Students' attitudes towards learning English as a second language is not a new issue, yet much is to be known about the factors that actually affect the students' attitudes, especially those who live in rural areas that are known to have poor perceptions towards as well as poor performance in learning the English language as compared to Malaysian students who live in urban areas. Using Spolsky's (1989) Model of Second Language Learning and Gardner's (1985) Second Language Acquisition Theory, this study examines rural Malaysian students' attitudes towards learning English as a second language. The main objective is to investigate the individual elements or factors influencing rural secondary school students' attitude towards learning the English language. By employing a case study approach, four students from two different grade levels in a rural secondary school were purposively selected and individually interviewed and observed in their learning environments. The data were analysed using within and cross case analyses as well as thematic analysis, in which the authors read and annotated interview transcripts, identified themes, developed a coding scheme and coded the data. The findings suggest that there were two most significant factors influencing the students' attitudes towards the learning of English; i) lessons not catered to students' proficiency levels and interests, and ii) students' individual reactions to negative and positive experiences.

Being able to read well is important for English language learners. Through the process of reading, the learner becomes an active participant in producing an interaction with the writer of the text through predicting, analyzing, summarizing and using other types of reading strategies. However, building such a connection between the reader and the written information of the text is complex and for English as a second language (ESL) and English as a foreign language (EFL) students, it can be quite difficult for them to apply different types of reading strategies. This article provides a review of literature on 27 studies on the teaching of reading strategies (particularly cognitive and metacognitive reading strategies) for ESL/EFL learners, which reveals that ESL/EFL teachers need to keep updating their teaching methods to meet the ESL/EFL students’ needs, particularly in the use of correct reading strategies. The authors also highlight some of the main issues that prevent ESL/EFL students from improving and developing their reading comprehension. Furthermore, the authors discuss and conclude the article by suggesting to ESL/EFL teachers some teaching strategies to be applied in the reading lesson to improve the ESL/EFL students’ use of reading strategies.

The field of English language communication competence learning and acquisition has been revolutionized by the increasing development of technology. The application of social media has now been popular inside and outside of the English language classrooms. The development of technology in the past fifty years, the more recent mobile devices and the Web 2.0 technology have provided numerous opportunities for its use in improving English communication competence. TikTok, one of the popular social media platforms among Chinese international undergraduate students, is now playing an interesting role in their English communication competence learning during Covid-19 pandemic because TikTok supplies English videos with popular topics among youngsters. However, very few studies have been conducted on the utilization of TikTok on EFL undergraduate students' English communication competence. Therefore, this paper aims to explore the potential on the utilization of TikTok and how it impacts on English language communication competence acquisition among Chinese international undergraduate students by reviewing previous and recent studies focusing on TikTok as well as other social medias such as Facebook, YouTube, WeChat and so on. It is important to note that even though previous relevant studies have showcased the positive effects of using social media as learning aids in English language communication acquisition, very few literatures having been published focusing on the utilization of TikTok in English language communication acquisition. The expected findings of this paper could reveal the potential of using TikTok for international undergraduate Chinese students out of EFL classroom in improving their English Communication Competence and for increasing their interests of speaking English. The researchers showcase critical views, recommendations, as well as implications for the utilization of TikTok in the field of English language communication competence acquisition among EFL undergraduate students.

The quasi-experimental study investigated the effectiveness of using project-based learning (PjBL) activities as a teaching strategy in improving the oral communicative competence of Malaysian English language learners. The participants included 44 diploma students enrolled in a Communicative English course at a technical college in the Peninsular Malaysia, who were purposely selected for the study. The intervention comprised a 12-week lessons taught using PjBL teaching strategy and centred on eight PjBL activities. Data were collected using a speaking test and a listening test, which were administered as pre-tests and post-tests, and a student questionnaire which was administered at the end of the study. Data analysis involved the procedure of MANOVA, as well as descriptive statistics such as mean, standard deviation and percentage. The findings revealed a significant improvement in the learners’ overall oral communicative competence and a high perception of PjBL by the learners. It is concluded that PjBL teaching strategy is effective in improving the oral communicative competence of the English language learners. The study recommends the use of PjBL as a suitable English language teaching strategy for technical students who are generally low proficient English language learners.

This study was conducted to investigate whether implementing communicative activities, in particular information gap and language games, in Libyan secondary schools affect students' speaking performance. A quasi-experimental, nonequivalent, pre-test-post-test design was conducted on 42 first year Libyan secondary school students in a private Libyan international school in Malaysia. Eight different information gap and language game activities based on communicative language teaching (CLT) principles were implemented for 15-20 minutes during eight sessions. The results from the paired sample t-test indicated that there was a significant difference between the pre-test compared to the posttest. Students' speaking performance improved after implementing the communicative activities in the classroom. However, the results from the independent sample-test illustrate differences in mean scores between male and female students, which are in favour or female students. Nevertheless, the differences between genders were not statistically different.

Mobile technology that has recently taken its flight into emergence is called Augmented Reality. Advancements of AR have largely incorporated its uses through mobile technology, which makes it possible for just about anyone who has a mobile device to use AR such as can be seen in the widespread popularity of the online mobile games. Although augmented reality is still in the beginning stages of making its way into the educational realm, it does offer the capabilities of greatly enhancing our educational system. In fact, based on previous scholarly studies, Augmented Reality has been shown to be effective in learning the English language and could improve student motivation. This conceptual paper thus reports on past studies on the use and usefulness of Augmented Reality in teaching and learning in English language reading. In this paper, the concept of Augmented Reality, its usage in language learning, the benefits of using AR in language learning, the limitations in using AR in language learning, and teacher's level of readiness and acceptance in using AR in classroom reading instruction will be discussed. The authors will also provide some recommendations for stakeholders, especially in regards to the use of Augmented Reality in teaching of English language reading, and also suggestions for future research

The teacher training institution is an important place in supplying content and pedagogical training to teacher trainees. However, applying this knowledge in a natural setting is another challenge faced by the trainee teachers. Thus, there is a need to empower the capability of trainee teachers to refine their teaching skills independently. One of the ways to develop and cultivate this need is by improving how reflective practice is conducted during their teacher practice. The issue of improving the quality of reflective practice has been addressed especially through variety of mediums, such as the use of paper-based method and electronic-based method, and such as the use of blog sites, online forums and chat sites, and more recently social networking sites, like Facebook. However, the use of social networking websites, such as Facebook, have received little attention, even though a handful of studies have reported on its many benefits for reflective practice. Therefore, this conceptual paper is written to provide a review of past studies that explored the potential of using Facebook Group discussion platform for trainee teachers as a tool for reflective practice.

National Sports Associations, National and International Sports Federations and even International Olympic Committee continue to struggle meeting the 20% representation quota of women in executive boards. Although women’s representation as athletes, coaches and officials increased in national and international sports competitions but not in leadership particularly in top positions. In sports leadership, empirical research showed statistical figures that women have gained access in leadership pipeline however, they still lack in representing the executive boards. This study is a part of a larger phenomenological investigation which purpose was to identify factors that may influence the persistent underrepresentation of women in top leadership position. From a purposive maximum variation sampling of seven participants, top women leaders in Malaysia national sports organisations were interviewed about their career path and experiences on how and why women top leaders continue to lag behind with their male counterparts. Results suggest self-limiting behaviors, work-life conflict and interpersonal relationships among other women contributed to the underrepresentation of women in top positions. Factors attributed to social perception of gender and leadership roles incongruence also limited women leaders’ access in organisations which subsequently contributed to pipeline problem. Moreover, participants offered suggestions in overcoming the challenges and personal strategies in advancing opportunities and career development.