composed of members of three food security projects (cassava, sorghum and sweet potato projects), agricultural extension officers, county government officials, managers of non-governmental organizations providing technical support to community food security projects within the basin. A sample size of 260 was computed using Krecjie and Morgan [1] sample size estimation. Data was collected using questionnaire. Simple random sampling and stratified sampling procedures were used. Descriptive and inferential data were analysed. Descriptive statistics included frequencies, means and standard deviation, while inferential statistics included Pearson product moment correlation coefficient, coefficient of determination, ANOVA and regression coefficients. There was significant relationship between stakeholder information sharing and implementation of sustainable community food security projects (r = 0.120 and p = 0.061; thus, p value of 0.000 < 0.05). It is recommended that stakeholder information sharing processes should be prioritized in community food security projects to make them sustainable. It is also recommended that stakeholder information sharing should be integrated in community food security policies and projects.
Original Research Article
Feb. 27, 2020
Project Advocacy Strategy and Resilience of Widows in Rarieda Sub-County, Siaya County, Kenya
Obiero Grace Akinyi, Abuya Isaac Odhiambo
Page Numbers : 56-65
DOI : 10.36348/sjhss.2020.v05i02.004
Widows in developing countries are amongst the most vulnerable and at-risk; and they go through a lot of challenges ranging from cultural issues, socio- economic, and psychological difficulties which exacerbate their vulnerability and risks. A number are disinherited, forced into sex and marriage. For such widows to survive and overcome such challenges, they have to be resilient and rise above the challenges, risks and vulnerabilities. Available evidence suggests that targeted project advocacy may not only empower vulnerable and at risk individuals but may also make them resilient. Few studies have established these relationships. The objective of this study was to determine the influence of project advocacy strategy on resilience of widows in Rarieda Sub-County in Kenya. The design of the study was cross-sectional. The target population was 290 composed of project advocacy officers, social services officers, women group leaders and group members. A sample size of 165 was computed using Krejcie Morgan table of estimation. Simple stratified random sampling was used. Data was collected using a questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential data were analysed using SPSS computer package. Descriptive statistics included frequencies, means and standard deviations while inferential statistics included correlation and regression analyses. There was strong correlation between project advocacy strategy and resilience of windows. It is recommended that targeted advocacy strategies should be structured and integrated in community projects supporting widows.
Review Article
Feb. 27, 2020
An Assessment of ‘Tradermoni’ Empowerment Scheme in Nigeria from the Islamic Perspective: A Case Study of Women Beneficiaries at the Mandate Market, Ilorin
Abdus-Samii Imam Arikewuyo, Salihu Muhammad Akanbi
Page Numbers : 66-74
DOI : 10.36348/sjhss.2020.v05i02.005
It is incontrovertible that poverty is the major bane of the Nigerian nation. Invariably, it engenders series of socio-economic and political menace in the society such as corruption, money rituals, kidnapping as well as various cybercrimes all in a bid to get rich soonest. The most vulnerable citizens that are worst hit by this criminality are the women and children. Hence, prevalence of their involvements as victims of kidnapping, rituals and sex related mishaps. This development posed challenges to the government and the citizens. Hence, over time, efforts were made by the government through various approaches to address the poverty issues in Nigeria. Prominent among such strategies in the past was the introduction of Operation Feed the Nation, Structural Adjustment Programme, the National Directorate of Employment, the Family Support Programme, and National Poverty Eradication Programme etc. Moreover, the present government initiates various schemes under its Social Investment Programme which include N-Power, Home Grown School Feeding, ‘TraderMoni’ and a host of others for the purpose of empowerment and poverty reduction. The paper is however focused on an assessment of the ‘TraderMoni’ scheme for economic empowerment of the women beneficiaries at the Mandate Market, Ilorin with a view to determining its validity, strength and limitations from the Islamic perspective. Findings indicate that the ‘TraderMoni’ scheme generates empowerment for petty traders in Nigeria; its objective is laudable and Islamically acceptable but its execution was beset with multifarious challenges. The research employed interview, focus group discussion and literary analysis. The paper concludes with recommendations that efforts should be made by the government to sustain the ‘TraderMoni’ loan scheme with transparency and strict adherence to the terms of the contract with a view to eradicating poverty in the Nigerian society.
Review Article
Feb. 29, 2020
The Political Economy of Merchandisation of Votes in Nigeria: The Case of 2018 Ekiti Gubernatorial Elections
Oluwasuji Clement Olawole
Page Numbers : 81-99
DOI : 10.36348/sjhss.2020.v05i02.007
Nigeria’s democratic experiment has come a long way. Just like any other political entities, the electoral experience is not without some teething challenges such as ballot box snatching, violence, rigging, etc. in the recent times, a new electoral challenge has just been added into the political lexicon: merchandisation of votes otherwise called vote buying and vote selling. A situation whereby votes are commoditized and political gladiators curry political favor from the electorates by devising series of monetary strategies to win elections; while the electorates also sell their votes to meet their financial lack. Investigating the preponderance of merchandisation of votes in the Nigeria’s forth republic, the paper focused on the just concluded July 14, 2018 gubernatorial elections in Ekiti state, Nigeria. Rational choice theory, a variance of Political Economic Approach (PEA) was handy as the foundational basis of the paper. The paper also used contextual analysis source of data collection as the instrument of investigation in other to extrapolate the electoral challenge. It is observed that the politicians and political gladiators embarked on vote buying as a desperate strategy to win elections, so as to gain the plenipotentiary power to authoritatively allocate state resources/values. The electorates on the other hand, sell their votes, because they see it as a way of getting their own share from the politicians who seldom forgetting them after the elections; because of poverty, lacks, famine, in other words, lack of basic family needs; unemployment, illiteracy etc. as some of fundamental reasons for selling their votes. This menace is not without some socio-political and economic implications on the political system. However, the paper observed that to checkmate the merchandisation of vote in Nigeria, certain proactive strategic options are needed such as behavioral and attitudinal change, poverty reduction or eradication schemes, socio-political education, economic empowerment, provision of gainful employment etc. as part of strategic options to ameliorate or eradicate the menace in Nigeria.
Original Research Article
Feb. 29, 2020
The Influence of Vlog toward the Political Image and Elektability of Joko Widodo in President Election (Pilpres) 2019 (Survey of Postgraduate Students of Mercu Buana University, Jakarta)
Afdal Makkuraga Putra, Ahmad J. Islami, Dicky Andika, Muh Rosit
Page Numbers : 100-107
DOI : 10.36348/sjhss.2020.v05i02.008
A long with the digitalization of Youtube became an alternative means of campaigning for politicians before the general election. President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) used this video application to increase his popularity and, at the same time, socialize his political activities over the past 5 years. Through Youtube, Jokowi presents his daily activities as president, for example thr household activities and activities as President of the Republic of Indonesia. The researcher wanted to examine how much the influence of President Jokowi's Video Blog (Vlog) toward the Political image and Electability for the 2019 Presidential Election. This study intended to examine the validity of the S-O-R theory on the situation of social media booming. The method used was a survey method, with data collection techniques through questionnaires distributed to 221 respondents. The results showed that the variable of political image and a correlation value have 0.593 which produced an effect of 35.2%. While the coefficient of determination of the electability variable has 0.393 which resulted an effect of 15.5%. This means that 35.2% of the political image variable and 15.5% of the electability variable are contributed from the jokowi vlog variable. Whereas 49.3% can be explained or influenced by other variables which are not examined by the present researcher.
Original Research Article
Feb. 29, 2020
Mobile Assisted Language Learning in Learning Arabic as a Second Language in Saudi Arabia
Ahmed AlQarni, Andy Bown, Darren Pullen, Jennifer Masters
Page Numbers : 108-115
DOI : 10.36348/sjhss.2020.v05i02.009
This paper reports the results of an investigation into the use of mobile assisted language learning for learning Arabic as a second language in the context of Saudi Arabian higher education. The purpose of this study was to explore what kinds of mobile learning devices second language Arabic learners and their teachers currently use and how they use these devices for learning the Arabic language. This mixed-methods study employed a sequential explanatory design, incorporating questionnaires and semi-structured interviews with second language students and their teachers. A total of 154 teachers and 492 students participated in the quantitative phase of the study whilst 14 teachers and 16 students took part in the qualitative phase. The results showed that smartphones the most widely used mobile device among second language Arabic learners and their teachers. Their current use of mobile devices was focused on social media apps such as YouTube and WhatsApp to support Arabic language learning.
