Alternative assessment: exploring the effectiveness of self-assessment practice among engineering students

There are numerous ways available for lecturers to assess their students’ learning progress and one practical way is through self-assessment. Instructors should not under-estimate their students’ capability and interest in assessing themselves. Instead they should be given the opportunity to be involved in the assessment process. One salient advantage of this practice is to enable students to identify their own strengths and weaknesses in order improve themselves. The main purpose of this article is to investigate the implementation of self-assessment as a classroom assessment tool among engineering students in Universiti Kuala Lumpur British Malaysian Institute. Specifically, this study intends to investigate the accuracy of engineering students when assessing their own writing skill and the students’ and lecturers’ reactions with regard to the use of self-assessment as one of the classroom tools for assessment in a university language course. The subjects of this study were 137 diploma students from several engineering courses. Data in the form of written assignments were collected throughout the study and analysed via students’ own analyses and lecturers’ evaluation. The findings revealed that majority of the students, most of whom were Malays, would under-rate themselves. With regard to the use of self-assessment in the classroom, most of the students remarked that self-assessment is something positive and most of them viewed the procedure as a meaningful assessing experience

Neoliberalism and its impact on English as a medium of instruction in Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam / Nurul Farehah Mohamad Uri and Mohd Salehhuddin Abd Aziz

In today’s modern world economy, there is always a competition among countries as a consequence of globalization. A salient feature of globalization is the adoption of neoliberalism – a modern contemporary economic ideology. Neoliberalism ideology is spreading fast around the globe including in South East Asia. The spread and adoption of English as the main medium of communication in conducting business, trade, commerce and various fields is the direct and indirect results of the impact of neoliberalism. This ideology has brought about many changes economically, socially and educationally to these countries. This paper intends to investigate the impact of neoliberalism especially on English as a medium of instruction in Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. It will focus on the implementation of CEFR which is also directly related to the adoption of neoliberalism

ASSESSING READABILITY OF A NATIONAL EXAM READING TEXTS IN MALAYSIA

This paper intends to investigate the readability level of the passages in the English paper of a national examination in Malaysia. In specific, this study seeks to identify the level of readability for reading passages of SPM English papers using readability formulas and judgement of reading experts. The readability of the English papers was analyzed using three readability formulas: Flesch Reading Ease, Gunning Fog Index and Coh-Metrix L2 Reading Index. Five reading experts were also invited to evaluate the difficulty level of the reading texts. The readability scores of these reading texts revealed that these texts were graded as “fairly easy” texts as they fell within the range of 66.7-80.6 for Flesch Reading Ease, 6.9-10.1 for Gunning Fog Index. Results of Coh-Metrix L2 Reading Index also prove the readability level of the passages. Correspondingly, the content experts noted that the reading texts were interesting and generally easy to read texts. The analyses of the reading passages have shown that the texts chosen for the English papers were reasonably appropriate for the upper secondary school students.  Article visualizations

Implementation of CEFR in Malaysia: teachers’ awareness and the challenges

This study mainly seeks to investigate English teachers and Ministry of Education officials’ views on the implementation of CEFR in Malaysia. It also intends to explore the challenges encountered by the stakeholders in view of the adoption of CEFR onto Form 5 English syllabus and assessment. Data for this study were collected from questionnaires distributed to 331 English secondary school teachers and from in – depth interviews with two senior ministry officials. The findings revealed that most of the teachers had very limited knowledge, minimum exposure and low level of awareness about CEFR. Nevertheless, they were optimistic about the idea and believed that the framework is vital in order to improve the level of English proficiency of Malaysians. The officials in the ministry were also positive about the implementation plan despite the challenges and obstacles perceived. The teachers’ resistance, lack of training and negative conception that most teachers have namely it would be difficult to incorporate CEFR in their teaching are some of the main challenges identified in this study. In conclusion, the adoption of CEFR in Malaysia is seen as obligatory but sufficient time should be given by the ministry to ensure that all stakeholders are fully prepared and familiar with the framework before it is extensively introduced and used in the country

The appropriacy and applicability of English assessment against CEFR global scale: teachers’ judgement

This study intends to identify the appropriateness of the writing and reading assessment items of the current English syllabus according to the targeted CEFR levels set by the Ministry of Education and to find out English teachers’ familiarity with CEFR writing and reading scales by suggesting suitable CEFR levels for writing and reading assessment items. An assessment checklist was used to collect the data involving 331 secondary school English teachers. Results show that most of the assessment items are found to be suitable and applicable to be used in the CEFR. This study also proves that the teachers were aware of the six levels of CEFR global scale because they were able to identify the suitable CEFR level that matches against CEFR target level set by the Ministry of Education. In conclusion, the Ministry of Education, Malaysia should consider to continue using some part of the current English syllabus and assessment instead of recommending its total abolishment

Multiple Myeloma Treatment in Real-world Clinical Practice : Results of a Prospective, Multinational, Noninterventional Study

Funding Information: The authors would like to thank all patients and their families and all the EMMOS investigators for their valuable contributions to the study. The authors would like to acknowledge Robert Olie for his significant contribution to the EMMOS study. Writing support during the development of our report was provided by Laura Mulcahy and Catherine Crookes of FireKite, an Ashfield company, a part of UDG Healthcare plc, which was funded by Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc, and Janssen Global Services, LLC. The EMMOS study was supported by research funding from Janssen Pharmaceutical NV and Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Funding Information: The authors would like to thank all patients and their families and all the EMMOS investigators for their valuable contributions to the study. The authors would like to acknowledge Robert Olie for his significant contribution to the EMMOS study. Writing support during the development of our report was provided by Laura Mulcahy and Catherine Crookes of FireKite, an Ashfield company, a part of UDG Healthcare plc, which was funded by Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc, and Janssen Global Services, LLC. The EMMOS study was supported by research funding from Janssen Pharmaceutical NV and Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Funding Information: M.M. has received personal fees from Janssen, Celgene, Amgen, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Sanofi, Novartis, and Takeda and grants from Janssen and Sanofi during the conduct of the study. E.T. has received grants from Janssen and personal fees from Janssen and Takeda during the conduct of the study, and grants from Amgen, Celgene/Genesis, personal fees from Amgen, Celgene/Genesis, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Novartis, and Glaxo-Smith Kline outside the submitted work. M.V.M. has received personal fees from Janssen, Celgene, Amgen, and Takeda outside the submitted work. M.C. reports honoraria from Janssen, outside the submitted work. M. B. reports grants from Janssen Cilag during the conduct of the study. M.D. has received honoraria for participation on advisory boards for Janssen, Celgene, Takeda, Amgen, and Novartis. H.S. has received honoraria from Janssen-Cilag, Celgene, Amgen, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Novartis, and Takeda outside the submitted work. V.P. reports personal fees from Janssen during the conduct of the study and grants, personal fees, and nonfinancial support from Amgen, grants and personal fees from Sanofi, and personal fees from Takeda outside the submitted work. W.W. has received personal fees and grants from Amgen, Celgene, Novartis, Roche, Takeda, Gilead, and Janssen and nonfinancial support from Roche outside the submitted work. J.S. reports grants and nonfinancial support from Janssen Pharmaceutical during the conduct of the study. V.L. reports funding from Janssen Global Services LLC during the conduct of the study and study support from Janssen-Cilag and Pharmion outside the submitted work. A.P. reports employment and shareholding of Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) during the conduct of the study. C.C. reports employment at Janssen-Cilag during the conduct of the study. C.F. reports employment at Janssen Research and Development during the conduct of the study. F.T.B. reports employment at Janssen-Cilag during the conduct of the study. The remaining authors have stated that they have no conflicts of interest. Publisher Copyright: © 2018 The AuthorsMultiple myeloma (MM) remains an incurable disease, with little information available on its management in real-world clinical practice. The results of the present prospective, noninterventional observational study revealed great diversity in the treatment regimens used to treat MM. Our results also provide data to inform health economic, pharmacoepidemiologic, and outcomes research, providing a framework for the design of protocols to improve the outcomes of patients with MM. Background: The present prospective, multinational, noninterventional study aimed to document and describe real-world treatment regimens and disease progression in multiple myeloma (MM) patients. Patients and Methods: Adult patients initiating any new MM therapy from October 2010 to October 2012 were eligible. A multistage patient/site recruitment model was applied to minimize the selection bias; enrollment was stratified by country, region, and practice type. The patient medical and disease features, treatment history, and remission status were recorded at baseline, and prospective data on treatment, efficacy, and safety were collected electronically every 3 months. Results: A total of 2358 patients were enrolled. Of these patients, 775 and 1583 did and did not undergo stem cell transplantation (SCT) at any time during treatment, respectively. Of the patients in the SCT and non-SCT groups, 49%, 21%, 14%, and 15% and 57%, 20%, 12% and 10% were enrolled at treatment line 1, 2, 3, and ≥ 4, respectively. In the SCT and non-SCT groups, 45% and 54% of the patients had received bortezomib-based therapy without thalidomide/lenalidomide, 12% and 18% had received thalidomide/lenalidomide-based therapy without bortezomib, and 30% and 4% had received bortezomib plus thalidomide/lenalidomide-based therapy as frontline treatment, respectively. The corresponding proportions of SCT and non-SCT patients in lines 2, 3, and ≥ 4 were 45% and 37%, 30% and 37%, and 12% and 3%, 33% and 27%, 35% and 32%, and 8% and 2%, and 27% and 27%, 27% and 23%, and 6% and 4%, respectively. In the SCT and non-SCT patients, the overall response rate was 86% to 97% and 64% to 85% in line 1, 74% to 78% and 59% to 68% in line 2, 55% to 83% and 48% to 60% in line 3, and 49% to 65% and 36% and 45% in line 4, respectively, for regimens that included bortezomib and/or thalidomide/lenalidomide. Conclusion: The results of our prospective study have revealed great diversity in the treatment regimens used to manage MM in real-life practice. This diversity was linked to factors such as novel agent accessibility and evolving treatment recommendations. Our results provide insight into associated clinical benefits.publishersversionPeer reviewe

Teachers’ Evaluation of The Suitability of Reading Syllabus Specifications to The CEFR

The objectives of this study are to determine the suitability of reading syllabus specifications against CEFR reading scale and to find out if the CEFR levels of reading syllabus specifications suggested by teachers match the CEFR level set by Ministry of Education. 331 secondary school English teachers took part in this study through distribution of syllabus checklist. The teachers were required to determine if the current reading syllabus specifications are suitable and still relevant to be used against CEFR global scale. The teachers also recommended suitable CEFR levels for reading syllabus specifications. Data was analysed using Winstep since it measures suitability of an item. It was found that there are syllabus specifications which are still relevant and suitable to be used with CEFR global scale. Findings also reveal that reading syllabus specifications are aligned and matched the target CEFR level of B2 since CEFR level B1/B2 are the target level set by Ministry of Education for Form 5 English. Most of the reading skills syllabus specifications were placed at CEFR level B2 by the teachers. In conclusion, reading syllabus specifications which are found to be suitable and relevant to the CEFR should be retained so that these syllabus specifications could be used with the new CEFR aligned English syllabus

The Many Faces of Women in Selected Works by Asian Female Writers

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to look at the portrayal of women in some works by selected Asian female writers, in Particular from Hong Kong and Japan. Selected works by Xu Xi and Agnes Lam from Hong Kong and Hitomi Kanehara and Banana Yoshimoto from Japan are referred to. The study examines the representation of women in search of their identities, accomplishments, confusions and cultural dislocation within the paradigm of feminism theoretical framework. The study focuses on identifying how women are put into images by female writers, as the voice between different genders will appear to be diametrically opposed. The study yields insights on the discordance of behavior between the traditional and modern women in Asia setting