International Journal of Language Education and Applied Linguistics

Does Artificial Intelligence Cause More Harm than Good in Schools?

Nurkhamimi Zainuddin — 2024-04-04

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in schools presents significant challenges and risks requiring responsible and ethical management. Despite warnings from tech leaders, major corporations push AI adoption in schools, leading to privacy violations, biased algorithms and curricular misinformation. Generative AI, though enhancing resources, risks disseminating false information. Biased AI models perpetuate inequalities, especially for marginalized groups. The financial burdens of AI implementation worsen budget constraints, and AI-driven surveillance raises privacy concerns. Governance must prioritize ethics and student rights, establishing transparent frameworks to prevent commercial interests from overshadowing educational goals. This editorial suggests halting AI adoption until comprehensive legislation safeguards against risks. Stakeholders should prioritize responsible AI development, stressing transparency and accountability. Collaboration between AI developers and educators is essential to ensuring AI serves students and society responsibly.

A Review of a Malaysian Public University Students’ Motivational Behaviour in Learning a Foreign Language

Leow Hui Min — 2024-03-31

The motivation of students to learn Chinese as a foreign language has received considerable research attention. Related research has been conducted by the Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) researchers or lecturers on UiTM students over years. However, there is currently no research investigating the trend, changes, and prospect of UiTM students’ motivation in learning Chinese as a foreign language, which retard future enhancement of the field. Thus, this study applied the structured review method to review publications produced by UiTM researchers or lecturers from 2003 to 2023. A total of 8 relevant publications were identified and analysed using PRISMA 2020 guidelines. The review indicated that the number of publications on the related topic is still limited but showing a potential growth. This study discovered a methodological gap that calls for more qualitative and mixed method investigations, as well as population and analysis gap which encourage more comparative studies rather than general investigations. The findings demonstrated both Diploma and Degree students’ motivational trend were balanced between instrumental and integrative motivation. Nonetheless, Degree students’ motivational behaviour changed more distinctly from intrinsic to extrinsic, compared to Diploma students. This study suggests putting more attention to nurturing students’ intrinsic motivation, correlates to extrinsic motivation. This study provides pedagogical implications on the teaching and learning Chinese as a foreign language. Future study on the factors influencing students’ change of behaviour, the impact of the behavioural changes, and the reason of the rise of situation-specific motives in elder students and higher foreign language learning level students are required.

English Oral Communication Apprehension: A Quantitative Inquiry on Malaysian Administrative Staff in an Educational Institution

Mohd Zulfadli Mat Husin — 2024-04-15

Even when employed, proficiency in English oral communication skills remains an asset. Mastering the skill is an advantage or could plausibly cause communication apprehension at the workplace. Comprehensive studies have covered English oral communication apprehension, yet the focus on workplace contexts still needs to be improved. Hence, this study investigates the oral communication apprehension levels of the administrative staff at a Malaysian public university. Utilising the Personal Report of Communication Apprehension 24 items (PRCA-24) instrument and a purposive sampling technique, the quantitative methodology of the study sampled one hundred fifteen administrative staff of the institution. The staff generally demonstrated moderate communication apprehension, with the highest in delivering public speeches using English. In addition, the t-tests and ANOVA scores showed no significant difference between the apprehension levels and investigated workplace variables, namely gender, education level, year of service and job grade among the staff. Nevertheless, the results provided sufficient evidence of English oral communication apprehension among the staff, which could intensify and jeopardise their job and productivity in the long run. The study implicates the need to strategies communication professional development training for the administrative staff to improve workplace English communication.

A Systematic Literature Review of Web-based Tools Application in ESL and EFL Writing Classes

Asiah Kassim — 2024-05-03

The 1990s saw the advent of internet use, eventually termed as web 1.0. Embracing this technological evolution, language learning classrooms have been using this digital tool in the teaching and learning processes. The paper systematically analysed the literature on this digital use for writing in ESL/EFL classes published between 1990 and 2023, aiming at identifying the most frequently used web-based tools in writing classes, exploring their facilitative features in developing learner’s writing skills and evaluating their effects on the development of varied writing types. Ninety-three articles retrieved from five major databases - Science Direct, Scopus, SpringerLink, Taylor & Francis and Web of Science - were analysed using the content analysis method. Findings revealed that writing classes in recent years have been primarily utilising social media channels, such as Facebook, collaborative authoring platforms, for example, Google Docs and data-driven learning tools like Corpus, optimising the interactive and interconnectedness of these applications. Further exploration disclosed the facilitative features contributed mainly by the interactive element of the web, enabling teaching and learning of writing to take place in and outside of the classroom. Discussions also highlighted certain facilitative features perused in relation to different types of writing. This review affirms the facilitative benefits of web technology in enhancing the learners’ writing skills. It concludes by suggesting future studies for the teaching and learning writing for ESL and EFL learners.

Analisis Konkordan Kombinasi Kata Kerja Bahasa Arab dan Kata Sendi dalam Akhbar Mesir Al-Ahram

Zainur Rijal Abdul Razak — 2024-07-12

Penggunaan sesuatu kata kerja bersama kata sendi tertentu merupakan amalan biasa di dalam pembinaan ayat bahasa Arab. Lazimnya, penggunaan sesuatu kata kerja bersama kata sendi yang berbeza akan membawa maksud berbeza. Namun, didapati berlakunya dalam bahasa Arab moden variasi penggunaan kata sendi bersama sesuatu kata kerja bagi membawa maksud yang sama atau hampir sama. Justeru, tujuan kertas kerja ini disediakan adalah untuk menganalisa dan mengenalpasti sejauh mana fenomena ini berlaku di dalam bahasa Arab moden. Bagi mencapai objektif ini sebanyak 77 teks berita dari akhbar al-Ahram dari negara Mesir telah dikumpul dalam bentuk digital merangkumi 20,605 perkataan dalam kategori berita tempatan, dunia, sukan dan ekonomi. Perisian komputer Wordsmith 8.0 telah digunakan untuk menganalisa semua perkataan-perkataan ini dan mengekstrak penggunaan sesuatu kata kerja bersama kata sendi menggunakan aplikasi Wordlist dan Concordance dalam perisian ini. Hasil kajian mendapati bahawa berlakunya fenomena penggunaan sesuatu kata kerja dalam bahasa Arab moden bersama pelbagai kata sendi bagi menunjukkan maksud yang hampir sama. Walau bagaimanapun, secara umumnya, dari aspek kekerapan, penggunaan kata kerja bersama kata sendi yang menjadi kebiasaan tatabahasa Arab lebih kerap digunakan berbanding gaya penggunaan baru yang cuba diketengahkan oleh bahasa Arab moden melalui akhbar. Selain daripada itu, dapat juga disimpulkan bahawa akhbar Arab memainkan peranan yang amat penting dalam menyebarkan penggunaan gaya bahasa baharu kepada masyarakat Arab khususnya.

The use of a certain verb in association with specific preposition is a common practice in Arabic grammar. The use of a verb with different preposition usually conveys different meanings. However, it has been found that in modern Arabic, there is a variety of preposition-verb combinations that convey the same meaning. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to analyse and identify the extent to which this phenomenon occurs in modern Arabic. In order to achieve this objective, a total of 77 news texts from the Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram were collected digitally, comprising of 20,605 words in the categories of local news, world news, sports and economy. The computer software Wordsmith 8.0 was used to analyse all of these words and extract the use of a verb with a preposition using the wordlist and concordance applications in this software. The study found that the phenomenon of using a verb in Arabic with various prepositions to indicate almost the same meaning is prevalent. However, overall, in terms of frequency, the use of verb-preposition combinations that are traditional in Arabic grammar is more commonly used than the new style promoted by modern Arabic through newspapers. Furthermore, it can also be concluded that Arab newspapers play a very important role in disseminating the use of new language style to the Arab community in particular.

The Impact of Autonomous Tasks on Grammar Achievement among EFL Learners

Leila Asgari — 2024-07-15

This study was conducted to see the effect of autonomous tasks on EFL learner’s grammar achievement. Sixty undergraduate students of English Translation at Azad University of Hamadan were chosen through the PET test, and two matched groups, one as the experimental group and the other as the control group, were formed. These learners were tested through a pre-test to check their accuracy level regarding the conditional sentences. Then, the experimental group was given some tasks about the structures, while the control group did not have any treatment. They had their routine exercises in the advanced writing course, in which the teacher gave them a topic to write a paragraph on, and then every grammatical point in that text was explained explicitly by the teacher. After three treatment sessions in the experimental group, the two groups (control and experimental) were tested through a post-test. The learners’ scores demonstrated that the experimental group outperformed the control group regarding grammar achievement. The analysis of the data was done through a t-test. It was concluded that autonomous tasks have significantly impacted EFL learners’ grammar achievement.

Genre Analysis of Movie Reviews in Malaysian Online Newspapers: Uncovering Structural Patterns

Khairul Firhan Yusob — 2024-07-15

Movie reviews are an important indicator of the quality of a movie and help cinemagoers in their decision-making process. With the advent of technology, the consumption of movie reviews has shifted primarily to online platforms, including newspaper websites, blogs and established movie domain sites such as the Internet Movie Database (IMDB). Consequently, it provides more room for the audience to express their opinions about the movies. Despite this shift, there still needs to be more research on the structural nuances of online film reviews in newspapers, particularly in the Malaysian context. To address this gap, this study examines movie reviews published by local newspapers from a genre-based perspective, focusing on their underlying structures. Ten movie reviews were collected from a local newspaper's website and analysed to identify recurring patterns and moves within the genre. The analysis shows that the genre comprised eight steps, ranging from providing information about the movies to making recommendations to readers. The identified moves are M1: Title of the Movie Review, M2: Providing information about the movie, M3: Grabbing readers' attention, M4: Describing the movie, M5: Giving criticism, M6: Offering recommendations to the readers, M7: Concluding the review and M8: Relating to other movies. Notably, Move 5, which involves criticism of the movies, was the most elaborated step with various steps and sub-steps. Further, the analysis also shows a few structural patterns of the genre. This study provides valuable insights for readers who want to understand the elements that shape movie reviews in local newspapers.

Effects of the Highly Immersive Programme on ESL Learners’ Interest and Attitudes in Learning English in Belaga, Sarawak

Muhammad Firdauz Mohd Zainal — 2024-08-15

Although the issue of learners' attitudes towards learning English as a second language (ESL) has been around for a long time, much remains to be learned about the factors that shape their enthusiasm for learning, particularly those who reside in primary schools in rural areas, where it is well known that learners have negative perceptions of and poor performance in learning the English language. This study investigated the effects of the Highly Immersive Programme (HIP) on ESL learners’ interest and attitudes in learning English. In this study, the researchers selected 123 learners ranging from Year 4 to Year 6 from a rural primary school in Sarawak, Malaysia to answer the closed-ended questionnaires. This study observed the positive effects of HIP on ESL learners' interest in learning English and their attitudes toward it. The findings further suggested that HIP can boost ESL learners' English language use, support their language development, and contribute to enhanced grammar skills. This study hopes its findings will serve as a valuable resource for improving English language education in Malaysia, pedagogically, particularly by benefiting a programme like the HIP, which can address the challenges faced by rural learners who lack opportunities to learn and use English effectively.