Investigating learning difficulties in economics English medium classes among Malay students / Roslilee Ab. Halim and Norliwa Ab. Halim

English language is spoken globally where many people in the world purposely learn it as a second language. In order to prepare students to venture into this global world and be part of the growing society, many universities are using English as the medium of instruction in lectures or tutorials. For most Malay students whose mother tongue is not English, the level of English proficiency might influence their capability in comprehending the courses taught. A very minimal ability in English would lead to learning difficulties. This will definitely disturb the learning process. As such, the main objective of the paper is to investigate the learning difficulties faced by the Malay students in comprehending the subject with English as the medium of instruction. 100 questionnaires were distributed among Malay students who enrolled for Economics courses. The selection of sample was based on simple random technique. The findings showed that the overall degree of students’ comprehension in their Economics English-medium classes is at the average level and that the comprehension level will improve if the lecturers reexplain in their mother tongue language which is Malay (M=4.14). About half of the respondents were found to respond that the difficulties in understanding Economics were due to either solely to the difficulty they had with English language or at least part of the difficulty was due to English

Pengetahuan golongan belia terhadap pendekatan Islam Hadhari.

Objektif kertas ini ialah untuk mengkaji pengetahuan golongan belia terhadap pendekatan Islam Hadhari yang telah diperkenalkan oleh Kerajaan Malaysia sejak 2003. Pensampelan terdiri daripada 1000 orang responden yang dipilih di kalangan belia berumur 19 hingga 30 tahun. Data dikumpulkan daripada borang soal selidik yang diisi sendiri oleh responden. Pengetahuan responden tentang Pendekatan Islam Hadhari diukur menggunakan empat Skala Likert iaitu, Sangat Setuju (4), Setuju (3), Tidak Setuju (2) dan Sangat Tidak Setuju (1). Hasil kajian menunjukkan majoriti responden mempunyai tahap pengetahuan yang tinggi tentang pendekatan Islam Hadhari. Dapatan kajian juga menunjukkan terdapat perbezaan pengetahuan di kalangan responden berdasarkan etnik dan terdapat perkaitan yang signifikan antara umur dan pengetahuan responden terhadap pendekatan ini

Sumbangan kajian kontrasitif dan analisis kesalahan dalam bidang pengajaran dan pembelajaran bahasa asing atau kedua.

Kajian kontrasitif dan analisis kesalahan memberi sumbangan yang positif kepada bidang pengajaran dan pembelajaran bahasa asing atau kedua

Unsur-unsur ilmu Badi’ Arab dalam syair Hamzah Fansuri

Ilmu badi’ adalah sebahagian daripada ilmu retorik Arab yang membincangkan penggunaan kata dan frasa yang berbunga dalam sesuatu ungkapan termasuk prosa, syair, al-quran dan teks lain. Ilmu badi’ Arab merangkumi lebih 30 tajuk yang dibincangkan dalam buku-buku retorik Arab. Dalam artikel yang ringkas ini, penulis akan membincangkan beberapa unsur ilmu badi’ Arab yang agak relevan dan boleh diaplikasikan dengan mudah ke atas puisi Hamzah Fansuri. Unsur-unsur ilmu badi’ yang dibincangkan dalam artikel ini ialah iqtibas, tibaq, jinas, tawriyah, saj’, dan muwazanah. Artikel ini mendedahkan kepada pembaca wujudnya penggunaan unsur ilmu badi’ dalam puisi Hamzah Fansuri. Hasil kajian membuktikan bahawa syair Hamzah Fansuri (q.s) banyak dipengaruhi oleh unsur retorik Arab, selain daripada bahasa dan pemikiran Arab dan Islam

Educating teacher for muallaf: the tawhidic base

The main aim of this paper is to discuss the role of tawhid in developing teacher education system for the muallaf. Basically, every teacher should have good akhlak, since they are generally regarded as the role models or exemplars for their students especially for the muallaf students. These teachers are the persons who directly educate the muallaf about Islam and guide them closely how live as good Muslim. Therefore, in Islam, tawhid is not limited to divine or metaphysical aspects, but it also should be regarded as the universal principle or rule that will guide all human activities in order to confirm to the will of Allah. This primary concept is related to the human being’s temporal duty in this universe as khalīfatullāh, and with his or her permanent duty as ‘abdullāh. As a result, education in Islam cannot be separated from the concept of tawhid. Thus, this concept of tawhid should be correctly understood by the teachers particularly in educating our new Muslim brothers and sisters

Learning to Filter Text in Forum Malay Message using Naive Bayesian Technique

Applying the basic filtering technique in forum application has been discussed in [I]. The paper explains about me use of the basic naive Bayesian algorithm to classify forum messages whether clean or bad where clean message has no bad words, while bad message contains at least one bad word. In this Final Year Project paper, the application ofthe algorithm in the filtering forum messages will be discussed in the attempt to apply learning to filter forum messages

Technology Readiness and Users Satisfaction towards Self-Service Technology at Malaysian Airport

This study examines the relationship between four dimensions of Technology Readiness Index (TR) namely optimism, innovativeness, insecurity, discomfort, and the level of customer’s satisfaction towards the use of self-service technology (SSTs) at the airport. SSTs used by the airport operators or airlines at the terminal for check-in or when performing other transactions includes booking airline ticket online, kiosk check-in and mobile check-in. At the same time, this study also tries to look at whether there is any difference in technology readiness between different demographic groups of Malaysians. Survey questionnaires were distributed to passengers at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) and Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) in Sepang, Selangor, Malaysia. The result of the analysis shows that innovativeness and optimism have a positive relationship with customer satisfaction. There are also differences in technology readiness among different gender for innovativeness and insecurity index. The implication of the study suggests that Malaysia’s airport or airline providers should increase customer satisfaction especially by introducing new innovative technology at their premises. The findings may also help firms develop their strategy to further increase the customer’s satisfaction when using the selfservice technology (SST) at airports in Malaysia

Knowledge Sharing between Multinational Corporation’s Headquarters and Subsidiaries: the Impact of Manager’s Role, Compensation System and Cultural Differences

Knowledge sharing is a systematic process for creating, acquiring, synthesizing, learning, sharing and using knowledge to achieve organizational goals. It is also a source of competitive advantage especially for multinational companies. The objective of this paper is to discuss the impact of subsidiary manager’s role in knowledge sharing, manager’s compensation system, and the level of cultural differences between home and host country on the level of knowledge sharing between the headquarters and subsidiaries of multinational companies. A study has been conducted at a subsidiary of a large manufacturing company in Malaysia. Data were collected via self-administered survey questionnaire. The respondents consist of 100 executives and managers of the company, and all the questionnaires distributed were filled and returned back for data analysis. Findings indicate that all three factors significantly influence the level of knowledge sharing with the manager’s compensation system has the strongest impact. MNC therefore should clearly define the manager’s role in knowledge sharing and provide attractive rewards and remunerations to encourage knowledge sharing. At the same time, cultural differences should not be considered as a barrier to knowledge sharing as this study indicates that it can be a driver for effective knowledge sharing between headquarters and subsidiaries

Tahfiz Nurse Homecare dalam Perkhidmatan Kesihatan Berteraskan Islam: Satu Penerokaan

Kertas kerja ini bertujuan untuk membina satu konsep perkhidmatan kesihatan berteraskan Islam atau dikenali sebagai Tahfiz Nurse Homecare, yang menggabungkan dua bidang utama iaitu bidang tahfiz dan bidang kejururawatan. Konsep Tahfiz Nurse Homecare adalah sebagai satu langkah persediaan bagi Malaysia menghadapi status Negara Tua. Jabatan Statistik Malaysia menyatakan bahawa Malaysia dijangka menjadi Negara Tua menjelang tahun 2035 iaitu seramai 15 peratus rakyat Malaysia merupakan warga tua. Tahfiz Nurse Homecare akan menyediakan perkhidmatan rawatan kepada warga emas merangkumi rawatan fizikal dan rohani. Persoalannya, apakah kaedah yang diguna pakai dalam perkhidmatan kesihatan berteraskan Islam? Bagaimanakah kaedah perlaksanaan Tahfiz Nurse Homecare di Malaysia? Bagi menjawab persoalan, kertas kerja ini menetapkan dua objektif. Pertama, mengenal pasti konsep perkhidmatan kesihatan berteraskan Islam (PKBI). Kedua, menganalisis konsep Tahfiz Nurse Homecare mengikut kaedah perkhidmatan berteraskan Islam. Dapatan kertas kerja ini merumuskan satu konsep perkhidmatan berteraskan Islam yang akan memberi sumbangan dan manfaat kepada negara dalam menghadapi Negara Tua dan juga dapat merealisasikan harapan kerajaan untuk melahirkan para huffaz yang mahir dalam bidang professional sekaligus dapat mengurangkan masalah pengangguran di kalangan rakyat Malaysia

Synthesis of bacterial cellulose by Acetobacter Xylinum sp. using pineapple pith for biocomposite application

Bacterial cellulose produced by Acetobacter xylinum sp. was a new type of biopolymer. It was far superior to its counterpart from plants because of its exceptional purity, ultra fine network structure, high biodegradability and unique mechanical strength. Bacterial cellulose was expected to be used for many industrial applications as a high-strength construction material, food additive and a component of biodegradable products and paper. The objectives of this study were to investigate the production of bacterial cellulose in shaken culture condition and in various value of pH using pineapple pith juice as the substrate for the fermentation process. The shaken culture method had been carried out at 100 rpm, 110 rpm, 120 rpm, 130 rpm and 140 rpm while the pH value was investigated in the range of 4.0 to 8.0. The parameter conditions were fixed at the temperature of 30 ˚C and glucose concentration of 9 g/L for all the experiments in this research. From this research, the bacterial cellulose production in shaken culture at 120 rpm and pH of 6.0 were the most suitable conditions for culture medium because it formed the highest yield that was 14.1860 g. The qualitative analysis with Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) shows that the compound of cellulose was detected. As a conclusion, the objectives in this study were achieved by investigated the effect of shaken speed of the stackable incubator shaker and the pH of substrate towards the production of bacterial cellulose using Acetobacter xylinum sp. in the medium of pineapple pith juice