ESL LEARNERS' USE OF ENGLISH MODALS IN NARRATIVE COMPOSITIONS: SYNTATIC AND SEMANTIC ACCURACY

This study investigated use of modals in two written tasks by Form 4 Malaysian secondary school ESL learners. The aim was to investigate the use of English modals at the syntactic and semantic levels from data made available by the EMAS Corpus. The research design comprised a qualitative technique through discourse analysis supplemented with some descriptive statistics derived from a concordancer. The concordancer identified modals used by the students at the form 4 level. The research findings showed that two modals not stipulated in the syllabus, would and shall, were also found in the narrative compositions. The secondary school English language syllabus indicated varied meanings to the modals, but it was found that students repetitively used only a few of the same modals for these various functions. It was concluded that there were some inadequacies in the syllabus that led to the problems encountered by ESL students. In order to circumvent the problematic items identified in the study, and to further improve the teaching and learning of modal auxiliaries among ESL learners, several recommendations are proposed

Relationship between instructor's entrepreneurship pedagogical content knowledge on student's entrepreneurial intention at Kuala Langat Community College

A preliminary studies to investigate the nature of pedagogical content knowledge developed in an entrepreneurship subject/ course and its association with entrepreneurial intention in a group of students, who were enrolled in Modul Asas Kemahiran Keusahawanan‘s subject at Kuala Langat Community College. Simple random sampling were implemented in distributing the questionnaire and a 187 respondent has returned the complete questionnaire. A simple curriculum overview of Modul Asas Keusahawanan was done and the collected data were analysed using descriptive and multiple stepwise linear regression in SPSS. The findings showed that there is no significant relationship between EPCK (β = .006, p = .962 and is >.05) towards entrepreneurial intention. However, the regression test in assessing the relationship between each subcontract demonstrates that a combination of knowledge of concepts representations and knowledge of learners represents 70.6% variance in the relationship between entrepreneurial PCK and entrepreneurial intentions. This study provides more emphasis on the needs of teachers to master the knowledge of student representation and knowledge, in delivering and teaching the Modul kemahiran Asas Keusahawanan to students. In addition, students believe that their instructors' knowledge in entrepreneurial pedagogy is sufficient

Humanistic curriculum implementation evaluation of MRSM Ulul Albab programme

A drastic movement made by the Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) through its subsidiary, MARA Junior Science College (MRSM) back in 2008 had made a combined scientific and Quranik-based programme possible; The Ulul Albab Programme. An existing MRSM (MRSM Kota Putra) was upgraded to become the MRSM Ulul Albab. The programme was first implemented in 2008. The same Ulul Albab Programme was carried out by Imtiaz, a private school conceptualised by Idris Jusoh, the then Minister of Education, in Kuala Besut Terengganu way back in 1996. Fundamentally, Ulul Alab Porgramme comprises of three major components which are Quranik, Insiklopedik, and Ijtihadik. Ideally, the Ulul Albab Programme is set to produce professional experts, entrepreneurs and technocrats that are well versed in Quran and portraying as well as practicing the values of Islam. Throughout the years of implementation, several positive outcome-based indicators from the Ulul Albab programme immerged at Imtiaz. Hence, the same outcome-based indicators are also expected from MRSM Ulul Albab Kota Putra. However, the outcome-based indicators were incapable of evaluating the sahsiah and ijtihadik components fairly. Therefore, a much more complex curriculum implementation evaluation initiative through students’ and teachers’ experiences are very much needed in order to holistically understand and evaluate the success of Ulul Albab program implementation at MRSM Kota Putra. This paper discusses; (1) The problems faced in evaluating the Ulul Albab curriculum implementation, (2) Conceptualising of a proper model, of which Stake’s Responsive Evaluation for the evaluation of Ulul Albab’s curriculum implementation, and (3) Conceptualising a theoretical framework for the evaluation of Ulul Albab’s curriculum implementation

Evaluating the humanistic curriculum implementation of MRSM Ulul Albab program

A drastic movement made by the Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) through its subsidiary, MARA Junior Science College (MRSM) back in 2008 had made a combined scientific and Quranik-based programme possible; The Ulul Albab Programme. An existing MRSM (MRSM Kota Putra) was upgraded to become the MRSM Ulul Albab. The programme was first implemented in 2008. The same Ulul Albab Programme was carried out by Imtiaz, a private school conceptualised by Idris Jusoh, the then Minister of Education, in Kuala Besut Terengganu way back in 1996. Fundamentally, Ulul Alab Porgramme comprises of three major components which are Quranik, Insiklopedik, and Ijtihadik. Ideally, the Ulul Albab Programme is set to produce professional experts, entrepreneurs and technocrats that are well versed in Quran and portraying as well as practicing the values of Islam. Throughout the years of implementation, several positive outcome-based indicators from the Ulul Albab programme emerge at Imtiaz. Hence, the same outcome-based indicators are also expected from MRSM Ulul Albab Kota Putra. However, the outcome-based indicators were incapable of evaluating the sahsiah and ijtihadik components fairly. Therefore, a much more complex curriculum implementation evaluation initiative through students’ and teachers’ experiences are very much needed in order to holistically understand and evaluate the success of Ulul Albab program implementation at MRSM Kota Putra. This paper discusses; (1) The problems faced in evaluating the Ulul Albab curriculum implementation, (2) Conceptualising of a proper model, of which Stake’s Responsive Evaluation for the evaluation of Ulul Albab’s curriculum implementation, and (3) Conceptualising a theoretical framework for the evaluation of Ulul Albab’s curriculum implementation

Exploring teachers’ pedagogical practices in teaching Mandarin as a foreign language in MARA educational institutions, Malaysia

In recent years, it has become evident that pedagogical practices used by teachers significantly contribute to ensuring the quality of students’ learning. However, the existing literature on teachers’ pedagogical practice reveals that there are very few qualitative explanatory studies on teaching Mandarin as a foreign language, specifically in Malaysia. Hence, this research aimed to explore teachers’ pedagogical practices in teaching Mandarin as FL, including their perceptions of the research. This qualitative case study collected data through six semi-structured interviews with Mandarin teachers working under MARA colleges. These informants were chosen by using a convenience purposive sampling method. The data analyzed using Atlas. It revealed that teachers are still using a traditional teaching style, as well as the pre-established beliefs that the teachers had in knowledge constructions and 21st-century skills. Beyond that, the findings also indicated the Mandarin teachers need professional development opportunities as the majority of them described the signs of job burnout. After careful data analysis, the researcher proposed this research to be further explored from the perspectives of language learners. Besides that, it is recommended to explore the inculcation of 21st-century pedagogy, including grounding the theory of Mandarin teachers’ pedagogical practices

Penilaian pelaksanaan kurikulum sejarah STPM sistem modular di Sarawak

Kajian ini berkaitan dengan penilaian pelaksanaan Kurikulum Sejarah STPM Sistem Modular bagi menilai tahap pelaksanaannya di sekolah. Penyelidik menggunakan model penilaian berorientasikan Model Penilaian CIPP, Stufflebeam (1971) yang telah diubahsuai. Tumpuan kepada dua dimensi iaitu dimensi proses dan produk. Dapatan kajian ini menjadi indikator utama dalam usaha memperkasakan pendidikan Tingkatan Enam (pra Universiti) berteraskan sistem modul dari semasa ke semasa. Beberapa cadangan dan penambahbaikan juga dicadangkan supaya boleh digunakan oleh pihak Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia (KPM) untuk memperkasa pelaksanaan Kurikulum Sejarah STPM Sistem Modular di sekolah-sekolah di Malaysia

Students" Use of Modals in their Written Work: Compensation Strategies and Simplification Features

Abstract This research investigated Malaysian English as a second language (ESL) learners" use of modals in two written tasks, which were obtained from the EMAS Corpus. The aim of the study was to investigate if any compensation strategies and simplification features are employed by the learners in relation to the use of English modals. The research design comprised a qualitative technique through discourse analysis supplemented with some descriptive statistics derived from a concordance. The concordance identified modals used by the students at the two different levels. The research findings showed that simplification features were used more by Malaysian ESL learners than compensation strategies to overcome limitation in the English language

The application of multiple intelligence theory during the inculcation of higher-order thinking skills in History subject

In accordance to the needs and current educational policy, higher-order thinking skills (HOTS) have become the main focus in daily teaching and learning processes. History is regarded as a must-pass subject for the Malaysia Certificate of Education (SPM) since the year 2013. Therefore, the Ministry of Education of Malaysia (MoE) highly recommends teachers teaching History subject to apply various teaching strategies that could attract students’ interest towards learning the subject. One of which is the Multiple Intelligence Theory, proposed by Howard Gardner in 1983. A qualitative study was carried out to identify the types of multiple intelligence applied and the teaching approaches that complement the identified intelligence during the inculcation of HOTS in History subject. The samples involved were three Excellent History Teachers (Guru Cemerlang Sejarah). The data were collected through the process of triangulation, of which teaching and learning process observation, interview, and document analysis. The Data were then analysed and triangulated using the Atlas.ti 7.0 software. The findings showed that all informants applied the verbal-linguistic, interpersonal, and visual-spatial intelligence dominantly during the process of inculcating HOTS in History subject. Excellent History Teachers were also found complementing other teaching approaches such as discussion, questioning, and graphical presentation with the appropriate multiple intelligence in inculcating HOTS among students. This study gives input to History teachers on how to apply the Multiple Intelligence Theory towards inculcating the HOTS in History subject through various teaching strategies

The inculcation of higher order thinking skills in history subject through the application of multiple intelligence theory

In accordance to the needs and current educational policy, higher-order thinking skills (HOTS) have become the focus in daily teaching and learning processes. History is regarded as a must-pass subject for the Malaysia Certificate of Education (SPM) since the year 2013. Therefore, the Ministry of Education of Malaysia (MoE) highly recommends History teachers to apply various teaching strategies that could attract students’ interest towards learning the subject. One of which is the Multiple Intelligence Theory, proposed by Howard Gardner in 1983. A qualitative study was carried out to identify the types of multiple intelligence applied and the teaching approaches that complement the identified intelligence during the inculcation of HOTS in History subject. The samples involved were three Excellent History Teachers. The data were collected through the process of triangulation, of which teaching and learning process observation, interview, and document analysis. The data were then analysed and triangulated using the ATLAS.ti 7.0 software. The findings showed that all informants applied the verbal-linguistic, interpersonal, and visual-spatial intelligence dominantly during the process of inculcating HOTS in History subject. Excellent History Teachers were also found complementing other teaching approaches such as discussion, questioning, and graphical presentation with the appropriate multiple intelligence in inculcating HOTS among students

A preliminary analysis for assessing intructor's pedagogical content knowledge in entrepreneurship

Currently, a graduate with good entrepreneurship skills were having greater advantage, much preferred by most industries and firms, compared to other graduate with low entrepreneurship’s skill. Yet, to be able to instill good entrepreneurship’s skill among graduate, student’s should be taught by teacher’s or instructor’s with a strong pedagogical content knowledge in entrepreneurship. This study was conducted to validate a 28 items of Entrepreneurship Pedagogical Content Knowledge scale (EPCK), adopted from the literature. The validation analysis was done using two approaches: the alpha cronbach reliability scale in SPSS and the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) in structural equation modelling (SEM). A 222 sample was collected in this preliminary analysis from six community college students. The students need to give response to a 5 point Likert scale instrument which consists of four construct’s, namely i) subject matter knowledge in entrepreneurship (SMKE), ii) instructional representative and strategy in entrepreneurship (IRSE), iii) instructional objective and context in entrepreneurship (IOCE), and iv) knowledge of the student’s understanding of entrepreneurship (KSUE). After the confirmatory factor analysis was done, only 16 items showed satisfactory results. The final model of this EPCK was significant (p=. 012 at α =.05) (CMIN/DF = 1.348; TLI =.968; RMSEA =.040; and factor loading, (>.6). The EPCK scale was reliable (α = .898; and CR = .952), and valid (AVE = .5) to measure instructor’s pedagogical content knowledge in entrepreneurship