Higher College of Technology

About: Higher College of Technology is a based out in . It is known for research contribution in the topics: Computer science & Higher education. The organization has 369 authors who have published 379 publications receiving 729 citations.

Language Maintenance and Language Shift among Keralites in Oman

Abstract: This study explores the current status of language maintenance (LM) and language shift (LS) among Keralites, popularly known as ‘Malayalees,’ living in Oman. It analyses the leading factors that affect language maintenance and language shift: a particular focus is given to identifying the various domains in which language maintenance is facilitated; the attitudes held by the Keralite parents and their children towards their first language (L1), the initiatives taken by parents, religious and cultural organizations; and the role of educational institutions in promoting language maintenance. Data for this study have been gathered from semi-structured interviews and participant observation of Keralites who have lived in Oman for more than ten years. Analysis of the data indicates that while parents value their mother tongue as their first language and take various measures to maintain it, second-generation children are not keenly attached to L1. Instead, their first language oracy is strikingly marked with code-switching and code shifting, and their writing skills in L1 are diminishing. Refuting the previous findings, the present study reveals that language shift is a temporary phenomenon, and it does not take place at the cost of L1. On the contrary, various factors contribute to the maintenance of their heritage language. Also, the migrant Keralites, as a result of their living abroad, acquire two or three more new languages: English, Hindi, and Arabic depending on their study and work domains, thereby making them a multilingual society. Language shift can gradually result in linguicide, which can have various effects such as alienation from and the loss of culture and cultural values. It is expected that this study will unveil if there is a language shift of a severe nature among the Keratitis in Oman.

Acoustoelectric current in graphene nanoribbon due to Landau damping.

Abstract: We perform self-consistent analysis of the Boltzmann transport equation for momentum and energy in the hypersound regime i.e., $$ql \gg 1$$ ( $$q$$ is the acoustic wavenumber and l is the mean free path). We investigate the Landau damping of acoustic phonons ( $$LDOAP$$ ) in graphene nanoribbons, which leads to acoustoelectric current generation. Under a non-quantized field with drift velocity, we observed an acoustic phonon energy quantization that depends on the energy gap, the width, and the sub-index of the material. An effect similar to Cerenkov emission was observed, where the electron absorbed the confined acoustic phonon energy, causing the generation of acoustoelectric current in the graphene nanoribbon. A qualitative analysis of the dependence of the absorption coefficient and the acoustoelectric current on the phonon frequency is in agreement with experimental reports. We observed a shift in the peaks when the energy gap and the drift velocity were varied. Most importantly, a transparency window appears when the absorption coefficient is zero, making graphene nanoribbons a potential candidate for use as an acoustic wave filter with applications in tunable gate-controlled quantum information devices and phonon spectrometers.

Modified Beta Inverse Flexible Weibull Extension Distribution

Abstract: In this article, a new five parameter distribution, known as the modified beta flexible Weibull extension distribution, is derived and studied. Several properties of the distribution including the quantile function, moments, moment generating function, entropies and order statistics are derived. The density function and hazard rate function plots for different parameter values are obtained. It is observed that the density function plots of the distribution exhibit varying shapes and degrees of kurtosis. Also, the hazard rate function plots exhibit different shapes including decreasing, increasing, bathtub, J and reserved J shapes. The parameter estimators of the distribution are obtained using maximum likelihood estimation. The estimators are found to be consistent via a simulation study. Finally, three data sets are used to assess the usefulness of the distribution. It is observed that the distribution can serve as an alternative to modelling failure time data with different characteristics.