Research Interests:
In the era of global business, quality of human resources, skilled and knowledgeable employees are highly essential. It is frequently noted that quality human resources act as a prerequisite for competitive advantage and competitive edge... more
In the era of global business, quality of human resources, skilled and knowledgeable employees are highly essential. It is frequently noted that quality human resources act as a prerequisite for competitive advantage and competitive edge of any business. This is especially so in the case of small and medium industries (SMIs), considered as “the seeds” from which large organizations and
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
The landscape of Malaysia’s higher education system places a lot of emphasis on internationalisation whereby the government seeks to set a new benchmark in the development of human capital by empowering higher education through global... more
The landscape of Malaysia’s higher education system places a lot of emphasis on internationalisation whereby the government seeks to set a new benchmark in the development of human capital by empowering higher education through global engagement. “Malaysia’s Global Reach” programme is one of such efforts formulated by the Malaysian government under the National Higher Education Strategic Plan (NHESP) which marks the new level of the country’s commitment towards regional and international higher education collaborations, particularly within ASEAN. The initiative comprises various strategic programmes and initiatives which are implemented under six clusters, namely MyExpert, MyAlumni, MyFellow, MyCommunity, MySkill, and MyOdyssey. This paper presents Malaysia’s efforts through each cluster of the Malaysia’s Global Reach programme in fostering relationships at international level, specifically the partnering ASEAN countries. The first part of the paper explains the background of the “M...
One of the main factors identified as a contributor to the problem of unemployment among graduates is the lack of soft skills. Of the various soft skills, undergraduates’ communication skills have often been reported to be the skills that... more
One of the main factors identified as a contributor to the problem of unemployment among graduates is the lack of soft skills. Of the various soft skills, undergraduates’ communication skills have often been reported to be the skills that employers are not happy with. This problem has received enormous amount of attention among researchers and by MoHE itself which responded by investing a huge amount of money and efforts to alleviate the problem especially in the recent implementation of the Soft Skills Module. This paper aims to discuss the extent to which the Soft Skills Module is consistent with undergraduates’ communication skills needs. It will begin by describing the communication skills component of the module, followed by examining what some researchers have found about the communication needs of undergraduates in various programmes currently. Some issues and implications to universities and educators related to the development of undergraduates’ communication skills towards...
Research Interests:
In engineering education, specific English language skills are needed to enable engineering students to succeed in academic settings (Tan, 1999; Pendergrass et al., 2001; Sidek et al., 2006; Venkatraman & Prema, 2007). To determine what... more
In engineering education, specific English language skills are needed to enable engineering students to succeed in academic settings (Tan, 1999; Pendergrass et al., 2001; Sidek et al., 2006; Venkatraman & Prema, 2007). To determine what students need to achieve through the medium of English accurately, it is imperative to carry out a Needs Analysis (NA) (Hutchinson & Waters, 1987; Robinson, 1991; Hyland, 2006). NA is defined as “the process of determining the needs for which a learner or group of learners requires a language and arranging the needs according to priorities” (Richards & Platt, 1992, p. 242). With such views, this paper reports on a survey conducted to investigate the English language needs of petroleum engineering students at Hadhramout University of Science and Technology (hereinafter HUST). More specifically, the study aims to identify the students' perceptions of the frequency of English language skills used, the importance of these skills, their ability in per...
In today’s competitive and globalised world, there is a tremendous emphasis on the use of English in various working sectors. However, to date, there is still much room for improvement on English competency among the community of... more
In today’s competitive and globalised world, there is a tremendous emphasis on the use of English in various working sectors. However, to date, there is still much room for improvement on English competency among the community of Malaysian graduates, especially those from rural areas who are still struggling to grasp the rudiments of the language. While the government puts much effort to raise the level of English proficiency, the standard of English, especially among the young generations are still declining. Amid this issue, effective efforts are urgently needed in the educational system to ensure that the future crops of Malaysians are able to master the English language in order to remain competitive in the job market. Since grammar has been highlighted as one of the areas that most students are still struggling with, it could be an area worth tackling in order to improve their English competency. The common way to develop grammar skills to university students through community ...
English is the most important second language in most non-English speaking countries, including Malaysia. A good English proficiency comes from good grasp of grammar. To conquer the problems of low English proficiency among Malaysians,... more
English is the most important second language in
most non-English speaking countries, including Malaysia. A
good English proficiency comes from good grasp of grammar. To conquer the problems of low English proficiency
among Malaysians, it is important to identify the key motivators that could facilitate the process of grammar learning.
In this digital age, technology can play a very important role
and mobile technology could be one of it. Thus, this study
aims at designing a mobile learning tool, namely the Intelligent Mobile Learning Tool for Grammar Learning (i-MoL)
to act as the “on-the-go” grammar learning support via
mobile phones. i-MoL helps reinforce grammar learning
through mobile phone with game-like applications, inquirybased activities and flashcard-like information. The intelligent part of i-MoL lies in its ability to map the mobile-based
grammar learning content to individual’s preferred learning
styles based on Felder-Silverman Learning Style Model
(FSLSM). The instructional system design through the
ADDIE model was used in this study as a systematic approach in designing a novel and comprehensive mobile
learning tool for grammar learning. In terms of implications, this study provides insights on how mobile technologies can be utilized to meet the mobility demand among
language learners today.
most non-English speaking countries, including Malaysia. A
good English proficiency comes from good grasp of grammar. To conquer the problems of low English proficiency
among Malaysians, it is important to identify the key motivators that could facilitate the process of grammar learning.
In this digital age, technology can play a very important role
and mobile technology could be one of it. Thus, this study
aims at designing a mobile learning tool, namely the Intelligent Mobile Learning Tool for Grammar Learning (i-MoL)
to act as the “on-the-go” grammar learning support via
mobile phones. i-MoL helps reinforce grammar learning
through mobile phone with game-like applications, inquirybased activities and flashcard-like information. The intelligent part of i-MoL lies in its ability to map the mobile-based
grammar learning content to individual’s preferred learning
styles based on Felder-Silverman Learning Style Model
(FSLSM). The instructional system design through the
ADDIE model was used in this study as a systematic approach in designing a novel and comprehensive mobile
learning tool for grammar learning. In terms of implications, this study provides insights on how mobile technologies can be utilized to meet the mobility demand among
language learners today.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
ABSTRACT. In the era of global business, quality of human resources, skilled and knowledgeable employees are highly essential. It is fre-quently noted that quality human resources act as a prerequisite for competitive advantage and... more
ABSTRACT. In the era of global business, quality of human resources, skilled and knowledgeable employees are highly essential. It is fre-quently noted that quality human resources act as a prerequisite for competitive advantage and competitive edge of any business. This is es- ...
Research Interests:
Studies on learning styles are important as they can give educators new directions for making changes in their classrooms. With this in mind a study was conducted to investigate Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) English majors'... more
Studies on learning styles are important as they can give educators new directions for making changes in their classrooms. With this in mind a study was conducted to investigate Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) English majors' learning styles. More specifically, the study aims to identify the type of information these students preferentially perceive, through which sensory channel external information is most effectively perceived, how they prefer to process information, and how they progress toward understanding. The ...
This paper reports a study on the English language skills needs of homestay operators located in the Northern Region of Malaysia specifically in Pulau Pinang, Langkawi and Perlis. The homestay program is a rural tourism program that is... more
This paper reports a study on the English language skills needs of homestay operators located in the Northern Region of Malaysia specifically in Pulau Pinang, Langkawi and Perlis. The homestay program is a rural tourism program that is fast gaining popularity in the Malaysian tourism industry. It has attracted various tourists from local and international segments. This industry is expected to contribute to tremendous positive development in terms of economic and socio well being of the operators. However, there are issues that need to be addressed to improve the effectiveness and the quality of services provided by the homestay operators. As will be shown, most of the operators in the study possessed low level English language proficiency; therefore, verbal communication among themselves and foreign guests was considerably limited. In fact, majority of the operators could not communicate in English at all or any other second language except for their mother tongue. Hence, this paper aims to discuss the need of English language communication competency among homestay operators and to discuss the main communicative skills that should be taught to the operators. The study found that considering their low level of English language proficiency, a basic elementary course in English language may be more suitable for them.
Keywords: English language skills, homestay operators, Needs Analysis, English for Specific Purposes and rural tourism.
Keywords: English language skills, homestay operators, Needs Analysis, English for Specific Purposes and rural tourism.
