The effectiveness of synthetic phonics in the development of early reading skills among struggling young ESL readers

A quasi-experimental research design was used to investigate the effectiveness of synthetic phonics in the development of early reading skills among struggling young English as a second language (ESL) readers in a rural school. The pretest and posttest, adapted from the Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening (PALS) for Preschool Students and Grades 1 to 3 tests, assessed children’s early reading skills. A semi-structured interview was used to gather information. The findings indicated that the performance of students in the experimental group in decoding was significantly higher in the posttest, where t(39) = 31.441, p < .00005. Likewise, in comprehension, the experimental group achieved significantly higher scores in the posttest, where t(39) = 15.322, p < .00005. There was a significant difference in the achievement between the two groups, where t(78) = 31.010, p < .00005. This indicates that synthetic phonics could be effective in developing early reading skills for struggling readers.     

Social constructivism, projective identity, and learning: case study of nathan

In this paper we consider the significant issue of identity and how it relates to learning. Importantly, we narrow down the study in terms of how projective identity interplays with learning from the point of view of the learner and his/her social community. Self and community cannot be divorced. In order to illustrate this concept, we describe a case study involving an 11 years old boy in a learning context commonly referred to as an informal learning environment. This environment would include the community in which projective identity evolves. The trajectory of identity projection can be conceived in Ricoeurian terms of a plot where actors perform actions in role playing situations. This plot metaphor is consistent to the many interactions within MMPOGs and fictional worlds currently in existence. We conceive of an identity projection framework as our contributions to knowledge.     

A nationwide comparative study between private and public university students’ soft skills

The main function of Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) is to produce skilled and knowledgeable workforce who are able to not only function with minimal guidance but also to contribute effectively to the hiring organizations. Many studies have indicated that most HEIs have somewhat similar course content and thrived at producing students with good academic achievement. But what differentiated them from one another is their ability to develop knowledge workers with the right employability skills or ??soft skills?? such as communication, problem-solving, interpersonal and other skills deemed important as the foundations by which they require to function at work regardless of the nature of employment. This paper reports findings of a large-scale study looking into the soft skills attainment of Malaysian HEI graduates. A quantitative survey design was employed whereby data were obtained through the administration of an instrument called the Malaysian Soft Skills Scale (My3S). My3S consists of 180 items covering seven elements namely Communications, Critical Thinking and Problem Solving, Teamwork, Moral and Professional Ethics, Leadership, Life Long Learning and Entrepreneurial aspects. The mean scores for the seven My3S subscales were found to be between 6.3 and 7.8 from the maximum possible score of 10. Specifically, comparisons were made between graduates of public and private institutions with respect to the seven elements. Findings of the study suggest that, in general, students of public HEIs scored higher in all seven skills. With respect to gender, male students scored higher than female students in all elements except for teamwork skills and moral and professional ethics. A comparison between fields of study showed that for both types of HEIs, technical students scored the highest in all skills except for moral and professional ethics. Based on the findings of this study, it is suggested that in addition to offering specific courses to improve soft skills attainment, HEIs need to embed soft skills in their academic curricula.