Exploring the effectiveness of using big books in teaching primary English in Malaysian classrooms

There are many benefits of using stories for language and literacy development particularly in the areas of vocabulary(Cameron, 2001; Elley, 1989; Penno, Wilkinson & Moore 2002;Hargrave & Senechal, 2000) and reading comprehension. Yet, much is still unknown in second language (L2) contexts. This paper investigates the use of Big Books in primary English in Malaysia where English is taught as an official second language. It draws on transcript data from one teacher from one primary school to illustrate how students’ active participation and interest in language learning emerged as the teacher introduced Big Books instead of the textbook. Our data shows that practice with Big Books changes the interaction patterns and learning opportunities. Students were actively involved and they contributed to the discussions and made spontaneous comments about the stories. Most importantly,the teacher’s elicitation skill is essential in enhancing students’ learning. The Ministry of Education’s hopes to provide more active engagement and to increase students’ interests and motivation through stories were achieved

Essays on the Modern Japanese Church

Essays on the Modern Japanese Church (Gendai Nihon kyokai shiron), published in 1906, was the first Japanese-language history of Christianity in Meiji Japan. Yamaji Aizan’s firsthand account describes the reintroduction of Christianity to Japan—its development, rapid expansion, and decline—and its place in the social, political, and intellectual life of the Meiji period. Yamaji’s overall argument is that Christianity played a crucial role in shaping the growth and development of modern Japan

In silico simulation of blood glucose-insulin dynamics using MATLAB-Simulink

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a major public health concern in Malaysia and it continuously increases over years. Based on International Diabetes Federation, there are rising numbers of people having diabetes with 3.6 million people in Malaysia and 463 million people in the world [1]. The National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS) 2019 has shown that the diabetes in Malaysia has increased from 13.4% in 2015 to 18.3% in 2019 [2]. This can significantly increase the cost in diabetes treatment and management

Malaysian literacy practices in English : 'big books', CD-ROMs and the year 1 English hour

In the context of an increasing awareness of improving the standards of English in Malaysia, this study explores Year 1 literacy practices in English and offers important insights into the three major innovations introduced in 2002: the English Hour, Big Books and CD-ROMs. The findings are examined in the context of the Ministry's desire to promote active engagement and high quality interaction. Two studies were conducted using a naturalistic approach. In 2003,50 questionnaires were distributed to primary school teachers: 5 classes and 9 teachers in 2 primary and 3 pre-schools were observed teaching English, Bahasa Malaysia and Arabic/Jawi. These teachers were also interviewed. In 2004,2 trainers and 10 teachers were interviewed, 48 lessons of English, Mathematics and Science in English by the 10 teachers were observed, but the study focuses on the literacy practices in 26 lessons by 4 English teachers in four schools. Interviews and role plays with 28 children from these four classes in 7 groups of 4 inform the accounts and discussion of reading and writing events and practices. The 2004 study suggests that the Ministry of Education's directives to English classes to integrate the use of the English Hour, Big Books and CD-ROMs have only been partially implemented in the classroom. The Ministry's hopes to provide more active engagement and to increase students' interests and motivation through the Big Books and the CD-ROMs were achieved, but the expectations of high quality interaction were not realised. Methods need to be developed to accommodate teachers' beliefs about the value of drilling, repetition and choral reading with the Ministry's desire to extend these interaction patterns and practices. The present study contributes to existing research on the implementation of the English Hour, Big Books and CD-ROMs in Year 1 English classrooms, specifically from the perspective of Year 1 English classes in non-English speaking contexts. It also provides greater understanding of issues to be addressed in future teacher education developments

Insider researchers: Challenges & opportunities

A researcher plays an important role in the success of the topic being researched. Being an insider researcher could help the researcher to have more understanding about their research and the phenomena being studied.However, previous research revealed inconsistent results.Some argue that becoming an insider researcher could lead to a loss of objectivity and bias, while others found that it has potential to balance the ways issues being researched.The objective of this qualitative case study is to explore the potential and challenges of being an insider researcher.Ten excellent teachers were selected using purposive sampling and they were interviewed face to face. The findings revealed some advantages to the insider researcher in understanding the issues being studied as she has the common knowledge of the life, problems and challenges they face as excellent teachers.Moreover, the researcher also managed to reduced “red tape” in getting contact with the participants.The findings from this study enriched the literature on being an insider in educational research from the perspectives of excellent teachers

The physical and thermal properties of modified rotational molding grade silane cross-linked polyethylene compound

This study is aimed at investigating the physical and thermal properties of the modified rotational molding grade cross-linked polyethylene compound with respect to process ability. Rotational molding grade High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) was blended at various compositions with HDPE and Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) using twin screw extruder. The melt index of the blends was studied according to ASTM D 1238. The blended compositions were chemically cross-linked with various amount of silane cross-linking agent using two roll-mill. Water curing was then undertaken at 100°C in water bath for 4 and 8 hours. Gel content was measured according to ASTM D 2765 to determine the degree of cross-linking. For thermal analysis, only samples crosslinked with 2.0 phr silane cross-linking agent were investigated on the Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) according to ASTM D 3417. The thermal stability test of the silane Crosslinkable Polyethylene (XLPE) was performed by Thermogravimetric Analyzer (TGA) according to ASTM D 3850. Results on melt index (MI) indicated that the rotational molding grade HDPE blended with HDPE showed higher MI compared to that with LDPE thus improved process ability. The density of rotational molding grade HDPE with HDPE was slightly increased whereas that blended with LDPE was slightly decreased. Samples blended with HDPE, melting temperature, Tm, barely changed and degree of crystallinity, Xc, decreased with compositions. Samples with LDPE Tm and Xc decreased with compositions thus improved process ability. As the silane concentrations increased, the gel content after curing was also increased but independent of compositions. Longer curing time resulted in higher gel content. Thermal stability of the crosslinked HDPE was higher than the uncross-linked HDPE, thus silane cross-linking help to stabilize the blends

Characterization of injection molded high density polyethylene/rice straw biocomposite

Polymer composite have been subjected to increasing interest, study, and utilization for some decades. The increase in environmental concern rationalize the use of reduce polymeric materials, not only due to their non-biodegradab ility, but also due to their production requires large amounts of oil as raw material which is notor iously not renewable. All these issues induced to look for alternatives. Thus, the interest aris es toward polymer composites filled with natural organic fillers. Composite materials (or composites for short) are engineered materials made from two or more constituent materials with significantly different physical or chemical properties and which remain separa te and distinct on a macroscopic level within the finished structure. Composite materials made from plan t fibers are receiving a great deal of today attention since they are consider ed an environmentally friendly recourse. Among all reinforcing fibers, natural fibers have gained their importa nce especially for load bearing applications. Natural fiber reinforced polymer composites ar e superior over synthe tic fiber reinforced composites in certain properties like enhanced biodegradability, combustib ility, lightweight, ease of recyclability, etc. These advantages place the na tural fibers composites among high performance composites having economical and environmental advantages, with good physical properties [1]

Newton Homotopy Continuation Method for Solving Nonlinear Equations using Mathematica

In this paper, we solve the nonlinear equations by using a classical method and a powerful method.  A powerful method known as homotopy continuation method (HCM) is used to solve the problem of classical method.  We use Newton-HCM to solve the divergence problem that the classical Newton’s method always faces. The divergence problem occurs when a bad initial guess is used. The problem with Newton’s method happens when the derivative of given function at initial point equal to zero. The division by zero makes the scheme become nonsense. Thus, an approach used to solve this mathematical problem by using Newton-HCM. The results are implemented by mathematical software known as Mathematica 7.0. The results obtained indicate the ability of Newton-HCM to solve this mathematical problem