Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman
Faculty of Arts and Social Science
Department of Languages and Linguistics
DLL Staff- Research Areas/Expertise
No.
Research Interests
Educational Technology
Examples
- An Exploratory Study: Teachers’ Perception towards ICT Integration in Schools
-Exploring the Relationship between Attitude towards Laptop Usage and Laptop Utilisation among Malaysian
Teachers
ICT/Laptop Use in Teaching
and Learning
- Laptop Initiative in Malaysia: Exploring Mathematics and Science Teachers’ Laptop Use
Technology Acceptance Model
- Perceived Usefulness and Perceived Ease of Use: Antecedents of Attitude towards ICT Use among
Undergraduate Students
1.
Structural Equation Modeling
- Exploring the Antecedents of Technology Use among Secondary School Students using Structural Equation
Modeling
Second Language Acquisition
- Language Learning Strategies Adopted by University Students in Malaysia
Vocabulary
- Vocabulary Acquisition for Secondary Students in Malaysia
Inferencing
- The Value of Inferencing in Reading Comprehension
Psycholinguistics
- A Psycholinguistic Analysis of Reading of University Students
Sociolinguistics
- An Investigation on Chinese Perception of Numbers
ELT Methodology
- Project-based Teaching and Learning in Secondary Schools in Malaysia
Reading Approaches and
Strategies
- Metacognitive reading strategies of Malaysians pre-university students
Gender Strategies
- Learning styles and gender differences of university students
2.
3.
DLL Staff- Research Area/ Expertise
Corpus Linguistics
4.
- A Corpus Based Study on the Use of Phrasal Verbs by Malaysian ESL Learners
- Ergative Verbs in British Academic Written English Corpus (BAWE) and Malaysian Corpus of Learner
English (MACLE)
Written Discourse Analysis
- An Analysis of Moves in Job Advertisement
- Readability of Health Brochures
Language and Technology
- (Im)politeness in e-Mail Correspondences
- The Pros and Cons of Internet Memes on Second Language Learning
Speech Acts across Cultures
- You will choose two or three different languages and look at their one particular speech act (e.g.: apologies,
requests). You need to investigate the differences and similarities between the cultures you have chosen. Your
focus could be either spoken or written communication.
Methodologies in Teaching and
Learning
- You will choose a particular method to teach English in classrooms (e.g: using comics to teach vocabulary,
using cartoons to teach grammar). You will test the method in classrooms and prove if the method of your
choice enables students to learn English effectively in classrooms.
Education Technology
- Will new teachers be prepared to teach in a digital age? A regional survey on information technology in teacher
education
English and Education
- Addressing the vocabulary needs of English‐language learners in bilingual and mainstream classrooms
Computer Mediated
Communication in Teaching
and Learning
-Factors influencing the success of computer mediated communication (CMC) environments in university
teaching
IT in Education
- Obstacles to the integration of ICT in education: results from a private university educational assessment
Grammar
-A Study on the Use of Present Tense Auxiliary ‘Be’ in Causal and Effect Essays of Form 5 Malaysian ESL
Learners
-Acquisition of English Irregular Verbs by L1 Chinese Speakers
Error Analysis
- Grammatical errors made in written English essays among UTAR/secondary students in Malaysia
- An Investigation into the Errors in English Writing of Malaysian ESP Learners
5.
6.
7.
DLL Staff- Research Area/ Expertise
8.
9.
Phonetics & Phonology
(Pronunciation)
Varieties of English
- The role and importance of pronunciation in speech and oral communication.
- The Intelligibility of Malaysian English: A Study of some Spoken English Produced by University Students in
Malaysia
- Nativization/ Localization of English in Malaysia
-A Comparative Study of l and r between Malaysian and China Learners
Ecofeminism and/or Psychoanalytic Feminism:
-Exploring the concept of “Madness” in Women’s Writings (i.e. Elizabeth Wurtzel’s Prozac Nation, Shirley
Jackson’s The Bird’s Nest, Janet Frame’s Faces in the Water, Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar, Charlotte Perkins
Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”, Margaret Atwood’s The Edible Woman etc).
Feminism
- Comparing and contrasting between male and female madness in contemporary literature (i.e. Ken Kesey’s
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye etc).
Ecofeminism Spiritualities:
- Exploring the concept of “Spirituality” in contemporary literature (i.e. Paulo Coelho’s Brida and The Witch of
Portobello, etc)- analyzing the concept of “personal integration” and “Inner Awareness”
10.
Post-Colonial Literature
Post Colonial Feminism:
- Analysing the “divided self” in Shirley Lim’s Among the Whitemoon Faces, Exploring the concept of
“sexuality” in women’s writing (i.e. Dina Zaman, Che Husna Azahari etc).
Stylistics:
- Analysing the style and effect of terror in Tunku Halim's selected short stories: A Stylistic Approach
Multiliteracies/Literacy Studies
11.
- Engaging Students in the English Classroom Through a Multiliteracies Approach: Teaching literature via Film
(A Case Study)
- Enhancing Academic Literacy among Tertiary Learners: A Case Study in UTAR
Teaching of Literature
- Pedagogical Implications of the Incorporation of the Literature Component in the Malaysian ESL Syllabus
Professional Development
- Level of thought processes used by teachers in the classroom
DLL Staff- Research Area/ Expertise
12.
Thinking Skills
- E-Portfolios in helping English Language Teacher Development
Postcolonial Literature
- A Marxist Approach of the Oppressive Idelogical System in Tiger Isle; A Government of Thieves
- An Orientalist Approach; Into The Heart of Borneo by O'Hanlon
Feminism
- Third World Feminism in Selected Malaysian Short Stories From Lee Su Kim's Kebaya Tales.
Popular Culture
- Jung's Archetypes in Lord of the Rings
- Jung's Archetypes in Harry Potter
- Exploring Pain in Fiction in Young Adult Fiction; An Analysis on John Green's The Fault in Our Stars
- Echoes of Silence by Chuah Guat Eng; Freud's Identity Conflicts and Defence Mechanism within the
characters.
Literacy Studies
Psychoanalysis
13.
Sociology & Psychology
- Becoming a Selfie: Perfomativity and Surveillance.
Feminism and Popular Culture
(Semiotics)
- The Semiotics of Beauty: Body Image and Representation of Women in Korean Drama Series.
Postcolonial Studies
- Paradise or Hell: The Vision of Home in Novels of Tan Twan Eng."
Semantics and Discourse
Analysis
- The use of factuality devices in a parliament meeting.
Sociolinguistics/ Phonetics
- The relationship between socio-phonetics and identity in Malaysian socio-linguistic context
14.
Testing & Evaluation
15.
- Alternatives of communicative approaches in modern language testing
English for Specific Purposes
- The study of English for Police Officers in Malaysia (Currently implemented in Malaysian Police Academy
PULAPOL)
Teaching Critical Thinking
-Perception on the use of technology in teaching critical thinking
-Teacher Preparation in teaching critical thinking
DLL Staff- Research Area/ Expertise
16.
Teaching Materials Development and Adaptation
-Evaluation of English Language Textbooks for Secondary School Learners
Motivation in Language
Learning
- Orientations and motivation in language learning
- Effectiveness of using motivation in language learning
Second Language Acquisition
- The Influences of Students’ L1 in the Acquisition of English Irregular Past-tense Forms
ELT Methodology – TESOL/
TESL
- Writing Strategies Instruction: Its Impact on Writing Tasks in ESP Classes
Language Teacher Education
- Teacher Cognition and Its Effects on Teaching Practices
Code- Switching
17.
- The Role of the L1 in Second Language Classrooms
English and Education
- Learning style preference of ESL students in vernacular schools
- A comparison of English Syllabus used in private and government schools in Malaysia.
Reading StrategiesComprehensive Extending
Strategies
- Metacognitive reading strategies of high and low proficiency learners.
English for Specific Purposes
- Exploring the effectiveness of ESP programs in universities for workplace implementation
Error Analysis
- Error analysis of ESL learners in universities
Teaching Approaches
- Effectiveness of inductive and deductive methods in the teaching of grammar.
- The effectiveness of using scaffolding techniques in teaching reading in primary schools
TESL/ ESP/ TESOL
- A case study of the teaching of English Language in a Tamil Primary School in Kampar, Perak
Language in the Workplace
- The use of English Language in a multi-national company in Malaysia
18.
DLL Staff- Research Area/ Expertise
English Phonetics and
Pronunciation
- The influence of the mother tongue on the English Language pronunciation of Year Six students in a Tamil
Primary School in Kampar, Perak
Varieties of English
- Some comparisons between Malaysian and Singaporean English
Language Testing
- An item analysis of the Year Six English Language Exam paper in a primary school in Kampar
Testing of Language Skills
- An analysis of the testing of English Language reading in a Chinese Primary School in Kampar
Readability and Teaching of
Reading
- Readability and Academic Word List Analyses of SPM Reading Texts
Errors in Written English
- An error analysis of compositions in written English by Year 5 students in a Chinese Primary School in
Kampar, Perak
Semiotics
-Semiotic analysis on print advertisements, documentary videos and homepages
English for Specific Purposes
-The evaluation of the effectiveness of ESP courses for particular programs in a university
Translation studies
- Issues of literary translation, English-Chinese translation, translation theory, history of translation in the East
and West, and teaching of translation
Malaysian literature in English
- Malaysian narrative fiction in English, Malaysian poetry in English, development and history of Malaysian
literature in English
Narratology (narrative studies)
- Concepts of narratology, classical narratology, cognitive narratology, natural narratology, unnatural
narratology
19.
20.
Literature
21.
Education
- Exploring Conflicts with Women Traditional Gender Roles : An analysis on Azar Nafisi's Reading Lolita in
Tehran
- Between Cultural Worlds and Across Cultural Realms : A Racialised Femininity Literary Analysis on Daugher
of Xanadu
- Barriers and Challenges Encountered by Teachers in Integrating ICT in English Language Classroom
- Burnout among Educatots in UTAR : A Case Report
DLL Staff- Research Area/ Expertise
New Literatures in English
(Critical Theory)
- The Double Colonisation of Women in Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things
Emerging Varieties of English
in New Literatures
- Lexical Borrowings and the Nativization of English in Selected Malaysian Short Stories
22.
23.
Gender and Sexuality Studies
- Women and the Politics of (Dis)Embodiment: Linking Corporeality, Sexuality and Subjectivity in Rani
Manicka’s Selected Novels
Feminist Stylistics
- “Innocent until Proven Filthy”: A Corpus-Based Feminist Stylistic Analysis of Beauty-Product Names
Computer Education
- The barriers faced by Malaysian teachers and students in incorporating information communication and
technology (ICT) in An English Learning Classroom
Computer Assisted Language
Learning (CALL)
- Effectiveness of the use of mobile learning in higher education
Computer Mediated
Communication (CMC)
- E-learning Education for Academic Literacy in Computer-Mediated Communication
Language Learning Theories
Collaborative learning
24.
-Teacher Readiness for Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning in the Malaysian ESL Classroom
ESL writing
- To Collaborate or to Cooperate - The Effects of Collaborative vs Cooperative Learning on Students' Writing
Performance
Old English (Anglo-Saxon)
literature
- Beowulf in Contemporary Culture
Language Teaching
25.
- The Effect of PowerPoint Presentation on Grammar and Vocabulary Learning of Iranian Pre-University EFL
Learners
- Content-based teaching and Language Achievement among ………
- Co-operative learning strategies and language achievement
- The use of eclectic approach in teaching oral proficiency among primary school learners.
- Predominant learning styles which influences low achievement in language achievement among primary six
students
DLL Staff- Research Area/ Expertise
Teaching of Reading
26.
- Using graphic organisers to develop independent reading development.
- Evaluation of reading comprehension questions in prescribed text books of secondary schools
- Developing prior knowledge among secondary school students to improve reading scores
Curriculum and Instructional
Design
- Relationship between learning styles and content based academic achievements among tertiary level students
Technology Integration in
Education
- Designing A WebQuest Module to Enhance Students' Critical Analysis in Science
Language Teaching
- The Usage of Visual Aids in classroom to Enhance Language Learning
- English Trainee Teachers Readiness to Teach
Writing
- The Usage of Corrective Feedback to Improve Writing
- Using Process Writing Approach to Enhance Writing Skill
Teaching of Reading
- Attitude and Motivation in relation to Extensive Reading among ESL Learners
Early Literacy
- Phonics versus Whole Language Approach in Enhancing Early Literacy
Applied Linguistics: Text
analysis, discourse analysis
- Whose story? A Systemic Functional Perspective on Mariah
- An Investigation of Women’s Identity in Malay Society from a Systemic Functional Perspective
- Monsoon History: A Systemic Functional Analysis
Teaching and Learning of ESL
- Using your knowledge of English and Chinese language, compare and contrast some characteristic(s) of both
languages, choosing from the following general areas of linguistic structure: (1) grammatical constructions
and/or morphology (e.g. tenses, modal verbs, conditional sentences…)
- Comparative analysis of Malaysian short stories in English and Chinese languages
Malaysian Chinese Education
- Topics include issues on Second Language acquisition, learning and teaching methods, cognitive approaches to
learning and other aspects related to the teaching of English as a second/foreign language
Gamification of education
- Creating Practical Lesson Plans to Augment Classroom Activities with Game Design
27.
28.
29.
30.
DLL Staff- Research Area/ Expertise
31.
Teaching Creative Writing
Skills
-A Practical Course to Teach Students How to Start and Complete a Novel
Practical Public Speaking Skills
-A Step-by-Step Guideline on Teaching Students about Voice Work, Body Language, Using Materials, and
Rhetorical Styles
Second Language Acquisition/
Learning:
i) Morphology
ii)Syntax
- The acquisition of: Articles (a, an, the) / Relative Clauses / Prepositions / Passive Forms, etc
- The Role of L1 Transfer to L2
Linguistics:
i) Comparative Linguistics
ii) Theoretical Linguistics
- The acquisition of relative clauses between English and (other languages such as Malay, Mandarin or Tamil
etc.)
Semantics
- The study or analyses of idioms, proverbs, lexicalized metaphors
DLL Staff- Research Area/ Expertise