As one of the most widely spoken languages in the world, English in Malaysia is also an important language for both national and global operations widely used in the aspects of business, education, and international relations. Due to such importance, there is constant concern towards the English language performance of students at all levels of education, and it is one of the issues addressed in the Malaysian Education Blueprint 2013-2025. This paper sought to answer the question of ‘What are the factors contributing to students’ English language performance?’, with specific reference to students from the religious education background at an Islamic-based public university in Malaysia. Derived from a larger study, this paper reported the qualitative findings gathered from interview sessions with a total of 47 English teachers, English and content subject lecturers as well as students regarding the factors contributing to the students’ English language performance. Findings revealed 4 main themes of internal features or inner components that influence the students’ English achievement which are: (1) teacher attributes (2) learner determination (3) learner beliefs / attitudes and (4) ‘I don’t understand’. The findings of this study reveal the needs to explore new areas to address the issue of students’ English language performance, particularly those of religious background education. It also has broader implications for the global community, which makes it critical for educators and policymakers to collaborate in developing new strategies and resources to help learners overcome the challenges and develop the language skills they need to thrive in today's interconnected world. With that, it is hoped that students are able to access the same opportunities for success as their peers, regardless of their linguistic or cultural background.

Introduction- Writing is a skill that amalgamates various knowledge like vocabulary, sentence structure, spelling, and grammar. ‘Carousel with a Destination’ (CwaD) is a concept that provides the students with the required knowledge which is to be pieced together in writing. Carousel refers to the stations arranged in a circle and each station offers different activities which are related to the chosen topic and skills for writing. In the case of this study, it was ‘Picnic’. Hence, the usual carousel that goes round and round now has a destination which is writing. Students go around the carousel to complete an activity related to the knowledge and skill in writing at each station. The activities are in variety and competitive in nature. The conceptual framework for CwaD combines Perceptual Learning Styles, Gamification, and Affective Filter. Purpose – This paper highlights CwaD - the project and more importantly, it discusses the concept of effective fun learning. Thus, to show its effectiveness, the paper puts forth a study as proof of the success of CwaD. Methodology – This study utilised a simple and direct pencil-paper questionnaire. The respondents were 56 year five students who participated in the project. The questionnaire consists of four dichotomous questions. The dichotomy is symbolised by a smiling face and a sad face. Further, three of the questions are accompanied by two short lines with questions like ‘Why’ and ‘What’. They are for the students to express themselves in detail using words they know. Findings – There are three findings that can be shared. Firstly, the students really enjoyed participating in the project. It was discovered that all of them circled a smiling face for each of the four questions. Secondly, the writing they produced was good as they used the vocabulary, the paragraph structure and correct grammar which they just learnt at the carousel stations. Thirdly, the words they chose to express themselves in the questionnaire reflect the elements that they like about CwaD – either regarding the activities, the teachers or the ‘learning’ itself. All the words are positively-connotated. Significance – CwaD is sustainable in terms of scalability where it can be conducted for any subject and for any number of students. It is beneficial as an introduction or as a recapitulation of any topic.

Students who learn Arabic as a foreign language in a foreign country usually face difficulties to achieve proficiency in the language. This is primarily because of the lack of Arabic language resources. However, this situation does not hinder the emergence of a group of outstanding students who achieve fluency in Arabic by using their own methods. This study investigated the methods used by these students to be used as a guideline for other students. To collect the data, a set of questionnaire was developed from the Imitation Strategy Instrument introduced by Rosni Samah (2014). The questionnaires were distributed to 50 outstanding final year students from the Arabic language department, Faculty of Major Languages, Islamic Science University of Malaysia. The results showed that effective strategies for learning Arabic language as a foreign language were gathering, enhancing and applying. The targets are new vocabulary and sentence. The tools to perform the strategies were Arabic materials and language activities. This study recommends that in learning Arabic language as a foreign language, the three methods mentioned above should be applied. The Arabic materials should be provided and language activities should be organized. The effective methods used by outstanding students should be used as a guideline for other students to be more proficient in Arabic Language.

Participatory action research advocates participation and egalitarian relationship among its participants. This study was conducted in Malaysia amongst the Malay society, where the Malay society has been labelled as having high power distance in its social structure. In a society that recognizes status differences among individuals in the society depending on their rank in the hierarchical structure, egalitarian or equal relationship among research participants could be quite problematic. This paper will outline the Malays social hierarchy and explore how members of a hierarchical society became empowered through a participatory action research. Through qualitative methods such as observation, informal conversations, journal reflections and semi-structured interviews, this study investigated the experiences of the two Malay teachers in negotiating the Western-based concepts in a participatory action research project. Due to the importance of reflection and action in a participatory action research, data was analysed through a Critical Reflective Analysis Steps (Author, 2013) which included the process of observing and noting personal reflections, confronting and thinking, and taking action. Findings suggest that through participatory action research, the participants of the research were somewhat empowered to challenge their traditional role in the hierarchical structure.

Introduction- The role and position of the English language within the higher education has increasingly played a significant role as the leading language of academic publications, technologies as well as communication. The higher institutions in the country hold important responsibilities to educate and produce the younger generation of Malaysians as potential human resources that not only fulfil the needs of the local and international workforce in the attempt to achieve the national’s aspiration of a developed country. Purpose – This study seeks to understand and gain insights on the undergraduate students’ English language literacies in relation to the demand of the literacy practices and competencies needed at the tertiary level. The literacy practices in this instance include academic literacies that encompasses not only knowledge of discrete language skills and appropriate language use in context, but it is to be holistically understood to include also competence in reading and writing. Methodology – Subsequently, data were collected via questionnaires and focus groups with selected undergraduate from various disciplines to investigate whether their educational and environmental factors influence their existing level of English language competencies. Analysis of the course outlines was conducted to gain insights of the competencies and demands expected on the required university. Findings – In doing so, in-depth insights of the challenges faced, along with expectations held by various parties are gained in order to ascertain the expected proficiency needed for undergraduate students to meet the English language demands and needs at the universities. Significance – The study will contribute to the knowledge of how students’ English language literacies can meet the demand of the literacy practices and competencies needed at the tertiary level.

At the university level in Arab world in general and in Iraq in particular, many students faced a lot of problems with their studying because of their low English proficiency, students face problems while trying to understand texts written in English. Form six is last form before university and in spite of that the students doing incessant efforts to master the English language through studying the curriculum at the sixth year in Iraq, some students still complain that they have a lot of difficulties in achieving this goal. An analysis of the EFL secondary reading curriculum in Iraqi Kurdistan (Form Six): Approaches to reading are considered as a challenge area of study. Thus, the aim of this study provides a comprehensive field survey on the various stages of the various reading approaches in EFL secondary reading curriculum. Next, the reading theories and reading strategies are given focus followed by some significant pointers to achieve effective reading. A critical review on EFL secondary reading curriculum is done at the end of the study.

Zainab’ novel written by Al- Haikal was the first novel in modern Egyptian literature. The theme tells about women's freedom from the shackles of life traditions. Similar theme is found in Faridah Hanom‟s novel which is Malaysia's first novel, by Syed Syeikh al-Hadi. The plot of Faridah Hanom revolves around the above issue which takes the backdrop of Cairo and its surroundings. The current study aims to identify the similarities between Zainab's novel and Faridah Hanom's novel in terms of themes, characters, plots and backgrounds. The comparison and analysis carried out between the two novels clearly indicate that there are similarities in the selection of themes, characters, plot construction structures and depicted background images. The main theme of both novels is freedom of women from the grip of tradition that does not allow women the right to go out to work, to study and to choose a life partner. Both characters are similarly played by female characters and assisted by male characters. The only difference is the number of angles. From the point of the plot, both revolve around the love relationship between two teenagers as a result of love at first sight. The similarity of background, however, can be seen through the plots that occur in the Egyptian states, the cities of Alexandria and Sudan. In addition, the novels portray the village cultural lives. This equivalences show that the Zainab‟s novel has influenced the creation of Faridah Hanom's novel through adaptation form. Keywords: Zainab, Faridah Hanom, comparison, Novel, women freedom

Attitude and motivation are two abstract concepts of the human mind. These two aspects primarily play a significant role in determining students’ learning success. The current study is qualitative in nature and aims to explore the influence of secondary level Bangladeshi students’ socio-economic conditions in shaping their attitude and motivation towards English language learning. Data was collected from 15 secondary school students. The interview questions inquire of their family background, parental occupation, family income, their attitudes towards the English language and culture, and their motivation for learning the language. The findings denote that learners have a positive attitude towards the target language, and they are both intrinsically and extrinsically motivated to learn it. The implication of the study is that the findings may provide a remarkable insight into students' language learning issues, which may be useful for secondary level teachers and policymakers in designing a curriculum, lesson plan, and teaching pedagogy to divert students' psychology towards positive motivation and attitude towards the target language.

Some studies (Fung, 2010; Hwang & Mohamed Amin, 2007; Nadzrah, 2005; Puteh-Behak, 2013; Tang & Abdul Ghani Kanesan Abdullah, 2007) show that a significant characteristic in Malaysian learning is that the ability of a particular student is usually measured through his/her performance in the examination. In this examination-based culture, learning usually concentrates on techniques in answering examination questions through the process of drilling. Often students are well-prepared for the examination however unable to use the knowledge gained in praxis. Being part of a larger study, this paper explores the implementation of a multiliteracies approach in an English as a Second Language (ESL) classroom in Malaysia. It was a participatory action research project and involved two lecturers as co-researchers and 30 Diploma of Civil Engineering students as participants. Data was collected through qualitative means such as classroom observations, informal conversations and classroom artefacts. Data was analysed through Critical Reflective Analysis Steps (Puteh-Behak, 2013) which included the process of observing and noting personal reflections, confronting and thinking, and taking action. The findings suggest that through the multiliteracies approach the students experienced a shift from monotonous drilling activities to exciting yet challenging learning activities. It seems that the use of the multiliteracies approach enhanced the students’ learning experience by providing a sense of adventure in the usually-monotonous learning process.

Societies are often fraught with cracks, displacement, and conflicts that are almost always intersected with local and global junctures. These issues, be it seemingly chaotic or minute, need to be noticed and addressed in some ways or another pertinent to the development and survival of the society. Issues which are not tackled early, in time, would have the propensities of multiplying or becoming more acute, and slowly engulf, and may even jeopardize a society. Munshi Abdullah, Za’ba, Syed Hussein Alatas and Mahathir Mohamad are important Malay personages in Malaysia who have written important texts relating to Malays’ identity, history and socio-political milleu in their own respective roles, as writers, educationist, sociologist and political leader. They are undeniably the Malay intellects who are able to present objective analyses of the Malays of their own time, presided with advanced knowledge, observation and experience. This paper examines their selected writings, that echo their thoughts and writings that they share about the Malays which are crucial cornerstones to attempts at providing a holistic view in the discussion and understanding about the identity of the Malays by looking into their past, which would be insightful to their survival of the present and the future. By combining these three literary writings, interpretative approaches to understanding cultural crises can be established.

Introduction- Teaching practicum is an essential part of teacher-training that provides real classroom engagement for a beginner teacher. It is considered as one of the most critical components of teacher preparation with greatest impact on teacher quality (Mtika, 2011; Zeichner, 2010; Graham, 2006; Tang, 2003) and is significant for the development of their pedagogical skills (Kauffman, 1992). The sudden upsurge of the Covid -19 infections around the world in the first quarter of 2020, witnessed massive closure of schools worldwide in order to contain the spread of the pandemic. This unexpected turn of events had flipped the more traditional face-to-face method of teaching and learning into distance learning that requires 21st. Century technology and skills. Purpose – This paper explores the experience of a group of trainee teachers from an institute of higher learning in Malaysia, at managing this unprecedented challenge in delivering education remotely via technology. Methodology – Data were collected from interview and supplemental written records in the form of lesson plans, teaching evidence and online tools employed for the teaching and learning. Findings – The findings show that the trainee teachers undergo varied and often challenging experiences in ensuring the continuity of curriculum-based education and the students’ progress in learning. Significance – Their successes in delivering the lessons amidst the novel encounters are the epitome of resilient and flexible teachers in the making.

This article describes a new PBL case design model for language practitioners that emerged from an action research project on PBL case-design training for language practitioners. Participants of the action research project underwent two cycles of PBL case-design training. Data collection tools consisting of an observation checklist and a series of focus group interview were used to collect data from the participants. Data gathered were then analyzed using content analysis for emerging themes. Findings revealed that modification to the model used is needed to suit the needs of language practitioners in crafting cases for language classroom use. Known as the Problem-Based Learning (PBL) Language Case Crafting Model (PBL-LcCRAFT), this new model is an extension from the original model used to train the participants, the 3C3R case-design model (Hung, 2006). While maintaining some components from the original 3C3R case-design model, the PBL-LcCRAFT model further extends the original model by including components which are found to be very much relevant to language practitioners to craft PBL cases to be used in language classrooms. This paper aims to discuss one major component incorporated into the new model (i.e. Language-in-Use) to demonstrate language practice in meaningful contexts. It will illustrate the significant and strong link between the existing components from the 3C3R case-design model (i.e. 3R - Researching, Reasoning and Reflecting) with the newly incorporated one (i.e. Language-in-Use) in the realm of language teaching and learning. It is hoped that all the components in the PBL-LcCRAFT model, will be able to serve as a guide for language practitioners in crafting PBL cases to meet their learners' language learning aims.

‘The English Language Education in Malaysia: An Agenda for Reform 2015-2025’ is a blueprint initiated by The Ministry of Education (MOE), Malaysia, currently launched in 2016. The key pledge to this blueprint is the alignment of Malaysia’s English Language Education System with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). CEFR is a benchmark for an international standard that focuses on developing learners who are able to communicate and interact in any language, in this instance, English. The focal point of the Malaysian education reform is to adopt the CEFR levels as the guiding beacon or regulating framework for curriculum development, issues regarding learning materials and the measurement of learning outcomes. In keeping with this reform, the study aims to understand English language teachers’ views on the English language proficiency courses in a local university, in Malaysia, based on CEFR scales. The study employs a quantitative approach, where surveys were distributed to twenty-five English language teachers. The data is then analysed quantitatively by frequency counts and percentage. Data shows there are variations in teachers’ views towards English language proficiency courses, and this may not necessarily fit into the CEFR standards targeted for university learners. The result of this study acts as preliminary data for further research on the link between English language course content and CEFR standards, as well as expected English language proficiency of university learners. Through this study, it is hoped that future design of teaching and learning materials that contribute to ‘proficient’ learners at the end of university years, can be developed. Keywords Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR), teaching and learning, language proficiency, English language curriculum

‘The English Language Education in Malaysia: An Agenda for Reform 2015-2025’ is a blueprint initiated by The Ministry of Education (MOE), Malaysia, currently launched in 2016. The key pledge to this blueprint is the alignment of Malaysia’s English Language Education System with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). CEFR is a benchmark for an international standard that focuses on developing learners who are able to communicate and interact in any language, in this instance, English. The focal point of the Malaysian education reform is to adopt the CEFR levels as the guiding beacon or regulating framework for curriculum development, issues regarding learning materials and the measurement of learning outcomes. In keeping with this reform, the study aims to understand English language teachers’ views on the English language proficiency courses in a local university, in Malaysia, based on CEFR scales. The study employs a quantitative approach, where surveys were distributed to twenty-five English language teachers. The data is then analysed quantitatively by frequency counts and percentage. Data shows there are variations in teachers’ views towards English language proficiency courses, and this may not necessarily fit into the CEFR standards targeted for university learners. The result of this study acts as preliminary data for further research on the link between English language course content and CEFR standards, as well as expected English language proficiency of university learners. Through this study, it is hoped that future design of teaching and learning materials that contribute to ‘proficient’ learners at the end of university years, can be developed. Keywords Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR), teaching and learning, language proficiency, English language curriculum

Drawing on interviews with parents of indigenous communities, this article presents insights into indigenous parenting aspects related to inside-and-outside classroom learning, cross-cultural complexities, and literacy practices by taking perspectives of Malaysia’s indigenous parents as an example. Using Bronfenbrenner's ecological model on how individuals navigate complex interactions in a particular society, indigenous parents' authority and agency play important roles in navigating competing issues of indigenous learners' literacy, learning, and class. Implications on parenting practices, particularly on uplifting indigenous parents with sociocultural, learning, and literacy engagement within changing and challenging expectations of indigenous learners inside and outside their homes, are presented.