An Investigation of English as Foreign Language Students' Attitudes Toward Improving Their Speaking Abilities at KRI Universities

The study examines English as Foreign Language (EFL) students’ attitude towards developing their speaking abilities at KRI University in order to better understand the disparities in speaking competency among undergraduates. The study utilized a quantitative approach and employed a 4-item interview survey to gather data for the study. The survey interview questionnaire was adopted from Wang, Kim, Bong, and Ahan (2013) and administered to 100 students in the departments of English of six universities in Iraq's Kurdistan Region. A semi-structured interview was developed for EFL students. The questionnaire was online and an open-ended one. The data from the participants was analyzed using thematic analysis with (SPSS) software. The finding revealed a perceived failure in EFL students' English-speaking skills and this was reported along with causes of the perceived difficulty. The finding also revealed a poor level of speaking ability among EFL undergraduates as well as little education in the skill at the university level. Apart from these, the study discovered some major challenges for EFL students such as lack of confidence, lack of planning, a demotivating atmosphere, incorrect word choice, poor gestures, and incorrect style which made the students not to be successful in their speaking abilities. The study suggested that EFL learners' competency should be securitized to strengthen their speaking abilities in the light of the results of the study. Speaking is a crucial ability in language acquisition and EFL teachers should help their students acquire it. As a means of improving students' communicative ability, task-based instruction should be utilized in educational institutions and universities. The implication of this paper is that speaking difficulties among EFL students in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region institution can be solved by putting greater focus on this ability. There are several issues to consider, including teachers, instructional methodologies, the curriculum, extracurricular activities, and assessment rules.

Resistin and Tumor Necrosis Factor-Alpha Gene Polymorphism and the Risk for Cardiovascular Disease in a Pakistani Population

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) contributes to high morbidity and mortality rates around the world. Coronary artery disease (CAD), hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), and idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (IDCM) are among CVD phenotypes which are affected by genetic and environmental factors. In addition to primary risk factors, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in inflammatory cytokines like resistin gene (RETN) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) are considered to influence the pathogenesis of CVD. Resistin is a relatively novel inflammatory marker, whereas TNF-alpha gene polymorphism has been widely investigated in patients with CVD among different ethnic populations with conflicting results. In the present study the RETN SNPs at -420 C>G (rs1862513) and +299 G>A (rs3745367), and the TNF-alpha gene SNPs at -308 G>A (rs1800629) and +238 G>A (rs361525) were investigated to determine the association of the cytokines’ mutant genotypes with the pathogenesis of CAD, HCM and IDCM in a Pakistani population. Blood samples were obtained from families (n = 40 families) with CAD history, sporadic CVD cases (n = 718), and healthy control subjects (n = 720) randomly selected from the regions of CVD cases. Biochemical analysis of lipids and high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) was carried out spectrophotometrically, while serum resistin levels were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). RETN and TNF-alpha genotyping was performed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and DNA sequencing or restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). The evaluation of the RETN -420 C>G and +299 G>A polymorphism in a case- control study from forty complex Pakistani families with CAD history revealed that the said SNPs were significantly associated with the pathophysiology of CAD (P < 0.0001 for both SNPs). Heritability of the susceptible/variant alleles was investigated from parent–offspring trios in these families by using the transmission disequilibrium test (TDT) analysis. Data showed preferential transmission of the disease susceptible alleles from parent to affected off-spring (P < 0.0001 for both SNPs). Elevated resistin and hs-CRP levels were observed from familial CAD cases vs. unaffected subjects of the families (P < 0.0001 for both markers). The present study revealed that the RETN−420 C>G and +299 G>A variant genotypes were significantly associated with Resistin and Tumor Necrosis Factor-Alpha Gene Polymorphism and the Risk for Cardiovascular Disease in a Pakistani Population high concentrations of lipid biomarkers, resistin, and hs-CRP in familial cases of CAD (P < 0.05 for each variable). The TNF gene polymorphism at -308 and -238 was investigated in sporadic CAD cases, and healthy subjects of the study population. The findings demonstrated a significant link between the TNF-308A variant allele and CAD, whereas the -238 SNP was not associated with the disease. Further, RETN SNP at -420 was investigated in patients with HCM. The results demonstrated an association between the RETN -420 C>G polymorphism and cardiac hypertrophy in the study population (P < 0.0001). Logistic regression analysis revealed a significant association of the serum resistin levels (P < 0.0001) and the RETN -420 C>G polymorphism (P = 0.001) with the disease. Data from this investigation was published as a pioneer report on the association of the RETN -420 C>G polymorphism with HCM. The current study also demonstrated a link between the RETN -420 C>G (P < 0.0001) and +299 G>A (P = 0.0007) polymorphism and IDCM cases vs. healthy controls of the study population. The RETN -420G and +299A haplotype was more prevalent in the patient vs. control group (P < 0.0001). The results suggest that the RETN -420 C>G and +299 G>A polymorphism may have a role in the pathogenesis of IDCM. The current research leads to conclusion that the RETN SNPs at -420 and +299 are associated with familial cases of CAD in Pakistani families with the disease history. It was observed that the disease-susceptible alleles from parents to affected off-springs were transmitted more frequently in a family trios study. Regarding the TNF-alpha, it was observed that the -308 SNP was associated with the pathogenesis of CAD in the study population, whereas the variant genotype at -238 showed no link with the disease. Furthermore, this study demonstrated that the RETN -420 C>G polymorphism is associated with HCM in the study population; this was a pioneer finding in relation to the disease. Another interesting data from this study revealed that the RETN -420 C>G and +299 G>A polymorphism is associated with pathology of IDCM in the study population; the said SNPs have not been investigated among other populations prior to this study. This study concludes that the RETN and TNF- alpha gene polymorphisms are significantly associated with the pathogenesis of CAD and cardiomyopathy in the study population. Resistin and Tumor Necrosis Factor-Alpha Gene Polymorphism and the Risk for Cardiovascular Disease in a Pakistani Population XVII Abstract Some data from the present study has been published in the following papers: Hussain S, Bibi S, Javed Q (2011). Heritability of genetic variants of resistin gene in patients with coronary artery disease: a family-based study. Clinical Biochemistry 44: 618-622. Hussain S, Asghar M, Javed Q (2010). Resistin gene promoter region polymorphism and the risk of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in patients. Translational Research 155: 142-147.