volume 5 no. 3

A Multimedia Authoring Subsystemfor Capturing Video and Still ImageSequences of Small Subjectsby Jose Antonio M. Catalan

Filipino-English Bilingual Children�s LanguageAcquisition: Exploring the Relationship AmongDegree of Parental Bilingual Input, Children�sBilingual Production, Comprehension, andMetalinguistic Abilityby Jenifer Loy Lising

Effects of Metacognitive Abilities, Self-Efficacy,and Social Information on Confidence Judgmentsby Moises Kirk de Carvalho Filho

Modeling the Quality of Service ofUrban Road Networkby Edgar L. Doña

CONTENTS

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4Arms Control and Conflict Resolutionas Games: NATO-Russia SecurityCooperation from 1990-2000by Edito C. Gan, Jr.

An Exploratory Survey of Events MarketingActivities in the Philippines:Successes and Failuresby Leonardo R. Garcia, Jr.

Exploring the Existence and Measuring theComponents of the Gender Wage Differential inthe Philippines Using Design-Based Estimatesby Michael M. Alba

Antibiograms of Nosocomial StaphylococcalIsolates from the Philippine General Hospitalby Anthony C. Lee

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8Isolation, Purification and StructureElucidation of Secondary Metabolites fromCallus Cultures of Vitex negundo L.by Marissa G. Noel

An Overview of the Philippine Component ofthe International Corpus of English (ICE-PH)by Ma. Lourdes S. Bautista

The Post-Cold War Management of the U.S.Alliance with Japan, South Korea, and thePhilippines: A Comparative Analysisby Renato C. de Castro

Kuwentuhan: A Study on the MethodologicalProperties of Pakikipagkuwentuhanby Robert E. Javier

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The project involves the development of a multimediaauthoring subsystem that facilitates the production of videoand still image sequences of small objects. The system uses amotorized gantry robot to position the camera relative to thesubject, a video or an image of which is to be taken. The userspecifies a path to be taken by the camera and the gantry robotpositions the camera along the path. The advantage of thisapproach is that it eliminates the camera shakes and positionaljitters that a human operator would create if the positioning ofthe camera is done manually. The resulting video is morepleasing to look at and watchable for people who get motionsickness from seeing jerky video sequences. The prototypesystem, although not yet in fully optimized form, is capable ofproducing the basic target output.

A MULTIMEDIAAUTHORING SUBSYSTEMFOR CAPTURING VIDEOAND STILL IMAGESEQUENCES OF SMALLSUBJECTS

JOSE ANTONIO M. CATALANAssistant Professor 5Department of Electronics and

Communications EngineeringMS in Electronics and Communications

Engineering, De La Salle University

Contacts:(02)524-4611 loc. [email protected]

Research Interests:Networking, multimedia, and neuralnetworks

JENIFER LOY LISINGAssistant Professor 5Department of English and Applied

LinguisticsPh.D. in Applied Linguistics,

De La Salle University

Contacts:(02)524-4611 loc. 530/562/[email protected]

Research Interests:Discourse analysis, English for specificpurposes (ESP), and oral communication

The DigestURCO2

FILIPINO-ENGLISH BILINGUALCHILDREN’S LANGUAGE

ACQUISITION: EXPLORING THERELATIONSHIP AMONG DEGREE

OF PARENTAL BILINGUALINPUT, CHILDREN’S

BILINGUAL PRODUCTION,COMPREHENSION, AND

METALINGUISTICABILITY

bilingual input showed that Filipino-Englishbilingual parents speak to their children primarilyin English, secondarily in Filipino, and then leastin a Filipino-English code-switched language. Asimilar pattern was shown in the children�s bilingualproduction. The comprehension test seemed toindicate an equal performance by the child-respondents in the Filipino and English versions ofthe test. The children�s metalinguistic ability scoresalso seemed to reflect an equal ability in controllinglanguage processing (in the case of the arbitrarinesstest) and in analyzing linguistic knowledge (in thecases of the vocabulary test, and judgment andcorrection test).

Correlation data suggested that parentalbilingual input in English predominantly showedpositive relationship with several variables.Conversely, the parental bilingual input in Filipinoindicated the most negative correlation with anumber of variables.

The study is a pioneering work in Filipino-English bilingual children�s language acquisitionand is hoped to encourage further studies in thisarea of investigation.

This study examined the Filipino-Englishbilingual children�s parental bilingual input,children�s bilingual production, comprehension, andmetalinguistic ability and how these are related witheach other.

The respondents for the study were 60 parent-child dyads. The children were four- to six-year-oldpreschoolers from the middle socioeconomic group.The parents were Filipino-English bilinguals. Parent-child dyads were required a 20-minute sample oftheir naturally occurring conversation for theanalysis of the nature of bilingual parental inputand children�s bilingual production. All 60 child-respondents were individually tested forcomprehension and metalinguistic ability. A totalof three metalinguistic tasks were administered:one that required control of linguistic processing(arbitrariness test) and two that tested children�sanalysis of linguistic knowledge (vocabulary test, andjudgment and correction test).

Parents� self-report showed that bilingualparents prefer the use of both English and Filipinoin most domains of day-to-day activities but mightactually favor English in tasks that are academic innature. Moreover, a detailed analysis of parental

The DigestURCO

MOISES KIRK DE CARVALHO FILHOVisiting ProfessorDepartment of PsychologyPh.D. in Psychology, Hiroshima University


Research Interests:Cognitive psychology, educationalpsychology, relational aggression, andsocial relations

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EFFECTS OFMETACOGNITIVE ABILITIES,

SELF-EFFICACY, ANDSOCIAL INFORMATION ONCONFIDENCE JUDGMENTS

multiple-choice questions in areas in which theyclassified themselves as having either high or lowself-efficacy. Subsequently, they evaluated theirconfidence in their answers under two differentconditions (with and without social information).Results revealed that performance and themagnitude of the confidence judgments weresignificantly affected by self-efficacy and socialinformation but this effect changed according toparticipants� metacognitive abilities. Accuracy wasalso significantly influenced by self-efficacy andsocial information but no interactions withmetacognitive abilities were observed. Participantsmade significantly more accurate judgments in thehigh self-efficacy area. Moreover, accuracy washigher in the high social information condition. Theresults of the study are discussed and linked to goal-setting and self-regulation process.

When students have to study for an upcomingexam, they have to decide on the order, length oftime, and the extent of their study of a specific topic.They need to assess the current status of theirknowledge, evaluate the difficulty of the material tobe learned, monitor their efforts to understand thematerial while studying, evaluate the outcomes oftheir efforts, make behavioral adjustmentsaccordingly, etc. These self-assessments are calledmetacognitive judgments and they are usually usedas bases for cognitive decisions such as goal-settingand subsequent behavioral regulation. For thatreason, it is important to assess the factors affectingthese judgments as well as their accuracy.

This study assessed the relationships amongmetacognition, self-efficacy beliefs, and socialinformation, and how these variables interact toaffect confidence judgments (one kind ofmetacognitive judgment). Participants answered

EDGAR L. DOÑAAssistant Professor 7Department of Civil EngineeringMS in Civil Engineering, Virginia

Polytechnic Institute and StateUniversity


Research Interests:Transport engineering and planning,highway engineering, urban/regionalplanning, and infrastructure planning

The DigestURCO

Studies conducted over the past two decadeshave attempted to model the performance of urbanroad networks using aggregate measures of averagenetwork speed and flow, among other relatedindicators. The need to distinguish between networkflow and highway flow has been recognized.Similarly, it has become necessary to differentiatebetween urban settings where average speeds of lessthan 60 kph prevail, and non-urban areas where ahigher speed regime is observed.

Earlier works have investigated the proportionof stopped vehicles in a population of vehiclescirculating within a network, using randomobservations of vehicle trip time (T) and stopped time(TS). From theoretical considerations of flow (q),concentration (k) and speed (v) interrelationships,and recognizing that the urban network traffic isessentially composed of running and stopped vehiclesat any point in time, it is possible to characterizethe quality of urban network in terms of aggregatetraffic indicators departing from the usual measuresof highway performance.

MODELING THE QUALITY OF SERVICEOF URBAN ROAD NETWORK

The focus of this paper is to develop a model tocharacterize the quality of urban road networks (notjust in terms of a road segment as is normallypracticed) and determine the effect of the built-environment�s configuration to the measured qualityof urban traffic. More specifically, it aims toascertain how urban space may be organized toimprove the overall efficiency of the urban network.In this study, traffic data gathered using randomchase-car observations from three cities in thePhilippines were analyzed. Prevailing conditions inthe observed city road networks, while pervasive inthe Philippines, were noted to be unique in the sensethat no operational speed limit is recognized andthat vehicle interaction (weaving, for instance) isnot strictly regulated.

Empirical observations hint to a functionalrelationship between intersection density and theproportion of stopped vehicles, and consequently, theaverage amount of time each vehicle circulating inthe network is stopped. The physical significance ofthe pertinent parameters in the functionalrelationships was also analyzed and explained.Moreover, there is a preliminary indication that thefraction of roadside open spaces may better improvethe functional relationship. This additional attributeof urban space is currently being investigated as anextension to the present, together with the currentefforts to institute new traffic control procedures.

The findings are, in a way, indicative of therange of possibilities that could improve the qualityof urban network performance. These options mayrange from physical arrangement of urban space,the clustering of lot blocks, and the configuration ofaccess to terminal locations.

This paper is part of an ongoing long-termresearch which intends to unravel the complexitiesof urban growth and the resulting quality of transportservices. The efforts being expended are targeted atproviding policy directions to urban planning andtransport development.

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The DigestURCO 5

EDITO C. GAN, JR.Assistant Professor 1Department of International StudiesMA in International Studies major in

European Studies, De La Salle University


Research Interests:European studies, security cooperation andstrategic studies

ARMS CONTROL AND CONFLICTRESOLUTION AS GAMES:NATO-RUSSIA SECURITYCOOPERATION FROM 1990-2000

This thesis attempts to utilize a modified reassurance game framework tounderstand post-Cold War security cooperation in arms control and conflict resolutionusing the 1990-2000 security relations between the North Atlantic TreatyOrganization (NATO) and the Russian Republic as case studies. It contends thatarms control and conflict resolution are linked via their effects on the resourceseach actor allots for defense and their perception of each other�s trustworthiness.Thus, success in one area of security cooperation will result in increased probabilityof success in the other area while failure to cooperate in the first area makes futurecooperation in the other area very difficult.

The DigestURCO6

LEONARDO R. GARCIA, JR.Full Professor 5Department of Marketing ManagementDoctor of Business Administration,

Polytechnic University of thePhilippines Graduate School


Research Interests:Marketing management, marketingcommunications, strategic planning,advertising and promotions advocacy,communication arts, consumer behavior,and marketing research

AN EXPLORATORY SURVEY OFEVENTS MARKETING ACTIVITIES IN

THE PHILIPPINES:SUCCESSES AND FAILURES

This descriptive case study explores eventsmarketing activities in the Philippines that haveeither succeeded or failed. Ten successful eventsand ten unsuccessful events were thoroughlyreviewed on the basis of their concept, mechanics,pre-event, event, and post-event activities. Afterassessing the individual cases, an overallassessment was done to arrive at the dos and don�tsin conducting an event. As the study shows, criticalfactors for the success of an event include organizedplanning at all levels of production, teamwork,strategy, integrated marketing communications,dedicated crew, crowd-drawing talents, interactiveand spontaneous speakers, and a profitable venture.The task for events organizers is to excel further intheir craft so that successes will continue andfailures will be avoided.

The DigestURCO

MICHAEL M. ALBAAssociate Professor 6Department of EconomicsPh.D. in Economics, Stanford University


Research Interests:Econometrics, health economics, humanresource economics, and productioneconomics

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EXPLORING THE EXISTENCE ANDMEASURING THE COMPONENTS

OF THE GENDER WAGEDIFFERENTIAL IN THE PHILIPPINESUSING DESIGN-BASED ESTIMATESUsing data from the Labor Force Survey of the

third quarter of 1994 and the Family Income andExpenditures Survey of the same year, this paperestimates the size of the gender wage differentialand its components. Separate wage regressions formale and female workers are performed with adesign-based maximum likelihood method on aspecification that controls sample selectivity.Jackknife replication procedures are employed togenerate design-consistent standard errors. Theresults indicate that the observed gross wage

differential was 21.5 percent and the selectivity-corrected gender wage differential was 16.6 percentof the hourly wage of the average female worker.Estimates of the components of the wage differentialsuggest that gender discrimination in the labormarket may distort the selectivity-corrected male-female wage ratio by as much as 27.7 percent, butwomen compensate by being more productive thanmen by as much as 8.7 percent.

The DigestURCO8

ANTHONY C. LEEAssistant Professor 7Department of BiologyMS in Biology, De La Salle University


Research Interests:Microbiology, isolation and characterizationof bacteria, and materials development forteaching biology

ANTIBIOGRAMS OF NOSOCOMIALSTAPHYLOCOCCAL ISOLATES FROMTHE PHILIPPINE GENERAL HOSPITAL

The antibiograms of 68 staphylococcal isolatesobtained from the Philippine General Hospital fromJanuary to March 2001 were determined byemploying the National Committee for ClinicalLaboratories Standards (NCCLS)-recommended discagar diffusion technique and minimum inhibitoryconcentration (MIC) determination of selectedantimicrobials through E-test strips. Resultsrevealed that the isolates were mostly resistant topenicillins, oxacillin and trimethoprim. About 7%and 67% of coagulase-positive and coagulase-negative isolates were multiple drug-resistantstrains. They were resistant to at least four

antimicrobials tested. Resistance to wide chemicalclasses of drugs was demonstrated by these isolates.Levels of resistance were shown to be higher amongcoagulase-negative than coagulase-positive strains.All isolates, however, were susceptible tonitrofurantoin and vancomycin. Nonetheless,isolates with reduced susceptibility to vancomycinwith MIC of 4-6 µg/mL were noted. Inducibleresistance to clindamycin by erythromycin was alsochecked among erythromycin-resistant isolatesusing the double-disc technique. None of the isolatestested showed lincosamide-inducible resistance bythe macrolide.

Sample E-Test strips used

Staphylococci as seenunder the microscope

Growth of staphylococci inmannitol salt agar

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MARISSA G. NOELAssistant Professor 4Department of ChemistryMS in Food Science,

University of the Philippines


Research Interests:Food chemistry, and natural productschemistry

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ISOLATION, PURIFICATION ANDSTRUCTURE ELUCIDATION OF

SECONDARY METABOLITES FROMCALLUS CULTURES OF VITEX

NEGUNDO L.

Lagundi (Vitex negundo L.) leaves are known tobe effective as antitussive, antipyretic andantiasthmatic, and the active principles underlyingthese characteristics have been studied.Consequently, this research set out to develop atissue culture line of this species which could bemanipulated to produce the compounds responsiblefor these activities. In the process, a callus culturewas developed which yielded none of the biologically

active flavonoids present in the intact plant.However, since this callus line showed stablemorphology and thin-layer chromatographic profilesover several subcultures, further investigation wasconducted.

The objectives of this research were to isolateand identify various components of the extracts ofV. negundo callus culture, and to determine theantimicrobial activities of these extracts.

The DigestURCO10

MA. LOURDES S. BAUTISTAFull Professor 10Department of English and Applied

LinguisticsPh.D. in Linguistics,

Ateneo de Manila University

Contacts:(02)524-4611 loc. 530/562/[email protected]

Research Interests:Linguistics, sociolinguistics, Englishlanguage teaching and research, andEnglish for specific purposes (ESP)

AN OVERVIEW OF THE PHILIPPINECOMPONENT OF THE

INTERNATIONAL CORPUS OFENGLISH (ICE-PH)

The Final Report for this project consists of anoverview of the Philippine component of theInternational Corpus of English (ICE-PH) and two CD-ROMs containing the ICE-PH corpus. Possibly thefirst electronic corpus produced in the Philippines,ICE-PH comprises nearly one million words of spokenand written English collected between 1990 and2003. It is one part of a multi-country projectinvolving some 20 countries/regions in whichEnglish is spoken as a first language or as an officiallanguage. Following a common design in order tomake comparative analyses of the corpora possible,each ICE component consists of 500 texts, dividedinto 300 spoken texts and 200 written texts, eachtext having about 2,000 words.

Spoken texts are divided into dialogues (directconversations, distanced conversations, classlessons, broadcast discussions, broadcast interviews,parliamentary debates, legal cross-examinations,business transactions) and monologues(spontaneous commentaries, unscripted speeches,

demonstrations, legal presentations, broadcastnews, broadcast talks, speeches not broadcast).Written texts are manuscript (student essays,examination scripts, social letters, business letters)or printed (academic writing in the humanities/social sciences/natural sciences/technology, non-academic writing in the humanities/socialsciences/natural sciences/technology, press newsreports, administrative writing, skills and hobbies,press editorials, novels and stories).

The texts of ICE-PH are in two CD-ROMs, oneeach for the spoken and the written categories. Partof each CD-ROM is a database that provides thebackground data of the Filipino speakers/writers inthe corpus.

With the use of a concordancing tool, verydetailed grammatical and discourse studies ofPhilippine English will now be possible, as well ascomparative studies of Philippine English and othervarieties of English. Local and foreign researchersare invited to make use of the ICE-PH corpus.

The DigestURCO

RENATO C. DE CASTROAssociate Professor 4Department of International StudiesPh.D. in International Studies,

University of South Carolina

Contacts:(02)524-4611 loc. 545(02)[email protected]

Research Interests:U.S. foreign policy, international relationsof East Asia, international politics, andPhilippine foreign policy

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THE POST-COLD WARMANAGEMENT OF THE U.S.

ALLIANCE WITH JAPAN, SOUTHKOREA, AND THE PHILIPPINES:

A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

This dissertation maintains that the existingbody of theories explaining alliance continuity didnot adequately explain the operational factors thataccount for alliance stability in the post-Cold Warera. Using the cases of the United States� alliancesin East Asia, this study explains how alliancemanagement plays an important role in enhancingalliance durability or continuity despite the end ofthe Cold War. The concept of alliance managementprovides an alternative analytical framework toexplain alliance continuity. This frameworkcombines a number of variables in a way that itprovides a consistent and more adequate explanation

for alliance duration in the post-Cold War era. Itinvolves using variables incorporating the rationalexplanation of an alliance as the states� calculatedresponse to an external threat, as well as theirrational elements of domestic politics, bargainingor misperception, etc. The incorporation of thesevariables into a framework of alliance management�the political process by which allies handle theirunavoidable disagreements about the changingcalculus of alliance benefits and costs�is deemednecessary as politics usually combines the elementsof rationality and irrationality.

ROBERTO E. JAVIERAssistant Professor 7Department of PsychologyPh.D. in Psychology,

major in clinical psychology,University of Sto. Tomas

Contacts:(02) 524-4611 loc. [email protected]

Research Interests:Psychology and culture, SikolohiyangPilipino, and mental health

The DigestURCO

T h e DigestURCO

is published every trimester by theUniversity Research Coordination Office

De La Salle University2401 Taft Avenue, Manila, Philippines

Dr. Antonio P. ContrerasDirector

Alejandro D. PadillaEditor

Joanne T. CastañaresPublications Assistant

John Ernest G. PascualDesign and Layout Artist

For inquiries, visit URCO atwww.dlsu.edu.ph/offices/urco

ISSN 1655-741-7

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KUWENTUHAN: A STUDY ON THEMETHODOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OFPAKIKIPAGKUWENTUHAN

An ethnographic study on the nature, structure, process, and product of kuwentuhan was done systematically inorder to determine the criteria of quality of pakikipagkuwentuhan as a cultural method of research. Panunuluyan, aSikolohiyang Pilipino ethnographic technique, was used to enable the researcher to live with the participants in therural and urban communities during the observation of the conduct of a kuwentuhan. Kuwentuhan is a naturallyoccurring phenomenon, a process of sharing and telling stories among individuals to figure out or to make senseabout their world and their experiences. Data from the observation of the actual conduct of a kuwentuhan event wererecorded and kept in journal form and observation summary sheet. The data analysis was conducted as an activitysimultaneously with data collection, data interpretation and field note-writing. The observed aspects of a kuwentuhanactivity were its time, place, group size and characteristics, participants� behaviors, level of interaction, and contentof conversation. The kuwentuhan is an occasion for exchange of information, ideas, insights, and individualexperiences. Kuwentuhan is basically a lively and always a happy group discussion in which the participants areactively involved. Kuwento (story) is the product of a kuwentuhan. The kapwa social processes indicate the kuwenta(worth) of kuwentuhan. The quality of kuwento shared in the kuwentuhan depends on the quality of the relationshipsubscribed by individual participants, which is evident in their disclosures and active involvement. Although thelevel of interaction varies with the topic of kuwentuhan, a meaningful kuwento results from the genuineness of socialinteraction. Kuwentong may kuwenta is relevant and meaningful data obtained in the kuwentuhan. The participantshave a sense of ownership of their kuwento and each one in the cluster benefits from the kuwentuhan activity.Pakikipagkuwentuhan could be used as a method for gathering stories.

volume 5 no. 3

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