TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF SCAFFOLDING EFL STUDENTS’ READING COMPREHENSION AT HIGH SCHOOLS IN THE MEKONG DELTA, VIETNAM

Scaffolding has held great appeal for teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) and scholars in helping students take greater responsibility or ownership in their language learning and reach academic success. However, little is known about how teachers perceived this type of support as improving students’ reading comprehension in English within the teaching and learning context in Vietnam high schools. This paper therefore reports a descriptive study that explored teachers’ perceptions of scaffolding EFL students’ reading comprehension at high schools in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. Questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were employed to collect data from seventy-nine high school teachers. The findings provide insightful views into teachers’ perceptions about scaffolding students’ reading comprehension. The findings also reveal how teachers experienced varying degrees of their perceptions of scaffolding and challenges while delivering their scaffolding practices in reading instruction. Article visualizations

STUDENT EVALUATION OF TEACHING EFFECTIVENESS: AN INVESTIGATION INTO TEACHERS’ AND STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS

This descriptive study aims to investigate how EFL teachers and EFL students perceive Student Evaluation of Teaching Effectiveness (SETE) as well as to seek for possible similarities and differences between the two groups’ perceptions. The current study was conducted with the participation of 60 teachers and 100 students at an EFL Language Center in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected via questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. Main findings reveal that: (1) almost all teachers and students are highly aware of SETE in relation to its necessity and benefits except for its validity and reliability; (2) the two groups of participants acknowledged their frequent participation in SETE and expressed their preferences for certain SETE procedures; (3) there are major similarities and differences between teachers’ and students’ perceptions of SETE.  Article visualizations

Water Quality Simulation and Dissolved Oxygen Change Scenarios in Lam Takhong River in Thailand

Dissolved oxygen (DO) in Lam Takhong River gradually reaches zero value during the dry season on several occasions in the past decade causing the unsuitable quality for use as the raw water for Nakhon Ratchasima Town. Discharges of point sources and diffuse sources containing pollutants with organics and nutrients are the major cause of water quality deterioration in the river. To find the sources of impact on the water quality in the river, a one- dimensional steady-flow systems river water quality model, QUAL2Kw, was constructed and simulated. The model was calibrated and validated using the water quality data from 2008 to 2017 for the Lam Takhong River by seven monitoring stations. The modelling was applied to simulate various water quality parameters during the critical period to compare to the designated surface water quality criteria third class in Thailand (minimum dissolved oxygen at or above 4 mg/L; maximum biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), nitrate-nitrogen, and ammonia-nitrogen at or below 2.0, 5.0 and 0.5 mg/L, respectively). The study reach of the river flows 122 km from Lam Takhong Dam to the Mun River at Chaloem Phra Kiat district through the urban central area. Several segments of the river have been alarmed for many constituents with the dissolved oxygen impairment is the focus of the study. The scenarios of loads and upstream dissolved oxygen modification were conducted to assess the change of dissolved oxygen concentration. The result of the QUAL2Kw model showed that the decomposition of organic matter and a poor reaeration were the primary cause of the impairment. The local oxygenation causes fluctuations in dissolved oxygen levels along the river and the dissolved oxygen concentration decreases downstream of the river with some values fell the meet the fourth class of surface water quality criteria in Thailand (DO above 2 mg/L and BOD5<4 mg/L). The QUAL2Kw model is suitable for simulating the current and future river water quality and help water resources managers to issue the appropriate policy options for the Lam Takhong River

NOISE TRADER RISK: EVIDENCE FROM VIETNAM STOCK MARKET

Abstract: This paper investigates the existence of noise trader risk in Vietnam’s stock market and its effect on the daily returns of stock prices. The methodologies contain the estimation of GARCH (1,1) model to filter the residuals using the moving average method to calculate the impact of information traders. Noise trader risk or the risk that is caused by noise traders is derived by subtracting the residuals by the rational traders’ impact. We find that the noise trader risk does exist in Vietnam’s stock market and its impact on daily returns of stocks is unpredictable. Meanwhile, we find a positive impact of information traders on the stock returns. It increases the daily stock returns, and in turn, helps the market to correct itself because the stock prices move back to its fundamental value.Keywords: noise trader risk, GARCH (1,1), Vietnam’s stock marke

Establishment of the criteria of the green city for developing cities

Building a livable city is the top objective of local governments. 'Green City' is concerned, researched, and constructed effectively in some cities around the world. The paper is to identify a green city's benefits to humans and the environment. Moreover, this study also establishes criteria of the green city according to international standards in emerging cities, especially in 5 criteria such as green space and land use, atmosphere, water resource, and energy supply. Finally, the criteria of the green city established are used for scoring and assessing Vung Tau city. Currently, Vung Tau city has 60.9 scores below a green city's standards with 65 scores; however, it can be changed by proposals in development policies to get 69.3 scores.Việc xây dựng một thành phố đáng sống là một mục tiêu hàng đầu của các chính phủ địa phương. Thành phố xanh “Green City” đang được quan tâm, nghiên cứu, và xây dựng một cách hiệu quả tại nhiều thành phố trên thế giới. Bài báo này sẽ làm rõ ràng những chức năng mà một thành phố xanh mang lại. Ngoài ra, nghiên cứu này cũng xây dựng những tiêu chí của thành phố xanh đạt tiêu chuẩn quốc tế tại các thành phố đang phát triển, đặc biệt là 5 tiêu chí không gian xanh và sử dụng đất; giao thông; không khí; nguồn nước; nguồn năng lượng. Hơn nữa, việc ứng dụng các tiêu chí thành phố xanh cho việc chấm điểm và đánh giá Thành phố Vũng Tàu. Hiện nay, thành phố Vũng Tàu được chấm 60.9 điểm, mức điểm này ở dưới tiêu chuẩn của một thành phố xanh là 65 điểm, tuy nhiên trong tương lai gần với những chính sách phát triển phù hợp thì số điểm này có thể tăng lên đến 69.3 điểm

Heat Stress Affects Seed Set and Grain Quality of Vietnamese Rice Cultivars during Heading and Grain Filling Period

Environmental stress trigger a variety of rice plant response, ranging from alters seed set, grain yield and grain quality during flowering and grain filling stage.&nbsp; Efforts are required to improve our understanding of the impact of heat stress on rice production, which are essential strategies in rice cultivation. This article investigated the seed set, yield components and grain yield of Vietnamese rice cultivars (Indica germplasm) under high temperature environment during the flowering and grain filling stage. Six rice cultivars, including popular cultivars and new cultivars of Cuu Long Delta Rice Research Institute, and one popular extraneous cultivar with differences in maturing time, were grown in pots at high temperature (HT) and natural temperature condition as control (CT). All rice cultivars were subjected to the high temperature starting from the heading stage to the harvest maturity, applied by greenhouse effect. The greenhouse has about 25 cm window opening on 3 sides for air ventilation. The seed set rate of the heat-sensitive rice genotypes decreased significantly under HT, leading to a significant reduction in grain yield. The lowest seed set was recorded in “OM4900” (44.3%) and “OM18” (39.9%) under high temperature environment. The lower yield in all rice cultivars at an elevated temperature resulted in a dramatic decrease of filled grains and contributed to a loss of 1000-grain weight. ‘“OM892” is a potential rice cultivar for heat tolerant breeding program due to the seed set percentage was above 80% in both HT and CT conditions. High temperature during the grain filling stage resulted in a decreased amylose and increased chalkiness for all OM cultivars

VIETNAMESE STUDENT RESEARCHERS’ EXPECTATIONS OF THEIR SUPERVISOR AND SUPERVISION PROCESS

In Vietnam, scientific research is no longer just the work of scientists, graduate students, scholars, or lecturers; tertiary students are also encouraged to conduct scientific research. Therefore, the scientific research work of students receives more attention from educators. The research on carrying out scientific research of students is also therefore increasing. However, researchers do not seem to have paid enough attention to the role of supervisors during the supervision process. The evidence is that there are few studies on supervisors in Vietnam. Therefore, this study was conducted to learn about the role of supervisors from the student's perspective and expectations. Specifically, this study was conducted quantitatively with the use of a questionnaire consisting of 49 questions with a 5-point Likert scale. A total of 100 English-major students at a university in Southwest Vietnam participated in this study by answering the questionnaire. The results from the questionnaire show that students had high expectations from their supervisors. Specifically, students expect their supervisor to be someone who respects their opinions, has good scientific research knowledge, can give constructive comments, and is always willing to help them when needed. Based on research findings, supervisors are encouraged to participate in professional development training related to scientific research to improve their research knowledge and skills. Along with that, supervisors need to be aware of their role during the process of guiding students to do scientific research.  Article visualizations

A tightly clustered hepatitis E virus genotype 1a is associated with endemic and outbreak infections in Bangladesh.

BACKGROUND: Hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection is endemic in Bangladesh and there are occasional outbreaks. The molecular characteristics and pathogenesis of endemic and outbreak HEV strains are poorly understood. We compared the genetic relatedness and virulence associated mutations of endemic HEV strains with outbreak strains. METHODS: We analyzed systematically collected serum samples from HEV immunoglobulin M (IgM) positive patients attended at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, Dhaka from August 2013 to June 2015. HEV RNA positive samples were subjected to whole genome sequencing. Genotype and subtype of the strains were determined by phylogenetic analysis. Virulence associated mutations e.g. acute viral hepatitis (AVH), fulminant hepatic failure (FHF), chronic hepatitis, ribavirin treatment failure (RTF), B and T cell neutralization epitopes were determined. RESULTS: 92 HEV immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibody positive plasma samples (43 in 2013-2014 and 49 in 2014-2015) were studied. 77.1% (70/92) of the samples were HEV RNA positive. A 279 bp open reading frame (ORF) 2 and ORF 3 sequence was obtained from 54.2% (38/70) of the strains. Of these 38 strains, whole genome sequence (WGS) was obtained from 21 strains. In phylogenetic analysis of 38 (279 bp) sequence all HEV sequences belonged to genotype 1 and subtype 1a. Further phylogenetic analysis of 21 HEV WGS, Bangladeshi HEV sequences clustered with genotype 1a sequences from neighboring countries. Within genotype 1a cluster, Bangladesh HEV strains formed a separate cluster with the 2010 HEV outbreak strains from northern Bangladesh. 80.9 to 100% of the strains had A317T, T735I, L1120I, L1110F, P259S, V1479I, G1634K mutations associates AVH, FHF and RTF. Mutations in T cell recognition epitope T3, T5, T7 was observed in 76.1%, 100% and 100% of the strains respectively. CONCLUSION: Strains of HEV genotype 1a are dominant in Bangladesh and are associated with endemic and outbreak of HEV infection. HEV isolates in Bangladesh have high prevalence of virulence associated mutations and mutation which alters antigenicity to B and T cell epitopes

THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN STUDENTS’ SELF-CONFIDENCE AND THEIR ENGLISH-SPEAKING PERFORMANCE: A CASE STUDY OF ENGLISH-MAJORED STUDENTS AT A PRIVATE UNIVERSITY IN VIETNAM

This research aimed to discover the relationships between students' self-confidence and their English-speaking performance. In our research, self-confidence was divided into three components which are affective confidence, behavioral confidence, and cognitive confidence. In addition, speaking performance included eight components which are vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, fluency, coherence, comprehension, task, and content. A sample of 150 English-majored students at a university in Vietnam was surveyed in this study by using a convenience sampling technique, and then conducting semi-structured interviews to seek for qualitative information from 10 participants out of 150. The result from our study showed that there are significant relationships between the two variables. The more confident the students are, the more accomplished they would be in the presenting procedure since they have superior cognition and understand how to modify their learning methods to build a comprehensive individual in learning English language. We expect that these findings can help students adjust their learning methods to improve their self-confidence as well as English speaking performance and by that way, universities can add more speaking-related subjects so that students can have more opportunities to speak and learn more speaking skills.  Article visualizations