Employers in the engineering sector require certain standard of English proficiency among their employees as the language is widely used for numerous job scopes. In order to understand the current demand of the civil engineering industry on the use of the English language in the workplace, this study was conducted on 20 undergraduates of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia who undertook the industrial training. Based on focus group discussions, the participants learned and shared significant use of English language through their industrial training experience. The findings of the study highlighted the activities that were conducted in English for speaking, listening, reading and writing including the language skills. In addition, the amount of time spent on each activity in English was also identified in understanding the importance of English language in the civil engineering sector. The findings of the study are vital in making informed decisions for the design and development of appropriate English language courses for present and future civil engineering students.
In the current post-pandemic era, there are diverse perspectives regarding the mode of delivery for language learning. The implementation of hybrid learning is perceived differently among students. It also causes them to either become more motivated to learn or exhausted. The present study aims to examine how Herzberg's two-factor theory affects students' motivation to learn a language. This study employs a quantitative approach to 152 purposive samples. The instrument used is a 5 Likert-scale survey and is rooted from Herzberg's two factor principles Herzberg (1959) merged with Pintrich & De Groot's (1990) motivational construct and also cause of burnout by (Campos, et.al., 2011). The survey has 4 sections with 35 items in total. The findings reveal that students were satisfied the most with good grades and the level of understanding of the course content. On the other hand, their motivation decreases when they feel exhausted and emotionally drained. The implications of these findings shed light on the design of effective learning environments and strategies to enhance learner's motivation to improve educational outcomes.
No abstract
One of the major challenges faced by students, especially at higher learning institutions, is to read analytically and think critically. This results in the lack of interpretation skills which are required in the content of written texts. One of the courses offered in a Malaysian Public University aim at honing skills such as reading comprehension skills and various critical thinking strategies that can be applied in reading and writing. TAWA is an innovation that assists students in a step-by-step approach in tackling one particular assessment (assignment) – Written Article Analysis, from the above mentioned course. In this particular assessment, students are to read and analyse a piece of writing using critical reading elements. Besides that, students also have to work through the article systematically, engaging with the author, such as identifying author’s tone, purpose of writing and intended audience. Students are also required to identify the main ideas and recognise supporting details used by the author. Armed with these, and more, students are required to critically evaluate arguments in terms of soundness, logic, credibility, relevance and validity. This is a process which assists them in developing informed opinions on the subject matter. As one goes deeper, there are numerous aspects to look into and these may be overwhelming to students. A pilot study was conducted in a public University with 80 participants. The control group (40) went through the common traditional teaching method while the experimental group (40) was exposed to additional materials from TAWA. A test was administered to both groups and the results showed that there were statistically significant differences between the experimental group and the control group in favour of the experimental group that were exposed to TAWA. Hence, this innovation has achieved the objective of bringing about a clear, easy-to-follow, simple way of what needs to be done when analysing a written text. Ultimately, TAWA is recommended as an effective tool to be used in assisting one to become a better critique in evaluating and analysing a written piece of work, apart from performing better in the course.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.