Students’ experience in the teaching and learning of English amid the covid-19 outbreak

The Covid-19 has caused educational institutions to shut all across the world. As a result, the teaching and learning methods have changed drastically. Teaching on digital platforms has now become the trend, and whether it is language apps, virtual tutoring, or video conferencing tools, there has been a significant rise in usage since Covid-19. With this, the study investigated students’ experience in their use of ICT during the Malaysia Movement Control Order (MCO) Phase 1. 120 students were asked to respond to a Google Form questionnaire shared in WhatsApp. However, only 98 students had responded to the questionnaire. In general, the finding shows that the students have limited access to the internet, and due to this limitation, they prefer to have downloadable videos and lecture presentation slides that they can access at any time asynchronously. This study has implications on the facilitating of classroom practice during the pandemic Covid-19

Languaging, corrective feedback, and writing accuracy among low proficiency L2 learners

Low proficiency L2 learners make frequent grammatical errors and apply inappropriate English language use and writing conventions despite learning the language for years. To reduce the grammatical and non-grammatical errors in the low proficiency L2 learners’ writing, teachers provide Written Corrective Feedback (WCF). However, a strong claim on WCF's adverse effects on L2 learners’ language development has prompted mixed responses on the WCF’s effectiveness. Numerous studies on WCF's effectiveness were conducted, and the findings showed inconclusive results. The present study aims to examine the ‘Written Languaging’ (WL) effect of Written Corrective Feedback (WCF) on low proficiency L2 learners’ writing accuracy. WL is a mediational tool used to enhance the WCF’s effectiveness. The study was conducted on 47 low proficiency L2 university students for five weeks to elicit WL of WCF's effects on low proficiency L2 learners’ writing accuracy, where a multiple-case research approach was used to collect and analyze the data of the study. An error ratio was applied to measure the overall accuracy of writing. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to determine whether WL's provision on the WCF affects the writing accuracy of the low proficiency L2 learners' new writing text. The finding shows that WL's provision on the WCF did not facilitate the low proficiency of L2 learners' writing accuracy because the L2 learners' writing accuracy could improve only with teachers' WCF. The study is significant to the pedagogical teaching of writing development for lower proficiency L2 learners, particularly in applying the mediational tool in the provision and processing of WCF and the complementary pedagogical strategy to WCF

A Case Study of Teachers' Corrective Feedback: Do We Do It Right

Effective writing skills are essential for second language university-level students to achieve. To assist these students, writing teachers provide methods to improve their skills in writing, and one of the methods is corrective feedback. Despite applying corrective feedback, L2 university-level students still face challenges in developing their writing skills, especially the skill to produce linguistically accurate writing. Corrective feedback is a form of feedback that is commonly employed pedagogically in writing class. Though, it is unsure whether or not the students are benefited from this method. Therefore, this study aims to elicit second language university-level students’ opinion of teachers’ corrective feedback. Six second language university-level students were interviewed in this study. A qualitative case study research interview was employed in the study, and content analysis method was used to analyze the data. The findings show that students need corrective feedback to improve their writing accuracy. Nevertheless, teachers’ lack of effort in explaining the corrective feedback has resulted in students’ lack of understanding of the corrections made. This affects their writing accuracy. Teachers need to facilitate the feedback to enable the students to respond effectively to the errors presented in their writing. This study is pertinent in providing insights to the teachers for applying an effective strategy to enhance the effectiveness of corrective feedback in an ESL writing class

An Investigation on the Effects of Writing Anxiety on Readiness of Writing among Low Proficiency Undergraduates

Writing anxiety is a common problem affecting ESL learners’ proficiency. As writing skill is the most difficult skill that needs to be acquired by ESL learners, it is pertinent to manage the anxiety level to encourage learners to write. The facilitative effect of anxiety is important in enhancing writing skills, particularly among low proficiency students. This study investigates the effects of writing anxiety on the readiness towards writing tasks in English among low proficiency undergraduates in Universiti Malaysia Sabah. A total of thirty undergraduates with MUET band 1 or 2 participated in the study. The anxiety level was measured using Second Language Writing Anxiety Inventory (SLWAI). The data showed that students with high cognitive, somatic and avoidance anxiety have a greater apprehension towards writing tasks compared to those with low level of cognitive, somatic and avoidance anxiety. This affects their readiness to do writing tasks in English. This study has implication on the facilitating of classroom practices to enable students to involve and participate more effectively in their writing tasks

A Case Study on Challenges of Students' Willingness to Orally Respond in English during Class Sessions in Sabah

Students’ willingness to respond in class is an important factor to ensure language usage and language acquisition. Literature reviews reveal that learners' levels of anxiety and self-confidence are predictors of students’ willingness to communicate in class. However, there has been a lack of studies conducted in the local context regarding anxiety as a predictor of willingness to respond in English. This study looked into students’ anxiety levels while communicating in English during Occupational Purpose class and the reasons for not being willing to respond in the online class orally. The class consisted of students from Malaysia and China studying in a local Malaysian university. During class, the instructor had to call out names to get students to answer questions asked. Classes were entirely conducted online and the assessments cover both written and oral aspects. Horwitz’s Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) was adapted and Baharuddin’s three levels of anxiety mean measurement was used in this study. The FLCAS scale included 33 items of a five-point Likert scale which in this study was reversed with 1 “Strongly disagree” to 5 “Strongly agree” to measure the level of anxiety. The data obtained were analysed using descriptive analysis to include percentages and mean. The finding indicates that level of anxiety is not a predictor of WTC

Languaging and written corrective feedback in L2 writing

The aim of this article is to introduce the application of languaging as the mediational tool to enhance the written corrective feedback’s effectiveness in L2 writing. Written Corrective Feedback (WCF) shows L2 learners their grammatical and ungrammatical errors in writing. It is a form of feedback that is commonly applied pedagogically in writing class. With WCF, L2 learners can improve their ability to write without errors. Nevertheless, providing WCF alone without engaging L2 learners will make the L2 learners become passive learners. They merely copy their teachers’ WCF where they can neither identify nor correct their errors. Therefore, it is recommended that L2 learners are given the opportunity to engage (to notice and understand) with the WCF. Languaging creates the opportunity for L2 learners to engage with the teachers’ WCF. Languaging is a process where L2 learners make meaning, shape knowledge and experience through language. L2 learners use language (languaging) to solve difficult task like L2 writing. When L2 learners languaging the teachers’ WCF, they should be able to improve their writing skills. This paper has pedagogical implications in L2 writing

Bichronous online learning l2 learners’ perceptions

English educators worldwide have been implementing multifarious online learning tools to teach students English, especially since the Covid-19 arrival. Researches on and adoption of online learning have vigorously increased since then to explore the effectiveness of umpteen online learning tools to ensure students get the best of education. With this regard, this paper looked into L2 learners’ perceptions towards bichronous online learning - a mixed mode of online learning in tertiary education and employed a quantitative method via questionnaire focusing on eliciting respondents’ perceptions on bichronous online learning, the challenges they faced while learning bichronously and the suggestions they proposed to improve bichronous online learning. The respondents involved were 30 first-year students taking the Essential Communication Skills course at Universiti Malaysia Sabah. In recapitulation, the findings portrayed positive perceptions of L2 learners towards bichronous online learning. It was also highlighted that poor internet connection, poor time management and lack of motivation were the core challenges of the blended mode while suggestions to enhance it were mainly on the use of multitudinous learning methods, more interactive platforms and creation of a conducive learning environment. These findings served as a foundation for devising suitable bichronous online learning materials for learning English effectively

Students' Online Learning Readiness Amid the Covid 19 Outbreak: MCO Phase 1

Teaching on digital platforms has now become the trend, and whether it is language apps, virtual tutoring, or video conferencing tools, there has been a significant rise in usage since the Covid-19 outbreak. In this regard, the study investigated students’ readiness towards online learning during the Malaysia Movement Control Order (MCO) Phase 1. 120 students were asked to respond to a questionnaire. However, only 98 students had responded to the questionnaire. In general, the finding shows that the students were not fully ready for online learning mainly due to the limited access to the internet, and because of this limitation, they prefer to have downloadable videos and lecture presentation slides that they can access at any time asynchronously. This study has implications on identifying students’ learning needs for the digital language classroom as the base for designing the learning materials

Language Learning Engagement Among Malaysian Undergraduates During MCO 1.0

The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the education practice in Malaysia. Online mode has become the new teaching and learning norm in Malaysia. This study applied the L2 language learning engagement to investigate the language engagement and motivation among the undergraduates in online language learning during the pandemic. The study was conducted in one of the local universities, the University of Malaysia Sabah as the research site. A survey by using questionnaire and interview session were administered to collect data for the study. The research sample of the study comprised of 42 respondents and five interviewees, and they were the second-year undergraduates. The research findings of the study showed i) the synchronized online classroom learning is the main platform for the undergraduates to practice their listening skill; ii) all the undergraduates practiced their speaking skill in language learning through online mode; iii) the reading material for the undergraduate students to practice their reading skill is related to the language lessons and preparation of course work and iv) the undergraduates write in the language they learnt when preparing for their course work and texting their language lecturers. The study also highlighted the Telco's played the most importance role in making the online teaching and learning successful