Research articles list

This study investigated the connection between translanguaging and reading comprehension of Filipino ESL intermediate learners. The respondents were intermediate pupils enrolled in the selected central schools in Bicol, Philippines. The respondents' ages range from 8 to 12 years old, and 124 students (27.55%) were males while 326 students (72.44%) were females. The descriptive-correlational method was used in the study. The descriptive method was used to describe the reading performance of the ESL intermediate learners and their translanguaging factors, while Pearson Product Moment Correlation was used to determine the relationship between the two variables. The primary instruments used were validated teacher-made reading comprehension test and translanguage factors survey questionnaire. Data disclosed that the general reading comprehension of the ESL intermediate learners along with vocabulary, drawing inferences, and getting the main idea, are very satisfactory. Meanwhile, the different translanguaging factors, along with personal, teacher, and social, were surveyed and identified in the study. The statistical test revealed that the reading comprehension of the respondents was significantly correlated with the identified translanguaging factors. Thus, it is recommended that teachers should promote group discussions and allow open interactions in the classroom. Teachers should allow the use of both the home language and English; employ translanguaging pedagogy in teaching reading; foster an understanding and acceptance of linguistic differences; promote multilingualism, and allow indigenous languages to be used in education to facilitate meaningful learning.

Darrel Ocampo

The study aimed to determine the effectiveness of gamifying instruction in the English language proficiency of Grade 8 Filipino ESL students in one University in Bicol, Philippines, that offers Junior High School. The quasi-experimental single pretest-posttest design was used in the study. The researcher-made test which underwent series of validation was given before and after the intervention period to determine the level of English proficiency and level of effectiveness of the games. Statistical treatment was done employing frequency count, T-test and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The findings revealed that there was significant difference between the pretest and posttest of the respondents using gamification. Thus, it can be inferred that the games helped in improving the level of English proficiency of the Grade 8 students. The statistical test results disclosed further that the effectiveness of the three games introduced to the students were significantly high. With these findings, it was recommended that language teachers should use gamification as supplementary instructional material in improving the English proficiency of the students.

Darrel Ocampo

Power and dominance exist everywhere and occur at the macro and micro levels. Being powerful and domineering are factors that serve as emblems for the people in the realm of politics. Power relations are overtly exercised in such discourse. But what is interesting is how power and dominance exist between or among those people who are branded as “powerful;” thus, using the Face Theory of Brown and Levinson (1978), this discourse analysis paper analyzed the power relations that transpired in a senate hearing and its relationship with the Face Threatening Acts (FTAs) used by the people involved in the discourse. A Philippine Senate hearing excerpt served as the primary corpus for analysis. Results showed that the people in the discourse were all powerful, creating tension when they projected their dominance on one another. Each member threatened and challenged their positive and negative faces. The power play evolved into a "pass-theball" effect, and no one has absolute power because it weakens once the person wielding its face is threatened. Hence, to disempower the empowered, a person must learn how to play and use FTAs such as insulting, disagreeing, disapproving, provoking, commanding, and demanding against the powerful to strike a social balance.

Darrel Ocampo

The study employed Appreciative Inquiry framework to have an in-depth investigation in the personal lives of the participants and to draw connections between their beliefs and practices in taking Licensure Examination for Teachers and how these superstitions reflect and affect their moral principles. Specifically, it aimed to: (1) determine the superstitious beliefs followed by the examinees before, during, and after taking the Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET); (2) determine the positive and negative impact of these superstitions in the aspect of taking LET; and, (3) identify the effects of these superstitions in the characters and principles of the teachers. Semi-structured interview and focus group discussion were used and the data-sources were triangulated to come-up with a stronger analysis. Audit trail and member checking were followed to ensure that there were no biases in the interpretation of the data and to establish the validity of the results. Findings revealed that the student examinees followed different superstitious beliefs before, during and after the exam which have positive and negative effects. The motive of avoiding failure in the examination predominates over the motive of achieving success. The positive and negative effects of superstitions vary from one person's experience to another. Moreover, the assertion and personal disposition to pass the exam became the product of student examinees' projection. The superstitious notions were initiated to discard the student examinees' fears and to safeguard their emotional sphere against negative feelings and any untoward possibilities. Meanwhile, in the development of moral principle, the student examinees' family, peers and the society are important factors in the establishment of their belief system which later on reflects the moral principles they uphold.

Darrel Ocampo

This study intends to describe assessment strategies for young students' online learning. The participants in this descriptive qualitative study were 15 primary school principals and 35 teachers teaching Years 4 and 5 in urban and rural schools on the island of Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara Province, who volunteered their participation after undergoing comparable procedures. Using operational concepts of assessment of learning for online learning, class observation, and interview were organized. The content and structure validity of the measures were evaluated in accordance with the developmental periods of young learners. The findings showed that the teachers assessed the primary students' cognitive, psychomotor, and affective domains interactively during the online class meetings, in their portfolio, and through attitude direct observation. Several assessment strategies were advocated to circumvent the shortcomings of online learning. A criterion-referenced evaluation was used to conduct the analysis. The theoretical implications of the findings suggest that the various assessment procedures adopted have decreased the negative washback of online exams; however, further research is required to determine the consistency of the outcomes of online tests with other types of evaluation.

Darrel Ocampo

Lexical and structural levels of language abound ambiguities that are good source of humor. Consequently, violations of the maxims of conversation are leeway to induce humor in any type of discourse. Adding these two precepts and considering pragmatics as its foundation became the bases in analysing the top-grossing films of Vice Ganda. It sought to identify the verbal linguistic jokes and ambiguities present in the top-grossing films of Vice Ganda; determine on how these ambiguities create devaluation of Grice’s maxims of conversation; and determine on how the ambiguities in verbal linguistic jokes and devaluation of Grice’s maxims of conversation were used as ingredients in Vice Ganda’s top-grossing films. Discourse analysis was used in the study and the analytical framework to induce humor by Taghiyev (2018) was used in analysing the corpora. A priori coding was used to identify the recurring ambiguities and devaluation of maxims in the films. Findings show that lexical-semantic and structural-syntactic ambiguities were present in the films. It was intentionally used in order to create humorous effect in the dialogues of the films. Moreover, the devaluation of the maxims of conversation quietly and unostentatiously, opting out, coping with a clash between maxims, and flouting was deemed an effective ingredient to make the films become comical and appealing to the audience.

Darrel Ocampo

his study explored the English Language Teaching appraisal of teachers in the trifocal Philippine education system in the Bicol Region as a basis for policy and advancement programs. This study used the descriptive-comparative-associational method using a content-validated and reliability-tested questionnaire. The frequency and percentage technique, weighted mean, Chi-Square, and Anova Test of Variance were used in the data treatment. Findings revealed that ELT teachers were predominantly females with 73.97%, CHED, 80.21%, DepEd, and 71.43% TESDA along age groups of early and mid-30s and 46 years above. They served the agencies for less than 10 years, mostly married. Professionally, these teachers were still pursuing post-graduate education and attending training. Along with appraisals on their professional and work responsibility, ELT Trifocal teachers very evidently performed their professional and work responsibilities; on the delivery system, respondents conveyed the mastery and application of theoretical and pedagogical knowledge; on their communicative competencies, they were classified as experts. Meanwhile, there was no significant difference among ELT teachers’ appraisal in the three systems (F–value 2.21< t-value 3.35; 5% level of significance). It follows that Philippine education has maintained an undeviating quality of ELT teachers regardless of which system of education they belong. The result showed no variations in ELT competencies despite differences in modalities, urgencies, and the attainment of quality education. Findings also unveiled that the ELT teachers’ appraisal and integration of ICT to language teaching are directly associated with their age, sex and civil status, and educational attainment. The higher the educational attainment, the higher the integration of ICT in language teaching. With these results, a policy development for the Professional Advancement Program in ELT was crafted.

Darrel Ocampo

The article is a discourse analysis of the Wildflower telerserye, exploring the themes and portrayals of the main character and the ambiguities projected by her characterization. The research’s objective revolves around the details that upon the attempt of the telersye to flaunt the modern archetypes of a Filipina, a strong and empowered woman who liberates under the yoke of patriarchal hegemony, her actions and ways were deemed crucial and subjected to great scrutiny. The researcher also dealt with how these portrayals affect and reflect the Filipinos’ way of thinking and sense of morality. Two major literary theories were used to underscore the article’s crucial points. To show how the woman portrayals in teleserye try to subvert the idea and configuration of patriarchy, Feminism (Helene Cixous) was used. Meanwhile, Deconstructionism (Jacques Derrida) was employed to show that in the attempt of the teleserye to empower the woman lead character, remove her from her marginalized and stereotypical views, and liberate her from the yoke of patriarchal hegemony, the result was otherwise. Based on these analyses, a synthesis of Filipinos’ sensibilities on how it affects and reflects their ways of thinking was crafted.

Darrel Ocampo

The study identified the pragmatic competence level of the second language (L2) learners through Written Discourse Completion Test (WDCT) administered to purposively selected 40 first-year education students. A modified questionnaire based on Survey for Academic English Language Exposure (SAELE) was used to determine the effectiveness of academic English language exposure on the pragmatic competence development of the respondents. The study employed the descriptive-correlational method, while various statistical tools were utilized to analyze and interpret the data. Weighted mean was used to determine the respondents’ pragmatic competence level and the effectiveness of academic English language exposure on the pragmatic competence development of the respondents. Moreover, Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) was employed to determine the significant relationship between the two variables. Results in WDCT showed that the average scores in the pre-test and post-test results fall under the competent level. Meanwhile, the effectiveness of academic English language exposure on the pragmatic competence development of the respondents was 0.207, which is ineffective. Lastly, the statistical correlation of the two variables showed no significant relationship between them (r=0.046, p>0.05). Based on the study’s results, pedagogical implications for pragmatic and L2 teaching and learning were conceptualized.

Darrel Ocampo

This exploratory case study employed Appreciative Inquiry Framework in answering the following questions: 1) What are the expectations set by the following to the student homosexuals; a) Self, b) Parents and c) Teachers; 2. What are the positive and negative effects of these expectations to the student homosexuals? and 3) How do these expectations affect the process of identity development of the student homosexuals?. The participants are five college students who identified themselves as homosexual. Written consent was secured to ensure that the research abides to the ethical standards. The data was triangulated through analysing the point of view of the student participants, their parents and their teachers. Results revealed that expectations set by the student homosexuals, their parent and teachers are all contributory factors that affect the identity development of student homosexuals. Moreover, it was revealed that those who have problems in their identity development experienced difficulties in their performance in school. Positive and negative effects of expectations were also noted as the participants shared their stories. With the results, it was recommended that teachers must treat all their students equally regardless of their gender preferences in life. Activities that support the holistic personalities of students must be given emphasis. The parents must support their children in whatever endeavour they take and provide them guidance to be successful in their academic pursuits. Lastly, a model of counselling procedure for student homosexuals was proposed.

Darrel Ocampo

The human body has been theorized in many ways, including the entire notion of the woman as a human creation. It is generally agreed that this concept refers to our perceptions, thoughts, and feelings about our bodies, which influence our behaviour about our bodies. The article examines numerous authors whose individual genealogies meet on the common ground of identity theory and women's lives and is supported by a theoretical framework based on conceptions of identity, body-image and self-image in women and feminist discourse. This paper probes into the concepts of identity in women through the literary canvas of Dr. Bhabendra Nath Saikia and demonstrates the effects of body image and self-image on the development of identity. Of course, an extensive discussion of the short stories of Dr. Saikia is beyond the scope of this paper. The aim of this paper is to analyse the concepts through the two short stories short titled "Dhura Xaap" (ঢ োৰো সোপ 1958) and "Sringkhol" (শ ৃংখল, 1970) by Dr, Bhabendra Nath Saikia. The paper seeks to explore the concepts of self-image, identity and body image through three female characters ‘Chandrika’, ‘Janeki’ and ‘Ambika’.

Banani Das

Legumes are the richest source of protein, starch, minerals, and vitamins and are considered the earliest domestic plants. They belong to the leguminosae family, one of the largest and most important families of flowering plants. The present review describes the history, consumption, nutritional aspects, traditional medicinal uses, pharmacology, and commercial aspects of legumes.

Dr. Salman Ahmed

Emesis encompasses the forceful expulsion of the stomach's contents via the mouth or sometimes the nose. The adverse effects of currently available anti-emetic agents potentiate the natural product researchers to explore natural anti-emetics with fewer side effects. The presented communication reviews the anti-emetic effect of two hundred and forty-five plants belonging to seventy-eight families in different parts of the world. It also outlined the anti-emetic effect of plant extracts and isolated secondary metabolites studied through a variety of animal models of emesis. The reported anti-emetic plants in different countries and cultures and the scientific studies on extracts may help in the identification of promising single chemical compound(s) that may be used as potential leads for developing safe anti-emetic agents in future. Moreover, the reported secondary metabolites having the same effect may open the door for the search for the same secondary metabolites from other natural sources. This review will provide useful information for discovering natural anti-emetic compounds and fill the gaps in knowledge.

Dr. Salman Ahmed

The methanol extract of the whole alga Hypnea pannosa J. Agardh was subjected to antifungal screening. It showed low activity against Aspergillus flavus Link ex Gray 1821.

Dr. Salman Ahmed

NIRS is an advanced, fast, reliable, and non-destructive technique that is extensively used in the chemical, food, petrochemical, and pharmaceutical industries for rapid and reliable standardization. NIRS of Cicer arietinum L. Desi and Kabuli variety seed flours were performed to evaluate secondary metabolites qualitatively. The principal suggested compounds in Cicer arietinum Desi and Kabuli variety were found as adenine, biochanin-A, biochanin-B, biochanin A 7-O- β -D-glucoside, calycosin, cerebroside, choline, ciceritol, citric acid, daidzein, fructose, garbanzol, genistein, glucose, inositol, isoliquiritigen, liquiritigenin, methyl tetracosanoate, ononin, pyrimidine, saccharose, sissotrin, stigmasterol, trifolirhizin. β- amyrin and β-sitosterol. These compounds' presence justifies using Cicer arietinum as a nutritional food and tonic.

Dr. Salman Ahmed

The present study describes the use of an aqueous solution containing a blend of hydrotropic solubilizing agents (mixed hydrotropic substance’s solution) as a successful solvent system utilizing the concept of mixed hydrotropy for spectrophotometric analytical estimation of various conventional formulations as well as novel drug delivery systems. Frusemide, a poorly water-soluble drug, was estimated by application of mixed hydrotropic solubilization method. There was more than 15-fold enhancement in aqueous solubility of frusemide in a solution of blend of hydrotropic agents which consisted of 30% urea, 13.6% sodium acetate and 11.8% sodium citrate. This solvent mixture was employed to solubilize the drug from the fine powder of tablet formulations as well as the niosomes of frusemide. The selected λmax for spectrophotometric estimation was 333 nm. The hydrotropic agents used in the analysis and additives used in the manufacture of tablets and preparation of niosomes did not interfere in the analysis. Statistical data proved the accuracy, reproducibility and precision of the proposed method. The results suggested that proposed method is new, rapid, simple, accurate, and reproducible as well as employed aqueous solvent instead of organic solvents in estimation of drug from the dosage forms.

Archana Mehrotra

The use of spectroscopic analysis, particularly UV spectrophotometer, is a simple and essential technique for bulk drug estimation, formulation studies, and compatibility assessments of drugs with various excipients. In the pharmaceutical industry, various analytical instruments, including Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), are employed for investigating drug-excipient interactions that can impact the stability of active pharmaceutical ingredients. This study aimed to develop a UV spectrophotometric method for the analysis of Pioglitazone hydrochloride in phosphate buffer (pH 7.4) and methanolic solution, assessing its linearity and compliance with Beer's Law. Furthermore, we aimed to use FTIR to characterize potential interactions between Pioglitazone and common pharmaceutical excipients, such as Guar Gum, Chitosan, and Sodium Alginate. Standard solutions of Pioglitazone were prepared in phosphate buffer (pH 7.4) and methanol. UV spectrophotometer was conducted to determine the maximum absorption wavelength. Calibration curves were constructed to evaluate linearity and adherence to Beer's Law. FTIR analyses were performed to investigate drug-excipient interactions by examining the functional groups. In phosphate buffer (pH 7.4), the maximum absorption wavelength for Pioglitazone hydrochloride was 268 nm. The calibration curve for Pioglitazone in phosphate buffer (pH 7.4) demonstrated linearity in the concentration range of 1–20 μg/ml, with a correlation coefficient of 0.998. In methanol, the maximum absorption wavelength for Pioglitazone hydrochloride was found to be 272 nm. The calibration curve in methanol exhibited linearity in the range of 1–20 μg/ml, with a correlation coefficient of 0.999. FTIR analysis revealed potential drug-excipient interactions, particularly in the case of Guar Gum, Chitosan, and Sodium Alginate, suggesting the formation of stable hydrogen bonds. The developed UV spectrophotometric method for Pioglitazone analysis is a reliable, cost- effective, and reproducible approach, making it a valuable tool for drug development and quality control. Additionally, the FTIR characterization confirmed interactions between Pioglitazone and common pharmaceutical excipients, enhancing our understanding of formulation compatibility,

Archana Mehrotra

Dry powder injection of spironolactone was developed using lyophilization and hydrotropic solubilization method. It is fast acting medication in emergencies like refractory edema associated with heart failure and hepatic cirrhosis. The ultimate aqueous based powder prepared showed 892.85 and 378.57 times increased solubility of spironolactone with sodium salicylate and sodium benzoate as compared to its water solubility. Amongst six hydrotropic agents, the solubility was increased in the order sodium salicylate > sodium benzoate > nicotinamide > sodium ascorbate > urea > sodium acetate. IR graph showed shift of wavenumber of characteristic peaks. Lyophilization technique produced more stable product against different temperature cycles and stability parameters. Degradation was only about 0.45% at room temperature and it was more about 1.3% at higher temperatures. Haemolytic activities of lyophilized formulations observed were 8.54% to 96.85% for sodium salicylate based hydrotropic lyophilized system and 3.50 to 88.17% for sodium salicylate based hydrotropic lyophilized system.

Archana Mehrotra

The CuS@reduced graphene oxide (CuS/RGO) hybrid nanocomposite was synthesized by facile hydrothermal method and used as a photoelectrode material in photovoltaic applications. In the hydrothermal route, RGO is formed by the reduction of GO with simultaneous formation of CuS/RGO nanocomposites. The CuS/RGO nanocomposites was investigated using powder XRD, TEM, HR-TEM, Raman, XPS, DRS UV–Vis spectroscopy, Photoluminescence (PL) measurements. XRD and TEM results suggest that CuS crystalline with individual spherical like homogeneous nanoparticles sizes in the range of 45–35 nm, which is distributed throughout the RGO sheets. We further construct the flexible photoelectrodes by using CuS and RGO and studied the photovoltaic performance. Photovoltaic parameters, such as short-circuit photocurrent density, open circuit voltage, fill factor and conversion efficiency were found to be 16 mA/cm2 , 0.71 V, 70.1% and 7.81% respectively, for CuS/RGO photoelectrode. The improved photo conversion efficiency of CuS/RGO is due to enhancing the electronic injection ability and reducing the photogenerated charge recombination. These photovoltaic results indicate a simple methodology for the low cost and effortless synthesis of an alternative CuS/RGO photoelectrode in high performance photovoltaic devices.

Dr.K.K.Saravanan