Papers by Fumitaka Furuoka
There is a growing awareness in methodological literature that parametric statistical tests may n... more There is a growing awareness in methodological literature that parametric statistical tests may not be appropriate in studies with a small sample size and non-normal data (Larson-Hall and Herrington 2010; Mizumoto and Plonsky 2016). In addition, the presence of outliers or cases widely different from the rest of the data set poses serious methodological challenges: even a single extreme case can invalidate the estimated statistics in parametric methods (Larson-Hall and Herrington 2010). As Larson-Hall (2010) noted, removing outliers from the data set is undesirable for several reasons. First, such decisions are based on the researcher’s subjective opinion. Secondly, when one outlier is removed another may emerge and the subsequent removal of all outlying cases could drastically reduce the number of observations. Thirdly, removing outliers may violate a data distribution assumption (Huber 2004). In the case of mixed-methods studies...
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
ASEAN Economic Bulletin, 2009
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Asian Survey, 2003
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Since 1979 when China waged a short but devastating war with Vietnam, East Asia has been free of ... more Since 1979 when China waged a short but devastating war with Vietnam, East Asia has been free of large-scale armed conflicts due mostly to the development of the “East Asian Way of Conflict Management.” China has contributed a great deal to this East Asian Way through its experience in handling conflicts on its periphery as a disputant or a mediator. As a result, what may be called a Pax Sinica seems to be emanating from China. On the other hand, after more than 30 years of relatively weak presence, the United States has been politically and militarily returning to East Asia since the inauguration of the Obama Administration. China and the U. S. seems to be contending with each other over influence in East Asia, but prospects are that the U.S. eventually withdraw to the Second Islands Chain, leaving East Asia and a large part of Eurasia under the Pax Sinica. The paper also looks at the challenges and dilemmas that other East Asian countries face in the process, mostly focusing on Japan.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
In 2006, the Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia, recommended that all
public institutions of ... more In 2006, the Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia, recommended that all
public institutions of higher learning in the country incorporate soft skills formation into their curricula. This qualitative study aimed to explore Malaysian students’ expectations of university education with a special focus on the acquisition of soft skills and to examine the students’ perceptions of the instructors’ and the courses’ effectiveness in fulfilling their educational agendas. Ninety-six students at Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) participated in this study. The findings revealed that their educational expectations were varied and diverse and could be separated into three categories, such as “Life Skills”, “Subject Matter (Hard Skills)”, and “Soft Skills”. The students considered soft skills formation as an important part of university education. However, not all of the soft skills identified by the Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia, were mentioned by the respondents. The article discusses the implications of the study’s findings for Malaysia’s higher education policy.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
This study examines metaphors about learning produced by a group of eighteen students at a big pu... more This study examines metaphors about learning produced by a group of eighteen students at a big public university in Malaysia. The learner perspective is placed within a wider discourse on education in order to explore whether the images employed by the learners to describe
their learning reflect the dominant conception of education as ‘‘production’’. The metaphors supplied by the participants were analyzed and classified into several themes. None of the metaphors generated by the students alluded to
the images that link education with ‘‘production’’. The study contends that the student perspective on education can enrich educational discourse and highlight the previously obscured notions on education and learning.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Research studies in the fields of general education and language pedagogy recognize the importanc... more Research studies in the fields of general education and language pedagogy recognize the importance of metaphor as a research tool. Metaphors can help teachers articulate and construct their professional experiences (Kramsch, 2003) and ameliorate the classroom practice (Cortazzi & Jin, 1999). The majority of the previous studies that employed metaphors focused on the teacher-produced images and adopted a qualitative approach to metaphor analysis. The present study departs from this format. It focuses on the student generated metaphors about language teachers and employs a quantitative analysis to examine the dimensions around which these metaphors align. A questionnaire containing metaphors about language teachers was distributed to 98 students at Universiti Malaysia Sabah. Factor analysis was employed as a research technique to identify the dimensions along which the students’ perceptions aligned. The findings of the present paper lend support to the previous attempts at metaphor taxonomy by Oxford et al. (1998) and Chen (2003).
In der Erziehungswissenschaft und Fremdsprachendidaktik gilt die Metapher als ein wichtiges Forschungsinstrument. Metaphern können Lehrern helfen, ihre beruflichen Erfahrungen zu formulieren (Kramsch, 2003) und die unterrichtlich Tätigkeit zu verbessern (Cortazzi & Jin, 1999). Die meisten bisherigen metapherngestützten Studien konzentrierten sich auf die von Lehrer n produzierten Bilder und bestanden in einer qualitativen Metaphernanalyse. Von dieser Prämisse ausgehend befasst sich der vorliegende Beitrag mit Metaphern, die von Studenten zu Sprachenlehrern produziert wurden, und verwendet eine
quantitative Analyse, um die Dimensionen /Kategorien zu untersuchen, um welche diese Metaphern sich gruppieren. Ein Fragebogen mit Metaphern über Sprachenlehrer wurde an 98 Studenten der Universiti Malaysia Sabah verteilt. Um die Dimensionen/Kategorien, die sich aus den Wahrnehmungen der Studenten ergeben, zu identifizieren, wurde die Technik der Faktoranalyse herangezogen. Damit unterstreicht die vorliegende Studie die Untersuchungen zur Metaphernklassifizierung von Oxford et al. (1998) und Chen (2003).
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
This article examines metaphors about language teachers created by a group of 23 Malaysian univer... more This article examines metaphors about language teachers created by a group of 23 Malaysian university students. The aims of the study are (1) to determine whether metaphors produced by language learners in the Asian educational context can fit into the four philosophical perspectives
on education outlined by Oxford et al. (1998), and (2) to explore whether students’ gender
influences their metaphor production. This study employs both qualitative and quantitative
methods of analysis. The results of the content analysis of 27 metaphors produced by the
participants show that Oxford et al.’s (1998) typology of metaphors is applicable in the Malaysian educational context. In addition, the qualitative analysis reveals that the imagery used in the metaphors is, to some extent, gender-related. However, the results of statistical analysis indicate
that there are no statistically significant differences in the perceptions of the teacher’s role between the students of different genders. Pedagogical implications of the research findings are discussed.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Asean Economic Bulletin, 2009
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Asean Economic Bulletin, 2010
... Central Bank of Malaysia. The Central Bank and the Financial System in Malaysia: A Decade of ... more ... Central Bank of Malaysia. The Central Bank and the Financial System in Malaysia: A Decade of Change. Kuala Lumpur: Central Bank of Malaysia, 1999. Dickey, DA and WA Fuller. "Distribution of the estimation for autoregressive time series with a unit root". ...
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Uploads
Papers by Fumitaka Furuoka
public institutions of higher learning in the country incorporate soft skills formation into their curricula. This qualitative study aimed to explore Malaysian students’ expectations of university education with a special focus on the acquisition of soft skills and to examine the students’ perceptions of the instructors’ and the courses’ effectiveness in fulfilling their educational agendas. Ninety-six students at Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) participated in this study. The findings revealed that their educational expectations were varied and diverse and could be separated into three categories, such as “Life Skills”, “Subject Matter (Hard Skills)”, and “Soft Skills”. The students considered soft skills formation as an important part of university education. However, not all of the soft skills identified by the Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia, were mentioned by the respondents. The article discusses the implications of the study’s findings for Malaysia’s higher education policy.
their learning reflect the dominant conception of education as ‘‘production’’. The metaphors supplied by the participants were analyzed and classified into several themes. None of the metaphors generated by the students alluded to
the images that link education with ‘‘production’’. The study contends that the student perspective on education can enrich educational discourse and highlight the previously obscured notions on education and learning.
In der Erziehungswissenschaft und Fremdsprachendidaktik gilt die Metapher als ein wichtiges Forschungsinstrument. Metaphern können Lehrern helfen, ihre beruflichen Erfahrungen zu formulieren (Kramsch, 2003) und die unterrichtlich Tätigkeit zu verbessern (Cortazzi & Jin, 1999). Die meisten bisherigen metapherngestützten Studien konzentrierten sich auf die von Lehrer n produzierten Bilder und bestanden in einer qualitativen Metaphernanalyse. Von dieser Prämisse ausgehend befasst sich der vorliegende Beitrag mit Metaphern, die von Studenten zu Sprachenlehrern produziert wurden, und verwendet eine
quantitative Analyse, um die Dimensionen /Kategorien zu untersuchen, um welche diese Metaphern sich gruppieren. Ein Fragebogen mit Metaphern über Sprachenlehrer wurde an 98 Studenten der Universiti Malaysia Sabah verteilt. Um die Dimensionen/Kategorien, die sich aus den Wahrnehmungen der Studenten ergeben, zu identifizieren, wurde die Technik der Faktoranalyse herangezogen. Damit unterstreicht die vorliegende Studie die Untersuchungen zur Metaphernklassifizierung von Oxford et al. (1998) und Chen (2003).
on education outlined by Oxford et al. (1998), and (2) to explore whether students’ gender
influences their metaphor production. This study employs both qualitative and quantitative
methods of analysis. The results of the content analysis of 27 metaphors produced by the
participants show that Oxford et al.’s (1998) typology of metaphors is applicable in the Malaysian educational context. In addition, the qualitative analysis reveals that the imagery used in the metaphors is, to some extent, gender-related. However, the results of statistical analysis indicate
that there are no statistically significant differences in the perceptions of the teacher’s role between the students of different genders. Pedagogical implications of the research findings are discussed.
public institutions of higher learning in the country incorporate soft skills formation into their curricula. This qualitative study aimed to explore Malaysian students’ expectations of university education with a special focus on the acquisition of soft skills and to examine the students’ perceptions of the instructors’ and the courses’ effectiveness in fulfilling their educational agendas. Ninety-six students at Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) participated in this study. The findings revealed that their educational expectations were varied and diverse and could be separated into three categories, such as “Life Skills”, “Subject Matter (Hard Skills)”, and “Soft Skills”. The students considered soft skills formation as an important part of university education. However, not all of the soft skills identified by the Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia, were mentioned by the respondents. The article discusses the implications of the study’s findings for Malaysia’s higher education policy.
their learning reflect the dominant conception of education as ‘‘production’’. The metaphors supplied by the participants were analyzed and classified into several themes. None of the metaphors generated by the students alluded to
the images that link education with ‘‘production’’. The study contends that the student perspective on education can enrich educational discourse and highlight the previously obscured notions on education and learning.
In der Erziehungswissenschaft und Fremdsprachendidaktik gilt die Metapher als ein wichtiges Forschungsinstrument. Metaphern können Lehrern helfen, ihre beruflichen Erfahrungen zu formulieren (Kramsch, 2003) und die unterrichtlich Tätigkeit zu verbessern (Cortazzi & Jin, 1999). Die meisten bisherigen metapherngestützten Studien konzentrierten sich auf die von Lehrer n produzierten Bilder und bestanden in einer qualitativen Metaphernanalyse. Von dieser Prämisse ausgehend befasst sich der vorliegende Beitrag mit Metaphern, die von Studenten zu Sprachenlehrern produziert wurden, und verwendet eine
quantitative Analyse, um die Dimensionen /Kategorien zu untersuchen, um welche diese Metaphern sich gruppieren. Ein Fragebogen mit Metaphern über Sprachenlehrer wurde an 98 Studenten der Universiti Malaysia Sabah verteilt. Um die Dimensionen/Kategorien, die sich aus den Wahrnehmungen der Studenten ergeben, zu identifizieren, wurde die Technik der Faktoranalyse herangezogen. Damit unterstreicht die vorliegende Studie die Untersuchungen zur Metaphernklassifizierung von Oxford et al. (1998) und Chen (2003).
on education outlined by Oxford et al. (1998), and (2) to explore whether students’ gender
influences their metaphor production. This study employs both qualitative and quantitative
methods of analysis. The results of the content analysis of 27 metaphors produced by the
participants show that Oxford et al.’s (1998) typology of metaphors is applicable in the Malaysian educational context. In addition, the qualitative analysis reveals that the imagery used in the metaphors is, to some extent, gender-related. However, the results of statistical analysis indicate
that there are no statistically significant differences in the perceptions of the teacher’s role between the students of different genders. Pedagogical implications of the research findings are discussed.