Madhyabindu Journal

Extra-Curricular Activities in Secondary Schools of Nepal: A Survey Study

Ganesh Man Giri — 2023-07-25

This research explored the extra-curricular activities (ECA) in the secondary schools in Nawalparasi (Bardaghat-Susta East), district of Nepal. The research questions of this study incorporate stakeholders' (headteachers and secondary level teachers) perceptions, existing practices, problems, and remedial measures regarding practice of extra-curricular activities in secondary schools. The study is guided by Alexander (1999)'s student involvement theory and Vygotsky's socio-cultural theory of learning. The study population included 239 secondary level teachers and 78 head teachers from Nawalparasi (Bardaghat-Susta East)'s 78 public secondary schools. The sample was chosen using a simple random sampling method with a lottery. The study's samples included 150 secondary level teachers and 66 head teachers. This study was guided by post-positivist paradigmatic assumptions and was designed quantitatively. Data were collected using the survey method. A structured questionnaire was administered to secondary level teachers and headteachers to collect data. After collecting the data, it was entered into SPSS and analyzed using descriptive statistics--frequencies, percentages, mean and standard deviation, and inferential statistics with a non-parametric Chi-square test. The results of the five-point likert scale converted trichotomize scale and closed-ended questionnaires and revealed that teachers have a high level of awareness of ECA knowledge, its importance, and implementation. This study found that headteachers and secondary level teachers involved students in different extra-curricular and social activities to successfully complete school education, as Astin's and Vygotsky's theory explained. The practices towards ECAs were stated by NESP (1971) as an integral part of the school program in which participation would be compulsory for teachers and students and hence found compatible with the policy. In almost all cases, the responses of secondary level teachers and head teachers are nearly identical. As a result, headteachers and secondary level teachers, practiced and implemented ECAs to make them relevant and necessary for students' educational achievement.

Human Resource Management and Organizational Commitment of Commercial Banks in Nawalpur

Bishnu Prasad Lamsal — 2023-07-25

Human resource management (HRM) is the practice of recruiting, hiring, deploying and managing an organization's employees. Organizational performance is the ability of an organization to reach its goals and optimize results. The aim of this study is to explore the perception of employees regarding HRM practices, the relationship between HRM practices and employee satisfaction. The study also aimed to find out the relationship between HRM practices and organizational commitment in Nepalese commercial banks in Nawalpur. The study was based on the quantitative research design and the participants in this study were the bank's employees' human resource management and their performance. The sample size for this study was maintained at 150 participants. To evaluate the phenomenon of the survey, a closed questionnaire was formulated. The results of this study indicated that recruitment and selection practices and organizational commitment are effective in Nepalese commercial banks. But training and development practice, compensation practice and performance appraisal practice is not so effective in Nepalese commercial banks.

Euphemization and Derogation in Teacher Students’ Dialogic Discourse: A Critical Discourse Analysis

Chet Narayan Sapkota — 2023-07-25

Critical discourse analysis (CDA) has become a widely used academic research method in the social, political, educational, and linguistic sciences. This paper aims to explain how teacher-student dialogic discourse is presented and evaluated differently to persuade the students. Van Dijk's (2004) framework, is used to identify discursive structures that lead to ideologically based parochial, context, ideology, and social cognition. The CDA of the teacher students’ dialogic discourse has highlighted the reality that ideologies are expressed, performed, sustained, and inculcated through discursive frameworks. In terms of measuring attitudes and opinions, the macro methodologies of positive self-representation and negative other representations have proven to be precise. Euphemism and derogation are frequently used in ideological language manipulations that aiming to portray the self and others negatively and positively. They show how positive self-representation or negative other-representation can serve ideological purposes. The CDA applied to the teacher and students' dialogic discourse in this article shows these in-group/out-group distinctions. The outcomes ofthis study could help students and teachers improve their critical thinking skills in language comprehension and production, as well as revitalize the undervalued idea of language competency.

Consumer Intention in Using Mobile Banking Services: Using Extended TAM Model

Rishi Kanta Parajuli — 2023-07-25

Nepalese banks are using modern technologies to prompt their services and enlarging customer satisfaction. Realizing this fact, this study aims to identify different factors impacting on behavioral intention to use mobile banking. Extended Technology Acceptance Model was used to extract constructs and validate the findings. This study is based on descriptive analytical research design. A survey of 200 banking customers was done in Kawasoti Municipality, Nepal. Structured questionnaire was used to collect primary data and collected data was analyzed using IBM SPSS 20 version. It was found that perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, trust and facilitating condition statistically affect behavioral intention to use mobile banking. The result of this study facilitates mobile banking providers for advancing different strategies that help for expanding the usage rate of mobile banking by current users and converting non users in to users.

‘वयोवृद्ध कोइलीको बिलौना’ कविताको शैलीवैज्ञानिक विश्लेषण

Dhanapati Koirala — 2023-07-25

प्रायोगिक भाषाविज्ञानको शाखाका रूपमा विकसित शैलीविज्ञान साहित्यिककृतिको विश्लेषण गर्ने एक समालोचनात्मक पद्धति हो । यस पद्धतिका साहित्यिक संरचनाअन्तर्गत बनोट र बुनोट, शैलीअन्तर्गत चयन, अग्रभूमीकरण तथा भाषिक संरचनाअन्तर्गत ध्वनिव्यवस्था, वर्णव्यवस्था र अर्थव्यवस्था उल्लेख गरी यसनुसार कविशिरोमणि लेखनाथ पौड्यालद्वारा रचित ‘वयोवृद्ध कोइलीको बिलौना’ कविताको विश्लेषण गर्नु प्रस्तुत लेखको उद्देश्य रहेको छ । यसमा गुणात्मक विधिअन्तर्गत पुस्तकालयीय कार्य गरिएको छ । बनोटअन्तर्गत अन्वितित्रयको परिपालनाद्वारा मानवीय जीवनको व्यञ्जना र क?ण रसभाव प्रस्तुत छ । बुनोटअन्तर्गत शिखरिणी छन्दका पाँच पद्यमा सीमित पाठमा चारवटा बिम्ब र कोइली प्रतीकका रूपमा, रूपक र उपमा अलङ्कार प्रस्तुत छन् । भाषिक संरचनाअन्तर्गत ध्वनिव्यवस्थामा खण्डीयअन्तर्गत अ, आ, इ, ई उ, ऊ स्वरवर्ण र व्यञ्जनअन्तर्गत ज्, य्, ल्, त्, ह्, म्, छ्, न्, ग्, ख्, र्, प्, च, ञ्, ट्, ठ्, क्, ध्, ब्, स्, व्, ढ्, द्, ङ्, थ्, ष्, घ्, श् वर्णहरू प्रयोग भएका छन् । शब्दव्यवस्थाअन्तर्गत १४३ शब्दहरूमध्ये कार्यका आधारमा नाम ३९, सर्वनाम १३, विशेषण ५३, क्रियापद २४, स्रोतका आधारमा ४३ तत्सम, ९९ तद्भव, १ आगन्तुक, संरचनाका आधारमा २७ व्युत्पन्न र बाँकी अव्युत्पन्न, २ नामयोगी, १ संयोजक, विस्मयादिबोधक पाँच, ६ व्रिmयाविशेषण, २७ रूपायित शब्दहरू, २२ नाम पदावली, ४ क्रियापदावली, २ क्रियाविशेषण पदावली, १ नामस्थानिक पदावली, ४ उपवाक्य र ३ वाक्यहरू प्रयोग भएका छन् । आर्थी व्यवस्थाअन्तर्गत ६ पर्यायवाची, ४ विपरीतार्थी, १६ अनेकार्थी तथा ४ समावेशी शब्दहरू, शैलीअन्तर्गत चयनअनुरूप उज्यालो, हिमचुली, गगन, ?ख, पवन, खग, मधुर, वय, जवानी, स्वर्ग, निशि, हृदय, गति, गौरव, आँखा, तन र उषापदहरू प्रस्तुत छन् । विचलनअन्तर्गत व्याकरणिक, वर्णविन्यास, वर्णात्मक, आर्थीविचलन र समानान्तरताअन्तर्गत वाक्यावृत्ति र अन्त्यानुप्रासको प्रयोग गरिएको छ । ‘मधुर वय कहाँ गयो’ प्रश्न उब्जाएर ‘त्यो मेरो वय सब गयो’ उत्तर दिइएको छ ।

Post Method Pedagogy: Opportunities and Challenges in EFL Context of Nepal

Mahadev Devkota — 2023-07-25

The purpose of this article is to familiarize the popular concept, Post Method Pedagogy, that has been emerging in the field of English language teaching and its importance in a developing country like Nepal where English language is regarded as the foreign language. The idea of post-method pedagogy was first put forward by Kumaravadivelu in 1994. It is an attempt to go beyond the quest for the best method best restrictions in language teaching. Pedagogy in this premise is not limited to classroom strategies, institutional materials, curricular objectives, and evaluation measures, but also covers traditionally overlooked areas such as historical, political, and socio-cultural experience. It is a three-dimensional system with three pedagogic parameters: particularity, practicality, and possibility. The parameter of particularity rejects the notion of a perfect method and instead emphasizes that teachers’ critical awareness of environmental factors should be the primary consideration for language pedagogy. Next, the dimension of practicality is presented as a way for teachers to develop in their practice by theorizing from their practice and practicing what they theorize instead of relying on external sources of knowledge. Third, possibility stance emphasizes that, via critical pedagogy, social inequality can be exposed, the status quo can be questioned, individuals have the possibility to reform their identities, and social transformation can take place. The boundaries of the three parameters are somewhat unclear and the characteristic features of these parameters overlap. They shape and are shaped by one another. They interact with each other. However, it can be said that they together constitute the features of ELT classrooms in the Nepalese context with some basic challenges.

The Lifestyle and Health Effects of Obese People

Naranath Pandey — 2023-07-25

Obesity is a complex disease involving an excessive amount of body fat and excessive overweight. In this context, this study aimed to identify the lifestyle and health effects of obese people in Kawasoti Nawalpur. Using a convenient survey method, the researcher examined the association between lifestyle and effects in a sample of 170 respondents. Out of the total 170 respondents, 38 respondents (22.35%) were overweight or obese. After analyzing the data, the researcher found the main cause of obesity in obese people are; eating too much food (71.05%), do not do physical exercises (86.84%), eating junk, and fast food regularly (57.89%), and living a sedentary lifestyle (92.1%). The effects of obesity on obese people are; multiple joint pains (44.73%), having trouble working (63.16%), and high blood pressure (39.48%). The researcher concluded that there is a major problem of obesity and its effects in the community because of the sedentary lifestyle and lack of physical exercise among people. It is recommended to change the lifestyle (eating habits and exercise patterns) and lose weight gradually.

Demystifying a Miracle in the Movie-127 Hours

Tek Bahadur Chhetry — 2023-07-25

The desire to move as a part of an adventure, at the cost of life, simply serves for personal pleasure and self-complacency. However, the hero’s journey is not a linear path but a cyclic one and it inevitably comes across to face challenges and resistance that eventually nurtures him to grow with greater knowledge and wisdom. This paper, Danny Boyle directed movie- 127 Hours; based on true story of life, employs the Magic(al) Realism against the backdrop of Joseph Campbell’s concept of hero’s journey to examine how James Franco starred Aron Ralston, a common man of 27, undergoes a transformation of self-discovery for his ultimate survival, after five days of his unfailing struggle. The struggle was with the boulder that trapped his hand in the deep and distant Bluejohn Canyons of Utah in 2003 while canyoneering. Throughout the course of an ordeal, he regenerates his energy recalling the divine qualities of his son, mother, home, friends as well as his spouse, and resorts to the desperate measures of life. All the imagined reality comes to be true in his real life. Finally, Aron amputates his hand, escapes his fate from the inescapable, and eventually becomes an international icon, a story to be told to the rest of the world. The whole journey of the hero reflects the three stages in general as archetypes-departure, initiation and return, which is common in everyone’s life. The journey of Franco is a message of perseverance for the unfailing efforts as to reap success, instead of being helpless and hopeless while facing the boulder like obstacle, s and fighting the ordeal to ascertain one’s existence in life.

Policy and Practices of Initial Public Offering Share Pricing in Nepal

Jas Bahadur Gurung — 2023-07-25

This paper aimed at swotting policies and practices of initial public offering share pricing in Nepal. The paper employed the data from both primary and secondary sources like policy documents issued by SEBON related to the pricing of IPO shares and opinion surveys with the market participants about whether existing pricing policies are appropriate to adopt new pricing of IPO like book building. Data has been analyzed using descriptive statistics. Review of various policy documents like Companies Act 2006, Securities Act 2006, and Securities Registration and Issue Regulation 2016 revealed that IPO pricing prevailing in Nepal are related to the fixed price public offer mechanism. Issuance of IPO shares in premium is occasionally found in practice while there is a restriction of IPO of shares at discount under fixed-price public offer. There is high initial returns or deeper underpricing of IPOs under fixed-price public offer. The provision of free pricing like auction pricing of IPO shares is not found in the regulations. In this regard, market participants opined that the existing regulatory provisions are insufficient and supposed to not appropriate for launching the book building pricing method of IPO share in Nepal. In later period, it is found that SEBON initiated amendment of Securities Registration and Issue Regulation 2016 with provisions of book building pricing on February 13, 2020, and also brought about Book Building Directives 2020, aiming to implement book building pricing of IPOs. However, no companies are yet to go public through book-building pricing so far.

Teachers’ Attributes for Professional Development

Shiv Ram Pandey — 2023-07-25

The main purpose of this paper is to explore the traits of professional teachers in general and English teachers in particular. To accomplish the purpose, the principal research question for this study is: What qualities make English teachers professionals? Therefore, this paper presents the qualities of professional English language teachers. For this, qualitative method has been adopted. Purposive sampling was chosen to get in-depth information. An unstructured interview technique was adopted to collect data with five English teachers The analytical approach I have used is inductive. The article focuses attention on the attributes of teachers which play a pivotal role in making them professionals in teaching and learning process. The professionals are ones who not only have the academic degree but also have training, knowledge of the contents, competence and confidence in performing the job. They are critical and creative. They present and publish, and love learners, community of practice and profession.

Normality Test of NEPSE Sensitive Index

Rashesh Vaidya — 2023-07-25

A return from the stock market is assumed to follow the random walk hypothesis. An investor is concerned about the risk and returns of the fund in which he or, she has invested. A risk-averse investor develops a portfolio with a secured return followed with a perfect prediction. Hence, a normality test for the market return is an easier way to diversify and eliminate risk. Thus, this paper tests the normality of the returns from the ‘blue-chip’ stocks in the context of NEPSE. A NEPSE Sensitive Index is an index calculated based on the trade of stocks for large, capital-based Nepalese listed companies with better earning histories and higher book values. The NEPSE sensitive index and NEPSE sensitive float index are tested for normality. The paper followed the data visualization technique, descriptive statistics, and test statistics to test the normality and find out the parameters of normal distribution. The paper found that the daily return from both indices best fit a normal distribution. Hence, two basic statistical parameters from the returns, i.e., the mean and standard deviation, are sufficient to estimate future trend for ‘blue-chip’ stock return in Nepal. The governing body should develop a new index that would better represent the market movement in the coming days that would be beneficial to predict the return movement from NEPSE.

Right Intention and Causation: Reflection on Three Jtaka Tales

Tika Ram Kandel — 2023-07-25

The focus of this study lies on the right intention (SamyakSaṃkalpa), renunciation of craving, and causation of Karmic fruits (phala) in one’s life relating to the chosen tales from the Jātaka. It is one action which helps in liberating oneself from acquiring what one desires because of one's cravings, even though it's result is harmful. It highlights the significance of one’s karma for changing the current plight bringing references from the selected Jātaka tales. Such a study may help to some extent to counter the tag imposed to Buddhism as pessimistic and even nihilistic philosophy. The research approach adopted for this study includes the observation of Buddhist notion of right intention and causation of karma in three Jātakatales. The study finds that the conscious effort for benevolence purpose changes the destiny of people as reflected to Jātakatales. It also adds renunciation in Buddhism that advocates for the Philanthropic works for common benefits. The study concludes that Jātaka tales are enriched with the idea of hard effort for shaping one’s life challenging extraterrestrial or supernatural power.