Pre-service Teacher’s Feedback on Their Experiences While Attending the Apprenticeship Programme in Keningau

This study explores the pathways followed by the pre-service teacher by collecting their feedback after attending the apprenticeship programme in one of the primary schools in Keningau. The aim is to get an overview of their experiences while attending apprenticeship programme. This study has employed a qualitative approach gathered through classroom observation, reflective journal as well as focus group discussion. The findings of the study depicted that the pre-service teachers’ about their experiences are affected by internal and external factors. Internal factors may include inadequacy to teach, attitude problem, mismatch of expectation as well as conflict with the mentor teacher. External factors may include lack of teaching facilities, school community and location of the school. The analyses yielded perspectives which includes several themes: elements of teaching, pre-service-cooperating teachers’ interactions related to pedagogy, knowledge of pedagogy, and the acts of teaching

BRIDGING THE REAL WORLD ENGLISHES IN THE RURAL ESL CLASSROOM THROUGH TRANSLATION

Translation can play a role in the development of communicative abilities since speakers are often engaged in the work of sharing and negotiating meaning. It fosters speculation and discussion, apart from developing abilities considered fundamental for communication, such as interpretation, negotiation, and expression of meaning. However, there are views against translation in the ESL classrooms even though the method has been applied in the pedagogical process. As a result, ESL students who are weak in English are not given the opportunity to excel in the second language from their own bilingual strength. This paper attempts to study and disclose in what ways pedagogogical translation in rural ESL classrooms in Sabah is reflected into practice, thereby assessing whether the gap between pedagogical translation and translation pedagogy has beeen been bridged. In this case study, five primary teachers were selected and their knowledge and practice of translation were assessed through qualitative content analysis in pre- teaching, while teaching and post-teaching activities. A translation framework has been designed and used in assessing the teachers’ performances in using translation. This pilot study reveals that teachers have translated from the first language (L1) into the second language (L2) as a means to help students to understand the content of the English lesson. They did not have adequate knowedge on translation strategies. Thus, the designed translation framework may be used by teachers as a guide in using translation in the ESL context

Code switching in Malaysian secondary ESL classroom: a preliminary study from Sabah

The dearth of research investigating the use of code-switching (CS) in English as a second language (ESL) classrooms in Sabah, Malaysia, has triggered the current study to examine this phenomenon at a secondary school in Tawau, Sabah. A qualitative approach was utilized by the present research through conducting classroom observations where data were obtained from three Form-Five ESL classes. Both teachers‟ and students‟ CS uses were analysed utilizing Sert (2005) functions of CS adopted from the framework proposed by Mattsson and Burenhult-Mattsson (1999), Eldridge (1996) and Cole (1998). Results revealed that teachers and students in ESL classrooms in Tawau not only use CS but they also use code mixing (CM). Furthermore, data analysis also showed that CS has different functions for both teachers and students. While teachers use CS mostly for repetition function or switch, students‟ use of CS is mainly for floor holding and reiteration. Further research may explore the use of CM in ESL classroom as this area of research has not been investigated adequately whether in Malaysia in general or in Sabah in particular, which would enable future studies to determine the functions of CM and examine the differences between CS and CM in ESL classroom

Development and validation of a survey questionnaire assessing technological pedagogical content knowledge and E-learning acceptance for Malaysian English teachers

The traditional method of teaching and learning is found to fail in developing English language as a skill among the learners. E-learning is stated as a powerful tool for educational change and reform to improve English language teaching and learning. The implementation of e-learning in education has shown significant growth over the last decade with the rapid development of technology. The emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic around the world in 2019 has risen the implementation of e-learning as an alternative way of teaching and learning. The major challenges faced by teachers in implementing e-learning involve issues such as low Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) level and technology acceptance. In line with this, this study aims to develop and validate an instrument to measure TPACK and e-learning acceptance, particularly for English teachers in Malaysia. This survey produced an adapted survey questionnaire that combines TPACK for English teachers’ questionnaire items and perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness questionnaire items. The content validity and face validity of the developed survey questionnaire were identified using CVI and FVI calculations. The experts and raters pointed out that all items are relevant and comprehensible. Some minor improvements can be done based on the suggestions given. The results of CVI (0.89) and FVI (0.94) show that the developed survey questionnaire is found to achieve a satisfactory level of both content validity and face validity and can be used for further study

Students’ perception of English language online learning during the covid-19 pandemic: A survey study among pre-university students in Universiti Malaysia Sabah

The Covid-19 pandemic that lasted more than a year affected the smooth running of education around the world. Starting with the closure of all schools in China in March 2019, the starting point of the Covid-19 pandemic virus was followed by the closure of all schools in many countries for long periods of time, which certainly affected teaching and learning in most countries including Malaysia. The honorouble mention includes the process of education which involves co-curriculum, physical education, and social skills. This study is a quantitative study to analyse students’ perception of learning the English language using online learning throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. SPSS statistical software was used to calculate and compare the mean of each variable in online learning and face-to-face learning consisting of knowledge acquisition, skills in language learning, social skills as well as their acceptance of online learning. In this survey study, it has been indicated that although there is a slightly different mean between online learning and face-to-face learning the perception of both learning strategies is positive. It also has been indicated that students found that online learning eased the access to online materials whilst it also bounded by technical problems that they encounter during online classes as well as their own disciplinary actions that have limited their online learning

ESL pre-service teachers’ online information searching strategies preliminary data for TPACK development program for teacher education

The reality brought upon by the pandemic has forced educators, language instructors included, to re-evaluate their practice by ensuring that the actual learning takes place and planned objectives are met. In language education programs, equipping future teachers with appropriate knowledge and skills remains as the top priority. In fact, recent literature also highlights the need for teachers to have technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) to cope with the changing demands of online learning and learner diversity. As part of the needs analysis phase to assess students’ TPACK competency, students’ online information searching strategies were investigated by using Information Commitment Survey (Wu & Tsai, 2007) and content analysis of the references list of students’ written coursework and guided reflection. In this case study, the participants were the ESL pre-service teachers in a teacher education program. It was found that the students used multiple web searching strategies such as matching and elaboration strategies. The students also appeared to have ‘mixed’ standards for judging information on the web. The results additionally revealed that students relied heavily on different web resources such as online encyclopaedia, and resources that contain grammar materials, content materials related to their writing topic, citation materials and writing samples that match their writing format. These findings strongly suggest for a more systematic training design of the online writing support should be in a form of a portal of evaluated links to useful resources for ESL writing

Reformulating communication strategy training to reduce topic fronting among TESL teachers in Malaysia

Communication strategies involves the vast range of linguistic and paralinguistic techniques such as the use of negotiation of meaning to the very complex facial expressions. Despite being highly human based, the use of communication strategies needs to be learned and developed. The Malaysian classified variety, topic fronting, is a highly utilised communication strategy. However, despite being an achievement strategy, topic fronting does not abide by the English language grammatical rule. Although one of the primary factors of communication strategy is the independence from linguistic rules, a rampant use of this strategy among ESL learners might affect them adversely especially in academic discourse. This study looked into this strategy among the TESL practitioners from Universiti Malaysia Sabah. The findings obtained from their focus group discussions (FGD) identified four themes in the utilisation of topic fronting methods of overcoming it as well as the inculcation of suitable communication strategies. This study’s findings show that low utilisation of topic fronting should be able to allow the reformulation of the current communication strategy training

Investigating the use of reading strategies and its impact on reading comprehension among international students in a Malaysian public university

The aim of this study is to determine the extent to which reading strategies and English language proficiency influence reading comprehension among Chinese undergraduates studying abroad. In addition, the study also aims to determine the reading difficulties encountered by these students and to identify the effective reading strategies they employed to improve their reading comprehension. The quantitative information gathered via a questionnaire and a reading test. The SPSS (descriptive analysis) results indicate that reading strategies and language proficiency jointly account for the variance in the students' test scores. In addition to informing scholarly practises of academic reading, this research contributes to the development and teaching of ESL curricula by highlighting the essential components of an effective ESL academic reading module

Translation pedagogy versus pedagogical translation in language learning

This conceptual paper presents the review of literatures of a study related to Translation in Language Teaching (TILT) and Translation Training, It reviews related literature on translation theories and practices in bilingual/multilingual classrooms as well. The interplay of translation, multilingualism, multiculturalism and globalisation in today’s ESL pedagogical reality demands translation to be employed in improving students’ English language proficiency. Unfortunately, research indicates that teachers do not possess adequate knowledge on appropriate translation models to enable them to perform translation in language teaching (TILT). As a result, they ended up employing unplanned code switching and code-mixing techniques throughout their English language lessons. Studies have shown that translation educators also do not possess adequate competencies in training language teachers to translate due to discrepancy between the chosen modules and teachers’ motivation. As a result, teachers failed to understand the purpose of such training. This conceptual paper, thus, attempts to conjure up two important concepts in translation studies: Pedagogical translation and translation pedagogy. Translation Pedagogy refers to the acquired knowledge on how to translate, whereas pedagogical translation refers to the actual process or practice of translation either in written or verbal form. The relevance of these two concepts in TILT are highlighted and discussed throughout this paper. A translation model is suggested as a guideline in providing training in TILT area. The result of this upcoming study may provide a direction in translation training for language teachers in Malaysia. It suggests that the concepts of Pedagogical Translation (PT) and Translation Pedagogy (TP) should be incorporated into translation training modules. By doing so, both translation trainers and teacher trainees are able to understand the actual processes of translation itself in TILT

The feasibility of a Personal Learning Environment (PLE) to support academic writing: ESL pre-service teachers’ perspectives

A recent trend has highlighted the need for a personal learning environment (PLE) in education as a system that helps learners take control of and manage their own learning. The current system which focuses on standardized learning support in the form of Learning Management System (LMS) is seen as restrictive and does not allow to accommodate the different needs of learners. Therefore, more language educators have started developing their own PLEs by focusing on two crucial elements: supporting learners’ needs and allowing more learner control. This paper presents an attempt to explore ESL pre-service teachers’ experience via PLE designed to support their writing needs. The researchers hoped that such a positive experience would influence the teachers’ pedagogical strategies and approaches in their teaching once they go into practice. In this qualitative case study, thirty-six third year ESL pre-service teachers at a tertiary education institution embarked on a fourteen-week course via the PLE. Qualitative data were gleaned from focus group discussion transcripts and written reflections. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the qualitative data. Overall, students have positive perceptions towards the PLE by detailing its benefits and usefulness. They also narrated some challenges and proposed suggestions to ensure prolonged engagement. The findings give support to the use of PLE, especially the instructor-made innovation for teaching and learning which allows more learner control and access