Discourse Analysis of Dr. Mahathir’s Business Speech

Discourse analysis is one of the methods of identifying ideologies reflected in text as well as the communication strategies used to convey those ideologies effectively to the addressed audience. Political business speeches defined as ‘a relatively autonomous discourse produced orally by a politician in front of an audience with the main purpose of persuading the audience into accepting a business proposition’ can be a good source to understand (a) the dominant business ideologies in a country, and (b) the reasons of success or failure of a political leader in conveying his/her business ideologies and/or justifying his/her business proposition. Hence, this article was aimed to identify Dr. Mahathir’s ideologies on Asia-Europe business relationships as well as the communication strategies he used to convey his ideologies to the audience. Analyzing one of Dr. Mahathir’s speeches delivered at an international business summit in the year 2000 revealed some of his ideologies with regard to Euro-Asia business relationships as well as the communication strategies he used to convey these ideologies to the audience. In this speech, Dr. Mahathir strongly believes in ‘equal power in Euro-Asia relationships’ as well as ‘unity and solidarity among Asian countries’ as the two main ideologies in this speech; and he tries to convey these ideologies by ‘referring to the bitter history of Euro-Asia relationships’ as well as ‘using pronouns’ as the two salient strategies used in this speech

Factors that influence oral presentations of engineering students of Pakistan for workplace environment

Oral presentations have acquired significant importance in the world of work especially in the field of engineering. Industry demands a new type of engineer equipped with new competencies and skills to promote business of organizations. Twenty five (25) engineering students from 2 engineering universities of Pakistan participated in this study. Purposive sampling method was used for data collection since participants were selected on specific criteria of only final year engineering students. All presentations were video recorded to capture actual barriers than perceived barriers of engineering students. Data were analyzed qualitatively through oral presentation assessment rubric. This assessment rubric contained four traits such as presentation skill, confidence, nervousness and vocal variety. Three assessors assessed these oral presentations in order to overcome researcher bias. The results of the study indicated that poor presentation skill, poor confidence and nervousness influenced effective oral presentation performance of engineering students. The findings of the study can be used as a guideline to prepare better human capital for workforce which is demand of modern industry to increase its workplace productivity

The influence of content familiarity, gender difference and proficiency level on reading comprehension performance: a study on Malaysian undergraduate students in UPM

Much research has been done on the influence of several variables individually on Reading comprehension, but the influence of these variables as a whole was not given much attention. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between reading comprehension as a dependent variable and three independent variables namely: gender differences, English language proficiency level and content familiarity. An additional goal was to examine the interrelation between the three independent variables. The participants were 127 male and female Malaysian students attending English language proficiency classes at the English language department in University Putra Malaysia (UPM). The study employed a quantitative approach and the data was collected through a questionnaire which was of three main parts: two reading passages (one is content-familiar and the other one is content- unfamiliar texts) and a written interview. All participants were asked to answer the whole survey and then they were classified on the basis of their proficiency level and gender. The major findings revealed that there was a direct relation between content familiarity and reading comprehension while there was an indirect relation between each of gender differences and English language proficiency level on one side and reading comprehension on the other side

Practical skills of business English correspondence writing based on data mining algorithm

English correspondence writing has become a necessary skill for every scientific researcher and high-tech talents. An English correspondence writing auxiliary writing system can help nonnative English speakers make up for the lack of professional expression. The key factor of business English correspondence writing system is the construction of knowledge base. To improve the business English correspondence writing knowledge base, we need to mine frequent patterns of sentences in each category. The purpose of this topic is to improve and supplement the knowledge base for the business English correspondence writing system and propose frequent pattern mining for sentences in each category, so as to improve the writing knowledge base for the business English correspondence writing system. Firstly, we crawl a large number of business English letters and telegrams from the Internet, extract the relevant summary information, then store it, and preliminarily construct a corpus based on sentences. Then, we do some research on the structure of business English correspondence abstracts, mark the sentences in the corpus and count the relevant information, and have a certain understanding of their writing methods. Finally, we mine frequent patterns for sentences in each category, so as to improve the knowledge base of summary writing for the business English correspondence writing system. In the experiment, we use the classical FP growth algorithm as the mining method. The experiment shows that the frequent patterns between 3 and 6 words have been mined to a certain extent. By gradually improving the mining strategy, the quality of mining results has been improved and the writing effect of business English correspondence of scientific researchers has been improved

Metadiscourse markers in Dr. Zakir Naik's persuasive discourse

The International speaker Dr Zakir Naik has been the target of many studies for his influential speeches. Analysing persuasive speeches can be tackled from different angles, amongst which is the functional markers of persuasion represented by the Metadiscourse markers. Dr Zakir Naik's persuasive speeches have never been analyzed from a metadiscourse perspective. This paper aims to investigate the types and functions of metadiscourse markers in Zakir Naik's speeches. After transcribing Zakir Naik's videos manually, the coding process was accomplished via NVivo software and Microsoft Excel. Applying Dafouz-Milne's (2008) categories in the codification process, the interpersonal and textual metadiscourse markers are revealed. In terms of interpersonal metadiscourse markers, commentaries have been chiefly employed, contributing to Naik's relation to the audience. In terms of the textual metadiscourse markers, logical markers showed the highest usage. Such markers help in connecting his various persuasion strategies and multi-argument to make them smoothly connected. This paper has found that, generally, Zakir Naik has effectively developed and promoted his arguments via the extensive use of various metadiscourse tools while establishing an excellent relationship with the audience to attain a continuous relationship. This paper also argues that a fruitful approach to explore the interpersonal and textual definitions of language is Dafouz- Milne's categorization of metadiscourse markers as a powerful methodological tool in discourse analysis

Beyond the Technical Barriers: Oral Communication Barriers of Engineering Students of Pakistan for Workplace Environment: Preliminary Results

Engineering organizations demand soft skills of engineers to augment its business worldwide. Technical skills alone are never sufficient for engineers to perform workplace jobs efficiently in this age of industrial and commercial advancement. This study aims to investigate oral communication barriers of engineering students that can potentially influence their job performance at workplace. One hundred (100) engineering students were surveyed from an engineering university of Pakistan. Since respondents were drawn as only final year engineering students thus, purposive sampling method was employed. Data were analyzed statistically using computer based software Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The gathered information was coded and percentages were determined for oral communication barrier variables included in the questionnaire. The results of the study indicated that poor English language, fear and anxiety, lack of motivation and overcrowded classroom were oral communication barriers of engineering students. The results are in line with other communication studies on oral communication barriers of engineering students available in literature review. These findings would assist engineering universities of Pakistan to prepare better engineers for the workplace. Keywords: Oral Communication Barriers, Engineering Students, Workplace Environmen

Oral presentation preparation of engineering students of Pakistan for world of work: are they really prepared?

Oral presentations have acquired significant position in the world of work. Industry demands engineering graduates equipped with technical and non technical skills to uplift business of organizations at international level. Seven final year engineering students from 2 engineering universities of Pakistan participated in this study. Purposive sampling method was used for data collection purpose. Semi structured interviews were conducted with engineering students to explore barriers that hindered their effective oral presentation performance. Data were analyzed qualitatively using the techniques of data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing and verification as suggested by (Miles & Huberman, 1994). Open coding (Richards, 2005; Strauss and Corbin, 1998; Patton, 2002) and content analysis approach was used (Miles & Huberman, 1994). The results of the study revealed that poor oral communication skill, poor knowledge, low self confidence, stress and nervousness and low motivation were barriers that hindered effective oral presentation performance of engineering students. The findings of the study can be used as a guideline to prepare better engineers in terms of technical and non technical skills for modern industry

Enriching student learning through video-annotated peer feedback activity: a guide

Despite the growing research base on the use of video annotation in education, little is known on how to coherently structure a video-annotated peer feedback activity to engage students. Eventhough some studies have outlined the guidelines for conducting video-based annotation practice, little has been published with the focus on video-annotated peer feedback. To explore this under-investigated realm, the current review was conducted. In order to identify studies to be included in this review, a strategy for literature search was initially developed. This was followed by the selection and categorization of relevant studies. This paper thus provides a succinct overview of the essential steps involved in conducting a video-annotated peer feedback learning activity. Most importantly, it has resulted in a guide that outlines those essential stages and steps, thus providing insights into adaptation for use in education

Oral Presentation Preparation of Engineering Students of Pakistan for World of Work: Are they really Prepared?

Oral presentations have acquired significant position in the world of work. Industry demands engineering graduates equipped with technical and non technical skills to uplift business of organizations at international level. Seven final year engineering students from 2 engineering universities of Pakistan participated in this study. Purposive sampling method was used for data collection purpose. Semi structured interviews were conducted with engineering students to explore barriers that hindered their effective oral presentation performance. Data were analyzed qualitatively using the techniques of data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing and verification as suggested by (Miles & Huberman, 1994).  Open coding (Richards, 2005; Strauss and Corbin, 1998; Patton, 2002) and content analysis approach was used (Miles & Huberman, 1994). The results of the study revealed that poor oral communication skill, poor knowledge, low self confidence, stress and nervousness and low motivation were barriers that hindered effective oral presentation performance of engineering students. The findings of the study can be used as a guideline to prepare better engineers in terms of technical and non technical skills for modern industry.   Keywords: Industrial Environment, oral presentations, engineering student

Bibliometric analysis of research on peer feedback in teaching and learning

A growing body of literature has highlighted the pivotal role of peer feedback in teaching and learning. However, a paucity of studies explore the trend of literature in this research area, particularly using a bibliometric approach. Therefore, this study was conducted to reveal the major trends in the research area and construct an intellectual landscape of the relevant studies in the field. Bibliometric details of a total of 276 research articles, published from 1985 to 2020 (August), were retrieved from the Scopus database for further analysis. In particular, the publication trend, the most productive countries, the most productive authors, the top ten source titles, and keywords used in the research area, were explored using bibliometric indicators. The rapid growth of publications on peer feedback was observed since 2010, with a sharp peak noted in 2019. Furthermore, writing context was found as the central focus of peer feedback research. Among others, three key themes that surfaced out of term-occurrence analysis included: impacts/effects of using peer feedback approach, sub-themes concerning peer feedback implementation, and peer feedback in writing context. Additionally, from the review of 30 top-cited publications, 3 prominent themes: effects of using peer feedback approach, effective or ineffective peer feedback, and potential challenges or issues in peer feedback implementation emerged. Based on the findings, this paper concludes with some recommended avenues for future research