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 the 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. 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. Data were collected from interviews and supplemental written records in the form of lesson plans, teaching evidence, and online tools employed for teaching and learning. 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. Their successes in delivering the lessons amidst the novel encounters are the epitome of resilient and flexible teachers in the making.

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.

This study was an impetus from the experiences of two Malaysian students who embarked on a credit transfer programme to Universitas Islam Negeri Walisongo, Indonesia. The programme was to uphold the Internationalisation of Education (ILe) as proposed by a public university in Malaysia. The aim of the study was to explicate the successes and challenges that the students had endeavoured during the programme for 6 months. The methods employed were document analysis and interview. The data were collected via learning journal entries which the students submitted through email to be compiled by the researchers as well as their final report which was submitted at the end of the programme. In order to triangulate the data, they were then interviewed once they came back to Malaysia. The data from both methods were analysed thematically following Merriam’s (2009) two-level analysis. Four themes emerged from the data – experiences, public relations, independence and communication skills. Each of the theme details both successes and challenges. These findings provide input for a draft of guidelines for any faculty or university to conduct a credit transfer programme in the future.

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.

The role and position of the English language within the higher education has increasingly plays 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. This study seeks to understand 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. 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.. Findings of the study provides in-depth insights of the challenges faced, and the language literacy practices needed in meeting the expectations of potential employers of the required English language skills to be used at workplace.

In 2020 the world was shaken by COVID-19 pandemic that technically changed the way the world works in almost all domains from business, governance, education, and lifestyles. As the pandemic spreads globally, with little signs for improvement, the world has made adjustments to live with the virus. The education sector suddenly shifted from face-to-face and blended learning classes to full online class. This paper explores the experiences of several tertiary students’ online learning experiences with two objectives: discovering their initial expectations towards online learning as well as investigating the challenges encountered by the students in online learning. The research design of the current study is a case study involving seven tertiary students who were enrolled in English language degree in a public university in Malaysia. Data were collected through essay and semi-structured interviews. Due to the COVID-19 restrictions, all interviews were conducted using several online platforms. Data was then analysed using a thematic analysis using qualitative data analysis software; Atlas-ti. The findings show that the students had a positive presumption about online learning initially but was struck with the harsh realities of online learning afterwards. Among the challenges they faced were lack of physical touch, solitary learning, and issues with technological aspects. The findings are crucial to understand the obstacles faced by our learners in grasping with online learning, and with this understanding several practical steps can be taken to overcome the said issues.

Religious beliefs, spirituality and coping by turning to God. All are a struggle both for us who counsel and those whom we counsel. Currently, there is little evidence that concepts of spirituality are consistently being integrated into counseling. This paper illustrates the importance of integrating spirituality into counseling in the context of Malaysia as well as issues and challenges that may be faced by counselors. Suggestions and recommendations is provided. It is hoped that such recommendations will help in maximizing the effectiveness of counseling and draw the attention to necessary changes to be implemented. One of the major concerns in the ESL classroom is the lack of critical responses/voice of the ESL learners. The \"missing voice\" brings a gap in the knowledge and language acquisition in the ESL classroom. Among the reasons that inhibit the students\' personal expressions are their lack of critical reflections/analyses and their inability to structure their ideas/opinions. This paper will show a technique that combines the use of print (a short story) and visual (a movie) text to generate Critical Thinking and how to use the texts as exemplification materials in the ESL classroom. This is based on the perception that fiction not only engages students and entices them to read, but also builds critical thinking and writing skills (Boyd, 2004). Nuraihan and Zamnah (2004) assert that the background, characters and their motives are among those that invite critical inquiry and interpretation. It is hoped that this paper is able to highlight the potentials of intertextuality to affect the students both at their intellectual and personal levels as to prompt the desired critical response and to later initiate critical analyses and reflections.

21st Century Learning has commonly been directed to optimise learners’ acquisition of knowledge and skills. However, less emphasis is placed on the 21st century skills needed by the teachers, particularly in the teaching of Islamic Religious Studies which emphasises the integration of Naqli and Aqli knowledge. Saavedra and Opfer (2012) propose these nine pedagogical elements of 21stCentury Skills required for the 21stCentury Teaching; Making it relevant, teaching through the disciplines, developing thinking skills, Encouraging learning transfer, Teaching students how to learn, Addressing misunderstandings directly, Treating teamwork like an outcome, Exploiting technology to support learning and Fostering creativity. This paper investigated the knowledge, skills of 21st Century learning and the Naqli-Aqli knowledge that teacher trainees impart in their practicum training. Analysis is based on 21 Reflective Journals written by 21 pre-service teachers during their 4-month Practicum Training in public secondary national schools. Through rich and exclusive data, findings indicate that the teacher trainees to some extent did adopt some of these pedagogical elements as well as the integration of Naqli-Aqli knowledge. It is hoped that this paper is able to reveal some insights in understanding the issues of implementing 21st Century Learning and integrating the Naqli-Aqli knowledge in classrooms.

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.

One of the major concerns in the ESL classroom is the lack of critical responses of the ESL learners. This brings a gap in the knowledge and language acquisition in the ESL classroom. This study is carried out to see if the use of intertextuality of print (a short story) and visual (a movie) text is able to assist ESL learners in generating Critical Thinking. A study was carried out with 40 ESL students of Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia, where the experimental group was exposed to both the print and visual text, while the control group was exposed to just the print text. The Bloom's Taxonomy of Higher Thinking Model was used to analyze the critical thinking ability of both the experimental and the control group. To triangulate the findings, the experimental group was required to answer a set of questionnaire. This study was able to highlight the potentials of intertextuality to affect the students both at their intellectual and personal levels as to prompt the desired critical responses and to later initiate critical analyses and reflections. The finding also showed that the experifnental group has positive perspectives regarding the use of intertextuality in ESL classroom.

Hybrid learning has been a common choice of teaching and learning method since the world was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021. Most schools and higher education institutions all over the world opted for Hybrid learning. Now that the pandemic has subsided, many still decide to continue using Hybrid learning.Hybrid learning combines both online and face-to-face learning. Among the objectives of this study are to identify the challenges that students faced in Hybrid learning as well as to discover some alternatives to improve Hybrid learning in USIM. A questionnaire was distributed to 74 USIM undergraduates. Various positive and interesting responses received from the survey conducted in order to learn the students’ insights of Hybrid learning in USIM. It is hoped that some of the weaknesses highlighted will be given attention and improvement for the betterment of Hybrid learning in USIM in the future.

Introduction- This study was an impetus from the experiences of two Malaysian students who embarked on a credit transfer programme to Universitas Islam Negeri Walisongo, Indonesia. The programme was to uphold the Internationalisation of Education (ILe) as proposed by a public university in Malaysia. Oral and written reports presented by returning ILe students often highlighted the difficulties leading to miscommunication in mingling with the locals as well as adapting to foreign culture. Purpose – The aim of the study was to explicate the successes and challenges that the students had endeavoured during the programme for 6 months Methodology – The methods employed were document analysis and interview. The data were collected via learning journal entries which the students submitted through email to be compiled by the researchers as well as their final report which was submitted at the end of the programme. In order to triangulate the data, they were then interviewed once they came back to Malaysia. Findings –The data from both methods were analysed thematically following Merriam’s (2009) two-level analysis. Four themes emerged from the data – experiences, public relations, independence and communication skills. Each of the theme details both successes and challenges. Significance – These findings provide input for a draft of guidelines for any faculty or university to conduct a credit transfer programme in the future.