AN EXPLORATORY FACTOR ANALYSIS EXAMINING MANDARIN AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE (MFL) LEARNERS’ SELF-EFFICACY AT MALAYSIAN PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES

Background and Purpose: Self-efficacy is one of the aspects of human behaviours related to performance in social cognitive theory. It has been studied in social sciences, education, and languages. There are a variety of self-efficacy scales available in the English and French languages to test one’s self-belief in their ability to learn the target language. To date, no self-efficacy scale catered to the unique characteristics of Mandarin as a foreign or third language (MFL). The objective of this study is to give practical recommendations on creating valid self-efficacy instruments of MFL and making judgments on factor extraction, factor rotation, and factor labelling based on the foreign language literature.   Methodology: This quantitative study gathered information through an administration of a survey. The multipart survey consists of the demographic information section and the MFL self-efficacy scales distributed to MFL learners in Malaysian public universities. Data were collected randomly from 614 participants studying MFL at three different levels. Items for MFL self-efficacy were examined using SPSS version 25.0 software. Findings: The final 13 MFL self-efficacy items were reduced to four factors with a total variance of 68.99%. The Promax rotation matrices revealed the presence of a simple four-factor structure, exhibiting the degree of strong factor loadings. The four factors were MFL Speaking, MFL Listening, MFL Reading, and MFL Writing.   Contributions: This research provides valid self-efficacy scales for MFL learning. The skill-based Scale could contribute to MFL teaching literature in the Malaysian context. Additionally, the study proposes future investigations which involve learning Mandarin with more emphasis on Chinese Characters.   Keywords: Mandarin as a foreign language, self-efficacy, exploratory factor analysis, non-native speaker, scale development.   Cite as: YanJu, S., Yusuf, M., YanMei, S., & Abdullah, H. (2023). An exploratory factor analysis examining Mandarin as a foreign language (MFL) learners’ self-efficacy at Malaysian public universities. Journal of Nusantara Studies, 8(2), 425-440. http://dx.doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol8iss2pp425-44

Arsenic and Cadmium Accumulation in Soil as Affected by Continuous Organic Fertilizer Application: Implications for Clean Production

As and Cd in soil can be assimilated and accumulated by vegetables and can be subsequently ingested by humans. Contradictory effects of organic fertilizer application on As and Cd accumulation in soil have been reported in previous studies. An eight-year greenhouse study was conducted on a sandy loam soil in Beijing, China to investigate the effects of organic fertilizer application rate on soil properties, and As and Cd accumulation in soil. The contamination risk of pak choi grown after eight years’ application of organic fertilizer was also evaluated. Soil organic carbon increased 3.0–3.8 times with low, medium and high rates of fertilizer application in 2018 compared to the initial soil. Organic fertilizer application significantly increased soil nutrients and microbial biomass while it mildly affected soil pH. The bioavailability of As/Cd has decreased after eight years’ application of organic fertilizer. Pak choi crop harvested from all three treatments in 2018 did not pose a threat to human health, even for life-time consumption. Soil total As content significantly decreased with organic fertilizer application, mainly due to the lower As content in the applied fertilizer than that in soil. Continuous application of clean organic fertilizer can be adopted to reduce the contamination risk of highly contaminated soil in the soil–plant system

Positive Effects of Organic Substitution in Reduced-Fertilizer Regimes on Bacterial Diversity and N-Cycling Functionality in Greenhouse Ecosystem

Conventional fertilization in the greenhouses of North China used excessive amounts of chemical and organic fertilizer, resulting in soil degradation and severe agricultural non-point source pollution. A nine-year study was conducted on a loamy clay soil in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province, to investigate the effects of reduced-fertilizer input regimes on soil property, bacterial diversity, nitrogen (N) cycling and their interactions. There were four treatments, including high organic + chemical fertilizer application rate and three reduced-fertilizer treatments with swine manure, maize straw or no substitution of 50% chemical N. Treatments with reduced-fertilizer input prevented soil salinization and acidification as in local conventional fertilization after being treated for nine years. In comparison to chemical fertilizer only, swine manure or maize straw substitution maintained higher nutrient availability and soil organic C contents. Fertilizer input reduction significantly increased bacterial richness and shifted bacterial community after nine years, with decisive factors of EC, Olsen P and C/N ratio of applied fertilizer. Soil chemical characteristics (EC, pH and nutrients), aggregation and C/N ratio of applied fertilizer selected certain bacterial groups, as well as N-cycling functions. Reduced-fertilizer input decreased the potential nitrification and denitrification functioning of bacterial community, but only in organic substitution treatments. The results of this study suggested that fertilizer input reduction combined with organic C input has potential in reducing non-point source pollution and increasing N-use efficiency in greenhouse vegetable production in North China

Are medical record front page data suitable for risk adjustment in hospital performance measurement? Development and validation of a risk model of in-hospital mortality after acute myocardial infarction

Objectives To develop a model of in-hospital mortality using medical record front page (MRFP) data and assess its validity in case-mix standardisation by comparison with a model developed using the complete medical record data.Design A nationally representative retrospective study.Setting Representative hospitals in China, covering 161 hospitals in modelling cohort and 156 hospitals in validation cohort.Participants Representative patients admitted for acute myocardial infarction. 8370 patients in modelling cohort and 9704 patients in validation cohort.Primary outcome measures In-hospital mortality, which was defined explicitly as death that occurred during hospitalisation, and the hospital-level risk standardised mortality rate (RSMR).Results A total of 14 variables were included in the model predicting in-hospital mortality based on MRFP data, with the area under receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.78 among modelling cohort and 0.79 among validation cohort. The median of absolute difference between the hospital RSMR predicted by hierarchical generalised linear models established based on MRFP data and complete medical record data, which was built as ‘reference model’, was 0.08% (10th and 90th percentiles: −1.8% and 1.6%). In the regression model comparing the RSMR between two models, the slope and intercept of the regression equation is 0.90 and 0.007 in modelling cohort, while 0.85 and 0.010 in validation cohort, which indicated that the evaluation capability from two models were very similar.Conclusions The models based on MRFP data showed good discrimination and calibration capability, as well as similar risk prediction effect in comparison with the model based on complete medical record data, which proved that MRFP data could be suitable for risk adjustment in hospital performance measurement