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The Promotion of Social Cohesion Through Education in Sri LankaThe social dimensions and benefits of education are being increasingly appreciated in developed and middle-income countries. Among the many social benefits of education, promoting social cohesion in countries has become extremely important in the modern world, as global mobility of culturally diverse populations has posed challenges to the shared values, ethics and identities of societies. The instantaneous transfer of diverse and varied information through modern communications technologies has further increased the importance of social cohesion. Cohesive societies are more effective in achieving collective economic and social goals, since such societies are better at including and uniting diverse groups and forging synergy (OECD, 2001; Greaney, 2006). Five dimensions of social cohesion, belonging, inclusion, participation, recognition and legitimacy, are especially important for multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-religious societies such as Sri Lanka. The education system is of central importance in promoting national unity and solidarity among the different social groups in a country. Education is a key instrument in the promotion of social cohesion through the transmission of knowledge and the shaping of attitudes of individuals towards diversity and change. Sri Lanka has initiated measures to promote social cohesion through the school curriculum, textbooks, teacher development, co-curricular and extra-curricular activities, the organization of schools, and language policy. This paper discusses these measures, and future policy options for Sri Lanka as a middle-income society.
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Teaching English as a second or foreign language to adults in Qatar: exploring gender differences in language acquistionThis study was conducted to explore gender differences in language acquisition of adult male and female learners in Qatar. With globalization, English is no longer exclusively being used by the traditional English-speaking world only. It has become the international communicative language, used for commerce and trade, as well as the social media. For these reasons, many learners in Qatar attend an English language centre to acquire the necessary skills to become more fluent in the language. Both male and female learners enter the classroom with a wealth of life experiences, but just unable to communicate effectively in the target language. Therefore, teaching English to adult males and females from different nationalities, including the local Qatari population, should never been considered in isolation. The gender differences in language acquisition of these learners have to be acknowledged, taking their cognitive styles, motivation towards learning, strategies employed, anxieties experienced and the teaching practices into account.
 English language lecturers have a responsibility to be knowledgeable on the subject they teach, as well as possess the necessary skills to best educate these learners. In this situation, adult language learners do however, also have to accept responsibility for their own actions and seek out every opportunity to acquire English.