KINESICS IN ORAL PRESENTATION: EXPLORING SPEAKING ANXIETY THROUGH NARRATIVE ENQUIRY

Teachers and educators are responsible in promoting effective teaching and learning to ensure intellectual development of the students. For that reason, being able to communicate well is essential for the students’ academic and employability purpose. Hence, it is important for every learner to be equipped with good speaking skill. However, it is common for ESL speakers to experience speaking anxiety which hinders them to communicate well. This study, therefore, explores speaking anxiety that occurs during oral presentation through kinesics. Kinesics provides meaningful information to the listener/audience, in which messages are conveyed through the speakers’ gesture, body movement and facial expression. It was found that speaking anxiety was shown by the speaker through kinesics during an oral presentation. Videos of speakers’ presentation were recorded and narrated to obtain the findings. Results of this study provide useful implication towards ESL teaching and learning

Gender differences and culture in english short message service language among malay university students

This paper examined the sociolinguistic aspect of Short Message Service (SMS) language, particularly in identifying gender differences and in revealing how Malay culture could be represented in SMS texts. The research applied both qualitative and quantitative approaches on 20 Malay postgraduate students of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia: 10 male texters and 10 female texters aged between 24-30 years old. Data collection involved 40 SMSes; 20 text messages from each gender and interviews with four participants. The predetermined categories namely abbreviation, emotion, onomatopoeic and word length were selected to fulfill the aims and scope of the study. Hence, Shafie et al (2011) and Balakrishnan & Batat’s (2010) framework of abbreviation, emotion and onomatopoeic, and word length was used. Based on the analysis, it was revealed that there were no gender differences in the use of abbreviations. However, females showed more use of emotions, onomatopoeic and their text messages were longer than males. These findings were confirmed by all the interviewees. The findings also revealed some culture aspects; both the Malay word “lah” and the translation of Malay proverbs into English which are used among Malays in their language were detected

Self-perceptions and actual performance of critical reading skills among Malaysian engineering students

Students at any level need critical reading skills, especially in higher learning institutions. Students are required to extensively read, critically engage, and carefully question the content quality and factual veracity. In the era of information technology, anyone can create and publish information without peer review. Although the importance of critical reading skills is generally acknowledged, little is known about the critical reading skills of Diploma level students in the local context. Thus, this article examines Diploma students' critical reading abilities based on self-perceptions and performance when reading English texts. The study employed a quantitative research method based on a descriptive survey design. The research sample consisted of 44 engineering major Diploma students selected using a simple random cluster sampling design from a university in the southern region of Malaysia. Data was collected using a questionnaire. Besides, a critical reading comprehension test was distributed online through course teachers. Prior to collecting data, the questionnaire and the comprehension test were subjected to reliability testing. The findings indicate that Diploma students overestimated their critical reading skills compared to their actual performance, as they scored below average for some of Bloom’s Taxonomy critical thinking skills. It is believed that the findings of this study would assist teachers in developing novel techniques to help students develop critical thinking skills. The pedagogical implications for language acquisition and instruction and future potential study areas are also discussed

Smart Plant Monitoring System Using Aquaponics Production Technological with Arduino Development Environment (IDE) and SMS Alert: A Prototype

Aquaponics is one of the agricultural production technological advancements that should be publicized. Climate change, population expansion, water scarcity, soil degradation, and food security are just a few of the world's most pressing issues. Aquaponics, which is a closed-loop system that combines hydroponics and aquaculture, may be able to deal with issues like climate change, population expansion, water scarcity, soil degradation, and food security. Thus, this paper aims to design and construct an aquaponics system that combines fish farming with plant growth. The system used a variety of sensors, including temperature and humidity sensors, ultrasonic sensors, and pH sensors, as well as microcontrollers like Arduino, to monitor and manage the water quality, plant humidity, and other variables. When the sensor identifies any abnormal circumstance, early warnings in the form of SMS and push notifications are immediately given to the user to ensure a healthy growing environment for fish and plants. The Arduino Development Environment (IDE) software is used to write a programme that connects the microcontroller to various sensors and other devices. pH sensors, temperature and humidity sensors, ultrasonic sensors, liquid crystal displays (LCDs), and GSM circuits are all built and connected to the system. A GSM notification message is sent to a mobile phone when the pH, temperature, and ultrasonic sensor findings are out of range. The data from this system's monitoring reveals the values that have been taken on a daily basis. The graph demonstrated that the plant's growth is increasing every day