FCI wins silver at InIIC Series 2/2022

From left: Dr Hooi, Darryl, Henry Tan and Tan Yee Woon

Faculty of Creative Industries lecturer Dr Hooi Chee Mei and her research team consisting of Master of Arts (Communication) student Chow King, Darryl, and Bachelor of Science (Honours) Actuarial Science students Tan Yee Woon and Henry Tan Tze Heng won Silver Award at the International Invention and Innovative Competition (InIIC Series 2/2022), held on 29 October 2022, for their research study titled “Combatting Misinterpretation in COVID-19 News through the Use of Metadiscourse Features” under the Professional Social Science category. Each winner received an e-certificate of participation and an e-certificate of the award.

Metadiscourse is a crucial linguistic resource in COVID-19 news as it guides readers throughout the text. COVID-19 news has become a source of information for the public. However, there is a lack of appropriate guidelines in reference books, manuals, or websites on journalism to write COVID-19 news specifically. The inconsistencies in the word choice, phrases, and sentences cause many misinterpretations of COVID-19 news among the readers. Thus, the study focuses on solving the core problem involving journalism students. It also investigates journalism students’ awareness of the use of metadiscourse features before and after the treatment. Click here to watch the presentation.

Dr Hooi commented, “I am thankful to UTAR Research Fund (UTARRF), the research team and my students who were sporting enough to come out of their comfort zone to agree to present at this competition. Darryl is under the Research Scholarship Scheme (RSS), while Tan Yee Woon and Henry Tan are under the Undergraduate Research Scheme (URS). Both of these schemes are under UTARRF. Despite only having limited time to prepare and rehearse, we still managed to present our best without expecting to win. We wanted to expose the significance and importance of metadiscourse features to others because these features could aid the writers to be report professionally while having readers in mind. Definitely, winning the Silver Award was a dream come true for us. We hope to continue to encourage others to step out from their comfort zone to do the things that they enjoy doing with their utmost ability.”

Darryl stated, “This was a great opportunity as I was able to work with the team and learn a lot! I hope that all students would take note of the opportunities provided by UTAR. Being a part of the UTARRF has helped me a lot in my journey and I hope to continue this trend of excellence with UTAR.”

Tan said, “I am grateful to be a part of the UTARRF research team and participate in this competition. It was an amazing experience and exposure to something that I have never tried before. I have learned to step out from my routine and I have gained more skills. It was a learning experience for me and winning the Silver Award will always be dear to me. It will always serve as a reminder of the hard work our team has contributed. Moreover, this award will only motivate me to achieve more success in the future.” 

Henry Tan mentioned, “I would like to thank Dr Hooi for offering me the opportunity to be a part of the team and sharing the honour of this award. With Dr Hooi spearheading the research project and the InIIC Competition, the team was always in an optimistic atmosphere and determined to cope with the challenges faced. By working in this conducive environment with an acceptable amount of pressure, I was able to explore and unleash my potential in various areas. The skills developed and experience gained through the journey were invaluable to me and will be practical in the working place. Lastly, I would like to express my appreciation to the team for the advice as well as encouragement and compliments that have been the main drivers for me to power through the InIIC Competition.”

InIIC  2022 was organised by MNNF Network and supported by MNNF Publisher and Kind Heart Charity. The judging criteria are based on novelty, benefit to the user, benefit to the society, commercialisation, and other values such as publication, award, recognition and intellectual property.

The team’s award certificate