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This study set out to investigate PhD students’ perceptions of the criteria for showcasing English proficiency as part of the requirements for completing PhD programs in Iranian universities. The criteria included The Ministry of Science, Research, and Technology (MSRT) test, an English for Academic Purposes (EAP) program, achieving the minimum score on the English section of the doctoral entrance exam, and gaining approval from supervisors regarding students’ proficiency.

Qualitative data were collected by conducting interviews with 19 PhD students as well as a corpus of 325 students’ commentaries posted on an online forum. The data were then analyzed using the constant comparison method (Creswell, 2013).

Students held mixed feelings in relation to the new completion requirements and in particular, the MSRT test. However, they advocated egalitarian, objective, and need-responsive measures, which were better mirrored in the EAP program.

The findings were discussed with reference to the predictive validity, authenticity, and construct relevance of the MSRT test and the EAP program. Despite the absence of quantitative data on the comparability of high-stakes tests and the EAP program, the study offers implications for testing agencies, academic institutions, and tertiary students.

A multitude of PhD students and candidates are affected by the results of the new policy. Accordingly, gaining a better understanding of students’ perceptions may assist policymakers in reconsidering their policies, if necessary.

Drawing on the perspectives of cultural capital theory, this study investigated the impact of international internships on the performance of Japanese undergraduates on the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) using a between-group pretest-posttest experimental design.

Students participating in international internships were compared to their counterparts in a noninternational internship control group. Using TOEIC data collected in June 2019 and September 2019, we performed t-tests and estimated a difference-in-differences model with propensity score matching to measure the impacts of participation in international internships, students’ demographic information, family socioeconomic status, and independent learning characteristics.

The study showed that students’ participation in international internships and independent learning activities had significant effects on TOEIC performance. The findings of this study also indicate that in addition to the effects of international internship experience and independent learning on students’ English performance, learner learning behavior may be important for improving students’ performance.

This empirical research provides meaningful insights for parents, educators, and researchers not only in Japan but also in a broader context in which international internships and independent learning activities have a crucial impact on student performance. It also sheds light on our understanding of the role of activities conceptualized through the lens of cultural capital in educational stratification.

This study elucidates the association among cultural capital theory, international internships, and students’ linguistic achievement and makes an important contribution to the broader conceptual literature.

A significant number of studies suggest that both international cooperation (IC) and English proficiency (EP) greatly assist internationalization of higher education (IHE). Yet, more evidence is required to confirm their relationship. Hence, this paper intends to investigate whether any association prevails between IC and EP, and if so, how both domains facilitate IHE.

This study employed a qualitative approach to examine how IC and EP potentially influence each other, as well as the way they shape IHE.

The main key finding reported in this study is that IC plays a significant role in internationalization efforts, with English serving as a critical medium.

The findings suggest that although IC can positively influence EP and the overall level of IHE, the newly built undergraduate institutions (NBUIs) in China should be careful not to fall into the dual traps of number-crunching and income-generation instruments. NBUIs in China may consider changing their IC strategies and seek to join some authoritative or high-reputation networks in other developing countries to expand their horizons.

This study contributes to the literature on IHE by exploring the connections between IC and EP and how they affect IHE, thus providing insights into advancing institutional internationalization. It is achieved through expanding institutions' IC or joining international networks while overcoming linguistic barriers.

This study aims to explore computer-assisted language learning (CALL) activities to improve the English essay writing of Pakistani university students. It highlights the role of CALL in the language proficiency model cognitive academic language proficiency (CALP), which can enable second language learners to engage in more critical thinking skills effectively. Furthermore, it aims to explore English language teachers’ experience about the use of CALL-based activities in English language classrooms or labs.

This study followed a pre-post study design to examine whether the structure of an essay and computer-based activities helped to improve English language proficiency among non-native speakers. This design is adopted to investigate the effects of CALL activities on students’ English essays. This study used data from 198 students and after this, four English teachers were interviewed to know their opinions and observations about these CALL-based activities and students’ essay writings. Pre- and post-test data was analysed in percentages and further examined through a t-test. The findings of teachers’ interviews were further analysed through Nvivo software to develop an understanding of research questions through significant themes.

The pre-test results confirmed that students’ language proficiency is underdeveloped and informal. Students needed help constructing introductory paragraphs with the reader’s hook, background information, three-point thesis statement and transitional hook. Whereas, post-test results showed that students’ English language proficiency in essay writing was found improved with the use of technological tools and CALL-based activities. Furthermore, it was observed that structure and teacher feedback in essay writing are vital for English proficiency.

This study benefits English language teachers, administrators, language policymakers and syllabus designers at colleges and universities. The debate over how to improve English language proficiency and academic achievement presents diverse challenges across several countries. Non-native speakers, at an undergraduate level, can significantly improve academically and become proficient in English essay writing with the help of structural guidelines and the use of educational technology. This article demonstrates a two-way process to improve an objective definition of English language development, which is conceivable if the technology is adopted.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the reasons behind the persistent preference for printed content among Arabic-speaking library patrons in Jordan. Specifically, this study highlights the availability of reading materials in print, electronic and audible formats in Arabic as an intervening factor shaping reading behavior. More broadly, it aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of how language preference can impact reading format preferences.

This study’s research design revolves around understanding reading format preferences among registered members of Jordan’s largest and oldest private library. This approach involved the examination of secondary library user survey data collected from N = 313 of its patrons in 2022. To gain a greater understanding of the preference for printed materials, this study conducted semistructured interviews over the phone with n = 31 participants of the library’s survey.

The findings of this study indicate a strong preference for print books among Arabic-speaking library patrons in Jordan. However, the availability of content in electronic and audible formats in Arabic, their preferred reading language, emerged as a potentially significant factor in the persistent preference for printed reading materials.

This study offers new insights into the specific role that the availability of content in Arabic, and possibly languages other than English, may play in shaping reading format preferences. By shedding light on this aspect of reading behavior, this research offers valuable information for libraries and publishers seeking to cater to the needs and preferences of Arabic readers.

Using a qualitative grounded theory approach, this study explores the methods experienced external auditors use to detect fraudulent financial reporting (FFR) during standard audits.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 24 experienced external auditors to explore the methods they used to detect FFR successfully during standard external audits.

The authors find 58 methods used for FFR detection, out of which the following methods are frequently used and help in detecting more than one type of FFR: (1) specific analytical procedures, (2) positive confirmation, (3) understanding of the client's business and industry, (4) the inspection of specific documents, (5) a detailed analysis of the audit client's anti-fraud controls and (6) investigating tip-offs from suppliers, employees and customers.

Based on the grounded theory approach, the authors theorise that auditors must return to the basics and focus on specific audit procedures highlighted in this study for effective fraud detection.

The study provides practical guidance, including 58 methods used in audit practice to detect FFR. This knowledge can improve auditors' skills in detecting material misstatements due to fraud. Besides, analytical procedures and positive confirmation helped external auditors in this study detect all forms of FFR, yet they are overlooked in the external audit practice. Therefore, audit firms should emphasise the significance of these audit procedures in their professional audit training programmes. Audit regulators should advise auditors to consider positive confirmation instead of negative confirmation in financial audits to increase the likelihood of FFR detection. Moreover, audit standards (ISA 240 and SAS 99) should explicitly require auditors to conduct a detailed analysis of the client's anti-fraud controls.

This is the first study to identify actual, effective methods used by external auditors in detecting FFR during the ordinary course of an audit.

Teacher agency plays a crucial role in teachers’ professionalism and makes them capable of acting powerfully in their teaching context. The purpose of this study was to explore the role of case-based instruction (CBI) on the agency development of EFL (English as a foreign language) student-teachers.

The study followed a descriptive narrative design and involved ten student-teachers in five CBI sessions. The data collected through different data sources, such as narratives, interviews, recorded sessions and focused groups, were analyzed using a deductive-inductive thematic analysis.

The results showed that CBI has a constructive role in developing the agency of EFL student-teachers. Active participation in CBI sessions helps teachers consider their future desires. The exploration of cases in CBI sessions helps them recall past experiences that led to the development of their agency. Brainstorming ideas in CBI sessions helps teachers consider their beliefs in decision-making and analyze their past experiences. In conclusion, CBI can help develop teacher professionalism and acknowledgment of the importance of teacher agency.

The research has addressed student-teachers’ agency development through an ecological perspective and CBI.

This study aims to investigate the correlation between a CEO's business background and the readability of financial statement footnotes in Indonesia.

This study utilizes a sample period spanning from 2010 to 2018 and employs various statistical tests, including Propensity Score Matching (PSM), Coarsened Exact Matching (CEM) and the Heckman Model, to demonstrate that it can address issues of causality and endogeneity without introducing bias.

As a result, the findings of this study indicate a statistically significant negative relationship between CEOs with busy schedules and the readability of financial statement footnotes. This suggests that companies led by busy CEOs are more likely to have financial statement footnotes that are easier to read.

These findings hold significance for clarifying research related to the challenges of contextual analysis in financial statement footnotes, which are distributed by companies on a sentence-by-sentence basis.

The practical implications of the findings pertain to actionable steps that management can undertake and also offer regulators opportunities to monitor the potential for standard setting.

Based on the results presented, the authors are optimistic that the findings will pave the way for broader research on the impact of a busy CEO, encompassing not only financial aspects but also non-financial dimensions. The growing popularity of readability is driven by the proliferation of textual reports that pose challenges in analysis and raise numerous inquiries.

The lack of a proper register to store, match and display information on the adapted property has led to a waste of resources and prolonged delays in matching the disabled and elderly people with appropriate properties. This paper presents the development of a Housing Adaptations Register with user-matching functionalities for different mobility categories. The developed system accurately captures and documents adapted home information to facilitate the automated matching of disabled/aged applicants needing an adapted home with suitable property using banding, mobility and suitability index.

A theoretical review was conducted to identify parameters and develop adaptations register construct. A survey questionnaire approach to rate the 111 parameters in the register as either moderate, desirable or essential before system development and application. The system development relied on DSS modelling to support data-driven decision-making based on the decision table method to represent property information for implementing the decision process. The system is validated through a workshop, four brainstorming sessions and three focus group exercises.

Development of a choice-based system that enables the housing officers or the Housing Adaptations Register coordinators to know the level of adaptation to properties and match properties quickly with the applicants based on their mobility status. The merits of the automated system include the development of a register to capture in real-time adapted home information to facilitate the automated matching of disabled/aged applicants. A “choice-based” system that can map and suggest a property that can easily be adapted and upgraded from one mobility band to the other.

The development of a housing adaptation register helps social housing landlords to have a real-time register to match, map and upgrade properties for the most vulnerable people in our society. It saves time and money for the housing associations and the local authorities through stable tenancy for adapted homes. Potentially, it will promote the independence of aged and disabled people and can reduce their dependence on social and healthcare services.

This system provides the local authorities with objective and practical tools that may be used to assess, score, prioritise and select qualified people for appropriate accommodation based on their needs and mobility status. It will provide a record of properties adapted with their features and ensure that matching and eligibility decisions are consistent and uniform.

Artificial intelligence (AI) radically transforms organizations, yet ethical AI’s effect on employee innovation remains understudied. Therefore, this study aims to explore whether responsible artificial intelligence (RAI) enhances high-tech employees’ innovative work behavior (IWB) through creative self-efficacy (CSE) and employee mental health and well-being (EMHWB). The study further examines how leaders’ RAI symbolization (LRAIS) moderates RAI’s effect.

Through structural equation modeling, 441 responses of high-tech firms’ employees from Pakistan were utilized for hypotheses testing via SmartPLS-4.

The results revealed that second-order RAI enhances employees’ IWB. The effect was supported directly and indirectly through CSE and EMHWB. Findings also showed that LRAIS significantly moderates RAI’s influence on CSE, on the one hand, and EMHWB, on the other.

High-tech firms’ managers can fix AI-outlook issues that impair their employees’ IWB by prioritizing an ethical AI design involving actions like AI control mechanisms, bias checks and algorithmic audits. Similarly, these managers should facilitate RAI discussions and targeted trainings focusing on employees’ cognitive development and well-being. Likewise, RAI embracement programs and evaluations for leadership positions could be incorporated into high-tech firms.

This study advances the mainstream AI literature and addresses a notable gap concerning RAI’s influence on employees’ IWB while grounding in social cognitive theory. Moreover, this study unveils how CSE and EMHWB affect IWB within RAI milieus. Additionally, through signaling theory, it underscores the significance of LRAIS in amplifying the direct association between RAI, CSE, and EMHWB within high-tech firms in emerging markets.