Exploring the students’ perception of listening self-efficacy in the context of listening test and real-life communication

The nature of listening is less visible compared to other skills such as speaking and writing. This might be challenging for teacher and students to monitor their proficiency progress and further make students become demotivated. Listening self-efficacy is one of the most important constructs to accentuate listening comprehension. Listening self-efficacy related to students’ belief in executing the task to produce the desired outcome. This study was conducted among science foundation students from Preparatory Centre for Science and Technology, Universiti Malaysia Sabah. The participants are from 2020/2021 enrolment. The study employs qualitative method where eighteen students were interviewed to answer questions that are adapted form English Listening Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (ELSEQ). Analysis of interview shows that there were five aspects that facilitated students’ listening self-efficacy which are repetition, language proficiency and deliverance of a speaker, listening setting, non- verbal communication and first language. Delving into listening self-efficacy will shed the light on the importance of listening skill not only in language testing but also in real-life communication. This will hope to further improve their listening comprehension throughout their tertiary education

Students' Perspectives on The Effectiveness of Problem-Based Learning with Inverted Classroom Assistance in Improving Understanding of Foundations Courses

This study aims to evaluate the impact of implementing a hybrid teaching strategy combining an Inverted Classroom (IC) with Problem Based Learning (PBL) called Inverted Problem-based Learning (IPBLC). In this study, PBL cases are delivered to large groups of up to 150 students facilitated by a single course instructor within pre-university science courses. Lecture time is reduced using inverted classrooms (IC) with minimal effect on content. It is a multi-subject research made up of 4 smaller research involving the application of IPBLC in the teaching of Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Mathematics. The researchers were responsible in researching and developing an IPBLC module for teaching 150 students each, wherein the impact of hybridizing PBL and IC on students’ achievements, learning attitude and conceptual learning of the subjects involved are investigated. Focus group interviews were used as a qualitative approach to gain an in-depth understanding of the issue at hand. This research aims to gain an understanding of the needs, motivations and experiences of Foundation students, focusing on their experience with IPBLC and providing lecturers with a better insight into the effectiveness and issues faced by students in the implementation of this teaching method. The results of this study facilitated the identification of issues that were not apparent from the purely quantitative data, thus providing a deeper understanding of the curriculum and teaching effectiveness that was constructive and detailed

Effectiveness of PBL-STEM module in physics on students’ interest: A preliminary finding of implementation amongst students in rural area of Sabah, Malaysia

Due to declining number of students enrolled in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics education (STEM) subjects, the Ministry of Education has introduced STEM packages option for Form 4 students starting January 2020. Nevertheless, it is important to cultivate the learning interest towards STEM subjects starting from the lower form. In this study, an integrated problem-based learning Biology module called BOTANIstNJA was implemented to Form 1 and 2 of a secondary school in a rural area to gauge their interest in learning STEM subject. Total of 79 students participated in this case study related to plants, simple plant specimen activity and early career exposure as a Botanist. Three perspectives: teaching, learning, and communications skills were evaluated through questionnaires and analysed by means of frequency distribution. All students expressed “strongly agree” at 78.5%, 57.0%, and 51.9%, respectively. This result suggests the effectiveness of the integrated problem-based learning module to stimulate students’ interest and shall be continued to encourage them in taking the STEM package

Metacognitive awareness of listening strategies and perception of listening skill during remote learning

The online classes associated with the Covid-19 pandemic have resulted in the magnitude of remote learning of ESL (English as a second language). Sustaining the quality of teaching and learning of listening skills has become more challenging for everyone. Listening is one of the fundamental skills to acquire knowledge in an academic setting. Every instructor and learner need to perceive that listening is not an innate skill, understand the processes involved in listening comprehension, and integrate strategies while listening. The present study explores Metacognitive Awareness of Listening Strategies (MALS) and students’ perceptions about learning listening skills during remote learning. The current study was conducted through a multimethod research design where both quantitative and qualitative data were involved. Two instruments were utilised, which are the Metacognitive Awareness of Listening Questionnaire (MALQ) and the online discussion board. The participants were chosen based on simple random sampling consisting of 51 pre-university students enrolled in the Science Foundation programme in the 2020/2021 session. The first part of the results depicted students had an average level of MALS with directed attention strategies as the factor with the highest average. The second part of the results reported that students who scored a higher average score of MALS tend to use problem-solving strategies. Lastly, the board postings were analysed thematically and categorised to three different themes which are challenges, strategies, and activities of learning skills. It is hoped that this study will shed light on empirical strategies and evidence of listening practices during online classes. Both teachers and learners may have clearer insights on how to manage listening comprehension effort and use learning inherent to tackle remote learning

The process approach to the teaching of writing: Focus on process rather than product

Composition writing has always been an integral part of the English Language curriculum in primary, secondary and tertiary education in Malaysia, yet being the most difficult of the four skills in English as a Second Language; the teaching of writing has often been neglected. Process writing, as distinguished from ‘Product Writing’, is playing a large role in ESL classes. Writing is seen as a communicative act with an intended purpose and audience. The teacher and other learners help the writer find a topic and revise drafts of a written piece until it conveys the intended meaning. While working to make their meanings clear, learners are assumed to acquire competence using the style, syntax, grammar and surface features of the language. During the writing process, students engage in pre-writing, planning, drafting and post-writing activities. However, learners do not necessarily engage in these activities in that order because the writing process is recursive in nature. Language rules are taught in teacher-led- mini-lessons but always in the context of expressing the learners’ own ideas. This paper reports on a study that explores how a process-oriented approach to writing influences a group of university ESL students

How Does the Multiple Intelligence Knowledge Influence English as a Second Language (ESL) Instructor's Teaching Strategies?

The purpose of this study is to identify the level of Multiple Intelligence knowledge among the English language instructors in Sabah. 32 respondents from four educational institutions in Kota Kinabalu participated in this research. The data was obtained through a set of questionnaires that was modified and adapted from Thomas Armstrong (1994) to suit the objectives of this research. The modification and adaptation of the research instruments was done to meet the research objectives and the situation of the research. The set of questionnaire comprises of three parts. Part A touches on the demographic characteristics of the English language instructors, part B focuses on the knowledge level of the theory, and Part C targets on the teaching strategies in the English language classrooms. The marks were counted manually to find the connection between the knowledge level of Multiple Intelligences and the teaching strategies of the instructors in the classrooms. The finding of this research indicates that the English language teachers with excellent level of Multiple Intelligence knowledge do not necessarily have excellent varieties of teaching strategies, and vice versa

Issues and challenges amidst the pandemic era: English learners’ voices

Corona virus disease 2019 has become a current pandemic and many countries have been affected by it. At the end of January 2020, the WHO Emergency Committee declared a global health emergency state as COVID-19 confirmed cases have been increasing internationally. Since then, online learning has been actively implemented globally including Malaysia. This research is purely qualitative where data was collected via online interview with four willing secondary students. The findings highlight that there are a few weaknesses regarding online learning. Poor internet connection contributes to one of the weaknesses in online learning in Malaysia. Furthermore, not understanding teachers’ teaching is also one of the limitations of online education. Online learning limitations might vary depending on the students' technological capability to access online sites and use computers. These limitations are more evident for young children or school-age students who may not have online access. Although online learning has its flaws however it comprises several strengths too. Online learning enables the students to have flexible time in participating in the lesson. Avoiding from the virus is the next advantage of conducting online learning. Although schools are closed however students still could get connected with their teachers through several devices like computers, laptops, tablets and mobile phones. Hence, online learning is deemed to be the best alternative to continue the learning process and at the same time protects young learners from this deadly virus

Exploring the effectiveness and students' perceptions of e-learning in English as second language (ESL) speaking classes amidst COVID-19

The COVID-19 outbreak quickly demonstrates the importance of adopting online education in teaching and learning. It has forced education systems worldwide to find alternatives to face-to-face interactions. Language instructors have made attempts to explore and utilise e-learning tools to enrich their teaching and assist learners in improving their language learning. This paper, therefore, attempts to shed light on the effectiveness of adopting e-learning tools in ESL speaking class and their perception of it. Fifty-three preuniversity students from the Foundation Programme of the Preparatory Centre for Science and Technology were involved in this study. Data analysed in this paper were derived from a threaded online discussion via Dotstorming. The structured interview questions were carefully designed based on the objectives to elicit the students’ opinions on the topic of interest. To explore the effectiveness of e-learning in developing the students’ speaking skills, scores of Individual Speaking Assessment and Group Speaking Assessment of each student were collected. These assessments were marked based on the Malaysian University English Test (MUET) Speaking Rubric – Task Fulfilment, Language, and Communicative Ability. The findings show that the adoption of technology in ESL speaking classes improves the students’ speaking abilities. The thematic analysis also shows that the use of e-learning tools in language learning received positive feedbacks from the students, suggesting it would be a promising virtual platform to improve the student's confidence, knowledge, and language

Encouraging STEM interest among high school students in rural area of Sabah: A BOTANIstNJA module integrated with Problem-based Learning case

Due to declining number of students enrolled in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics education (STEM) subjects, the Ministry of Education has introduced STEM packages option for Form 4 students starting January 2020. Nevertheless, it is important to cultivate the learning interest towards STEM subjects starting from the lower form. In this study, an integrated problem-based learning Biology module called BOTANIstNJA was implemented to Form 1 and 2 of a secondary school in a rural area to gauge their interest in learning STEM subject. Total of 79 students participated in this case study related to plants, simple plant specimen activity and early career exposure as a Botanist. Three perspectives: teaching, learning, and communications skills were evaluated through questionnaires and analysed by means of frequency distribution. All students expressed “strongly agree” at 78.5%, 57.0%, and 51.9%, respectively. This result suggests the effectiveness of the integrated problem-based learning module to stimulate students’ interest and shall be continued to encourage them in taking the STEM package