Theatre for Teacher Education to Prepare Teachers in an Inclusive Classroom: A Historical Perspective of India and Southeast Asia

There have been numerous research studies which claim that the use of learning tasks is an effective means in facilitating second language teaching and learning context. The major argument is that the application of tasks give rise to a communicative learning ambience in classrooms which gives second language learners ample opportunities to negotiate with one another in authentic and meaningful contexts and hence be able to attain a desirable level of fluency when it comes to the acquisition of a second language. The emergence of the influential task-based language teaching (TBLT) approach, which is seen as an alternative to the more traditional Presentation-Practice-Production procedure (PPP) in ESL classrooms has since prompted many researchers and practitioners to examine the promise of TBLT, the relevance and practicality of incorporating TBLT in classroom practice as well as gauge the overall effectiveness of TBLT. While TBLT is quite common in teaching the major language skills, this review paper will focus on the use of tasks in facilitating the learning and teaching of English vocabulary in ESL contexts. This paper will especially highlight studies that examine selected features of tasks and discuss. The task induced involvement load hypothesis proposed by Laufer and Hulstijn (2001) and how the hypothesis influences the design and use of tasks in the language classroom.

Grammar teaching is debated a lot related to its being taught or not in the field of second language teaching.'Focus on form', suggesting that attention to form should be encouraged in communicative language classrooms, has aroused an increasing interest in the field of second language teaching methods.However, no systematic explicit grammar instruction is included in form-focused instruction.On the basis of the features of the EFL setting in China, two patterns of grammar teaching, which are divided into inductive and deductive approaches, are advocated as the adapting of 'focus on form' from ESL (English as a second language) setting to an EFL setting.Meanwhile, systematic explicit grammar instruction by the teacher is combined with task-based language teaching.

신남방지역 디지털경제 협력방안 (The Digital Economy in ASEAN and India: Policy Implications for Korea)

In recent years, regional integration processes have created a number of opportunities for ensuring mutual economic ties between countries of the world. In this regard, the countries of Southeast Asia are increasingly considered as one of the potential partners for accelerating integration processes in Central Asia and interregional cooperation. The purpose of the article is to show that the countries of Southeast Asia are an important vector for the diversification of economic relations of Central Asia countries, and to reveal the main directions of their interrelation’s development. Based on a comparative analysis, the state of political, trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian relations between the countries of Central and Southeast Asia, the factors influencing the slow development of cooperation and the possibilities for its improvement in the future are studied. In the context of the world unstable situation, the active participation of the Central Asian countries in integration gives impetus to strengthening contacts with the countries of Southeast Asia, which have historical experience in this regard. This process shows the need to develop economic, political, cultural and humanitarian ties between the countries of the two regions. In conclusion, the similarities and differences between the countries of these regions, achievements and shortcomings, as well as opportunities for further development of relations are substantiated.

The enormous contribution of Kenyan Diaspora to Kenya’s economy is increasingly becoming a major area of attention to policy makers. The Diaspora contributes a significant percentage to the GDP from the financial remittances they send back home. They have also been instrumental in the promotion of trade, investment, tourism, education, employment and transfer of technology and expertise to Kenya. Over 75% of the Diaspora contribution comes from North America and Europe, leaving only 25% for the rest of the world. About 30% of Kenyan Diaspora lives in North America, 26% in Europe, 24% in Africa, 9% in Asia while 11% is unaccounted for in different parts of the world. Approximately 0.02% of Kenyans abroad lives in Southeast Asian (SEA) countries under the accreditation of the Kenya Mission in Bangkok, namely: Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar. The contribution of Kenyan residents in the five SEA countries is minimal. In this research, factors which contributed to the low number of Kenyan Diaspora in the five SEA countries, and ways in which the number could be expanded were examined. Over 70% of respondents agreed that the British colonialism and colonial legacies in Kenya, long duration of weak economies of SEA, government policies and limited diplomacy, limited information on opportunities, tough immigration policies and visa conditions, and inadequate transport system are some of the factors for the low numbers of Kenyans in SEA countries. Relaxation of tough immigration policies and rigid visa conditions, improvement on transport system, establishment of more diplomatic Missions, signing of MoUs and agreements, and information dissemination on opportunities in the five SEA countries are some of the ways to increase the numbers of Kenyan Diaspora in these countries. The research findings will help Kenya Government to formulate effective Diaspora Policy.

The efficacy of placing students with special needs in inclusive classrooms may depend in part on how instructional factors contribute to student outcomes. Differences in frequencies and levels of cognitive engagement of interactions among nine teachers in inclusive elementary classrooms were related to three other variables: teachers' ratings on the Pathognomonic-Interventionist (PATH/INT) Scale, students' designation either as exceptional or at-risk (EX/AR) or as typically achieving (TA), and students' scores on the Piers Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale. Teachers with PATH beliefs, who attribute learning difficulties to permanent characteristics of the student that are beyond the teacher's mandate, interacted infrequently with their EX/AR students at low levels of cognitive engagement. Teachers with INT beliefs, who see themselves as responsible for the achievement of all their students irrespective of their disabilities, interacted with all students more frequently, and at higher levels of cognitive engagement. In contrast to the PATH teachers, their EX/AR students received more instructional interactions than their TA students. As expected, the EX/AR students in all classrooms had lower Piers Harris Self-Concept Total Scale scores than typically achieving students. However, both TA and EX/AR students had lower Self-Concept Total Scale scores in the classrooms of teachers with PATH beliefs, compared to students in the classrooms of INT teachers. The relationship is discussed between teachers' beliefs, their different patterns of instructional interactions with students with and without disabilities in inclusive classrooms, and the possible impact of instructional interventions on students' self-concept.

Seven countries in Southeast Asia which are considered major potato producing areas were selected this study. Potato released data from 23 countries/Provinces/States were collected. In total 668 varieties were documented (including duplicates, as each province in China has its own release system) and a total of 229 varieties have been released with a relationship to CIP. The dataset includes all modern varietal outputs recorded in a formal national (or state/provincial in case of India/China) commodity varietal release list/data base or is identified by experts as an adopted variety during the expert elicitation process. For the purpose of this study, a modern variety is defined as ‘a variety developed by breeders in the formal system.’ It represents an output/contribution of the national and/or international public and private sector research investments.

Many environmental factors contribute to the rise in prevalence of obesity in populations but one key driver is urbanization. Countries in Southeast (SE) Asia have undergone rapid changes in urbanization in recent decades. The aim of this study is to provide a systematic review of studies exploring the relationship between living in an urban or rural environment (urbanicity) and obesity in Southeast Asia. In particular, the review will investigate whether the associations are uniform across countries and ages, and by sex. The literature search was conducted up to June 2014 using five databases: EMBASE, PubMed, GlobalHealth, DigitalJournal and Open Grey. Forty-five articles representing eight of the eleven countries in SE Asia were included in the review. The review found a consistent positive association between urbanicity and obesity in countries of Southeast Asia, in all age groups and both genders. Regional differences between the associations are partly explained by gross national income (GNI). In countries with lower GNI per capita, the association between urbanicity and obesity was greater. Such findings have implications for policy makers. They imply that population level interventions need to be country or region specific, tailored to suit the current stage of economic development. In addition, less developed countries might be more vulnerable to the negative health impact of urbanization than more developed countries.

In this chapter, I adopt a case study approach to my own transformation from academic researcher to university-level teacher educator responsible for training future language teachers and providing training and professional development workshops to language teachers in my community. I describe how I set out as a newly-minted Ph.D. with a background in second language acquisition (SLA) research and a specialization in task-based language teaching (TBLT), and why and how I had to move beyond my own SLA-based training in order to be able to support teachers in the real world of classroom, particularly those encountering TBLT for the first time. Fundamental to my transition was what I learned from classroom observation, teachers’ feedback, action research, and conscious reflection on my own practices. In what follows, I explore this process through the prism of TBLT, that is, in relation to a suite of courses and workshops on language teaching methodology and TBLT, and chart the evolution of a task-based orientation to the delivery of those courses and its impact on my development as a teacher educator. In this I highlight how the construct of ‘task’ played a useful and facilitative role in framing reflection and development within a teacher education context. With this personal narrative, my goal is to draw on my own experience to highlight the real-world needs of classroom teachers, particularly those new or transitioning to TBLT, and how those needs might best be served by teacher educators.

Student Teacher Exchange in Southeast Asia (SEA Teacher) is a project providing opportunity for pre-service teachers from universities in Southeast Asia to have teaching experiences (practicum) in schools in other countries in Southeast Asia. This study presents the experiences of four pre-service English teachers who enrolled in SEA Teacher internship program. The participants were interviewed and the data were analyzed via thematic narrative analysis. Research credibility was enhanced through multiple data sources including interview transcript, lesson plans, and student teachers’ report. The Findings revealed that soft or weak form of task-based language teaching (TBLT) was implemented, varying from those similar to traditional presentation-practice-production (PPP) paradigm, to stronger forms, such as task-supported language teaching. Strong forms of TBLT remained unproven due to students’ linguistic challenge.

We aimed to analyze the temporal trends in the per capita food (kcal/day/person) and protein (g/day/person) availability at the national level in the Southeast Asian (SEA) countries from 1961 to 2018. To avoid intercountry variations and errors, we used a dataset derived from the FAO’s old and new food balance sheets. We used the joinpoint model and the jump model to analyze the temporal trends. The annual percentage change (APC) was computed for each segment of the trends. Per capita food and protein availability in the SEA countries increased significantly by 0.8% per year (54.0%) and 1.1% per year (85.1%), respectively, from 1961 to 2018. During the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s the per capita food availability in mainland SEA did not change significantly and was less than 2200 kcal/person/day. Since the early 1990s, food availability increased appreciably in the mainland SEA countries, except for Cambodia, which has experienced the increasing trend from the late 1990s. Distinct from the mainland, maritime SEA countries showed an up–down–up growth trend in their per-capita food availability from 1961 to 2018. Food-availability growth slowed down for Brunei (since the mid-1980s) and Malaysia (since mid-the 1990s) whereas it increased for Indonesia (1.5% per year), Timor-Leste (0.9% per year), and the Philippines (0.8% per year). Per capita protein availability trends in the mainland SEA countries were similar to the countries’ per capita food availability trends. Since the late 1980s, Thailand and since the late 1990s, other mainland SEA countries experienced a significant growth in their per capita protein availability. Since the late 1990s, per capita protein availability in Vietnam increased markedly and reached the highest available amount in the SEA region, following Brunei and Myanmar. Per capita protein availability increased almost continuously among the maritime SEA countries, except for Timor-Leste. Marked inequality did exist between maritime and mainland SEA countries in per capita food-availability growth till the mid-1990s. Considerable increases in per capita food availability have occurred in most of the SEA countries, but growth is inadequate for Timor-Leste and Cambodia.

The foreign policy course “Turn to Asia”, taken by Russia in the early 2000s, was not accompanied, however, by the expansion of interaction with the countries of South East Asia. Despite creating a certain foundation for the development of bilateral and multilateral cooperation, its potential is far from being fully explored. The presence of objective factors hampered its expansion and limited the active involvement of Russia in regional integration processes. The article assesses the prospects for the development of relations with Southeast Asian countries in the context of Russia’s strategic and economic interests in the region and the emerging conditions for their implementation. The authors note that the region has begun to acquire strategic importance for Russia, firstly, for economic reasons, given the dynamics of its growth and the possibility of its involvement in Russian integration projects,secondly, for geopolitical reasons, based on an assessment of its contribution to the formation of a security architecture in the Asia-Pacific region, the principles of which are generally consistent with Russia’s strategic interests, which are realized within the framework of diplomatic and militarypoliticalrapprochement with the countries of South East Asia. The article notes that in building their relations with them, Russia proceeds from the fact that its more active participation in regional affairs may become a factor hindering the establishment of hegemony by one of the great powers in the region, which generally meets the interests of the Southeast Asian countries themselves. At the same time, the authors come to the conclusion that in search of a force capable of ensuring stability in the region, the choice of Southeast Asian countries is unlikely to stop only on Russia, whose real level of political influence in the region is still low. As for economic cooperation Russia with the countries of South East Asia, in recent years, the interaction between them in the framework of bilateral relations has strengthened, primarily in trade. Russia has a positive balance in trade with the countries of the region. However, investment cooperation between them is small in scope and does not play a significant role in the economies of the counterparty countries. The article provides a detailed analysis of the problems that complicate Russia’s economic cooperation with the countries of South East Asia and offers recommendations for solving them, taking into account the specifics of Russian business and the particularities of the local market development. The authors come to the conclusion that the success of Russia’s economic relations with the countries of South East Asia will largely depend on whether we recognize them as equally important partners as China or India. No political steps taken by Russia in South East Asia will lead to a strengthening of its position in the region, if they are not accompanied by its economic expansion.

Group activities developed in Western countries have been advocated for use in foreign and second language learning internationally. This article reports the views of 31 second language educators from six Southeast Asian countries (Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand) on the appropriateness of group activities in their own educational contexts. Background is provided on the six countries and relevant previous scholarship is reviewed. Data were collected via questionnaires and interviews. Some of the participants also took part in the data analysis. Results showed that these Southeast Asian second language educators feel group activities are appropriate to their contexts and that they are already making use of groups in their teaching. Key problems cited in using groups were low motivation, significant variation in proficiency levels, and large classes. These problems are discussed. The recommendation is made that the literatures on cooperative learning and task-based language teaching may provide insights into methods of increasing the effectiveness of group activities, while at the same time, educators will want to use their own local knowledge to adapt group methods to fit their particular contexts.

Southeast (SE) Asia is a highly biodiverse region, yet it is also estimated to cumulatively contribute a third of the total global marine plastic pollution. This threat is known to have adverse impacts on marine megafauna, however, understanding of its impacts has recently been highlighted as a priority for research in the region. To address this knowledge gap, a structured literature review was conducted for species of cartilaginous fishes, marine mammals, marine reptiles, and seabirds present in SE Asia, collating cases on a global scale to allow for comparison, coupled with a regional expert elicitation to gather additional published and grey literature cases which would have been omitted during the structured literature review. Of the 380 marine megafauna species present in SE Asia, but also studied elsewhere, we found that 9.1 % and 4.5 % of all publications documenting plastic entanglement (n = 55) and ingestion (n = 291) were conducted in SE Asian countries. At the species level, published cases of entanglement from SE Asian countries were available for 10 % or less of species within each taxonomic group. Additionally, published ingestion cases were available primarily for marine mammals and were lacking entirely for seabirds in the region. The regional expert elicitation led to entanglement and ingestion cases from SE Asian countries being documented in 10 and 15 additional species respectively, highlighting the utility of a broader approach to data synthesis. While the scale of the plastic pollution in SE Asia is of particular concern for marine ecosystems, knowledge of its interactions and impacts on marine megafauna lags behind other areas of the world, even after the inclusion of a regional expert elicitation. Additional funding to help collate baseline data are critically needed to inform policy and solutions towards limiting the interactions of marine megafauna and plastic pollution in SE Asia.

Agricultural crop production plays an important role in the economic development of Southeast Asia (SEA) countries. Annually, large amounts of crop residues are generated and field open burning for land clearing is commonly practiced which emits considerable amounts of toxic air pollutants and climate forcing agents. This study estimated the emissions of toxic gases, aerosol, and greenhouse gases from the crop residue open burning (CROB) in SEA countries. Emission inventory (EI) was done using the activity data gathered from primary surveys and published records for the SEA countries. The best estimates of emission species were calculated using the emission factors and the activity data that were most relevant for the considered SEA countries. In 2010, the SEA CROB emissions, in Gg were: 16,160 for CO; 320 for NOx; 28 for SO2; 980 for NMVOC; 550 for NH3; 2060 for PM10; 1880 for PM2.5; 80 for BC; 885 for OC; 178,370 for CO2; 580 for CH4; and 14 for N2O. Indonesia was the top contributor of all emission species (25–39%) followed by Vietnam (17–30%), Myanmar (8–19%), and Thailand (7–16%). Among 8 crop types considered, rice straw field burning contributed dominantly (85–98%) to the total SEA CROB emissions, followed by sugarcane, maize, and soybean. Low and high emission estimates were calculated using the ranges of activity data and available emission factors, respectively, to assess the uncertainty of the emission estimate for each species. The obtained gridded SEA CROB emissions with a resolution of 0.1° × 0.1° revealed higher emission intensity over the agricultural land areas, especially of rice, sugarcane, and maize. Temporal emissions showed higher peaks in the months following major crop harvesting periods in the dry season. The EI data for CROB produced in this study provided a key input for assessment of relative contributions of the emission sources in the SEA for further development of emission reduction strategies.