In the new digital age, educational technology has been commonly integrated to improve educational practices. Despite the existence of basic facilities in secondary schools of Libya, the use of technology has not been officially encouraged and practiced by instructors. Likewise, there is no empirical account on how technology implementation could improve secondary school students’ writing performance. This study aimed to explore how students’ engagement in a Station Rotation Model (SRM) using a blended learning approach, could improve their writing performance. This study employed a quasi-experimental design, which includes 51 second-graders for the experimental (26 students) and control group (25 students) in a Libyan secondary state school in Alkhoms, Libya. The comparison of the students’ pre-test and post-test writing scores on a 300-word essay indicated a significant improvement in their performance. This study employed a qualitative instrument to investigate students’ per.....

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This study aimed to investigate the students’ perception of using Google classroom and the challenges they faced during the COVID-19 Pandemic lockdown. This researcher used quantitative approach; the instrument used for survey is questionnaire and was prepared by Google Form and distributed via social media such as Telegram, Facebook and Whatsapp. Sample for the study comprised of 133 secondary school students from a district in Johor. The students were 13-17 years old with intermediate English language proficiency. The findings revealed that the students find Google classroom was easy and convenient to use. However, the findings indicated that they lack knowledge of the usefulness of the features. The instability of internet connection and financial issue in paying for the internet connection were challenges reported by the students and these issues affect the implementation of the online teaching and learning process. The findings from this study are important for both teachers and.....

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This study aimed at investigating the willingness to communicate (WTC) in English among Pharmacy undergraduates in various contexts. The study also aimed to see the relationship between WTC in English and the respondents’ language learning motivation. The data for this study was extracted from 75 Pharmacy undergraduates who have undergone their practical sessions at selected pharmacies by using a questionnaire. The study opted for a quantitative method and the questions asked were adapted from McCroskey (1992) and Lambert’s Attitude Motivation Test Battery (1987) to collect the respondents’ responses. Based on the overall score, it is clear that Pharmacy undergraduates are less willing to communicate in English despite being exposed to it since primary school. However, they are keen to communicate in English on specific situations such as when they are surrounded with familiar acquaintances. Nevertheless, the Pharmacy undergraduates have a high level of language learning motivati.....

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In this review, we aim to elaborate on research on mobile use and language learning/teaching and suggest the most fruitful research approach that can help in cultivating this area. The studies carried out on mobile use in language teaching and learning process have been introduced and critically analyzed with respect to three broad areas including pedagogical role of mobiles, sociocultural role of mobiles and different stakeholders’ perception of mobile use in the language teaching and learning process. In this paper, we argue that previous research on the use of mobiles in the process of learning has not taken all aspects into account to give us a clear picture of how mobile learning works. In addition, the psychological influence of mobile learning on students’ language learning is largely ignored. As such, the socio-cultural ecology approach is recommended as an efficient approach for doing research in this field. Finally, further research gaps are mentioned to be considered in .....

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Kajian ini bertujuan untuk mengenal pasti kebolehan guru untuk mengaplikasikan unsur kecindan secara bersahaja, mengenal pasti strategi pengajaran, media pengajaran dan jenis-jenis gaya pengajaran guru yang digabung jalin dengan unsur kecindan untuk merangsang afektif dan kognitif murid. Selain itu, kajian ini turut mengenal pasti jenisjenis unsur kecindan sebagai perangsang afektif dan kognitif murid dalam pengajaran dan pembelajaran Komponen Sastera bahasa Melayu. Kajian kualitatif yang melibatkan kaedah temu bual, pemerhatian dan analisis dokumen digunakan dalam kajian ini. Pemilihan sampel bertujuan melibatkan 15 guru bahasa Melayu menengah atas dan 10 orang murid tingkatan empat di dua buah sekolah menengah. Tiga kaedah pengumpulan data digunakan, iaitu protokol temu bual, borang pengekodan dokumen dan nota kajian lapangan. Selain teori-teori kecindan (Teori Inkongruitui, Teori Kelegaan dan Teori Superioriti), Teori Pembelajaran Berasaskan Minda yang menghubungkan bada.....

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This research aimed to prepare, characterise and study the effectiveness of two magnetic graphene oxide-based nanocomposites, namely gellan gum-graphene oxide (GG-GO-Fe3O4) and pectin-graphene oxide (PEC-GO-Fe3O4) as nanocarriers for permethrin and cinnamaldehyde insecticide compounds. This research is divided into three parts, namely preparation, characterisation and effectiveness studies. Nanocomposites with amorphous structure were successfully produced based on the existence of conjugation mechanism between GG and PEC with iron oxide at wavenumber peak 650 cm-1. Results from thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) have shown that the nanocomposites loaded with insecticides are thermally stable. Performance study of nanocomposites loaded with insecticides towards Aedes aegypti larvae was analysed through Abbott’s and Probit’s formula via in vitro at different pH using ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectrometer. The encapsulation o.....

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Making errors is considered to be an integral part of language learning process. Therefore, it is of paramount importance that different types and sources of students’ errors be identified. The present study aimed to examine the types and sources of errors in a corpus of essays written by 40 Iranian university students. They were given a title and asked to write an essay having at least 150 words. Based on Keshavarz’s (2013) model for error analysis, the errors made by the students were identified and tabulated according to their frequency. Moreover, the errors were classified into intralingual and interlingual ones. The results of the study indicated that the participants made 404 different errors among them, 71.88% were caused by interlingual interference, and 23.84% of them were caused by intralingual factors. The results of the study can be informative for EFL teachers to be aware of the frequency and different types of learners’ errors in EFL writing classes and the reasons .....

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Malaysian undergraduates have been facing writing difficulties as a result of lacking effective guidance tools in upskilling English writing and activating thinking skills. Failing to achieve writing competency, the problems extend to the high unemployment rate among fresh graduates. This paper proposes using Frangenheim’s Thinking Skills Framework (TSF) to improve university students’ academic writing proficiency. 60 students were selected to undergo a 6-week quasi-experiment to investigate the effectiveness of the TSF on academic writing and focus group discussions were held to explore students’ perceptions on utilizing the TSF in writing processes. The results of the study confirmed the positive effect of using the TSF in improving students’ academic writing and promoting the use of Higher-Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) throughout the writing process. Findings reveal students’ perceptions on the TSF: an effective guidance tool with various writing strategies, comprises clues.....

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Poetry, as political activism, has been extensively tailored by the poets that choose to enlighten the reality of the social issues in a nation. However, the translatability of poetic activism may come into question, as language is closely linked to the poet’s personal or cultural background and the way of expression. This paper explored the strategies used in the translation of ‘Sahabatku (Kepada Dr M K Rajakumar)’, a Malay poem by Usman Awang, translated into English by Wong Soak Koon and Muhammad Haji Salleh. The analysis revealed that literal translation, verse to prose translation, free verse translation and interpretation strategy were useful for this translation purpose. The approach used by the two translators reflected their different intentions to address different audience and use of various styles. Comparative studies like this in reflecting the zeitgeist of an era could be useful for non-Malay speakers in understanding the cultural and socio-political climate of the .....

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The anxiety phenomenon has been widely acknowledged as one of the mostimportant psychological phenomena. Theorists and second language researchers claimed that anxiety and language learning are associated. Thus learners who portray low levels of anxiety allow more and better input into the brain, increasing their language learning performance. However this may not be the case for many learners of English as a foreign language (EFL). They face challenges of learning new vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation and reading in the target language. In reading, most of the texts require critical synthesis, evaluation and interpretation to comprehend the authors’ point of views. These reading experiences may increase students’ levels of anxiety if they are unprepared for such demands. As a result, learners become tense and continue to experience high levels of anxiety as they suffer from poor performance in their studies. The objective of this paper is to examine the reading anxiety phenomenon.....

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