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Open caption Telop as a teaching tool in Japanese language classroom / Kamarul Azam Kamarul Azmi
No full textOne of the biggest challenges in teaching a foreign language (FL) during a pandemic is providing a natural setting for learners to practise the target language. Alternatively, scholars have found that presenting videos with captions can enhance various language skills and improve the viewing experience for FL learners. To date, numerous studies on captioned video for FL teaching have been conducted for European languages, especially English, where normal captions are used. This raises the question of whether captions in other languages, particularly Japanese, can bring the same effect as English captions. This study involved eight undergraduate students from the Universiti Malaya who majored in Japanese. Participants were recruited to join an 8-week course called ‘Learning Japanese via Telop’. During the course, participants were taught using a distinctive Japanese caption called telop, and several assignments were given, including vocabulary recognition tests, video comprehension tests, video analysis sheets, and learning diaries as in-class and at-home assignments. The findings of this study demonstrated that the multiple functions and attributes of telop can help instructors facilitate Japanese language teachings, such as enhancing understanding of meaning, pronunciation, and grammar, as well as cultural learning such as lifestyle and attitude. Participants reported that telop helped them understand Japanese better, enhanced their learning experiences, and promoted language practice. The study also highlighted several factors, such as criteria for video selection, technical issues, and pedagogy, that influenced the success of using telop as a teaching tool. Overall, this study suggests that Japanese language instructors should consider using telop as a teaching tool as an alternative way to expose Japanese language learners to a natural setting of the Japanese language. The study also recommends that future research may use mixed method, using instruments such as questionnaires and tests, to measure the effect of telop on learners’ perceptions and actual learning outcomes
The use of and attitude towards Cantonese among Chinese Malaysians in Kuala Lumpur / Lew Voon Khong
No full textThis study aims to investigate the use of and attitude towards Cantonese among Chinese Malaysians in Kuala Lumpur. Understanding the use of Cantonese and attitude is essential in evaluating and maintaining the vitality of Cantonese and to design strategies to revitalise the language. However, very few studies have investigated Cantonese in Malaysia. The methodology used was questionnaire and semi-structured interview. Findings show that roughly one-third of the participants used Cantonese regularly at home. Overall, the use of Cantonese in the public domain is above average except at government departments and schools. For instrumental orientation, the participants did not see Cantonese as being valuable in education, but recognised its commercial value. A large majority of participants had a high integrative orientation and perceived Cantonese as an integral and important element of the identity of the Chinese community in Kuala Lumpur. Main factors which contributed to the use of and attitude toward Cantonese include Chinese subgroup identity, family, birthplace, age, neighbourhood, school policy, gender, self-perceived proficiency of Cantonese, and pop culture. This study provides useful insights into the current situation of Cantonese use in Kuala Lumpur and has implications for maintaining and revitalising the language
Epistemic modality in scientific research articles on coronavirus / Nur Azwin Zulkarnain
No full textThe recent COVID-19 created many uncertainties due to its novel and lethal nature,
particularly during its early detection. The coronavirus has been a concern for many years
(Farhud et al., 2021) but the various uncertainties associated with it often complicated
things for scientists to arrest the disease (Orso et al., 2020). The study examined the
semantic manifestation of epistemic modality as a way for scientific authors to display
their levels of certainty in research. Specifically, it probed into the relationship between
the semantics of epistemic modality and scientific authors’ levels of certainty in their
judgement and knowledge in communicating research findings related to coronavirus. A
series of analyses were conducted on a COVID-19 corpus that consisted of scientific
research articles pertaining to both the recent COVID-19 as well as historical
coronaviruses, amounting to more than 200 million words, retrieved from Sketch Engine.
Word frequency, concordance lines, collocations were employed to identify how
epistemic modality markers were used based on the epistemic modal expressions
suggested by Perkins (1983). The findings were further explained using De Waard and
Maat’s (2012) Taxonomy of Epistemic Evaluation, Chepurnaya’s (2019) Typology of
Epistemic Responsibility, Dong et al.’s (2020) Coronavirus Research Themes, and
Millan’s (2008) Epistemic Strategies. The analyses reveal that scientific authors
portrayed absolute certainty in communicating coronavirus-related information to readers
by utilising the highest level of epistemic modality, especially in conveying information
related to pathogenesis (i.e., the development of the disease) and therapeutics (i.e., the
establishment of reliable drugs and treatments). This type of certainty was primarily
expressed using epistemic adverbs and lexical verbs instead of the standard modal auxiliaries. The high level of certainty in asserting propositions was also closely related
to the availability of evidence which they used to support their claims. Contrastingly,
lower levels of certainty portrayed by scientific authors are mainly concerned with
research on viral genomics. This portrayal is often found to be realised via modal
auxiliaries, which denotes the intention of these experts to mask obvious signs of
uncertainties as such epistemic tool is commonly associated with some ambiguity and
causes difficulties in interpretation (Nemickienė, 2015). Nonetheless, the many different
ways of expressing certainty by these epistemic strategies also result in various semantic
functions that can be comprehended in which they are found to be highly influenced by
context. Thus, in spite of the uncertainties that characterised much of early stages of
coronavirus outbreaks, scientific authors carefully presented themselves as
knowledgeable and confident experts in the field, possibly out of the need to calm the
public as well as provide actual solutions. By conducting this research, it shed light on
the utility of epistemic modality by scientific authors and how it assisted the presentation
of information on coronavirus in research articles as a means to improve crisis
communication during outbreaks
Left-wing thoughts and canonization of Fang Xiu’s Literary History / Li Mei
No full textIn the early 20th century, Malaysian Chinese literature (MCL) became intricately entwined with left-wing ideologies, shaping a distinct political poetics. Following Malaya’s independence, Fang Xiu meticulously chronicled MCL’s history, not only preserving its literary legacy but also perpetuating the tradition of left-wing literature into the post-colonial era. This culminated in the establishment of a literary canon centered around left-wing realism. Commencing at the interface of Fang’s literary history and left-wing, this thesis examines his literary historical narrative through the lens of “historical textuality” within New Historicism. The thesis begins by examining Fang Xiu's self-construction of left-wing subjectivity and the formation of his awareness of left-wing literary historiography, grounded in the historical context after his move to Nanyang, his literary trajectory, personal experiences, and early work on literary historical materials. It then explores the textual construction of Fang Xiu's literary historical works, analyzing the paradigm shifts across different periods and the temporal fluidity of leftist thought. Following this, the paper considers the intertextuality of Fang Xiu's literary historiography with Chinese literature, highlighting their deep connections in terms of theoretical frameworks, spiritual resources, and textual content. Subsequently, the focus shifts to the relatively stable left-wing aesthetic principles Fang Xiu established in constructing literary history canons, such as his commitment to realism, the aesthetics of suffering, and the popularization of the masses. Finally, the paper attempts to address the contemporary challenges faced by left-wing literary studies following the rise of Malaysian Chinese modernism and the historiographical dilemmas emerging from the rewriting of Malaysian Chinese literary history. Currently, there are diverse perspectives on rewriting literary history in the MCL’s sphere, engaging in continual clashes that stimulate the imagination for a new paradigm of historical writing. However, the practical implementation of rewriting literary history is relatively lagging. A contributing factor to this paradoxical situation lies in addressing the complexities of left-wing aesthetics, that is, how to engage in a meaningful dialogue with history. Revisiting Fang’s literary history may unveil new possibilities for the future historiography of MCL through interactive dialogue with history
The effect of health education program on maternal health literacy, health promoting behaviours and empowerment of rural pregnant women in China / Liu Yan Jia
No full textHealth literacy has been identified as being globally inadequate, especially in developing countries. Pregnancy is a special stage in a woman’s lifetime with a high need for adequate health literacy and health-promoting behaviours to achieve healthy outcomes. In China, maternal health literacy is rather limited, and health-promoting behaviours are insufficient and even misled by confusing information. This study aimed to conduct a health education program to improve maternal health literacy, health-promoting behaviours, and empowerment among rural pregnant women in China. A series of quantitative studies were employed to answer the research questions, including three phases. In phase one, a cross-sectional study was implemented to translate and validate the empowerment scale of pregnant women. A cross-sectional study of phase two was conducted to assess the current status and influencing factors of maternal health literacy, health-promoting behaviours, and empowerment of rural pregnant women. A quasi-experimental study of phase three was tested with an intervention group (n=52) and a control group (n=53). The empowerment scale for pregnant women was validated with acceptable reliability and validity in phase one and used to collect the data in phase two and three. Health education and individual counselling guided by the health promotion model were conducted in the intervention group during the second to the seventh antenatal visit while the control group received routine health education. Descriptive statistics consisting of frequency distribution, mean, standard deviation, and range were applied to summarize data, while inferential statistics including Exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, the independent t-test, multiple linear regression, General Linear Model: Repeated measure Analysis of Variance were adopted. Rural pregnant women have insufficient maternal health literacy, health-promoting behaviours and empowerment. The social-demographic factors such as age, education, and household income could have an impact on maternal health literacy, health-promoting behaviours and empowerment. Furthermore, there were significant correlations between maternal health literacy, health-promoting behaviours, and empowerment (r, 0.386-0.630). The rural pregnant women in the intervention group had higher levels of maternal health literacy, health-promoting behaviours and stronger empowerment following the health education combined with individual counselling after 5 months (all p < 0.05). Compared to routine health education, there were more significant improvements in maternal health literacy (F=10.607, p < 0.001), health-promoting behaviours (F=4.736, p < 0.001) and empowerment (F =7.865, p < 0.001) among rural pregnant women. It recommended that further experimental studies should consider a larger sample size, the method of randomization and a longer duration until puerperium to evaluate the long-term effect of the health education program. Moreover, a qualitative study should be designed to further explore the experiences of pregnant women in acquiring health literacy and adopting health-promoting behaviours. Their insights could offer valuable perspectives and suggestions for future research and clinical practice. Overall, this empirical study demonstrated the importance and effects of health education combined with individual counselling in the enhancement of maternal health literacy, health behaviours and empowerment in rural areas
The effects of bleaching products on the colour stability of ion-releasing restoratives / Lee Jian Sheng
No full textThe aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of bleaching products on the colour stability of ion-releasing restorative materials (IRMs). The evaluated IRMs included bioactive composite Activa (AB), giomer Beautifil II LS (BI), bulk-fill alkasite Cention-N (CN), encapsulated Riva light-cured resin-reinforced high viscosity glass ionomer cement (RV) and a conventional nanohybrid composite resin Luna (LN). Customised cylindrical acrylic mould was used to fabricate 45 disc-shaped specimens of each material. The samples were then finished and polished, and immersed in artificial saliva for two weeks. The baseline colour of all samples was measured with a spectrophotometer using the CIEL*a*b* colour space. The specimens were then randomly distributed into three groups of 15. Group A specimens were immersed in artificial saliva (AS) for seven days, Group B specimens were bleached with the take-home bleaching product Pola Night (PN) daily for seven days, and Group C specimens were bleached with the in-office bleaching product Pola Rapid (PR) on day seven, according to manufacturer’s instructions. The colour of the specimens was measured again at 24 hours (T1), two weeks (T2) and one month (T3) after bleaching. The normality of data was first determined using the Shapiro-Wilk test. Then, the colour differences between IRMs and bleaching products were analysed using one-way ANOVA. Their interaction was analysed using two-way ANOVA. Repeated measures ANOVA was done to determine the differences between T1, T2 and T3. All statistical analyses were done with a significance level of p<0.05. The data of all parameters were as follows: ΔL* ranged from (-0.02 ± 1.23) to (4.94 ± 1.37); Δa* varied from (-0.31 ± 0.12) to (0.65 ± 0.13); Δb* differed from (-3.08± 1.24) to (0.31 ± 0.86); ΔE* ranged from (0.94 ± 0.48) to (5.99 ± 1.33). Colour change was mainly ascribed to the increase in L* and decrease in b* values. Results of statistical analysis showed that the colour change in RV was significantly affected by PN (3.34 ± 0.72) and PR (3.55 ± 0.78), compared to the unbleached samples (1.38 ± 0.68). PN and PR produced similar colour changes. At T1, the highest colour change was seen in RV bleached with PN and PR. At T3, AB showed the greatest colour change in AS (5.99 ± 1.33), PN (3.80 ± 1.41) and PR (4.02 ± 1.31). The colour of BI and LN were the least affected by bleaching. Between time intervals, there were no differences in the colour change for all IRMs, except for AB which significantly increased from T1 to T3. In conclusion, the effects of bleaching products on the colour stability of IRMs were material dependent in which RV was significantly affected. There were no differences in the colour change produced by PR and PN. The post-bleaching colour of most IRMs remained stable over time, except for AB. This implied that bleaching product should be cautiously applied to avoid undesirable effects on restorative materials
Emotional intelligence and self-leadership among employees in zakat institutions in Malaysia: The moderating role of religiosity / Anis Syamila Abdul Halim
No full textThe purpose of this research is to study the relationship between emotional intelligence and self-leadership with religiosity as moderator among employees in Zakat institutions in Malaysia. The objective of this research is to identify the level of emotional intelligence among the employees as well as their self-leadership principles. This research uses questionnaires as the instrument for data collection and had received 208 responses for data analysis process. This research used Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 28.01 as the data analysis tool. The research findings demonstrates that the Zakat employees possess a high level of emotional intelligence which 100% of manager and assistant manager have high emotional intelligence. Furthermore, the analysis shows that the Zakat employees possess a high self-leadership in dimension of behaviour-focused strategies. The data shows that 100% of the manager and assistant manager have high self-leadership. From Pearson Correlation, the result shows there are strong correlation (0.766) for association between emotional intelligence and self-leadership. The result of Pearson Correlation to determine the association between emotional intelligence and three dimensions of self-leadership shows that the highest correlation is emotional intelligence and natural reward strategies of self-leadership (0.733) and moderate correlation between emotional intelligence and behaviour-focused strategies of self-leadership (0.685) as well as emotional intelligence and cognitive thought pattern strategies (0.587). Hierarchical Multiple Regression analysis shows that the relationship of emotional intelligence to self-leadership is high (0 .766), and with religiosity as moderator, it has no significance because the value Beta (β=-0.36, p<0.01) is negative and the value for ΔR=0.589. Since the relationship between emotional intelligence and self-leadership have positive significance, hence its impact should be studied and adapted in the organisational culture to maintain a high emotional intelligence and self-leadership among Zakat employees
Development of computerized wood colour sorting system for Malaysian wood industry / Liew Shaer Jin
No full textWood colour sorting is essential in woodworking to maintain uniformity and
consistency in the appearance of the final products, thus, improving consumer
satisfaction. Majority of the wood manufacturing companies in Malaysia are depending
heavily on manual colour sorting that solely relies on human visual inspection, which can
be subjective, inconsistent, laborious, and subject to errors. Automation is a goal,
however, the cost for implementation of established technologies is always extortionate
especially for small and medium industries (SMI). Therefore, the aim of this research is
to develop a computerized vision system to perform colour sorting for multi-scale
woodworking facilities. To achieve the research goal, our objectives are set to determine
a suitable algorithm for colour features classification, to select the best features which
contribute the most in the classification and to compare the effect of different cameras in
the performance of the colour sorting. We have compared camera of different genres,
namely an industrial camera, a prosumer action camera, and a webcam. Three cameras
used were: i) Hikrobot® MV-CE200-10UC (CE200), ii) Logitech® C920 HD Pro
(C920), and iii) Sony® RX0 II (RX0 II). After setting up a veneer imaging prototype, a
total of 1,289 distinct images of American red oak (Quercus rubra), yellow poplar
(Liriodendron tulipifera), and maple (Acer spp.) were acquired from each camera,
summing up to 3,867 images from all cameras. After performing image preparations and
calibrations, 26 features were extracted from each image. The features were based on the
average and standard deviation of the wood basal colour and wood grain colour. Salient
features were obtained using Sequential Forward Selection (SFS), which were then used
to train a Self-Organizing Map (SOM). The results affirmed that the colour of the basal
colour is highly correlated with human sorted colour groups. As expected, CE200
performed the best being of industrial grade. Interestingly, C920 exhibited comparable
performance to CE200. RX0 II performed the worst due to its interface software limitations. This proposed system achieved accuracies of 89.0% for red oak, 94.3% for
yellow poplar and 96.4% for maple. This research will assist the SMI to develop
affordable vision systems for colour sorting
Risk perception modeling based on physiological and emotional responses / Ding Huizhe
No full textRisk perception refers to how individuals perceive objective risks. Although it initially
emerged in social sciences, it has become a crucial aspect of safety science due to its
significance in understanding unsafe behaviors. It can help safety managers develop a
comprehensive understanding of risk based on traditional engineering risk assessment
principles, facilitating the transition from the Safety I to Safety II paradigm. Therefore,
accurate risk perception has become vital. This research aims to develop models for
objectively assessing perceived risk. Previous studies have employed machine learning
techniques to classify high and low-risk situations based on physiological responses.
However, the performance of these algorithms in situations with closely comparable risk
magnitudes remains uncertain. This issue is crucial as it directly impacts their practicality
and generalization. To address this concern, four driving clips were selected as stimuli,
including relatively low (1.87) and high (3.97) risk levels, as well as two clips with slight
variations in their degree of riskiness (2.45 and 2.85, respectively). Fifty-five subjects
were recruited to synchronously measure their physiological signals, including
Electrodermal Activity (EDA), Heart Rate Variability (HRV), Pupil Diameter (PD), and
Skin Temperature (ST). A Pleasure-Arousal-Dominance (PAD) model was used to
induced and expressed mixed emotions. Subsequently, statistical analyses were
performed to identify indicators that showed significant differences. These results varied
significantly, including three emotional dimensions, two skin conductance indicators
(EDR and EDL), and several ECG indicators (such as HF, LF/HF and A++) reflecting
short-time changes. As the perceived risk level increased, subjects’ emotions experienced
more negative, arousal and a diminished sense of control. In terms of physiological
changes, there was an increase in sympathetic activity and a concurrent decline in the vagus nerve at a macro-level. However, the changes that resulted from consecutive
heartbeats were characterized by rapid and erratic variations at a micro-level.
Additionally, these observed significant differences were primarily attributed to
variations in risk levels, rather than personal differences. In terms of feature importance,
physiological and emotional indicators that showed significant differences or greater
fluctuations demonstrated greater sensitivity. Finally, three base models, Artificial Neural
Network (ANN), Random Forest (RF), Support Vector Classification (SVC), and two
integrated models were trained to classify perceived risk using higher sensitivity features.
The ANN demonstrated superior ability in distinguishing low and high-risk levels.
However, when risk degrees were closely matched, the integrated model with weight
adjustments based on base models outperformed ANN. To validate the research findings,
a second experiment was conducted in a construction scenario, still utilizing two clips
with closely matched risk degrees. It was demonstrated that the primary results derived
from statistical analysis and machine learning modelling were remarkably consistent,
thereby confirming the effectiveness and generalization of the proposed weight
adjustment algorithm, particularly in situations with closely matched risk levels
Validation of prisk tool for periodontal screening of patients with diabetes by non-dental practitioners / Wan Sophia Wan Ab Naim
No full textBackground and Objective: Studies have reported a bi-directional association between periodontal disease (PD) and diabetes mellitus (DM), highlighting the critical role of oral health in comprehensive DM care. The Periodontal Risk Assessment (PRISK) tool, comprising a self-reported questionnaire (Part A) and an intraoral assessment (Part B), was developed to be used for periodontal referrals by non-dental practitioners to the dental clinic. However, the PRISK tool has not been validated. Thus, this study aimed to validate the PRISK tool as a screening tool for PD among non-dental practitioners to improve the detection and timely management of PD among patients with DM in the University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC). Methods: A cross-sectional study was utilized. Two additional questions were added to the PRISK tool. Content validity for these questions were done by a review of 4 experts and face validity by 10 patients with DM and 10 non-dental practitioners. Pilot tests were conducted on 30 patients with DM. Test-retest was conducted with 30 participants, where the same procedures were repeated after 2 hours. A validation study was conducted involving 128 patients with diabetes and 20 non-dental practitioners (endocrinologists and medical officers) from the Primary Care Clinic and Diabetes Specialist Clinic, UMMC. Each participant answered a self-reported questionnaire (Part A) and received an intraoral assessment (Part B) from non-dental practitioners. Reliability was determined by internal consistency and test-retest. The outcomes from the PRISK tool were validated against the Basic Periodontal Examination (BPE). Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value analysis were subsequently conducted comparing these two tools. Results: The Content Validity Index (CVI) and Face Validity Index (FVI) demonstrated an excellent score of 1.0. The internal consistency reliability of the PRISK tool was 0.52. There was no significant difference between test-retest (p= 0.125). PRISK tool had a high sensitivity of 81.6% and a low specificity of 0%. The positive predictive value (PPV) was 97.1% and the negative predictive value (NPV) was 0%. Conclusion: Within the limitations of this study, the PRISK tool was found to be reliable and valid in screening PD among patients with DM. This can enhance and facilitate the referral process for periodontal care to dentists by non-dental practitioners. However, further modifications need to be done to improve the specificity and internal reliability of the PRISK tool in screening PD among patients with DM