What they can see, they can write, right?

Is writing an inborn or learned art Currently we can see that majority of undergraduates in higher learning institutions are rather handicapped in this area Purportedly this study proposed a teaching model to investigate the four main learning objectives 1 to generate ideas with visual aids 2 to write grammatically correct sentences using a model of sentence patterns 3 to evaluate students ability to write systematically using the writing process approach in cooperative learning groups and 4 to develop a teaching model that can prompt students to speak and write confidently and proficiently A teaching model based on the writing process approach and cooperative learning skills was implemented using the purposive writing technique It was conducted on a class of Business communication students for fifty-four hours of face-to-face interactio

Graphic Organizer and Paragraph Frame to rectify Tunnel Vision. Is it achievable?

Intensive English Programme IEP at Universiti Tenaga Nasional UNITEN is designed to measure candidates level of English language proficiency and to determine whether they are ready to undertake a course at tertiary level in English At UNITEN many foreign students are currently undergoing the IEP Programme at the College of Foundation and General Studies CFGS before they can pursue their studies at the respective colleges in UNITEN However majority of the students lack the prerequisite language knowledge and reading skills to cope with the IEP reading comprehension tests Many of them have problems with recognizing linguistic cues as well as locating the main ideas in discourses and paragraphs This was an experimental action research project investigating the effectiveness of a reading model The objectives of this study were 1 To investigate the EFL students reading comprehension problems specifically tunnel vision during the IEP classes 2 To evaluate the effectiveness of the Reading Model Graphic Organizer and Paragraph Frame GOPF utilized by the researcher 3 To suggest a Reading Model that can assist to boot up the IEP students attitude motivation and reading skills skimming and scanning Survey method was utilized to obtain responses from students and interview sessions were conducted to gain better insight on the students attitude and motivation Findings denote a significant improvement in the students attitude motivation and reading skills skimming and scanning at the end of the experimental research projec

CHILD LANGUAGE ACQUISITION FOCUSING ON BILINGUALISM

Language acquisition is an amazing process which had always intrigued everyone Children at a very young age have been able to learn words and then turn them into meaningful sentences Linguists of course have been fascinated by this extraordinary feat of a child to have acquired such complex structures of a language To explain child language acquisition three theories have emerged They are the behaviourist theory the innatist or cognitivist here -on - after will be referred to as the innatist theory and the interactionist theory Out of these three theories the innatist theory is the most widely supported and is the most logical in explaining the acquisition of the complexity of a language This research therefore aims to determine if the language acquisition process of a bilingual child corresponds with the innatist theories of child language acquisition ChildLanguage Acquisition Focusing On Bilingualism Strictly as per the complia nce and regulations of The research questions that this study will attempt to answer are I Is the language acquisition process of a child universal II Is child language acquisition innat

Evaluating the ESL Reading Texts for Intermediate Learners of English from the Perspective of Students

In order to provide an evaluation of the suitability of reading texts from the perspective of students in university-based intensive English programme this study examined 53 international ESL intermediate learners perceptions of reading texts for a period of 14 weeks reading proficiency lessons Features evaluated include content readability exploitability and authenticity of the reading texts The participants responded to a textbook evaluation questionnaire to express their perceptions with reference to the features of the reading texts Results indicated the extent of appropriateness of the reading texts incorporated in the programme s reading textbook used by intermediate learners of English Further consideration must be given to text selection by including the aspect of authentic text presentatio

COGNITIVE GRAMMAR ON “SMASH”: PERSPECTIVES FROM LANGACKER’S FRAMEWORK

The language system allows us to express perceived events indifferent ways using different linguistic resources. Ability toperform this task goes beyond the notion of prescriptivegrammar, which makes no connection between language and thecognitive mind. Cognitive grammar focuses on the way weconstruct our ideas. Meaning is equated with conceptualization.Semantic structures are characterized Based on the ideas andtheses posited by Langacker with regards to Cognitive Grammar,we seek to illustrate how our cognitive minds help us manipulatethe use of language, especially the grammatical items.Keywords: Cognitive Grammar, Langacker, Pedagogy, Smas

Differential expression of microRNAs in plasma of patients with colorectal cancer: A potential marker for colorectal cancer screening

Objective: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been shown to offer great potential in the diagnosis of cancer. We investigated whether plasma miRNAs could discriminate between patients with and without colorectal cancer (CRC). Methods: This study was divided into three phases: (1) marker discovery using real-time PCR-based miRNA profiling on plasma, corresponding cancerous and adjacent non-cancerous colonic tissues of five patients with CRC, along with plasma from five healthy individuals as controls; (2) marker selection and validation by real-time quantitative RT-PCR on a small set of plasma; and (3) independent validation on a large set of plasma from 90 patients with CRC, 20 patients with gastric cancer, 20 patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and 50 healthy controls. Results: Of the panel of 95 miRNAs analysed, five were upregulated both in plasma and tissue samples. All the five miRNAs were validated on the plasma of 25 patients with CRC and 20 healthy controls. Both miR-17-3p and miR-92 were significantly elevated in the patients with CRC (p<0.0005). The plasma levels of these markers were significantly reduced after surgery in 10 patients with CRC (p<0.05). Further validation with an independent set of plasma samples (n=180) indicated that miR-92 differentiates CRC from gastric cancer, IBD and normal subjects. This marker yielded a receiver operating characteristic curve area of 88.5%. At a cut-off of 240 (relative expression in comparison to RNU6B snRNA), the sensitivity was 89% and the specificity was 70% in discriminating CRC from control subjects. Conclusion: MiR-92 is significantly elevated in plasma of patients with CRC and can be a potential non-invasive molecular marker for CRC screening.published_or_final_versio

MicroRNA-143 is a potential tumor suppressor targeting DNA methyltransferases 3a in colorectal cancer

Gastroenterology, 2009, v. 136 n. 5, suppl.1, p. A165, abstract no. 10692009 DDW (Digestive Disease Week) Abstract Supplement , AGA (American Gastroenterological Association) Institute Topic Forum, Oral sessions: Scientific sessions: Microrna and digestive cancers, Oral presentation no. 1069postprin

The Impact of PowerPoint on Undergraduates’ Technical Communication Achievement

AbstractPowerPoint, one of the most well known ICT tools, plays a vital role in our society nowadays as it has been utilized widely and actively in facilitating the process of teaching and learning, especially in the educational domain. The study examined the effect of PowerPoint lecturing on undergraduates’ Technical Communication final examination grade. The experimental group was taught in a PowerPoint lecture format while the control group in a traditional whiteboard lecture format. The results revealed that the experimental group grades were significantly higher than the control group at p = 0.00

Educating Effervescent Women Scientists through Lucy Maud Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables

The series Anne of the Green Gables is sequential children books that focus on Anne Shirley, the story's protagonist. The series of books explore Anne's life from a girl to a charming pretty young lady. In the story, Anne is portrayed as an inquisitive young girl. She explores her life philosophically. She also explores many aspects of nature and its relation to science. Her inquisitiveness is extremely sharp, that the skill helps her in learning the science of everyday life. The paper discusses Anne of the Green Gables' use in educating female students to enjoy STEM education. At present, the proportion of women engineers in Malaysia is disproportionate, and the Ministry of Education is working on inculcating female students' effervescence in STEM subjects. The methodological framework utilised in this study adhered to the approach of the phenomenological case study's paradigm. Interviews were conducted, and qualitative data were gathered and analysed using Atlas.ti, a qualitative data analysis software. The findings indicated that female students could draw links between themselves and Anne, the protagonist in the novels. The protagonist's various occupational explorations helped female students understand that they can excel in STEM and arouse their interests to become scientists or engineers. In conclusion, the use of literary texts written by female authors such as Anne of Green Gables could draw attention from female students towards STEM. This study fills the gap in the existing literature where no scholars have used the classic Anne of Green Gables to illicit interests among young female students