ACADEMIC WRITING CHALLENGES OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNERS IN PAKISTAN

This descriptive qualitative research sought to explore as what would be the best writing approach adopted to teach academic writing skill to the undergraduate university students to identify and minimize the identified problems. The aim of the study was to strengthen the academic writing skill of university students. For this purpose, thirty undergraduate students were selected and involved in focus group discussions to highlight the problematic area in the field of academic writing. Thematic analysis helped to understand the problems faced by the students and suggestions were made on the basis of the study’s findings. The study revealed the students’ inability to use appropriate vocabulary. These students lacked the skill to express themselves in their own words, and often their written work would look patchy. English being the foreign language to the students hampered their ability to think in the target language. The present study contributed to understand the problems and suggested process approach of writing to be adopted by the faculty to overcome the academic writing related problems. Key Words: Process Approach, Product Approach, Genre Approach, Academic Writing

Review on the Traditional and Integrated Passives: State-of-the-Art Design and Technologies

With the increased necessity of a high power density and efficient system in aerospace and marine industries, integrated motor drives provide an excellent solution in the modern era. Therefore, a close structural and functional integration of passive components has become a prerequisite task to make a compact overall system. This article reviews the existing motor drives system with integrated passive technologies. To start, the design aspect of the traditional and integrated filter inductors, using the area product approach, is discussed. Subsequently, layouts of traditional and integrated inductors are presented. The available capacitor technologies, suitable for integration, are also discussed with pros and cons of each capacitor type.

Iterative Minimum Viable Product Approach to Implementing AI, RPA, and BI Solutions

Breakthrough technologies can be considered as exponentially disruptive to organizations across industries within the last few decades of the 21st century, as they have significantly altered the way their business units or customers operate. Artificial Intelligence related cognitive technologies are some of the latest disruptive solutions currently being adopted by organizations. Organizational leaders may feel both the pressure and excitement of adopting such nascent technology quickly and at scale. However, due to organizational knowledge gaps of nascent solutions, transformative large-scale initiatives have a higher risk of negative impact on failure to implement. On the other hand, an iterative approach allows for the implementation to occur in smaller amounts and leaves room for incorporating feedback and lessons learned in future iterations, thus mitigating the risks involved with the undertaking. This article breaks down the nascent field of advanced cognitive technologies into three main categories based on their business use cases: process automation, cognitive insights, and cognitive engagement. It then explores implementing this technology in each of its three categories through the lens of a popular iterative product lifecycle management approach (i.e., the Minimum Viable Product) to reduce the risk of failure or other negative impacts on an organization adopting cognitive solutions.

Taking Stock of a Genre-Based Pedagogy: Sustaining the Development of EFL Students’ Knowledge of the Elements in Argumentation and Writing Improvement

The capacity to make effective argumentation in English writing is considered as a crucial ability in the field of second language writing. Currently, Chinese teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) adopt the product approach to teach argumentative writing, in which they stress the mode of learners’ written production and show little concern with cognition. For students’ sustainable development in argumentation skills, teachers are encouraged to employ a genre-based approach to cultivate students’ knowledge about different elements in argumentation. However, few empirical studies have investigated the efficacy of such classroom-based instruction on learners’ comprehensive development in EFL writing, including their knowledge about writing and performance in producing argumentation. This is particularly the case with reference to Chinese students learning to write argumentative texts in EFL. To fill the research gap, this quasi-experimental study was conducted with 74 EFL sophomores, who were randomly allocated to either an experimental group or a comparison group. The experimental group received a genre-based writing approach, while the comparison group experienced their conventional writing instruction. Students’ changes were analysed using pre- and post-writing test measures, open-ended questionnaires, and stimulated recall interviews. Our findings revealed more changes in the experimental groups’ knowledge about argumentation following the genre-based writing treatment than the comparison group. Specifically, the experimental group’s progress was obvious in the way they displayed their knowledge of the structure of discourse moves and of language features specific to the argumentative genre. They began to express their knowledge of the content, process, intended purposes, and audience awareness towards producing more genre appropriate texts in argumentation. They also showed enhanced self-reflection on their knowledge of argumentation. In addition, the genre-based approach had a positive effect on the experimental group’s argumentative writing development, as evidenced in their use of discourse move structures and their overall writing quality improvement. The conventional writing approach was not as effective in helping students to write an argumentation. Writing proficiency effects were observed in terms of the extent to which the students were developed. Pedagogical implications and limitations are also discussed.

SMART POWER WHEELCHAIR: PROBLEMS AND CHALLENGES OF PRODUCT APPROACH

This paper focuses on intelligent assistant for power wheelchair (PW) usage in home conditions. Especially in the context of PW intelligent assistant as a consumer product. The main problematic aspects and challenges of smart PW in real application are noted. The approach to formation of system requirements and their classification is offered. The research results proposed and implemented in the ongoing Mobilis project for smart PW. Further prospects of research and development are noted. Also, it is stated that the implementation of smart PW technology opens possibilities to effective integration with new control methods (including brain-computer interfaces).

Beyond the Wikipedian-in-Residence, or how to keep the flame burning

In 2017, the Biblioteca Daniel Cosío Villegas, an academic (and public) library in Mexico City, drafted the first grant-funded project in the region for training academic librarians in the Wikimedia universe. Drawing on my experience coordinating this project, this case study outlines suggestions for ensuring the continuity of Wikipedia and other Wikimedia endeavors in libraries. Before going in detail, I offer background data on Wikipedians-in-Residence (WIR) experiences around the globe, followed by the specific characteristics this position has had in different libraries. I then present a brief timeline of our project, an overview of our first “flame” (the #1Bib1Ref campaign), the ways we kept the “Wiki-flame” burning: leveraging our team’s strengths and collaborating, and some ideas on how to build your own “fireplace” through a minimal viable product approach, documentation, and feedback (where I share some thoughts on why Wikipedia may not even be the fireplace you were looking for, and that’s ok).

Sustaining University English as a Foreign Language Learners’ Writing Performance through Provision of Comprehensive Written Corrective Feedback

Writing is regarded as a crucial skill in English language curricula at the secondary and tertiary levels in the Chinese education system. Currently, Chinese teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) often adopt a product approach to teaching EFL writing, in which they emphasize the quality of their students’ written products and show little concern with the writing process. To help L2 learners achieve sustainable development of their writing proficiency, teachers employ a comprehensive approach to correct their students’ language errors as a common practice. However, empirical studies regarding its efficacy on different dimensions of L2 writing are insufficient. This study intended to fill this lacuna in a Chinese EFL context, which investigated the effects of sustained comprehensive written corrective feedback (WCF) on accuracy, complexity, fluency, and content and organization quality of EFL students’ writing. Quasi-experimental in design, it involved a comparison group and a treatment group receiving four sessions of direct comprehensive WCF. Results show that such WCF contributed to writing accuracy and fluency over time. Our textual analysis further reveals that it particularly benefited students’ grammatical accuracy, reducing some rule-based grammatical error types. However, it showed limited effects on complexity, content, or organization of students’ writing. Interestingly, the comparison group did not improve any dimensions of their writing. Possible implications are also discussed.