DELTA Connexion Issue 4 FEBRUARY 2021

ISSUE 4| FEBRUARY 2021

DELTA
CONNEXION

E-NEWSLETTER | QUARTERLY
E-ISSN 2716-6600

DARUL AMAN ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING
AND TEACHING ASSOCIATION (DELTA)

NO 116-D, JALAN 9/1, TAMAN LEMBAH BUJANG, 08100 BEDONG,
KEDAH DARUL AMAN, MALAYSIA
PPM-008-02-21042019

DARUL AMAN
ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING AND TEACHING ASSOCIATION

(DELTA)

All rights reserved

DELTA CONNEXION ISSUE 4 FEBRUARY 2021

e-ISSN 2716-6600

EXECUTIVE ADVISORS

Zanurin bin Mohamad Safar
SMK Sultan Badlishah

Noor Hayati binti Abdullah
PPD Kuala Muda Yan (Retired)

COORDINATOR

Koay Kia Hooi
SK Kuala Ketil

PROJECT HEAD

Adibah binti Azizan
SK Kedawang

TEAM LEADER

Anis Syuhada binti Mohamad Ali
SK Panglima Awang

EDITORS TECHNICAL TEAM

Chief Editor Chief / Cover Design

Mohammad Kamal bin Ayub Azuliana binti Darus
SMK Megat Dewa SK Hutan Kampong

Editors Assistants

Sarb Jeet Kaur d/o Kashmir Singh Koay Kia Hooi
SMK Pendang SK Kuala Ketil

Grace Lee Si Yunn Mohd Azham bin Amran
SMK Labu Besar SMK Padang Terap

Ruzila binti Amir Hamzah Nursharidah binti Shamsudin
SMK Sultanah Bahiyah SMA Darul Ibtisam

Adibah binti Azizan Nur Hidayatul Hanim binti Mohd Isa
SK Kedawang SK Guar Kepayang

NoorHayati binti Abdullah
PPD Kuala Muda Yan (Retired)

ORGANISATION ADDRESS

Darul Aman English Language No 116-D, Jalan 9/1, Taman Lembah Bujang,
Learning and Teaching Association (DELTA) 08100 Bedong, Kedah Darul Aman, Malaysia

http://www.deltakedah.com

[email protected]

DELTA - Darul Aman English Language
Learning and Teaching Association



THE PRESIDENT'S PAGE

Written By: Zanurin bin Mohamad Safar
SMK Sultan Badlishah
[email protected]

Tips to Engage ESL Learners in Online Learning

Transitioning from face-to-face classroom to an online learning mode is challenging
for most ESL teachers because they must make extra effort to engage pupils
effectively. How can ESL teachers promote better engagement during online
learning sessions? Here are some practical tips and recommendations:

Reduce Teacher Talk
All pupils must be clear with the way you prefer to conduct your online sessions.
Determine your structure or format. For example, your online teaching (teacher
talk) is only 40% of the whole session but 30% will be discussion and 30% will be
random responses from selected individuals. In short, your structure should
reduce teacher talk as much as possible and ensure there are multiple
opportunities for your pupils to contribute.

Invite Pupils to Contribute
The proposed structure presented above can be flexible. Whenever suitable, the
ESL teachers should invite pupils to say something. Depending on the topic or
issue, they may share their personal experiences, state their views, express their
disagreement, provide examples or just to spell a difficult word. Definitely, having
pupils contribute their knowledge and views is an effective way to empower and
engage them.

Give Pupils a Sense of Ownership
This can be easily implemented. Occasionally, allow pupils to determine the topic
oforcus of their online learning. For an instance, in a
speaking class, the teacher should just agree with the
pupils’ suggestion if they prefer to talk about TikTok (a
topic of their choice). The same goes for essay writing;
they may write based on their own preferred topic.
Pupils are more motivated and engaged when they
know they have some say in what they are doing.

Encourage Peer Feedback and Assessment
Any chance the learners have to voice out their feedback is a great opportunity for
interaction and learning engagement. Encourage them to give feedback to their
classmate’s view; if they agree or disagree, they need to justify. They may also
comment on the quality or accuracy of their friend’s answer. Peer assessment is
also practical and relevant in promoting engagement among ESL learners. One way
is to give a mark and justification for the mark given. A simpler way to assess would
just be showing Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down.

Plan for Diversity in Delivery
ESL teachers can engage their pupils by using different content delivery methods
such as using songs, pictures, live interviews, recorded speeches, videos, texts,
audios and PowerPoint presentations. Perhaps, it will be interesting to bring in a
guest teacher or speaker; the pupils do not get tired of seeing the same face and
hearing the same voice. If the teacher knows a celebrity, perhaps, inviting the
celebrity to join the online class is a definite engagement booster.

Have the Element of Surprise and Fun
Beyond doubt, it is interesting to keep the element of surprise during the online
learning session. Have a lucky draw at the end of the online class or the end of the
week. It does not have to be costly. Asking the monitor to plan an online birthday
celebration is something doable too. Letting the pupils wish the birthday boy or girl
in English can be a significant part of the lesson. Besides, incorporating interactive
online language games will surely add fun to the online classes.

To conclude, we cannot deny the fact that successful online classrooms require a
thorough planning. This means ESL teachers need to understand their pupils and
prepare the lessons well. Each learning and teaching context differs but the teachers
know best. Therefore, it is up to the teachers to determine which of the tips shared
above can work well for their online learning sessions. Do adopt and adapt the tips if
necessary. May each online learning session achieve better engagement among the
learners.

TABLE OF CONTENT

articles for us all 05 "The cure for
boredom is
01 MY PBL STORIES curiosity.
Ku Nor Suriati binti There is no
THE GREAT RESET cure for
Anis Syuhada Ku Ishak curiosity."
Mohamad Ali SMK Batu 17
Dorothy
SK Panglima Awang Parker

09 12 Feb 2021
deltakedah.com
BE GOOD, COLLECT PANDEMIC LUCK
STAMPS, GET REWARDS, STREAKS (PLS)
Asyraf Shuib
THAT'S ENGLISH! Kolej Komuniti
Chin Da a/p Bun Tiang Baling

SJKC Yeok Chee 20

17 THINKING IS FUN
WITH RYAN'S
"SAY IT, MY DEAR"
Noraini bt Bajoori THINKER'S KEYS
Zarina binti Mohamed
SMK Dulang
Norjah bt Ismail Yusuf
PPD Kuala Muda/Yan PPD Larut Matang

26 29

STRUGGLING LITERATURE REVIEW:
READERS? I GOT YOU! UTILIZING LOCAL LITERARY
TEXTS IN ESL CLASSROOM
Wan Nurul Najihah Muhammad Nafis bin Azman
binti Ab Rahman
SMK Dato Abdul Rahman
SK Kampong Raja Andak

34 37

I AM GAME! A COLLABORATIVE TEACHING DURING
EFFORT TO BUILD UP AN PANDEMIC
ONLINE COMMUNITY TO Amira Amir
PROMOTE TECHNOLOGY SK Ringlet

INCLUSION IN TIMES OF CRISIS
Sandra Morales

Newcastle University

THE GREAT RESET
Anis Syuhada binti Mohamad Ali
SK Panglima Awang, Kuala Nerang, Kedah

[email protected]

Introduction
2020 has been a year of so much pain, hardship, chaos, and l
oss. Yet, as nations around the world begin to rebuild from
the pandemic, it is clear that, we also have a
once-in-a-generation opportunity to change our tune.
The Great Reset as mentioned by Klaus Schwab as the
ways we seize the moment of disruption to push for a world
that is healthier, more resilient, sustainable and just. In this
article, I would like to share on how I see this pandemic
from my point of view. Since the first strike, it started to
change everyone’s ways of responding to the pandemic, from each areas and
different fields especially in educational areas, which is closely related to me. Hence,
it changes my lenses on how I perceive and take this whole situation as a locus
point.

Redesigning teaching approaches
In the immediate months that followed the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the
world as we knew it has turned upside down. Like many departments, the most
shattered would be the education department as it involves the largest percentage
of population which includes teachers, educators, post-graduates, under-graduate,
secondary and primary pupils as well as kindergarteners. As the schools and
educational institutions started to temporarily shutdown in flattening the curve of
positive cases, teachers started to search for the most suitable platforms to be in
touch with their students. Along the way, many mistakes were made and several
new methods were found in the emergency response to this crisis. At the initial
shock of the outbreak, many motions were put on halt. Teachers started to
brainstorm and came out with many methods just to be in touch with the students.
I bet many teachers were aware that if nothing were to be done, it could result in
worse situations. Students learning gap is widen and many might miss the learning
that they deserve.

By redesigning teaching approaches; from physical to virtual, teachers could narrow
the gap and ensure that the process of imparting knowledge still occurs even from
home. Teachers were able to make smooth transition from physical classroom
learning to online learning environment via digital platforms. That happens because
they are alert of the need to be incredibly resourceful and at the same time, able to

1

enthral students’ engagement as they learn from home. The common scenario of
‘spoon-feeding’ can finally be extracted from our conservative way of teaching.
Teachers can no longer ‘give’ everything, and students ‘wait to be stuffed’ with
information directly from teachers. With virtual learning ongoing, teachers should
realise that they should act as the guidance and monitor pupils’ progress to
complete the task from home. The pandemic has taken so much from us, in term
shattered livelihoods and educational gaps. However, it has also presented us with
an opportunity to reshape our teaching approaches in our attempts to narrow the
educational gap in this whole new situation.

Changing teachers’ focus of teaching The pandemic has forced us to reimagine the
core value and our teaching beliefs. In normal times, for instance, we could impart
our knowledge of the subject matters through presentations and pupils show their
understanding via production. Then, teachers assess to see if the pupils manage to
demonstrate their understanding through the teachers’ lens. Those who manage to
follow closely to what the teachers presented would be called as high achievers. The
earlier scenario is what commonly happened in the months before the outbreak.
During the pandemic, we have conducted the road shows of imparting knowledge
virtually, thus it is hard to tell if the pupils were able to follow closely to the teachers’
instructions. Hence, teachers ought to change the focus and diversify their teaching
beliefs. Instead of believing that teaching is about relaying the information that one
has to another, it should be about one showing and guiding a path to another. The
reason why I am saying this is because the pupils or I should call them the
millennials are able to search for the information anywhere. It is not necessarily by
the teacher-pupil interaction per se. Thus, the most important elements that need to
be taught to the pupils are skills; self-regulated learning skill and digital skills.

Pupils with self-regulated learning skill will be able to manage their learning

independently without having the adults to force it on them. They know what they

want to learn, need to learn and how to do so in time to time. As educators, it is

important to inculcate this skill among the pupils. During this MCO phase, one thing

that we can do is asking pupils to do learning journals, diaries, or learning logs.

Government uses digital revolution to improve public services, from physical medical

appointment to e-cards and enhancing

e-commerce. Nowadays, most of the

things are done virtually. It is important

for the adults to guide the pupils, not

just on how to go digital but also how

to do it appropriately. In this borderless

world, the horizon becomes wider and Photo credit: mytukar.com
more transparent for everyone.

2

Everything is a non-filter and public.The adults, especially educators need toshift
their lens. Instead of teaching them to memorise the components of a monitor or
motherboard, maybe they should extend it to how to create a better virtual
community.

Shifting our assessment strategies
If we take cues from the current situations and a lot of things happening, it is easy to
view the world through a zero-sum lens. But nothing could be further from reality
especially when it comes to education. It should always be in motion and viewed in
different angles and lenses. Despite any occurrence, learning and assessment of
learning should be continuous for one’s perpetual progression. With the records of
prolonged ‘holidays’ and ‘learning-from-home’during the Movement Control Order
(MCO) phase, it seems like that is going to reshape how learning and assessment
towards learning were normally done. On the surface, it might sound like a
problemas no one-to-one physical interaction happens for assessment to take place,
but it is also an opportunity for us. This may be taken as a phase where educators
can reflect, unlearn and learn (in that order) of everything about assessment.
Assessment should be seen as a progressive action of a person which also acts as a
bridge of learning between one topic to another. The one that is commonly seen in
the classroom scenario is the result of what a pupil can imitate from the information
given. Another scenario would be a pupil is said to be able to get full marks on the
topic given. Those scenarios are not wrong but now it seems it could use a little shift
and tilt around.

As everyone is expected to be at home, assessment that should take place is when a
pupil is able to use the skill that is practiced in the classroom (digitally) and relate it
to topics learnt, then use the knowledge and skill to apply it in their daily practices. It
is time for teachers to shift our methods of assessment by giving more project-
based tasks as it allows pupils to expand the skill and independently search for
pertinent knowledge as they complete it. To be frank, project-based task is not
anything new to our educational system. Somehow, before the pandemic strike it
seemed like something impossible or can be skipped and put-on hold. Generally,
teachers preferred to focus on presenting knowledge as it is and making the pupils
to imitate the presentation rather than pupils make their own through projects. I
have heard excuses such as it is hard to be done, many things to explain, and lots of
tools to prepare. These excuses sound bigger than the limitation itself. Now is the
time for teachers to step back and reflect, unlearn and learn. The world is embracing
the ‘new normal’ that ensures pupils are equipped with skills, able to solve real
problems innovatively by implementing learning and assessment using project-
based tasks. Some teachers have already taken up the challenges and ready to move
forward. The Covid-19 has changed how the system works. It is a start button for us
to start moving now.

3

Closure
Covid-19 is a reckoning. We must make the most of this moment. We need to
reimagine how knowledge should be conveyed and imparted to the pupils.
Governments, policy makers, shareholders and educators must take a moment to
reflect their behaviours towards pupils’ learning post-pandemic. This pandemic took
so much from us, in lives lost and livelihood shattered. But it also presented us with
an opportunity to reshape the educational system. COVID 19 has convinced us we
could not go back to business as usual and so later, as we stand here in the year
2021 with the same people but definitely, a different society.

4

MY PBL STORIES
Ku Nor Suriati binti Ku Ishak

SMK Batu 17, Yan, Kedah
[email protected]

It feels great when you know that you have been doing
something right from the beginning. Well, this is
exactly how I reflect upon myself doing Project Based
Learning all this while! Every year, without fail, I will
make sure that I do at least a project with my pupils.
As far as I could remember, ever since I started
teaching in 1999. At that time, those were just ‘projects’;
from scrapbooks to diorama and from power points to
short videos. The satisfaction of seeing my pupils
completing their tasks and the final products they turned in keeps me motivated
to do more.

Among significant projects I have carried out so far, the Video Making Project in

2016 had a really great impact on me. With my admittedly limited knowledge and

experience, I made my form 4 pupils do a drama based on a short story they read

for their Literature Component titled The Right Thing To Do. It took them almost 3

weeks to complete the whole project including the video editing. I used their

videos to assess them on their speaking skills for their English Oral Test, and

added a 10% bonus to their final exam marks. My pupils enjoyed acting for the

videos so much which later led to more video making activities with them the

following year. In 2017, I was so involved in the Highly Immersive

Programmes in my school. That year, I tried out various

activities which cover all the components of HIP – In Class,

Out of Class, Extra Class and Outreach. The most

unforgettable experience of doing the ‘projects’ was when I

was selected to represent my school- SMK Guar

Chempedak and JPN Kedah for the HIP Colloquium in Nilai,

Negeri Sembilan in August 2017. My English panel and I

had done quite a number of projects and activities that

year which qualified us to represent the state. And among

the projects I highlighted during the showcase was the one entitled ‘Catch Me If
You Can’. For this particular project, my form 5 pupils needed to choose a
character from the novel they read – Dear Mr Kilmer and prepare short notes.
The best part of it was they had to write those notes on white/plain shirts. At that
point, my pupils were really

5

really putting their efforts into producing the most creative
notes on shirts. The climax of the project was when the
students had to complete an activity called ‘Catch Me If You Can’.
During this activity, the pupils were to wear the shirts and they
were given a set of questions on characters. Their task was to
complete a given graphic organiser with information which they
could get from the notes on the shirts. Imagine the chaotic
lesson I had on that day! Pupils were running after their
friends for the notes and shouting their heads off for the person
wearing the shirt of a particular character. In fact, until today
I still have my pupils telling me how excited they were doing that activity even after
years of leaving school.In 2018, I had a clearer idea of how to conduct PBL in
classrooms and I started doing some serious reading on the topic. Based on my
reading, I realised that my previous projects were not following the ‘right’ steps of
doing a PBL. I started to seek advice from our SISC+ and joined a few PBL
showcases in my districts and other districts as well. Among them were the HIP
Carnival in Kuala Muda Yan and HIP Showcase organised by PPD Padang Terap.
From my observation, I could see that there are tonnes of ideas for projects
shared by teachers who are involved in the showcase but very few of them
highlighted the process of doing PBL. At this point, I knew that if I were to do a
proper PBL, I need to make sure it is related to Classroom Based Assessments, or
Pentaksiran Bilik Darjah (PBD) as well so that my projects are in line with the
syllabus requirement.

Finally, in 2019, I managed to come out with a very
significant project entitled Depression Among
Teenagers with my Form 4 pupils. The project started
off with a very basic question – How do teenagers
know their level of depression? It happened just after
we had a discussion on one of the articles in the
textbook (Teenage Blues). From that question, we
discussed the possible outline on how to get
information about the topic and share the possible
reading materials about depression with others. My
pupils suggested the idea of having a classroom
showcase and they were even willing to open their
showcase for other classes as well. I was surprised to observe their excitement
towards the project and we began to outline our actions after school hours.

6

The pupils were divided into 4 groups and they
were assigned with different tasks on the topic.
Each group had to come out with a showcase
for their task. We only managed a few short
discussions during lessons and material
preparations were done after school hours.
The pupils were very independent and I was
delighted to see them working on the project
with minimal supervision. They asked a lot of questions, they consulted me on their
showcase ideas and asked me to check on the use of vocabulary as well as grammar
for their display materials. A day before the showcase, I joined them for the final
preparation. We were given an empty classroom for the showcase and 2 hours of
sharing the showcase with other classes. I couldn’t be prouder to see how my pupils
conducted the showcase. They organised almost everything – from the invitation for
the teachers and principal, to the setting of the showcase. We had almost 200
visitors in a 2-hour showcase! From this humble showcase, I managed to bring it to
another level where I was invited by Darul Aman English Language Learning and
Teaching Association (DELTA) to showcase the materials and share the experience of
doing the project in the Langkawi International Conference of English Language
Teaching from 29th November 2019 to 1st December 2019.

In 2020, I began to consistently do a PBL in my classrooms with a structured
guideline. I made sure my projects are related to PBD and follow the PDCA (Plan, Do,
Check, Act) cycle for quality assurance. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, I
had to use online platforms to oversee most of the projects. Among them were the
Short Video Projects and Stay at Home Challenge. In July 2020, when we were finally
allowed to have our face to face classes, I executed my Globetrotting PBL with the
title Round the World Trip. It was completed within 2 weeks and we had the chance
to showcase the project in a school-wide event in September – The PBD Carnival.

The project was aimed to assess the pupils’ speaking
and reading skills. Thus, we had another classroom
showcase and a Food Fiesta just to make sure
everyone got the chance to speak and be assessed
accordingly. It was another successful project from
the pupils and I was also invited to share the
experience with other schools as well as do an online
sharing via Google Meet and FB live! My journey from
doing simple classroom projects to the more

7

structured ones under the Project Based Learning is actually more of a self-
satisfaction than just an academic requirement. I truly believe in Show! Don’t Tell
concept where in order to inspire my pupils to engage in PBL, I need to show them
the way. The process of doing PBL exposed my students indirectly to lots and lots of
independent learning and their own discovery of information. With self-experience
and loads of pictures and videos along the way, I managed to build up my own
confidence in sharing the joy and excitement of doing PBL in ESL classrooms – not
just any similar-ability normal classroom but a classroom with mixed abilities and
highly motivated creative bunch of pupils!

8

BE GOOD, COLLECT STAMPS, GET REWARDS, THAT’S ENGLISH!
Chin Da a/p Bun Tiang

SJKC Yeok Chee, Baling, Kedah
[email protected]

INTRODUCTION
While there is evidence that academic achievement is
linked to children’s behavior (Gutman et al., 2010;
Herman et al., 2020), there is less known research
examining the association between behavior
and young children’s English Language performance,
particularly in Malaysian context.

An investigation of children’s behavior and their English
Language performance is important as the association
between behavior and achievement may vary across the
various subjects learned in school. For instance, the
relationship between engagement in problem behavior and academic
achievement has been shown to differ as children proceed through school
(Trzesniewski et al., 2006). The examination of multiple dimensions of behavior is
also critical, given that different dimensions of behavior have been shown to be
strongly associated with one another (Gutman et al., 2010).

For example, children who have attention problems find it hard to sit still while
children who have activity problems tend to forget things and make careless
mistakes (Gutman & Brown, 2008). As a
result, an association between being a
hyperactive and academic achievement
may be due to another related factor
such as troublesome behavior. The
simultaneous examination of different
dimensions of behavior across
primary school will help clarify their
relative importance during the early
stage of schooling.

9

MY POSSE
My posse used to be rogue, inattentive, and loud; not all but the majority was.
Teaching in such a class was a torture. We (not only me but other teachers too),
have to constantly scream and shout at them. The problem lies in their behavior
during the lesson. They could not focus and sit still in class. Most of them,
especially boys, have a hard time focusing and listening to teachers in class. The
students also declined to complete given tasks or assignments. They randomly
wrote and submitted their work when asked. Most of us, the English teachers
faced a stumbling block when it came to collecting their homework. Clearly, a
program was needed to help them focus and change their behavior. The program
should be able to create a spark of interest in learning English among the pupils.
Hence, a class of Year Five young learners was chosen for the program; the pupils
were of mixed abilities. These pupils were the pioneer, and that was ten years
ago!

MY REWARDS SYSTEM
The underlying principles of My Rewards System stemmed from studies in
behavior theory and behavior observations. Concepts such as positive
reinforcement (rewards) and behavior modification have been in use as early as
the 1920's. This program focuses on behavior management and procedures for
increasing and maintaining "good" behavior among young children whilst
improving their English Language performance. Each pupil was given a ‘reward’

whenever they displayed ‘ good’ behavior.
The reward came in the form of
personalized stamps which I created. Once
they achieved the set target, they
redeemed the accumulated ‘rewards’. Small
prizes wouldbe given if they achieved the
intended target. However, the ‘stamp’
would be ‘deleted’ or ‘removed’ if they
created problems in class. The ‘stamp’
would also be deleted if they did not hand
in their work on time or they did not do
their work at all. Besides academic matters, pupils were also being observed for
‘good’ behavior. Among the deserving behavior were getting ready for lessons,
attempting to answer an oral question in class, being alert during the lesson,
assisting peers and the list is endless. Based on these observations, I was able to
score them in terms of behavioral well-being.

10

TODAY’S STORY
It was not a miracle, but My Rewards System
worked. Behavior could not be changed
overnight but the change is possible. It took me
one good year to produce the desired result. By
the time I reaped the fruits of my labor, the whole
school had adopted My Rewards System. It is too
good to be true if I were to report that the whole
school was transformed. But it is not too much to
say My Rewards System worked ten years ago,
and today, it is still very much alive and kicking.
English Language is no longer in the critical-subject
category, and best of all, my posse are docile,
obedient children. My Rewards System has
somehow managed to ‘steal’ the young learners’
heart. Do not get me wrong; it was not all about
the rewards. I would say it was a ‘yes’ in its infancy stage but yesterday’s extrinsic
rewards are today’s intrinsic motivation!

REFERENCES
Gutman, L., & Brown, J. F. (2008). The importance of social worlds: an investigation of peer relationships.
Gutman, L. M., Brown, R., Akerman, R., & Polina, O. (2010). Change in wellbeing from childhood to adolescence: risk and resilience. Centre for Research
on the Wider Benefits of learning.
Herman, K. C., Reinke, W. M., Dong, N., & Bradshaw, C. P. (2020). Can effective classroom behavior management increase student achievement in
middle school? Findings from a group randomized trial. Journal of Educational Psychology.
Trzesniewski, K. H., Moffitt, T. E., Caspi, A., Taylor, A., & Maughan, B. (2006). Revisiting the association between reading achievement and antisocial
behavior: New evidence of an environmental explanation from a twin study. Child development, 77(1), 72-88.

11

PANDEMIC LUCK STREAKS (PLS)
Asyraf Shuib

Kolej Komuniti Baling, Kedah
[email protected]

1. A New Beginning

Sometimes, the life that you wish for is not always the life
that you need, and that is exactly how I feel about this
year. On the 20th February 2020 I was given the news
which changed my life 180 degrees. After spending
years surrounded by peers, dearest friends - the
comfort of familiar people and thriving environment
that I so adore, I finally decided to embark on a new path alone. Before I could
warm the seat of my new office, on the 18th March of 2020, the age of the
pandemic dawned as the Prime Minister announced the
first MCO. And so began my journey treading this
uncharted water, into the unknown. Sing it!

While it is without a doubt, facing a pandemic can be
ruthlessly exhausting with all the uncertainties, my life
definitely had a divine intervention. Despite the unruly
nature of the COVID-19 we are facing up until this day, I
am grateful for the seeds I had sown earlier can now
be reaped. It truly became the silver linings of my journey.

2. Baby Steps of My Career

I started my first job as an English teacher in
2016. It was a fascinating experience to
observe diverse cultures in a classroom,
because I was a TESOL instructor. At the age
of 23 I have taught people from around the
world. It made me realize that language
teaching takes the highest form of intellect -
which is empathy and creativity. Imagine
facing Middle Eastern students struggling to
articulate the /p/ sound and ended up producing the /b/ sound. One time a
student came to me, telling “Teacher I saw a puppy.” I thought he had acquired a

12

new Malay vocabulary. Other students struggled with /l/ sound and ended saying
the /r/ sound. “In Japan, we have bullet trains.” I just stood there amused by the
innocent mistakes, and I asked God for forgiveness each time I could not help but
to lose my composure. Having the same experience of learning French and
Linguistics during my undergraduate years, I understand that some sounds are
absent in a language but are present in another. That was one of the joys being a
TESOL instructor other than getting to see the world through the lens of people
from many different walks of life. I also got the chance to taste horsemeat and
other exotic delicacies cooked by my students. It was a moment to remember.

Flash forward to 2020. I decided that it is time to come back to my roots and
teach my own people. Sharing all these things I picked up along that road less
travelled. Because the greatest honor of an educator is to serve in shaping his
own society. I sure hope I could fulfill this responsibility. I love teaching, it gives me
a sense of purpose. It teaches me to sculpt myself as a model, so my students
could take whatever they deem worth emulating or benefit from. But this time my
job feels a little bit different, as it requires me to give lectures. It took me a while
to get used to it. Although both of these job scopes are under the same umbrella,
I find it challenging to keep talking for more than 30 minutes. It is way out of my
public speaking register.

13

Contrary to my previous experience, this year I am only teaching two courses,
Communicative English and Workplace English. Students here are only assessed
with course works. Other assessments include oral presentations. I enjoy seeing
students attempt speaking the language rather than writing or demonstrating
reading comprehension. It feels more engaging. It can be challenging at first.
Especially when teaching and learning now are more demanding with the
paradigm shift of online learning. Plus, the students here are not from rural
areas. They are considered EFL learners. This posed challenges to me as a
teacher even further as their proficiency levels are below average. However, I do
have some tricks and strategies up in my sleeves that I will share in the next
article.

3. Blessings in Disguise

In case you lost me, 2020 gave me several blessings before and during the
pandemic. I got a new stable permanent job. When I got the news that many
enterprises and private educational sectors were not doing too well thanks to
COVID-19, I was really humbled by God’s intervention in my life. It was exactly
the right time for me to leave the private sector and began my service in the
public sector. It was odd adapting at first. So many acronyms. So
many files. So many systems. All the ID’s and passwords
I had to remember. I also felt like I was stuck in a limbo
between accepting my new reality as a blessing in disguise or
lamenting the fact that I am stuck at this unfamiliar place where
adapting had never felt more difficult and lonelier as I had ever
experienced before. Perhaps it was because I had to start over
from rock bottom. Getting used to the environment,
workplace cultures, making new friends and working with a
new set of colleagues.

14

I have always felt like a stranger for the first few months. I still do sometimes. But
it was unbearable at first. Eventually, I learned that I should not beat myself too
hard. As this saying I am about to quote from GoodReads.com. “Life is a series of
natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them; that only creates sorrow.
Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.”
― Lao Tzu. What a perfect depiction of how I handled my adapting phase at the
beginning of 2020. I am glad that I am beginning to see the greener sides of the
meadow now. Teaching here. It felt closer to home. As a local who was born in the
state of Kedah, I find teaching English much more interesting than I thought it
would be.

I am now working at a Community College, specialising in Fashion and Pastry.
Being in the TVET vocation, the perks of working with students and lecturers from
this school are many. First and foremost, as a sweet tooth person, I am blessed
with pâtissier delicacies, from local “kuih” to international desserts. Secondly, I get
to learn and observe other life skills like sewing. This year I am not only teaching
English, but also contributes more to the community. Some of the memorable
experiences are volunteering to extend aid to the flood victims nearby and
sewing PPE for the frontliners. They are indeed new fresh experiences for me,
and I appreciate what life has offered me.

Three months after the pandemic, I passed my Masters’ Degree VIVA on the 24th
of June 2020 online. An academic endeavour that I embarked on since 2016
finally came to an end. I also presented a paper in my first ever online conference
- at the 10th MELTA International Conference in English Language Education
(MIRCELE) 2020. I was awarded a Bronze medal for the Masters' category. It was
truly an honour. I certainly did not expect to win anything as it was my first time
ever presenting my work at an international conference. Many people took
interest in my study and they were giving me all sorts of feedback. It felt really
good. I think professional development is a way of restoring faith in oneself as you
see yourself progressing even if it is a small feat. I believe in continuous learning,
it never really stops, especially when you are in the education line.

15

Lastly, life has a way of giving and taking from us. Although we lost most of our
freedoms this year, I believe there are silver linings in every circumstance we are
in. Mine came in abundance, that I could not be thankful enough for. That is all
from my sharing. I hope no matter what life throws at us, we can learn to look at
both sides of the situation, and I pray that 2021 will usher better things into our
life, making us better individuals.

16

"SAY IT, MY DEAR"
Noraini bt Bajoori
SMK Dulang
[email protected]

Norjah bt Ismail
PPD Kuala Muda/Yan
[email protected]
“Say It, My Dear” is designed as a teaching aid for a student-centered lesson
promoting 21st century learning. It consists of a set of questions placed in
pockets on a poster titled “Jawablah Sayang” (“Say it, My Dear”) consisting of tasks
for students to choose from, “4 sets of My Star” token of rewards, “4 sets of Mind
Maps”, “4 sets of Traffic Lights”, “4 sets of Reward Cards and “4 sets of Writing
Templates”. These tools aid teachers in engaging pupils for an active learning
session.
The usage of this toolkit enables teachers to plan and execute lessons with ease.
It can be adopted and adapted to suit various learning standards and needs. It is
user friendly and mobile and numerous lessons carried out using this lesson aid
showed that it promoted and sustained learners’ engagement throughout a
lesson.
It enables teachers to function as facilitators and learning becomes student-
centered. It empowers students to communicate, critically appraise and
creatively engage in active learning. Furthermore, it scaffolds learning for better
academic performance.

17

Sample Lesson Plan using “Say it, My Dear” (Jawablah Sayang) tool kit

18

Tasks numbered and put in pockets for
groups to pick.

Stars used as rewards token. Students listening to explanations given by a
group representative using an i-Think map.

Different i-Think maps used by the groups. Discussions carried out to complete a task
using an i-Think map.

Traffic lights to signal students’ responses.

19

THINKING IS FUN WITH RYAN'S THINKER'S KEYS
Zarina binti Mohamed Yusuf

PPD Larut Matang, Selama, Perak
[email protected]

In this article, I would like to share some interesting ideas
on how teachers can scaffold pupils’ thinking skills. There
are many thinking tools used by educators but in this
article, I will be focusing on Ryan’s Thinker’s Keys.

According to Tony Ryan in hisbook ‘Thinker’s Keys for Kids’, thinking can be an
exciting and enjoyable activity which leads to active participation of pupils that
then create a positive attitude towards their learning process. The stimulation of
creativity in learning will heighten our pupils’ emotional link which develop their
creative potential and thus strengthen their ability to cope with change. Here, it is
obvious that these three important things mentioned by Tony Ryan are very
relevant to our classroom practices that encourage active participation of pupils
and the aspiration of our education that is to produce thinking generations who
will be able to cope with change.

In this article I will focus on only seven keys of Ryan’s Thinker’s Keys and provide
samples or excerpts of activities for these keys. The samples are taken from the
modules I wrote recently “Study @ Home – Put On Your Thinking Cap” and “Study
@ Home for Secondary Pupils 2020.” These modules are designed to provide
learning and thinking activities for pupils who have to stay at home due to the
closing of schools under the Movement Control Order (PKP) and the Conditional
Movement Control Order (PKPB); and for teachers to choose suitable activities for
pupils to do their studying at home. They are created in such a way so as to assist
pupils to learn, think and at the same time have a little fun when they learn on
their own at home. The seven keys that I will be highlighting in this article are; the
alphabet key, the question key, the what if key, the reverse key, the commonality
key, the BAR key and the construction key.

The Alphabet Key

I find the alphabet key interesting. This key can be used to strengthen pupils’
understanding and memory especially in subjects like History and Geography.
The justification for this key is that the alphabetical format clarifies pupils’
thinking. It is a sorting process which is made easier by considering one aspect at
a time. Here, teacher can choose an object, topic or statement and pupils then
compile a list of words from A to Z which have some relevance to the object, topic
or statement. They then try to expand on some ideas which link to the words.

20

The Alphabet Key – Sample 1

The Alphabet Key – Sample 2
The Question Key
This key is an interesting one too as it breaks the monotony of teachers asking
questions. Applying this key, pupils need to take one answer that can be taken
from a topic, sub topic, subject or a reading text and come up with at least 5
questions which could be linked to the answer chosen. This activity allows pupils
to establish solid knowledge base and at the same time strengthen their
understanding of that particular topic or subject.

21

The Question Key – Sample 1
The What If Key
The What If Key is good for introducing a topic or sub topic, and for tapping into
our pupils’ knowledge of the topic or sub topic. It also generates a lot of
innovative ideas.

The What If Key – Sample 1

The What If Key – Sample 2

22

The Reverse Key
Here, words such as cannot, never and not are placed in a sentence or question
which are commonly displayed in a listing format. In the classroom, pupils are
often required by teachers to repeat after memorising lists of facts and
information. Moving in the opposite direction, the reverse key forces pupils to
think- and responses or ideas formed from doing this are usually fascinating.

The Reverse Key – Sample 1

The Commonality Key
To challenge pupils’ thinking, teachers can use the commonality key. Here,
teacher can decide upon 2 objects, places or events which would generally have
nothing in common, and pupils will try to outline some points of commonality
between them. This requires pupils to think out of the box and be creative as it is
another mind stretcher and great for promoting creative ideas as well as the
development of unusual concepts. This key enhances pupils’ comparing and
contrasting skills.

The Commonality Key – Sample 1

23

The B A R Key
This key not only encourages creativity but also innovation and when it is used in
language classrooms, it allows pupils to focus on the ‘project’ that they need to
produce. Later, pupils need to explain, either verbally or in written form- the
process they have gone through to complete the project.

The BAR Key – Sample 1

The Construction Key
The Construction Key is an example of practical creative thinking and fun learning.
Teachers can create construction problem-solving tasks and use readily available
materials and like the B A R key. Pupils will have to explain the process they have
gone through to complete the construction either verbally or in written form.
Here, pupils learn to structure and strategize using see, plan, do and check
problem solving strategy.

24

The Construction Key – Sample 1

Conclusion
The seven keys above are applicable in classroom teachings for most subjects
taught in schools. They provide some interesting approaches to scaffold pupils’
thinking skills and continuous application of these keys will contribute towards
the development of creative, innovative, problem solving and analytical minds. We
will be rightly preparing them for the time when they leave school where they will
then need to think and survive the challenges of the real world.

References
Ryan, T (1990). Thinker’s Keys For Kids. South Coast Education Region, Queensland
Zarina, M.Y (2020). Study @ Home – Put On Your Thinking Cap https://www.flipsnack.com/RynnYusufminibook/study-home-put-on-your-thinking-
cap.html.
Zarina, M.Y (2020). Study @ Home For Secondary Pupils 2020 https://www.flipsnack.com/RynnYusufminibook/study-home-for-secondary-school-pupils-
2020.html.

25

STRUGGLING READERS? I GOT YOU! JIGSAW READING TECHNIQUE FOR
STRUGGLING READERS

Wan Nurul Najihah Binti Ab Rahman
SK Kampong Raja, Besut, Terengganu

[email protected]

In Malaysia, reading skill has become one of the main
skills needs to be developed by learners in order to
enhance their literacy competence. Continuous efforts

have been done by all parties including the government, school, teachers and
parents to inculcate reading skills among young learners. Reading can be very
challenging when the material is unfamiliar, technical or complex. Learners
might recognize words individually but linking them together for comprehending
sentences or extended text is a huge struggle. Its further elaborated that for
some readers, comprehension is always challenging especially to the non-native
speakers or second language learners. To overcome the problem, teachers are
busy creating methods and strategies that can facilitate learners to develop
reading skills especially in reading a second language text.

Through my perspective, reading literacy is developed through several mediums
such as reading activity. Reading activities should be enjoyable and interesting,
which the students are expected to be willing to read and aware of the
importance of reading. However, I found out that reading activities are boring
and less interesting to my sub-urban students. Based on my previous
observations and countless interviews with my students, I discovered that the
challenges rose when my students encountered too many low frequency words
(unfamiliar words) in the text. As a result, they did not pay attention to the
teacher even when the teacher was explaining the task and the material used.
As a teacher with 6 years-experience of teaching the new curriculum, I received
unfavorable feedback from my students as their interest in learning English is
slowly decreasing especially when they were unable to complete given tasks.

Looking into the problems deeply, I have tried to find solutions by referring to
previous studies on techniques or strategies to comprehend a second language
text among my struggling students and came to a decision that jigsaw reading
can be one. Jigsaw reading is a technique that provides students with
opportunities to learn a material from one another when they are dealing with

26

one particular study material, such as a reading passage. The technique was
developed by Elliot Aronson in Austin, Texas in 1971, to provide learners with
the chance to learn and study from a material through peer interaction. The
material is divided into sections and one section is for each learner to handle.
Therefore, learners who have the same selection will gather and form a new
group of which the goal is for the learners to master the selection of the material
and to encourage them to teach other members in their original group later.

After a year conducting jigsaw reading with my struggling readers (from a low
proficiency class), I discovered that the technique impacted my students
positively. Their intrinsic motivation increases in which they do not feel scared to
read any English passage anymore and even frequently request me to repeat
jigsaw reading. I also noticed their vocabulary has widen as a result of
comprehensible input they gain through positive peer interaction. Therefore, if
you have struggling readers in your class, I would love to share the steps I’ve
taken to conduct the jigsaw reading.

1) Find a reading passage.
2) Count your students.
3) Look at the passage again and count the paragraphs. If you have 5
paragraphs, create groups of 5 students so that each of the students handle
one paragraph.
4) Number the paragraphs. Distribute the passage to each of the students.
5) Create ‘Home Group’ of 5 students and number each of the students from 1
to 5.
6) Explain the technique to the students – read and discuss only the assigned
part. Number 1 will read and discuss only the first paragraph in the Home and
Expert Group.

27

7) Start the jigsaw reading with 5 minutes skimming and scanning in Home
Group. Silent reading.
8) After 5 minutes, move to the Expert Group (number 1 from each group sit
together to discuss the paragraph thoroughly, so there would be five number 1
in each Expert Group).
9) In the Expert Group, students are allowed to discuss aloud and use
dictionary. Let the students write meaning of words on the paper.
10) Teacher monitors the discussion. Let the discussion happens for 25
minutes.
11) After 25 minutes, dismiss the Expert Group and ask the students to return
to their Home Group.
12) In 15 minutes (3 minutes per students), students share and elaborate on
the assigned paragraph. Group members are allowed to prompt questions.
13) Check students’ understanding by giving them comprehension questions
regarding the passage.

“We’re constantly reading for skill. We’re constantly asking kids to do
something with their reading, and then we wonder why they leave us

and never pick up another book”
– Pernille Ripp

28

LITERATURE REVIEW: UTILIZING LOCAL LITERARY TEXTS IN ESL
CLASSROOM

Muhammad Nafis bin Azman
Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Dato Abdul Rahman Andak, Johor

[email protected]

Literature or literary works have been taken seriously as one
of the elements that have significant role in enhancing or
assisting student’s linguistic, cognitive and social
development. In Malaysia, most secondary and primary
school students are second language users and some of
them have English as their third language. Having canonical literary works for our
secondary school students might bring a lot of difficulties during knowledge and
understanding phase of Bloom’s taxonomy. According to Dubash and Anwar
(2011) cultural background and setting of the literary texts should be taken into
consideration because cognitive aspects are actually socio-cultural practices.
Malaysian students are not native English users so they might have to face lingual
difficulty in understanding the canonical literary texts and we should avoid from
providing them the texts which are culturally and socially hard to relate.
According to Floris (2005) in her journal on Using English Literature written by
Asian authors in EFL/ESL Classroom in Asia, native English literature were used
among Asian classrooms and students in Asian countries encountered difficulties
with these types of literary texts. It is important to ensure that the literary texts
we bring into classroom are culturally and contextually close to our students and
are authentic. Based on the study conducted by Sidhu, Fook and Kaur (2010), the
respondents stated in the interview that the difficulty of the literary texts
demotivated some of the students and it led to reluctance to read among the
weaker students. I believe learners especially second language learners should be
motivated to read before they are demanded to think critically.

In Malaysia, in our latest English language syllabus most of the texts used are
canonical literature. For examples, for the upper forms most of the literary texts
are native English literature and the cultural and social elements are very distant
to our students’ cultural and social background. Canonical literary texts are
always the choice to be included in Asian classrooms because Asians as non-
native English speakers are feared of non-standard and incomprehensible English
(Floris, 2005). But I quite disagree on this because, local literary texts offer
readers more local

29

setting and flavours and local literature is more authentic as it represents the
cultural, contextual, social and moral of the society and authentic literature
provides meaningful context to learn English language and it also promotes
academic literacy and the development of cognitive skills. In reading literature for
critical thinking, it is not enough to comprehend (Ghosn, 2002). Local literary texts
provide more meaningful exploration to students because the contents and
contexts are more relatable to their culture and background knowledge. Dubash
and Anwar (2011), believe that discarding local literature in education is
distancing learners from their own culture and the presence of local teaching
materials lead to feasible and meaningful learning for the students in Pakistan.

Reading literature for critical thinking is not only looking for word-based meanings
but it involves analysis, making inference, synthesis, evaluation and other critical
thinking skills elements, so it is very crucial to ensure that students are not
contextually and socio-culturally isolated from the texts as according to Dubash
and Anwar (2011). In Pakistan they had students who have different cultural
background and it is hard to develop the understanding on the English Literature
materials provided to them and Dubash and Anwar (2011) also mentioned that
there is no doubt that culture and literature are the main elements in enhancing
leaners’ motivation to read and learn. I believe that motivation to read is
significant in the process of developing critical thinking skills among young ESL
learners. When they are motivated to read the literary texts, they will be able to
explore the texts critically. Taking Malaysian literature classroom scenarios as an
example, according to Zubaidah and Shaidatul (2010), a study conducted in one
of the top Malaysian secondary schools in Penang, the findings showed that
students were interested to learn the literature components rather than reading
them because the linguistic and cultural barriers enabled them to fully
comprehend what they read and teachers had to spend time to feed students
with explanation. Local literary text probably offers close cultural and social
setting for students will enhance students’ understanding or comprehension on
the texts and this will activate students’ critical thinking skills to dig beneath the
surface meanings of each line. According to Erten and Razi (2009) when readers
have the schemata or background knowledge in their reading routes, they can
spend more thoughts and attention on “textual analysis” and interpretation.

Since 2000, literature has become part of the tested component in the secondary
school English syllabus, aligned with the National Educational Philosophy in
developing intellectually, spiritually, emotionally and physically enriched
individuals

30

setting and flavours and local literature is more authentic as it represents the
cultural, contextual, social and moral of the society and authentic literature
provides meaningful context to learn English language and it also promotes
academic literacy and the development of cognitive skills. In reading literature for
critical thinking, it is not enough to comprehend (Ghosn, 2002). Local literary texts
provide more meaningful exploration to students because the contents and
contexts are more relatable to their culture and background knowledge. Dubash
and Anwar (2011), believe that discarding local literature in education is
distancing learners from their own culture and the presence of local teaching
materials lead to feasible and meaningful learning for the students in Pakistan.

Reading literature for critical thinking is not only looking for word-based meanings
but it involves analysis, making inference, synthesis, evaluation and other critical
thinking skills elements, so it is very crucial to ensure that students are not
contextually and socio-culturally isolated from the texts as according to Dubash
and Anwar (2011). In Pakistan they had students who have different cultural
background and it is hard to develop the understanding on the English Literature
materials provided to them and Dubash and Anwar (2011) also mentioned that
there is no doubt that culture and literature are the main elements in enhancing
leaners’ motivation to read and learn. I believe that motivation to read is
significant in the process of developing critical thinking skills among young ESL
learners. When they are motivated to read the literary texts, they will be able to
explore the texts critically. Taking Malaysian literature classroom scenarios as an
example, according to Zubaidah and Shaidatul (2010), a study conducted in one
of the top Malaysian secondary schools in Penang, the findings showed that
students were interested to learn the literature components rather than reading
them because the linguistic and cultural barriers enabled them to fully
comprehend what they read and teachers had to spend time to feed students
with explanation. Local literary text probably offers close cultural and social
setting for students will enhance students’ understanding or comprehension on
the texts and this will activate students’ critical thinking skills to dig beneath the
surface meanings of each line. According to Erten and Razi (2009) when readers
have the schemata or background knowledge in their reading routes, they can
spend more thoughts and attention on “textual analysis” and interpretation.

Since 2000, literature has become part of the tested component in the secondary
school English syllabus, aligned with the National Educational Philosophy in
developing intellectually, spiritually, emotionally and physically enriched
individuals

31

Based on a study exploring the role of cultural familiarity on reading
comprehension among Iranian EFL learners, the findings supported the
hypothesis that cultural familiarity facilitates reading comprehension, as similar as
the previous argument. In the study, Davoudi and Ramezani (2014) stated that
the contextual clues given in the culturally familiar text activate the appropriate
schemata needed for the comprehension of the stories. At the same time,
students’ lack of vocabulary was compensated through the activation of their
background knowledge to deduce the meaning of unfamiliar words. As a result,
students could comprehend better than those whose background knowledge
was not activated. From here, I could say that local literature provides students
with the cultural familiarity that activates their background knowledge, which is
useful for reading comprehension and the development of the language learning
skills, including thinking critically.

In the concept of authenticity, many researchers relate students’ content
familiarity with meaningful comprehension. Researchers believe that when
provided with familiar theme and language in reading materials, students will be
able to activate their background knowledge, or schemata, which is useful to
make meaningful connection with the reading materials content (Berardo, 2006;
Alptekin & Erçetin, 2011). Using the background knowledge, students can relate
their personal knowledge and experiences with the familiar context of the
authentic reading materials, to help them develop meaningful understanding of
the text. Apart from that, language familiarity also provides students with extra
hand to help them to increase their understanding of the text, by using the
familiar words in the text as contextual clues to develop meaningful
understanding of the text as a whole. Using the familiar words, students could
guess the meaning of the rest of the text without having to depend so much on
dictionary to check for meaning. Vethamani and Nair (2007) supported this view
by stating that students are unable to make critical judgements and assumptions
because of their limited proficiency and lack of background knowledge, which are
important skills required for reading comprehension. Both writers further
elaborated that without students’ life experiences and background language
knowledge, they could not synthesise the text into their own meaningful
interpretation. Without the ability to comprehend a text meaningfully, it is too
much to ask from the students to give the opinions and respond to the reading
text, if comprehending the text is already an uphill battle for them. Having said
that, it is safe to conclude that authentic materials activate the background
knowledge, necessary impetus for the students to understand a certain text
meaningfully, before they could move to the critical thinking stages.

32

To summarise, local literary texts such as poems, short stories and novels are
written by the local authors, in the scope of local context and content, thus
providing the familiarity of the context and language features to the students. The
familiarity of content and context is vital to activate students’ background
knowledge, or schemata, in order to link what they have read with what they have
experienced and learned. As a result, students’ reading comprehension will be
improved and provoke their thoughts to think critically about the text. However,
second/foreign language learning is not about cognitive processing alone, as
there are other factors affecting their performance, such as motivation, attitude
and anxiety.

REFERENCES

1. Abdullah, T., Zakaria, M.H., Ismail, F., Wan Mansor, W.F.A. and Abdul Aziz, M. (2007). A new teaching model to teach literature for the tesl pre-training
service programme in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. Retrieved December 9, 2014, from http://eprints.utm.my/3970/1/75167.pdf
2. Berardo, S.A. (2006). The use of authentic materials in the teaching of reading. The Reading Matrix, 6(2), 60 – 69. Retrieved from
http://www.readingmatrix.com/articles/berardo/article.pdf
3. Davoudi, M. and Ramezani, H. (2014). The effects of cultural familiarity on reading comprehension of Iranian EFL learners. International Journal on
Studies in English Language and Literature 2(8), 58 – 71. Retrieved from https://www.arcjournals.org/pdfs/ijsell/v2-i8/8.pdf
4. Dubash, CJ & Anwar, MB. (2011). The Integration of Literature in Second Language Acquisition and Learning. British Journal of Arts and Social
Sciences. 1(1). 35-40. Retrieved on 20 October 2014 from www.bjournal.co.uk/paper/BJASS_1_1/BJASS_01_01_04.pdf.
5. Erten,I,H., & Razi, S. (2009). The Effects of Cultural Familiarity on Reading Comprehension. Reading in a Foreign Language. 21(1). 60-77. Retrieved on
15 October 2014 from nflrc.hawaii.edu/rfl/April2009/articles/erten.pdf.
6. Floris, FD. (2005). Using English Literature written by Asian authors in EFL/ESL Classroom in Asia. 7 (1). 43-53. Retrieved on 20 October 2014 from
http://fportfolio.petra.ac.id/user_files/00-007/use%20asian%20literature_published%20verson.pdf.
7. Zubaidah, A & Shaidatul, AK. (2010). A Study on Secondary School Students’ Perceptions of Their Motivation and Attitude Towards Learning The
English Literature Component. Retrieved on 20 October 2014 from http://eprints.utm.my/10716/.
8. Vethamani, M.E. and Nair, P. (2007). Using analogy as a scaffolding tool for facilitating the comprehension of literary texts. Malaysian Journal of ELT
Research 3, 1 – 18. Retrieved from http://www.melta.org.my/modules/tinycontent/Dos/majer_article_2007_edwin.pdf

33

I AM GAME! A COLLABORATIVE EFFORT TO BUILD UP AN ONLINE
COMMUNITY TO PROMOTE TECHNOLOGY INCLUSION IN TIMES OF CRISIS

Sandra Morales
Chile

Newcastle University, UK
[email protected]

One of the many sources of inequality in

education that today’s emergency remote

teaching has brought to the fore is learners’

technology accessibility. Access to digital

tools or more specifically the lack thereof, is

a saboteur that has existed for many years

in educational technology. In this current

health crisis, it can no longer be ignored. Photo credit to: news.berkeley.edu
Technology accessibility is not only about

whether students have an internet connection or a computer at home, but also

about the emotional and financial cost that they may pay, trying to get access to

these resources. The term ‘digital divide’ has usually been used to describe the

gap between individuals who have access to technological resources and those

who do not have it (Van Dijkt, 2006). Nevertheless, given the complexities of these

disparities, the digital divide should be approached with an inclusive view

(Warschauer, 2004). Currently, digitally marginalised learners have to deal with

different affective challenges of confinement (i.e. isolation, concentration, time

management) and on top of that, they have to deal with educational inequality

due to a range of problems often summarised as ‘technical difficulties’.

For educators, dealing with this situation in the classroom can pose a big
challenge. In order to teach online effectively, teachers need to be technologically
competent and creative to produce innovative tasks that support language
learning (Hampel and Stickler, 2005). However, in an emergency situation, this
may not be enough. What happens when part of your class is not able to take
part in virtual lessons or activities? Not because they do not want to or they feel
unmotivated, but because they simply cannot do it. How, then, can teachers
address this situation? Based on the virtual teaching experiences I have had
during the COVID-19 emergency, an effective strategy has been to work hand in
hand with my students to find solutions as a community.

34

As a language teacher trainer at a university in Chile, I experienced the challenge
of technological exclusion in one of my language courses with pre-service
teachers. The university sets up a Moodle platform and the video conferencing
service; Zoom to deliver our lessons. Zoom has been widely used during this
health crisis for teaching, as well as conducting meetings and conferences.
Shortly after I started using Zoom, I realised that some of the students who were
attending video calls using their mobile phones were spending their internet data
fast. We soon realised that Zoom consumes a great amount of data when

Photo credit to: Zoom accessed through the phoneapp.
Therefore, my students ran out of
credit very easily. This left them in a
burdensome situation as they could
no longer attend classes or make
calls in case of emergency. When
we discussed this problem in class,
one of my students suggested we
could use Discord, a platform for

online gaming that allows video conferencing and screen share. As he knew the
platform, he taught me how to use different features for our lessons. Suddenly,
the roles were reversed.

He set up a server in which he opened a virtual classroom and a student lounge.
Bots were added so members of the community could send virtual hugs and play
music in order to re-create the spaces they had on campus. Additionally, he
helped his classmates to enroll and provided technical support. We tried Discord
for a couple of sessions and, while it had the intended effect of reducing mobile
data spending, it did not prove to be a long term fix. New problems arose (e.g.
broken audio), while usual connectivity problems prevailed. In the end, we
decided to bring Zoom back and bear with the limitations.

35

Even though my student gamer’s efforts for building an online community to
support his classmates did not work as expected, it surely taught us a couple of
essential lessons. Firstly, his initiative shows that these pre-service teachers are
willing to take risks with technology. Furthermore, they can use their own
knowledge of technology to implement inclusive and innovative strategies in their
teaching and learning communities. Secondly, this experience reinforces the
importance of teachers and students working together in order to improve
learning processes and environments. Finally, it urges us to deal with issues on
technological inclusion in educational contexts. If we want technology to be our
ally, particularly in times of crisis, we need to approach accessibility beyond
providing short-term solutions by designing effective but, most importantly,
inclusive systems for all learners.

References
Hampel, R. & Stickler, U. (2005). New skills for new classrooms: Training tutors to teach languages online. Computer assisted language learning, 18(4),
311-326.
Van Dijk, J. A. (2006). Digital divide research, achievements and shortcomings. Poetics, 34(4-5), 221-235.
Warschauer, M. (2004). Technology and social inclusion: Rethinking the digital divide. MIT press.

36

TEACHING DURING PANDEMIC
Amira Amir

SK Ringlet, Cameron Highlands, Pahang
[email protected]

Did you have any issues during online learning recently?
Teachers around the world have been pushed beyond

their knowledge to teach from home and not having face-to-face interactions

with their students. As a teacher, I believe most of my comrades are working

extra hard by learning new ways of delivering lessons until late at night. I used

Google Classroom at first but later I found out that most of the kids find that

the platform was difficult to use. Hence, I did my quizzes using Google Form

from Google Classroom and shared the link through our WhatsApp group. I

also learnt a lot of new things such as making my own animated lessons via

Zepeto, online games of Quizziz, and Word Wall as well as other interactive

websites. One time, my district had no internet and phone connection at all for

one whole day and I came up with an emergency plan of doing it manually by

taking pictures of worksheets, recording myself teaching, and praying hard that

the internet connection would recover before 7 in the morning the next day

and alhamdulillah it did! A few parents suggested that I should just use the

method of giving out writing tasks using modules

as they always had trouble with their

internet connection (these parents live

near the tea plantation). I'm glad that

later we used both; online learning and

offline learning via WhatsApp and

other online platforms as well as

sending modules to the kids. I am

forever grateful that parents and Photo credit to: fipp.com
guardians were so supportive by always

giving feedback to us. Most of them sent private messages telling me that their

kids were eager to learn each time and they would always participate wherever

they were. It does not matter if they sent the work later that day due to family

issues or parents working night shifts. I always welcomed them and was

thankful that they did their best to learn. One of my 10-year-old kid was

admitted to the

37

hospital due to asthma; she texted me that she could not do her tasks as she was
restless and promised to do it once she felt better. I replied that it was okay for her
to not do the tasks as she was not well. A few days later, she sent her tasks right
after she went home. Sometimes I received audio files of my kids saying thanks,
telling how they missed learning at school and the teachers. I would record my
voice and reply them. The feeling was indescribable; I felt happy to hear them but
it was also heartbreaking that the small kids have to endure this pandemic,
struggling with online learning at home.

Whenever I met the parents when we gave out handouts for offline tasks and also

during PBD report, they would share that their kids tried to converse in English

with them and it was a shame that a few of them could not help much with the

English language. A few Orang Asli parents said to me "Kasihan anak, saya tak

pandai Bahasa Inggeris" (Pity my kid, I'm not good in English) but all I felt was pride

as they were doing their best despite this difficult time. Most of our kids have to

share mobile phones and take turn learning online. Around 5 Orang Asli kids who

live nearby would gather in one house and take turns using the phone. Other kids

had to wait for their parents to come home from work to use the phone while only

a few of them have the privilege of having the parents with them at home, helping

out with online classes using the technology needed such as desktops and internet

connection.

Being in a school with half of my kids

who are 'Orang Asli', I had to take

into consideration the Orang Asli

kids who seldom participated in my

online classes. Our administrators

also played their parts by motivating

the kids such as giving out the most

active online learning participation

award. As a class teacher, I ran a

survey asking the parents whether

Photo credit to: davidhaggett.com their kids were able to participate in

live online classes using Google Meet or Zoom and only five kids responded
positively. The administrator as well as my colleagues discussed this issue in our
WhatsApp group and finally, we decided that it was almost impossible to carry out

38

live online classes. As down as I felt as my colleagues and I really wanted to
conduct our classes via Zoom, we had to think logically and prioritise our kids
first. I had to accept the fact that we could not afford live online classes unless we
could provide our group of kids with the necessities; laptop/tab/mobile phone
and also good internet connection. I have put my selfie ring bought for my online
classes away for future use, hoping that soon, perhaps next year in 2021 I can
teach my kids live, that I will be able to once again see their smiles and listen to
their voices.
Well done all educators, administrators, parents and guardians. I would like to
applaud all students around the world- from kindergartners to postgraduates for
working hard to seek knowledge during this pandemic.

To fellow educators:
“Tugas kita bukanlah untuk berhasil, tugas kita adalah untuk mencoba
karena di dalam mencoba, itulah kita menemukan kesempatan untuk
berhasil.” - Buya Hamka
To students:
“Jika kamu tidak sanggup menahan lelahnya belajar maka kamu harus
sanggup menahan perihnya kebodohan.” - Imam Syafi’i

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"Tell me and I forget.
Teach me and I remember.

Involve me and I learn."
Benjamin Franklin

DELTA - BY US, FOR US

For any inquiries regarding
DELTA CONNEXION

please contact Mr. Zanurin +60194572082

DELTA CONNEXION
ISSUE 4 | FEBRUARY 2021