Hong Kong exemplifies a special case in which the notions of `bilingual education' and `dominant language background' take on non-conventional meanings. First, only the immersion approach to bilingual education is officially accepted and bilingual classroom practices have been discouraged by the Hong Kong government as educationally unsound (Education Commission 1990, 1994, 1995). Government policies notwithstanding, Cantonese-English bilingual classroom practices are prevalent, albeit officially illegitimate, in what are nominally English medium secondary schools/universities. Second, although Cantonese is the mother tongue and the dominant, daily life, language of the majority of people in Hong Kong, English is the politically and socioeconomically dominant language. ; postprint
Maine veterans represent 11.8% of Maine's population, twice that of the United States. Veterans are at risk for social isolation, loneliness, and suicide. This pilot study assessed (a) the Vet to Vet (Vet2Vet) Maine program mission to reduce veterans' social isolation and loneliness; and (b) effects of the program on care-partners. Mixed-methods research spanned 6-months from 2019–2020. Trained older Veteran Volunteers-VV (eight men/two women) were paired with older Veteran Friends-VF (eight men/two women); also Veteran Friend's Care-Partners-CP (one man/three women) participated. VVs completed pre/post Veteran Rand 12-Item Health Survey (VR-12) and Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). VFs completed pre/post VR-12, PHQ-9, and Late Onset Stress Symptomatology (LOSS) Short-Form. CPs completed pre/post Zarit Burden Interview-22. After 6-months, VV and VF qualitative interviews were conducted in pairs; CPs were interviewed individually. Data (pre/post assessments) were analyzed with the Wilcoxon-Sign-Test and NVivo 12+ Qualitative Software. Pre/post data failed to exhibit significance (p =. 05); however, trends supported mental/physical health scores improvements for VFs. COVID-19 was a confounding variable as state stay-at-home orders occurred at the study mid-point. Four qualitative themes were selected: (a) Veteran Volunteers and Veteran Friends; (b) Effects of COVID; (c) Care-Partners; and (d) Three-Words. Despite differences in interests or military background, VV and VFs valued their commonality as veterans. CPs confirmed the importance and benefits of these relationships. All requested an expansion of the program as it was deemed highly valuable. The Vet to Vet Maine companion program pilot research successfully paired veterans fostering companionship, friendships, mentoring, assisting with benefits, and supporting independence.
Conference Theme: Education Access and Excellence ; With the global spread of English arising from a whole host of historical, political andsocioeconomic factors, English, often recognized as the global "lingua franca" or " international language", has become one of the most popular mediums of instruction to offer in some higher education courses/programs in non-English speaking countries. Many European and Southeast Asian societies, with their desire to participate and compete in the globalized economy, regard formal/academic English literacy as one of the most important Twenty-First Century competencies to be developed among higher education students. Access to (overseas) higher education in the English medium, which has become a priced program of learning that often only middle/upper class families can afford, is an important issue in higher education research. To provide more affordable access to English medium higher education (both overseas and locally), "blended learning" that utilizes a variety of both face-to-face and e-learning platforms has become the latest direction for higher education development research in Southeast Asia. In this paper, the blended learning efforts made in MEd LAC (Master of Education in Language across the Curriculum) program at the University of Hong Kong are presented. ASAIHL scholars and researchers are requested to make discussion for possible future collaborative projects in this emerging area of research that aims at achieving both access and excellence in English medium higher education in Southeast Asia. ; postprint
IntroductionIn planning for the introduction of vaginal microbicides and other new antiretroviral (ARV)‐based prevention products for women, an in‐depth understanding of potential end‐users will be critically important to inform strategies to optimize uptake and long‐term adherence. User‐centred private sector companies have contributed to the successful launch of many different types of products, employing methods drawn from behavioural and social sciences to shape product designs, marketing messages and communication channels. Examples of how the private sector has adapted and applied these techniques to make decisions around product messaging and targeting may be instructive for adaptation to microbicide introduction.DiscussionIn preparing to introduce a product, user‐centred private sector companies employ diverse methods to understand the target population and their lifestyles, values and motivations. ReD Associates' observational research on user behaviours in the packaged food and diabetes fields illustrates how 'tag along' or 'shadowing' techniques can identify sources of non‐adherence. Another open‐ended method is self‐documentation, and IDEO's mammography research utilized this to uncover user motivations that extended beyond health. Mapping the user journey is a quantitative approach for outlining critical decision‐making stages, and Monitor Inclusive Markets applied this framework to identify toilet design opportunities for the rural poor. Through an iterative process, these various techniques can generate hypotheses on user drop‐off points, quantify where drop‐off is highest and prioritize areas of further research to uncover usage barriers. Although research constraints exist, these types of user‐centred techniques have helped create effective messaging, product positioning and packaging of health products as well as family planning information. These methods can be applied to microbicide acceptability testing outside of clinical trials to design microbicide marketing that enhances product usage.ConclusionsThe introduction of microbicide products presents an ideal opportunity to draw on the insights from user‐centred private sector companies' approaches, which can complement other methods that have been more commonly utilized in microbicide research to date. As microbicides move from clinical trials to real‐world implementation, there will be more opportunities to combine a variety of approaches to understand end‐users, which can lead to a more effective product launch and ultimately greater impact on preventing HIV infections.
