Malaysian English Research Articles

CHARACTERISTICS OF CLASSROOM INTERACTION OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS IN INDONESIA AND MALAYSIA

This study investigates characteristics of classroom interaction of English language teachers in Indonesia and Malaysia, focusing on language accuracy and classroom discourse. A qualitative method was employed in this study while the data was gathered through observation of six teaching sessions of English language teaching in secondary schools, involving three selected Indonesian teachers and three selected Malaysian teachers. The findings reveal that all teachers performed two characteristics of classroom interaction namely language accuracy and classroom discourse. In teachers’ language accuracy, the Indonesian and Malaysian teachers delivered pronunciation, vocabulary, instructions, questions, explanations, eliciting information, use of L1, and correction of language errors. They also applied monologue, dialogue, restructure discourse, fill gaps for students lack of language, use of L1/L2 both teachers and students, accepting incomplete answers from students, and accepting one word answers. These categories improved the quality of teacher-student and student-student interaction. Therefore, the findings might be implemented more widely to enrich both Indonesian and Malaysian English language teachers.

UNDERSTANDING MALAYSIAN ENGLISH (MANGLISH) JARGON IN SOCIAL MEDIA

The advent of the internet, mobile communication and media has created a new form of language such as Slang, Emoticons, Hashtag and Abbreviation as well as a combination of several languages in one word. Some go to the extent of localizing foreign language. In Malaysia, a new trend of using social media language is called Manglish, a mix language of Malay and English words that are popularized by social media users. Based on initial findings, the use of Malaysian English (Manglish) jargon can lead to confusion and miscommunication between social media users of different generations. Even though there are various translation software available, no online Manglish Jargon translator is available at present. Therefore, this work proposes the development of Manglish Jargon Translator that will reduce the miscommunication gap between social media users of all ages. Interview and survey instruments were conducted to capture user requirement and as part of the Manglish Jargon validation process. As a result, the Manglish Jargon translator was developed to further clarify Manglish Jargon terms, actual words, meanings and definitions

E-Learning Tutoring System for Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) English

An E-Learning tutoring system for English (SPM) is an e-learning platform for Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia English subject. E-learning is a web based application that supports the delivery of learning, skills and knowledge related to the English subject in SPM. E-learning use the technology to enable people to learn anytime and anywhere. Besides, it is developed with the purpose to evaluate student’s performance through an online quiz. Nowadays, tuition center have a lot of students, hence insufficient time to analyze the individual performance in learning English. In addition, e-learning is able to reduce the printing cost and administrative cost at the same time reducing usage of paper and printed materials associate in learning. The system developed by using Javascript and PHP language based on system prototyping methodology. The result will produce student’s performance in monthly quiz and teacher are able to monitor the performance of each students. Although the development or this e-learning is based on requirement gathered via tuition center, however it can be proposed to be by any learning center or to self-study. It is hoped that this e-learning will be able to improve student knowledge in English language and subsequently help student to obtain the best result in SPM by providing more guided references and practices.

Persistent Monologicality amidst Variation in Teachers’ Questioning Practices in Malaysian English Language Classrooms

This video study examines teachers’ questioning practices in English language classrooms in Malaysia, and how different types of questions, wait time, and reaction moves influence classroom interaction. The study found that although there was an overarching monologicality across all classrooms, teachers’ questioning practices were not limited to the typical, monologic mixture of display questions, non-existent or short wait time, and/or reaction moves which could obstruct student talk. There were also opportunities for dialogicality initiated through teachers’ employment of referential questions, longer wait time, and/or reaction moves which could facilitate advanced student talk, but monologicality in classroom interaction persisted. Such observation directs our attention to the understanding and further contemplation that nurturing dialogicality is not a mere issue of strategy use.

Representational Meanings of Gender Stereotyped Professional Occupation Images in Selected Malaysian English Language Textbooks

The main objective of this study is to examine and reveal images of gender-stereotyped occupations from primary school English textbooks and uncover gendered attributes from these images. Images in the textbooks are investigated based on how representational meanings reveal agentic and communal qualities. Images were analysed through identifying patterns and relationships of images to attributes from Social Role Theory. Stereotyped images were identified through links and associations from Atlas.ti software that connected images with characteristics and meanings. This study found 126 images represented in professional occupations and 81 images represented in non-professional occupations. Results showed that occupational images of males were linked to more self-assertive and agentic qualities while females were portrayed with more caring, communal qualities. Social semiotic analysis revealed that more males were shown as professionals such as architects, and doctors whereas females are more portrayed with professional occupations such as nurses and teachers, and non-professional males were also included with agentic qualities, portrayed by farmers and firefighters. This study asserts that a more gender-equitable solution would be to give children a wider range of portrayals of men and women in order to communicate gender norms to children. Parents, caretakers, teachers and schools also have responsibilities towards boys and girls in that they ensure learning happens in an environment that they do not give out messages, subliminal or otherwise that there are subjects that are only particular to boys and only particular to girls. Apart from teachers, this is particularly true also for parents, family members and caretakers where they may be directly influencing children who are in their care towards gender stereotypical subject choice all throughout the children’s schooling life in the home environment. Furthermore, parents, teachers and schools must cooperate together to encourage boys and girls at an early age to be interested in non-stereotypical options in subject choice. Keywords: gender roles; occupations; agentic; communal; textbooks; socio-semiotics; social role theory

Intonation patterns of questions in Malaysian English

ABSTRACTThis article examines the intonation patterns used by Malaysian English (MalE) speakers when asking ‘wh-’ questions and ‘yes/no’ questions. Analysis on recordings of Malay, Chinese and Indian speakers revealed similar patterns in the intonation patterns of MalE wh- questions and yes/no questions regardless of the ethnicity of the speaker: wh- questions and yes/no questions tended to start with a level tone; yes/no questions ended with rises, while wh- questions ended with either falls or rises. These patterns cannot merely be attributed to the influence of the speakers’ first languages nor were they learner errors. However, whether these features are accepted as norms of MalE pronunciation will, to a certain extent, be dependent on the perception of MalE among Malaysians, which at the current point in time is generally inconsistent.

The Inclusion of Literature Components in Malaysian English Papers: the Challenges and Pros in Teaching and Learning

The low proficiency attainment in English language among Malaysian learners has been given main attention in Malaysia Ministry of Education’s plan to further improve education. Part of the plan is by introducing literature components in the teaching and learning of English language curriculum. This has immediately changed the scenario of teaching and learning in English language classroom. This paper will review past studies related to the implementation of Literature component in English language by looking specifically at the teacher’s roles since teachers are the direct factor contributor in learners’ process of learning and teaching. Apart of roles in the learning process, teachers’ approaches employed in teaching literature component will be critically reviewed in this paper and suitable approaches available in teaching literature in English will be put forward.

Effect of Oral Communication Strategies Training on the Development of Malaysian English as a Second Language Learners’ Strategic Competence

This study investigates the use of oral communication strategy instruction on English as a Second Language (ESL) learners’ oral communicative performance and their strategic competence. The treatment involved 12 weeks of training using oral communication strategies such as circumlocution, appeal for help, clarification request, fillers, comprehension check, confirmation checks, self-repair and topic avoidance. Strategies were integrated into the learners’ Communicative English 2 Course syllabus with Mechanical Engineering content. The study involved two intact control (n=34) and experimental groups (n=54). The control group only received the normal Communicative English course with no explicit focus on communication strategies (CS) while the experimental group received CS training designed with metacognitive strategies. Pre and posttest procedures were used to assess the effectiveness of the training and learners’ strategic competence. Five instruments were used to collect the data (oral proficiency test, oral communication test, transcripts of oral communication test, unstructured interview and self-report). The findings revealed that the experimental group significantly outperformed the control group after the training and the learners’ self-reports also revealed positive results. The results also revealed that the learners frequently used literal translation from their first language in their communication.

APPROACH AND DESIGN: A METHOD ANALYSIS OF EFL READING COMPREHENSION INSTRUCTION

There is an ongoing phenomenon among non-English speaking students, particularly at the university level who struggle with reading in English in content areas. One way to alleviate reading problems in English language among non-native speaking students is by ensuring that the English language reading curriculum is coherent at all levels. The purpose of the present study was to explore the type of (EFL) reading comprehension instruction reflected in the Malaysian English language reading curriculum at the levels of Approach and Design, and its alignment with the communicative label. The data for the study were collected from two main curriculum documents, which were the Form Five English Language Curriculum Specifications document and the Form Five English language textbook. A document review was conducted in order to obtain the data, which were in the form of reading tasks elicited from the selected curriculum documents. Manifest content analysis was used to analyze the data. The findings show that non-communicative whole Language instructional approach was the most prominent type of second language acquisition (SLA) instructional approach while for the second language reading instructional approach, the non-interactive reading instructional approach was highly reflected with teacher role primarily inferred as a director. The findings suggest that the instructional approaches reflected in the Malaysian secondary English language reading curriculum is not in alignment with the communicative grounding as an approach to instruction.

Conjunctive Adjuncts in Undergraduate ESL Essays in Malaysia: Frequency and Manner of Use


 This paper applies Halliday’s systemic functional grammar to examine the ways conjunctive adjuncts are used in the written English of Malaysian undergraduates. Student essays selected from the Malaysian English Corpus were examined with the focus on cohesion in the light of a preliminary study of the texts which pointed to the insufficient or inappropriate use of cohesive devices. The aim is to find out what conjunctive adjuncts are used and how they are used in linking successive sentences in text. In addition to the usual grammatical problems, these students had difficulty in using conjunctive adjuncts effectively in paragraphs, and left sentences juxtaposed in inappropriate ways. Only a small part of the range of cohesive devices available in English was used at all, and much of what was used was incorrect or otherwise unsuitable.

Negativity as Criteria for Newsworthiness in Malaysian Newspaper Sports Corpus

This study is an attempt to identify criteria for newsworthiness in Malaysian sports newspapers. It also seeks to find out how the media shapes the perception of Malaysians through sports news stories. Employing a corpus-based approach, with The Reuters Corpus Volume 1 and Malaysian English Sports News Corpus, the researchers of the study conducted a thematic analysis to look for recurring patterns that would detect the criteria for newsworthiness in the headlines and content of the corpus. It was found that football dominates the pages of the newspaper, and negativity, reference to elite people and nations are the most prominent news values. The patterns of language reveal a very negative sports world in which achievement and winning are stressed at all cost. Players and coaches are pressured to do well or they risk losing their jobs. Scandals are running rampant in the sports world as cases of corruption, drug abuse and bad behaviors among athletes and coaches are consistently reported in the news. Following McKane’s (2014) categorization of newsworthiness criteria, and using snowballing sampling method, 85 UKM students were asked to show their criteria for newsworthiness on a questionnaire, which resulted in a mismatch between the news stories and the readers’ expectations.

Local Features of English Pronunciation: To Embrace or Ignore in the ELT Classroom?

English around the world is spoken in a multitude of accents, and this includes spoken Standard English. Yet, in some ELT contexts, there is still a fixation with using a native model of pronunciation. Such targets do not tend to take into consideration local English pronunciation features. This leads to either the teaching of English pronunciation being largely ignored in the classroom, or in teachers attempting to teach features that students are unlikely to hear in the local contexts. In this paper, I will explore some of the features of pronunciation in Malaysian English, and show how these do not align with the curriculum specifications for pronunciation. I will then discuss how teachers in other ELT contexts can deal with these issues in the classroom.

Globalization and the Teaching and Learning of English in Malaysia

Globalization and the Teaching and Learning of English in Malaysia

Linguistic Features of Malaysian Students’ Online Communicative Language in an Academic Setting: The Case of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

Social media have gained astounding worldwide growth and popularity and have become prominent in the life of many young people today. According to various research studies in the field of online social networks, social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Whatsapp are greatly impacting the lives of youths. These sites have provided a platform whereby the young can create groups based on their common interests and build connections by updating various topics to discuss. However, with social media taking up such a large space in our lives, there is a concern as to whether it is impacting our communicative language; more importantly, our youth’s communicative language. In view of this phenomenon, this article is an attempt to add to the understanding of online communicative language used by youths in social media. Specifically, it reports on the linguistic features of online communicative language used by youths in an academic setting in Facebook. This study employed two research tools, namely Virtual Ethnography and Content Analysis. Data collected was in the form of screen captures and snippets of conversations. Content Analysis was employed to look into the occurrences of languages in contact in phenomena such as code mixing, code switching and borrowings of certain words from the first language-second language and vice versa. The findings of the study indicate that the language used by the participants on Facebook consists of a mixture of code switching, code mixing, fillers, emoticons, spelling modifications, foreign language words and colloquial Malaysian English. Keywords: Online communicative language; social networking space; Facebook; academic setting; linguistic features Abstrak Media sosial telah tumbuh dengan pesatnya di seluruh dunia dan popularitinya telah menyebabkan ia telah menjadi sebahagian daripada kehidupan anak muda masa kini. Menurut pelbagai kajian penyelidikan di dalam bidang rangkaian sosial atas talian, laman media sosial seperti Facebook, Twitter dan Whatsapp begitu memberi impak kepada kehidupan golongan muda. Laman-laman ini telah menyediakan satu platform di mana golongan belia boleh melibatkan diri dalam kumpulan yang mempunyai minat yang sama dari segi disiplin atau bidang dengan mengemaskini pelbagai topik untuk perbincangan atas talian. Namun, disebabkan media sosial telah mengambil ruang yang besar dalam kehidupan kita, timbul kebimbangan mengenai impaknya terhadap bahasa komunikasi kita; terutamanya bahasa komunikasi belia kita. Berdasarkan kepada fenomena ini, makalah ini merupakan satu usaha untuk menambahkan pemahaman bahasa komunikasi atas talian yang digunakan oleh belia di media sosial. Secara khusus, makalah ini akan melaporkan tentang ciri-ciri linguistik bahasa komunikasi atas talian yang digunakan oleh belia dalam suasana akademik di Facebook. Kajian ini menggunakan dua kaedah penyelidikan, iaitu Etnografi Maya dan Analisis Kandungan. Data yang dikumpul adalah dalam bentuk tangkapan skrin dan coretan dalam perbualan. Analisis Kandungan digunakan untuk meneliti penggunaan bahasa dalam fenomena percampuran kod, penukaran kod dan pinjaman kata-kata tertentu daripada bahasa pertama-bahasa kedua dan sebaliknya. Dapatan kajian menunjukkan bahawa bahasa yang digunakan oleh para peserta di Facebook terdiri daripada campuran daripada penukaran kod, campuran kod, kata-kata pengisi, emotikon, pengubahsuaian ejaan, perkataan bahasa asing dan bahasa pasar Bahasa Inggeris. Kata kunci: Bahasa komunikasi atas talian; ruangan rangkaian sosial; Facebook; persekitaran akademik; ciri-ciri linguistik

Frequency Analysis of Academic Words in Malaysian Secondary School English as Second Language Textbooks: A Corpus Study

The development of Academic Word List (AWL) has raised awareness on the usefulness of general academic vocabulary among English as second language (ESL) learners especially in expanding their vocabulary size as well as constructing strong academic language foundation for their university education. This highlights the relevancy and necessity of AWL embedment into ESL reading materials such as textbooks frequently used by learners in their language studies prior to the start of their tertiary study. In this study, we conducted a corpus-based research on the current English language textbooks used in Malaysian secondary schools in order to inspect whether similar standing on the importance of academic words were shared by the authors of the textbooks through the inclusion of the AWL into the textbooks corpus. Using the Range software, the data analysis revealed that 480 (84%) out of 570 AWL words were found in the corpus. However the findings on the frequency of each of the AWL words showed that only 237 (41.6%) word families occurred at least 10 times while the rest consist of 333 word families (58.4%) are found either occurring on average frequency between five to nine times, between one to four times or not found at all in the textbook corpus. These findings indicate the lack of frequency of academic words in the Malaysian English Language Textbooks corpus. Without adequate exposure to academic words, students would not be able to acquire the words fully before the start of their undergraduate studies. Thus, the current textbooks must to be updated to meet the learners’ academic words needs.

THE MALAYSIAN SECONDARY SCHOOL EFL SPEAKING CURRICULUM: A THEORETICAL FOUNDATION ALIGNMENT ANALYSIS

Goal–achieving curricular are often coherent at their fundamental level. In order for a curriculum to achieve its goals, it is imperative that the curriculum is coherent at all levels. The contents presented in a curriculum must align with its theoretical underpinning. The present Malaysian English language curriculum is developed and designed based on the Communicative Language Teaching (CLT). Thus, the purpose of the current study was to examine if the theoretical grounding of the Malaysian form five English language curriculum, in particular the speaking curriculum, is in alignment with its communicative label. In line with its label, the speaking curriculum embedded in the Malaysian form five English language curriculum should be developed and designed based on the CLT. It should reflect the CLT approach. The data for this study were collected from the Form Five English Language Curriculum Specifications document and the Form Five English Language textbook. In analyzing the alignment of the Malaysian form five English language speaking curriculum with the communicative approach, the data were categorized under major second language acquisition (SLA) theories and second language (L2) speaking theories. The findings show that the socio-cognitive and socio-cultural theories are highly reflected in the Malaysian form five English Language speaking curriculum, the two theories which are closely related to the communicative approach. This shows that the Malaysian form five English language speaking curriculum is primarily in alignment with its communicative label. The findings are discussed in relation to their implications on English as a foreign language (EFL) speaking instruction.

Validation and reliability of the Malaysian English version of the psychosocial impact of dental aesthetics questionnaire for adolescents

BackgroundThe Malay version of the Psychosocial Impact of Dental Aesthetics Questionnaire has been validated for use by Malaysian adolescents. Although Malay is their national language, English is widely used as the lingua franca among Malaysians of different ethnicities. This study aimed to validate an English version of the PIDAQ adapted for use by Malaysian adolescents to optimize data capture from adolescents who prefer English as the medium for communication.MethodsThe published English version of PIDAQ was pilot tested on 12- to 17-year-old adolescents, resulting in a few modifications to suit the Malaysian variety of English. Psychometric properties were tested on 393 adolescents who attended orthodontic practices and selected schools. Malocclusion was assessed using the Malocclusion Index, an aggregation of Perception of Occlusion Scale and the Aesthetic Component of the Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need, by the subjects (MI-S) and investigators (MI-D). Data were analysed for internal consistency and age-associated invariance, discriminant, construct and criterion validities, reproducibility and floor and ceiling effects using AMOS v.20 and SPSS v.20.ResultsThe item Don’t like own teeth on video of the Aesthetic Concern (AC) subscale was not relevant to a large proportion of participants (11.7%). Therefore, it was removed and the Malaysian English PIDAQ was analysed based on 22 items instead of 23 items. Confirmatory factor analysis showed good fit statistics (comparative fit index: 0.902, root-mean-square error of approximation: 0.066). Internal consistency was good for the Dental Self-Confidence, Social Impact and Psychological Impact subscales (Cronbach’s alpha: 0.70-0.95) but lower (0.52–0.62) though acceptable for the AC subscale as it consisted of only 2 items. The reproducibility test was acceptable (intra-class correlations: 0.53–0.78). For all PIDAQ subscales, the MI-S and MI-D scores of those with severe malocclusion differed significantly from those with no or slight malocclusion. There were significant associations between the PIDAQ subscales with ranking of perceived dental appearance, need for braces and impact of malocclusion on daily activities. There were no floor or ceiling effects.ConclusionThe adapted Malaysian English PIDAQ demonstrated adequate psychometric properties that are valid and reliable for assessment of psychological impacts of dental aesthetics among Malaysian adolescents.

Agenda Setting Theory and International News: A Comparative Analysis of News Articles Coverage on Iraq War in Malaysian English Newspapers

The main purpose of the paper is to discuss the application of Agenda Setting Theory in the publication of news about Iraq war in - the New Straits Times press (NSTP) and the Star. This study examines a longitudinal content analysis of 535 news through three periods (before, during and after the occupation of Iraq). The result of this study shows that NSTP gave more emphasis to the issue of the policy of unipolar for the United States while the Star gave more emphasis to the issue of Iraqi suffering. Thus, this study can shed some light on how Eastern country views Iraq and this perhaps could help Iraq reform its image by expanding the scope of diplomatic, business and cultural actions. This study provides support to the theoretical proposition that the media are not successful in telling the audience what to think, but it is stunningly successful in telling the audience what to think about (first level of Agenda Setting). This study also provides support to the theoretical proposition that differences in media organizations have profound impact on how the important issues are framed.

The Lingua Franca Core and Englishes in East and Southeast Asia

It has been argued, especially by Jenkins (2000, 2007), that it should not be the goal of learners to imitate speakers from the UK or USA. Instead, they should aim to achieve mutual intelligibility with other speakers of English as a Lingua Franca from around the world. This led her to propose the Lingua Franca Core, an inventory of pronunciation features that she suggests are necessary for maintaining intelligibility in international communication, while features outside the core are unimportant. However, the Lingua Franca Core remains controversial. This paper presents an overview of the pronunciation features of four varieties of English in the Outer Circle (using the Three Circles model of Kachru, 1985), Brunei English, Hong Kong English, Malaysian English and Singapore English, and one variety in the Expanding Circle, Chinese English, to assess the implications of the Lingua Franca Core for these varieties that have developed their own styles of pronunciation that increasingly distinguish them from Inner Circle styles of pronunciation.Â

Range of Use, Nativisation and Acceptability in Malaysian English

Malaysian English grammar is claimed to contain localised, non-standard features that exist alongside exonormative counterparts. Taking diffusion of such features as an indicator of nativisation, this study argues that this process is influenced not by proficiency and language use alone, but also by the uses to which the language is put, i.e. range of use. One way to prove this is to measure diffusion of features among proficient speakers whose ranges of use vary considerably. In this paper, I present findings from a survey of acceptability of 11 deviant grammatical features adapted from Bautista (2004) and 28 divided usages adapted from Lee and Collins (2006). Comparing two groups of proficient speakers – one of wide range users, and the other of non-wide range ones – the study found that the wide range users tended to have more liberal attitudes towards non-standard grammatical features than their non-wide range counterparts. Given the high acceptability levels shown by these acrolectal speakers in formal contexts, the findings suggest that such speakers bear some influence on the nativisation of these features as well as their pathways to standardisation.Â