The Metaphor in the Conceptualization of Innovation in Lim Kok Wing's Writings

The concept of innovation is prevalent and has been discussed in varied disciplines and published in various documents, such as educational magazines, books, and blogs. One example of such documentation is the writing on innovation by the late Tan Sri Dr Lim Kok Wing, compiled in a book titled "The Future is Coming". In education, innovation is required to transform the education system to prepare future generations for an innovation-driven economy. This study examined the concept of innovation using metaphorical expressions in writing on innovation in education. Specifically, it aimed to unravel the metaphor in the writings and to examine how the unravelled metaphors reflect the conceptions of innovation in education. In total, 42 written texts on innovation were included as data of the study. The data were analyzed based on Lakoff and Johnson's Conceptual Metaphor Theory. The findings of the study revealed seven salient conceptual metaphors underlying the expressions related to innovation in education. These metaphors involve the mappings of the source domains of JOURNEY, WAR, OBJECT, HUMAN BEING, SPORT, BUILDING, and FORCE to the target domain of INNOVATION. The unravelled metaphors underlying the writings on innovation suggest that innovation is conceived as a long process, which requires careful planning. The findings of the study provide insights into how innovation is conceived using metaphor, reflecting the ideas of a renowned brainchild of innovation in education in Malaysia, Lim Kok Wing.

Locative Prepositions “at, in, on” and Translation to Vietnamese Through Frameworks

Based on the role of the frame of reference under the influence of point-of-view culture in the British and Vietnamese ethnic groups used as a cognitive premise in the translation, the article presents the justification of the contracting process about the reasons, similarities and differences as well as the semantic differences of the locating preposition “at, in, on” in English with the corresponding linguistic units in Vietnamese through specific communication contexts. Research results show that if the reference object (DTQC) in the positioning reference system of the English preposition is assimilated with the speaker in Vietnamese [similar to the reference frame in the reference system] then, the translation semantics of the preposition “at, in, on” will be similar to the expression semantics of the corresponding units in Vietnamese. In contrast, the different structural semantics are manifested because there is no similarity in the frame of reference.

Storytelling in Instagram: Exploring a Creative Learning in Digital Era

Teaching and learning in the 21st century require students to become active thinkers in using technology to learn, innovate, communicate, and discover new knowledge. Instagram media was a great tool to showcase learning in an innovative learning environment where students took ownership of their learning and ideas. It could be used as hands-on training and build local and professional communities' knowledge. The sample for this study was 15 students from Tritech Informatika High School located in North Sumatra, Indonesia. Data was collected through interviews and related literature. Data analysis was analyzed using open coding methods that examined classified, tabulated, or combined evidence to solve the original research problem. Qualitative analysis that was conducted showed that Instagram media was the most used social media platform among participants, preferring to use it for educational and language learning purposes. This showed that social learning positively affected learning material research, motivation, academic and academic achievement satisfaction, and cooperative learning.

An Analysis of Mitigating Devices of Request Used by Saudi EFL Learners

This study aimed at exploring the linguistic mitigating devices of requests used by Saudi EFL learners. The participants of this study were 97 students enrolled in the English program at King Khalid University, Saudi Arabia. The data of this study were collected by Discourse Completion Test (DCT) questionnaire designed for the purpose of this study. The questionnaire contained five different situations of request and the factor of Social Distance (SD) was incorporated to investigate any differences of the learners’ request strategies attributed to this factor. The data were classified according to the Cross-Cultural Study of Speech Act Realization Patterns (CCSARP) by Blum-Kulka and Olshtain (1984). The findings of this study revealed that the participants preferred to use internal mitigating devices more frequently than external ones. They also were more direct when making requests and it seems that social distance does not play a significant role in the students’ modification strategies of requests.

Implementing Communicative Approaches in English Language Teaching: The Case of Burkina Faso

This article explores the implementation of communicative approaches in English as a foreign language (EFL) teaching in Burkina Faso. Ten years after the revision of the syllabi, the implementation of communicative approaches in EFL teaching is still lagging. Teachers are still struggling to enact communicative approaches in the classroom. This article seeks to understand the factors that hinder the achievement of the communicative goals set by policymakers. This article investigates those hindrances under the lens of teachers who are the expected enactors of communicative approaches in the classroom. It used a mixed methodology for data collection, and the participants are teachers and teacher supervisors. Data analysis consisted of the integration of quantitative data into qualitative thematic units of analysis. The findings revealed that the implementation of communicative approaches did not go beyond the definition of the communicative goal and the design of communicative syllabi. The textbooks and the teaching methodologies remained traditional and teachers did not receive appropriate contextualized training to apply communicative approaches in their classes.

Emergency Remote Teaching amid the Covid 19 and the Sources of Stress for EFL Students: A Qualitative Study

This study intended to identify the sources of stress for EFL students in their transition to emergency remote teaching amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Drawing on the genealogy of emotions and Braun and Clarke’s (2006) thematic analysis method, this qualitative study analyzed interview transcripts and emotion diaries gleaned from students over an academic semester. The findings pointed to 4 categories of stressors including academic-related stressors associated with online exams, students’ English competency, instructional demands, and excessive workload, and teaching quality. The category of stressors including psychological issues concerned students’ low self-concept and efficacy beliefs, students comparing themselves to others, their learning styles, and social interactions and expectations. Life-related stressors encompassed students’ concerns about future life, work-life balance, health and safety at the time of the global pandemic, and distractions and multitasking while students were in class. Finally, technical problems and students’ technological skills were recognized as the last source of stress. The findings were then discussed in the light of unique sources of stress attributed to the digital nature of remote learning and the need for a broader conceptualization of students’ proficiency in e-learning contexts. Finally, the study concluded with empirical implications for teachers, policymakers, health providers, and counselors.

Assessing the Performance of Students in Communication Skills: A Case Study of Two Public Universities in Sierra Leone

The purpose of this study is to assess the performance of students in Communication Skills in two tertiary institutions in Sierra Leone – the Eastern Technical University and the Njala University. The introduction of Communication Skills into the curriculum of teacher training institutions is viewed as a reaction to the poor performance of students in the written and spoken use of the English Language. However, the introduction of Communication Skills at tertiary institutions is yet to remedy the situation. To guide the study properly, some objectives were developed. These include; an investigation of the extent to which English is used by lecturers and students in the institutions, an examination of students' attitude towards the learning of Communication Skills, an investigation to time allocation to the teaching of the subject, and an examination of the pedagogical capabilities of the Language studies departments of both institutions with regards their personnel, teaching methodologies, and the teaching/learning resources. The result of the study revealed the following: that students speak English seldom in class and within the campus and also very seldom in their homes; that Krio and other Sierra Leonean languages are widely spoken in these institutions as does the English Language; that the credit hours allocated to the teaching of the subject is insufficient; that students find some aspects of Communication Skills Challenging; and that although both institutions have general libraries, these libraries are not very well stocked with English textbooks.

Rhetorical Structure of Ghanaian Tourist Destination E-Brochures

Currently, Ghana‘s economy seems to be relying on income generated from the tourism industry to support national growth. However, interest in tourism appears unattractive as compared to developed countries. It is in the light of this that this research focused on conducting an investigation into one of the main means of persuading potential tourists. This research, therefore, used purposive sampling to select 20 Ghanaian tourist destination e-brochures from the website of the Ghana Tourism Authority. The texts were analyzed using the English for Specific Purposes (ESP), Swales' (1990) genre analysis approach. The purpose was to explore the rhetorical structure of the tourist destination brochures. The results showed that the Ghanaian tourist destination e-brochure could be constructed with seven different communicative functions which constitute its Moves (Identifying Tourist destination, Providing Background Information, Detailing Tourist Destination, Providing Service Information, Soliciting Response, Providing Extra Information, and Urging Action). However, their frequency of occurrence showed that only three of the Moves (Identifying Tourist Destination, Providing Background Information, Providing Service Information) occurred in all the texts. The first four Moves constituted the commonest sequencing pattern of the texts. In terms of length of the texts or textual space given to the Moves, the second Move occupied the largest space of the tourist e-brochures studied. This research has implications for the Ghana tourism industry in improving the rhetorical structure of its brochures and also academic research.

An Analysis of Students’ Difficulties in Conducting the Scientific Research: A Case of Study of English Education Study Program and Economic Education Study Program of Universitas Negeri Goro in Indonesai

This current study explored the students’ difficulties in conducting scientific research at the undergraduate level. This study was done in the English Education Study Program and Economic Education Study Program of Universitas Negeri Gorontalo. It utilized the descriptive qualitative design. Three undergraduate students at the English Education Study Program and three undergraduate students at the Economic Education Study Program were selected. Academic advising problems data were collected by using interviews. Data were descriptively analyzed, and this study revealed the students were reported to have experienced academic advising problems. The results demonstrated major factors that caused the students’ difficulties in conducting scientific research were difficulty in determining the topic of the thesis, insufficient knowledge in writing the thesis, anxiety in interacting with the thesis advisors, limited access to interact with the lecturers, limited access to the availability of the books, the student's desire to build friendships and expansion with their advisors, and expectation of joy and excitement that comes with creative work.

Traumatic Experiences and their Representation in Narratives: A Study

With the rise of psychiatric literature and medical humanities, trauma studies have gained significant focus in recent years. The studies that were done by Kidd (2005), Perring (2013), Olive (2014), Seran (2015), Tembo (2017), Hussain et al. (2018), Finck (2006), Durrant (2012), Long (2012), De Mey (2012), Curtis (2015), Karpasitis (2010), Ward (2008) and Dauksaite (2013), particularly, deal with diverse traumatic experiences. At the same time, they also throw light on the issues of the representation of trauma in narratives. They have examined narrative strategies, like the use of transgenerational empathy, intermediality of text and image, syntax disruption, ellipses, text/image layout, repetitions, symbols, photograph insertion, and assimilation, intertexts, framing of panels, inter-textuality, repetition, fragmentation, and flashback, that can be employed to deal with the challenges for the representation of traumatic experiences in narratives. This paper argues that the narrative features and techniques embedded in the narratives can be utilized for the representation and understanding of diverse traumatic experiences. The narrative components like plot (event), character and theme can be analyzed to discuss the psychological trauma of different characters. Researches can also rely on narrative techniques like flashbacks, flashforward, frame story, events in parallel, narrative shift, multi-perspectivity, repetitive designation, epiphany, amplification, imagery, tone, use of repetitive sentence structure, hamartia, peripetia, and comparison to examine how these techniques help represent the psychological trauma of the characters in the narratives.