This paper investigates the insights and experiences of multiple social actors towards different streaming school and to examine in what ways ‘national unity’ is affected by a different streaming school in Malaysia particularly within a multicultural society. Although the discussion in this paper is related to the Malaysian educational system, the social actors that contribute to this discussion are not the ones involved in policy making or policy executing. Data from the study came from twenty semi-structured and six focus group interviews with social actors of different ethnic groups (Malay, Chinese, and Indians). The use of thematic analysis in analyzing interview data for this study reveals the paradoxes in social actors’ perceptions and different experiences towards the schooling system. The findings show that there should be a dynamic and peaceful coexistence of diversity of culture so that none of the members of the society feel marginalized especially the minority and sub.....

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This paper examines the construction of ‘national unity’ within the culturally diverse society of Malaysia. It does so through a framing analysis of 102 recent Malaysian government advertisements. Audience responses, based on a series of focus group interviews, were also analysed. Although the power of visual advertisements comes from its capacity to blend fact and emotion, to engage audiences, and to add the narrative complexity of ethnicities, this paper also discovers a struggle over the meaning when the frames become contested. The findings suggest that multiple, often conflicting frames are involved in making sense of ‘national unity’ for different stakeholders, yet contested narratives of nationhood and ethnic identity is a central theme of the analysis. This paper contributes to a critical understanding of ‘national unity’ beyond culture, images and identity of multi-ethnic groups from two different narratives: the government through which discourse is constructed an.....

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The mass media in the form of advertising is extensively employed in the process of nation-building in Malaysia. Advertising has been used as an important tool for educating the public about State issues, ensuring diverse cultures are equally represented and the multicultural values are emphasized to the fullest. The objective of the present study is to investigate how outdoor advertising, particularly billboards, promotes the language, social identity, and multicultural values of Malaysian society for nation-building. In Malaysia, the extensive use of advertisements has been argued as one of the most powerful mechanisms to enhance Malaysian identity, foster interactions and thus contribute to the process of nation-building even though it is portrayed in a banal and routine way. To achieve its objective, this paper utilizes semiotic methodology to examine 11 billboards to understand the relationships between texts and visuals that communicate messages to the public. The findings reveal.....

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Cybersecurity is a multidisciplinary field of study that focuses on preserving and protecting data and information from a wide range of threats and dangers. This study presents a cyber securi ty culture for assessing the knowledge, attitude and practice towards digital marketing communications among small and medium sized entrepreneurs. The objectives of this study were to identify the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of cyber security cultu re toward digital marketing communications among small and medium sized entrepreneurs in Selangor, as well as to look into the relationship between knowledge and practice in this area. This study utilized a quantitative methodology in the form of a survey, with respondents being selected at random from a list of numbers and from a box of random numbers. Several lists were generated using Instagram business account listings, telegram entrepreneur groups, the National Entrepreneurs Institute, and the Kuala Selangor District Council webpage for rec.....

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Malaysia made history when the Dewan Rakyat approved an amendment to the Federal Constitution that lowered the voting age from 21 to 18 years old. The countrys democratic system was colored by the automatic registration of those who turned 18 as voters for the 15th Malaysian General Election (GE-15). This amendment aims to democratize the political process in this nation and promote mature, fair, and equitable elections. This ongoing study aims to discover young voters' knowledge, attitudes, and readiness toward the 15th general election (PRU-15) in Batang Padang, Perak district. Methodologically, a quantitative approach was used where 462 youth participants completed questionnaires. The findings discovered that although attitudes and readiness among young voters in the research population are at a moderate level, they have a high level of knowledge. The result also uncovered five key factors that influence young voters readiness towards making their decisions for PRU-15 namely voting .....

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This qualitative research was carried out to investigate a group of pre-service ESL teachers’ perceptions of their participation in a virtual community to facilitate their willingness to communicate. Positive Psychology was employed as the theoretical framework. Using the hybrid approach to analyse the findings, preliminary analysis revealed that the participants repeatedly mentioned the emergence of positive emotions. To understand better, a codebook based on Fredrickson’s framework of positive emotion was developed to further analyse the data. Findings indicated that participation in a virtual community led to the emergence of four types of positive emotions: interest, hope, pride, and aspiration. This article provided some suggestions for teacher educators on the use of a virtual community to facilitate willingness to communicate...

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The present study seeks to investigate whether participation in a virtual community helps facilitate a group of ESL teachers’ willingness to communicate (henceforth WTC) in the target language. To understand this issue, a mixed-methods research was employed. The quantitative research was carried out to investigate the participants’ levels of WTC as well as the factors that influence their WTC. Using convenient sampling, an adapted questionnaire was distributed to 111 participants. Then, based on purposive sampling 21 participants were selected to take part in a virtual community named “We Care”. The quantitative findings show that even though proficient, the participants’ level of in and out-of-class WTC was moderate. Using the L2 Motivational Self System (ideal self and ought-to self) as the framework to investigate the factors that contribute to their WTC, findings reveal that in relation to their ideal L2 ideal-self, there was a moderate strength of relationship.....

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Menelusuri arus pemodenan yang semakin berkembang pesat menjadikan interaksi manusia menjadi lebih dinamik. Perubahan drastik tersebut dirasakan dalam keseluruhan aktiviti manusia seperti pendidikan, ekonomi dan sosial melibatkan media dan teknologi. Generasi Z yang dianggap sebagai warga digital sememangnya tidak asing dalam penggunaan platform digital dalam pelbagai kaedah. Kesan daripada hal tersebut telah menjadi pendorong terhadap keperluan untuk melihat tahap literasi media remaja daripada aspek kewarganegaraan digital. Penyelidikan ini bertujuan untuk mengukur tahap pengetahuan, kemahiran dan nilai kewarganegaraan digital remaja 14 tahun di Malaysia. Kajian ini memfokuskan lapan elemen kewarganegaraan digital berdasarkan konsep Kerangka Kerja Kecerdasan Digital (DQ), iaitu identiti digital, penggunaan digital, keselamatan digital, pengawasan digital, emosi kecerdasan digital, komunikasi digital, literasi digital dan hak digital. Kaedah kuantitatif secara tinjauan menggunakan ins.....

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Keunikan warisan budaya negara Malaysia perlu dihayati dan didedahkan pada peringkat awal, antaranya adalah tarian tradisional yang penuh dengan pergerakan anggota badan yang dilakukan dengan lemah lembut dan diiringi dengan muzik. Kajian ini bertujuan untuk mengenalpasti cabaran yang dihadapi oleh guru prasekolah dalam mengajar tarian tradisional kepada kanak-kanak. Rekabentuk kajian ini menggunakan kaedah campuran iaitu kualitatif dan kuantitatif. Instrumen yang digunakan untuk kuantitatif adalah soal selidik dan kualitatif menggunakan protokol temu bual. Sampel kajian ini terdiri daripada dua guru prasekolah yang telah ditemu bual secara semi struktur serta 125 guru prasekolah yang terlibat untuk menjawab instrumen soal selidik. Data kajian ini telah dianalisis menggunakan analisis tematik bagi temu bual dan analisis deskriptif bagi tinjauan soal selidik. Dapatan kajian daripada temu bual menunjukkan guru perlu diberi kursus untuk kemahiran dalam mengajar kanak-kanak prasekolah kera.....

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