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Cognitive diagnostic models (CDMs) have received much interest within the field of language testing over the last decade due to their great potential to provide diagnostic feedback to all stakeholders and ultimately improve language teaching and learning. A large number of studies have demonstrated the application of CDMs on advanced large-scale English proficiency exams, such as IELTS, TOEFL, MELAB, and ECPE. However, too little attention has been paid to the utility of CDMs on elementary and intermediate high-stakes English exams. The current study aims to diagnose the reading ability of test takers in the B1 Preliminary test, previously known as the Preliminary English Test (PET), using the generalized deterministic input, noisy, "and" gate (G-DINA; de la Torre, 2011) model. The G-DINA is a general and saturated model which allows attributes to combine in both compensatory and non-compensatory relationships and each item to select the best model. To achieve the purpose of the study, an initial Q-matrix based on the theory of reading comprehension and the consensus of content experts was constructed and validated. Item responses of 435 test takers to the reading comprehension section of the PET were analyzed using the "G-DINA" package in R. The results of attribute profiles suggested that lexico-grammatical knowledge is the most difficult attribute, and making an inference is the easiest one.

Dictation is a traditional technique for both teaching and testing overall language ability and listening comprehension. In a dictation, a passage is read aloud by the teacher and examinees write down what they hear. Due to the peculiar form of dictations, psychometric analysis of dictations is challenging. In a dictation, there is no clear boundary between the items and every word in the text is potentially an item. This makes the analysis of dictations with classical and modern test theories rather difficult. In this study, we suggest a procedure to make dictations analyzable with psychometric models. Our strategy entailed using several independent short passages instead of a single long passage. The number of mistakes in each passage was counted and entered into the analysis. Rasch model analysis was then applied to the passage scores (mistakes). Our findings showed that dictations fit the Rasch model very well and it is possible to measure examinees' ability on an interval scale using dictations.

Corruption is a social evil and is worst in the backward countries. The economic instability and political fights are leading the public office holders to corruption. In Iraq, the public offices are involved in corruption with a nexus to the corrupt political leaders. The factors for corruption in Iraq are increasing due to political instability and economic crisis. The purpose of this study is to understand to what extent corrupt practices are conducted in the public offices in Iraq. This study concludes that the corruption in Iraq is supported by corrupt political parties, the unfair judicial system, and the nexus of corrupt political leaders and police departments. This study demonstrates that with the help of effective measurement, the corruption in Iraq can be controlled if the government is working effectively. This study addressed a detailed gap in the literature and contributes significant theoretical and practical implications for reducing the corrupt practices in the public offices in Iraq. The future directions for research are also provided by this study to explore the new factors to eliminate the foundations of corrupt practices in the public offices of Iraq. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (B-IPQ) is one of the most widely used measures of emotional and cognitive representations of illness. The B-IPQ has been translated and adapted into many languages. However, the scale has not been translated into Iraqi Arabic in patients with type II diabetes. The main purpose of the present study was to investigate psychometric properties of the B-IPQ among Iraqi patients with type II diabetes. Methods: In this quantitative study, the Arabic Version of the B-IPQ was given to 192 Iraqi patients with type II diabetes. The participants were randomly selected from 5 hospitals and a diabetes society in Baghdad, Iraq. The participants included individuals diagnosed at least 1 year before this research. Using WINSTEPS computer program, the Rating Scale Model (RSM) was employed as a polytomous extension of the Rasch model (RM) to evaluate the scale in terms of unidimensionality, local independence, item statistics, and rating structures. Results: The results indicated that the values of infit and oufit mean square (MNSQ) are within the ideal range of 0.60 and 1.40, suggesting that the items of the scale fit to the RM. The data was found to be unidimensional because the first factor explains 5.5% of the unexplained variance with an eigenvalue of 1.5 (< 2). The results also showed that items are locally independent, and both persons and items have high Rasch separation reliability indices. More importantly, the response options or categories of the scale work optimally because with the increase in category values, observed averages also increased. Conclusion: The overall findings showed that the Arabic version of the B-IPQ is a valid and reliable instrument and can be employed to assess illness perceptions among Iraqi patients with type II diabetes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The household women in Iraq are not living a standard life as compared to the women of advanced and developed countries. The cyberbullying of household women in Iraq is increased with the spread of digital media platforms for communication. The cyberbullying laws are limited in Iraq and the current setup of the government and judicial system is failed to protect women from cyberbullying. This study is conducted on the secondary data collected from different credible resources to understand the reasons and status of cyberbullying of women in Iraq. The findings of this study demonstrate that illiteracy, fewer resources, and the absence of modern criminal laws are the reason for cyberbullying against women in Iraq. The study concludes that with the help of police management and advancement in the criminal justice system, the government of Iraq can decrease the conduct of cyberbullying against women. The study has theoretical and practical implications important for the prohibition of cybercrimes and cyberbullying against women in Iraq. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International restrictions and sanctions have historically been designed to persuade and compel recalcitrant states to alter their behavior and enhance their compliance with international law. Iraq, which adheres to its principles on economic and political ties, is one of the only examples of deviance in the globalist world system. Iraq has been subject to several international sanctions that impede its capacity to form economic partnerships and advance global investment. Foreign investment parties have continued to confront obstacles from bureaucracy, a weak financial structure, and corruption, making it exceedingly challenging to close investment projects successfully. The primary purpose of the financial institutions owned by states in Iraq is to serve and settle the country's public sector payroll. Except for a few regionally-owned commercial banks, privately-owned banks functioned exclusively as exchange enterprises until recently. The inability to effectively resolve investor disputes is one of the primary obstacles foreign investors encounter when considering doing business in Iraq. In recent years, however, the Iraqi Parliament has made substantial progress in enhancing the economic climate and offering better protections for international investors. Iraq has accepted accession to the New York Convention for the Settlement of International Investment Disputes, which would facilitate a more efficient and equitable dispute settlement process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Islamic values are among the topics that are considered by people in an Islamic society in human and organisational life and paying attention to them can have positive consequences for the individual and the organisation. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of Islamic values on citizenship behaviours of Muslim citizens. The research is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive-survey in terms of nature and method. The statistical population of this research includes 2600 Muslim employees of 45 manufacturing Indonesian organisations in 2021. The sample size was estimated to be 335 by simple random sampling. The data collection tool of this study is a questionnaire. The validity of questionnaire was confirmed by confirmatory factor analysis and reliability by Cronbach’s alpha coefficient; further, data analysis was performed using linear structural relationships (LISREL) software. The results of structural equations modeling showed that Islamic values have a positive and significant effect on citizenship behaviours of Muslim citizens (p = 0.78; T-Value= 8.62). Contribution: The results showed that paying attention to Islamic values in the organisation contributes to citizenship behaviours of people. Therefore, it is suggested that Islamic values be the basis of staff activities and employees who are more committed to these values in the organisation should be encouraged by the management of organisations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]