Engaging summer school programme’s participants in reflective learning

Experiencing studying in one’s home country might be different from experiencing it in a host country. Hence, to help Japanese students who participate in the two-week Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) ESL summer school programme achieve their goals to better communicate in English and to experience an academic life in UTM, many in-class and out-of-class activities and tasks were conducted and organized for them. One of the out-of-class task was the half-day classroom visit designed based on the foundation of reflective learning where the participants had to attend their UTM buddies classes. While in the classrooms, they were encouraged to participate in the class activities. They were also required to write their own reflections on the visit in their journals. Once the task was completed, they were required to share their experience in a group discussion activity. From the analysis of both their written and oral reflections, it was found that many of the participants claimed that there were differences between the Japanese and UTM classrooms with regard to the teaching methods and the UTM students’ classroom behaviour. These findings revealed that the specifically designed half-day classroom visit had stimulated the participants to recognize their personal values, to build their confidence and to maximize their learning experience. The aim of this paper is, therefore, to share the summer school participants’ reflections on their experiences undergoing the half-day classroom situation in UTM

Communication patterns of Malaysian SME interactions using whatsapp

Social media applications play important roles in present business environment especially for communication purposes. One of the main applications in today’s communication is WhatsApp. Hence, this paper intends to describe and report the findings of a pilot study. The study aimed to find out the communication patterns of Malaysian Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) entrepreneurs in their interactions with their customers (B2C) as well as with their business counterparts (B2B). The use of English as a linguafranca (ELF) was also studied. The study, which was qualitative in nature, gathered its data through semi-structured interview and WhatsApp postings. Data gathered were then analysed using Content Analysis. The findings revealed that SMEs used English as part of their communication via social media. Several emerging themes were found including code-switching and selection of appropriate vocabulary, to name a few. The paper concludes with recommendations for further studies and implications for the SMEs in busines

Training the trainers: addressing challenges and meeting expectations

Efforts toward making Malaysia an effective global competitor in this challenging era call for communicative competence and mastery in English and/or other languages to ensure competency and effectiveness in our human capital. as such, various measures, drastic at times, have been undertaken by the Government to achieve the country’s aspirations. one such measure is the teaching of Mathematics and science in English in schools

Entrepreneurship education: incorporation of soft skills through hands-on experience

Entrepreneurship is of paramount importance in the present era of education for higher learning due to limited employment opportunities for graduates. Realising this importance, institutions of higher learning (IHLs) in Malaysia have adopted to provide entrepreneurship education and skills while undergraduate students are still undergoing their studies. The skills which are considered vital in entrepreneurship education are soft skills. Therefore, this paper aims to explain how IHL students acquire entrepreneurship soft skills through hands-on experience. In order to describe the acquirement of soft skills, this research utilized qualitative investigation using semi-structured interview in gathering data. The research respondents came from engineering and science backgrounds who took part in entrepreneurship education. Based on the findings of the study, it was found that soft skills are significant for future entrepreneurs in facing the challenging business environment. As a conclusion, this paper provides several recommendations for future research and implications beneficial for entrepreneurship practices

Training the trainers : addressing challenges and meeting expectations

Efforts toward making Malaysia an effective global competitor in this challenging era call for communicative competence and mastery in english and/or other languages to ensure competency and effectiveness in our human capital. as such, various measures, drastic at times, have been undertaken by the Government to achieve the country’s aspirations. one such measure is the teaching of Mathematics and science in english in schools

ESL-EFL buddy system in an ESL summer school immersion programme

A summer school immersion program for Japanese EFL learners was conducted, in a Malaysian university setting, with the aim of enhancing the learners’ English language communicative ability. This program incorporated the Buddy System and was also attended by an equal number of Malaysian ESL learners with basic knowledge of the Japanese language. The Japanese learners were given training in oral communication and exposure to the Malaysian culture. In addition, they were also given more communication opportunities as a result of the buddy system. Apart from the formal activities planned, the buddy system had created more opportunities for the Malaysian and Japanese buddies to develop good friendship using English as the medium of communication. There seemed to be a natural progression which extended beyond the formal classroom setting; informal outings to explore local food, culture and places were organized by the buddies, and communicating the experiences gained via Facebook and journal entries. The Japanese students stated that they had become more confident to speak in English especially after spending some time with their buddies outside the classroom. The Malaysian students, likewise, were happy to be given a chance to communicate and learn about the Japanese culture and language. Furthermore, the Japanese organizers have noticed that their students have increased their confidence in communicating in English. More students will be sent to participate in future summer school programs