The English language is considered to have the largest vocabulary in the world (Crystal, 2002). Educated native speakers of English are expected to know approximately 20,000 word families or 70,000 words (Nation, 2001); however, educated non-native speakers of English know less than one quarter of the native speakers’ vocabulary (Laufer & Yano, 2001). Nonnative speakers of English must increase their vocabulary knowledge in order to become successful in their academic endeavors in English-medium educational environments. A solid foundation of vocabulary knowledge is essential at every stage of the learner’s second language (L2) development. Regardless of the degree of the learner’s competency in grammar and pronunciation; one cannot have effective communication without sufficient vocabulary knowledge.

Objective: This study aimed to establish an academic basis for using a computed tomography (CT) model for predicting osteoporosis in the clinical setting by illustrating the effectiveness of morphometric texture analysis. We introduce texture analysis and quantitative approaches using CT Hounsfield units (HU) to screen osteoporosis. Method: From March 6th, 2013, to August 11th, 2020, a total of 4,333 cases (1,766 patients) were included in the study. After applying exclusion criteria concerning the patient status and scan interval between CT and DXA, we selected only 1,647 samples (736 patients) and analyzed both their CT and DXA bone mineral density (BMD) results. BMD was measured in the femoral neck and L1 spine body. A region of interest (ROI) was extracted from each patient’s CT as the maximum trabecular area of the L1 spine body and femoral neck. A total of 45 texture features were extracted from every ROI using gray-level co-occurrence matrices. Machine-learning techniques, including linear regression (LR) and artificial neural network (ANN), were applied to predict BMD. Results: We assigned samples to (1) Set 1 (857 lumbar spine samples in chest model, L1 spine DXA BMD), (2) Set 2 (392 lumbar spine samples in lumbar spine CT model, L1 spine DXA BMD), (3) Set 3 (1,249 lumbar spine samples in both chest and lumbar spine CT model, L1 spine DXA BMD), (4) Set 4 (398 femoral neck samples in hip and pelvis CT model, femoral neck DXA BMD), and (5) Set 5 (a total of 1,647 samples). When we applied LR, the correlation coefficients between estimated and reference values for Sets 1, 2, 3, and 4 were 0.783, 0.784, 0.757, and 0.652, respectively. For total samples (Set 5), LR and ANN provided correlation coefficients of 0.707 and 0.782, respectively. Conclusion: The modality using morphometric texture analysis with CT HU can be an additional diagnostic tool for osteoporosis and an alternative for DXA.

Drawing on data from a writing program in English as a second language (ESL) at a large university in the midwestern United States, this article addresses the significant gap in programmatic and pedagogical responses for graduate writing support by probing the notion of ESL service courses that approach graduate writing courses as being essentially the same as undergraduate writing courses. It looks into the teaching of writing and writing instructor training in TESOL by tracing the complex phenomenon by which first-year students in a master's in teaching English as a second language (MATESL) program-both native and nonnative speakers who do not have any experience of teaching let alone writingbecome instructors of ESL graduate writing courses in which many doctoral students are enrolled. It raises questions about ESL practitioners' assumptions about the transfer of writing skills across disciplines and genres and examines the implications of English for academic purposes pedagogy for graduate students' writing practices. This article aims to prompt critical reflection on, and ultimately innovation in, writing programs designed for international graduate students while contributing to the development of a meta-disciplinary awareness of the study of ESL writing in TESOL.

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I was invited to give a talk at the Gwangju International Center (GIC) in Korea in Summer 2011. The GIC was established in 1999 by the Gwangju Citizens' Alliance to promote intercultural understanding and cooperation between foreign residents and local people in Gwangju, the capital of Chonnam Province, in Korea. Under the title of “Images of Writing across Cultures,” I gave my talk about culturally embedded writing practices across nations and presented some practical strategies that the audience could use in various writing contexts. There were about 60 people in the audience. Half of them were Korean and the other half were expatriates, which included high school students, teachers in private language institutes, K-12 schools, colleges and universities, house wives, retired professors, and publishers