ENGLISH LEXICAL STRESS ASSIGNMENT BY EFL LEARNERS: INSIGHTS FROM A VIETNAMESE CONTEXT

In English, the accurate assignment of lexical stress is of paramount importance in attaining good pronunciation and speech intelligibility; however, it is by no means an easy task for many EFL learners, especially those whose first languages have no system of word stress. Vietnamese learners, for example, often face problems with the placement of lexical stress as their mother tongue is not a stress language but a tonal one. The current study was conducted to yield more insights into Vietnamese learners’ acquisition of word stress in this regard. Specifically, it was conducted to investigate (1) the extent to which Vietnamese learners were able to assign stress patterns in English multisyllabic words and (2) whether there was a statistically significant correlation between their competence in recognizing and in producing English lexical stress. Data for the study were gained from 45 elementary EFL learners studying English at a foreign language center in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam. The process of data collection started with assignment tests (i.e., a recognition test and a production test), followed by a comparative analysis of the participants’ performance on these tests and subsequently a retrospective interview. The results indicated that the participants’ overall level of competence in assigning stress in English words was just above average. It was also found that the participants performed the recognition test better than they did with the production test, and there were several factors contributing to this inconsistency. A positive correlation between the participants’ recognition and production of lexical stress patterns was also observed in this research.  Article visualizations

Real-time Optimal Resource Allocation for Embedded UAV Communication Systems

We consider device-to-device (D2D) wireless information and power transfer systems using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) as a relay-assisted node. As the energy capacity and flight time of UAVs is limited, a significant issue in deploying UAV is to manage energy consumption in real-time application, which is proportional to the UAV transmit power. To tackle this important issue, we develop a real-time resource allocation algorithm for maximizing the energy efficiency by jointly optimizing the energy-harvesting time and power control for the considered (D2D) communication embedded with UAV. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms as running time for solving them can be conducted in milliseconds.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, 1 table. This paper is accepted for publication on IEEE Wireless Communications Letter

Participatory identification of climate-smart agriculture priorities

With the concept climate-smart agriculture (CSA) being relatively new, there is a need to test and develop practical and systematic methodologies and approaches for documenting and evaluating CSA practices in the field. The implementation of CCAFS’ Climate-Smart Villages (CSV) involves identifying, assessing and selecting climate-smart farming practices. This report contains three sections: (i) a framework for identifying and assessing CSA in the field with a long list of CSA indicators in identifying and monitoring CSA interventions; (ii) cost-benefit analysis of some selected climate-smart farming systems; and (iii) the participatory process of prioritizing CSA options with the villagers. The work builds on our experiences from the My Loi CSV and its scaling domains in Ky Anh district, Ha Tinh province, in the north-central region of Viet Nam. English version: https://cgspace.cgiar.org/bitstream/handle/10568/75542/Participatory%20CSA_ICRAF_Final.pd

Organisational Baseline Study: Overview report for My Loi CSV, Vietnam (VN02)

This report covers the Organisational Baseline Study (OBS) for the CCAFS climate-smart village My Loi in central Viet Nam. During October and November 2014 interviews were conducted with ten organisations working or collaborating with farmers and/or the community in Ky Anh district in Ha Tinh province. The My Loi research site lies in the uplands of the north central coast. The region has four but increasingly variable seasons, increase in frequency and magnitude of storms and tropical low-pressure systems, increase in intensity of dry and hot westerly wind (Laos wind). The main farming systems comprise a blend of crop-livestock systems with the main crops being rainfed rice, cassava, peanut, and acacia. This OBS report supplements the qualitative village baseline studies at the same location. The objectives of the organisational baseline study are to: Provide indicators to monitor changes in behaviours and practices of locally relevant organisations that have climate change related activities in Ha Tinh over time Understand the provision of information/services at the local level that informs farmers’ decision making about their livelihood strategies in response to climate chang

Economic load dispatch solutions considering multiple fuels for thermal units and generation cost of wind turbines

In this paper, economic load dispatch (ELD) problem is solved by applying a suggested improved particle swarm optimization (IPSO) for reaching the lowest total power generation cost from wind farms (WFs) and thermal units (TUs). The suggested IPSO is the modified version of Particle swarm optimization (PSO) by changing velocity and position updates. The five best solutions are employed to replace the so-far best position of each particle in velocity update mechanism and the five best solutions are used to replace previous position of each particle in position update. In addition, constriction factor is also used in the suggested IPSO. PSO, constriction factor-based PSO (CFPSO) and bat optimization algorithm (BOA) are also run for comparisons. Two systems are used to run the four methods. The first system is comprised of nine TUs with multiple fuels and one wind farm. The second system is comprised of eight TUs with multiple fuels and two WFs. From the comparisons of results, IPSO is much more powerful than three others and it can find optimal power generation with the lowest total power generation cost

Gender-differences in Agro-Climate Information Services (Findings from ACIS baseline survey in Ha Tinh and Dien Bien provinces, Vietnam)

This brief summarized the baseline survey and the testing of different agro-advisories conducted in the Agro-Climate Information Services for women and ethnic minority farmers in South-East Asia (ACIS) project sites: Dien Bien and Ha Tinh provinces in Vietnam. The baseline survey gathered information on diverse aspects of livelihoods, food security, climate hazards and impacts, as well as access to and quality of weather and agricultural information. In a Participatory Scenario Planning (PSP) meeting, six samples of the agro-advisory developed in the project were tested by the men and women farmer respondents. Results show that men and women farmers’ needs and preferences must be considered in order to most effectively disseminate agro-climate information. The ways in which gender impacts farm-level adaptations and market transactions has implications for farm planning, managing, monitoring, and marketing of products. The study confirms the importance of considering gendered factors, among other, in climate information services

An investigation of online teaching and lecturers' online teaching competence in Vietnam: A case study at universities of technology and education

The rapid digital transformation and the widespread influence of the COVID-19 pandemic have impacted higher education in Vietnam. This social setting fosters online teaching and lecturers’ online teaching competencies.  The aim of this study is to investigate online teaching competence at two universities of technology and education in Vietnam through a survey. Based on a review of the literature, an online teaching competence scale for lecturers was developed and its validity and reliability were evaluated using exploratory component analysis and Cronbach's alpha coefficients with data from 311 lecturers at two public universities of technology and education. The online teaching competency scale for lecturers consists of 25 items organized into five component competencies: “Understanding student learning”, “online session administration”, “digital content development and learning facilitation”, “technology” and “online learning outcomes assessment”. With the exception of “technology”, the remaining component competencies were identified as good. Not only online teaching modes but also online teaching activities and productions were also deployed to maintain learning activities especially during the COVID-19 pandemic at two universities. Recommendations for developing lecturers' online teaching competence were also considered

The role of stakeholders and their relationships in the sustainability of telecentres

Purpose This paper aims to examine the role of stakeholders and their relationships in the sustainability of telecentres in Vietnam through the lens of stakeholder theory. Design/methodology/approach This study methodologically adopted a qualitative case study to identify stakeholders that have been involved in telecentres in Vietnam. It then categorizes those stakeholders’ salience through the lens of stakeholder identification and salience theory. Secondary data and interviews were used as data sources for the present paper. Findings The authors identify six main stakeholders that have been involved in telecentres, including the government, entrepreneurs, international donors, telecommunications providers, civil society organisations and individual community members/users. Among these stakeholders, the government, entrepreneurs and users belong to definitive stakeholders, which have the greatest impact on the sustainability of telecentres in comparison to other groups of stakeholders (e.g. dominant, dependent and dormant stakeholders). Moreover, the authors propose a model to identify the relationships of stakeholders towards the sustainability of telecentres. In particular, the authors indicate that each group of stakeholders has its own role in contributing to sustainable telecentres and they also influence others in either direct or indirect ways. Originality/value This study provides an additional approach for managers to make judgments in prioritizing the interests of some of their stakeholders while still maintaining a level of satisfaction among other stakeholders. For example, stakeholders that should be of the highest concern to the sustainability of telecentres are the government, entrepreneurs and users, while civil society organisations can be maintained in lower priority to other stakeholders. In addition, we propose the model of interactions and relationships of stakeholders, which can be seen as a starting point for a study on the roles of stakeholders in sustainability not only in telecentres, but also in other fields, such as digital transformation, cyber security and e-government.©2023 Emerald Publishing Limited. This manuscript version is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY–NC 4.0) license, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

Adaptation options for agricultural cultivation systems in the South Central Coast under the context of climate change: Assessment Report.

This report highlights the results of consultation meetings and field visits organized by the Department of Crop Production and the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security in Southeast Asia in association with the three offices of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in the South Central Coast provinces of Binh Thuan, Ninh Thuan, and Khanh Hoa, in combination with consultation with the provinces in the conference: “Summing up crops production in the Winter-Spring season in 2018-2019, implementing the Summer-Autumn season, Main rice season in 2019 for the South Central Coast and the Central Highlands” held by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in Tam Ky City, Quang Nam Province on 12 April 2019. The meetings underlined the progress made by the provinces on climate change adaptation and mitigation, options for risk reductions in agricultural production, and conversion of crop structure as results of implementing the guidelines of the provinces and the Sector, especially, solutions for reservation and efficient and economic use of water under the context of climate change. This assessment report also reviews some issues related to the agricultural transformation of the region in adapting to risks caused by climate change. They are based on comparative advantages in terms of geographical location and market of key agricultural products. This report also points out shortcomings in using land and unreasonable points in managing and using important natural resources, especially water, and provides recommendations for the agricultural transformation and inter-regional connection with the Central Highlands and the Southeast. The team also introduces climate-related risks maps and adaptation plans (CS MAP) which is applied in the five provinces in the Mekong Delta Region, and hopes this solution’s expansion shall be supported by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the provinces

Possibility of reservoir-triggered earthquake occurrence in the Huoi Quang and Ban Chat hydropower dam area

The possibility of reservoir-triggered earthquake occurrence in the Huoi Quang and Ban Chat hydropower dam area has been assessed based on studying and analyzing the relationships between the reservoir-triggered earthquake occurrence and the following factors: (1) the types of rocks underlying the reservoir; (2) the oscillating reservoir loads on faults in the reservoir area; (3) the incremental stress caused by reservoir loads; (4) the slip tendency of faults in the reservoir area; and (5) the Coulomb stress change of faults in the reservoir area. The results show that these factors have interactive effects and simultaneously contribute to the favorable conditions for reservoir-triggered earthquake occurrence. The Huoi Quang and Ban Chat hydropower reservoirs are located in the area of moderate seismicity; however, with the favorable conditions due to these five factors, reservoir-triggered earthquakes can possibly occur. If reservoir-triggered earthquakes occur, they will be concentrated around the Ban Chat hydropower dam area within a radius of 11 - 12 km and at a depth of about 6 ± 1 km