Action & cut: Using Windows Movie Maker XP® in ESL classrooms

This study looks at the use of Windows Movie Maker XP® to facilitate students' presentation skills in their English for Professional Communication classes. In the study, students are given the task to produce a short movie based on their meeting presentations which contribute 10% to their course assessment. They are instructed to form groups which consist of five to six members. The movie has to be approximately 10 minutes long with the script written originally by the students. They also need to submit the completed version of the movie in a CD format. The study indicates that Windows Movie Maker XP® enables students to share their meeting presentation movies with their classmates and lecturers. This study also shows that using Windows Movie Maker XP® can help students' learning environment in many ways: they find that English as a Second Language (ESL) classrooms can be enjoyable because of the availability of technology which they can utilize; they improve their English in the context of meeting environments which are assigned by their lecturers, and they build their confidence through the role play

Effects of three vocabulary learning techniques on vocabulary retention

This study investigates the effects of three vocabulary learning techniques,which are Contextual Clues,Dictionary Strategy and TMM Vocabulary,in retaining words learnt among ESL learners.Conducting the study serves several purposes. Firstly,it aims at finding which of the vocabulary learning techniques may result in the highest number of words retained, as measured in the immediate and delayed recall tests.Secondly, it investigates the students' attitudes after they are exposed to the vocabulary learning techniques. Finally, it seeks to find out students' preferences and difficulties of using the techniques in retaining words learnt.The results of the study support Ellis' Model of Second Language Acquisition (SLA) in that instructions need to match L2 learners' aptitude of helping them to retain the words learnt using the vocabulary learning techniques taught to them. Social Constructivist Learning Theory is also used to explain the findings. The theory describes that the construction of knowledge inside the classroom depends on the inter-dependence of social and individual processes.While learners interpret the learning in their own ways, they also need to be dependent on their friends and be facilitated by their teachers in their attempt to retain the vocabulary learnt in class.The study has adopted both quantitative and qualitative methods in collecting its data. A quasi-experiment that tested the effects of retaining vocabulary using Dictionary Strategy, Contextual Clues and TMM Vocabulary involved 123 first-year university students.A survey gauged their attitudes after being exposed to the techniques. Qualitative procedures included the collection of data from interviews,which were conducted to identify both their preferences and the hindrances they encountered in using the techniques.Results from the study showed that there was a significant difference (p = .033 <05) in Immediate Recall Tests when students were exposed to Dictionary Strategy,Contextual Clues and TMM Vocabulary. The finding for the Delayed Recall Posttest,however, was not supported (p = .735 < .05). There was also evidence that students' attitudes were found to be significant (p = .002 < .05) when they were exposed to the three vocabulary learning techniques. Finally, students' preferences and hindrances relating to the use of the respective vocabulary learning techniques were dependent on the treatments as well as their proficiency levels

Focusing on the spirit of ramadhan

8 August 2012. Ramadhan came again and CMLHS was eager to enliven the Holy month. One of the biggest activities was the Iftar Gotongroyong at UMP Mosque

Elements promoting learning from a strategic partner: a Malaysia case

Strategic alliances (SAs) are becoming a popular and prominent strategy to help many firms sustain its competitive advantage in the rapid and unexpected global economy. This inter-organisational structure is becoming essential feature in today’s intensely competitive market as a means for facilitating market entry, acquiring new technology, leveraging economies of scale, and enhancing new product development capabilities. Additionally, in the recent trends of strategic alliance literature, they have been linked to the organisational learning literature where alliances create environments for learning and knowledge transfer. This phenomenon is referred to as ‘alliance-based learning’. The main purpose of this paper is to discuss how learning can be promoted via alliance arrangement. The study used an in-depth case study method, where a child business was set up upon the signing of strategic alliance agreement between parent partner in Malaysia with foreign parent partner from the UK, and the partnership had included learning as one of their main objectives

The use of paper dictionary on L2 vocabulary learning and retention

Vocabulary learning and retention are the two components that are essential in assessing students’ abilities to understand the meaning of words. The study examines students’ attitudes of learning vocabulary and their learning feedback of using a paper dictionary. It also investigates the factors that students favour and dislike when using the resources for vocabulary retention. The method uses to collect the data in the current study is Explanatory Sequential Research Design. Both questionnaires and semi-structured interviews are employed as the instruments in the current study. The study found that students had positive learning attitudes using paper dictionary in learning vocabulary. There was also various learning feedback that was obtained concerning the use of the resource for the learning of vocabulary. In terms of vocabulary retention, students provided different viewpoints in the use paper dictionary to assist them in memorising the definition of a target word. Finally, the study found a few factors that restricted them to use the resources to retain the vocabulary learnt. The study implies that the use of a paper dictionary is still significant as it helped students to enhance their understanding of a particular vocabulary.

The Influence of Employer’s Behavior, Communication and Psychological Ownership in Promoting the Employee-Employer Relationship in the SMEs

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can be deceptively complex organizations to manage due to a broad range of challenges, such as issues relating to owner-managers, as well as employees and the employment relationship (Mallett & Wapshott, 2012). This study is conducted to study three factors, the behavior of the employer, the influence of communication and psychological ownership with relevant to promoting employee and employer relationship in the SMEs. Questionnaires were distributed to 150 employees of various SMEs in the Sri Serdang area of Selangor, Malaysia. The result was analyzed using the descriptive and correlation analysis

Localization of workforce in Saudi Arabia: historical review of the problem

Recently Saudi government is facing the unemployment challenges due to high number of international labour working in the Saudi Arabia. This caused severe threat to the local workforce. The purpose of this study was to explore the persistence of the current unemployment crisis in Saudi Arabia and alternative strategies that might be designed to reduce unemployment in Saudi Arabia. Localization of the workforce is one of the major initiatives taken by the Saudi government to reduce the unemployment of their local workforce. The research proposes a framework for reducing the number of illegal expatriates. Current study comprehensively reviewed the effectiveness of the measure taken by the Saudi government. Literature indicated that the internalization of the workforce initiatives has significantly reduced the unemployment of the Saudi workforce. However the problem still exists and Saudi government and policy makers still required to develop more effective strategies to cop the situation

Motivational factors for academicians in private universities to participate in knowledge-sharing activities

Everybody can be part of knowledge-sharing activities, and this is especially true if we are referring to Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), where, in many situations, knowledge sharing can be seen to take place via natural activities. However, barriers and problems for knowledge sharing are also common. This is because some people think that their knowledge is valuable and important and are unwilling to share unless there are enough incentives. This study applies the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) to explain knowledge-sharing behaviour among academic staff at selected private HEIs in Malaysia. The main objective of this study is to identify the motivation that influences knowledgesharing behaviour. A total of 110 respondents participated in answering this study's questionnaire. The findings revealed that knowledge-sharing behaviour among academic staff exists and is affected by different motivational factors such as organisational rewards and reciprocal benefit as extrinsic factors and self efficacy and enjoyment in helping other as intrinsic factors

Tourism information system

Tourist Information Centre (TIC) is an information centre for tourist either from Malaysia or other country. TIC still implementing the manual system to store data.All the data were kept either in the log book, template or brochure. This manual system will encouter many problems to the TIC staffs such as in updating and searching the data.It will become a big problem where some of the data might be loss during the operation.The exact data and information could not be delivered to the tourist because of the problems that occured. Therefore, the Tourism Information System (TIS) is suggested to solve the problem. TIS consists of three (3) modules.The modules are location module, accommodation module and transportation module.The Searching Technique which is Concept Mapping will be applied in order to search and retrieve the data in the database. At the end of the project, a prototype of TIS is developed where it will be able to keep and save all Tourist Information Centre (TIC) data in the database.This will makes the data more manageable and systematic