New Ideas Concerning Arts and Social Studies Vol. 5

The Concept of 'Complement' in Systemic Functional Grammar-A Journey through Theoretical Complexities and Practical Significance

Kwasi Opoku — 2025-11-04

Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG) stands as a prominent framework for analysing and understanding texts across various linguistic contexts. Its application has been extensive, ranging from linguistic research to practical applications such as language teaching and computational linguistics. However, despite its widespread use, there exists a noticeable gap in the literature concerning critical syntactic issues within the framework. At the heart of these issues lies the foundational theoretical framework of SFG, which prioritises a semantic approach to grammar. Unlike some other linguistic theories that primarily focus on syntax as a separate domain from semantics, SFG integrates both syntactic structure and semantic meaning into its analytical framework. While this integration can offer valuable insights into how language functions in communication, it also presents challenges, particularly in defining and analysing syntactic units within clauses. One of the primary areas of concern highlighted in the passage is the Mood system within SFG. The Mood system encompasses elements such as the Subject, Finite, and Predicator, which together express the functional meaning of a clause. However, within this system, the term 'Complement' poses particular challenges. In traditional grammatical frameworks, a complement typically refers to a syntactic element that completes the meaning of a verb or other predicate. However, within the SFG framework, the term 'Complement' may be used in a broader sense, encompassing elements that fulfil various semantic roles within a clause. This broad conceptualisation of 'Complement' within SFG can lead to inconsistencies and ambiguity in its application. For instance, it may be unclear whether a particular element should be categorised as a Complement or as another syntactic or semantic unit within the clause. Additionally, characterising terms within the SFG framework may vary across analyses, further complicating the understanding and interpretation of syntactic structures. While the passage does not conduct an exhaustive analysis of each syntactic issue within SFG, it serves as a call to action for further scholarly attention and advocacy within the framework. Addressing these theoretical grammatical and syntactic challenges is essential for refining and strengthening SFG as a linguistic theory. By fostering continued discussion, research, and refinement within the SFG framework, scholars can work towards enhancing its clarity, coherence, and applicability in the analysis of textual data.

Analysing Changes in Sustainable Living in Mtwara Rural District, Tanzania: Assessing the Effects of Gas Extraction Activities

Beston Musa Musoma — 2025-11-04

The paper aims to analyse the changes in sustainable living in Mtwara Rural District, Tanzania, by assessing the effects of gas extraction operations. A household survey was conducted between July and October 2020, whereby a questionnaire was administered to the household heads who were sampled for the study. Key informant interviews (KIIs) and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) were recorded, transcribed, and analysed together with field observations. The results show that gas extraction has had an adverse impact on changes in livelihood activities in general in the study area. Local communities residing closer to the gas extraction plant had higher livelihood diversity, especially in sea-shells collection, farming and farm wage labour and carpentry, compared to villages away from the gas processing plant. In order to bring equitable livelihood changes and outcomes among households, it is recommended to the Local Government Authority and non-governmental organizations involved in promoting livelihood improvement through extractive investments to promote local communities households ownership of resources by allowing them to have more access and control of their natural resources including gas, land as well as addressing the constraints for household residing close to extractive investment operations. Hence, incorporating those changes, analysing their impact on households' well-being, and designing various coping strategies for mitigating such events would probably shed more light on poverty reduction and promotion of sustainable livelihoods in rural areas affected by gas extraction.

Critical Policy Analysis of Resource Allocation Reviews under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)

Carlas McCauley — 2025-11-04

Background: The distribution of funding to schools can be a complex issue, as school systems have limited financial resources with which to advance their goals. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) introduced a new provision that requires state education agencies (SEAs) to review resource allocation in districts that serve a significant number of schools identified for continuous improvement and a significant number of schools implementing targeted school improvement plans.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the intersection of state, local, and federal policy meant to engage school districts around allocating resources for the purpose of supporting high-need schools. This study examined the discord between policy and practice around the enactment of federal legislation centred around resource allocation through a critical policy lens aimed at assessing whether state and local guidance can promote implementation of the federal guidance on equitable and effective distribution of resources.

Methodology: The study reviewed publicly available data across 25 state education agencies and 10 school districts. These districts were randomly selected, but a focus was made on reviewing resources for large school districts. The study reviewed federal, state and local guidance on resource allocation pertaining to the ESSA.

Findings: The analysis identified examples of state and local efforts to guide the implementation of the new legislation. However, the findings also highlight the challenge that exists in implementing federal policy and the impact of those challenges across marginalised communities of poverty.

Conclusion: Over the past decade, numerous efforts have aimed to promote more equitable resource distribution, leading to state and local policies designed to improve allocation practices. The findings of this study may be used as a guidance tool for policy makers and educational leaders at the state and local levels as they continue to seek ways to support marginalised students. The findings have direct implications for current practitioners, parents, the community, and state/local school boards.

Promoting Religious Tourism for the Chinese Community via Maritime Carriers: A Cross-Border Analysis of the Batam-Singapore Connection

Danny Faturachman — 2025-11-04

Batam City, part of the Riau Islands Province, functions as a vital link between Indonesia and Singapore. Its strategic position on the border adjacent to one of the world’s major business hubs, Singapore, underscores the importance of maritime transport in Indonesia’s maritime economy. The substantial movement of people between Batam and Singapore highlights their roles as popular tourist destinations. Residents of both cities often consider these locations attractive for tourism. This research particularly concentrates on religious tourism. The noticeable surge in maritime travel is especially prominent during weekends and holiday seasons, as many residents from both cities visit each other's areas, reflecting a high level of social interaction and mobility. The study aims to explore maritime activities and their societal implications through the lens of transnationalism within the context of tourism, with a focus on religious tourism. In the era of globalisation and the expanding network of social connections, maritime transportation is crucial for facilitating transnational processes. Consequently, maritime safety becomes essential, as it directly impacts efforts toward sustainable development—especially in transportation activities that promote tourism.

Emotional Challenges and Coping Responses of Parents of Intellectually Challenged Children

Sapna Singh — 2025-11-04

Raising a child who is mentally Retarded requires emotional strength and flexibility. The child has special needs in addition to the regular needs of all children, and parents can find themselves overwhelmed by various medical, caregiving and educational responsibilities. The diagnosis of the child can trigger a range of emotional responses in parents and across family systems, which in turn contribute to some level of psycho-social problems. Support from family, friends, the community, or paid caregivers is critical to maintaining balance in the home. Parents of mentally challenged children commonly experience a gamut of emotions over the years. The aim of the study was to assess the coping strategies of parents of mentally retarded children. Coping Checklist By Kiran Rao, Subukrishna and Prabhu, Coping Check list, (1989) was used to assess the coping. In this study, 250 parents of mentally retarded children were selected through a purposive sampling technique from different MR centres of a selected Urban area of North India. The majority of study subjects' coping strategies scores 99.6% which was average, and the least was 0.4% which was good, but none of them had a poor coping strategies score. Negative distraction, Problem solving and Acceptance/redefinition were adopted more [(mean=3.67 & SD=1.50), (mean=6.89 & SD=1.17) and (mean=8.22 & SD=1.99) respectively] as coping strategies among severe mentally retarded children’s parents as compared to moderate and mild mentally retarded children’s parents. The study concluded that there was a need for support to parents who have severe MR. Raising an intellectually challenged child is very demanding for parents. Health care centres must conduct supportive group counselling for parents' emotional and social well-being.

The Post-Soviet Model of Accountability in the Estonian Local Welfare Government

Vaike Raudava — 2025-11-04

Background: Accountability is ubiquitous in social systems, and its necessity is increased in formal organisations that supposedly aim to predict and control behaviour. Today’s public authorities need to show value diversity, understand and respect different cultures, and design and deliver culturally relevant and responsive programs and services. Accountability in social work is crucial for ensuring professional legitimacy and adherence to public organisational practices. This is particularly important in the Estonian context, where social welfare is undergoing rapid changes due to Europeanization and public administration reforms.

Aim: This chapter aims to shed light on accountability in administrative social work within the Estonian welfare model. Specifically, it seeks to examine how the responsibility of the nation-state is shared in ensuring social well-being and to explore how the provision of necessary social services to residents can be predicted.

Methods: A meso-level model was employed, integrating contemporary research and expanding perspectives from individual, group, and organisational levels into a coherent framework. A case study approach was used, analysing publicly available documentation and data from three Estonian local governments (Viru-Nigula, Lüganuse, and Mustvee) collected between 2020 and 2022. To study the process of accountability, a concept has been developed with the following features: legal basis, political discourse of well-being, theoretical discourse, standards, public information, applied methods, profession/profession, decision-making process, and evaluation.

Results: The study reveals challenges in predicting social service provision to clients. These challenges stem from the fragmented nature of the Estonian welfare system, the lack of clear criteria for allocating local social benefits, the limited professional autonomy of social workers in local governments, and the opacity and lack of evaluation mechanisms in accountability processes in Estonian social welfare.

Conclusions: The research highlights the need for clearer definitions of social work roles, stronger professional autonomy for social workers, and a more client-centred approach to social welfare in Estonia. Future research directions include exploring the perspectives of social workers, clients, and policymakers on accountability in social welfare and conducting comparative studies with other countries.

The Relationship between Students' Sense of Safety and Self-Efficacy in an Arab High School in Israel

Abdul Kareem Igbaria — 2025-11-04

Sense of safety in school refers to students' perceptions of being protected from physical, emotional, and social threats within the school environment. Research over the past decade has consistently shown that students who feel safe at school tend to exhibit higher academic achievement, greater attendance rates, and reduced psychological distress. On the other hand, Self-efficacy, an individual's belief in their capacity to execute behaviours necessary to achieve specific goals, has emerged as a powerful predictor of academic persistence and resilience. This study investigated the relationship between students' sense of safety and self-efficacy in an Arab high school in Israel's Triangle region. While extensive research has documented the importance of both safety perceptions and self-efficacy for students' academic and psychological outcomes, there remains a significant gap in understanding how these factors specifically interact within Arab educational contexts in Israel. Using a quantitative, cross-sectional correlational design, data were collected from 281 Muslim Arab students (grades 10- 12) using validated measures of safety perceptions (physical safety, emotional safety, and security concerns) and self-efficacy (academic, emotional self-regulation, and social domains). Results revealed a significant positive correlation between safety perceptions and self-efficacy (r = 0.42, p < 0.001), with emotional safety emerging as the strongest predictor of self-efficacy (β = 0.36, p = 0.001). The relationship between safety and self-efficacy appeared somewhat stronger for female students (r = 0.47) compared to male students (r = 0.38), though this difference was not statistically significant. Emotional self-regulation efficacy showed the strongest correlation with safety perceptions (r = 0.48, p < 0.001), suggesting the particular importance of safety for developing emotional coping resources. Supplementary qualitative data highlighted how cultural identity and collective values influenced students' experiences of safety and self-efficacy development. These findings suggest that creating secure and supportive school environments, with particular attention to emotional safety, may be an effective strategy for enhancing Arab students' belief in their capabilities, potentially improving academic outcomes and psychological well-being even in challenging sociopolitical contexts.

Public Action at the Intersection of Two Public Policies in France and Canada: A Comparative Analysis

Elhadji Mbaye — 2025-11-04

The term “migrant” refers to foreign immigration policies in the field of the fight against AIDS; it is not suitable for public health issues around immigration concerning immigrants (those arriving) than those already installed on the territory as well. This article is from the statement of a contrast between a strong associative mobilisation around the health of migrants in France during the 2000s and the relative weakness of the dynamics of community organisations around this problem in Canada during the same period. This article investigates how France and Canada, despite their different political systems, address the challenges faced by migrants living with HIV/AIDS from endemic countries. The objective is to analyse how immigration policy and public health policy intersect in shaping responses to this issue. The study relies on a comparative policy analysis supported by documentary review and interviews with key stakeholders in both countries. The findings highlight three main differences: (1) approaches to AIDS prevention and care, with France emphasising coercion and control and Canada privileging cooperation and inclusion; (2) immigration policy, which is more selective in France and more generalized in Canada; and (3) treatment of HIV-positive migrants, where France applies non-systematic screening while Canada has adopted systematic screening. Despite these contrasts, two common trends emerge: first, restrictive immigration measures reduce the rights of migrants in the field of public health; and second, policy responses are increasingly framed through a humanitarian lens that treats access to care as an exceptional measure for foreigners with serious illnesses.

This convergence reveals the tension between immigration control and health protection, and shows how both countries combine rights restriction with humanitarian exception in managing HIV/AIDS among migrants.