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This study aimed to unravel the EFL students’ technology acceptance toward implementing Technology-Mediated Syntax Learning (TMSL) and unveil its impact on EFL students' learning autonomy and English Syntax (ES) learning achievement. Therefore, the quantitative study was operated through descriptive analysis and pre-experimental design. The descriptive analysis was done to scrutinize the EFL students' technology acceptance and learning autonomy toward implementing TMSL. The pre-experimental study was conducted to know the effect of TMSL implementation on ES learning achievement. The participants of this study were 121 students who joined the English Syntax course in the English Education Department, Faculty of Education and Teachers Training at a public university in West Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia. The results showed that the participants highly accepted TMSL and depicted high learning autonomy scores. The statistical calculation proved significant differences between participants' ES Pre-test and Post-test scores, meaning that TMSL implementation significantly affected ES learning achievement. However, previous studies' distinct results of technology acceptance and autonomy analysis suggest further investigation, including applying different research approaches. Hence, this study suggests that a technology integration model gains positive output and outcome for the EFL learning context.
 

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Abstract
This study aimed to examine the frequency of reading strategy use among EFL high school students and the relationship between their strategy use and reading comprehension achievement. The research sample consisted of 328 EFL students from four high schools in Central Vietnam. Data collection was carried out using three primary instruments: a questionnaire, follow-up interviews, and two reading comprehension tests. The findings revealed that most participants expressed a generally positive attitude toward the use of reading strategies. However, their actual use of these strategies was found to be limited during the reading process. Moreover, the study identified a significant correlation between the frequency of reading strategy use and students’ reading performance: students who employed reading strategies more frequently achieved higher reading scores. Based on these findings, several pedagogical implications were proposed for both EFL students and teachers, aimed at enhancing the teaching and learning of reading skills in EFL contexts.
 

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Given the significant number of allusions in cultural themes, recreating and matching them in target language is one of the challenges for translators. Translation theorists have proposed different ways to meet such challenges. Peter Newmark is one of the theorists who has proposed strategies for restoring cultural concepts by providing a five-fold division. The purpose of the present study is to identify the challenges that the translators of Nahj al-Balaghe face in finding the exact equivalent for cultural concepts. Researchers have attempted to explain the correct meaning of the metaphorical interpretation of "Haik Ibn Haik" in the nineteenth sermon, using a descriptive-analytical method and a critical approach. Therefore, while examining the meanings and the application of this interpretation in different narrations, five contemporary translations of Nahj al-Balaghah, by Fayz al-Islam, Shahidi, Faqihi, Dashti and Ansarian were selected, criticized and evaluated based on the Newmark model. The result of the research showed that in addition to the baselessness of some narrations in which the above-mentioned interpretation has been used, the cultural aspect of this ironic interpretation has been neglected by the translators. Also, they have not succeeded in transmitting the meaning and concept and the cultural connotation hidden in it by taking the above-mentioned interpretation, so they have provided many explanatory footnotes, and have misunderstood it. Concerning the historical books and glosses written on Nahj al-Balaghe and the familiarity with cultural context of this phrase “ablah nadan/ idiot” is a better choice.
 

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Wasiyat" (testamentary wills) is one of the appropriate traditions which its importance and desirability has been emphasized in Holy Qur'an through different methods. However, recognizing its meaning and imperative rules, considering the declension (i’rab) analysis of the verse as well as the linguistic and metalinguistic level of the Quranic discourse, are of outmost significance. This study, using content analysis method and selecting a verse from Verses of the Rules (Ayāt al-ahkām), examines the effect of different syntactic analyses on the jurisprudence interpretation and the effect of jurisprudential assumptions in choosing the declension of the verse. Accordingly, the study seeks to answer the following question: what type of discourse system the Quranic discourse of Wasiyat relies on? Since the employment of the textual features is one of the important components of discourse analysis, there are several identificatory elements in the Qur'anic discourse analysis of the verse Wasiyat, namely, meanings of the words and expressions, declension and disagreement in syntactic rules, the principles and assumptions, and the impact of the jurisprudential ideas and thoughts. Although the disagreement in syntactic rules affects its jurisprudential judgment, it should be noted that since the disagreement in syntactic analysis is due to the difference in understanding the declension of the texts, various assumptions such as jurisprudential, verbal and so on, have a crucial role in choosing the declension of the verse. Consequently, the syntactic form of the verse Wasiyat implies a closed syntactic discourse which is based on a change from motivational to epistemic state. This involves elements such as different declensions which prepare the ground for jurisprudential judgment in the scope of necessity and religious preference. From the perspective of the believers to the necessity of Wasiyat (testamentary wills), there is a syntactic relationship governing the discourse system of the verse. Therefore, the governing discourse system of the verse is an intelligent and schematic one. From the perspective of religious preference, the interpretation of the phrase, " حَقًّا عَلَی الْمُتَّقین" and the word "بالمعروف", as a sentimental and emotional state, can lead to the perception of meaning and action. Therefore, the Qur'anic discourse of the Wasiyat, so far as the religious preference is concerned, is based on the affective discourse system, and thus an emotional- tensive type.
 

 

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The Covid-19 pandemic has been with us, for almost a year now. It has affected our lives in multiple ways and challenged our achievements as well. Daily life has changed in aspects we never would have imagined. We had to change our habits and behaviors quickly in order to assure the health of our family, our neighbors and the rest of the world. While facing this “unprecedented” situation, there are terms that appear to describe the health crisis and its consequences. This planetary pandemic has also changed human behavior.
In this article, we will see how the word Covid-19, a real agent of change in our existence, initiated changes in language and our behavior. Indeed, within the generative process of meaning as envisioned by semiotics, Covid-19 is an actant that crosses the different stages of process, from denomination to discourse. The discursive effervescence of Covid-19 is narrative. It appears as the prototype of the anti-subject. Perfect and absolute embodiment of evil. A single narrative program motivates it: propagation. We also see also that Covid-19 is no longer just the anti-subject of this story. It truly becomes the Anti-Sender, leading in the shadows an army of villains, capable of reinventing themselves at one’s leisure. This is a spectacular example of actantial cumulation.

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Teacher written feedback (TWF) has received growing attention from researchers and teachers. Although TWF arguably targets multiple dimensions of students’ writing, research to date has largely focused on the relationship between written corrective feedback and language development. More research is needed to understand TWF more holistically and as a two-way social process (Storch, 2018). As such, it is important to understand students’ perspectives on TWF in different instructional contexts. The present study explores Vietnamese EFL students’ perceptions of TWF practices and their preferences for TWF. Data was collected from 97 English-major students in a Vietnamese tertiary setting by means of a questionnaire and follow-up interviews. The findings show that while TWF tended to weigh more on the linguistic end of the form-meaning continuum, students preferred TWF to target both form and global issues of content/idea development and writing style. However, students were divided in their preferences for comprehensive/selective feedback and for direct/indirect feedback. Although students were aware of the necessity of revising their writing upon reception of feedback, they reported different post-feedback actions. Above all, students’ preferences and expectations were underpinned by their own beliefs about the values of TWF that encompass both cognitive/non-cognitive and affective dimensions. The study offers important pedagogical implications for planning written feedback in writing instruction.

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Le visage est partout dans l’œuvre de Mehdi Sahabi, frontal (« Portraits », « Figures », « Archamanians » et « Photo-journalism ») ou indirect (« Grafiti », « Totems », « Puzzled » et « Junkyard Cars »), toujours altéré, formellement transformé... La visagéité, entre figuralité et figurativité, en est un motif central. Pour montrer ses enjeux, nous étudions un extrait de Phénoménologie de la perception de Maurice Merleau-Ponty sur le visage vu. Exercice de « suspension phénoménologique » (épochè) que donne à voir un visage « à l’envers », détaché de nos habitudes de vision. Une double interrogation en résulte : (i) sur l’événement visuel qui fait passer le visage de son statut de « canon » du visible (la beauté) à un statut tératologique (le monstrueux) ; (ii) sur la relativité de l’épochè, jamais épurée de toute modalité, inévitablement imprégnée de pré-construits culturels.
Ces interrogations éclairent le statut du visage chez Sahabi, à la fois signe et emblème de la figurativité altérée. On identifie les chemins de sa déformation – de l’estompe à la déchirure, de la fragmentation à l’écrasement – à travers une typologie (extraits des séries ci-dessus). L’analyse sémiotique conduit à la dimension axiologique du visage, manifesté et dissimulé, exhibé et interdit. Cette exigence éthique définitoire de la visagéité, propre de la personne et induisant sa fragilité, est mise à nu dans le geste esthétique de Sahabi. Exigence ainsi exprimée par Levinas : « Ce qui est spécifiquement visage, c’est ce qui ne s’y réduit pas. »

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Lexical richness in written language production has been examined in different contexts and in relation to different genres but research into the effects of within-genre topics on lexical richness is still limited and takes little account of learners’ perspectives. The present study therefore sought to understand the effects of topics on lexical richness (lexical density, lexical diversity and lexical sophistication) in written essays by Vietnamese EFL learners. Data were collected from sixty-four English-major university students who each wrote four essays on four different topics across two genres (persuasive and descriptive) in their normal classes as progress tests. Ten students were also interviewed after they had completed all the essays to understand their perceptions of the writing topics. Lextutor’s VocabProfile was used to obtain measures of lexical density, lexical diversity and lexical sophistication. The results showed mixed effects of writing topics on these three lexical measures. Learner perspectives provided insights into how cognitive and affective individual factors contributed to the complexity of topic influence. Pedagogical implications are discussed in regard to how to enhance productive lexical use in writing through task selection and instructional planning.

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Learners’ self-efficacy (SE) is one of the vital driving forces for academic learning in general and
 English language learning in specific. Furthermore, learners’ SE can influence their self-regulated language learning (SRLL) strategy use both positively and negatively. This study, which adapted the post-positivist perspective for the research design, aims at finding out EFL students’ SE in English language skills, SRLL strategy use, and their relationship between the two mentioned variables. A cohort of 240 EFL students from a Vietnam-based high school partook in responding to the closed-ended questionnaire. The software SPSS was employed to process the gleaned data from questionnaires in terms of descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation. The findings were that high school EFL students’ SE in English language skills positively influenced their SRLL strategy use. They had a high level of SE in English language skills, resulting in the high frequency of SRLL strategy use. Pedagogical implications in relation to students’ SE in English language skills and SRLL strategy use are suggested in an attempt to leverage the quality of English language teaching and learning in the research context and other similar EFL ones.
 

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Emotions are well-documented to influence behaviors, learning process, and learning outcomes. Boredom, a negative emotion, can affect students significantly in academic settings. This case study explores the causes of students’ boredom in foreign language classrooms and their coping strategies. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with twenty English-majored juniors learning Chinese as an additional required language at a university in Vietnam. Results showed that boredom in English language and Chinese language classrooms could be classified into four broad categories: lesson-related, teacher-related, student-related, and others (e.g., learning environment). As the students reported, task diversity, teachers’ sense of humor, and students’ motivation were supposed to reduce boredom in language classrooms. To overcome this negative emotion, the students used various facilitative and debilitative strategies. They positively attempted to mitigate boredom by initiating jokes with their teachers and classmates, suggesting interesting topics to discuss, and raising hands to change the classroom atmosphere. However, other students tended to have gossips with their classmates, text their friends, and go outside for a while. The results suggest implications for improving foreign language teaching and learning in Vietnam and other similar contexts.
 

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While cognitive and social-affective strategies have straightforward impacts on learners’ academic performance attached to specific tasks in a communicative and student-centered language classroom, metacognitive strategies, with their vigorous power, are arguably worth more attention. This group of strategies plays a vital role in making students become more self-directed and autonomous learners. This paper reported on a study investigating Vietnamese university students’ perception of using metacognitive strategies in their listening activities. Specifically, 140 English majors at the foreign language department of a university in Vietnam were involved in the study. Based on quantitative data from a questionnaire slightly adapted from Vandergrift et al. (2006), it was found that students in the study generally had a relatively high awareness of metacognitive strategies, with varying levels across the five subcategories of specific strategies. In addition, a comparison between the two groups (first-year and third-year students) showed minor differences regarding their listening strategy awareness. The findings suggested that metacognitive strategies should be encouraged, and listening strategies should be instructed early in English education programs.  

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“Tensegrity” refers to a class of discrete structures with two force members (bars and cables) wherein bars only take tensile loads and cables only take compressive loads. The pre stressed members are interconnected so as to form a self equilibrium structure. Compared to a truss supporting the same external loading, a tensegrity structure has fewer members and could weigh less. Determining the stable topology (member connectivities), form (node coordinates) and size (cross sectional areas of members) of a tensegrity structure for weight minimization is a challenging task, as the governing equations are nonlinear and the conventional matrix analysis methods cannot be used. This article addresses the weight minimization of a class one tensegrity structure with a given number of bars and cables, anchored at certain nodes and supporting given load(s) at certain node(s). Member connectivities and their cross sectional areas and force densities are taken as design variables, whereas the members’ strength and buckling requirements and maximum nodal displacements constitute the constraints, along with the coordinates of the floating nodes to make the structure symmetric. Constraints are evaluated through the nonlinear shape design of the self equilibrium structure and the linear analysis of the loaded structure, assuming small displacements. Using a novel approach, optimization is simultaneously performed in multiple promising areas of the solution space, resulting in multiple, optimum solutions. The diversity of the solutions is demonstrated by applying the proposed approach to a number of structural design problem.

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Grafting and mycorrhizal fungi have gained interest for the positive effects they can have on vegetable crops. The aim of this work was to study the combined effect of grafting with Vesicular-Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF) inoculation on fruit yield and quality of mini-watermelon [Citrullus lanatus (thumb.) Matsum and Nakai]. Ungrafted plants or grafted onto rootstock RS 841 (Cucurbita maxima×C. moschata) were transplanted to the field. During cultivation, half of the plants were inoculated with a suspension of AMF. Plant growth and fruit yield and quality were evaluated. The inoculation of AMF resulted in a significant increase of root colonization both for grafted and ungrafted plants. The grafted inoculated plants had a greater vigour and productivity than ungrafted uninoculated plants. Grafting and AMF inoculation caused significant increases in yield and fruit weight. Qualitative characteristics of watermelon fruits were significantly affected mainly by grafting. The combined use of grafting with mycorrhizal inoculation may increase the yield of mini-watermelon fruit, maintaining good quality characteristics.

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Honey was reported numerous benefit containing nutritional ingredients and phytochemical such as polyphenol, flavonoid was widely used around the world. In this study, the physicochemical characteristics on the quality of coffee flower honey has been evaluated during storage. The honey was collected from Dak Lak, Buon Me Thuot, and Kon Tum province in Vietnam and stored at room temperature (30-32^oC) for 12 month. Total sugar, reducing sugar, hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), acid value, total polyphenol content (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC) were evaluated for each two month to determine the quality of sensory quality and nutritional value. After 12 month storage time, the content of total sugar, and reducing sugar gradually decreased along with the increase of HMF and acid content in the coffee flower honey samples a lead to sweetness of honey is decrease, acidity, and color increase, which is a signal indicating a decline in sensory quality and nutritional value. The content of TPC and TFC increased during the first 6-10 months of storage and then also tended to decrease, indicating that coffee flower honey should not be stored for too long (more than 10 months) because of phytochemicals reducing.

 

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As a salt adsorbent, biochar could remove/isolate salt ions e.g. Na through physiochemical adsorption to mitigate the salinity of brackish water, but little is known about its magnitude and mechanisms. The current study aimed to examine the effects of biochar on: (1) Na-adsorptive capacity and mechanism and (2) Electrical Conductivity (EC) and K displacement. Six pyrolysis temperatures (250, 350, 450, 550, 650, and 750ºC) were applied to produce biochars from rice husk. The biochars were then used as adsorbents to adsorb Na from salty water varying in NaCl concentrations. The Langmuir isotherm Model (LMM) and Dubinin-Radushkevick isotherm Model (DRM) were used to quantify the dependence of adsorbed Na on Na concentration at equilibrium. The LMM quantification revealed that the maximum Na-adsorptive capacity of biochars increased from 25.8 to 67.8 (mg g^-1) upon increased temperatures. The EC was reduced and the K amount displaced from biochar was increased with an increase in pyrolysis temperature. The DRM quantification revealed that the Na-adsorptive mechanism was mainly a physical process. A significant relationship between the Na amount adsorbed and the K amount displaced from biochar suggested that the ion-exchange mechanism could co-exist. In brief, the findings indicated that the salinity of the brackish water could be significantly mitigated by the biochar treatment through mainly physical adsorption leading to a reduced EC and increased K: Na ratio.

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Solidarity is a process whereby countries that are behind the technology front line, compensate for their technological divide with advanced countries and can compete with those countries in market share. In the process of solidarity, different countries have taken different paths, some leading to success and some leading to failure. Therefore, a proper strategy and framework and an appropriate level of technological capability and absorption capacity are essential. Given the extensive literature and the lack of a framework for consistency, the purpose of this study was to derive a framework based on a systematic review of articles and analyze them based on the hyperbolic method and data theory. The framework was extracted from the study of 90 articles published by 2018 in the field of management and business in the Q1 and Q2 scopes of JSC Scopus or JCR to finally provide a framework for technological catch up. This framework has provided a paradigmatic model based on the data process of the foundation and combined with previous research. Finally, three general approaches for consistency including independence, cooperation and participation were introduced and each of the 6 paradigm model categories was explained for these three approaches. In addition to the paradigmatic model, the results of this study have identified the literature gap.