Email is key in workplace communication. This study examines structure of request emails and display of politeness by Malaysian superiors when writing to subordinates. Authoritative and solidarity-oriented structures with corresponding linguistic strategies were found to reflect different leadership styles, autocratic and democratic. Language and communicative style were influenced by situational context of a request. When face threat and imposition were low, superiors were authoritative and when face threat and imposition were high, they were egalitarian. Email functioned as an equalising medium that enabled superiors to be democratic as well as a channel for power enactment that reinforced hierarchical structures.
Foreign language learning as stipulated in the Malaysian Education Blueprint as one of the important facets towards developing a human capital. Upholding this aspiration, Malaysian students at the higher institutions are encouraged to take up a foreign language course throughout their study period. However, learning a foreign language can be a daunting and traumatic experience to many due to several reasons with gender role being one of the most prominent factors. Hence, this quantitative study is done to explore the comparison of fear of learning a foreign language across gender. The study involved 202 students from seven different foreign language courses namely German, Mandarin, Japanese, Arabic, Korean, Italian and French from Universiti Teknologi MARA, UiTM, Shah Alam. A survey adapted from Wenden and Rubin (1987) andHorwitz, Horwitz andCope (1986) was distributed through Google Form. The data shown that female students experienced greater fear of foreign language learning across all elements under this study namely communication apprehension, fear of negative evaluation and test anxiety, as opposed to their male counterparts. Although male students showed equal level of self-consciousness when speaking, their anxiety seemed to be lower than the females. The study could be an invaluable source to inform foreign language teaching especially in creating a stress-free environment for learning.
Though working from home has not completely come to an end, many have started working from the office. Some might claim they can now perform better at work as working from office helps them overcome emotional and mental stress, a common issue widely debated and investigated during the peak of COVID-19 pandemic while others might insist shifting back to work from office could aggravate their emotional and mental stress. Employees' different experience on this issue can be obviously associated with work burnout. This study explores the factors of work burnout among university academicians. Kristensen, Borritz, Villadsen, and Christensen (2005) categorization of variables that relate to work burnout is used as the conceptual framework of this quantitative study. 100 academicians from different universities in Malaysia responded to the quantitative survey. The survey consists of 4 sections; Section A on demographic profile, Section B on personal related burnout, Section C on work-related burnout and Section D on colleague related burnout. The findings of this study indicate that university academicians are not mainly pressured by colleague related burnout. However, personal related burnout and work-related burnout contribute to moderate level of stress among academicians. The study shed more light on how these categories show relevance to burnout among academicians amidst post-pandemic. Hence, deeper understanding of the findings in this study will be essential for academicians and organizations to keep burnout under control.
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