Partial Word Knowledge: Frontier Words in the L2 Mental Lexicon

The study set out to examine the partial word knowledge of native speakers, L2 advanced, and intermediate learners of English with regard to four word features from Richards\u27 (1976) taxonomy of aspects describing what knowing a word entails. To capture partial familiarity, the participants completed in writing a test containing low and mid frequency content words, accompanied by a word knowledge scale. The analysis showed that there were three distinctive patterns of partially familiar vocabulary but their distribution across the three groups was quite different, which indicated that partial knowledge was linked to different word features across the three proficiency groups. It was also of interest to explore whether the participants maintained similar associative connections for their frontier words and whether a word association task would capture partial familiarity. Overall, participants\u27 associative domains for frontier words did not reveal any consistent associative behavior that would distinguish between proficiency groups

Lexical Composition of Effective L1 and L2 Students\u27 Academic Presentations

The present study set out to examine the lexical profiles of L1 (n = 30) and proficient L2 students\u27 presentations (n = 30), aiming at finding out the overall lexical composition of successful academic presentations. It was also of interest to see how some of the presentations\u27 lexical features compared to findings about the lexical composition of students\u27 productively used vocabulary in writing. In addition to this, the analysis focused on the lexical composition of both groups\u27 oral production in an attempt to uncover patterns of lexical uses that may need to be discussed in oral communication courses, specifically targeting the development of L1 and L2 students\u27 presentation skills. Overall, the analysis revealed more similarities than differences in the lexical composition of the L1 and L2 presentations while, at the same time, outlined few areas that need to be addressed in oral academic instruction

Lexical Complexity of Academic Presentations: Similarities Despite Situational Differences

The present study examined the lexical complexity profiles of academic presentations of three groups of university students– native English speaking, English as a second language, and English as a lingua franca users. It adopted a notion of lexical complexity which includes lexical diversity, lexical density, and lexical sophistication as main dimensions of the framework. The study aimed at finding out how the three academically similar groups of presenters compared on their lexical complexity choices, what the lexical complexity profiles of high quality students’ academic presentations looked like, and whether we can identify variables that contribute to the overall lexical complexity of presentations given by each group in a unique way. The findings revealed overwhelming similarities across the three groups of presenters and also suggested that the three dimensional framework provides a holistic picture of the lexical complexity for various groups of English for academic purposes presenters

Effects of Lexical Class and Word Frequency on the L1 and L2 English-Based Lexical Connections

Three groups of participants—L1 speakers of English, L2 advanced, and intermediate users of English—responded in writing to a word association test containing words balanced for lexical class (nouns, verbs, adjectives) and frequency of occurrence (high, mid, low). The questions addressed in the study concerned the way two word-related factors (i.e., lexical category and word frequency) interplayed with two learner-related characteristics (i.e., proficiency and word familiarity) and influenced 1) the participants’ knowledge of vocabulary, 2) their preference to build specific types of lexical connections among the words they know, and 3) their ability to maintain networks of associations as an indicator of the connectivity of their lexicons. The findings revealed a complex picture of interactions between the word-related and learner-related factors but, whenever the effects of the variables could be disentangled, proficiency and lexical class had a stronger influence on the organization of the L1 and L2 lexicons than word frequency alone

International Graduate Student PowerPoint Presentation Designs: A Reality Check

The present study set out to examine what novice international graduate student presenters consider to be effective PowerPoint slide design practices and the extent to which these practices are in agreement with experts’ advice. The analysis focused on three main features of students’ PowerPoint presentations – organisation, style and typography. The general conclusion is that we can mostly rely on students’ intuitions concerning ‘relevance’ and ‘simplicity’ of PowerPoint presentation designs, but we should draw their attention to ‘consistency’, i.e., the systematic application of the organisation, style and typological features to their PowerPoint presentations

Evaluation in Moderation: Evaluative Adjectives in Student Academic Presentations

Evaluation is inherent in academic discourse and fundamental to shaping college students’ critical thinking and ability to assess the status of discipline-specific information. The current study focused on the use of evaluative adjectives in native English speaking (L1) and English as a second language (L2) college student academic presentations (N = 40). The goal was to find out how the two groups of presenters compared on their frequency, referential choices, variability of evaluative adjectives, patterns of adjectival structures, and level of sophistication of the adjectives they used and also to identify common trends for both groups along the categories. The findings revealed that, even though the two groups shared some common patterns in their use of evaluative adjectives across the various categories, the L2 presenters most notably differed in the frequency and the much smaller range of adjectives with which the common patterns were realized. The findings of the study are discussed in light of their language learning and teaching implications

What Is New in the New TOEFL-iBT 2006 Test Format?

In recent years TOEFL has become one of the most popular high-stakes tests affecting not only what and how English language teachers teach but also what and how students learn (e.g. Johnson, Jordan, & Poehner, 2005; Alderson & Wall, 1993). The new 2006 TOEFL–iBT exam is on its way; yet, until now, information about the new test format and test preparation materials is scarce. Above and beyond interest in the test alone, the burning question is what demanded the revision of the current test, given that the latest computer-based TOEFL was introduced fairly recently worldwide. The paper elaborates on some of the major reasons that have promoted the current changes of the exam format emphasizing the realization of testing experts, researchers, ESL/EFL teachers, students, program administrators, and other end-users that to succeed in an academic environment in which English is the language of instruction, students need not only to understand English, but also to communicate effectively. Among these reasons is the growing awareness among all parties interested in the test results that if a test is aiming to be a test of English for academic purposes and a reliable instrument of language proficiency, it needs to capture the integrated nature of the use of skills in academic settings. The paper also discusses in greater detail the new revisions of the test format – that is, the inclusion of a new speaking section, the revision of the writing component, and the incorporation of note-taking throughout all sections of the test – in light of the theoretical considerations and research findings underpinning the modifications. The expected outcomes and implications of the test revisions are outlined with regard to a focus on communicative competence and the anticipated positive washback effect on the way English is taught in the future

PENGARUH KINERJA KEUANGAN TERHADAP NILAI PERUSAHAAN DENGAN PENGUNGKAPAN CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY DAN STRUKTUR GOOD CORPORATE GOVERNANCE SEBAGAI VARIABEL PEMODERASI PADA PERUSAHAAN INDUSTRI BARANG KONSUMSI YANG TERDAFTAR DI BURSA EFEK INDONESIA

This study aims to determine the effect of financial performance on corporate value which in this case is measured using the disclosure of corporate social responsibility, dependent commissioner, and institutional ownership as a moderating variable. Population in this research is Consumer Goods Industry company listed in Indonesia Stock Exchange during observation period year 2010-2012. Sample selection is done based on purposive sampling method with the aim to get the samples according to the purpose of research. Samples were taken as many as 21 companies with 63 samples from 2010 to 2012. The result of the research is ROA has significant effect to Tobins'Q with a significant probability of 0.000. While the analysis of moderating variables with MRA method known that CSR Disclosure is able to influence the relationship between ROA with Tobins'Q, Independent Commissioner is also able to influence the relationship between ROA with Tobins'Q and Institutional Ownership able to influence the relationship between ROA with Tobins'Q

Providing Feedback on the Lexical Use of ESP Students’ Academic Presentations: Teacher Training Considerations

This chapter offers a description of a methodology for providing training to pre-service English for Academic and Specific Purposes (EAP/ESP) teacher trainees in giving evidence-based feedback on the lexical composition of ESP students’ academic presentations. It also discusses a study based on the analysis of the mock feedback provided by the EAP/ESP teacher trainees (n=20) to ESP students’ presentations with a focus on the effects of training. The results revealed that the training was successful in areas such as raising the teacher trainees’ awareness of how to evaluate various lexical categories in an ESP presentation, how to incorporate their evaluation into the feedback they give to the students, how to highlight relevant lexical deviations in an evidence-based manner, etc. There were, however, a couple of areas that needed to be emphasised more in the training process. The results confirmed that providing training on evidence-driven feedback to teacher trainees planning to teach in an EAP/ESP context is a necessary component of ESP teacher education

HPLC ASSAY OF MODEL TABLET FORMULATIONS CONTAINING METRONIDAZOLE AND CIPROFLOXACIN

Objective: This paper describes development and validation of a high-performance liquid chromatographic analytical procedure for simultaneously determination of metronidazole and ciprofloxacin in a model tablet formulations.Methods: The separation was achieved with a LiChrosorb® RP-18 (250 x 4.6 mm) column, at 33 °C temperature with isocratic mode and a mobile phase containing triethylamine: o-phosphoric acid and аcetonitrile (0.02:80:20 v/v/v). The flow rate was 1.0 ml/min and the eluent was monitored at 290 nm.Results: The selected chromatographic conditions were found to separate effectively metronidazole and ciprofloxacin with a retention time of 3.46 min and 6.68 min, respectively. The method was validated for analytical parameters specificity, linearity, precision, accuracy, LOD and LOQ. The calibration curves were linear in the concentration range of 12.5-100.0 µg/ml for metronidazole and ciprofloxacin. The recovery for metronidazole and ciprofloxacin was 100.1 % and 100.2 %, respectively.Conclusion: The analytical procedure was applied to quality control of model tablet formulations. It was established that the developed analytical procedure was successfully used for routine analysis of metronidazole and ciprofloxacin in model tablet dosage forms without any interference from included excipients.Keywords: Metronidazole, Ciprofloxacin, RP-HPLC, Validation, Model tablet formulations, Quality contro