The purpose of this paper is to investigate the use of web blogs as a supplementary tool for teaching English. It focuses on studying the effectiveness of using blog exchanges for enhancing the Saudi female university students' English writing, especially the vocabulary usage. The participants of the current study were thirty-seven Saudi female preparatory year students from the English Language Institute (ELI) at King Abdulaziz University (KAU). Their ages ranged between 18 to 20 years of age. All participants were studying level 103 of the Oxford Headway Plus curriculum, at the third quarter of the academic year 2015-2016. The study hypothesized that there is a positive impact of using web blogs as a supplementary tool in improving the students' writing skill, especially the use of vocabulary. This research reports on an experimental design study using a quantitative approach. The study also used blog entries and pre/post-tests as primary data collection methods. The pre-test and post-test consisted of 50 vocabulary scale test items. They were taken to measure the differences in participants' writing performance after 7 weeks of intervention. A paired-sample t-test was utilized for statistical analysis to determine if there were any improvements in the students' writing performance. The findings indicated an improvement in the students' writing performance after using the blog entries. In addition, the research experiment contributed to the extension of their vocabulary knowledge.
IntroductionMotor variability is an important feature when performing repetitive movement, and in asymptomatic people functional tasks are typically performed with variable motor patterns. However, in the presence of chronic non-specific low back pain (LBP), people often present with different motor control strategies than those without pain. Movement variability has been assessed using a wide range of variables, including kinetic and kinematic components of motion. This has resulted in a wide range of findings reported in the literature and some contradicting results. Therefore, the aim of this systematic review is to investigate whether the amount and structure of motor variability are altered in people with chronic non-specific LBP, during both repetitive non-functional and functional tasks.Methods and analysisThis protocol for a systematic review is informed by Cochrane guidelines and reported in line with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis Protocols. MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, ZETOC, Web of Science, PubMed and Scopus will be searched from their inception to December 2020 along with a comprehensive search of grey literature and key journals. Two independent reviewers will conduct the search, extract the data, assess risk of bias (using the Downs and Black Scale) for the included studies and assess overall quality of evidence based on Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation guidelines. Meta-analysis will be conducted if deemed appropriate. Alternatively, a narrative synthesis will be conducted and evidence summarised as an increase, decrease or no change in the motor variability of people with LBP compared with healthy controls.Ethics and disseminationThis study raises no ethical issues. Results will be submitted for publication in a peer review journal and presented at conferences.PROSPERO registration numberCRD42020211580.
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