The way writing is done in our classrooms is very traditional, which means that teachers are the main source of knowledge while students are the passive recipients. This makes the classes teacher-centered in nature. Students face problems in ideas/vocabulary, as the topics given are not close to the real life situations. Most of the time, students are asked to write on experiences they have never had. According to Law and Eckes (1990), second language is learnt best when the setting is natural. When the writing is not relevant to the students' lives, they will find it difficult. Thus, writing in our classes is usually product-oriented'. The students do not go through the process of thinking and sharing ideas, writing and re-writing in order to improve their work. The first draft is usually considered the final draft. The purpose of my project was to enhance teachers' writing skills and to guide them to introduce process writing in their classes in order to make a shift from the product to the process, and to transform the students into independent writers. During the project, process writing was found to be a useful strategy, but it was time-consuming, which was the biggest problem in its implementation. It was difficult for the teachers to fit it into the existing situation, where the teachers are under constant pressure of completing the syllabus. However, apart from the inherent problems, the teachers learned a lot through co-planning, co-teaching, reflecting, and providing feedback to each other, thus showing that they also need opportunities and encouragement to enhance their teaching. Since I am a teacher of the same school, this project was a way forward for me as well for developing my own understanding in teaching writing as a process and working collaboratively with other teachers to sharpen their understanding. Through this project, I learnt that the writing process helps in developing learners' writing skills, if sufficient time is allocated to it, which no doubt is a difficult task under the present educational system.
Quran and sunnah are main sources of teachings of Islam. They were transferred to the generations through Ḥadīth. There are myriads of disciplines that have been introduced by traditionalists for the uthenticity and implication of Ḥadīth. Mukhtalif-al-Ḥadīth is one of these disciplines and “Ta'wil o Muḳhtalif-al-Ḥadīth ”has been written on Mukhtalif-alḤadīth by Abdullāh ibn Muslim ibn Qutayba alDīnawarī(d276 H). In his book, “Ta'wil Muḳhtalif al-Ḥadīth” he presented cogent arguments to reject certain baṭil sects or factions. He rejected twelve to fifteen sects like al-Muʿtazilah, al-Khawārij, al-Qadarīyyah and al-Jabariyah etc. Ibn Qutaybah also tried to remove the conflicts existed in various Ḥadīths during his era. This article focusses the methodology adopted by the writer that has been discussed with the help of the examples from this book. This book consists of a preface and two lengthy chapters which include 106 Marfu' Ḥadīths. He inferred 57 issues from the Ḥadīths and gave satisfactory answers to the objections raised byrejectors of Ḥadīth. To remove these incongruences found in Ḥadīths, he benefitted Qurān, Ḥadīth, and Classical Arabic
Introduction: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and its treatment have a marked effect on women’s lives consequently aggravating psychosocial disruptions of a normal pregnancy. The demand for behavioural adaptation as well as postulated biological interactions are likely to increase the risk of maternal depression in GDM patients. There is however inadequate literature concerning the relationship between GDM and depression.
Objective: To compare the proportion of women with GDM who screen positive for depression and the proportion of women without GDM who screen positive for depression at the Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi. Socio-demographic factors associated with a positive depression screen were explored.
Methods: This was a case control study, applying the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and a socio-demographic tool on two antenatal groups; women with GDM and women without GDM. The proportion of women with depression was determined as the percentage of pregnant women with domain and overall scores below the cut-off levels that is 13. The Chi-square test and Fisher’s exact test were used to test for statistically significant differences in the proportion of GDM and non GDM women who screened positive for depression. Secondary analysis was done using univariate and multivariate analysis to examine the relationship between gestational diabetes, mode of treatment, and selected socio-demographic characteristics and a positive depression screen.
Results: A total of 315 pregnant participants were enlisted for the study (104 with GDM and 211 without GDM). The two study groups were comparable demographically except for maternal age, parity, BMI, ethnicity, mode of conception and alcohol intake (p <0.05). Thirty-five of 104 (33.7%) women with GDM had a positive depression screen compared to 13 of 211(6.2%) women without GDM (p <0.001). Multivariate analysis showed that GDM is associated with the occurrence of a positive depression screen (odds ratio 6.7, 95% confidence interval 3.3-13.6). However mode of treatment of GDM and other socio-demographic characteristics were not associated with a positive depression screen.
Conclusion: Women with GDM are significantly more likely to screen positive for depression in pregnancy compared to women without GDM. Screening for depression as well as psycological support may be required in women diagnosed with GDM.