📄 social_science

Integrating Digital Skills and Professional Literacy in Adult Workforce Training: A Quasi-Experimental Evaluation of a Dual-Enhancement Model in the Context of China's New Quality Productive Forces

This quasi-experimental study demonstrates that an integrated dual-enhancement training model, combining digital skills and professional literacy, significantly outperforms conventional training in improving employed adults' digital competence, professional attributes, and long-term skill transfer within China's new quality productive forces framework.

Yanfeng Zhang2026-08-05
📄 social_science

From Native-Speaker Norms to Accent Legitimacy: AFL College Students' Awareness of and Attitudes Toward Foreign Instructors' Arabic Accents and Dialects

This exploratory mixed-methods study of 65 international students at the University of Ha'il reveals that while lower-level learners exhibit stronger native-speaker biases and listening anxiety, upper-intermediate and advanced students demonstrate greater acceptance of diverse Arabic accents and dialects, highlighting the critical role of clarity, pedagogical support, and instructor credibility in fostering inclusive language learning environments.

Bunder Alshammari, Khaled Alfraidi2026-08-05
📄 social_science

The Debate over the Semantics of the Mud-born Lotus (paṅkaja-) in Sanskrit Philosophy of Language

This paper re-evaluates the early second-millennium debate between Prābhākara Mīmāṃsakas and Naiyāyikas over the semantics of *paṅkaja-* ("mud-born lotus") by analyzing key Nyāya texts to demonstrate how this specific case study served as a critical testing ground for broader competing theories of word and sentence meaning, thereby revealing the deeper motivations behind these philosophical frameworks.

Patrick Cummins2026-08-04
📄 social_science

Spending All the Money:  A Mixed Methods Exploration of School Districts’ Opportunities and Challenges Using COVID-19 Relief Funds 

This mixed methods study of a northeastern state's school districts reveals that while larger and more diverse districts received higher per-pupil ARP ESSER allocations, district leaders faced significant implementation challenges—including staffing shortages, funding expiration, and administrative capacity limits—despite viewing the funds as a crucial opportunity to address immediate academic and socio-emotional needs.

Morgaen L. Donaldson, Alexandra Lamb, Samuel Kamin, Taylor Strickland2026-08-04
📄 social_science

Motivational Processes and Dynamics of Sports Continuity Among Spearfishing Athletes: A Self-Determination Theory-Based Analysis

This qualitative study of 12 elite Turkish spearfishing athletes reveals that their persistence is driven by a dynamic interplay where external motivations, such as national representation, become internalized as personal values, while female athletes face unique sustainability challenges rooted in societal gender role restrictions rather than physical conditions.

Dincer Ceribas, Nilgun Livanelioglu2026-08-04
📄 social_science

Structural Determinants of Student Motivation in Group Assignments: A Phenomenological Study of K-12 Teachers’ Perspectives

This phenomenological study of 18 Turkish K-12 teachers reveals that student motivation in group assignments is significantly undermined by unfairness and free-riding—exacerbated by AI use—while being shaped by school-level differences, hybrid assessment practices, and regional structural constraints, all interpreted through the lenses of Self-Determination and Motivation-Hygiene theories.

Cebrail Öztürk2026-08-04