Teachers’ views of boys and girls as readers in the English language

Research has increasingly investigated the role of attitudes toward reading and language learning, and how it might be different in boys and girls. This paper reports on an investigation of Malaysian elementary school students’ attitudes toward reading in the English language as perceived by their teachers. In-depth information of teachers’ personal practices in teaching reading to the students, their ways of dealing with them, and their suggestions on the teaching of boys and girls were obtained through focus group interviews as well as journal entries. As manifested in the results of the interviews, the teachers felt that among the students that they taught, the boys and girls had different attitudes toward reading and that the girls generally did better than boys in the English class. However, the teachers also felt that boys from good classes seemed to have more positive attitudes toward reading in English

Bringing the Malaysian curriculum into the 21st century

This paper discusses the types of knowledge, skills and abilities that young generations of Malaysians should possess throughout their years of schooling and whether the current curriculum is adequate in enabling the students to face the challenges of the 21st century. Grounded in the Malaysian Educational Philosophy, Malaysian Educational Act, and its national Vision 2020, and taking into consideration the needs of the students and the nation in meeting these challenges, this paper proposed a curriculum for young Malaysians based on three key questions proposed by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority; a curriculum that promotes learning from multi-disciplinary studies and that encourages physical, emotional, spiritual, personal and social competencies. In designing this curriculum, the authors stress on the importance of catering to the needs, interests and aspirations of our multi-racial society and the importance of incorporating spiritual and moral values that would help young Malaysians to face these challenges. This paper concludes by proposing a framework adapted from the QCA that could be used as a starting point for the discussions on the 21st century curriculum

AN EXPLORATORY FACTOR ANALYSIS EXAMINING MANDARIN AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE (MFL) LEARNERS’ SELF-EFFICACY AT MALAYSIAN PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES

Background and Purpose: Self-efficacy is one of the aspects of human behaviours related to performance in social cognitive theory. It has been studied in social sciences, education, and languages. There are a variety of self-efficacy scales available in the English and French languages to test one’s self-belief in their ability to learn the target language. To date, no self-efficacy scale catered to the unique characteristics of Mandarin as a foreign or third language (MFL). The objective of this study is to give practical recommendations on creating valid self-efficacy instruments of MFL and making judgments on factor extraction, factor rotation, and factor labelling based on the foreign language literature.   Methodology: This quantitative study gathered information through an administration of a survey. The multipart survey consists of the demographic information section and the MFL self-efficacy scales distributed to MFL learners in Malaysian public universities. Data were collected randomly from 614 participants studying MFL at three different levels. Items for MFL self-efficacy were examined using SPSS version 25.0 software. Findings: The final 13 MFL self-efficacy items were reduced to four factors with a total variance of 68.99%. The Promax rotation matrices revealed the presence of a simple four-factor structure, exhibiting the degree of strong factor loadings. The four factors were MFL Speaking, MFL Listening, MFL Reading, and MFL Writing.   Contributions: This research provides valid self-efficacy scales for MFL learning. The skill-based Scale could contribute to MFL teaching literature in the Malaysian context. Additionally, the study proposes future investigations which involve learning Mandarin with more emphasis on Chinese Characters.   Keywords: Mandarin as a foreign language, self-efficacy, exploratory factor analysis, non-native speaker, scale development.   Cite as: YanJu, S., Yusuf, M., YanMei, S., & Abdullah, H. (2023). An exploratory factor analysis examining Mandarin as a foreign language (MFL) learners’ self-efficacy at Malaysian public universities. Journal of Nusantara Studies, 8(2), 425-440. http://dx.doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol8iss2pp425-44

An analysis of parents' perception on the importance of homework: a case study in Malaysia

Homework is often viewed as a crucial part of learning as it enhances children’s academic performance. Yet only a few studies to date have focussed specifically on the perceptions of parents regarding the importance of homework. Thus, this paper discusses the results of a study that sought to investigate a group of parents’ perceptions on the importance of homework within the Malaysian setting. Using a questionnaire survey containing the ways how parents get involved with their children’s homework, the parents’ perceptions with regard to the importance of homework were inferred. Findings suggest that parents show keen support towards homework, indicated through the responses of parental involvement they offer their children. A high percentage of parents view homework as important in all the three aspects: provision of structure, direct involvement, and autonomy suppor

Boys and girls as readers: what do the teachers think?

This paper discusses one part of the findings of a study that was aimed at exploring Malaysian primary school boys' and girls' literacy achievement. In this part of the study, the perceptions of the Bahasa Malaysia teachers were sought as to whether the boys and girls had different attitudes toward reading. Data in this qualitative study were gathered from focus group interviews with Malaysia teachers, as well as from the teachers' reflections or journal entries that documented their personal perceptions, ways of dealing with students, and their suggestions on teaching boys and girls. The findings suggest that the teachers were generally aware of the difference in the attitudes of boys and girls toward reading, but do not employ specific teaching strategies to address the issue

THE SECONDARY SCHOOL ENGLISH LANGUAGE READING CURRICULUM: A TEACHER’S PERCEPTIONS

     Abstrak Kurikulum Membaca Pembelajaran Bahasa Inggris di Skolah Menengah: Sebuah Persepsi Guru. Permasalahan yang di hadapi dalam pembelajaran membaca pemahaman tidak hanya terjadi secara khusus pada siswa di Malaysia. Secara faktual banyak siswa di dunia yang mengalami kesulitan dalam memahami bacaan. Secara faktual, terdapat beberapa siswa yang memelukan strategi pembelajaran khusus yang konkret untuk membantu memahami bacaan. Pemikiran awal yang hendak di kedepankan dalam tulisan ini adalah dengan mendefinisikan kegiatan membaca, kemudian diikuti dengan sebuah kajian mendalam berkait dengan pembelajaran bahasa komunikatif (CLT) yang diadaptasi dari bentuk 5 kurikulum membaca bahasa Inggris di Malaysia. Bagi penulis, pembaca, dan teks, membaca merupakan bentuk aktual dari sebuah proses komunikasi yang menempatkan pembaca  memahami aturan-aturan secara aktif dalam sebuah proses membaca. Asumsi dasar dalam penelitian ini adalah pentingnya guru menerapkan aturan-aturan yang didasari pada tujuan belajar dalam meningkatkan kemampuan siswa membaca pemahaman. Hal ini merefleksi pentingnya kurikulum membaca yang akan diimplementasikan guru dalam pembelajaran membaca sebagai pijakan penyususnan ancangan kurikulum. Hal ini yang diharapkan kajian ini dapat memberikan manfaat termasuk dalam pengembangan kurikulum dan penyiapan ujian hanya untuk guru Malaysia tetapi juga di dunia sekitar.Kata kunci: kurikulum membaca bahasa Inggris, kemampuan membaca pemahaman AbstractThe Secondary School English Language Reading Curriculum: A teacher’s Perceptions. The problem of reading comprehension is not unique to only Malaysian graduates. In fact many students experience comprehension difficulties. This, some sudents need explicit comprehension strategy instruction. A rational starting point for this discussion is by defining what reading is. It is then followed by a brief review on Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) which is adopted in the Malaysian Form 5 English Language Reading Curriculum. Involving the writer, the reader and the text, reading is actually a communication process where a reader is seen to perform an active role in a reading process. Based on the many previous researches, it is obvious that the teacher’s role in aiding students’ reading comprehension skills is vital. This also reflects the importance of the reading curriculum, as teachers will impkement their reading instruction based on the outlined curriculum. It is hoped that this study may benefit those involved in the curriulum development and examination syndicate, to enhance the teaching and learning processes of reading in the second language, not only among teachers in Malaysia but also world-wide.Keywords: English language Reading Curriculum, reading comprehension skil

Locatıon Housıng Affordabılıty as an Indıcator for Qualıty of Lıfe in Malaysıa

To have a quality of life is the ability to own a house. Housing affordability affects the quality of life concerning household well-being and economic security. The research sets to evaluate the location housing affordability for the low-income group base on housing and transportation expenditures in urban areas. 148 respondents have interviewed and by using an integrated Location Housing Affordability, it had indicated that location does influence housing affordability. The findings showed the urban area for the low-income group is seriously unaffordable. “Location" should be part of affordable housing because it affects housing affordability thus concerning the quality of life

The Secondary School English Language Reading Curriculum: a Teacher\u27s Perceptions

The Secondary School English Language Reading Curriculum: A teacher\u27s Perceptions. The problem of reading comprehension is not unique to only Malaysian graduates. In fact many students experience comprehension difficulties. This, some sudents need explicit comprehension strategy instruction. A rational starting point for this discussion is by defining what reading is. It is then followed by a brief review on Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) which is adopted in the Malaysian Form 5 English Language Reading Curriculum. Involving the writer, the reader and the text, reading is actually a communication process where a reader is seen to perform an active role in a reading process. Based on the many previous researches, it is obvious that the teacher\u27s role in aiding students\u27 reading comprehension skills is vital. This also reflects the importance of the reading curriculum, as teachers will impkement their reading instruction based on the outlined curriculum. It is hoped that this study may benefit those involved in the curriulum development and examination syndicate, to enhance the teaching and learning processes of reading in the second language, not only among teachers in Malaysia but also world-wide

Locatıon Housıng Affordabılıty: A quality of life ındıcator ın Malaysıa

To have quality of life is the ability to own a house. Housing affordability affects the quality of life concerning household well-being and economic security. The research sets to evaluate the location housing affordability for the low-income group base on housing and transportation expenditures in urban areas. 148 respondents have answered questionnaire and by using an integrated Location Housing Affordability, it had indicated that location does influence housing affordability. The findings showed the urban area for the low-income group is seriously unaffordable. “Location" should be part of affordable housing because it affects housing affordability thus concerning the quality of life. Keywords: Quality of life, Location housing affordability, Housing and transportation expenditure, Low income group. eISSN 2398-4279 © 2018. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.  DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/ajqol.v3i13.16