VIETNAMESE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS’ PERSPECTIVES ON THE EFFECTS OF OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING ON THEIR WRITING PERFORMANCE

The objective of this study was to investigate EFL students’ perspectives on the effects of observational learning in writing classes. This research is an embedded design mixed-methods study including interviews taking place after the survey using a questionnaire to clarify and investigate students’ perspectives on the impact of observational learning on their writing knowledge, writing process, and writing products. The questionnaire based on the literature review on observational learning was designed and delivered to 26 students who took three writing lessons with observational tasks to collect data on their perspectives which were further deepened by an interview with three volunteers. The students reported that learning through observation had a positive impact on their writing knowledge, writing process, and written products. The study offers useful implications for teaching writing through observational learning.  Article visualizations

BOUNDS FOR VOLUMES OF SUB-LEVEL SETS OF POLYNOMIALS AND APPLICATIONS

In this paper, we present some explicit exponents in the estimates for the volumes of sub-level sets of polynomials on bounded sets and applications to the decay of oscillatory integrals and the convergence of singular integrals

Energy Efficiency and Privacy Protection in Cellular Networks

Smartphones have become an essential part of our society. The benefits of having an always present, highly capable device cannot be overstated. As more aspects of our life depend on our smartphones, it is more important than ever to ensure the availability of those devices. However, their big advantages also come with big risks. The fact that we have our smartphones with us all the time means that it is easier than ever to collect our information, sometimes without our consent. In this dissertation, we study the two pressing concerns in cellular communications: energy efficiency and privacy protection. We focus on LTE networks, the current most advanced global standard for cellular communications. In the first part of the dissertation, we study the energy efficiency problem from both device and network perspectives. From the device point of view, we introduce a new angle to address the battery life concern. We recognize that the value of battery for the users is not always the same, and that it depends on the user usage. We also identify, and show in real network, diversity of usage, the phenomenon that at any instant, there is a diverse distribution of smartphone usage among cellular users. We propose ``Battery Deposit Service'' (BDS), a cooperative system which makes use of device-to-device (D2D) communications underlaying cellular networks to provide energy sharing in the form of load sharing. We design BDS to take advantage of diversity of usage to maximize the utility of smartphone battery. We show that our system increases battery life of cellular users, at almost no cost to the rest of the network. BDS is designed to be compatible to LTE architecture. From the network point of view, we design an energy efficient D2D relay system underlaying LTE networks. We minimize transmission power of smartphones by considering relay selection, resource allocation and power control. The overall problem is prohibited due to its exponential search space. We develop a divide-and-conquer strategy which splits the overall problem into small sub-problems. We relate these sub-problems to well-studied graph theoretic problems, and take advantage of existing fast algorithms. We show that our algorithms meet the runtime requirement of real-time LTE operations. In the second part of the dissertation, we address a privacy concern in LTE networks. In particular, we show that user location can be leaked in current LTE paging architecture. We propose a mechanism based on signal processing to remedy this vulnerability. Our method makes use of physical layer identification, which are low-power tags embedded on the wireless waveform, to signal paging messages to user devices. We show that our method is stealthy and robust, and that it mitigates the aforementioned privacy issue

Strategic positioning and creating competitive advantage in a challenging industry: The case study of Singapore airlines

The competitive landscape of global airline industry has changed dramatically as the result of airline deregulation and globalization impacts. Arguably, the most viable change for traditional airlines is the increased price pressures due to fierce competition from low cost carriers (LCCs). The ‘no frills’ formula, which involves reduction in service and comfort levels, challenges the retaining of full service model and more generally, the model focusing on service quality. Furthermore, reduction in average profitability, instability in return rate of traditional airlines leads to urgent need for traditional airlines to change business model. This research gave serious attention to key factors that shape the competition in airline sector, with aims to identify what sustainable competitive advantage that conventional airlines should focus on. Drawing from extensive industry indicators and market information, it was found that demand for air travel is so diverse and there is potential for service differentiation. In deed, if implemented successfully, network carriers can earn superior profit. The research conducted comprehensive and in-depth analysis of Singapore airlines, a highly profitable and famous for its service excellence. It was argued that SIA’s consistent outperformance is the result of both effective cost management and premium service offers. The dissertation concludes that airlines, especially conventional carriers need to excel in both cost control and service quality if they are to survive and prosper. In order to achieve these seemingly exclusive strategies, internally coherent self-reinforcing business system is needed. Hyper service differentiation is the ultimate competitive advantage for airlines in this new phase of industry development

Financial Sector Reforms in Vietnam: Selected Issues and Problems

The purpose of this report is to concentrate on performing in-depth analyses of selected issues of prominence and importance for the future success of the reform process rather than describing the current day-to-day operations and procedures in the financial sector. This eclectic approach implies that other important issues such as the development of a payment system, the state and prospects for the inter-bank markets, and the human capital and organisational issues in the state-owned banks are neglected and/or not analysed in depth. They are, however, omissions due to constraints imposed by funds and time available rather than a failure to comprehend their importance. In this context, the present report should thus be viewed as a first step towards establishing an open dialogue about the nature and speed of the financial sector reforms in Vietnam based on recurrent independent assessments of financial sector issues and problems.Financial Sector Reforms, Vietnam