ARTICLE REVIEW 2
Minghat, A. D.,Mustakim, S. S., Ana.A, Kassimova G.K., & Suparman. (2020). Measuring
Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Teacher’s Technical Competency and
the Development of Programme-Specific-Directory. International Journal of Psychosocial
Rehabilitation, pp 3730-3735.
Introduction
The article chosen is ‘Measuring Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET)
Teacher’s Technical Competency and the Development of Programme-Specific-Directory’
written by Asnul Dahar Minghat, Siti Salina Mustakim, Ana.A, Kassymova G.K and Suparman
(2020) discuss on the aspects in determining the TVET’s instructors’ competency based on
their teaching methods, skills and knowledge. The objectives of the article is to discuss the
relationship between the Teaching Method (TM), Curriculum Module (CM), Learner’s
Knowledge (LK) with the Pedagogical Skills and Knowledge (PSK) besides to identify the mean
differences of Teaching Method, Curriculum Module, and Learner’s Knowledge with race,
gender, age, industry involvement, instructor’s highest academic, and types of position. This
article is about determining the relationship of the teachers’ competency in teaching with the
quality of the TVET’s products in industrial fields. The scope of the study is the TVET teachers
of different technical institutions.
In this paper, article summary, critical reflections as well as comments about selected aspects
and suggestions to the issue being raised are precisely presented.
Article summary
The article is mainly discussing the factors that can influence the teachers’ competency in
teaching among the TVET’s instructors and how it can be affecting the quality of the
educational system in vocational schools in Malaysia. The competency of the teachers were
said can be observed based on the performance of the products from the vocational schools
in the industrial sectors, their survival rate in securing job positions better than non-TVET’s
graduates and how they maintain the high demands from various sectors in industries. To
fulfil the purpose of this study which was to determine the relevant competencies among
TVET instructors in the current development of education, the researchers also created
inferences by relating the students’ ability to apply what they learned into the real world
scenario and raised the question such as are the TVET’s students all well-equipped enough to
complement the needs of the Fourth Industrial Revolution or not. On the other side, the
competency of a teacher also has to be valued based on how they teach in class. The methods
and pedagogies amplified by them in class were observed and evaluated to determine
whether they are still relevant and complement the current industrial needs. Even though the
research is mainly focused on the teacher’s competency, the researchers should discuss more
about the teachers’ academic and technical background too as it also plays a huge role in
determining the TVET instructors’ competency. This can be seen where the real life
experience of the teachers themselves in real workplace setting, facing and solving real life
problems related to the fields study (Mohamad, Saud & Ahmad, 2015) are able to enhance
the competency of a TVET teacher. Even though the level of degree or the standard of a
competent teacher was discussed in the article by the researchers from several perspectives,
there are still aspects that can be questioned. What are the exact criteria of a competent TVET
teacher? Are there any differences in the competency criteria between TVET teachers and
normal teachers since they are teaching in different fields and settings?
Critical reflection.
The title of the article is clear and aligned with the main objective of the research which is to
investigate relevant competency among TVET instructors along with the revolution and
development of the education system. However, the second part of the title when the terms
of the ‘Development of Programme-Specific-Directory’ was stated, it did not get explained
and elaborated much in this study which also got the readers confused about its significance
to this research. This is because the information about the term was not described enough
about its role in both this research itself and the TVET educational system as well its
relationship with the teachers’ competency. The function of the title itself to be stated is to
deliver the essential message of the context of the article (Rakusan, 2016), hence for the term
‘Programme-Specific-Directory’ to be part of the title, it has to be addressed thoroughly in
the article like the competency issues were discussed throughout this article. The readers only
get informed in the conclusion part where the researchers mentioned how the study
contributed to the programme which also finally enlightened the readers about the function
and meaning of the term.
The method to collect the data by the researchers is by using the quantitative method which
is by distributing the set of questionnaires to the instructors from different Technical
Institutions. From the previous research that I have both conducted and participated, the
results that may come from the survey on a set of questionnaires alone would not provide
the definite results. This is because of the different angle of comprehension of the
respondents, especially when they are let to answer without the guidance from the
respondents. It may sound impossible to occur in surveys with the adults, but it still can
happen. So, there are possibilities of the respondents to just answer the questionnaire just
because they are being told to do so or the obvious instability in the results of the data. The
question in the questionnaires also can be lacking on some important components that might
be overlooked by the researchers which also can affect the overall result. This matter also has
been mentioned by Glasow (2005) in her journal stating that the error or indefinite answers
might happen when there are respondents that are dishonest while answering the
questionnaire because of their personal reason. In the same journal also, it was stated that it
is really important for the respondents to really understand the questions in the survey
(Pinsonneault and Kraemer, 1993, as cited in Glasow, 2005) to avoid misconceptions or
misunderstanding in answering the surveys. However, the effort of the researchers in handing
in the surveys to various fields of expertise among the TVET’s instructors was really amazing.
To connect with the institutions alone might be challenging as the survey can be sensitive to
some respondents as it is about their competencies which is not easy to get their agreement
to be part of this research.
Conclusion.
The article is very refreshing to me as it is related to how the ability of teachers and their
readiness in teaching along the rapid modernisation can lead to the improvement of quality
for both students and the needs of the industries. The recommendation that I would like to
suggest is to also include the qualitative method such as interviews with the respondents to
supplement the information needed if there is any deficiency of questions in the
questionnaires. The other thing that I would suggest is to also include the students as the
respondents because they are the determiner for the effectiveness of the elements stated in
the first objective of the research. Overall, the article is helpful for the future teachers for
their reference in improving their competency in teaching.
References
Minghat, A. D., Mustakim, S. S., Ana.A, Kassimova G.K., & Suparman. (2020). Measuring
Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Teacher’s Technical Competency and
the Development of Programme-Specific-Directory. International Journal of Psychosocial
Rehabilitation, 3730-3735.
Glasow, P. A. (2005). Fundamentals of Survey Research Methodology. MITRE PRODUCT.
(https://www.mitre.org/sites/default/files/pdf/05_0638.pdf)
Ministry of Higher Education. (2017). TECHNICAL VOCATIONAL EDUCATION & TRAINING
(TVET)
IN
MALAYSIA
:
SELECTED
WORKS.
Ministry
of
Higher
Education.
http://mycc.my/document/files/PDF%20Dokumen/Technical%20Vocational%20Education%
20%26%20Training%20(TVET)%20in%20Malaysia%20Selected%20Works.pdf
Rakusan K. (2016). Editorial. The importance of titles. Current Research: Cardiology. 3. 58.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/308204189_Editorial_The_importance_of_titles
ARTICLE REVIEW 4
Fareed, M., Ashraf, A., & Bilal, M. (2016). ESL Learners' Writing Skills: Problems, Factors and
Suggestions. Journal of Education and Social Sciences, 81-92.
Introduction
The article entitled ‘ESL Learners' Writing Skills: Problems, Factors and Suggestions’ written
by Fareed, M., Ashraf, A., & Bilal, M. (2016) explores the importance of writing in learning
English as a second language. Writing is defined as one of the essential skills in mastering
English language. This article highlighted the factors and the problems faced by the Pakistani
ESL learners in writing. In order to become proficient in English language, learners need to
master the writing skills to enhance their vocabulary and level-up the grammar skills. Apart
from that, the incompetency of the untrained teachers are one of the issues that are being
discussed in this article. The teachers are mostly not trained to teach English properly. The
lessons conducted by the teacher are ineffective, causing the students to lose interest and
unmotivated to learn English language. The study also discloses the poor examination system
in Pakistan where the researchers addressed it as a crooked system; an unsystematic system
that will cause distortion in students’ development. According to Dar and Khan (2015) as cited
in Fareed, Ashraf & Bilal (2016), even though the numbers of English language speakers in
Pakistani have significantly increased throughout the years, their writing skills in English
language are very poor. There are few stages of writing difficulties faced by the students in
their learning and the teachers play a significant role as guidance. The inability of the teacher
to provide effective lessons plus the unconducive classroom hinder the students’ progress. It
will cause the student to lose interest and give up. It is very important to explore all the factors
and problems in order to unravel the issue.
Article summary
As referred to the article, writing skills can be considered as one of the important skills for
language production yet the empowerment of the skills among the ESL learners in Pakistan is
still low. The article is mainly focusing on the problems of writing skills among Pakistani
undergraduate ESL learners with the factors that impede their writing skills. It also includes
suggestions on how to enhance Pakistani ESL learners’ writing skills. The major points that
include research questions made in the article include, 1) What are the major problems in
Pakistani undergraduate ESL learners’ writing skills at the undergraduate level?, 2) What are
the factors that affect Pakistani undergraduate ESL learners’ writing skills at the
undergraduate level?, 3) How can Pakistani undergraduate ESL learners’ writing skills be
improved? The main problems that detained the students' writing skills discovered by the
researchers in this study include the ESL learners' lack of knowledge of appropriate vocabulary
and they also having difficulties in grammar and syntax. A number of grammar errors have
been found in the writing samples that were distributed to 30 ESL learners from four different
universities. Since the data of the study was also obtained through the interviews with the
teachers, the findings of the study found that both teachers and learners play a huge role in
influencing one’s writing skills. As for the learners’ side, the main factor that hinders the
development of undergraduate ESL learners’ writing skills is due to the paucity of
encouragement in writing among ESL learners. It is also mainly caused by the culture of the
country where the writing skills is not seen as important as speaking skills, hence the students
became less motivated to empower the skills and techniques in writing in English. Other than
that, the study also found that writing anxiety has also become one of the factors that hamper
ESL learners’ writing skills where the learners themselves see the writing in English task as
very hard and impossible to write it right besides fear in making mistakes. Meanwhile, for the
teachers’ side, the problems are mostly caused by the untrained teachers where they always
face difficulties in delivering the lesson effectively due to their lacking of teaching skills.
However, despite having problems with the factors that affect ESL learners’ writing skills, the
researchers have suggested developing a writing culture and providing opportunities for
writing practice to improve their writing skills.
Critical reflection
In the article, the writing skills have been highlighted as one the barriers for the ESL learners
to empower English wholly by the researchers. Writing is often considered merely a part of
teaching and learning grammar and syntax, which resultantly underestimates the nature and
importance of writing, and affects its growth (Fareed, Ashraf & Bilal, 2016). The concern of
the poor writing skills in Pakistan was perfectly summarised by the authors in the abstract
along with the issues, goals and results which also provide the readers with almost complete
information about the details of the study. As mentioned in the introduction, even though
the number of English language users in the country are showing increment in years, their
capability to write in English correctly are still weak. Thus, with the statement as the guiding
question of the research, the authors managed to clearly emphasize the other issues that
entangling the ESL learners in writing, and able to make connections with the research
objectives and with the inferences deduced from the issues addressed with the core of the
writing problems among the ESL learners in Pakistan. In the same paragraph, they also came
out with suggestions for more detailed research to find the core of this writing issue. One is
to improve the efficiency in addressing the other possible factors that may also affect the
quality of the writing skills, and the other one is to explore the origin of the factors.
The method used by the researchers was the qualitative method which was by conducting
the interview and collecting the writing samples from the essay. From the interview, the
researchers are opened to opportunities to be provided with abundant of information since
there are opportunities to inquire additional information from the impromptu questions
deduced from the answers provided, by making connections from them as well provide space
for both researchers and respondents to justify their questions and answers as mentioned by
Queirós,Faria & Almeida (2017) in their journal highlighting the benefits of the interview
method in collecting data. The involvement of the teachers as the respondents also helped
the researchers to acquire different perspectives for the solutions from the experienced.
Hence, the authors managed to obtain the common errors made in writing precisely by the
text samples besides the various answers for the grounds of this writing problem through the
interview with both ESL learners and teachers. The results from the finding were also
categorised according to the main objective of the research; the problems from both
interview and writing samples, the factors and the suggestion to improve the ESL learners’
writing skills.
Despite the precision of the problems, the detailed causes and various suggestions to
overcome the issue, the article lacks authenticity due to quite a big number of insertion of
the citation into the writing. The creativity in highlighting the issue seemed limited as the
author might be too focused on not getting too far with the exact meaning from the original
excerpts of the citation. Thus, the real issues that the other Pakistani students faced in real
life was unable to be expanded to a wider angle in reaching the main goal of the research.
Conclusion/ recommendation.
The article is suitable as a reference not only for the Pakistan educational system, but also for
other countries to include Malaysia as the issues related to the writing skills problems are
almost common especially to the countries that use English as the second or foreign language.
The solutions recommended can also be practiced by the teachers here to improve both
writing and language skills for the students besides can also help the teachers to overcome
the problems relating to the writing. The recommendation to refine the quality of the
research in achieving the main goals effectively is to review the questions to be asked during
the interview to get more varied and authentic responses. They are recommended to
improvise more on the answers achieved by asking them to elaborate more on both of the
problems and solutions from the respondents so that the findings can be more elaborative
and more precise. The quality of the research can also be enhanced by focusing more into
finding the results for the conclusion besides on spending too much content for the literature
review. The purpose of the research does not have to be repeated too many times as the
method and the results matter more.
References:
Fareed, M., Ashraf, A., & Bilal, M. (2016). ESL Learners' Writing Skills: Problems, Factors and
Suggestions. Journal of Education and Social Sciences, 81-92.
Almeida F., Faria D. & Queirós A. (2017). Strengths and Limitations of Qualitative and
Quantitative Research Methods. European Journal of Education Studies. 3. 369-387.
10.5281/zenodo.887089.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319852576_Strengths_and_Limitations_of_Qual
itative_and_Quantitative_Research_Methods
Article review 5
Hashim, H. U., & Yunus, M. M. (2018) English as a Second Language (ESL) Learning: Setting the
Right Environment for Second Language Acquisition. Tadris: Jurnal Keguruan dan Ilmu
Tarbiyah, 3(2), pp 207-215.
Introduction
According to Hashim & Yunus (2018) in their article “English as a Second Language (ESL)
Learning: Setting the Right Environment for Second Language Acquisition'', the school’s
environment influenced the students in acquiring English for the ESL learning. The main
purpose of the research is to find the correlations between the school settings and routines
on ESL learning among secondary students (Hashim H. U. & Yunus M.M., 2018). The
researchers first put the role of the school as the centre where the students can both learn
and acquire the language effectively besides their homes. They then defined the meaning of
the acquisition of language by citing Dong & Ren (2013) “acquiring a language is not only
understanding the concept or format of that language but being able to speak the language
fluently is what makes learners acquire the language”. (p.1)
The research was carried out at a school in Petaling Jaya as its position as one of the best
urban area schools in Malaysia shows a very significant proof of having mostly proficient
students in English language (Talif & Edwin, 2001 as cited in Hashim & Yunus, 2018). The
method used by the researchers in collecting data is the qualitative method which is by
observing the school’s setting and routine to observe the students’ level of proficiency and by
conducting an interview with one of the students. In the observation, the field notes to record
behaviours, events, activities, and the school setting as the instrument of the observation.
Hashim & Yunus (2018) decided the elements to be included in the field notes were as follows;
the environment of the school for the school setting and the programs provided by the school
in order to enhance students’ English language proficiency for the routine.
In the article, how the environment plays a huge role in influencing the students whether to
communicate in English is explained. How the school provides the support system for the
students to practise their English and how peers can affect their confidence in speaking in
English. Thus, the correlation between the school’s environment and the students’ ability to
acquire English can be seen further through the research.
In this paper, article summary, critical reflections as well as comments about selected aspects
and suggestions to the issue being raised are precisely presented.
Article Summary
Schools can be one of the important roles in influencing second language acquisition,
particularly English language. However, there are schools that do not practice and promote
the language acquiring skills among the students in the school setting, hence they rarely
consider movements or approaches that the school’s management can conduct to improve
ESL learning among students. This article intended to investigate the influence of school
settings and routines on ESL learning among secondary students. The participants involved in
this study were all-girl school students located in Selangor. Based on this article, it was proven
that there are correlations between the school settings and routines on ESL learning among
secondary students. It was found that school settings and routines do influence ESL learning
among secondary students. Learning language does acquire the implementation of strategies
which Wenden and Rubin defined the learning strategies as actions, steps, plans or routines
taken by the learners in processing the information they received (Wendel, 2011, as cited in
Hashim & Yunus, 2018). Besides the learning strategies, Shuib & Muniandy (2016) also
highlighted the importance of the socializing in language acquisition among peers where they
cited from Nambiar’s (1996) findings that low proficiency learners use compensation and
social strategies to a greater extent in learning and acquiring the language. Thus, in the school
settings where the students spend most of their time among themselves, they can improve
their language skills not just by communicating in English with their friends, but also by
actively engaging and participating in the programmes related to the language held by the
school.
Today, English is very important and is the most common global language that is used for
worldwide communication. The real situation that is currently happening in Malaysia is that
the English is used only in limited or confined situations such as during any presentation or
written works that has to be done in English, but other times, Bahasa Malaysia is used.
Learners are lacking in exposure to the language as there is quite a limited chance to use. This
article highlighted that ESL learning cannot be separated by the initial capabilities of the
students and how they are able to develop things that they lack. The development undergone
by the students could be monitored and thus, could be assisted in the specific aspects that
need to be improved. Mentioned in this article on the interaction, where learners will learn
best. The interaction between learners can scaffold and assist in the L2 acquisition language.
In this way, social interaction is encouraged to help and improve learning. Vygotsky claims
that the secret of effective learning came from the nature of the social interaction between
two or more people with different levels of skills and knowledge.
In addition, this article also supports the importance of motivation and attitude. The
motivation of the students will help in increasing the students’ willingness to acquire ESL
learning. The motivations which can always be provided by the school with the help of the
teachers and the settings of the school. The study was conducted at a school that is famous
for its high proficient students who are fluent in English language among themselves and even
with others. One of the reasons is because of the school environment as it has supported and
agreed with the students. In addition, the school has a lot of facilities that help students to be
able to improve on their English language. As an example, every corner of the school is
occupied and filled with English vocabulary that helps students to get used to the words and
phrases of English language. The article supports reading as one of the factors that help in
improving students’ level of accuracy in the use of English language. This is because, through
reading students will gain a lot and sometimes they acquire language through reading thus
maintaining a reading session weekly has been proven to be one of the best methods in
helping secondary students in acquiring language. Lastly, we can say that the article has
proven that school settings and routines help students to have confidence, a sense of
belonging and help them to maintain their sense of optimism in their process of ESL learning
and acquiring language.
Critical Reflection
The title of the article is clearly depicting the context of the research where the role of the
school’s setting and its routine play a huge role in English language acquisition among the ESL
learners. The research highlighted the significance of language acquisition as it is crucial
among school students especially in the Malaysian context as suggested by the Ministry of
Education due to the importance of the English language in nation-building besides the usage
of English language that is widely practiced in worldwide communication. Few other kinds of
research on how to enhance English language acquisition among school students may have
been done. However, this research by Hashim and Yunus (2018) is focusing on the relation
between the school settings that influence English acquisition among ESL learners. The
authors are taking data based on both the settings and the routines that are available at the
schools. The researchers expanded the field of the study by including the school routines as
one of the aspects to be investigated in the study in creating links of the correlation between
school settings and English acquisition among ESL learners. This is because school routines
have affected ESL learners’ English proficiency by boosting up their confidence level in
speaking using the English language and providing them platforms to hone their English at
school.
Some learners also lack the motivation to speak English because most of them do not see the
significance to learn or speak English (Al Hosni, 2014 as cited in Hashim & Yunus, 2018).
Through the observation, the researchers found that the school routines such as having a 20
minutes session of reading any English reading materials during the assembly, using English
newspapers as teaching materials and the public speaking activity. These routines help the
students to improve their English skills in many aspects including enhancing the students’
language proficiency in reading, writing and speaking through all three routines, and also
encouraged the students to be confident in communicating in English in the big crowds. Other
than that, the researchers also found that the school setting has also provided a calming
environment for students to be able to speak in English with all the teachers and staff. Based
on the article, the school is occupied with English vocabulary in every corner to help students
to be familiar with the words and phrases in English.
The method used by the researchers was the qualitative method which was by conducting
the interview and also by doing an observation method. The authors managed to obtain the
correlation between school settings and routines that affect second language acquisition
among students through both of the data collecting instruments. However, despite using the
appropriate instruments in collecting the data, the findings could have biased results as the
researchers only interviewed one student to collect the data while there are high possibilities
that other students might have totally contradicting views and answers on the research
question during the interview. Plus, by only gaining perspectives from an individual, the
information on students’ opinions about both school’s setting and routine do assist them in
acquiring the language and cannot be generalized as it is more to that particular person’s
personal opinion. Hence, the verification process to extract findings from the interview to
compare with the inference or hypothesis made by the researchers will take longer time to
be analysed (Queirós, Faria & Almeid, 2017). Thus, the real issues that the other students
faced in acquiring a second language were unable to be expanded to a wider angle in reaching
the main goal of the research.
Conclusion/ recommendations
The research conducted by Hashim & Yunus (2018) proved that the school as a whole is still
and forever relevant to be a main part of improving the ESL learning experience for the
students. The article has raised the awareness of how important the school’s setting and
routine is can enhance the students’ ability to practice English effectively besides it helps
them to boost their confidence in engaging with others using English. However, there are
some aspects in this research that can be improvised to obtain more precise findings. The first
suggestion is to conduct the interview by selecting the students randomly instead choosing
one student who is already fluent in English. This is to avoid the bias that might be expressed
by the student in maintaining the school reputation as it was obvious that the student was
selected by the teachers to represent the school. The other suggestion is to mix the research
method which is quantitative by handing in surveys or questionnaires to the students to
strengthen the findings from the observation and the interview. Overall, the article is useful
for the future teachers to see the role of the school's environment for ESL learning experience
in the bigger perspective.
References:
Hashim H. U. & Yunus M. M. (2018), English as a Second Language (ESL) Learning: Setting the
Right Environment for Second Language Acquisition, Tadris: Jurnal Keguruan dan Ilmu
Tarbiyah 3 (2): 207-215
Muniandy, J. & Munir Shuib (2016), Learning Styles, Language Learning Strategies and Fields
of Study among ESL Learners, Malaysian Journal of ELT Research, Vol. 12(1), pp. 1-19
https://journals.melta.org.my/index.php/majer/article/download/22/5
Queirós A., Faria D. & Almeida F. (2017) Strengths and Limitations of Qualitative and
Quantitative Research Methods, European Journal of Education Studies 3 (9), 369-387
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319852576_Strengths_and_Limitations_of_Qual
itative_and_Quantitative_Research_Methods