Democratic vision of education: three scholars impacting the debates on vision of schooling

In the field of education, the debates on the purpose or vision of schooling are always engaged by educational scholars with strong passion and visionary views—provoking thoughts on educational objectives and changing instructional practices and concepts of learning. Among many, three of the main scholars in the debates on vision of schooling are John Dewey, Paolo Freire, and Lisa Delpit —whose works are always referred to and revered by those in the educational setting. The similarity that these scholars have is their democratic vision of education, i.e., the concepts of democracy in education, social justice, and equality. Their works have been referred to and argued for (and against) since their revelation up to now. Such as their impact, this article is a modest celebration of the lived realities of their ideas and further possibilities for their vision of democratic education. Many times educational debates in the purpose of schooling are not followed through or acted upon in educational policies, curricula, or instructional practices; however, they still impact the way people perceive and discuss about the purpose of education and vision of schooling—hence the future direction of education. As such, the impact the author is referring to is not in the actions taken upon such ideas (i.e., change of educational policies or reforms), but the ways in which scholars and reformers talk about and view education when debating about educational reform, instruction, curriculum, and ultimately the purpose of schooling. In addition, the focus on democratic vision of education promoted by these three scholars is important because the idea of democratic education is the essence to, and sustenance for, a democratic nation whose citizens are active and contributive to the society. In this conceptual paper, the author will briefly describe the essence of their ideas on the vision of schooling, the impact these three scholars have on debates within the education field, and tie the similarities in their ideas for a democratic vision of education

Idea sharing: process-based approach to writing in Malaysian English education

Malaysia strives to educate its people to be fluent in the English language, and as such the Ministry of Education Malaysia (MOE) has introduced the process-based approach to writing from the early 1980s in school curricula and syllabi. Unfortunately, even from the inclusion of process-based approach to writing in Malaysian national curricula and syllabi, Malaysian students' writing performance in the national primary and secondary school examinations remains low. Concerns arise over the process-based approach, due to its lack of proper implementation in the English as a second language (ESL) writing instruction. This article provides a review of the studies conducted on the implementation of process-based approach in teaching ESL writing in Malaysian English education. It seeks to investigate the problems that have been reported to occur during the implementation of process-based approach in the ESL writing instruction in Malaysia. In order to address the concerns regarding process-based approach to writing and to avoid possible issues in the future concerning the implementation of process-based approach in ESL writing in Malaysia, the researchers believe it is important to truly understand the nature and goals of the process-based approach to writing. 318 | PASAA Vol. 58 July-December 2019 as such, the researchers call all educators in Malaysia to look for possible means to revive the process-based approach in the field of ESL writing

Writing narrative essays using e-book writing software: analyses of students’ digital written works

This study explores the utilization of e-book writing software as a tool for process-based writing approach to enhance the learning of ESL writing among the pre-service teachers. The study adopted a qualitative research design which was conducted using document analysis technique on digital written works of six pre-service teachers in one Institute of Teacher Education Malaysia (ITEM). The pre- service teachers were introduced to narrative essay format and i-Spring Pro 6.2 software to produce e-books. The data gathered (i.e., pre-service teachers’ digital written works) were analyzed using predetermined (i.e., a priori) codes. As induced from the findings, the utilization of e-book writing software as a tool for process-based writing approach is found to enhance the learning of ESL writing among the pre-service teachers, which is evident from their improved accuracy of genre and message,fulfillment of task requirements, use of grammar, spelling, and punctuation, originality, coherence and organization, and use of multimedia in text presentation. These positive results indicate that the utilization of e-book writing software as a tool for process-based writing approach in writing narrative essay type is beneficial to expose pre-service teachers to a more meaningful, fun, and engaging way of learning and practicing ESL writing

Effectiveness of project-based learning in improving listening competency among ESL learners at a Malaysian TVET college

Listening plays a fundamental role as the first basic skill in English language communication but the skill seems to be neglected in ESL research and classrooms. The limited published studies in the literature reporting on the teaching of listening and the lack of details in the existing studies warrant more attention in finding more effective strategies to teach listening. Thus, the quasiexperimental study sought to ascertain the effectiveness of using project-based learning (PjBL) activities as a teaching strategy in improving the listening competency of ESL learners in a Communicative English course. Data were gathered from 44 students after a 16-week study conducted at a Malaysian TVET college. A PjBL teaching module comprising a number of listening activities was used in the experimental group as a treatment while the control group was taught using the conventional teaching strategy. A listening competency test was administered as pre-test and post-test on both groups. Data were analysed using t-tests, ANOVA and Tukey post hoc test. The study found that the learners in the PjBL group significantly outperformed those in the control group in their listening competency and dialogue listening comprehension with a large effect size. The study is important to increase the understanding of teachers and practitioners in the area of teaching of listening in ESL classrooms

ESL students’ online and offline reading strategies: scrolling, clicking, flipping and reading / Izyani Mohamad Zaki, Fauziah Hassan and Abu Bakar Mohamed Razali

In this borderless world, computers and the Internet have become important tools of communication and learning and they have also become an important part of our lives. The opportunity to seek information through the computer has made reading an important language skill. Despite the importance of reading and technology, little research to date has been carried out to compare the reading strategies employed by readers when reading online compared to offline. Such studies are important because awareness of the similarities and differences on the strategies employed between these two modes of learning will enable teachers to help develop students’ reading ability. Hence, this study investigates if there is a difference between online and offline strategies used by second language readers. The participants in this study were ESL undergraduates at a university in Malaysia. The instrument employed was the Survey of Reading Strategies (SORS) (Sheorey and Mokhtari, 2001) and Online Survey of Register Strategies (OSORS) by Anderson (2003). These questionnaires tap three different types of information: global reading strategies, problem solving strategies, and support strategies. The results of the study are discussed in terms of their pedagogical implications in the L2 classroom

The effect of communicative activities on Libyan secondary school students’ speaking performance in Malaysia

This study was conducted to investigate whether implementing communicative activities, in particular information gap and language games, in Libyan secondary schools affect students’ speaking performance. A quasi-experimental, nonequivalent, pre-test-post-test design was conducted on 42 first year Libyan secondary school students in a private Libyan international school in Malaysia. Eight different information gap and language game activities based on communicative language teaching (CLT) principles were implemented for 15-20 minutes during eight sessions. The results from the paired sample t-test indicated that there was a significant difference between the pre-test compared to the posttest. Students’ speaking performance improved after implementing the communicative activities in the classroom. However, the results from the independent sample-test illustrate differences in mean scores between male and female students, which are in favour or female students. Nevertheless, the differences between genders were not statistically different

Effectiveness of online grammar checker to improve secondary students' English narrative essay writing

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether a grammar checker application, i.e., Grammarly, has positive effects in the narrative writing of the secondary school students. In the Malaysian context of English language learning, the major difficulty that the students encounter would be writing and it has always been the reason why students cannot excel in the examination (Chuo, 2004). Thus, this study explores the effectiveness of Grammarly, a grammar checker computer application, in aiding secondary students’ narrative writing. The research is guided by the theories and principles of Vygotsky’s (1978) Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) and Knowles’ (1984) Self-Directed Learning approach. This study employs a quantitative research methodology, which is quasi experimental approach with non-equivalent control group design. Participants in this study were 60 form four students from two different classes in a public primary school in a state in western part of Peninsular Malaysia. They were divided equally into an experimental, and a control group and the students came from the same age group and English language, particularly English writing proficiency. The data was gathered for research through pre-and post-tests which were then analysed using paired sample T-Test. Continuous quantitative type of observation data (i.e., scores from writing exercises) was also obtained from their engagement with series of treatment using the Grammarly grammar checker application. The findings revealed that the grammar checker aids the narrative writing among the students in the experimental group, especially in sentence construction. The results of this study revealed that at P= .000 alpha level the grammar checker does aid in the writing of narrative essay among the Form 4 students, particularly on their use of correct grammar functions (namely subject-verb agreement, sentence structure, spelling, and punctuation). The researchers call for more future research on the grammar checker as it holds opportunities for the students to progress in their narrative writing. Using grammar checkers might be a great shift from a traditional learning approach to a more independent self-directed learning approach among students

The Aesthetic Of Tenun Pahang Patterns

This paper will discuss the aesthetic of patterns used in Tenun Pahang (TP). This study also aims to describe the patterns found in TP, both basic and contemporary modern patterns. This handicraft product originates from Keladi Island, Pahang. TP is said to be originated from Sulawesi which was brought to Malaya almost 200 years ago. Based on observations, there are various designs used by weavers as the background of this product. In the field study conducted, 2 (two) informants were interviewed and they are from the Royal Pahang Institute of Weaving Skills, Pahang State Crafts and the eleventh (11) generation of Karaeng Aji descendants who are said to have brought this weaving skill to Keladi Island. The results of the analysis found that the pattern used as a background on this TP product was inspired by the high creativity of the weavers as well as the beauty of the production of the TP pattern which is close to the culture of life of the Pahang people themselves. This study is important for the overall understanding as well as a clearer translation of the patterns found in TP

A review of literature on the potentials and problems of face-to-face and online peer feedback and the patterns of interaction among ESL/EFL learners in a peer feedback environment

Peer feedback is one of the many elements that contribute to the mastery of the English language writing skills. However, ESL/EFL learners often faced difficulties in giving and receiving peer feedback as they often are not able to give or understand feedback from their peers. In uncovering the potentials and problems with peer feedback amongst ESL/EFL learners in developing their writing performance, this review provides a description on the nature and elements in face-to-face and online peer feedback, and report a review of literature on the patterns of interaction showcased by ESL/EFL students during the peer feedback sessions. Subsequently, the research gaps are identified and recommendations for future research are highlighted. The authors found that although some problems occurred when the peer feedback sessions are implemented, such as the preferences for teacher feedback and negative patterns of interaction, generally it is effective in improving ESL/EFL students’ writing performance as both face-to-face and online peer feedback provides multiple benefits in their writing process (e.g., provides opportunities to discuss critical elements in writing, benefit from sense of anonymity in online platform and seize the opportunity for collaborative learning). However, the authors discovered that studies on the patterns of interaction are limited especially in an online peer feedback environment among ESL learners. Thus, this review recommends for future research to close this gap to uncover the potentials of the peer feedback (especially online peer feedback) in developing ESL learners’ writing performance. As a whole, this review of literature brings great significance because it provides inputs to teachers on the strengths and weaknesses of the peer feedback approach (both face-to-face and online) and the best patterns of interaction developing the students’ writing performance. These inputs can also benefit educational institutions and curriculum developers in introducing effective learning activities or tasks that involve the face-to-face and online peer feedback approach in the curriculum