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This study aims to explore computer-assisted language learning (CALL) activities to improve the English essay writing of Pakistani university students. It highlights the role of CALL in the language proficiency model cognitive academic language proficiency (CALP), which can enable second language learners to engage in more critical thinking skills effectively. Furthermore, it aims to explore English language teachers’ experience about the use of CALL-based activities in English language classrooms or labs.

This study followed a pre-post study design to examine whether the structure of an essay and computer-based activities helped to improve English language proficiency among non-native speakers. This design is adopted to investigate the effects of CALL activities on students’ English essays. This study used data from 198 students and after this, four English teachers were interviewed to know their opinions and observations about these CALL-based activities and students’ essay writings. Pre- and post-test data was analysed in percentages and further examined through a t-test. The findings of teachers’ interviews were further analysed through Nvivo software to develop an understanding of research questions through significant themes.

The pre-test results confirmed that students’ language proficiency is underdeveloped and informal. Students needed help constructing introductory paragraphs with the reader’s hook, background information, three-point thesis statement and transitional hook. Whereas, post-test results showed that students’ English language proficiency in essay writing was found improved with the use of technological tools and CALL-based activities. Furthermore, it was observed that structure and teacher feedback in essay writing are vital for English proficiency.

This study benefits English language teachers, administrators, language policymakers and syllabus designers at colleges and universities. The debate over how to improve English language proficiency and academic achievement presents diverse challenges across several countries. Non-native speakers, at an undergraduate level, can significantly improve academically and become proficient in English essay writing with the help of structural guidelines and the use of educational technology. This article demonstrates a two-way process to improve an objective definition of English language development, which is conceivable if the technology is adopted.

The primary objective of the study is to explore and elucidate the relationship between spirituality and workplace performance. This study aims to fill a gap in the existing literature by presenting a theoretical–methodological framework that incorporates various aspects and research propositions, differentiating them based on specific mediating variables.

This research uses a systematic literature review methodology, analyzing 95 articles published over 20 years (2002–2022). This approach is designed to collate and synthesize evidence supporting the proposed relationship between spirituality and workplace performance and to understand the nuances of spirituality’s influence on performance.

The systematic review reveals recurring mediating constructs and various established theoretical–empirical relationships between spirituality and workplace performance throughout the study period. It highlights the significant role of spirituality in enhancing worker well-being, engagement and productivity.

This study addresses the impacts on societal views of work, employee well-being and organizational culture, especially considering the growing discussions around holistic and spiritually inclusive workplaces.

This paper introduces originality by presenting a theoretical–methodological framework that emphasizes five distinct research propositions. These propositions, rooted in a comprehensive literature review, provide insights into how spirituality might influence workplace performance through various mediating variables.

This study's main objective is to assess remittances' effect on real exchange rate movements pre- and post-GFC.

The sample for this study includes 199 countries and independent territories for the period between 1999 and 2019. Furthermore, this period is divided into pre-GFC (inclusive) from 1999 to 2009 and post-GFC from 2010 to 2019. This paper uses a one-step GMM estimation on linear dynamic panel data.

The significant results from this study show that the exchange rate of remittances depreciates in every country, especially in low-middle-income countries. It has been found that, in high-income countries, the first lag of remittances has a significantly negative impact.

This study examines macroeconomic variables and remittance impacts, revealing clear trends in consumption patterns and exchange rates. Families use remittances for savings and investments, depreciating exchange rates. This suggests Dutch disease in economies, especially after GFC.

Policy implications involve increasing exporter costs through variable taxes or retention, depreciating exchange rates and encouraging recovery from the Dutch disease. This promotes commodity trade and long-term economic benefits, while self-balancing protects against currency value depreciation.

This concepts originality lies in the focus on the impact of remittances on exchange rates and sectoral imbalances in various income-level countries over a significant period. The proposed policy implications aim to address the potential negative consequences of remittances on the economy, making it a valuable contribution to the existing research in this field.

In the present era, the achievement of employee Islamic performance has become a significant challenge for organizations. The purpose of the study is to examine the effect of Islamic leadership on employee Islamic performance directly and indirectly by bridging the connections between employees’ Islamic organizational values, Islamic organizational culture, and Islamic work motivation among the employees of Egyptian banks.

The authors used quantitative methods in this study and based its findings on the data received from 312 respondents in response to a questionnaire.

By using SmartPLS 4, this study’s findings demonstrate that Islamic leadership has a positive and significant effect on Islamic organizational values, culture, employee Islamic performance and work motivation. While Islamic organizational values and Islamic organizational culture do not significantly impact employee Islamic performance, Islamic work motivation is a significant predictor of employee Islamic performance. On the one hand, Islamic organizational values and Islamic organizational culture do not mediate the relationship between Islamic leadership and employee Islamic performance. On the other hand, Islamic work motivation is a mediating variable that significantly develops the relationship between Islamic leadership and employee Islamic performance.

The study’s findings support policymakers and human resource management practitioners to develop plans and strategies which enhance the Islamic performance of organizations’ employees. In addition, this study’s findings provide insights for researchers and academicians in developing Islamic leadership within their organizations so that they operate by Islamic values and codes.

Finally, by offering an integrated model of Islamic leadership, Islamic organizational values, Islamic organizational culture and employee Islamic performance, this study’s findings fill the gaps in the context of bank employees in a developing country, namely, Egypt.

The purpose of this study is to explore how changes in customer deposits influence the banking profits. The banking sector’s growth-promoting role is supported by its ability to perform the essential function of financial intermediation. However, Islamic banks go the extra mile by balancing the wealth of the rich and the poor and distributing risk more evenly. The effective operation of the services industry, including Islamic banks, depends on the active participation of their customers. Customers’ deposits in their accounts with Islamic banks are a crucial funding source. In actuality, two distinct sorts of demanding customers exist. Their expectations of the services provided by Islamic banks are different.

Panel quantile regression is applied using the collected data from Islamic banks’ audited financial statements for the time period from 2001 to 2021.

This study is expected to provide the breakdown of shares of current and saving deposits for Islamic banks, which supports managing liquidity risk. This breakdown will help the policymakers lay down a framework for managing the share of current and saving deposits in their favor.

The study aims to empirically evaluate whether changes in the current and saving account patronization have a role in the liquidity risk. And determine how banks need to manage their deposit structure to manage liquidity.

Previous studies have been nose-dive in providing country-level comparisons of different types of deposits in the context of liquidity risk management.

Recently, the repairing of reinforced concrete (RC) structures attracted great research attentions, but the research interests were mainly concentrated on common repairing types. To this end, in this paper, a repairing of pre-loaded RC beams strengthened by aramid reinforcement polymers (AFRP) is presented. Furthermore, the purpose of this paper is to study the behavior of pre-loaded RC Deep beams under sustained load. The AFRP has many advantages such as controlling stresses distribution around the openings, controlling failure modes, and enhancing the structural capacity of pre-cracked RC beams.

Four specimens were experimentally tested: one specimen without strengthening, which is considered as control specimen, one strengthened specimen using AFRP without pre-cracking and two specimens subjected to pre-cracking load before prior to AFRP application. Furthermore, after validation of experimental data by using ANSYS software, a parametric study was conducted to investigate the effect of pre-damage level on shear capacity of RC beams. For pre-cracked beams, loading was first applied until the cracking stage, followed by specimen repairing with epoxy injection, and then the specimens were loaded again until failure point.

The result showed that pre-damage level and AFRP strengthening have great influence on the ultimate strength and failure mode. In addition, the results obtained from experimental tests were compared with those from numerical validation with ANSYS and showed good agreement.

Based on ACI guidelines, an analytical equation for calculating the shear strength of strengthened RC beams with openings subjected to pre-damage was then proposed, and the calculated results were compared with those from the tests, with differences not exceeding 10%.

This study empirically assessed the determinants of halal tourism to Japan while focusing on Muslim-friendly facilities and Japanese cultural sites.

The study uses data from 2013 to 2018 and the Spatial Econometrics–Random Effect estimation technique, which allows for controlling for regional dependency. Furthermore, it extends the traditional Gunn and Tripartite Model which describes tourism attractiveness by considering the influence of historical sites on inbound tourism alongside regional gross domestic product (RGDP) and infrastructural availability.

The findings of the study reveal the existence of spatial autocorrelation among the prefectures in Japan in attracting tourists. The empirical results show that the availability of Mosques or prayer rooms positively influences Muslim tourists inflow in Japan. However, we find no significant impact of halal restaurants on tourism demand. Furthermore, our findings confirm the effectiveness of the components of the Tripartite and Urban Tourism Attractiveness models. Specifically, we find that historical sites and regional GDP significantly influence Muslim tourists visit to Japan.

Our study makes novel contributions to the literature on halal tourism. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to apply the spatial econometric technique to study the determinants of tourism demand. The application of spatial econometrics allows us to provide evidence of regional dependence in formulating policies that affect tourism. Secondly, we offer a unique augmentation of Gunn’s tripartite model by including the effect of Muslim-friendly facilities as determinants of tourism demand. Lastly, this is the first study to offer insight on halal tourism in Japan by studying all the Japanese prefectures at the macro-level. Previous studies only consider small samples of tourists in specific prefectures, raising concerns about their external validity.

This paper aims to address the pressing challenges in research data management within institutional repositories, focusing on the escalating volume, heterogeneity and multi-source nature of research data. The aim is to enhance the data services provided by institutional repositories and modernise their role in the research ecosystem.

The authors analyse the evolution of data management architectures through literature review, emphasising the advantages of data lakehouses. Using the design science research methodology, the authors develop an end-to-end data lakehouse architecture tailored to the needs of institutional repositories. This design is refined through interviews with data management professionals, institutional repository administrators and researchers.

The authors present a comprehensive framework for data lakehouse architecture, comprising five fundamental layers: data collection, data storage, data processing, data management and data services. Each layer articulates the implementation steps, delineates the dependencies between them and identifies potential obstacles with corresponding mitigation strategies.

The proposed data lakehouse architecture provides a practical and scalable solution for institutional repositories to manage research data. It offers a range of benefits, including enhanced data management capabilities, expanded data services, improved researcher experience and a modernised institutional repository ecosystem. The paper also identifies and addresses potential implementation obstacles and provides valuable guidance for institutions embarking on the adoption of this architecture. The implementation in a university library showcases how the architecture enhances data sharing among researchers and empowers institutional repository administrators with comprehensive oversight and control of the university’s research data landscape.

This paper enriches the theoretical knowledge and provides a comprehensive research framework and paradigm for scholars in research data management. It details a pioneering application of the data lakehouse architecture in an academic setting, highlighting its practical benefits and adaptability to meet the specific needs of institutional repositories.

The authors have attempted to reveal the impact that transparency and disclosure (T&D) and financial distress (FD) have on the valuation of banks working in India. T&D involves disclosing the firm's operational and financial performance and corporate governance practices. FD is a position in which a company or individual is not in a condition to fulfill their promise of paying their obligations on time.

In this study, the authors have used panel data analysis (PDA) and secondary data of 34 banks working in the Indian banking sector for four financial years, i.e. 2016 to 2019.

This study has established that FD and T&D have a positive and significant impact on the valuation of firms. The authors also find evidence that T&D significantly impacts the value of firms under the influence of FD.

The present study implies that it will help firms realize how significantly the transparency level and disclosure policies impact their value in the market. Firms can understand how badly distressing situations can impact the company's whole image. This learning will encourage them to start managing their money and debts efficiently.

The authors study has considered T&D as an independent variable and FD as a moderating variable to find the interacting impact of T&D and FD on the valuation of banks working in India. No such study has come to the authors' knowledge that has established such a relationship of variables in the study.

This study aims to explore the impact of external stimuli – perceived product quality, advertising value and the halal logo – on Muslim consumers’ attitudes and purchase intentions, using the stimulus–organism–response (S-O-R) model in accordance with its traditional framework. Additionally, it seeks to analyze and compare the purchasing behaviors of male and female consumers in the context of halal cosmetics.

An online survey using purposive sampling was conducted with 635 Muslim consumers in Indonesia to test the proposed model using structural equation modeling.

The results demonstrated that perceived quality, advertising value and the halal logo significantly enhance attitudes toward halal cosmetics. However, when it comes to purchase intention, only advertising value and the halal logo directly influence it. In terms of gender comparison, the study found significant moderation of gender in the relationship between advertising value and attitude, with this influence being more pronounced among male consumers. The findings indicate that both perceived quality and the halal logo significantly and positively impact attitudes and purchase intentions for both male and female Muslim consumers, with a notably stronger effect observed among females. Interestingly, the influence of advertising value on attitude is significant only among male consumers, highlighting a gender-specific response to advertising stimuli.

The study suggests that businesses operating in the halal cosmetics market should focus on enhancing consumers’ perception of product quality through halal certification. Additionally, they should tailor their marketing strategies based on gender differences and prioritize the prominent display of the halal logo. These actions are expected to positively influence the attitudes and purchase intentions of Muslim consumers in Indonesia.

This study introduces a novel approach to the understanding of consumer behavior toward halal cosmetics by emphasizing the frequently overlooked role of external influences through the S-O-R theory. In contrast to earlier research, which predominantly focused on internal factors and religious compliance, this study explores the impact of marketing interventions such as product quality, advertising and the presence of a halal logo. Additionally, it distinguishes itself by examining the purchasing behavior of both female and male consumers in the realm of halal cosmetics.