ESL teachers’ use of ICT in teaching English literature: An analysis of teachers’ TPCK

AbstractEffective integration of ICT in English language teaching classrooms depends on a host of factors. One of the important factors is teachers‟ knowledge and skills in using ICT in class. This paper reports a case study of four secondary school ESL teachers’ use of ICT in teaching English literature to second language (L2) learners. The data collection method includes observation of teachers‟ lessons. Each lesson was video recorded and played back during a stimulated recall interview with teachers after each lesson. The TPCK model proposed by Mishra and Koehler (2006) is used as a framework for the analysis of the interview data. They suggest that teachers‟ use of technology is guided by the dynamic relationship between teachers‟ technological, pedagogical and content knowledge. The analysis of the interview data will hopefully provide a better understanding of how the different types of knowledge interact and influence teachers‟ use of ICT in teaching English literature to L2 learners. Furthermore, through an analysis of teachers‟ use of ICT in teaching specific subject content, this study also hopes to advance the development of the TPCK model. The findings will also contribute to an understanding of the role of literature in language teaching

FACILITATING THE CONSTRUCTION OF KNOWLEDGE COLLECTIVELY THROUGH DIALOGIC DISCOURSE: TEACHERS’ PERSPECTIVES AND PRACTICES IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING

Dialogic discourse is said to aid the social and cognitive aspects of language learning and acquisition and students’ success in second language learning is therefore largely dependent on the interactional opportunities available. Recognising the potential impact of dialogic discourse in enhancing second language acquisition amongst Malaysian students, the Malaysian Ministry of Education (MOE) provided a large-scale training on dialogic discourse to a group of lower secondary English language teachers. This study explores the perceptions of English as a second language (ESL) teachers on the role of dialogic discourse in affording students’ opportunities for the construction of knowledge and investigates their practices in affording students with the opportunities to construct knowledge collectively through the discourse structure. To understand the role of dialogic discourse in affording students to construct knowledge collectively, five ESL teachers’ dialogic discourse strategies were examined. A qualitative approach was employed, which comprised semi-structured interviews and classroom observations for the data collection. Two of the teachers’ lessons were also examined to illustrate how dialogic discourse created opportunities for the construction of knowledge collectively which supported ESL learning through close discourse analysis of the lesson transcripts. The findings have shown that ESL teachers’ use of dialogic discourse strategies facilitates the construction of knowledge collectively among the students.This study expands our current understanding of how ESL learning occurs through classroom discourse

THE EFFECTS OF PLANNING CONDITIONS ON PRIMARY SCHOOL ESL PUPILS’ NARRATIVE WRITING

The present study investigates the writing performance in terms of language complexity, accuracy and fluency (CAF) and the pupils’ perceptions of their performance under different planning conditions and the relationship between pupils’ perceptions and their performance. There were 78 ESL pupils from a Chinese primary school in Malaysia who were grouped into three planning conditions:1) pre-task planning, 2) on-line planning and 3) no planning groups. This study employs a variety of data collection methods that include the collection of pupils’ written tasks and questionnaire surveys. The results of the study indicate that planning conditions did not have significant impacts on pupils’ writing performance except for the effect of pre-task planning on pupils’ written fluency. The results also differ greatly from numerous previous studies, which have been mainly conducted on adult writers. The present study also shows that pupils’ perceptions are partially related to their writing performance. The reasons for such contradictions are discussed. The findings have implications for the teaching of writing in the ESL context

Technology adoption in Malaysian schools: An analysis of national ICT in education policy initiatives

Educational change, particularly change involving the adoption of educational innovations, is a complex process. In Malaysia, the significant role of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in promoting digital education is reflected in the national ICT in education policy. Nevertheless, studies in the Malaysian educational context have shown that the policy implementation resulted in varying degrees of success. Through a discourse analysis approach, this paper aims to examine the evaluation studies on large scale initiatives introduced to digitize the Malaysian education system, from the Smart Schools programme to the incorporation of the Frog Virtual Learning Environment in classroom. The rationale behind these top-down initiatives and how they affected the stakeholders at the micro level, namely, teachers and students, are reviewed and analysed. The analysis informs our understanding of the factors that contribute to the successful and unsuccessful implementation of these initiatives and guide the planning of future policies.Educational change, particularly change involving the adoption of educational innovations, is a complex process. In Malaysia, the significant role of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in promoting digital education is reflected in the national ICT in education policy. Nevertheless, studies in the Malaysian educational context have shown that the policy implementation resulted in varying degrees of success. Through a discourse analysis approach, this paper aims to examine the evaluation studies on large scale initiatives introduced to digitize the Malaysian education system, from the Smart Schools programme to the incorporation of the Frog Virtual Learning Environment in classroom. The rationale behind these top-down initiatives and how they affected the stakeholders at the micro level, namely, teachers and students, are reviewed and analysed. The analysis informs our understanding of the factors that contribute to the successful and unsuccessful implementation of these initiatives and guide the planning of future policies

The moderating effect of geographical scope on the relationship between managers' prior international knowledge and working experience and international performance in the Malaysian halal food industry

This study investigates the moderating effects of geographical scope level (measured by number of regional bases) on the relationship between managers' prior international knowledge and working experience and international performance among small and medium enterprises in the Malaysian Halal Food Industry. Previous studies have stressed that experiential knowledge is an essential resource for a firm's internationalization process from both the traditional Stage Theory based on incremental and international entrepreneurship on born global rapid internationalization perspectives. Unfortunately, most of the studies did not empirically investigate the influence of scope level as a moderator on the relationship between international performance and managers' prior international knowledge and working experience. The findings of this study reveal that firms that export regionally (lower scope) have lower experiential knowledge and international performance compared to firms that export globally (higher scope). As a result, there are differences in terms of the internal capability among these two types of small and medium enterprises as a source of their competitive advantage in foreign markets

Electrical withstand performance of Malaysian based palm oil under influence of HVDC stress

Overvoltage is a phenomenon where electrical waveform applied to circuit or device exceeds normal operating parameters. The sources of overvoltage are often unpredictable and can lead to permanent degradation, failure or temporary malfunction of devices and systems. Equipment running with HVDC needs to be equipped with a proper protection system and insulation strength properties better than typically being rated to the HVAC system

Sale of medicine through prescription: a comparative study between Malaysia and the United Kingdom / Nur Atiqah Mohd Razif, Azlin Zeti Zainal Abidin and Daing Nurul Mahfuzah Daing Ibrahim.

Sale of medicine through prescription refers to the right of health care professionals to dispense medicines that have been prescribed by doctors. Dispensing medicines by community pharmacists specifically, has been practiced in many developed countries for reasons such as professionalism; where pharmacists are generally understood to have more extensive knowledge on medicines, accessibility; where many varieties of medicines are accessible giving rights for consumers to choose and right to self-determination; where there is a need for second opinions as patients today are playing more active role in decision making. In Malaysia, there has been continuous discussion on the overlapping of duties between the two professions, however, there are no studies conducted from the legal perspective. The research was achieved through an extensive library and internet research whereby credible information from legal and medical materials such as scholarly papers, statutes and international codes were gathered and examined. The research was also strengthened by cross-sectional interviews which were conducted on 10 health care professionals from around Shah Alam which are of medical and pharmaceutical backgrounds. The data was collected and analyzed through a set of questionnaires which aimed at understanding further the workings of the two health care professionals. Ultimately, the research aimed at finding out whether there is an ideal system of dispensing prescribed medicines

Ergo-aesthetic approach through senses and behavioral assessment

In general, the concept of ergo-aesthetic discloses the equilibrium of human behavioral character with form, shape, and symbolism inside a designed product. In fact, this harmony synthesis can be achieved throughout responses of behavior and senses inside a design process. Through the adaptation of ergo-aesthetic, humans will be able to achieve greater satisfaction with the designed product as they will positively interact and respond proportionally to it. In this context, ergo-aesthetic principles will replace the traditional method of evaluating and adapting ergonomic and aesthetic into the design process to achieve a better output product. Essentially, ergonomic and aesthetic are fundamental components that need to be considered throughout the design process procedures. The synergy between these two aspects may facilitate in optimizing the efficiency of the design process which will contribute to a higher output quality. Additionally, behavior and culture are also significant as they function as bonding agents for ergonomic and aesthetic to merge harmonically. Thus, implementing ergo-aesthetic principles into design process through behavior and cultural perspectives may lead to the enhancement of the output quality of a product

Low methylation of matrix metalloproteinase 1 (MMP1) is associated with preterm labour in Malaysian mothers

Preterm births comprise 10.6% of livebirths worldwide and account for 35% of deaths among newborn babies. Understanding DNA methylation may offer basic knowledge in the understanding of pathogenesis of preterm labour. The study was undertaken to determine DNA methylation of matrix metalloproteinase 1 (MMP1) promoter in term and preterm labour using methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (MSP). Thirty maternal venous blood samples (n=15 each) of term and preterm labour was subjected to bisulfite treatment prior to MSP. This result was then validated using DNA sequencing. Evaluation of the sequencing results by CpG islands analysis was performed using the ClustalW and SPSS software. Primers for MMP1 were located between -1226 and -1378 upstream from the transcription start site (TSS) that consisted five CpG islands. Preterm labour group had significantly lower methylated CpG islands with 39 out of total 75 (52%) compared to the term labour that has 49 out of 75 methylated CpG islands (65.33%) (t=0.694, p<0.05). Methylation occurred in 4 out of 5 methylated CpG islands in the MMP1 promoter where it only involved 2 preterm samples (13.33%) and 7 term samples (46.47%). This data suggested there were significant lower percentage of methylated MMP1 in preterm labour. Higher percentage of methylated MMP1 as observed in the term labour, will probably reduce the expression of MMP1, thus maintaining fibrillar collagen strength on the amniotic membrane and subsequently maintain the pregnancy till term. In conclusion, preterm labour has higher percentage of methylated CpG compared with term labour in MMP1 gene