Digital Literacy of English as a Foreign Language Students and Teachers in the Context of Vietnamese Universities

The proliferation of novel technologies has facilitated the contribution of information and communications technology (ICT) to education, revolutionizing the education system and equipping students with necessary skills for the digital era (Aydin, 2021). To meet the international and global trends of learners’ foreign language proficiency and digital competence, the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) has initiated national projects on English as a foreign language (EFL) learning and instruction with the integration of technology. Consequently, Vietnamese higher educational institutions have invested in and provided more facilities for students to participate in e-learning, blended learning, or flipped learning, as well as to collaborate and interact with one another on digital platforms while creating additional resources. However, the digital literacy (DL) of students and teachers is a major concern because the investment in technologies in education is only effective if they are digitally competent to integrate technology into the teaching and learning process. In the Vietnamese educational context, few studies have attempted to evaluate student and teacher DL levels, even though DL significantly affects the application of digital technologies in the EFL context (Alavi et al., 2016). Accordingly, the current research, comprising four cross-sectional sub-studies, examines Vietnamese student and teacher DL in an EFL educational context. The results should provide insights into the direction of ICT integration. The first study aims to validate a computer-assisted language learning (CALL) attitude-adapted questionnaire, which is one part of the DL questionnaire, and to differentiate between online and paper administration modes. Exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, measurement invariance analysis, and Rasch analysis were conducted to explore and assess the factor structure of the CALL instrument and to specify the equivalence between two versions of the questionnaire. The construct and item levels of the questionnaire did not differ significantly between the two administration modes. Thus, the instrument can be used with online and paper questionnaires to measure Vietnamese tertiary students' attitudes toward technology integration. The second study investigates the DL levels of non-English majors at Vietnamese universities. An adapted questionnaire is used to assess students' digital knowledge and their perceived skills, their attitudes toward the use of digital technologies, and the frequency of use of technology applications in English learning. The reliability of other parts of the DL questionnaire was confirmed in this study. According to the findings, most Vietnamese students can access digital technologies at home and at school. Students achieve an adequate level of DL, and their technological skills range from low to average. Male students tend to use technologies more extensively than female students, despite the fact that females are more aware of the benefits of digital integration in learning. Discrepancies also exist among different year groups. Freshmen possess the highest levels of technical skill, while seniors have the best digital knowledge. Despite their positive attitudes toward technology, students do not use it extensively when learning English. The third study aims to measure DL among English majors at Vietnamese universities using self-developed subjective and objective instruments. There is a positive level of DL achievement according to the subjective assessment and a moderate level of DL achievement. However, the gap between the results of the two types of assessment is not significant despite participants' estimates that their DL is higher than their actual achievement. In addition, despite the low path coefficient value, the appraisal evaluations of participants have a positive effect on their achievement. The fourth study is conducted to evaluate the DL of EFL teachers in Vietnamese universities using an adapted questionnaire and in-depth interviews. The study found that most of the teachers assess themselves as having a good level of DL. The qualitative data from in-depth- interviews partly contribute to the quantitative data because they strengthen the result from the questionnaire and provide a more comprehensive understanding of teacher DL in their teaching context. In the case of gender difference in DL level, male teachers’ DL is better than their female colleagues’ though the difference is not significant. Furthermore, the study indicates that age, gender, and experiences of using digital technologies do not significantly impact teacher DL, but teachers’ working environment and their digital technology usage have an impact on their level of DL. The research suggests certain implications for English teaching and learning with technology and provides suggestions for future research

Adaptation and validation of a computer-assisted language learning attitude questionnaire in a Vietnamese EFL context: A comparison between online and paper modes of administration

The article reports on the validation of a computer-assisted language learning (CALL) attitude questionnaire and discusses differences between online and paper modes of administration, drawing on a sample of 1,769 Vietnamese undergraduates. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to explore and assess the factor structure of the CALL instrument and specify the equivalence between the two versions of the questionnaire. Rasch model analysis was used to evaluate the overall fit and construct uni-dimensionality of the instrument. The findings of the study suggested a six-factor structure for the adapted questionnaire as well as both reliability and validity in the Vietnamese context. No significant difference was found between the two modes of administration as regards the construct and item levels of the questionnaire, although the paper-version was superior to the online version according to results from the Rasch model analysis. Hence, the instrument can be used in online and paper modes to measure Vietnamese tertiary students’ attitudes to the integration of technology into language learning. The study finds that further research is called for if the two modes of adminis- tration of the questionnaire are used in other contexts for teaching English as a foreign language (EFL)

Tools for assessing teacher digital literacy: a review

With the rapid advancement of technology, digital literacy has become a key component in educators’ professional development. A wide range of assessment tools has been developed to measure teacher digital literacy; however, there has been no previous attempt to systematically synthesize and scrutinize those tools to improve evaluation of this ability among educators. The current study reviews literature on instruments that assess teacher digital literacy with the purposes of ascertaining the main aspects of it that recent researchers focus on in their evaluation, instrument types used for assessment, and the reliability and validity report, as well as the frameworks or models used to design assessment tools. The review selected 33 English-language publications in the field of educational technology from peer-reviewed journals indexed in the Education Resources Information Center (ERIC), Web of Science, and Scopus. The study period spanned from 2011 to 2022 with the objective of reviewing the tools used to assess teacher digital competence. The major findings demonstrate that scholars focus on digital competence in teachers’ use of educational technology, teaching and learning, professional development, and support for learners through digital competence. Other researchers emphasize the ability of educators to apply technology to the assessment of learner outcomes or to empower students in using technology to enhance learning. Additionally, self-evaluation instruments are common, whereas a few studies promote subjective evaluation in combination with objective assessment to provide a comprehensive understanding of teacher digital competence. The results form the basis for several recommendations for future research for the further examination of teacher digital literacy

EAST SEA POLICY OF THE UNITED STATES IN THE CONTEXT OF THE US-CHINA COMPETITION

The East Sea has a vital position for maritime powers worldwide and is a crucial point of strategic competition for significant countries. Currently, the East Sea is where many fierce disputes over sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction occur between coastal countries because the views and interests of each side are far apart, and they need help finding a consensus on how to solve the problem. The US interests in the East Sea include diverse interests in freedom of navigation, economics, politics, military, and security. The article aims to systematically analyze and explain the US policy towards the East Sea issue since the US Administration announced the Pivot to Asia-Pacific strategy. The US foreign policy towards the East Sea has changed in the direction of increased US involvement in response to rising tensions over disputes, especially towards increased interests of China in this region. Although the United States does not take sides in sovereignty claims, it nevertheless increases its involvement in the issue, focusing on peaceful control of claims and resolving disputes through peaceful negotiation measures.

Study of Hanoi and HoChiMinh Stock Exchange by Econophysics Methods

The econophysics methods are used to study the financial fluctuation of Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX) and Hochiminh Stock Exchange (HSX) in comparison to Dow John Industrial Average's one. The study has been made both on panic period (2007-2008) and on normal time of theses stocks. The results point out that for the period under consideration, the distribution of returns tends to be Student distribution. There exists an analogy between non-equilibrium phase transitions and financial market movement. Thus it is hypothesized that financial markets undergo self-organizing when the external volatility perception rises above some critical value, the distribution of signs of returns is to be similar to a second order phase transition. The results obtained by econophysics method have quite good agreement with the ones obtained by other economy analyzation methods

Thermodynamic Equivalent between Noninteracting Bose and Fermi Gas in Metallic Carbon Nanotubes

The equivalent between Bose and Fermi ideal gases is usually taken in high temperature limit only. Recently, there has been considerable interest in surprising thermodynamic ``equivalences'' between certain ideal Bose and spineless Fermi gas systems in lower temperature. In this work, we follow that idea to investigate the quasi one-dimensional system of metallic carbon nanotubes. Due to the linear dispersion law, the non-interacting Bose and Fermi gases in metallic carbon nanotubes are equivalent. This equivalence could be applied to the gas systems of exciton photon (Bose particles) and electron hole (Fermi particles) in metallic carbon nanotubes

ẢNH HƯỞNG CỦA CÔNG NGHỆ THỰC TẾ ẢO TĂNG CƯỜNG ĐẾN Ý ĐỊNH MUA HÀNG TRỰC TUYẾN CỦA NGƯỜI TIÊU DÙNG

The study shows the effects of factors affecting consumers' purchase intention after experiencing Virtual Try-on (VTO) in Vietnam. The study is carried out by quantitative method through data from 408 subjects of different ages in Hanoi and Northern provinces. The findings of the study demonstrate that perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived enjoyment, and perceived privacy risk, have a significant impact on users' attitudes toward Virtual Try-On (VTO). Consequently, these factors increase their influence on customers' purchase intentions. Based on these results, the research group recommends that, in practical settings, enterprises concentrate on providing high-quality services, promoting their products to augment the aforementioned factors, and simultaneously addressing users' attitudes to enhance the overall customer experience. Therefore, this study provides valuable insights into the factors that influence customers' attitudes toward VTO technology, thereby contributing to the existing literature on the topic.Nghiên cứu chỉ ra những tác động của các nhân tố ảnh hưởng tới ý định mua hàng của người tiêu dùng qua hành vi sử dụng công nghệ trải nghiệm sản phẩm trực tuyến (Virtual Try-on - VTO) tại Việt Nam. Phương pháp định lượng được sử dụng để phân tích dữ liệu từ 408 đối tượng trong nhiều độ tuổi khác nhau trên địa bàn thành phố Hà Nội và các tỉnh thành phố miền Bắc. Kết quả cho thấy rằng các nhân tố như cảm nhận tính hữu ích, cảm nhận tính dễ sử dụng, cảm nhận tính thích thú, và cảm nhận rủi ro về quyền riêng tư có tác động đến thái độ của người dùng với công nghệ VTO từ đó gia tăng ảnh hưởng tới ý định mua sắm của khách hàng. Nhóm nghiên cứu đề xuất rằng, trong bối cảnh thực tiễn, doanh nghiệp cần tập trung vào cung cấp dịch vụ chất lượng, quảng bá sản phẩm để nâng cao các yếu tố đã được đề cập, đồng thời quan tâm đến thái độ của người dùng để cải thiện trải nghiệm tích cực cho khách hàng

A study on vegetative propagation of Huperzia serrata by cuttings in Sa Pa, Lao Cai

Huperzia serrata is a precious medicinal plant used in medicine to support and treat Alzheimer's disease. Currently, this species is in danger of extinction due to indiscriminate exploitation for commercial purposes. Furthermore, this species reproduces slowly and is difficult to cultivate artificially. The reproduction by spores of this species is very long and takes 15−20 years from the spore germination to mature plant, whereas asexual reproduction by tissue culture is also difficult. Therefore, cutting is an effective method to propagate this species on a large scale. In this study, we surveyed the factors affecting the survival rate, the rooting and the number of new leaves of the stem cuttings, including cutting length, growing substrate, and effects of growth-regulating hormones IBA (0 ppm, 500 ppm, 1000 ppm, 2000 ppm and 3000 ppm) and α-NAA (0 ppm, 10 ppm, 20 ppm, 30 ppm and 40 ppm). The experimental results showed that using cuttings of 6 cm in length treated with IBA at a concentration of 1000 ppm for 30 mins and cultured on the substrate mixture of soil, decomposed animal manure and rice husk at a ratio of 3:1:1 was the best for cuttings of H. serrata in Sa Pa. The results of this study will contribute to the conservation and development of genetic source of H. serrata in Vietnam.

Clinical Outcomes of Patients With Drug-Resistant Tuberculous Meningitis Treated With an Intensified Antituberculosis Regimen.

Drug-resistant tuberculous meningitis (TBM) is difficult to diagnose and treat. Mortality is high and optimal treatment is unknown. We compared clinical outcomes of drug-resistant and -susceptible TBM treated with either standard or intensified antituberculosis treatment. We analyzed the influence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis drug resistance on the outcomes of patients with TBM enrolled into a randomized controlled trial comparing a standard, 9-month antituberculosis regimen (containing rifampicin 10 mg/kg/day) with an intensified regimen with higher-dose rifampicin (15 mg/kg/day) and levofloxacin (20 mg/kg/day) for the first 8 weeks. The primary endpoint of the trial was 9-month survival. In this subgroup analysis, resistance categories were predefined as multidrug resistant (MDR), isoniazid resistant, rifampicin susceptible (INH-R), and susceptible to rifampicin and isoniazid (INH-S + RIF-S). Outcome by resistance categories and response to intensified treatment were compared and estimated by Cox regression. Of 817 randomized patients, 322 had a known drug resistance profile. INH-R was found in 86 (26.7%) patients, MDR in 15 (4.7%) patients, rifampicin monoresistance in 1 patient (0.3%), and INH-S + RIF-S in 220 (68.3%) patients. Multivariable regression showed that MDR (hazard ratio [HR], 5.91 [95% confidence interval {CI}, 3.00-11.6]), P < .001), was an independent predictor of death. INH-R had a significant association with the combined outcome of new neurological events or death (HR, 1.58 [95% CI, 1.11-2.23]). Adjusted Cox regression, corrected for treatment adjustments, showed that intensified treatment was significantly associated with improved survival (HR, 0.34 [95% CI, .15-.76], P = .01) in INH-R TBM. Early intensified treatment improved survival in patients with INH-R TBM. Targeted regimens for drug-resistant TBM should be further explored