Internationalisation of curriculum delivery: complexities of english as an instructional language in a non-english culture

English language is the main lingua-franca in higher education worldwide. For that reason, higher education institutions in Malaysia including the Malaysian Technical and Vocational University (MTVU, a pseudonym) have been promoting English as the language of instruction. With the existence of international students and voluminous English academic resources, implementing English as the language of instruction is a significant commitment. International students, as well as academic staff in MTVU however, come from various non-western cultures where English is not their native language. This paper focuses on an issue related to the use of English language amongst these groups in learning and teaching processes. Jin’s (1992) theories underlying Cultural Synergy model was used as the underpinning theories of the study. Data collected were from focus group and semi–structured in-depth interviews which were conducted with eleven international students and nine academic staff in MTVU. Through interpretive thematic analysis, findings highlighted that limited English proficiency is not only an issue solely for international students, but also for academic staff. This paper reveals this unique and complex issue from the perspectives of both students and staff. The paper then further discusses the consequences of these complexities for the learning and teaching environment

Efforts to Improve Knowledge and Skills by Adopting Heutagogical Approaches among Technical and Vocational’ Educators

Educators play the most crucial role in the education system. They are the cornerstone on which the stability and growth of the education system, including technical and vocational education. In the current situation, the teaching-learning process shall be decided based on the requirements of the learner at every level. With fast-changing technology and education norm, educators faced many challenges and took various way in upgrading and reskilling themselves towards providing practical teaching session. Therefore, heutagogical approaches are appropriate for improving skill and knowledge among them. This study is aimed to determine the efforts level of educator in 13 different Vocational colleges in Johor. A total of 141 educators participated in the survey questionnaire that measures their efforts toward six heutagogical elements in teaching and learning. The finding shows that majority of the educators shows the high level of efforts toward improving their skills and knowledge. The educator’s perception on the implementation of heutagogy in teaching and learning process benefit tremendously in designing practical and sustainable professional development course for educators. Also contributes to heutagogy model in technical and vocational education settings

Inmates' Perceptions of the Effectiveness of Technical and Vocational Training (TVET) and Entrepreneurship Training Program

: Issues on crime and unemployment among ex-inmates contribute to recidivism in the country even though they were given technical and vocational (TVET) and entrepreneurship trainings by the prison authority.  Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify the perception of inmates in prison on the effectiveness of TVET and entrepreneurship training.  The design of the study used in this study was a method of review with a quantitative approach.  Data was collected using a set of questionnaires and analyzed using statistical package software for the Social Science (SPSS version 23.0). A total of 222 respondents, inmates who have undergone and are undergoing TVET were involved in the study. The reliability of instruments was at an excellent and effective level with the consistency level of 0.871 and 0.915.  Data analysis was done in the form of frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation and Pearson correlation test (r). The findings of the study showed that perception of the effectiveness of TVET and entrepreneurship skills in prison was high which were the mean value of 4.18 and 4.28 respectively. In addition, the findings showed that there was a significant relationship between TVET effectiveness and entrepreneurship skills among the respondents, r=0.557 (P ≤ 0.01). In conclusion, the inmates perceived that TVET and entrepreneurship skills taught in prison are beneficial.  Apart from that, it could provide added value in their continuity of survival once released primarily in the field of employment and entrepreneurship activities

Persepsi bakal Guru Pendidikan Khas terhadap Pendidikan Khas di Malaysia

Persediaan dan tahap pengetahuan bakal guru pendidikan khas terhadap murid berkeperluan pendidikan khas (MBPK) adalah penting untuk memastikan penyaluran ilmu kepada golongan MPBK dapat dilaksanakan secara maksimum kerana cara mendidik dan mengajar MPBK berbeza dengan murid tipikal

Pembangunan kerangka keupayaan di peringkat komuniti ke arah kelestarian pelancongan berasaskan komuniti (community based tourisme) di Malaysia

Keupayaan komuniti merupakan elemen penting dalam memastikan kelestarian pembangunan homestay. Kegagalan program homestay dikaitkan dengan ketidakupayaan komuniti dari apek pengetahuan, kemahiran, kepimpinan dan sokongan masyarakat. Sehubungan itu, kajian berbentuk kuantitatif dengan menggunakan borang soal selidik sebagai instrument utama bagi proses pengumpulan data. Selain daripada itu, temubual separa berstruktur dijalankan ke atas pengerusi homestay dan ketua kampung bagi mengukuhkan dapatan yang berbentuk kuantitatif. Bilangan sampel kajian adalah seramai 140 orang yang membabitkan enam buah homestay dalam Koridor Ekonomi Pantai Timur. Pengumpulan data mentah dianalisis menggunakan Statistical for Social Science (SPSS) 26 for Windows manakala data temu bual dianalisis berdasarkan tema. Analisis data yang dijalankan adalah menggunakan analisis deskriptif dan ujian Anova. Dapatan kajian menunjukkan masyarakat mempunyai persepsi kefahaman yang sederhana dari aspek penjanaan ekonomi. Manakala, tahap kesediaan dari aspek pengetahuan, kemahiran, kepimpinan dan sokongan masyarakat yang secara keseluruhan berada pada tahap sederhana. Kesimpulannya, kajian ini telah menggambarkan penglibatan komuniti dalam pembangunan program homestay dipengaruhi oleh keupayaan diri ahli komuniti itu sendiri

Narrowing communication gaps in teaching international students

Research into the adjustment experiences of international students in higher education institutions has been undertaken over the past 50 years. In the related literature, much of the discussion has focussed on academic challenges that international students have encountered during their transition. Debate has also centred on the methods of support that academic staff could provide to assist the transition of international students. This paper highlights the findings of a case study on pedagogical approaches of academic staff in a Malaysian Technical University in narrowing communication gaps when teaching international students. Nine academic staff were interviewed to explore their experiences on communication challenges in the classroom and methods they implemented in encountering those issues. Findings illustrated that low English proficiency was the most significant challenge these staff encountered in teaching international students, and two specific pedagogical approaches were implemented in assisting this issue, namely, (i) using simple English with teaching aids, and (ii) teaching in two languages were. These methods were perceived to have assisted not just the learning of international students, but also to have narrowed communication gaps between the students and academic staf

Understanding Current Situations: Facilitating Inclusive Education Implementation

This paper aims to highlight the current gaps in practices among Secondary schools teachers who are involved in the Malaysian Special Education Integration Program (SEIP). A one to one interview was conducted on 13 teachers who teach the inclusive classes at one secondary school to identify their individual needs with respect to successfully integrating special needs students into mainstream classrooms. Findings were discussed in relation to several aspects of teaching and learning, including inclusive students' characteristics, appropriate and inappropriate school based practices, and challenges faced by inclusive teachers. Based on the findings, recommendations are made for school-based improvement and teacher-professional developments that inform policymakers on future development plans

Understanding current situations: facilitating inclusive education implementation

This paper aims to highlight the current gaps in practices among Secondary schools teachers who are involved in the Malaysian Special Education Integration Program (SEIP). A one to one interview was conducted on 13 teachers who teach the inclusive classes at one secondary school to identify their individual needs with respect to successfully integrating special needs students into mainstream classrooms. Findings were discussed in relation to several aspects of teaching and learning, including inclusive students’ characteristics, appropriate and inappropriate school based practices, and challenges faced by inclusive teachers. Based on the findings, recommendations are made for school-based improvement and teacher-professional developments that inform policymakers on future development plans