The 21st Century learning deems various transformative skills learners in order to equip the fresh graduates for the demand of the fast changing industry. One of the ways to ensure an effective learning environment is by establishing strong student engagement in the classrooms. Student engagement can be observed in several dimensions; behavioral, affective and cognitive. The present study uncovered the levels of student engagement in these three dimensions and their relationship with each other in an ESL course in a public university in Malaysia. The population was 180 undergraduates of the second semester and 120 undergraduates were randomly selected by cluster sampling. The researchers adopted a mixed-method approach that focused more on the quantitative approach. A questionnaire with 5-Likert scale items and open-ended questions were utilized. The analysis revealed a moderate level of engagement during instruction and affective engagement as the highest form of engagement among the students in the classroom. Pearson Correlation analysis presented moderate to strong, significant and positive relationships among the three dimensions. This study proves the importance of student engagement in higher education learning as an element that demands to be considered in the teaching instruction, and program administration planning.
English as a Second Language (ESL) is a term which is broadly used in Malaysia’s educational system. Mandarin, on the other hand, is only used among Chinese community and not many non-Chinese know and use Mandarin language as their communication tools among themselves. However, due to the rapid development of economy in China, the interest in Mandarin language learning is becoming prominent. In Malaysia, a country which has developed a tight diplomatic and economic relationship with China since 1976, the interest in learning Mandarin as a Foreign Language (MFL) among the non-Chinese learners is also growing where there is a quantum leap of Mandarin learners at tertiary level (Teow, Ismail, Foo & Ho, 2016). Students in Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) are offered with both English as a Second Language (ESL) and Mandarin as a Foreign Language (MFL) courses. It means that students must learn English and Mandarin simultaneously especially for Diploma students and Degree students. Understanding how the motivation to learn each language might vary within a certain socio-political context is worth exploring, as it may help lecturers working within that context to motivate their students to learn the language more effectively. Moreover, it is reasonable to assume that the different languages learned might trigger different emotional responses from learners (Humphreys & Spratt. 2008). In relation to this, it is important to examine the differences of students’ ESL and MFL learning motivation. This study employed a quantitative research design which emphasized on data collection from students who studied ESL and MFL.
The unexpectedly disruptive period is currently being reinforced with improved ideas and approaches to meet the needs of the pupils. With pandemic tiredness and digital exhaustion being highlighted, a better understanding of students' learning preferences must be updated regularly during unprecedented times. This mixed-method study seeks to identify and explore students’ preferences based on their remote learning experiences in a public university in Malaysia. An online survey was used to gather the data for the analysis to identify the students’ preferences over the platform used, assessment types, and schedule preferences. In addition, the students’ suggestions were gathered to get more insights from their perspectives. The results revealed students preferred Google Meet, WhatsApp Messenger, and Google Classroom as the medium for delivery. On the other hand, the students favoured shorter time spent and early time slots for online class scheduling. They also preferred quizzes as the most preferred type of assessment. Lastly, students suggested considering various factors to conduct successful remote learning namely empathy from the lecturer, student engagement, students’ readiness, students’ accessibility, content delivery, flexibility, and motivation. Conclusively, the implication of this study will contribute to the body of the literature on remote learning during a pandemic. Moreover, educators in tertiary education could utilise the students’ preferences as feedback to enhance their teaching and learning delivery during remote learning. This study was limited by the absence of lecturers’ preferences and suggestions. Future studies that investigate other perspectives could create a common ground between educators and learners.
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