Papers by Mahendran A/L Maniam
International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences
The purpose of this study is to explore and illuminate possible relationship between Google Class... more The purpose of this study is to explore and illuminate possible relationship between Google Classroom and ESL learners' narrative essay writing. Ninety-five Year 5 and Year 6 of 40 male and 55 female learners participated in this research. The learners were chosen because they were not interested in writing and always complained when it comes to writing activities. A quantitative research method was employed to guide this study. An online survey was used and the data collected from the online survey were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The analysis of the survey questionnaire revealed that Google Classroom shows significant results for the learners. The results of this study revealed that most learners positively perceive the use of Google Classroom as they find the features of Google Classroom beneficial for writing their narrative essays. Future research can be conducted on using Google Classroom to teach other language skills such as listening, speaking, reading and grammar by using a larger sample size to improve academic achievement among primary school learners.
International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences
This research investigates the views of students in a home school centre from Setia Alam towards ... more This research investigates the views of students in a home school centre from Setia Alam towards the effectiveness of using gamification tools in teaching vocabulary. In recent years, numerous game-based technologies have been developed with the aim of providing fun yet meaningful experience to their users. These technologies are also common among students in the ESL classroom since they act as supplements for effective game-based classroom activities. Many studies have proven that game-based learning had motivated students to participate and engage actively in learning as it creates positive feelings among them. This study seeks to explore students' attitudes towards the usage of gamification tool to enhance vocabulary skills, the different attitudes of male and female students toward using gamification tool to learn vocabulary and the differences of vocabulary scores between the traditional method of teaching and when gamification is used when teaching. This study was conducted both quantitatively and qualitatively with the participation of 60 students. The prime data was collected via questionnaires using Google Forms Survey which was later analysed descriptively. Data collected from the interview was used to supplement the findings. The findings report that Kahoot! is proven to be useful and effective for students in the ESL classroom. The study provides insights for better implementation of game-based technologies in the English language classroom curriculum.
World Journal of English Language, Apr 7, 2022
This paper explores the novel Lonely Marriages that revels the inner psyche of women who search f... more This paper explores the novel Lonely Marriages that revels the inner psyche of women who search for free-will, as it questions the cultural ego that procreate the gender discernment and prejudices that predominate the country constructed by the representations of ancient mythologies. Such prototypes have been replicated and expected to be followed and obeyed in the ways of life trailing to the dangers of abandonment if not abide by the rules it infers. The paper ventures the consciousness of the female characters who reciprocate the cultural ego, as the writer puts it, to describe the biases shaped against women.
2014 International Symposium on Electromagnetic Compatibility
Study of anti-jamming effects on the Joint Tactical Information Distribution System (JTIDS) opera... more Study of anti-jamming effects on the Joint Tactical Information Distribution System (JTIDS) operating in the complicated electromagnetic environment is carried out in this paper. With the help of Simulink simulation platform of MATLAB, the JTIDS model is built up using channel coding, spread spectrum and modulation technologies. It is shown that, with some interferences introduced into the system, its performance can be degraded seriously, however, the transmitted information, in some cases, can be restored at the receiver. Our simulated results could useful for the JTIDS design for anti-jamming.
World Journal of English Language
This qualitative experimental study examines the utilization of an Extensive Reading Programme fr... more This qualitative experimental study examines the utilization of an Extensive Reading Programme from the perspective of ESL students' reader responses. It seeks to examine the kind of written responses produced by the mediocre and low proficiency ESL students based on the Reader Response Approach, the outcome of using Reader Response Approach in the Extensive Reading Programme, and the ESL students' experiences towards the Extensive Reading Programme. The study was conducted for a duration of three months in a secondary school. The participants of this study included an ESL teacher and six Form 4 students, comprising three females and three males. The researcher documented data through four sources: classroom observations, interviews with the teacher and students, response journals, and examination marks. Findings indicated that the Extensive Reading Programme and the use of the Reader Response Approach enabled the students to come up with various statements and benefited the...
International Journal of Research, Jun 29, 2021
Muallim Journal of Social Science and Humanities, 2022
This study aimed to examine factors contributing to attrition in ESL among learners in Namibia. T... more This study aimed to examine factors contributing to attrition in ESL among learners in Namibia. This study used the convergent parallel mixed methods. There were 50 participants randomly selected to participate in this research. The data was analyzed and merged to validate the findings. The findings indicated that most of the teachers have agreed that their learners do not use ESL often, lack motivation, and have an undesirable attitude towards learning ESL. There was no clear indication of whether age factors affect young learners from losing ESL. The study suggests further studies to validate the findings. The findings of this study is expected to assist curriculum designers in Namibia and other neighbouring countries.
Studies in English Language and Education, 2021
Text comprehension will suffer if the readability level is not accessible to the students. Readab... more Text comprehension will suffer if the readability level is not accessible to the students. Readability formulas predict text complexity, assisting in appropriate text selection that complements students’ reading abilities to improve their language development. Therefore, the study aims to find out the reading index of the prose forms in the literature component catered to lower secondary school students ages 13 and 14 years old in Form One (seventh grade) and Form Two (eighth grade) classrooms in Malaysia. The reading index is measured by using four readability formulas which are Dale-Chall, Fog, SMOG, and Flesch-Kincaid that focuses on the words, sentences, syllables, and polysyllable words. These formulas are used to predict the level of difficulty of the prose forms. The reading index calculated from these readability formulas reveals the grade level of the prose forms. The grade level indicates the best age for reading and understanding the prose forms. Two prose forms were chos...
International Journal of Asian Social Science, 2021
This study aims to examine the learners’ perception and experiences in engaging in writing lesson... more This study aims to examine the learners’ perception and experiences in engaging in writing lesson conducted via Google Classroom among the secondary school learners in Malaysia and China. This study is important for both the teachers and stakeholders to identify the suitable types of writing activities that can be used in a Google classroom platform to motivate the learners to be interested in writing and the ways to solve the problems faced by the learners when it involves writing lesson via e learning. This study focuses on five learners; three learners from Malaysia and two learners from China. This study employed a qualitative approach. The instruments were interview questions and guided logbook journals. The sessions were conducted via Google Meet and the recorded interviews were then transcribed. Hence, researchers used qualitative method to analyse the codes and categories to pen down the findings. As a result, both China and Malaysia learners expressed their affirmative agre...
Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology, 2022
Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology, 2021
Extensive clinical efforts have been made to control the severity of dengue diseases; however, th... more Extensive clinical efforts have been made to control the severity of dengue diseases; however, the dengue morbidity and mortality have not declined. Dengue virus (DENV) can infect and cause systemic damage in many organs, resulting in organ failure. Here, we present a novel report showing a tailored stem-cell-based therapy that can aid in viral clearance and rescue liver cells from further damage during dengue infection. We administered a combination of hematopoietic stem cells and endothelial progenitor cells in a DENV-infected BALB/c mouse model and found that delivery of this cell cocktail had improved their liver functions, confirmed by hematology, histopathology, and next-generation sequencing. These stem and progenitor cells can differentiate into target cells and repair the damaged tissues. In addition, the regime can regulate endothelial proliferation and permeability, modulate inflammatory reactions, enhance extracellular matrix production and angiogenesis, and secrete an a...
International Journal of English and Literature, 2020
At present, English plays a key role in the world and it is known as an international language wh... more At present, English plays a key role in the world and it is known as an international language which enables people to connect all around the world and English can be called as a global language because it is helpful in the processes of globalization. As English has played an indispensable role in global communication, it is essential for English language users, both native and non-native, to use clear, comprehensible and educated English that allows smooth communication and avoids misunderstandings in social interactions. Hence, pragmatic competence can facilitate language users to successfully achieve their communicative aims in intercultural communication. Consequently, pragmatic elements have noticeable roles in communication between speakers because such elements can hinder inaccuracies and misunderstandings during communication. This paper discusses pragmatics as a branch of linguistics and its significant role in learning English as a second and a foreign language. In pragmat...
This study focuses on the interference of L1 grammatical rules in the writing of L2 with specific... more This study focuses on the interference of L1 grammatical rules in the writing of L2 with specific reference to the interference of Tamil (L1) in English (L2). Though many research have been done in mother tongue interference, very few research have been conducted in terms of Tamil versus English. This study seeks to find out the components of the L1 (Tamil language) grammar that the students of Tamil schools use interchangeably in their daily writing of L2, namely English. This study will follow a mixture of qualitative and quantitative survey research design, the purpose of which is to find out the influence of mother tongue linguistic items in the writing of English (L2), among the standard 4 students of a selected school. The findings of the study clearly indicated that mother tongue and the national language interfered (negative transfer) in the writing of L2 among Tamil school students. Apart from the interference of L1, the research also found that there is a heavy influence o...
English is an SVO (Subject, Verb, Object) word order language. This canonical SVO pattern is the ... more English is an SVO (Subject, Verb, Object) word order language. This canonical SVO pattern is the default unmarked word-order configuration typical of English, which makes this language to be classified under the typology of SVO languages. However, driven by the major purpose of language as an instrument of human communication and social interaction, and as a semantic system for making meanings, addressors sometimes depart in their discourse from this basic canonical order of constituents where a grammaticalized system like inversion takes place, resulting in inverted constructions. Through testing and developing the Degree of Focus Hypothesis, proposed by Huffman (1993), this study, which employed a mixed methods research design, sought to explore the communicative and semantic values of inversion; and the pragmalinguistc functions of preposing, i.e., clause-initial adjuncts, to the pragmatic process of communication. The study confirmed the Degree of Focus Hypothesis where the hypo...
International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 2021
The purpose of this paper was to investigate (a) the English language proficiency concerning sent... more The purpose of this paper was to investigate (a) the English language proficiency concerning sentence structure in fresh graduates, and (b) hiring managers' perceptions of the importance of English proficiency in the 21st century workplace. There were forty-five candidates and twenty-five hiring managers from local and foreign instituitions who participated in the study. The data were analysed qualitatively using a sentence structure framework: simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex. The findings revealed that most candidates used simple sentences and were unable to express their complete thoughts due to their lack in English language proficiency. The findings further revealed that hiring managers were willing to consider employing candidates who had good proficiency by expressing their complete thoughts in job interviews. This study has confirmed the need for fresh graduates and undergraduates to know the importance of sentence structures as an important benchmark to show one's proficiency in job interviews.
International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 2021
The study investigated the use of social-interaction strategies among fresh graduates in job inte... more The study investigated the use of social-interaction strategies among fresh graduates in job interviews. Fifty candidates and twenty hiring managers participated in the study. The job interview data were analysed qualitatively using the ATLAS.ti data analysis software. It was found that successful candidates attempted five social interaction strategies, reserved candidates attempted two social interaction strategies and unsuccessful candidates did not attempt any of the social-interaction strategies. The findings further revealed that the use of social-interaction strategies by successful candidates enables them to understand and answer the interview questions with good proficiency, coherence, cohesion besides maintaining the flow. It is hoped that the findings of the present study would be helpful for fresh graduates and undergraduates to use social-interaction strategies to have a smooth interaction. These strategies also provide more confidence to respond as candidates are able to better comprehend the interview questions.
International Journal of Asian Social Science, 2021
For Malaysian students, speaking in English is one of the most challenging skills to master, espe... more For Malaysian students, speaking in English is one of the most challenging skills to master, especially if they do not have a strong command of the language. Meanwhile in China, the English language is primarily employed as a means of academic communication and teaching. This paper aims to identify which linguistic items have been transferred positively and negatively from L1 (Bahasa Melayu and Mandarin) in speaking English (L2) among primary school students. A qualitative study among primary school students from China and Malaysia was carried out using purposive sampling. Based on the findings, four types of syntactic errors from the Malaysian students' speech were identified. It was evident that the students had difficulties to speak correctly in terms of sentence structure. The four syntactic errors found are simple past, simple present, verb ‘to be’ and subject-verb-agreement. Meanwhile, it has been found that Chinese students frequently produce linguistic mistakes during th...
E-Learning and Digital Education in the Twenty-First Century [Working Title], 2021
The world witnessed the outbreak of the Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) with lockdowns that forced most s... more The world witnessed the outbreak of the Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) with lockdowns that forced most schools and other educational institutions to close down. Alternative approaches in the form of synchronous and asynchronous methods were adopted to ensure continuity in teaching and learning in this new norm of providing emergency remote education. This chapter aims at presenting preservice and in-service teachers’ views on using synchronous versus asynchronous teaching and learning methods during the COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia. Data were elicited from three groups of preservice teachers and one group of in-service teachers from three different courses in one teacher education university in Malaysia. Implementation of the e-learning approaches including synchronous and asynchronous sessions was planned carefully based on the course learning outcomes. Important elements such as identification of the learning platform, delivering and conveying information to preservice teachers about th...
IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, 2017
A versatile multiphysics simulation packet for investigating different resistive random acces mem... more A versatile multiphysics simulation packet for investigating different resistive random acces memories (RRAMs) is developed in this paper. Heat transfer, electrical conduction, and ion migration in such heterogeneous structure are all taken into consideration. Three fully coupled partial differential equations are solved using our self-developed finite-difference algorithm, where Scharfetter-Gummel method is adopted to simulate ion migration with fast convergence achieved. This packet is validated in comparison with the commercial software based on the finite-element method. With its implementation, complete and clear pictures for crosstalk effect in vertically integrated RRAM are captured and compared, where the effects of key physical and geometrical factors are characterized and understood. Some useful suggestions to mitigate its unfavorable influences are given.
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Papers by Mahendran A/L Maniam