The purpose of this study was to identify the impact of implementing a Learning Management System (LMS) ‘TES BlendSpace’ to promote students’ self-directed learning in EFL flipped-class instruction. For the data collection procedure, an individual interview with ten undergraduate students from an Indonesian college was conducted to demonstrate the potential impacts of the LMS in students’ self-directed learning abilities. The observation of students’ learning activities on the TES BlendSpace was also recorded to support the interview data. The LMS was adopted to distribute and receive information. Thus, the students were able to monitor learning activities, learn the contents before coming to class, evaluate the learning process, and interact with others outside of class hours. The finding of this study suggests that the LMS TES BlendSpace is recommended to be performed in teaching EFL for higher education in Indonesia. It offers students’ occasion to practice and enhances their listening, writing, reading and vocabulary skills in and out-of-class times. It also prepares students to get ready for classroom activities in terms of conversations and speaking skills. The further use of the LMSs should become often-visited sites by students for learning activities and replacing other non-educational favorite websites. The finding of this study indicates that the students’ online culture was predominantly formed by the interesting contents posting on the LMS, especially the video lectures and an easy way to use. Additionally, instructors should develop activities in and around the LMS with a number of benefits and rewards. Hence, the students will be motivated to log in the LMS for learning purposes.

Part-time jobs have been considered as one of the factors influencing student’ academic achievement. This paper examines the students of English Department, at the Faculty of Teaching and Teacher Training, Ar-Raniry State Islamic University (UIN), Banda Aceh, Indonesia, undertaking part-time job outside campus. Effects of employment on students’ academic achievement are investigated. A qualitative approach is utilized to analyze the impact of part-time job on students’ academic achievement. Thirty (30) students were purposively chosen as the samples of this study. Students’ academic result in the form GPA, the amount of time spent on part-time job, as well as types of jobs the students involve in are scrutinized to see the relation between part-time jobs and their academic result. The result of the study indicates that despite the time spent on part-time job, students’ GPA are above average. However, in some cases, the time required to finish their studies is longer than those who do not have part-time jobs.

The implementation of Sharia law in Aceh in 2001 has ignited various reactions from both national and international communities. Some argued that this Sharia law could have a detrimental effect on human rights issues. Others claimed that as a province populated by the Muslim majority, Aceh should be given an opportunity to legalise its own legal product, ensuring that Sharia law is part of Acehnese religious values. This paper is primarily concerned with analysing the texts taken from The Jakarta Post newspaper’s article regarding the formal implementation of the local Sharia law in Aceh. The article is examined by means of various tools in Discourse Analysis method, including social identity, speech acts and implicature, genres and register. The findings elucidate that the speech and discourse of the participants and their interpretation are highly influenced by identity and community ideology of the speakers.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify skills and attributes that should be included in developing curricula, especially in the area of education. In this case, English Education Department of Ar-Raniry State Islamic University, Banda Aceh, is in charge of the preparation of English language teachers and English language professionals exceeding required standards and be competitive in the labour market. Design/methodology/approach This qualitative research involved 38 research participants consisting of government authorities, academics and students. Interviews and focus group discussions were employed to collect the data. Both interview and FGD results were analysed through thematic analysis. Findings The findings indicate that among the generic skills that need to be incorporated into the department curriculum in order to improve graduates’ quality and meet the requirements of the labour market are: information and communication technology (ICT), leadership, religious competencies, entrepreneurship and communication skills. Originality/value The paper has been developed through research conducted by the authors. Therefore, the authors confirm that the paper has been written according to the academic standard and is free from plagiarism.

Learning style is one of the significant elements in learning process that helps students achieve their learning goals. Nevertheless, students should be aware of their own style in learning which make them maximally enhance learning. Therefore, in study, the researcher examined students’ awareness of learning styles and their perception of their learning styles. A quantitative descriptive research was used in this study. Then, the data was collected through online questionnaire distributed for 100 students of fifth semester of English Language Education Department by using random sampling technique. VARK (Visual, Auditory, Reading, and Kinestetic) questionnaire created by Fleming and Likert scales were used to explore the issue under investigation. Findings of the research showed that students had moderate to high awareness of their learning styles. Within the context of this study, this findings were new in a way that it showed students’ perception on learning styles and how it affected their learning experiences. the Moreover, research findings also indicated that students believes that  the learning styles they adopted helped them in achieving their learning goals supported by their learning environment. The result of the study indicated that students preferred visual learning styles.

This study was aimed to examining EFL students’ perception towards plagiarism, factors triggering students to plagiarize in completing their undergraduate theses and their strategies in avoiding plagiarism. The study, conducted at English Language Education Department, in one of the universities in Indonesia, employed a qualitative method approach aiming at getting more information and a detailed description of social or human issues. Ten alumni who were randomly selected agreed to participate in this study. Selected participants were interviewed to collect required information needed to address research questions of this study. Besides interviewing the students, the researchers also analyzed their theses in order to examine the level of plagiarism by using Turnitin software, the result of which showed that the range of similarities index in students’ theses varied from 16 to 36 %. The findings of the study revealed that there were three strategies that students implemented to avoid plagiarism;  paraphrasing and quoting others' ideas, understanding the meaning of plagiarism, and using the lectures' particular method and online plagiarism detection software. Furthermore, the study found that the factors influencing students to plagiarize were related to time limitation on an assignment and poor time management, ease of using online sources, lack of understanding to plagiarism, and poor understanding of plagiarism acts.

Issues and incidents of bullying may take place, regardless of time and place, notwithstanding at Islamic education institutions. This study is aimed at finding out types of bullying and their triggering factors taking place in the university classroom; examining steps taken by lecturers to anticipate and prevent classroom bullying; and analyzing the impact of bullying on EFL students’ academic achievement. This mixed-methods study involved 546 students and 30 lecturers of the English Language Education Department at three state Islamic universities in Indonesia; Universitas Islam Negeri Syarif Hidayatullah in Jakarta, Universitas Islam Negeri Sunan Kalijaga in Yogyakarta, and Universitas Islam Negeri Ar-Raniry in Banda Aceh. Both surveys and interviews were employed to collect the required data. The findings elucidate that physical, social, verbal, and racial are among the most common emergent bullying incidents the students experienced. Revealing the triggering factors of bullying, the data show that competition in academic and social life, differences in thoughts and appearances, lack of understanding of bullying meaning, and lack of regulation are pointed as the source of bullying. The findings also indicate that bullying influences students’ academic achievement; bullying incidents have driven their victims into four pathetic conditions: less confident, stressed, anxious, and passive. Some steps are applied by the lecturer to prevent and handle bullying; they are: providing classroom regulation, being a counselor for students, enforcing the regulation, and massive socialization.

Cheating has been a significant issue over the years throughout the world, including in Indonesian Higher Education. In this study, we aimed to explore students’ perceptions of cheating, the practices they engage in when they cheat, the factors influencing their behavior, and possible solutions to stop cheating in the context of Islamic Higher Education. This mixed methods research involved 43 undergraduate students in the Department of English Language Education of two Islamic Higher Education institutions: The University of Muhammadiyah Aceh and Universitas Islam Negeri (UIN) Ar-Raniry Darussalam, Banda Aceh - Indonesia. A questionnaire comprising demographic and cheating related questions was emailed to students taking the subject, Ilmu Akidah (Theology). This subject is a third-semester optional subject offered to students at both universities. The subject covers issues about ethics, morals, good Muslim citizenship, and other universal Islamic values. Eight students were interviewed to seek their opinions about cheating in the context of Islamic education and to suggest ways to stop cheating at their university. Survey findings indicated the prevalence of cheating among these Islamic university students during their studies reached 84%, with the most common cheating practices including requesting/exchanging answers with friends during exams, duplicating texts from the internet/books and then submitting them, and cooperating with friends in doing individual assignments. The underlying issues involved external factors (i.e., exam difficulty, overloaded assignments, inadequate time for finishing assignments, and assisting friends) and internal factors (i.e., fear of low grades and failure in exams, and motivation for gaining high scores). Sixteen percent of the students claiming that they never cheated because of their religious/moral awareness, a sense of accomplishment in their own ability, and fear of academic sanctions suggestions for preventing cheating are shared along with a discussion of cheating within Islamic higher education. An important finding from the interviews was many students believed cheating was sinful and those who cheat must repent. The paper concludes with a discussion of the benefits and drawbacks of conducting mixed methods research to answer these questions and adding a set of interviews to the survey instrument.