Current Semester TESL

This course aims to deliver knowledge of educational theory and practice in three main areas, namely educational psychology, teaching profession, and teaching strategies. In the course, students are guided to apply quality, relevant, and advanced theory and practice in an education system. Content delivery and assessment are carried out in a modular fashion to develop educators who are capable to integrate educational elements and philosophy in the Malaysian context.

The course aims to guide students to study languages, specifically Malay Language and English, in various social and cultural contexts.  The course also analyses the influence of social and cultural factors on language systems and language teaching. The course will be conducted in form of lectures and seminars.  Topics covered include; the sociolinguistic profiles of Bahasa Melayu and English, language policies and developments, language varieties, bilingualism and its implication on language learning, attitudes and motivations in language learning, speech functions, politeness, and speech acts, language and sociolinguistic competence, and their implications in language learning.

This course intends to help students present their academic writing such as thesis, project paper, seminar papers and other academic assignments in an accurate and clear manner. The scope of discussion includes general issues concerning language such as choice of correct grammar, the effective use of subtopics, and how to utilize referential tools in an ethical manner (including how to apply UKM writing style). Students are also trained to critique journal/proceedings articles and produce conceptual papers in their respective fields. At the end of the course, students are able to write critical academic writing.

This course is an early introduction to research methods in education. Specifically, this course will discuss the basic concept and explain the process of planning and executing a research so that the learner would be able to internalize the logic in conducting  an educational research. The learner will be studying various research designs while learning a few data collection and analysis methods suitable for the research design. Besides, it will also discuss the philosophy behind a research, the concept and the process of literature review, the problem statement, conceptual framework, the instrumentation, and the validity and reliability instrument. The learner will also be exposed to the preparation of a research proposal, and the ethics in publishing. Among the tasks given to the learner are synthesising literature, analysing the writing of quantitative and qualitative proposals and presenting the research design. The teaching and learning approaches encompass reverse learning, lecture and interactive tutorial, group discussion, presentation and report writing.

In this course, students will be exposed to issues related to language learning strategies and strategy training. Topics covered include characteristics of language learning strategies, typology of language learning strategies, methods for identifying language learning strategies, factors affecting language learning strategies, research studies on language learning strategies and learner training, goals of learner training, models of strategy training and approaches to language learning strategies instruction. The course will also look at a number of Malaysian-based strategy training models.

This course will introduce teachers to the aims and philosophy of teaching Literature in English locally and globally. It will further guide them on the pedagogical approaches to teaching and learning of literature in English as a way to develop critical appreciation, cultural awareness and cosmopolitan consciousness for students whose English is a Second Language (ESL). In this course, they will also learn about doing research on the teaching and learning literature in English.

This course is designed to guide students to choose, develop and evaluate material for effective language learning in the classroom. Among the topics that to be discussed are: language learning and education material theories and features; instructional materials and language learning determinant; materials for language teaching in school; computer-based language teaching; self-assessed learning materials; language learning materials based upon web, internet and multimedia; formation and evaluation of language software and issues of  textbook evaluation.

Technology-enhanced language learning refers to the use of computer as a technological innovation to display multimedia as a means of complementing a teaching method language teacher.

This course aims to equip students with the understanding and skills to conduct qualitative research. Through this course, students will be exposed to the basic knowledge of qualitative research, which includes qualitative research philosophy, qualitative research characteristics, qualitative research design, sampling techniques, and data collection methods. Various methods of qualitative data analysis such as thematic and content analysis, either manually or through computer software based on the diversity of data forms, will also be emphasised. Students will also be guided on how to interpret the data, ensure validity and reliability, and write a qualitative research report.

You will examine the principles and purposes of testing and evaluation, different test types and evaluation modes, and their implications for teaching and learning English in secondary school classroom contexts. You will also design and evaluate test items and marking schemes. Lastly, you will synthesize research articles on assessment in ELT.

This course will expose students on current developments in ELT and their implications in teaching and learning. Students will review, discuss and analyze the rationale, concept and strategies in current approaches to TESL. Students will also reflect on their own experiences to strengthen their existing knowledge and skills and share these with others. Topics chosen for the seminar presentations are those related to current approaches to TESL. The seminar will also prepare students with the skills for presentations and discussion.

The purpose of this course is to equip students with knowledge and skills in understanding and conducting educational research involving quantitative data. Through this course, students will be guided to use the elements of descriptive statistics and inferential statistics that are suitable for a research problem/research question that is formulated. Various data analysis techniques will be revealed, including parametric and non-parametric analysis. At the end of the course, students are expected to be able to demonstrate knowledge, skills and research culture through the production of a comprehensive research report.