UTAR Institutional Repository (Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman)
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The attitudes of UTAR students towards learning English as a second language
Get PDFThis study explores the attitudes of Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) undergraduate students towards learning English as a second language, examining the relationship between students' attitudes and their proficiency levels, and investigating potential gender differences. Using a quantitative research design, data were collected through a questionnaire adapted from Gardner’s (1985) Attitude and Motivation Test Battery (AMTB). A total of 103 students participated, categorised based on their Malaysian University English Test (MUET) proficiency levels. The findings reveal that students generally have positive attitudes towards learning English as a second language. A significant relationship was found between higher proficiency levels and more positive attitudes. However, no statistically significant gender differences were identified. The study emphasises the importance of improving English proficiency to foster positive attitudes and recommends interventions that support low-proficiency learners. The findings provide insights into language education strategies and contribute to the broader understanding of second language acquisition among Malaysian university students
Myth in fantasy: An analysis of Tolkien’s “The Fellowship of the Ring” and “The Return of the King” using archetypal criticism
Get PDFMythology within English literature and fiction is a norm, as the centrifugal thematic settings, motifs and even symbols of most modern works resemble a myth in some way. This is seen in Tolkien’s Lord of the Ring trilogy where different myths are compounded and turned into characters and different narrative elements. As such, the purpose of this study is to uncover the specific Arthurian myths and archetypes that reside within Tolkien’s trilogy; specifically, within the first book, The Fellowship of the Ring and the last, The Return of the King. Using Archetypal Criticism, this study surmises that Tolkien’s world is filled with different Arthurian archetypes that reside in its characters, symbolic objects and thematic settings. Furthermore, a textual analysis is conducted to analyse and interpret specific characters and symbols from the two books and comparing them with their Arthurian counterparts. Through this analysis, this study concludes that a resemblance between Arthurian myth and The Lord of the Rings trilogy is found at the forefront of Tolkien’s work, thereby agreeing with past scholars’ implications that Tolkien created the trilogy as a way to supplement Arthurian myth which he found was missing certain elements
The influence of positive thinking and humour styles on the subjective happiness: Gender differences among young adults in Malaysia
Get PDFAmidst the lower happiness levels and rising mental health challenges, such as depression, stress and anxiety, among Malaysian young adults, this study delves into the potential of positive thinking and humour styles in influencing their subjective happiness while also exploring gender differences. This cross-sectional study with a sample of 120 young adults in Malaysia, aged 18 to 29, was recruited through non-probability sampling method for the Qualtrics online survey. Participants were required to respond the Positive Thinking Scale (PTS), Humour Styles Questionnaire (HSQ), and Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS). This study reveals that positive thinking and adaptive humour styles significantly and positively enhance subjective happiness in Malaysian young adults, while maladaptive humour styles show an insignificant negative trend. Meanwhile, significant gender differences were only observed in maladaptive humour styles. The study offers cross-cultural theoretical implications for Cognitive Behavioural Theory (CBT) and Broaden-and-Build Theory (BBT), concluding that positive thinking and adaptive humour styles play a vital role in enhancing subjective happiness. Both theories demonstrated the applicability and relevance of these Western-centric frameworks in understanding the interplay between cognitive processes, positive emotions, humour styles, and subjective happiness within a non-Western Malaysian sociocultural context. It also provides practical implications for educational, community, and policy initiatives for young adults in Malaysia. Future research should use stratified random sampling and investigate mediating and moderating factors to gain deeper psychological insights into subjective happiness
Cryptanalysis of elliptic curve scalar multiplication algorithms
Get PDFThis project explores scalar multiplication algorithms in Elliptic Curve Cryptography, focusing on the binary method and elliptic net method applied in Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman and Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm. Scalar multiplication is the most computationally intensive operation in Elliptic Curve Cryptography and directly impacts both cryptographic strength and performance. There is lack of standardized scalar multiplication algorithm or parameter set to ensure compatibility and interoperability in cryptographic implementations. This creates challenges in developing secure Elliptic Curve Cryptography systems and performing cryptanalysis for scalar multiplication algorithms. This research implemented both methods on secure Twisted Edwards curves (numsp384t1 and numsp512t1) using the affine coordinate system for clearer point representation. The binary method uses a double-and-add approach, which introduces conditional branches that increase execution variability, making it more vulnerable to timing-based side-channel attacks. In contrast, the elliptic net method structures point operations more uniformly, reducing observable patterns and improving leakage resistance despite its higher complexity. Simulated attack scenarios, including timing and power analysis, revealed that the elliptic net method maintained more consistent behavior and offered better protection against information leakage. Overall, the findings highlighted the performance of Elliptic Curve Cryptography Scalar Multiplications over side-channel attacks in the implementations
The development of voice-assisted chatbot for healthcare institutions using transformers-based techniques.
Get PDFThis research focuses on developing a voice-assisted chatbot tailored for Traditional
Chinese Medicine (TCM), utilizing advanced transformer-based AI models and
generative techniques. The chatbot aims to address accessibility challenges in
healthcare services, particularly for elderly, disabled, or literacy-challenged
individuals. By enabling voice input and output, it ensures inclusivity and broader
access to essential healthcare information.
The chatbot's core features include speech recognition and Natural Language
Processing (NLP), allowing it to understand various dialects and accents, a critical need
in multicultural regions like Malaysia. Leveraging large language models, it provides
human-like responses and personalized recommendations based on TCM principles,
including herbal remedies, dietary advice, and lifestyle suggestions. It is designed to
function effectively even in noisy environments and to understand accented English,
ensuring accurate communication across diverse linguistic backgrounds.
Additionally, the chatbot bridges the gap in TCM-specific medical knowledge by using
specialized datasets to deliver detailed insights into treatments and principles. It serves
as an educational resource for patients and practitioners, continually improving its
responses through dynamic learning from user interactions.
This voice-assisted TCM chatbot significantly enhances healthcare workflows by
reducing the burden on medical professionals, automating routine consultations, and
providing 24/7 access to medical advice. It is especially beneficial for users in remote
areas, offering timely and accurate information. By personalizing care and empowering
users to manage their health proactively, this project represents a major step forward in
integrating AI into healthcare, creating an inclusive and patient-centric system
Animal video webpage hosted by AWS development
Get PDFThe Animal Video Hosting Platform presents web-based features that enhance educational and entertainment-focused animal video management while promoting presentation and interactive capabilities. The platform solves problems in traditional content presentation through its dynamic framework based on AWS service protocols. Through its user-focused features personal video tracking operates together with authentication and video favoriting and bookmarking coupled with comment-based engagement. A dedicated video CRUD operation module and comment moderation tool delivers administrative control to the system. The site enables users to seek organized knowledge through its search features and video recommendation system which includes random search content along with filter and tag options. All video data is stored within Amazon S3 while DynamoDB handles metadata management and user interactions and Amazon Lambda operating under API Gateway establishes a complete serverless framework. The serverless architecture enhances data processing efficiency, lower management costs, and eenablesautomatic API-based data communication between frontend systems and cloud structures. Different usage conditions tested the system while proving enhanced user interface performance and streamless video transmission alongside quick UI behavior across various devices. AWS services enable developers to build interactive content delivery systems with scalability and efficiency which are applicable for educational platforms along with interest-based media networks
Personal finance management mobile application
Get PDFThis project is concerned with the design and development of a Personal Finance Management Mobile Application to be utilized for helping users, particularly students and young professionals, manage their financial activities efficiently via a smartphone platform. It tackles some of the key problems, such as inefficient expense tracking, no budgeting discipline, and no access to integrated financial planning tools. This app simplifies record keeping and classifying of income and expenses, makes budgets and monitors saving goals, monitors each saving goal, and reminds one when to pay certain bills. In addition, the application has its own loan calculator that estimates each repayment scheme and there is a real-time currency converter in case one handles multiple currencies. The system was developed using the Agile methodology, enabling iterative refinement through continuous feedback and testing. Android Studio was the primary development environment, while secure and real-time data storage were provided by Firebase Firestore. UI/UX design was implemented using Figma to maximize usability, and graphical data visualization tools were also incorporated within the application to enable users to track spending trends and understand their financial habits. Overall, the project aims to promote financial literacy, enable informed decision-making, and provide a reliable digital solution for personal finance management
Cropguard: AI-driven IOT-based smart farming system
Get PDFProtecting crops against wildlife intrusions has become a pressing need as the delicate balance between human livelihoods and wildlife existence is disrupted. Reason behind this is that the encroachment of wildlife habitats caused by the rising socio-economic activities has led to human-wildlife conflict. Therefore, this scenario underscores the critical importance of developing an innovative crop protection system to mitigate the issue of crop raiding faced in agricultural sector. This project proposed an IoT-based smart farming system driven by Artificial Intelligence (AI). In other words, this system is developed in such a way that it builds on the foundation of IoT and AI to expand its system capabilities in protecting the crop against wildlife intrusions intelligently. This system is developed to have a variety of functionalities including detecting the presence of animal, classifying the animals and initiating appropriate actions to repel the threatening animals away. In this project, a Raspberry Pi 4 Model B acts as a central processing unit to process and interpret several data inputs from multiple sensors such as Raspberry Pi Camera Module 2, Passive Infrared (PIR) sensor and buzzer. Besides, machine learning model such as Haar Cascade Classifier is used to empower the system to detect and classify the animals into different categories. The collected data is processed and analysed in real-time. Real-time alert notification will be sent to the farmers upon wildlife intrusions. With this feature, the farmers can be informed immediately, enabling them to execute further actions to the animals and their crops
Online job application with job recommendation
Get PDFThis project is an Online Job Application and Job Recommendation system designed for academic purposes. It is a development-focused project within the field of Information Systems. The system serves as a platform to assist job seekers in finding suitable and satisfactory employment opportunities.
In addition to helping job seekers, the system allows recruiters to post their job openings directly within the application. If job seekers have their own CVs prepared, they can upload them to their profile in the system, where the CV will be saved in their account. The system will also extract key information from the CV and store it in the database.
Moreover, the application includes a job-matching feature that automatically pairs jobs with job seekers based on their technical and non-technical skills. After matching, the system recommends relevant and suitable jobs to the user, allowing them to make a final choice.
When a job seeker applies for a job, recruiters are granted access to view the applicant’s resume and personal information. Recruiters can then respond by scheduling an interview or rejecting the application.
If recruiters urgently need to hire workers, the system provides a feature to identify potential candidates who have not yet applied for the job. Recruiters can send job offers to these users, and if interested, schedule interviews with them. The system will notify users when they receive a job offer.
The hardware used for development is an Acer brand laptop. The software includes Visual Studio 2022 with the C# UWP Framework. Firebase is utilized as the database to store unstructured data such as PDF files and profile images. Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio (MSSQL) is used to manage structured data like user information and job details
Development of a property rental website using react framework with content-based and collaborative filtering recommendation technique
Get PDFThe rapid digitalization of the property rental market has highlighted significant limitations in existing platforms, particularly in their ability to provide personalized property recommendations and streamline the rental search process. This project proposes the development of a modern property rental website that implements a hybrid recommendation system combining content-based and collaborative filtering techniques. The platform aims to address the limitations by providing personalized property suggestions based on user preferences, behavior patterns, and property attributes. This project is built using Next.js, the backend infrastructure utilizes Supabase for database management and storage solutions. The hybrid recommender system analyzes both property attributes and user interaction data to generate relevant recommendations, improving the property discovery process for potential tenants. The project's preliminary implementation has established core functionalities, while future development will focus on implementing the recommendation engine and administrative features