ESP Students’ Perceptions of the Use of Technological Devices in Assessing English Listening Skills

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Nowadays, technology plays an increasingly vital role in language education. Recently, more and more educators and researchers have explored how technological devices can support the assessment of English listening skills. This study, therefore, aims to explore students’ perceptions of the use of technological devices in the assessment of listening skills in an ESP course, namely ‘English for Logistics’. More specifically, the research was conducted at Ho Chi Minh City College of Transport with the participation of 80 second-year ESP students majoring in Logistics. A mixed-methods research design was employed to collect both quantitative and qualitative data through the employment of a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. For data analysis, descriptive statistics and content analysis were used. The findings revealed that the main purposes of using technological devices in assessing English listening skills include enhancing students’ listening skills and giving feedback to students via formative assessment. Besides, most students had positive perceptions of the use of technological devices in assessing listening skills in the course of English for Logistics, such as having convenience, increasing interest, saving time, and giving immediate feedback. In addition, the findings showed that distraction, anxiety, security, and technical problems were several major challenges of using technological devices in English listening.

Developing EFL Students’ Communicative Performance Through Experiential Cross-Cultural Interaction with International Tourists: A Mixed-Methods Study at TSES English Club

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The disconnect between formal language instruction and real-world communicative competence remains a core challenge in global EFL education. This convergent mixed-methods study examines an innovative experiential learning model at the TSES English Club in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, where university students practise their English skills via structured, authentic interactions with international tourists in public spaces. The quantitative data, collected over an 18-week intervention period, comprised pre/post-test scores of 11 students assessed using a 100-point rubric, alongside student post-intervention perception surveys from 71 students and 7 expert facilitators. The qualitative data, gathered via semi-structured interviews with 3 facilitators and 5 students, underwent reflexive thematic analysis and were supplemented by ethnographic observation. Findings reveal significant practical communication score gains (t(10)=24.06, p<.001, d=7.25), indicating an extremely large effect. Post-intervention surveys indicated over 77% of students improved across all criteria. Thematic analysis revealed three primary catalysts: authentic communicative pressure, intrinsic motivation from meaningful cross-cultural exchange, and peer scaffolding with emotional support. Three principal barriers emerged: accent-triggered anxiety, cultural and pragmatic misunderstandings, and environmental noise. The study theoretically operationalises experiential learning and intercultural competence frameworks within this non-institutional, tourism-driven context. Practically, it offers ten evidence-based, actionable recommendations to maximise pedagogical impact for language clubs.

Factors Influencing the Quality of Cultural Tourism Experiences: Integrating Don Ca Tai Tu and Cai Luong Performing Arts in the Mekong Delta

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This article presents a conceptual framework and research protocol for investigating the factors that influence the quality of cultural tourism experiences associated with Đờn ca tài tử (Southern Vietnamese folk music) and Cải lương (Vietnamese traditional opera) in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. Recognised by UNESCO as a Representative Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2013, Đờn ca tài tử embodies the cultural soul of Southern Vietnam. Despite its heritage significance and the growing global shift toward experience-based tourism, the integration of these traditional performing arts into tourism offerings remains underdeveloped and empirically understudied. This article addresses three critical research gaps: the absence of an integrated theoretical framework combining Experience Economy Theory, Authenticity Theory, Co-creation Theory, Memorable Tourism Experience (MTE), and the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) model; the lack of quantitative studies employing structural equation modelling in this context; and the scarcity of comprehensive research on cultural tourism experiences tied to these art forms in the Mekong Delta. The proposed research employs an exploratory sequential mixed-methods design, combining qualitative interviews with artisans, managers, and tourists, followed by a quantitative survey of 400-500 respondents analysed using PLS-SEM. This article contributes to the theoretical advancement of cultural heritage tourism research and offers practical implications for sustainable tourism development in the Mekong Delta.

Pharmacogenomics of Adverse Drug Reactions: Integrating Genetic Biomarkers into Precision Pharmacotherapy

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Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) remain a major global healthcare challenge, accounting for significant morbidity, mortality, treatment failure, and increased healthcare expenditure. Although clinical factors such as age, comorbidities, organ function, and polypharmacy contribute to ADR susceptibility, they inadequately explain the marked interindividual variability in drug response. Pharmacogenomics has emerged as a transformative approach to precision medicine by identifying inherited genetic variants that influence drug metabolism, transport, efficacy, and toxicity. This review critically examines the role of pharmacogenomic testing in predicting, preventing, and managing ADRs, with emphasis on clinically actionable pharmacogenes including CYP2D6, CYP2C19, TPMT, NUDT15, HLA-B15:02, HLA-B57:01, and HLA-B 58:01. Evidence from international pharmacogenomic guidelines demonstrates that genotype-guided prescribing significantly reduces severe hypersensitivity reactions, drug toxicity, and treatment failure while improving therapeutic efficacy and patient safety. The review further discusses current clinical applications, implementation challenges, ethical considerations, and emerging advances in genomic technologies, artificial intelligence, and clinical decision-support systems. The integration of pharmacogenomics into routine healthcare has the potential to optimize individualized drug therapy, minimize preventable ADRs, and accelerate the transition toward precision medicine, ultimately improving clinical outcomes and healthcare quality.

Service Quality, Citizen Satisfaction, and Citizen Participation: Evidence from Independent (PBPU) Members of Indonesia’s National Health Insurance Program

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Universal health coverage schemes in developing countries face a recurring sustainability problem: keeping voluntarily enrolled members active once they have joined. This study investigates how the five dimensions of service quality proposed in the SERVQUAL framework, namely tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy, shape the satisfaction of independent participants (Pekerja Bukan Penerima Upah/PBPU) of Indonesia’s Jaminan Kesehatan Nasional (JKN) programme administered by BPJS Kesehatan, and whether this satisfaction subsequently drives citizen participation. Data were obtained from 180 PBPU participants who had used BPJS Kesehatan services at least twice, selected through purposive sampling, and analyzed with Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) in SmartPLS. All five service-quality dimensions were found to exert a significant positive effect on citizen satisfaction, with responsiveness and empathy showing the strongest influence, while citizen satisfaction in turn had a strong positive effect on citizen participation and fully mediated the link between each service-quality dimension and participatory behavior. The measurement model satisfied established criteria for convergent and discriminant validity, and the structural model showed adequate explanatory and predictive relevance. The findings extend the SERVQUAL framework and expectation confirmation theory into the domain of participatory behavior and provide BPJS Kesehatan with practical direction for strengthening service delivery to sustain long-term member engagement.

Beyond Digitalization: Understanding Taxpayer Adaptation, Compliance Costs, and Voluntary Compliance in Indonesia’s Coretax Reform

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Indonesia’s implementation of the Core Tax Administration System (Coretax) represents a major shift toward integrated digital tax administration. This study examines how taxpayers and tax professionals adapt to Coretax, how the transition reshapes compliance costs, and how these experiences relate to voluntary tax compliance. A qualitative case study approach was employed involving 100 participants from Jakarta, Bandung, Surabaya, and Malang, including corporate taxpayers, tax and accounting staff, tax consultants, tax practitioners, academics, and tax administration officials. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. The findings reveal that Coretax implementation is experienced not merely as technological change, but as an administrative transformation requiring procedural relearning, internal workflow adjustment, cross-functional coordination, and the development of new administrative capabilities. Six dimensions of compliance costs emerged: learning, time, monetary, organizational, technological, and psychological costs. These burdens were most pronounced during the early transition period, although some declined as users developed familiarity and administrative routines. The findings further show that digitalization alone does not automatically strengthen voluntary compliance. Participants associated willingness to comply more closely with procedural clarity, system reliability, accessible support, and trust in tax administration. The study contributes to digital tax administration literature by integrating taxpayer adaptation, administrative burden, compliance costs, and voluntary compliance within a single qualitative framework. Practically, it highlights the importance of user-centered implementation strategies that reduce transition burdens while strengthening taxpayers’ confidence in digital tax administration.

Rickets on the Rise: A Case Series Highlighting the Importance of Growth Monitoring and Nutritional Assessment in Preventing Rickets

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Nutritional rickets, though a preventable condition, continues to show an increased incidence in clinical practice. It is crucial to recognize these cases during early stages in order to prevent the progression from vitamin D deficiency to clinical rickets, with the potential for irreversible complications. This case series describes five pediatric patients in which vitamin D deficiency and rickets was identified by close observation through growth monitoring and nutritional assessment. These workups were conducted due to the initial presentation of failure to thrive in each of these cases, prompting further evaluation to identify the underlying causes of growth faltering. A common theme throughout was normocalcemia, however, it is important to understand that this finding does not rule out the potential for rickets, as both subclinical rickets and stage two compensatory rickets can lead to normal laboratory findings. Therefore, growth faltering should always prompt nutritional assessment because early recognition, growth monitoring, a well-balanced diet with calcium-rich foods, compliance with vitamin D supplementation, and consistent follow-ups are essential to prevent the risk of developing clinical rickets.

From Upgraded Titanium Slag to Modern Metallurgical Slag Engineering: Technologies, Industrial Applications, and Readiness- A Critical Review

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Metallurgical slags are increasingly treated as dynamic secondary resources rather than inert residues, yet the literature remains fragmented across metal recovery, mineral-phase engineering, material valorization, carbon management, and industrial implementation. This structured critical narrative review evaluates a recent core corpus of 111 publications from 2020–2026 and supplements it with selected pre-2020 foundational sources required to establish the historical Upgraded Slag (UGS) lineage in titanium metallurgy. The recent corpus was descriptively coded by primary slag family, evidence function, and implementation maturity; steelmaking/ferrous systems account for 60 studies, copper/fayalitic slags for 16, cross-cutting or mixed systems for 15, ferroalloy/Cr–Mn slags for 7, Ti-bearing slags for 4, and Ni/ferronickel slags for 3. Eighty publications primarily provide mechanistic or product-performance evidence, 13 provide system-assessment evidence, and 12 are reviews or contextual sources. The synthesis distinguishes historical titanium-slag upgrading from the broader family of modern thermal, chemical, redox, physical, hydrometallurgical, carbonation, and electrochemical interventions. It shows that credible upgrading requires more than high recovery: a controllable phase transformation must be coupled with effective separation, qualified metal or material products, a safe and useful residual matrix, and realistic integration with plant infrastructure. Representative industrial evidence is strongest in copper-slag flotation and settling, selected hot-stage steel-slag operations, and heat-recovery applications, whereas many high-value functional-material routes remain laboratory-led. A five-gate framework—value inventory, engineerability, separation and safety, integration, and system performance—is applied to representative routes to connect mechanisms with product specifications, TEA/LCA, and industrial readiness. The resulting perspective positions slag upgrading as site-specific product and process design within circular metallurgy rather than as generic residue reuse.

Use of Sustainable Energies in European Hotels: The DETOCS Project

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Hotel buildings consume large amounts of energy compared to other commercial buildings. However, in the coming years they should try to minimize the use of conventional fuels increasing the use of sustainable energies in order to zero their net-carbon emissions. During the implementation of DETOCS project a survey in several EU regions has been conducted, investigating the use of several sustainable energy technologies in nineteen tourism entities. The results indicated that many sustainable, low- and zero-carbon emission energy technologies have been used in hotels and other tourism entities in European regions. They included, energy saving technologies, renewable energy technologies and low-carbon energy technologies which are mature, reliable and cost-efficient. Among renewable energies solar energy, biomass and geothermal energy are the most popular in tourism entities. The use of these sustainable energy technologies can be transferred in hotels located not only in the regions participating in DETOCS project but also in other EU regions. During the survey tourism entities that were using carbon offsetting schemes to reduce their carbon emissions were not identified. The findings indicate that several, technically feasible and economically attractive, sustainable energy technologies can be used in European tourism industry assisting its decarbonization in accordance with the target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. The results could be useful to all stakeholders of the tourism industry in all European regions.

Validation and Reliability of the Questionnaire for Assessing the Effectiveness of The Reverse Whole Brain Model

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The use of appropriate teaching methods for students in the classroom is a challenge. The effectiveness of teaching is determined by what methods the teacher uses when teaching. Reverse Whole Brain Model is the result of Sianipar’s thinking in his article in 2025. Sianipar states that the Whole Brain Model has the necessary things for Aphasia students (Sianipar, 2025). The research method is quantitative, using questionnaires as a measurement tool to determine the effectiveness of the Reverse Whole Brain Model. Questionnaires were created by researchers using the Theory of Effective Instruction from Slavin (1994). The data analysis technique is Aiken’s V to test the validity of experts who have assessed existing instruments. The calculated r value of all statement items has a value above 0.304. The calculation of sig. (2-Tailed) of all items has a value of 0.000, which is smaller than 0.05. All items in the questionnaire meet the requirements to be declared valid and suitable for use as a data collection tool. In terms of the validity test, it is greater than 0.60. All items have a value not far from 0.989. From the calculation of this reliability test, it can be concluded that all statement items in the questionnaire are declared reliable to be used.