News coverage of foreign sex workers in Malaysia: a critical analysis

The growing concern over the influx of foreign women in Malaysia as sex workers, has continually gained the attention of the local media particularly the mainstream newspapers. The media, despite playing an instrumental role in bringing about social transformation, has the ability to portray the foreign women in a positive way or to discriminate against them. This study, based on qualitative analysis, represents an attempt to study a social problem particularly in the way that foreign women in sex work have been represented in Malaysia by the mainstream English-language newspapers. The analytical tools of the discourse-historical approach (DHA) are employed in the analysis of the news articles. In particular, the argumentation strategy in the DHA demonstrates that a number of topoi (i.e., the topoi of control, number, threat, and victimisation) have been employed to represent foreign sex workers in the media. Investigation of the newspaper extracts from New Straits Times and The Star generally revealed that the media have portrayed foreign women in sex work in the offender orientation frame more so than as victims. Furthermore, foreign sex workers are also positioned negatively because of their illegal migrant status, making them doubly discriminated against. Such representations directly impact the women’s lives, leading to further discrimination on the basis of their trade and illegal migrant status, denying them a voice and depriving them of their legal rights. The paper concludes by discussing the contributions of the research and emphasises the need for social justice for these marginalised women

Writing generator: a study on the use of Transitional Markers in Academic Writing / Alice Shanthi... [et al.]

Coherence and cohesion are often considered an abstract and difficult area in the teaching of writing. The present study attempts to identify the categories of transitional markers (TM) used by students who have been taught using the Cycle 1 Writing Generator Beta 1.0 developed by the researchers in a writing class, and whether students are able to retain the skills of using TMs effectively in later writing. The Writing Generator is a Microsoft word tool that prompt student to choose from a list the formulaic phrases and expressions when they write expository essays. Using descriptive statistics, it was revealed that transitional markers were used by these students in their pre-test, post-test and also delayed post-test. The findings show a significant difference in the frequency of TMs used in the pre- test and post-test (p=.000). Though students failed to retain aspects of TMs in delayed post-test without the use of Writing Generator, the t-test found no significant difference between the post-test and delayed post-test (p=.302). The result indicates that the Writing Generator is able to condition students to choose TMs that bring about unity in their writing even they do not use the tool. The study indicates that the Cycle 1 Writing Generator Beta 1.0 could be developed further with extra features for Cycle 2 Beta 2.0 that could facilitate students’ uptake of academic writing skills more effectively among students

Do types of gadgets used for online learning have a bearing on student academic performance?

This paper explores the impacts of using smartphones vs laptops on students' academic achievement in their English courses and their satisfaction in learning English via open distance learning (ODL). Experiments were conducted in authentic teaching sessions with a total of 304 undergraduates from a local university. The methodology applied is a quasi-experimental design with post-test-only. Results indicate that the relationship between the grade obtained and level of satisfaction with gadget is low and not significant at 5% level of significance. However, there is a significant relationship between the level of satisfaction towards gadgets used for learning English courses and learning English via ODL classes since the p-value is significant with a correlation value of 0.455. Finally, there is a low correlation between the grade obtained and level of satisfaction in learning English during ODL classes. Future research should be conducted to further check on the effects of using mobile phones against other mobile devices on other subjects learnt in the universities

Discourse Analysis as a Qualitative Approach to Study Information Sharing Practice in Malaysian Board Forums

There are numerous approaches to qualitative research, and discourse analysis is one of them. The study of naturally occurring language in any social context is discourse analysis, and it makes use of various qualitative methods to increase our understanding of human experience. The researchers build upon Herring’s (2004) work, which used discourse analysis approach to explore communication taking place in mediated environment using Computer-Mediated Discourse Analysis (CMDA) toolkit. In this article the researchers will discuss how to conduct a study using the discourse analysis approach in computer-mediated environment specially in discussion board forums by analyzing the naturally occurring asynchronous communication using Herring’s CMDA toolkit to reveal how language is used to perform the many actions needed to share and exchange information online

Language function and knowledge construction in online discussion board forums

One form of online communication categorised as asynchronous is online discussion board forums. This paper presents the findings of a study on the interactive language functions and the phases of knowledge construction in asynchronous computer-mediated discourse (CMD) in an online discussion board forum in Malaysia. Data for the study was collected using purposive non-random data samples motivated by theme. It was found that the members of the online discussion forum used more assertive speech acts such as explaining, giving suggestions, agreeing, supporting, and answering to queries while interacting online. The second part of the study revealed that the most common phase of knowledge constructing was the act of sharing and comparing of opinion, as well as the discovery and exploration of dissonance or inconsistency among ideas, concepts or statements

Parent and teacher-reported child outcomes seven years after mild traumatic brain Injury: A nested case control study

Background: Increasing evidence suggests potential lifetime effects following mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) in childhood. Few studies have examined medium-term outcomes among hospitalized and non-hospitalized samples. Study aims were to describe children's behavioral and emotional adjustment, executive function (EF), quality of life, and participation at 7-years following mild TBI using parents' and teachers' reports. Methods: Nested case control study of 86 children (68% male, mean age at assessment = 11.27 years; range 7–17 years) who sustained a mild TBI 7-years previously, identified from a prospective, population-based study. They were compared to 69 children free from TBI (61% male, mean age at assessment = 11.12 years; range 5–17 years). In addition to parent-reported socio-demographic details, parents (mild TBI n = 86, non-TBI n = 69) completed age-appropriate standardized questionnaires about children's health-related quality of life, behavioral and emotional adjustment, EF, and social participation. Parents own mood was assessed using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Teachers (mild TBI n = 53, non-TBI n = 42) completed questionnaires about children's behavioral and emotional adjustment, and EF. Results: Parent reports showed median group-level scores for cases were statistically significantly greater than controls for emotional symptoms, conduct problems, hyperactivity/inattention, total behavioral difficulties, inhibitory control, shifting, planning/organizing, and Global Executive Composite (total) EF difficulties (p-values 0.001–0.029). Parent reports of child quality of life and social participation were similar, as were teacher reports of child behavioral and emotional adjustment, and EF (p > 0.05). When examining clinical cut-offs, compared to controls, cases had a higher risk of parent-reported total EF difficulties (odds ratio = 3.00) and, to a lesser extent, total behavior problems (odds ratio = 2.51). Conclusions: As a group, children with a history of mild TBI may be at elevated risk for clinically significant everyday EF difficulties in the medium-term compared to non-TBI controls, as judged by their parents. Further multi-informant longitudinal research is required, following larger samples. Aspects requiring particular attention include pre-injury characteristics, such as sleep disturbances and comorbidities (e.g., headaches), that may act as potential confounders influencing the association between mild TBI and child behavioral problems

Population-based cohort study of the impacts of mild traumatic brain injury in adults four years post-injury

There is increasing evidence that some people can experience persistent symptoms for up to a year following mild TBI. However, few longitudinal studies of mild TBI exist and the longerterm impact remains unclear. The purpose of this study is to determine if there are long-term effects of mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) four-years later. Adults (aged 16 years) identified as part of a TBI incidence study who experienced a mild-TBI four-years ago (N = 232) were compared to age-sex matched controls (N = 232). Sociodemographic variables, prior TBI and symptoms were assessed at the time of injury. Four years post-injury participants completed the Rivermead Post-Concussion Symptom Questionnaire, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and the Participation Assessment with Recombined Tools. Analysis of covariance was used to compare differences between TBI cases four years post-injury and controls, controlling for prior TBI and depression. A multiple regression model was used to identify the predictors of increased symptoms and reduced participation. The mild-TBI sample experienced significantly increased self-reported cognitive symptoms (F = 19.90, p = <0.01) four years post-injury than controls. There were no differences between the groups for somatic (F = 0.02, p = 0.89) or emotional symptoms (F = 0.31, p = 0.58). Additionally, the mild-TBI group reported significantly poorer community participation across all three domains: productivity (F = 199.07, p = <0.00), social relations (F = 13.93, p = <0.00) and getting out and about (F = 364.69, p = <0.00) compared to controls. A regression model accounting for 41% of the variance in cognitive symptoms in TBI cases revealed a history of TBI, receiving acute medical attention and baseline cognitive symptoms, sleep quality, anxiety and depression were predictive of outcome. The results indicate that whilst somatic and emotional symptoms resolve over time, cognitive symptoms can become persistent and that mild TBI can impact longer-term community participation. Early intervention is needed to reduce the longer-term impact of cognitive symptoms and facilitate participation