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714 research outputs found
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Automated Evaluation of ESL Learners’ English Writing Skills in English-Medium Instruction (EMI) through AI Writing Analytics
No full textThis study analyses the use of artificial intelligence (AI)-driven automated writing evaluation (AWE) analytics and examines their role in enhancing the English writing skills of ESL learners in English-medium instruction (EMI) contexts. The review synthesises contemporary AWE systems, including those based on deep learning (DL), natural language processing (NLP), and generative AI approaches. It provides a detailed discussion of methods used for real-time feedback delivery, linguistic feature extraction, and the integration of AI-driven assessment with traditional teacher and peer feedback practices. In addition, the study critically evaluates empirical findings that highlight both the benefits and limitations of AI writing analytics in higher education EMI settings, including pedagogical, technical, and ethical challenges. Finally, the paper identifies future research directions and underscores the need for hybrid evaluation models that combine human oversight with automated systems to support technical accuracy, systematic assessment, and the development of higher-order writing skills in EMI contexts
Brand loyalty among tile consumers in Sri Lanka: the role of brand equity and customer satisfaction
No full textThis research investigates how customer satisfaction acts as a bridge between brand equity and brand loyalty, contributing meaningful implications for branding strategies. Grounded in Expectation-Confirmation Theory (ECT) and guided by Baron and Kenny’s (1986) mediation framework, the research analyzes data from a structured survey of 252 respondents using regression analysis and the Sobel test. Findings reveal that brand equity positively influences both customer satisfaction and brand loyalty, while customer satisfaction significantly enhances brand loyalty. Mediation analysis confirms a partial mediating effect, indicating that customer satisfaction strengthens the impact of brand equity on brand loyalty. These results underscore the importance of aligning brand equity elements with customer expectations to foster long-term loyalty. The study contributes to branding literature by highlighting customer satisfaction as a key mechanism in brand-consumer relationships and offers practical implications for marketers. Future research is encouraged to validate these findings across different industries and geographic settings for broader applicability
Constructing the Role of AI in News Production: A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Journalists’ Perceptions in Reporting Higher Education News in Malaysia and China
No full textImplementing artificial intelligence in news publishing implies criticism of the professional status and editorial control of journalists. This study comparatively analyses how news professionals at higher education institutions (HEIs) in Malaysia and China view the role of AI in news production, grounded in social constructivist and university social responsibility perspectives. The study reports a semi-passive pattern of AI incorporation exemplified by selective professional strategic prominence and professional boundary control through semi-structured, designed interviews of 16 journalists in The Star and China Daily. The results indicate that journalists across cultures share a professional identity as powerful players in AI use. In the context of university social responsibility, journalists in HEIs portray a more imposing AI boundary than mainstream media because of accuracy and multi-stakeholder requirements. These lessons have informed sustainable AI integration plans that will ensure that journalism maintains a high degree of integrity while ensuring efficiency
Community Branding Framework for Malaysia’s UNESCO Biosphere Reserves
No full textThis study proposes a community branding framework for Malaysia’s UNESCO biosphere reserves. The proposal is motivated by the limited implementation of structured branding strategies across existing reserves. It theorises a community branding framework aimed at strengthening local identity, fostering conservation stewardship, and promoting sustainable livelihoods. The framework was developed through a structured review of recent literature on biosphere reserves, branding, and community-based economic development, synthesising key concepts and themes. Central to the proposed model are stakeholder perceptions, core values, and brand identity elements aligned with the principles of UNESCO’s Man and Biosphere (MAB). The human–biosphere connection is introduced as a pivotal variable in shaping community branding, contributing to theoretical advancement in place and community branding in the context of biosphere reserves. The model is expected to empower local communities as active co-creators, enhance socioeconomic resilience, and reinforce conservation efforts. Embedding a coherent branding framework within biosphere reserve management will support the dual goals of ecological preservation and inclusive economic development, thus supporting Goals 1 and 4 of the National Policy on Biological Diversity 2022-2023, which emphasises stakeholder empowerment in biodiversity conservation and equitable access to resources
A Qualitative Inquiry into Malaysian and Bruneian Youths’ Knowledge of Orangutan and Digital Solutions for Their Conservation Efforts
No full textPrevious research on youth related conservation activities distinct that their attention is often focused toward viral and visually engaging content, regardless of the issue, posing a challenge for traditional conservation communication. This study investigates how Malaysian and Bruneian youth perceive Orangutan conservation, drawing on qualitative insights from focus group discussions with 13 participants, purposively sampled with criteria including interest in environmental issues and activities. Thematic analysis was used where it revealed that participants, aged between 20 and 22, were generally aware of the decline in Orangutan populations, however, they had limited knowledge of specific conservation initiatives. Many felt that current efforts still lack visibility, impact, and connection with young audiences. Participants also highlighted shortcomings in communication strategies, such as ineffectiveness of using digital platforms and social media, which they viewed as critical for effective outreach. They stressed the need for youth-focused, visually engaging content that aligns with their media habits and interests. Overall, the study shows the importance of integrating youth perspectives into conservation strategies and suggests that adopting more dynamic, technology-driven approaches could help close the awareness gap and encourage stronger youth participation in Orangutan conservation
Performative Inheritance through Academic Theatre: Reframing Intercultural Communication as Reflective Reasoning
No full textThis paper introduces performative inheritance, the idea that intercultural encounters are shaped not by complete or bounded cultural systems but by the philosophical fragments that individuals carry and re-voice in interaction. It argues that intercultural understanding develops not from certainty or mastery, but from the capacity to remain with doubt, tension, and partial clarity. Everyday exchanges reveal long-standing patterns of balance, conflict, compassion, and responsibility, now articulated through contemporary vocabularies such as sustainability, justice, and care. To render these fragments analytically visible, the study employs academic theatre, a scripted dialogic method that stages a composite vignette in which philosophical fragments drawn from the Yijing, feminist thought, Islamic and Ubuntu-inflected ethics, and Southeast Asian civic ideals such as adat and Rukun Negara confront and recalibrate one another within a single institutional encounter. Rather than resolving difference through harmony, the staged voices interrupt, hesitate, and renegotiate, presenting interculturality as an ongoing effort to test meanings and rebuild connection under conditions of uncertainty. The paper contributes to critical intercultural communication by reframing interculturality as a reflective practice of reasoning, foregrounding how moral expectations are performed, questioned, and adapted in moments of ethical and communicative tension
“Establishing a Territory” in Traditional and Article-based PhD Thesis Introductions: A Comparison of Rhetorical Moves and Linguistic Realisations
No full textThesis writing, especially the Introduction chapter, can be a challenge for PhD students. A clear understanding of rhetorical structure, including moves and steps, is crucial to achieve success in academic writing. Despite this, there has been limited research on the rhetorical strategies and their linguistic realisations in PhD thesis introductions, particularly in various thesis formats. This study examines how writers of traditional and article-based theses employ Move 1 (“establishing a territory”) and its linguistic realisations, based on Bunton’s (2002) move model. A corpus of 40 PhD thesis introductions (20 traditional, 20 article-based) was analysed. Findings indicate both groups commonly follow Move 1 and its steps, but they vary in the linguistic strategies employed. These insights are valuable for writing instruction and can assist doctoral students in crafting more impactful thesis introductions
Empowering Sustainable Futures: The Teacher-AI-Student Triadic Model in Vocational Education
No full textThe Teacher–AI–Student Triadic Model is proposed as a conceptual framework for advancing sustainable and human-centred artificial intelligence (AI) integration in vocational education. Responding to the growing demand for work-ready and sustainability-oriented graduates, the model reconceptualises the roles of teachers, students, and AI systems within AI-enhanced learning environments. Developed through a conceptual research methodology, the model draws on an in-depth literature review and synthesises constructivist learning theory, social learning theory, and competency-based education. It emphasises dynamic interactions among teachers, AI, and students as central to fostering adaptive learning, ethical reasoning, and sustainable thinking. Within the triadic structure, teachers function as ethical mentors and learning architects, students as self-regulated and adaptive learners, and AI as an intelligent collaborator supporting personalised learning and formative assessment. The model illustrates potential applications in vocational contexts, including green technology simulations, virtual laboratories, AI-supported assessment, and sustainability-oriented entrepreneurship training. By embedding the Sustainable Development Goals as a core pedagogical capability rather than a peripheral objective, the model offers a vocationally specific, ethically grounded framework aligned with the transition toward Society 5.0. This study contributes a structured foundation for future empirical research, policy development, and responsible AI implementation in vocational education
Racial Slurs and Prejudicial Language Across Time: A Comparative Analysis of 12 Years a Slave and The Hate U Give
No full textRacial prejudice has long been embedded in language as a means of constructing and sustaining social hierarchies. This study examines how racial prejudice is linguistically expressed in historical and contemporary American literature through a comparative analysis of 12 Years a Slave (1853) by Solomon Northup and The Hate U Give (2017) by Angie Thomas. Using a qualitative comparative textual analysis, the study applies Allport’s (1954) Scale of Prejudice as a language-centred analytical framework to examine verbal and discursive manifestations of prejudice across five stages: antilocution, avoidance, discrimination, physical attack, and extermination. Data were selected through purposive sampling and analysed using qualitative content analysis. The findings reveal a diachronic shift from overt racial slurs and explicit dehumanisation in 12 Years a Slave to racially coded, institutionalised, and ostensibly neutral language in The Hate U Give; however, the underlying function of prejudicial language remains consistent. In both texts, language operates as a mechanism of power that marginalises African American identities, legitimises unequal treatment, and normalises systemic violence, albeit through historically distinct linguistic forms. By foregrounding linguistic continuity and transformation, this study contributes to literary discourse analysis and highlights the enduring role of language in reproducing racial inequality despite changing social norms
Adaptation of Vowel and Consonant Sequences in Bawean Language: An Optimality Theory Analysis
No full textUsing Optimality Theory, this study investigates the phonological adaptation of consonant and vowel sequences in the Baweanese language. Baweanese, spoken on Bawean Island, contains lexical items of Malay, English, and Javanese origin and exhibits distinct phonological characteristics shaped by language contact. The primary aim of this study is to document Malay loanwords in Baweanese, examine the phonological processes involved in their adaptation, and analyse these processes within an Optimality Theory framework. The study adopts a qualitative approach based on fieldwork and interviews with native Baweanese speakers from Kampung Telok Sengat, Johor. The findings reveal systematic phonological processes, including changes in vowel quality and the substitution of the voiced affricate /d3/ with the voiceless affricate /tf/. These adaptations reflect the influence of phonotactic constraints such as MAX-IO, CODA, and IDENT-IO, which are shown to interact in a specific hierarchical ranking. A total of 38 loanword samples provided by native speakers formed the empirical basis of the analysis. Overall, the study contributes to the understanding of phonological adaptation in Baweanese and demonstrates the applicability of Optimality Theory in the analysis of loanword phonology