Documents found
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24371.More information
This study aims to examine the relationship between the productive knowledge of some lexical and phraseological indices and the quality of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners’ writing. A sample of 120 expository essays, written by semesters 1 and 5 university students in a less proficient EFL context, are rated by human evaluators and automatically examined for the target indices. The results show that, unlike the index of lexical diversity, both indices of content word frequency and range could significantly discriminate between different proficiency levels. For the phraseological indices, both the proportions of rare and frequent bigrams yielded between-group differences, with higher proficiency students performing significantly better in both categories. Using a regression analysis, the results show that the use of rare and contextually restricted content words and the production of larger proportions of rare and frequent bigrams could be considered indicators of better writing proficiency. The study suggests implications for the teaching of EFL.
Keywords: EFL, bigrams, frequency, range, diversity
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24372.More information
Since the 1950s, the place of food in the budget of Quebec households has been continuously reduced, in competition with other budget items. However, the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting inflation have changed the situation, especially for the most precarious. To apprehend the household food budget, two approaches are traditionally used. The first assesses what households spend on average, based on basic food items. The second calculates what a healthy diet should cost. These two approaches are useful, but they ignore the situation of the poorest households, as well as tastes and food cultures. This article aims to present the reflection and the original results of an exploratory survey carried out in the community environment of the metropolitan region of Montreal. What we will call the decent food budget is a new indicator for understanding the cost of a diet that is more in line with tastes and food cultures. This work aims to pave the way to new demands for food in low-income households.
Keywords: Budget alimentaire, Food Budget, sécurité alimentaire, Food Security, bonne alimentation, Good nutrition, Market Basket Measure (MBM), panier de provision nutritif, panier de consommation (MPC), Nutritious Food Basket
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24373.
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24376.
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24378.
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24379.More information
Climate change represents a major potential threat to the viability of rural households in sub-Saharan Africa who live mainly from the exploitation of natural resources. The purpose of this study is to analyze farmers' perceptions of climate change, its environmental impacts, coping strategies and the relationships between them. Surveys were conducted through group discussions and an individual questionnaire administered to 300 households in north-central Burkina Faso. A Logit binary model identified factors that influence local perceptions of climate change and the choice of adaptation strategies. The study shows that farmers perceive a decrease in rainfall (76.7 %), a rise in temperatures (97 %) and strong winds (98.7 %). The determinant factors of this perception are education level of the household head, household size, belonging to a peasant organization and number of cattle. Land degradation mainly results in bare soils, reduced woody vegetation and low agricultural yields. The main adaptation strategies are the adoption of water and soil conservation techniques (WSCT), possession of manure pits, irrigation and the use of adapted varieties. The determining factors of this adaptation are the availability of picks and shovels, belonging to a peasant organization, training in agricultural technologies and access to credit. The adoption of an adaptation strategy by a farmer depends of his perception of climate change and its causes, its negative impacts on the environment and the means available to provide solutions.
Keywords: région semi-aride, péjoration climatique, dégradation des terres, résilience, savoirs endogènes, semi-arid regions, climate change, land degradation, resilience, endogenous knowledge
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24380.More information
Soil degradation by water erosion is a natural phenomenon that can be amplified by anthropogenic actions. The consequences of this phenomenon are harmful and can harm the intrinsic characteristics of the soil, and lead to its disappearance in certain cases. For mapping the erosion hazard upstream of Nahr el Kalb watershed, we have adopted a hierarchical approach, called MESALES, that combines the weighted parameters of erosion (land use, slope, soil erodibility and climate) using GIS. The soil erodibility was calculated from the equation of Wischmeier et Smith (1960; 1978) to take account of the specific environmental features. The results of this work show the predominant role of plant cover. 67% of the study area is undergoing strong and very strong erosion, mainly in sectors of either degraded plant cover or no plant cover. The overall accuracy of the model and the Kappa index resulting from it are estimated at 84% and 80% respectively.
Keywords: environnement, recherche, ressources naturelles, territoire, risque, environment, research, natural resources, territory, risk