Padlet as a Tool in Learning L2 Grammar

Padlet can be used as a platform to collaborate in collecting ideas, brainstorming, and more. Students will be able to access it for free, no matter what device they have. Padlet is used in this research as a tool in learning L2 Grammar as it is in line with the Malaysian education blueprint whereby there is the need of leveraging ICT to scale up quality learning across Malaysia in shift 7. This study explores the impact of Padlet in learning L2 grammar among primary ESL students and it aims to study the students’ perceptions of using Padlet in learning L2 grammar and it consists of observation, document analysis, pre-post tests and semi structured interviews collected from 24 respondents and 2 teachers. The data were analysed using SPSS and thematic analysis. The findings suggest that when students use learning software such as Padlet, they achieve better understanding of L2 Grammar because Padlet highly motivates them to connect the use of technology with the contents of the lesson. Moreover, they are able to trace their grammar acquisition by doing their self-assessment from the activities and material provided by the teacher during every lesson

Co-Curricular Activities and Achievement in Language Learning of Secondary School Students in Nigeria

English as a Second Language (ESL) students in Nigeria lack access to interact with the native speakers of English, but with co-curricular activities they can be good speakers of English language. This paper investigates the impact of co-curricular activities out-side the classroom on Secondary School Students’ achievement in Nigeria. Out-of-classroom events can be devised by schools to make students feel that they are surrounded by the language if they participate in active use of the language among themselves during activities like games, debating, press updates, social gathering, etc. The variables that were considered in the study were Press club and Literary and Debating society, the involvement period, and their academic achievement. Eight out of 17 secondary schools were randomly selected with one hundred students from each school. The questionnaires for the data collection relate students’ personal data and twelve questions on press club and literary and debating society. The mock examination results show that there is a positive significant influence in co-curricular activities on senior secondary school students’ academic achievement in English. The result of this study shows that students who spend longer time in participating in the activities perform tremendously better than other students who spend less time or do not participate at all in the activities in English, and they perform academically better as well and speak English language fluently

Imperatives in hotel service encounters: the case of Jornadian learners of English

This paper examines the language of requests among the hotel trainees in Jordan. It seeks to explore the ways in which the trainees employ requestive strategies at the service counter in managing interpersonal and cross-cultural communication. Specifically, it discusses the Jordanian trainees' use of imperative requests compared with native speakers hotel staff and relates any divergences to politeness and cultural factors. The data collected include conversations between the trainees and hotel guests.The findings demonstrate that trainees rely more on imperative constructions and they favor conventional imperatives more than any other types. The findings also reveal that the trainees deviate from the native speakers' performance in terms of volume and types of strategies used. Some of these deviations may be due to Arabic language influence, pragmalinguistic and sociopragmatic transfer or to insufficient linguistic and pragmatic competences

Making sense of the hotel trainees' internal request modification in Jordanian host-guest interaction

This paper examines the language of requests among the hotel trainees in Jordan. It seeks to explore the ways in which the trainees formulate requests in English as a foreign language at the service counter. Specifically, it discusses the extent to which the Jordanian trainees' use of internal modifiers when managing interpersonal and cross cultural communication diverges from that of the native speakers who are also the hotel supervisors and to relate any such divergences to politeness and cultural factors. The data collected include conversations between the trainees and hotel guests. The findings demonstrate that trainees under use internal modifiers to mitigate the imposition of the requests and they favor the marker 'please' more than any other modifiers. The findings also reveal that the trainees deviate from the native speakers' performance in terms of volume and types of modifiers. Some of these deviations might refer to Arabic language influence, pragmalinguistic and sociopragmatic transfer or to insufficient linguistic and pragmatic competences

Co-curricular activities and achievement in language learning of secondary school students in Nigeria

English as a Second Language (ESL) students in Nigeria lack access to interact with the native speakers of English, but with co-curricular activities they can be good speakers of English language.This paper investigates the impact of co-curricular activities out-side the classroom on Secondary School Students’ achievement in Nigeria. Out-of-classroom events can be devised by schools to make students feel that they are surrounded by the language if they participate in active use of the language among themselves during activities like games, debating, press updates, social gathering, etc.The variables that were considered in the study were Press club and Literary and Debating society, the involvement period, and their academic achievement. Eight out of 17 secondary schools were randomly selected with one hundred students from each school.The questionnaires for the data collection relate students’ personal data and twelve questions on press club and literary and debating society. The mock examination results show that there is a positive significant influence in co-curricular activities on senior secondary school students’ academic achievement in English.The result of this study shows that students who spend longer time in participating in the activities perform tremendously better than other students who spend less time or do not participate at all in the activities in English, and they perform academically better as well and speak English language fluently

African American female subjectivity: reading postcolonialism in Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye

This article examines the subjectivity of the African American female in Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye.It aims to verify that the subjectivity of the African American female in fiction is somewhat relative.It attempts to answer the following questions: What are the reasons behind the fluctuation of subjectivity in the character of African American women? How does the postcolonialism literary theory help in understanding the subjectivity that echoes this class of women? This article comes to the following findings: The subjectivity of the African American black female has been influenced by their black complexion, gender, discrimination, family, school and community. Not all of these women have been influenced passively by the aforementioned elements.The African American women have been exploited in a male dominated society, where white people are the final authority and arbiter of the social status of women.An African American woman seems to have been suffering since birth.The color of her complexion is the cause of her misery.Illiteracy, beggary, depression and sexual harassment are tied to her very existence. Morrison has succeeded in delivering a clear message relating to the black woman‟s subjectivity; she enhances the concept of emancipation of soul and thought among the black community, besides the concept of women‟s rights

Theorizing child trafficking in young adult literature: a review of the literature

Child trafficking is one of the most prevalent themes in literature, including novels for young adult literature. Despite its prominence as an often used theme in young adult literature, not much is known about what governs child trafficking, specifically in contemporary young adult literature. This article seeks to identify an appropriate theory that could explain child trafficking in literary works. Five theories, in particular, the agency theory, Bales’ theory of modern slavery, Otherness, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak's Subaltern, and Bronfenbrenner Ecological theory (1994) are discussed and compared to illustrate what has taken place in novels, particularly where child trafficking is concerned, for young adult readers. The paper concludes that while some of the theories could probably be employed to discuss the notion of child trafficking in general, they do not provide a profound analysis of the characters, themes, and plots in the novels for a young adult. Bronfenbrenner Ecological theory (1994) is viewed as the most suitable theory that lends better understanding in explaining child trafficking in literature because it concentrates on the victims, the close environment, and the national and international environmen

Exploring the linguistic power of English and Malay perceptions of vitality, language attitudes and language domains among undergraduates

This study compared the linguistic power of English and Bahasa Melayu among Malaysian undergraduates. Three measures of linguistic power were used, i.e., language vitality, language domains and attitudes to bilingualism. It also looked into the relations between these measures and four independent variables: language dominance, language proficiency, gender and ethnicity. Findings showed that although an overwhelming majority of Malaysian undergraduates used the mother tongue in their daily interactions outside the classroom, Malays appeared to have a stronger mother tongue affinity. Overall, there was a larger percentage of Malay bilinguals compared to English bilinguals. With regards to language vitality, both English and Bahasa Melayu were found to possess high status and solidarity value. However, each language was significantly associated with a different value—English with status and Bahasa Melayu with solidarity. It was also found that a language would be seen to have higher status and solidarity value as proficiency increases and the language becomes dominant in daily interactions. Both languages were used across intimate and utilitarian domains, with Bahasa Melayu perceived as slightly more important than English in all domains except private sector employment. However, a different tendency in ratings of important domains emerged by ethnicity, with Malays assigning higher importance to Bahasa Melayu, and non-Malays to English, especially in utilitarian domains. Both English and Bahasa Melayu dominants viewed the respective languages as more important across domains. In addition, non-Malays who were dominant in their mother tongue tended to see Bahasa Melayu as significantly less important across domains. Attitude towards Bahasa Melayu-English bilingualism was found to be highly positive, with females and Malays having significantly more positive attitudes. Based on the combined findings, it was suggested that both English and Bahasa Melayu currently possessed high linguistic power among undergraduates, with the two languages in coexistence. Given the relationships found between the different measures of linguistic power and language proficiency, dominance and ethnicity, implications were suggested in the context of English as a medium of instruction

A study on the implementation of remote learning: Malaysian students’ struggles and suggestions for improvement

This study seeks to explore Malaysian undergraduates’ perspectives on the implementation of remote learning in their university during the period of the movement control order (MCO). Since teaching and learning activities have been impacted by the pandemic, it is imperative to consider students’ perspectives on carrying out classes via the online platform as many studies claim that the pandemic has disrupted teaching and learning activities. A total of 1,028 undergraduate students participated in this voluntary study by answering an open-ended survey sent out to their student email addresses during the MCO period that restricted students and lecturers from going to the university. The qualitative responses from the students were critically analyzed for thematic patterns. The four themes emerging from the data provide future teaching and learning plans that should embed self-learning techniques that could aid students if a similar predicament should hit us in the future. Course instructors can use this information to design future lessons that could assist their learners better