Changes in basic meanings from Proto-Austronesian to Acehnese

Changes in meaning or semantic changes are the area of diachronic linguistics. The Acehnese language is a derivative of the Proto-Austronesian (PAN) language that has had changes in the meaning of its lexicon that have become the object of this interesting study. It is aimed at explaining examples of changes in meaning in the Acehnese etynom based on four basic types of changes of meaning categorized according to Crowley and Bowern (2010). The data was taken from the English Finder list of Reconstruction in Austronesian Languages reconstructed (Wurm Wilson, 1975). The selected data from the results of this study was then confirmed by six native speakers’ expert in the actual use of the Acehnese language. The results showed that some original meanings from PAN have become broader, some narrower, some have bifurcated and some have shifted in meaning

An analysis of English language used in daily communication by students of Dayah or Islamic boarding schools

The objectives of this study were to analyze the policy regarding the language used and to know students’ perceptions about the use of English language for daily communication. This study used a mixed method and the researcher combined questionnaire, document analysis, and interview to gain the data needed. The subject of this study were 20 students of the sixth grade, and the leader of Dayah or Islamic boarding school. The research finding showed that the Dayah Modern Darul 'Ulum arranged the regulations regarding English language implementation and developed some programs to increase and motivate students to use the English language. In addition, from the questionnaire, in terms of the students’ perceptions, the finding of this research showed that 72,5% students perceive using English as daily language plays a good role in their speaking skill development, 93,3% students expected daily language program that can help them improve their English speaking skill, and 70% students perceive English language speaking implementation was good enough.

Teachers' strategies in teaching speaking skill to junior high school students

Improving the speaking skill of the students requires creativity in strategies. Therefore, this research aims to describe the kind of strategies as well as the obstacles. This research used observation sheet and interview guide as the instruments. The subjects of this research were two English teachers who teach the junior high school students at SMP Inshafuddin Banda Aceh. The data were collected by observing and interviewing the teachers. Then, the procedure of data analysis for this research involved data condensation, data display and drawing the conclusion. The result of the first research question of this research described that there are five strategies used by the teachers in teaching speaking skills, namely role play, drilling, games, picture describing, and storytelling. Meanwhile, the result of the second research question described the obstacles faced by the teachers related in applying the strategies. It is suggested for the teachers to be creative in applying several strategies to improve students’ speaking skill. In conclusion, in order to be succeed in applying the strategies, the teachers need to find the solution in overcoming the obstacles while applying the strategies

MACROSTRUCTURE OF CLASSROOM SPOKEN DISCOURSES PRODUCED BY ENGLISH TEACHERS

For English teaching practice, it is important to deliberate productive talks that spur students’ comprehension, creativity, and problem solving ability. This research aimed at finding out the spoken discourse based on six phases of macrostructure in English classrooms. In this study, the writers employed observation guide sheets to collect the data and it was employed to 2 English teachers in Aceh Besar. The guide was developed based on Van Dijk (1980) on macrostructure in discourse society. The theory was adopted and adjusted based on the classroom spoken discourse. The data were analyzed using the interactive model analysis by Miles, Huberman, and Saldana (2014). The steps were data condensation, data display, and data verification by using a percentage formula. The findings indicate that two teachers conducted the process of teaching and learning activities according to the lesson plans that they had previously designed. Even though both of them had different teaching strategies, but the lesson plans had a complete structure with 6 steps in macro-phases

The analysis of best-seller fantasy novel covers in 2019 through multimodal lens

The purpose of this research was to analyze ten covers of 2019 best-seller fantasy novels through multimodal. The research method used was qualitative research. The objects in this research were ten book covers of 2019 best-seller fantasy novels. The instruments used were documentation that aimed at obtaining data, including relevant books, study, activity reporting, relevant research data. Content analysis was used to obtain the data. This study used five phased cycles in analyzing the data; compiling, disassembling, reassembling, interpreting, and concluding. The result of analyzing the novels is emphasized in two focuses, including representation and interactive function. Several novels have a narrative aspect, while others contain conceptual interpretation, which is part of a representative function. It was very challenging to interpret some implicit meaning of the symbols in some of the novels as it requires mythical knowledge. Therefore, it is expected that understanding the implicit meaning comprehensively will make readers easier to understand the story outline of the novel

Am I getting my point across? Microstructure of English classroom discourses by Acehnese teachers

For English teaching practice, productive talks that spur students’ comprehension, creativity, and problem-solving ability are vital. This research aimed at finding out the spoken discourse based on six phases of microstructure in English classrooms. The data were obtained recordings and observations of two English teachers, chosen through purposive sampling, from Islamic senior high schools in Aceh. The data were concerned with the lexical density or the ratio of content to grammatical or function words within a clause. They were analyzed through thematic analysis which consists of five steps: data familiarization, code generation, theme search, themes revision, and theme definition. It was found that the total lexical density obtained by the first teacher in Class A was 63.66% and in class, B was 66.52%, while the second teacher in Class A was 71. 74% and in Class B was 68.12%. The second teacher 2 in Class A had a higher lexical density than the first teacher even though both of them are considered to produce a high lexical density of around 60-70%. The formality of spoken discourse of the two teachers shows that the first teacher produced 172.5 while the second teacher produced 184. It means that the second teacher's spoken discourse was more formal than the first teacher’s discourse. To analyze the utterances of teachers and to find the density of language used in the classrooms during the teaching and learning process is important because they implicitly inform whether the language used is understandable for the students or not

Aerobic H2 production related to formate metabolism in white-rot fungi

Biohydrogen is mainly produced by anaerobic bacteria, anaerobic fungi, and algae under anaerobic conditions. In higher eukaryotes, it is thought that molecular hydrogen (H2) functions as a signaling molecule for physiological processes such as stress responses. Here, it is demonstrated that white-rot fungi produce H2 during wood decay. The white-rot fungus Trametes versicolor produces H2 from wood under aerobic conditions, and H2 production is completely suppressed under hypoxic conditions. Additionally, oxalate and formate supplementation of the wood culture increased the level of H2 evolution. RNA-seq analyses revealed that T. versicolor oxalate production from the TCA/glyoxylate cycle was down-regulated, and conversely, genes encoding oxalate and formate metabolism enzymes were up-regulated. Although the involvement in H2 production of a gene annotated as an iron hydrogenase was uncertain, the results of organic acid supplementation, gene expression, and self-recombination experiments strongly suggest that formate metabolism plays a role in the mechanism of H2 production by this fungus. It is expected that this novel finding of aerobic H2 production from wood biomass by a white-rot fungus will open new fields in biohydrogen research

RNA-seq-based evaluation of bicolor tepal pigmentation in Asiatic hybrid lilies (Lilium spp.)

Background: Color patterns in angiosperm flowers are produced by spatially and temporally restricted deposition of pigments. Identifying the mechanisms responsible for restricted pigment deposition is a topic of broad interest. Some dicots species develop bicolor petals, which are often caused by the post-transcriptional gene silencing (PTGS) of chalcone synthase (CHS) genes. An Asiatic hybrid lily (Lilium spp.) cultivar Lollypop develops bicolor tepals with pigmented tips and white bases. Here, we analyzed the global transcription of pigmented and non-pigmented tepal parts from Lollypop, to determine the main transcriptomic differences. Results: De novo assembly of RNA-seq data yielded 49,239 contigs (39,426 unigenes), which included a variety of novel transcripts, such as those involved in flavonoid-glycosylation and sequestration and in regulation of anthocyanin biosynthesis. Additionally, 1258 of the unigenes exhibited significantly differential expression between the tepal parts (false discovery rates 2-fold higher in the pigmented parts. Thus, LhMYB12 should be involved in the transcriptional regulation of the biosynthesis genes in bicolor tepals. Other factors that potentially suppress or enhance the expression of anthocyanin biosynthesis genes, including a WD40 gene, were identified, and their involvement in bicolor development is discussed. Conclusions: Our results indicate that the bicolor trait of Lollypop tepals is caused by the transcriptional regulation of anthocyanin biosynthesis genes and that the transcription profile of LhMYB12 provides a clue for elucidating the mechanisms of the trait. The tepal transcriptome constructed in this study will accelerate investigations of the genetic controls of anthocyanin color patterns, including the bicolor patterns, of Lilium spp

Understanding culture shock and its relationship to intercultural communicative competence

Culture shock has gained attention and been observed from multi-disciplinary perspectives in international education, such as from anthropology, psychology, cultural psychology, intercultural communication studies, linguistics, and many others. By synthesising the ABC’s theory and intercultural communicative competence with their savoirs, the present study offers a perspective to analyse three international students’ culture shock experiences. As an explorative case study, the data were collected through in-depth interviews to extract the sojourners’ narratives, which were then transcribed in the form of text or quotations. It was found that the affective, behavioural, and cognitive dimensions were identified and emerged in each respondent. In the affective, overwhelming emotions, language limitation, and feelings of isolation were felt in various intensities. From the data, the respondents claimed to have lacked intrapersonal skills to prepare themselves for the culture of the host country along with the socio-cultural aspects. In addition, they found social support by individuals or officials essential for reducing negative feelings. In the behavioural dimension, these respondents started to adapt to the situation though they still found it challenging to confirm and clarify any unfamiliar encounters. Finally, in the cognitive dimension, the respondents mingled and integrated into the locals, both in their academic and social lives. It is suggested that elements of intercultural communicative competence, namely intercultural attitude, knowledge of the host culture, skills of relating and discovery, and critical cultural awareness may have the potential to manage culture shock effectively. It should be incorporated into international higher education and EFL pedagogy

Investigating Metacognitive Awareness Of Reading Strategies To Strengthen Students' Performance In Reading Comprehension

This study was about the metacognitive awareness of reading strategies to enhance students' performance in reading comprehension. From five government secondary schools in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, 272 students in grade three participated in this research. Two standardised English reading comprehension tests from Ujian Nasional (UN, or National Examination) 2005/2006 and the Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategies Inventory (MARSI) by Mokhtari and Reichard were employed. The MARSI consisted of 30 items that measured MARS, which were divided into three categories: global reading strategies (13 items), problem solving reading strategies (8 items), and support reading strategies (9 items). The results indicated a weak positive relationship between MARS and scores in reading comprehension. No significant difference was found in the students' level of MARS between good and poor readers. It was also found that the level of MARS for problem solving reading strategy was than for global and support reading strategies. The findings suggest direct instruction in MARS may help students increase their attention to the reading process. Becoming aware of their own thinking as they read and solve problems allows students to seize the advantages of learning opportunities to become strategic and thoughtful readers