Understanding how Malay language student teachers perceive their subject matter knowledge

Teachers’ subject matter knowledge is believed to be an essential attribute for effective teaching and promoting successful student learning. It is important for teachers to know deeply about the subject they are teaching and how to link the knowledge to other disciplines. Ambiguity remains, however, warranting further research as to how student teachers’ view subject matter knowledge. This study aimed to look into student teachers’ subject matter knowledge as they are still in the stage of learning to teach. Semi-structured interviews with ten Malay language student teachers were carried out. Six themes emerged from the analysis: subject contents, fluent grammar, current issues, depth of knowledge, method of teaching and importance of the subject taught. The results of this study may help in increasing teachers’ awareness of the importance of having deep subject knowledge or in-depth of the subject in their own disciplines of teaching. These would also help in designing an effective teacher education programme that emphasizes on the development of student teachers’ subject matter knowledge

Tahap penguasaan kemahiran bertutur Bahasa Melayu dalam kalangan murid bukan penutur natif

Penguasaan berbahasa kebangsaan perlu untuk meningkatkan ilmu, kemahiran dan kompetensi seseorang murid. Kajian lepas mendapati murid bukan Melayu di Malaysia tidak cekap berbahasa Melayu. Kajian ini dijalankan untuk mengenal pasti tahap profesiensi kemahiran bertutur dalam kalangan murid bukan penutur natif. Seramai 414 orang sampel kajian daripada 5 buah sekolah SJKC dan SJKT di Daerah Kuantan telah dipilih. Analisis kajian menggunakan Ujian Bertutur UPBM_SR dan borang soal selidik. Data diproses menggunakan IBMSPSS Versi 23 dengan reka bentuk tinjauan hirisan rentas. Keputusan menunjukkan majoriti murid mendapat Tahap 4 dan sebanyak 55.7% masih tidak fasih dalam kemahiran bertutur. Secara keseluruhan analisis menunjukkan tahap kemahiran bertutur murid di SJK Daerah Kuantan adalah tahap sederhana. Usaha untuk melahirkan murid yang profesien bertutur dalam bahasa Melayu perlu dipergiat. Murid bukan Melayu wajib mempraktikkan penggunaan bahasa Melayu dalam kehidupan secara berterusan untuk melahirkan warganegara Malaysia yang berketrampilan dalam berbahasa

Pre service teachers’ development of pedagogic content knowledge: a multifaceted case study

One important aspect of research with regards to teacher’s knowledge is explaining in detail how student teachers develop their pedagogic content knowledge. Pedagogic content knowledge is multidimensional, such research needs to be able to represent a rich picture of how pre-service teachers develop this knowledge during a teacher education programme. Therefore, research into teachers’ pedagogic content knowledge requires not only multiple instruments for its exploration but also multi-method triangulation of data analysis. In this way not only are perspectives of pedagogic content knowledge explored but the practicality of focusing on and studying pedagogic content knowledge can also be estimated by corroborating the data to represent a rich picture of pedagogic content knowledge. Thus, this paper illustrates the so-called multifaceted case study that was conducted at a university Department of Educational Studies in England. Quantitative and qualitative data that resulted from the study were analysed and interpreted to measure whether the instruments and research design are adequate for constructing the judgment of the nature of pedagogic content knowledge among student teachers

Bahasa Melayu sebagai bahasa negara bangsa: kepentingan melaksanakan Ujian Kecekapan Bahasa Melayu

Kajian mendapati bahawa sehingga kini belum ada instrumen yang dapat menguji kecekapan bahasa Melayu secara sistematik dan bersepadu, walaupun bahasa Melayu merupakan bahasa pengantar dan bahasa rasmi negara Malaysia. Oleh yang demikian, kajian ini membicarakan instrumen Ujian Kecekapan Bahasa Melayu (UKBM) dan kepentingan untuk melaksanakan ujian tersebut di Malaysia. Instrumen UKBMini telah dibangunkan pada 2012 oleh sekumpulan penyelidik UPM dengan kerjasama organisasi lain dan dibiayai oleh Kementerian Sains, Teknologi dan Inovasi. Secara asasnya, UKBM dibangunkan dengan tujuan untuk menganalisis sejauh manakah rakyat Malaysia cekap menggunakan bahasa Melayu dalam kehidupan seharian mereka. Aspek pengujian UKBM terbahagi kepada empat aspek kemahiran, iaitu mendengar, bertutur, membaca dan menulis. Keempat-empat aspek ini penting untuk dinilai dalam pengujian bahasa Melayu kerana ia saling berkait antara satu sama lain. Melalui UKBM yang menyeluruh dan sistematik, diharapkan bangsa Malaysia akan lebih berusaha untuk menguasai bahasa Melayu. Seterusnya, bahasa Melayu akan sebati dan menjadi jati diri bangsa Malaysia

An exposition of constructivism account to construct knowledge and to create meaningful learning environment for teacher education

Since last ten years, it becomes indispensable to talk about constructivism in relation to the teaching and learning process. Yet the term of constructivism is still not well defined and contradicts. Generally constructivism refers to a set of views about how individuals learn and about how those who help them to learn ought to facilitate, which in this paper referred as Constructivist Learning Account (CLA). CLA holds an assumption that learners actively construct their own sets of meanings and understandings; knowledge is not a mere copy of the external world, nor is knowledge acquired by passive absorption or by simple transference from one person (educator) to another (a learner or knower). Clearly, knowledge is constructed not acquired. CLA also stresses that we cannot be certain that any two individuals will construct the same understandings. Even if they use the same linguistic formulations to express what they have learned, their deep understandings might be quite different. Hence, a better understanding of constructive learning accounts as a component of a long life learning process and how teacher education programme should engage with it is needed to create a meaningful learning environment

Pre service teachers' voices while learning to teach: what can be learned from England?

An attempt to facilitate pre-service teachers learning, which is attuned with their learning needs, raises questions regarding how these pre-service teachers learn to teach. Learning to teach is developmental and it is a lifelong process; therefore, it puts heavy demands of cognitive, affective, and performance nature upon pre-service teachers (PSTs). In fact, it is a complex process as information which is useful to experienced teachers may not have the same value to beginners (Arends, 2004). An understanding of the process of learning to teach may help to clarify the role of teacher education programmemes especially at the pre-service level (Feiman-Nemser and Remillard, 1996). For instance, what do PSTs come to know about teaching and learning? How in the process of becoming teachers do PSTs replace notions about teaching and learning with practical knowledge of subject matter, pedagogy, learners, contexts, and learning that can inform their teaching judgments and actions? This paper discusses the findings from a study conducted at the Department of Educational Studies of a university in England. The study focused on how pre service teachers develop their knowledge of teaching throughout their teaching practice period. An in-depth semi-structured interview was carried out with the preservice teachers who were in their final semester of a one year postgraduate programme and at the time of the study, were in school experience (practicum) placements. Results were summarised into four main categories, namely pre-service teachers’ preparations of the lesson, expectations of the learning outcomes, reflections of their teaching and rooms for improvements. Understanding how pre-service teachers learn to teach would be a great help in designing teacher education programme effectively. The knowledge needed by the PSTs should be the guidelines in developing the curriculum of a teacher education programme

Pedagogical Content Knowledge: How do Pre-service Teachers Adapt and Employ it in their Teaching?

Pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) is increasingly recognized as an essential component in assessing pre-qualified teachers and in establishing ‘quality teaching’. PCK refers to an understanding of subject matter; an understanding of students: their abilities and interests and how they respond to diverse situations; an application of different teaching strategies; and how various types of classroom activity might be managed. Although PCK has come to be seen as important, details of its development, depth and quality among pre service teachers (PSTs) has remained something of mystery, as has the capability of PSTs to adapt and employ PCK in their actual teaching. As an effort to develop a coherent understanding of prospective teachers’ construction and application of PCK, this study is a reflection on two questions. First, to what extent are PSTs prepared in terms of PCK at the end of their teacher education programme and secondly, how do PSTs apply their PCK during their teaching practices? The paper illustrates the results of a study that involved a sample of 74 student teachers at a university in Malaysia. At the beginning of the study, each student teacher was given a questionnaire. Based on an analysis of the completed questionnaires, 11 of the pre service teachers were observed. Result indicate that, while their self-rating scores were good, they were still a little below the average in practices

Meneroka pemikiran logik melalui penggunaan aplikasi mudah alih

Kajian ini adalah untuk meneroka penggunaan aplikasi mudah alih terhadap pemikiran logik. Secara amnya, kemajuan inovasi sangat pesat kerana hampir setiap orang menggunakan laman sesawang untuk menyelesaikan apa sahaja tugasan. Pada peringkat permulaan, kertas kerja ini menjelaskan pengertian pemikiran logik. Seterusnya dihuraikan tentang kemajuan teknologi. Sebagai tambahan, kertas kerja ini juga menghuraikan kemajuan teknologi dalam pendidikan berbentuk pembelajaran mudah alih (m-learning). Akhirnya kertas kerja ini turut membincangkan aplikasi berasaskan web dan kelebihan menggunakan aplikasi berasaskan web

A conceptual paper on Malay language teachers disposition

This is a conceptual paper to study the Malay language teachers’ disposition. The study reviews literature on concept of disposition and explains the importance of Malay language teachers’ disposition towards students in the teaching and learning of Malay language in the secondary school classroom. The Malaysian National Education Philosophy focuses in forming responsible citizens who are balanced intellectually, spiritually, emotionally and physically. In order to be aligned with that, teachers should have a good disposition. Teachers should strive to develop quality character by having elements of a good disposition as teachers have a significant impact in the classroom and play an important role in educating the younger generation. Therefore, Malay language teachers play an important role to shape students during the teaching and learning of Malay language. Do the Malay language teachers have a good disposition in achieving this important aspiration? There were allegations that many Malay language teachers meet the requirements of subject content knowledge and pedagogical skills, but lack of good practice in implementing the disposition in classroom. Besides not practicing good disposition, most teachers are also not aware of the concept and importance of disposition. Teachers play the role of a model where students always see and emulate the attitude and perception of teachers. Students would make impressions on their teachers consciously or unconsciously. Clearly, the disposition of a good teacher allows students interested in the personality of the teacher and so willing to listen and follow the lesson. Therefore, this conceptual paper analyzes the importance of Malay language teachers’ disposition in teaching and learning of Malay Language

The effectiveness of using a tracker chart to enhance willingness to communicate among ESL learners in a philosophical inquiry classroom discussion

There has been burgeoning interest among researchers in investigating Willingness to Communicate (WTC) as part of the instructional method in a Philosophical Inquiry (PI) Discussion. The present study investigated the effectiveness of using a tracker chart in a PI classroom discussion to promote WTC. The participants were 30 undergraduate students in a public university in Malaysia. A WTC questionnaire was administered before and after the intervention. A tracker chart was used to gauge the number of learner responses that occurred throughout the 8-week intervention. Interview sessions with seven randomly selected participants were then carried out to gauge the learners’ perceptions of using the tracker chart in PI Discussions and its effects on their WTC. The data analysis showed that the tracker chart resulted in increments in the number of responses throughout the 8 weeks, and participants reported that the tracker chart had positive effects on their WTC as they were more conscious of their responses and contributions in the PI Discussions. The t-test result also showed a significant difference in the participants’ levels of WTC which indicates that the use of the tracker chart in PI Discussions helped increase the participants’ WTC. The results indicate that the use of a tracker chart could have positive effects in enhancing learners’ WTC in PI Discussions