Specific language impairment (SLI) in bilingual Malaysian children is grossly underidentified for two reasons. First, there is an absence of locally-developed norm-referenced language assessment tools. The challenge in developing a local assessment tool comes from the inadequate knowledge of children’s English as it develops in the bilingual environment. Second, the characteristics of Malaysian English, a non-Standard form of English, are often confused with the features of SLI in monolingual children learning Standard English. To date, the literature has no information on SLI in bilingual children learning a non-Standard English because research mainly focuses on bilingual Standard English and monolingual non-Standard English. Spontaneous language sample is the recommended language assessment tool for bilingual Malaysian children because it provides quantitative and qualitative information for language development and assessment in communities with complex language environment. Phase 1 of the current study investigated the developmental sensitivity of four language sample measures (LSMs), including mean length of utterances (MLU), lexical diversity (D), the Index of Productive Syntax (IPSyn), and frequency of code-switching (FCS), by examining the relationship between these LSMs and age in 52 bilingual Chinese-English Malaysian children with normal language development (NLD), aged between 3;06 and 6;09. Analyses showed a highly significant linear relationship with age in D (r=.536) and IPSyn (r=.451), moderately significant linear relationship with MLU (r=.364), but not in FCS. The findings suggested that MLU, D, and IPSyn were developmentally sensitive to non-Standard English in the bilingual Malaysian children studied. Phase 2 compared the same measures obtained from nine children with SLI and their age-matched controls from the NLD group in Phase 1. The SLI group had significantly lower MLU and the IPSyn scores than the NLD group. Discriminant function analysis indicated that the IPSyn alone classified children into SLI and NLD groups at 77.8% classification accuracy. The four misclassified children, two in the SLI and two in the NLD group, were aged below 4;06 years. MLU and the IPSyn showed potential as SLI markers for bilingual Malaysian children. Two types of error patterns were observed from the SLI group. The first pattern included verb and the copula -be omissions which were also observed in younger children from the NLD group. The second pattern was omission of prepositions which was not observed in younger NLD group, reflected linguistic transfer from the first language. Future research in this area is suggested to a) extend the age range of the study to include older children to further verify the diagnostic potential of LSMs, b) consider longitudinal research design so that language development over time can be described and c) include non-linguistic measures given reports of these measures as potential markers of SLI. As an initial study on bilingual children learning non-Standard English, the current study provided empirical data for charting language development and also suggested potential markers for SLI. The study can serve as the basic framework not only for further research on other bilingual non-Standard English-speaking groups but also for children with language impairment secondary to developmental disorders in the same language group. / published_or_final_version / Speech and Hearing Sciences / Master / Master of Philosophy

Attitudes are commonly investigated in management research as they have predictive value to achievement and a positive attitude helps to produce desirable outcome. This thesis explores organisational commitment among academic staff in a Malaysian institution of higher learning. A thorough review of the literature revealed that there have been a number or previous studies of organisational commitment but none within this context. As the term organisational commitment is abstract it is operationally defined by simplifying it into observable characteristics. Organisational commitment is manifested in a) a strong belief in and acceptance of organisational goals and values; b) a willingness to exert considerable energy on behalf of the organisation; and c) a strong desire to maintain membership in the organisation. These elements can be measured using a questionnaire developed by Porter and Smith (1970). Factor Analysis is used to group responses into categories as dependent variables. Multiple Regression Analysis is then used to explore statistical relationships between organisational commitment factors derived from Factor Analysis and attitudes towards pay and promotion and to socio-demographic characteristics. The sample size of 818 respondents was derived from 2000 accessible academics from all schools and branches (except Sarawak) of the MARA Institute of Technology (ITM). A self administered questionnaire was selected as the mode of data collection. Overall organisational commitment among the academics towards their Institution was found to be high. Differences in levels of individuals' measured indicated organisational commitment could be statistically determined by demographic factors. However attitudes towards pay and promotion were found to be much more important as determinants of organisational commitment when they were included in the analysis and relationships tested with the use of Multiple Regression Analysis.

This thesis emerged as a result from the desire to know how the Public Service of Malaysia is coping up with the demands of quality services from the public. The Public Service, in meeting the aspirations of the Government, on providing quality services to the public, has introduced a number of quality programmes. In spite of this positive move to inculcate a quality work culture among the Public Service employees, the public is said to be still complaining about public services. In this situation, investigations are required to determine the true status of the level of quality of services delivered by the Public Service. These investigations involved measuring service quality and the SERVQUAL instrument of measuring service quality, which has been tested for its reliability, has been introduced. After obtaining the measurements, shown in the form of service quality gaps, further investigations was carried out to identify the cause of the service quality gaps. It was discovered that service quality can be affected by the internal service gaps and in this case, the service performance gap is the main cause of the service quality gap. Further investigations narrowed down the cause of the service quality gap to performance appraisal. Therefore insight was gained about the improper implementation of performance appraisal which can affect quality. The invaluable findings obtained from the thesis about the Public Service prompted suggestions to be made about ways of improving quality services delivered by the Public Service.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Cornell University, 1991. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 158-194).

This dissertation reports an investigation of the relationship between board strategic management functions and organizational performance. This dissertation provides a framework for understanding the influence of boards of directors in decision making, planning, control and operation, and financial performance of the firms. Based on the conceptual framework, it is argued that an effective board of directors will have a positive relationship with performance. Four hypotheses stemming from the conceptual framework were used to relate boards' strategic management functions and organizational performance. The research was conducted in Malaysia, and the organizations used for the study were public enterprises. Forty-two firms in three industries of the manufacturing sector were selected for the study. These firms were building materials, food, and wood-based. industries. Boards' strategic management functions, the independent variables, consisted of the boards’ role in decision making, planning, control, and board operation. Organizational performance, the dependent variable, was operationalized by using financial indicators: return on assets, profit margin, average rate of growth in profit, average rate of growth in assets, and average rate of growth in sales. Correlation, multiple regression, and t-test analyses were used to confirm or reject the four research hypotheses. Besides these analyses, the dissertation provided information on the profile of the boards of directors of the three industries in six different areas: size, age, occupation, educational level, specialization, and business experience of the directors. The findings showed that there was no consistent pattern in the relationship between board strategic management functions and organizational performance for all the three industries. The data analysis failed to support the conceptual framework which indicated that there should be a positive relationship between an effective board and organizational performance. The results of the dissertation were discussed with respect to major findings and significance to management theory and practice. The dissertation concluded with a discussion on the limitations of the study and suggestions for future research. / Ph. D.

Abstract not available

No description available.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Mississippi State University. Department of Sociology. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

This thesis explores the role of foreign cultural capital, that is, Western knowledge, skills, dispositions and qualifications obtained through various modes of UK international tertiary education in facilitating social reproduction and mobility. The focus is on Malaysian young adults from middle-class backgrounds. It offers a critical exploration of the intricacies and contradictions surrounding the applicability of Bourdieu’s concept of cultural capital in explaining occupational and status distinction across different geographical and socio-relational contexts in Malaysia and the UK. Drawing on interviews with three samples of Malaysian students and recent graduates of UK tertiary education, I explored the anticipation and experiences of the rewards and disadvantages of undertaking international education in the UK and Malaysia. I investigated the planned and executed strategies to secure superior employment and status. I studied the intersection of class with age, ethnicity, gender, nationality and religion in structuring educational and occupational choices, practices and experiences. I explored perceptions and feelings of worth that surrounded planned and actual practices of translating cultural capital to economic and social privileges. Studying overseas in an elite UK university was believed to offer the most privileged opportunities to gain better quality education, experience a higher valued culture, lifestyle, social mix and physical landscape in the West and independently embark on a journey of personal growth and self-discovery. Graduates who studied physically in the UK were generally confident of their labour market and status advantages and saw themselves as more knowledgeable and globally exposed than those pursuing UK education in Malaysia. The latter believed that their relative labour market strengths lay in their enhancement and appropriation of more common local cultural capital in the forms of local knowledge, interaction skills and cultural sensitivity. Flexible and moderate personalisation of foreign and local cultural capital embodied in the self, alongside appropriate deployment and adornment of the physical body, provided the solution for the participants to overcome the relative limitations of the knowledge, skills and dispositions acquired through their respective modes of UK studies. Age, ethnicity and gender were perceived and experienced as significant factors shaping inclusion and exclusion in the Malaysian labour market. Nationality and ethnicity were the significant factors for labour market inclusion and exclusion in the UK. There was a general desire to convert enhanced cultural capital into occupational and status opportunities that allowed for work-life balance, personal contentment, religious fulfilment, emotional security and contribution to society. The thesis contributes to problematising the taken-for-granted singularity of cultural capital practices, showing that their associated benefits and shortcomings do not transfer smoothly across different place, situational and interactional contexts. It challenges the assumption that the scarcity and exclusivity of foreign cultural capital bring labour market advantage in the home context and it highlights the functional value of more common local cultural capital. It accounts for instrumentality and deliberateness in capital accumulation strategies as well as casts light on the principles, values and preferences which set limits to strategies of maximising material gains. It pieces together the practices, relations and feelings occurring at different points of the academic and occupational trajectories for the diverse Malaysian foreign student and graduate middle-class. It essentially adds depth and complexity to the investigation of intersecting individual, socio-relational and structural factors that shape perceived possibilities and experienced actualities of middle-class social reproduction and mobility among Malaysian students and graduates of UK international education. The thesis has important policy implications for the development of an equitable opportunity system in Malaysia and the socially responsible marketing and provision of international tertiary education in Malaysia and the UK.

Understanding `culture' has become an essential mantra of organisational activities. Managers today are facing this challenge of how to bring about changes in the way they manage, leading to sustainability and growth of organisations. The magnitude of effectiveness relies greatly on managers' skills and competencies. Hence, this study takes on a new dimension of integrating a more complex contingency linkage of cultures and competencies of managers with corporate performance, in a Malaysian context. Little is known about the synthesis of using these two components from evidence of previous research. This gap is filled in this research by embarking on two phases of empirical study. A mixed methodology was employed to triangulate the two approaches (qualitative and quantitative). This method allows researcher to be more confident of their results, provides new ways of capturing a problem to balance with conventional data-collection methods as well as counter-balances strengths and weaknesses of one approach with another. The first phase using a case study method aimed to get a feel for the key issues before embarking on a survey, which is the second phase of the study. It involved two cases based on public listed companies in Malaysia using in-depth interview with managers. The interview results revealed characteristics of strong cultures, variations in Hofstede's four dimensional cultures and perceived managerial competencies required for managers. The second phase based on positivist approach using survey instrument to collect data from a sample of 276 managers. The survey was carried out to elicit data on the perception of managers gathered from ten public listed companies (five locally controlled and five multinationals) in relation to cultures and the competency level of managers. Results of the second phase indicate that cultures, using Hofstede's (1980,1990) classifications at both national and organisational perspectives, correlate significantly with managerial competencies and organisational performance. However, findings also revealed that companies having strong cultures as indicated by high consistency drawn from the perception of managers appear to have a profound impact on managerial competencies and were predictive of organisational performance. It is also interesting to note that the factorised components of key-value and hardwork; emotional involvement and build (ie. ability to build frameworks/models/forms on the basis of information) orientations; participative decision and interpersonal respect as well as work goals have significant influence over performance. Evidence from the case studies implied that these elements reflect culture strength of organisation and therefore, contribute to positive organisational performance. The congruent effect on organisational performance was more apparent between organisational culture and managerial competencies than cross-cultural construct. By establishing an empirical linkage between cultures, managerial competencies and performance, the research provides fresh support for human capital requirements in the Malaysian's public and private enterprises.