The influence of gender and social economic status on boarding school students' English language performance

The purpose of this study was to describe the relationship between the students’ gender and Social Economic Status (SES) and the English Language performance. A total of 355 form four students from four boarding schools in the state of Kedah and Perlis were taken as the subjects for this study. The research tool used was in the form of a questionnaire. The measurement of student’s performance was based on their PMR English examination scores. The t-test and ANOVA were used to test the independent variables. The results obtained reported that gender, parents’ total monthly income, parents’ education level and the frequency of using English showed the existence of significant differences as related to the English Language performance. Other personal characteristics variables did not show any significant differences

Students' Orientations, Personal Characteristics and Attitudinal Variables in the Learning of English Language in Four Boarding Schools in Kedah and Perlis

The purpose of this study was to describe the relationship between the students’ orientations, attitudes, and personal characteristics and the English Language achievement, as measured by the PMR (Lower Secondary Evaluation) English Language examination results. A total of 355 form four students from four boarding schools in the state of Kedah and Perlis were taken as the subjects for this study. The research tool used was in the form of a questionnaire. There were four scales that were adapted from Gardner and Lambert (1972) and Vathana (1993). The measurement of student’s achievement was based on their PMR English examination scores. To test the reliability of the instrument, a pilot test was conducted, and the data analysis yielded a reliability value that was statistically acceptable. A correlational research design was used to test the hypotheses in this study. Analysis of the orientations and achievement data using the descriptive statistics - mean and standard deviation scores revealed that the students were more instrumentally than integratively oriented when learning English Language. To test the students’ attitudes and their achievement. The Pearson Product Moment Correlation was used. The analysis exposed that there is no significant relationship between the students’ attitudes toward learning English, peers and those people who speak English, and the target language group and culture and their English Language achievement. The t-test and ANOVA were used to test the personal characteristics variables. The results obtained reported that gender, parents’ total monthly income, parents’ education level and the frequency of using English showed the existence of significant differences as related to the English Language achievement. Other Personal characteristics variables did not show any significant differences

Perceptions of support staffs on English usage at the workplace / Samsiah Bidin and Aishah Musa

Much has been said that universities in Malaysia have to increase the intake of foreign students. One of the purposes is to rank Malaysian universities among the top World Class Universities. Due to this, there is a growing concern of the use of English language at the public universities especially among the support staff. Hence, this study was conducted to find out the perceptions of the support staff at the Malaysian public universities at the Northern Region regarding English usage by examining the workers’ needs and actual use of language at the workplace, the workers’ wants, and the workers’ lacks in English language. It was found that English is not necessary for the support staff in performing their duties. However, English is more needed for personal usage. It is hope that the findings of this study will provide insights to employers to better manage the workplace literacy particularly when English is concern

Managing behavioral academic self-esteem using FuzzyXteem

Behavioral academic self-esteem (BASE) has been used with children of preschool, elementary, and junior high school classes, both individually and in groups. In this study, BASE is used to estimate the factor structures and determine the levels of academic self-esteem of the student. The current practice of the existing system using BASE scale may be scored by hand or by computer based on the rigid crisp values to represent rating number one through five. Since BASE requires the ability for estimating the factor structure and also the ability to explain how the conclusion is derived, therefore artificial intelligent techniques that are required to perform BASE must be able to perform estimation and provide reasoning. For this purpose, fuzzy logic and expert system have been integrated in a web-based environment to demonstrate the use of hybrid system on BASE factor structure and levels of academic self-esteem. For each BASE factor, the sub score is provided based on the classifications of academic self-esteem and their respective ranges. In FuzzyXteem, users in particular teachers, counselors, or parent are allowed to measure students' self-esteem at early age using real time computation. FuzzyXteem facilitates user by automatically evaluating BASE factors and helps the user diagnoses their students' levels of academic self-esteem in 3 ratings: low, moderate and high. It is also able to provide explanation and describe how the conclusion can be derived. The system has been successfully tested by the counselors and conforms to the BASE factor rating scale and sub-scores. FuzzyXteem can be used as an aid to decision making in improving a person's self esteem, and indirectly increases an Taniza Tajuddin, MSc; research fields: fuzzy logic, expert system, neural network, web based programming. Kamaruzaman Jusoff, Ph.D.; research field: forest engineering survey. Fadzilah Siraj, associate professor; research fields: neural network, case based reasoning, fuzzy logic, data mining and mobile computing. Khairul Adilah Ahmad, MSc; research fields: XML, data management. Samsiah Bidin, MSc; research fields: education and motivation, test. individual for productivity. The same system functions can be applied to business organization for managing and improving the organizations performance

The academic english language needs of industrial design students in UiTM Kedah, Malaysia

The purpose of this study was to analyse the academic English language lacks and needs of Industrial Design students in Universiti Teknologi MARA Kedah (UiTM). It highlights the lacks and needs for English for Academic Purposes in helping the students to succeed in the program through the usage of English language. The research tools used were in the form of a questionnaire and interview which later being computed using SPSS into data analysis. Results indicated that the students have problems in acquiring the English language skills. This shows the weaknesses of English Language courses in helping the students to acquire the language skills needed by the faculty. The study concludes that relevant actions should be taken as to ensure the needs of the students are fulfilled and they can perform effectively in the program and future career

Managing behavioral academic self-esteem using FuzzyXteem

Behavioral academic self-esteem (BASE) has been used with children of preschool,elementary, and junior high school classes, both individually and in groups.In this study, BASE is used to estimate the factor structures and determine the levels of academic self-esteem of the student.The current practice of the existing system using BASE scale may be scored by hand or by computer based on the rigid crisp values to represent rating number one through five.Since BASE requires the ability for estimating the factor structure and also the ability to explain how the conclusion is derived, therefore artificial intelligent techniques that are required to perform BASE mustbe able to perform estimation and provide reasoning.For this purpose, fuzzy logic and expert system have been integrated in a web-based environment to demonstrate the use of hybrid system on BASE factor structure and levels of academic self-esteem.For each BASE factor, the sub score is provided based on the classifications of academic self-esteem and their respective ranges.In FuzzyXteem, users in particular teachers, counselors,or parent are allowed to measure students’ self-esteem at early age using real time computation. FuzzyXteem facilitates user by automatically evaluating BASE factors and helps the user diagnoses their students’ levels of academic self-esteem in 3 ratings: low, moderate and high. It is also able to provide explanation and describe how the conclusion can be derived.The system has been successfully tested by the counselors and conforms to the BASE factor rating scale and sub-scores. FuzzyXteem can be used as an aid to decision making in improving a person’s self esteem, and indirectly increases an individual for productivity. The same system functions can be applied to business organization for managing and improving the organizations performance

Motivation and Attitude in Learning English among UiTM Students in the Northern Region of Malaysia

The purpose of this study was to describe the relationship between the students’ motivation and attitude and their English Language performance. The subjects were the part two students from three UiTM campuses in the Northern Region. The research tool used was in the form of a questionnaire. The mean scores analysis of the motivation and performance revealed that the students were more extrinsically than intrinsically motivated when learning English. However, the one-way ANOVA test showed that there is no significant difference. To test the students’ attitudes and their performance, the Spearman Rho Rank-Order Correlation Coefficient was used and the analysis revealed a significant correlation between attitude and achievement. The one-way ANOVA also showed that there is a significant difference. The mean scores was used to find out whether there is any difference between the respondents of different gender and their attitude in learning English. The results showed the existence of significant difference

A corpus analysis on the semantics of Semai idiomatic expressions / Sharina Saad...[et al.]

Indigenous community in Malaysia is divided into three main groups which are Proto Malay, Senoi and Negrito. Semai community is a sub-group of Senoi which is the biggest group in Malaysia. (Nicholas, 2000, p.4). As the largest indigenous community in Malaysia, Semai has mostly 42383 speakers, representing several distinct dialects. Semai language is not a written language and most Semai speak the Aslian language, related to the Austro- Asiatic and the Mon-Khmer language family of mainland Southeast Asia. As it is not a written language, of late, there is a fear that the language may face gradual erosion and finally extinction as not all Semai people speak Semai language. The rapid growth of economic, education and urbanization, have affected the Semai lifestyles and attitudes on the many aspects of life including their native language. At school, the Semai younger generations learn majority languages such as Bahasa Malaysia and English and Semai language is not the main language learnt. Some of the Semai younger generation, feel inferior to speak their mother-tongue. Furthermore, the culture or life of a tribe is very much influenced by the language they use

The effects of demography factors on ICT usage among form five Kedah religious school students / Noor Rasidah Ali … [et al.]

Integration of information and communication technology (ICT) in teaching and learning will be able to generate a positive impact in student's academic achievement. Taking into consideration of this issue, government of Malaysia has taking an initiative by creating Malaysian Education Development Plan 2013 - 2025. Part of the plan is focusing on the needs of school infrastructure development for example at least 20 students will be equipped with ICT in all schools. In Malaysia education mainstream, besides having Sekolah Rendah Kebangsaan (SRK) or Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK), there is also Sekolah Agama Bantuan Kerajaan (SABK). SABK is one of the government efforts to help and strengthen the religious schools in Malaysia. Since ICT usage has becoming global phenomena, Sekolah Agama Bantuan Kerajaan (SABK) also tries to adapt this approach in their teaching and learning process. In accordance to that, five Sekolah Rendah Agama (SRA) under management of Jabatan Agama Islam Wilayah Persekutuan (JAWI) has been selected as pilot schools in utilizing ICT for teaching and learning

Motivation and attitude in learning English among UiTM students in the northern region / Samsiah Bidin …[et al.]

The purpose of this study was to describe the relationship between the students’ motivation and attitudes and their English Language performance, as measured by the UiTM BEL 100 (Preparatory English) English Language examination results. A total of 620 part two students from three UiTM campuses in the Northern Region were taken as the subjects for this study. The research tool used was in the form of a questionnaire. Two variables used in this study which are motivation and attitude were adapted from Gardner and Lambert (1972). A reliability test was conducted on the instrument, and the data analysis yielded a reliability value that was statistically acceptable. The measurement of student’s performance was based on their BEL 100 English examination scores. A correlational research design was used in this study. Analysis of the motivation and achievement data using the descriptive statistics - mean scores revealed that the students were more extrinsically than intrinsically motivated when learning English. However, the one-way ANOVA test showed that there is no significant difference between motivation and English language performance. To test the students’ attitudes and their performance, the Spearman Rho Rank-Order Correlation Coefficient was used and from the analysis, there is a significant correlation between attitude and achievement. The one-way ANOVA was also used and the analysis revealed that there is a significant difference between the students’ attitude in learning English and their English Language performance. The descriptive statistic - mean score was used to find out whether there is any difference between the respondents of different gender and their attitude in learning English. From the results obtained, gender showed the existence of significant differences as related to the English Language performance