Our consciousness is somewhat shaped by our surroundings. External and internal consciousness can guide, explain, direct, and train us to form our socio-cultural belief systems. These socio-cultural belief systems may partly explain why we do what we do, why we see what we see, why we say what we say, and why we feel what we feel. Our consciousness, to a large extent, shapes and energizes our understanding of human beings� complex relations. As such, 9/11 strife-torn unrests, for example, leaves behind unnecessary complications, chaos, and risks, not only to many Americans, but also to other Islamic nation-states. These sporadic and unpredictable 9/11 complexities are not only discussed, debated, and negated, but has also contributed to our awareness on what it means to live in the post-9/11 era. While many of these explorations are affirmed, regarded, and profound in many Western nation-states, studies on 9/11 consciousness from Asian perspectives, particularly from the viewpoints of Muslim-dominated nations are, to this end, largely insufficient. Taking these contours into consideration, this paper attempts to discuss the extent to which 9/11 consciousness are highlighted in newspapers. Specifically, using spectrum of consciousness theory, this paper explores some of the many ways consciousness of 9/11 tensions is framed in five Malaysian newspapers. We will show the ways in which newspapers describe 9/11 contexts and how diverse layers of consciousness are delineated in the newspaper, forming some levels of questions, contests, and negotiations about 9/11 chaos. The discourse analysis included in this study will demonstrate different fragments of 9/11 reality. By describing these constructions of 9/11 in newspapers framed within spectrum of consciousness, we will be able to reveal the dynamics of these unsettled, unruly 9/11 complications.

In this 21st century, vast development in seen in globalization and technology, which indirectly influences the approach in teaching and learning. Although this development brings forth advantages to both teachers and students, it also affects them in negative ways. The reality is, in the classroom, the teacher is seen as the knowledge-giver; thus, they are also seen as the adab-shaper of the students in their class. Adab or the act of being courteous, is an Islamic etiquette that portrays good manners, which needs to be present and shown among Muslim students. Taking this issue into consideration, this paper attempts to discuss how an English language class can be an avenue for teachers to highlight the adab awarenss among students. Using refective practice method, this paper explores how a reading passage was used in the English language class for the teacher and students to reflect on their adab in lectures and classes in the university. The method allows the teacher and students to assess their thoughts and actions, for the purpose of personal learning and development. The data shows that students are aware of the adab in the society and that they have a role to ensure that they present their adab as taught by their parents, peers and teachers. They also realize that the adab that some teenagers portray may be negative, as it may be caused by the effect of the development of learning in the 21st century and changes in the language learning practice. It is hoped that teachers in the 21st century would continue to remind students that the adab in language learning is a value that would shape better future generations, especially in facing the world of globalization and technology. Thus, even in the English language class, teachers can remind the adab among students in order to prevent the negative attitude from conquering them.

In mentoring graduate students, it is hard to deny the ubiquity of graduate student advising. Faculty members, who are usually engaged in advising to tease out problems and suggest solutions, could often times be faced with negative attributions concerning faculty members' competence, as well as receive unaligned responses rather than collaborative understanding of issues or recommendations. While previous studies on advising may have focused on specific, intricate, discourse particles and microscopic perspectives on advising, studies on advice giving exchanges that depart from these dimensions are insufficient. To fill in this lacuna, this paper proposes to explore strategies and participation roles in which faculty members assume in selected doctoral dissertation advising. Through discourse analysis, specifically focusing on discourse and situational identities grounded in identities-ininteraction (Zimmerman, 1998), the study illuminates some of the many advising roles and advising strategies that are revealed as legitimate, aligning doctoral student learning experience. In particular, advising roles and advising strategies, as illustrated in this study, link social and institutional context by proposing some of the many trajectories of how both faculty members and graduate students understand the relevance of advising exchanges. By focusing on these exchanges, the paper will also contribute to the growing body of literature on a range of different factors that may constitute advising in terms of content and manner in which advising takes place.

In mentoring graduate students, it is hard to deny the ubiquity of graduate student advising. Faculty members, who are usually engaged in advising to tease out problems and suggest solutions, could often times be faced with negative attributions concerning faculty members' competence, as well as receive unaligned responses rather than collaborative understanding of issues or recommendations. While previous studies on advising may have focused on specific, intricate, discourse particles and microscopic perspectives on advising, studies on advice giving exchanges that depart from these dimensions are insufficient. To fill in this lacuna, this paper proposes to explore strategies and participation roles in which faculty members assume in selected doctoral dissertation advising. Through discourse analysis, specifically focusing on discourse and situational identities grounded in identities-ininteraction (Zimmerman, 1998), the study illuminates some of the many advising roles and advising strategies that are revealed as legitimate, aligning doctoral student learning experience. In particular, advising roles and advising strategies, as illustrated in this study, link social and institutional context by proposing some of the many trajectories of how both faculty members and graduate students understand the relevance of advising exchanges. By focusing on these exchanges, the paper will also contribute to the growing body of literature on a range of different factors that may constitute advising in terms of content and manner in which advising takes place.

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.

An abstract plays a pivotal role because it represents the summary of the entire article. Therefore, it is the first thing that readers evaluate to determine if they should read the entire article. Hence, it is imperative for academics to provide an abstract that includes all essential rhetorical moves when writing an academic article. In lieu of this, the current study attempted to examine whether the abstracts provided in conference proceedings include the essential rhetorical moves and whether the moves are presented in the sequence according to the selected classification. The data for this study were collected using purposive sampling from 23 abstracts of empirical- based studies in nature from the selected conference. The abstracts were written in the English language and authored by academics in the field of language and education from higher institutions in various countries. Hyland's (2000) five- moves classification of rhetorical moves was used as the coding in identifying the moves structure of the selected abstracts in this study. Other moves that emerged from the selected abstracts were added to Hyland's (2000) classification. The moves structure data were analyzed using manifest content analysis while the sequence of moves data were analyzed using latent content analysis. The findings show that the majority of the abstract only partially contains the rhetorical moves as suggested by Hyland (2000) with a variety of moves sequence. Apart from Hyland's (2000) five-moves, some authors included the theoretical aspect of their study in their abstracts. The implications of the findings were discussed within the context of professional development among higher institutions academics, particularly in academic abstract writing.

The purpose of this study was to analyze the characteristics of an instructional discourse within the realm of the socio-cultural theory. A pre-school teacher and a group of pre-school children participated in the study. Real time non-participant observation, field notes and postobservation of the videotaped of the selected conversation were the methods of data collection for the study. The data were analyzed qualitatively using the coding derived the literature review. The data were categorized in three characteristic themes: the interdependence between social and individual processes, co-construction of knowledge and the use of meaningful and purposeful language. The findings show that the selected instructional conversation reflects the characteristics of discourse within the realm of the socio-cultural theory. The implications of the study are discussed within the context of second language teaching.

Research have presented a broad overview concerning the notion of Archetypes. While previous studies equate the significance of Archetypes in recurring nature and familiarization of literary elements, the ways in which Archetypes ‘find’ cracks-in the stories are perpetually relegated. The relative significance of Archetypes, by taking into consideration works of novels, expose the gap between the oscillation of ‘departure’ and ‘conclusion.’ This study attempts to explore the many ways in which monomania is preserved, contested, and how monomania creates an ‘unstable alliance’ between characters and plots. Specifically, the notion of monomania is used to destabilize Archetypal Hero’s journey. First, the study sheds light on the Archetypal Hero character, named Heathcliff, in Wuthering Heights (1847) by Emily Bronte. Second, monomania is used as a lens to examine one of the central characters, Captain Ahab in Moby Dick (1851) by Herman Melville. By focusing on the concept of Archetypal Hero’s Journey, the influence of monomaniac is brought to the centre of discussion. As such, the destabilisation of plots and characters is described in its vibrancy through the lens of monomaniac.

Sistem pendidikan pondok merupakan sebuah institusi pendidikan agama Islam yang wujud serta diiktiraf oleh masyarakat. Ia berperanan untuk menyebarluas ilmu agama serta membentuk keperibadian Muslim yang sempurna. Pendidikan Islam yang diterapkan dalam pengajian tersebut adalah salah satu saluran terpenting untuk membentuk perwatakan dan pemikiran selari dengan nilai-nilai Islam. Kurangnya pemahaman kepada didikan Islam akan mendorong seseorang kepada kelakuan yang bertentangan daripada agama Islam. Maka, tujuan kajian ini adalah untuk mengenal pasti cabaran yang dihadapi oleh institusi pendidikan pondok selain mengkaji impak pelajar yang mengikuti sistem pendidikan pondok terhadap diri, rakan sebaya dan masyarakat. Kajian ini menggunakan kaedah kualitatif dan kuantitatif iaitu melalui analisis dokumen serta temu bual menerusi perbincangan meja bulat yang telah diadakan bersama pihak berkepentingan dan edaran borang soal selidik. Seramai 233 responden yang terlibat telah dipilih di beberapa buah Pondok di Semenanjung Malaysia. Dapatan menunjukkan terdapat tiga faktor utama yang menjadi cabaran kepada perkembangan pondok masa kini iaitu kurikulum, pengurusan dan pengiktirafan pengajian pondok. Hasil kajian turut mendapati, pelajar mengakui bahawa sistem pendidikan ini memberi impak positif kepada diri mereka (min 4.59). Mereka turut mengakui sistem pendidikan ini memberi manfaat kepada keluarga dan persekitaran mereka. Kesimpulannya, sistem pendidikan pondok berupaya untuk membentuk sahsiah pelajar kearah yang lebih baik dan menghasilkan pelajar yang berkualiti.

One of the fourteen grand challenges for engineering in this century, as identified by the National Academy of Engineers (USA) in 2008, is the advancement of personalised learning. The relevance of creating personalised learning in the context of Malaysian higher education can be inferred among the ten shifts stated in the Malaysian Education Blueprint 2015–2025 (Higher Education), which feature key elements towards spurring excellence in the nation’s higher education. This research investigates the spaces and opportunities available in a Personalized Learning Environment (PLE) for enhancing learners’ soft skills beyond course content. How is this policy transferred into practice? Specifically, how can educators use technology to engineer a holistic personalised learning experience? In the context of 21st century education, how can we ensure that learners’ soft skills are given due attention in the PLE? Using key concepts in engineering education, primarily Conceive-Develop-Implement-Operate (CDIO), and the fundamentals of disruptive innovation, this study illustrates the engineering process adopted to design and implement a PLE in the humanities. As findings illustrate, comprehensive PLE management creates opportunities for enhanced learner autonomy and leadership development while ensuring that the educator’s roles continue to be relevant and evident. Keywords: active learning, CDIO; disruptive innovation, meaningful learning, Personalized Learning Environment (PLE).

Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) in Malaysia, like in many other developing countries, has currently gained more interest and awareness. This is due to the numerous research studies which strengthen the notion that children’s early years involve a vital stage for the growth, development and advancement of their actions and behaviour, character and personality, and also their mind and intelligence. Studies have also focused on the idea that early childhood teaching and learning can be enhanced, albeit occurring within culturally, socially, and economically sensitive contexts. This paper presents part of a bigger study on ECCE from the perspectives of the owners and managers of selected private kindergartens in Malaysia. Detailed and thorough information of the owners’ and managers’ personal practice in handling their centres, their methods and techniques of dealing with both students and parents, and their ideas on the issues of ECCE in Malaysia were gained through focus group interviews with 6 participants. Based on the results of the interviews, ‘magical expectations from parents’ is the most demanding predicament to deal with. The owners and managers also deemed that other dilemmas such as ‘competent and qualified teacher hunts’, ‘managerial and organisational responsibilities’ and ‘staying relevant in the industry are also the problems they encounter. Regardless of these challenges, they are facing, the owners and managers of the ECCE centres continue to be optimistic and positive in the journey they have embarked upon.

Since the turn of the 21st century, popular TV fiction in Malaysia has been thriving, popular, and critically-acclaimed due to their extensive local, national reach. Drawing more than one million viewers including staggering online reruns, this sheer popularity of some popular TV fiction has led to the questioning of issues that viewers can relate to. In this paper, we contextualize popular TV fiction within a space of cultural identities, focusing on audience-response analysis. Specifically, we argue that these popular TV fiction permit audience to communicate with images of social imaginary as seen in Julia, Adam & Hawa, and On Dhia, articulating issues related to controversies and taboo such as alcoholism and cohabitation. Through diverse audience voices captured from interviews and personal narratives, we will show how their reactions reveal the intricacies of dealing with Malay subjectivities. By telling their stories, we also show how these audience responses may reflect cracks and fractures, between what is supposed to be shown and the reality in which these expectations are translated in popular TV fiction.

The escalation of Malay television fiction (TV fiction, hereafter) series in recent years can be partly explained by TV producers tailoring their products to match the patterns of audience’s pleasure. Themes of love dominate the plots, and almost always the good is pitted against evil, rich against poor, where ultimately the good always wins. The formula may be clichéd, but in a world where news of war, terrorism, diseases, and conflicts often make the headlines, respite from harsh realities of life can often be found in TV fiction. This paper focuses on three TV series, Julia, On Dhia, and Adam & Hawa which draw over 11 million viewers in 2013 to study how these series highlight the return to the imaginary ‘good old days’ that reiterates Malay cultural identities. Specifically, despite their constant engagement with Western imposed modernization, the TV fiction set against the backdrop of globalization can encourage TV viewers to regress, re-routing their ways to rediscover their ‘local’ that is often dismissed, neglected, or forgotten. Premised on this postcolonial perspective, selected TV fiction’s narrative exchanges are analyzed using conversation analysis (Hutchby & Wooffitt, 2008). Drawing from theory of cultural hybridity, it is highlighted that these series show reversion to Malay adat (customs) in Julia, On Dhia, and Adam & Hawa, useful for understanding of the (re)making of Malayness. This regress to Malay adat through precepts of forgiveness and repentance governs the Malay Muslim worldviews; although the TV fiction set in modern settings can potentially disrupt and risk local sensitivities and norms, re-localization of Malayness holds that Malay subjects will remain allegiant to the receptacle of recognizable, local Malay tradition.

A good interview should be more like a guided conversation between an interviewer and an interviewee. It is key that the interviewer skillfully controls the conversation in order to obtain the desired information. The opening of an interview is considered an important part of any interview as it sets the tone for the rest of the interview. This paper reports on the discourse strategies employed by two daees (propagators of Islam) during a particular da’wah/Islamic propagation communicative event i.e. Conversion to Islam Ceremony Interview. The main objectives of the Conversion to Islam Ceremony Interview are to discover the potential converts’ feelings about their conversion to Islam, their knowledge about Islam and conversion to Islam and to rectify misunderstandings about conversion to Islam. The focus of the paper is on the opening of the interview, that is, the analysis of the spoken discourse strategies that the daees employ to open the interviews so as to create non-threatening atmosphere of interaction and tease out the required contextual information. Ethnography discourse analysis i.e. Ethnography of Speaking is used to analyze the interaction between the daees and the potential converts. The analysis reveals that during the opening of the interview the daees subtly bridge the gap by getting the names of the potential converts’ right, warm up the interview by asking general questions, and collect information and confirm a matter tactfully and swiftly by asking close-ended/yes-no questions

For a very long time, a section of western society has viewed that the Muslim community as the ‘racial Other’.Mashuq Ally (2011) argues that this notion is the result of the Western lopsided perception towards the non-whites and even more so when it comesto the Muslim women. Being the second Other (Beauvoir, 1949), Muslim women have to counter inaccurate notions about their perceived gender oppression as well as the lack of agency (to hear their voices). According to the Western feminist framework, Muslimwomen in hijab(the veiled women) are deemed as the victim of oppression and backwardness. Using Islamic feminism and postcolonial feminism theories as propounded by Asma Barlas, Leila Ahmed, and Margot Badran, the findings reveal that the framework (ijtihadand tafsirof Holy Quran and Hadith), have aptly supported the justification of the main character’s act in donning of the hijabas a symbol of Muslim identity that represents emancipation and empowerment.

Research by Fairclough (1992) and Van Dijk (2008), among others, have demonstrated that power can be illuminated through analyzing discourses. These discourses, according to Van Leeuwen (2007) and Wang (2006), have the precedence to control some of everyday, social, and public spheres. Following this premise, this paper examines how legitimation circulates power in selected decision-making scenes of a three-judge panel of a popular syndicated TV court show, Hot Bench. Premiered in 2014, Hot Bench draws over 2 million viewers in October 2014, jumping to staggering 2.5 million viewers in November 2014, making it one of the most watched syndicated legal reality TV programs in United States of America, with its second season renewed through 2017. Two objectives of this paper are set out; this paper firstly examines how organization and resolution of cases are generally settled and secondly, it analyzes two cases, defamation and personal property disputes. By analyzing conversations constructed by judges who deliberate verdicts in their chambers, this study which employs Van Leeuwen’s (2007) framework of legitimation concludes that the judges typically employ three types of legitimation- authorization, moral evaluation, and rationalization over the course of adjudicating TV court proceedings. This study ultimately contributes to the broader field of discourse analysis by presenting insights into the use of legitimation in legal reality TV programs and taps onto the belief that language, through discourse analysis, serves as a vehicle within which specific discourse community maintains power.

Considering the importance of tasks in promoting interaction and language learning, classroom-based research that investigates how communication language tasks could be used in a classroom to promote meaningful interaction and language learning is needed. This study explored language learning opportunities captured in learners’ oral interaction engaged in communication task completion. The investigation focused on the types of Language Related Episodes (LREs) generated by the participants and how the LREs might potentially contribute to language learning opportunities. Eighteen undergraduates in groups of three took part in the study. They were given two communication task types to complete (i.e. the jigsaw and the decision-making tasks). Learner interactions were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. The data sets comprised transcribed recordings of learner interactions and they were qualitatively analysed. Data was examined for the production of LREs identified in the learner interactions and instances of language learning opportunities that might occur during task completion. Findings revealed that the participants produced LREs during task completion for both communication task types. Further examination found that the major focus of the LREs was the lexical LREs. The findings suggest that language learning opportunities operationalised as LREs identified in the learner interactions could occur in tasks that were actually designed to improve fluency. The lexical LREs produced may offer occasions for language learning to emerge and opportunities for vocabulary development are a particularly favourable outcome.

Rohingya refugees are a group of people who does not only have well-founded fear that they cannot return home, but are afraid of challenges awaiting them in the host country. Due to their traumatic past experiences, the Rohingya refugees rely much on their own community specifically the community leaders for assistance. However, the lack of community leaders as well as deficient hierarchical engagement with the leaders have created more difficulties for the refugees to seek for help. Social navigation for survival becomes an issue not only because they have language barriers but also internal conflicts on the imagined terrains (the hopes) and the unexpected circumstances (the difficulties) they encounter in the host country. This study aims to develop a literacy training module for Rohingya youth refugees to become social navigators. These refugees are expected to provide horizontal (peer-like) engagement to their community. To meet the aim of the study, 15 Rohingya youth refugees were recruited using a snowball sampling technique. Both qualitative and quantitative data collection instruments were used: guided questionnaires, interviews and baseline tests. The themes from the data suggest that despite the challenges in language, the participants exhibited strong sense of brotherhood with other fellow refugees. Religion has developed a powerful bond that ignites their willingness to extend assistance to their community. However, the participants unfolded their uncertainties on the ways and resources available, to be of help. It is also apparent that, a conceptual framework suitable for this literacy training module for social navigation emerged from the overall data. The framework will serve as a guide to develop a Literacy Module to groom social navigators to help their people, the Rohingya refugees. Keywords: Literacy, Refugees, Rohingya, Social navigation

Within the context of reading in English, fluency plays an important role with regards to readers' reading comprehension performance. Deficit in reading fluency may affect the efficiency of phonological processing, which in turn affects reading comprehension performance. Within the realm of English as foreign language (EFL) reading, the role of reading fluency is of similar importance. Considering the significance of reading fluency within the context of EFL reading comprehension performance, the current pilot study attempted to analyze reading fluency performance in a non-rich target language environment for the purpose of informing EFL reading comprehension instruction with regards to reading fluency. The participant was a middle school aged, EFL reader who received EFL reading comprehension instruction for the period of seven years at the time the study was conducted but had never received phonics instruction. The data in this study were acquired within the period of two months. The data collection was spread within the period of two months in order to acquire standardized performance and to avoid contamination. Two reading fluency diagnosis instruments were used to evaluate the participant's fluency: Fluency rate per minute for grade-level and nongrade level texts and miscue analysis. The texts used in this study were the ones provided in Leslie and Caldwell's Qualitative Reading Inventory IV. The findings show that although the participant in this study had never received any phonics instruction, he was not able to read at the grade-level and above grade-level fluency rates. The findings from the miscue analysis show that the participant was not able to meet the required grade-level accuracy. The findings are discussed within the realm of reading instruction in the foreign language reading context and with regards to their implications in EFL reading comprehension instruction.

Unemployability among graduates has become one of the greatest concerns of the education ministry in Malaysia. One reason is that graduates lack the potential skills listed by the Malaysian industries. This study focuses on one of the hard skills listed, curriculum vitae (CV) writing. The study proposed a shift from the conventional written CV to a digital video CV. Such proposal could support the ministry’s shifts in embedding technology-based tasks into the 4.0 classroom. Using a heutagogical approach in the English for Professionals course, learners were required to prepare a 2-minute digital video CV, which was then posted in Padlet. Through the task, the researcher aimed at exploring learners’ perceptions of the learning task of creating a digital video CV and gather their perceptions of the conduciveness of creating the digital video CV for future employment. By employing a quantitative approach, learners were required to answer an online 5-point Likert-type survey, which was analysed using Microsoft Excel. The findings showed that most of the participants agreed that the task was not only fun, interesting, and enjoyable, but also challenging, creativity-driven, and knowledge-seeking. Concerning the workforce, majority of the participants felt that the task made them work-ready, exposed them to multiple online tools, became more independent and critical as they employed different higher-order thinking skills when completing the task. Future research should apply the heutagogical approach so that learners are more independent towards their learning and focus on the hard and/or soft skills required in graduates, making them more marketable.