ESL PRACTITIONER ISSUE 9 2021

ESL PRACTITIONER THE JOURNAL OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING CENTRE ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING CENTRE Ministry of Education Malaysia Kompleks Pendidikan Nilai 71760 Bandar Enstek Negeri Sembilan

ESL Practitioner: The Journal of the English Language Teaching Centre EDITORIAL BOARD Editor-in-Chief Dr. Khairul Aini binti Mohamed Jiri Department of Research and Innovation, English Language Teaching Centre, Ministry of Education Editorial Officer Dr. Rashidah binti Rahamat Department of Research and Innovation, English Language Teaching Centre, Ministry of Education Editorial Assistants: Dr. Sharmini Siva Vikaraman Department of Research and Innovation, English Language Teaching Centre, Ministry of Education Norsabrina Binti Roslee Department of Research and Innovation, English Language Teaching Centre, Ministry of Education Peer Review Team: Dr. Khairul Aini binti Mohamed Jiri English Language Teaching Centre, Ministry of Education Dr. Rashidah binti Rahamat English Language Teaching Centre, Ministry of Education Dr. Sharmini Siva Vikaraman English Language Teaching Centre, Ministry of Education Dr. Zubaidah Bibi Binti Mobarak Ali English Language Teaching Centre, Ministry of Education Dr. Azleena Binti Mohamad English Language Teaching Centre, Ministry of Education Dr. Mohd Faisal Farish Bin Ishak English Language Teaching Centre, Ministry of Education Dr. Mimi Estonella Binti Mastan English Language Teaching Centre, Ministry of Education Dr. Ramiaida binti Darmi Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) Nilai, Negeri Sembilan Dr. Farah binti Mukhtar @ Mohd Yunos Institut Pendidikan Guru Kampus Raja Melewar, Negeri Sembilan Dr. Nor Haslynda binti A Rahman Institut Pendidikan Guru Kampus Perempuan Melayu, Melaka Dr. Zuhana Mohamed Zin Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur Dr. Jayanti Sothinathan LeapEd Education Services, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur Prof.Dr.David Hayes Faculty of Social Sciences Brock University, Canada Technical Team: En. Mohammad Hidayat bin Hasan Graphic Designer En. Anuar bin Amran Librarian The ESL Practitioner is a publication of the English Language Teaching Centre, Ministry of Education Malaysia. Its readership includes English Language practitioners and ELT officers from across the Ministry of Education. The materials published in the ESL Practitioner Journal include ELT based research findings, viewpoints, innovations on effective ELT practices. The journal also documents impact studies on ELT initiatives from within the Malaysian Education Blueprint 2013-2025. Copyright @2021 English Language Teaching Centre Ministry of Education Malaysia All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be produced, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright holder. ii

ESL Practitioner: The Journal of the English Language Teaching Centre ESL PRACTITIONER JOURNAL Issue 9 Volume 1 November 2021 CONTENTS Page DIRECTOR’S NOTE EDITOR-in-CHIEF’S NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHORS 1. A CASE STUDY ON THE IMPACT OF COACHING TOWARDS THE HIGHLY IMMERSIVE PROGRAMME (HIP) IN SK BINUANG, LAHAD DATU, SABAH Peh Li Foon 2. EXPLORING THE REFLECTIVE PRACTICES OF ENGLISH TEACHERS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN SABAH Betty D Primus @ Betty Adantus 3. USING VOCAB TAG TO IMPROVE THE TEACHING OF SPELLING FOR DAYS OF THE WEEK TO YEAR 2 PUPILS Kwan Pei Ling 4. THE HIVE PROJECT - THE AUSTRALIA AND MALAYSIA PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM Shafizah Binti Shariff 5. COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS USING ORAL COMMUNICATION STRATEGY INVENTORY Siti Mariam Zakaria 6. TEACHER’S PERSPECTIVE OF BLENDED LEARNING DURING PANDEMIC COVID -19 Juhaida Abdul Aziz Yap Soon Li iv v vi 1 21 49 59 82 106 ESL PRACTITIONER JOURNAL Issue 9 Volume 1 November 2021 CONTENTS Page DIRECTOR’S NOTE EDITOR-in-CHIEF’S NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHORS 1. A CASE STUDY ON THE IMPACT OF COACHING TOWARDS THE HIGHLY IMMERSIVE PROGRAMME (HIP) IN SK BINUANG, LAHAD DATU, SABAH Peh Li Foon 2. EXPLORING THE REFLECTIVE PRACTICES OF ENGLISH TEACHERS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN SABAH Betty D Primus @ Betty Adantus 3. USING VOCAB TAG TO IMPROVE THE TEACHING OF SPELLING FOR DAYS OF THE WEEK TO YEAR 2 PUPILS Kwan Pei Ling 4. THE HIVE PROJECT - THE AUSTRALIA AND MALAYSIA PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM Shafizah Binti Shariff 5. COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS USING ORAL COMMUNICATION STRATEGY INVENTORY Siti Mariam Zakaria 6. TEACHER’S PERSPECTIVE OF BLENDED LEARNING DURING PANDEMIC COVID -19 Juhaida Abdul Aziz Yap Soon Li ii iii

ESL Practitioner: The Journal of the English Language Teaching Centre DIRECTOR’S NOTE I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the editorial team of the ESL Practitioner Journal, English Language Teaching Centre, Ministry of Education Malaysia on the publication of the ninth issue of the journal. The publication of this journal is crucial at a time when teachers, particularly the ESL teachers, need an academic platform to share knowledge and to support and learn from each other in making sense of the whole new experience of teaching and learning during the post-pandemic era Malaysia. I believe that this journal will be able to serve that purpose as it provides opportunities for English teachers from all around Malaysia to explore research and venture into academic writing from the perspective of ESL practitioners. In doing so, it is hoped that they would be able to share their experiences, gain knowledge as well as upskill and upgrade themselves professionally. Well done once again to the editorial team and the reviewers of the ESL Practitioner Journal on the publication of this issue. My heartfelt thanks go to the Research and Innovation department members for their strong support and contributions in managing the reviewing cycles of the research articles as well as manning the publication processes to bring to fruition the final copy of the journal. It is indeed a monumental task and a huge responsibility to manage an academic journal from its conceptualisation to the publication stage. Your contribution and hard work are very much appreciated. FARAH MARDHY BINTI AMAN Director English Language Teaching Centre Ministry of Education Malaysia iv v

ESL Practitioner: The Journal of the English Language Teaching Centre EDITOR’S NOTE Dear readers, It is our pleasure to present you with the ninth issue of ESL Practitioner Journal published by the English Language Teaching Centre, Ministry of Education Malaysia. This journal made its debut in March 2013 and has been going strong amidst the challenges and changes that happen to the world right now. These changes have shaped the way ESL practitioners around the globe perceive the process of teaching and learning that required fast adjustment from teachers and students in order to make learning feasible. For all of us, life that we once knew it, has changed. We learn about the “lost generation “of students and graduates worldwide where the loss of learning minimizes their ability to expand their knowledge, skills and talents. For this issue, we have chosen “envisioning possibilities in English Language Teaching “as the theme for the journal as we strongly feel that the challenges that the teachers and the students have to go through nowadays have fundamentally reshaped many aspects of teaching and learning. In this issue, we have selected six papers authored by researchers and ESL Practitioners from all around Malaysia. The papers cover a wide range of topics from an explorative experience of the in-service teachers in Sabah to the documentation of an international programme in a Malaysian ESL classroom. Being an education journal, the ESL Practitioner encourages contribution from teachers and researchers who are interested in the interdisciplinary research where the primary focus is on addressing critical issues and current trends in ESL field. In addition, we are forever grateful for the reviewers’ contributions in enhancing the quality of the papers published by this journal. Likewise, the financial support from the Ministry of Education under the MBMMBI initiative too is necessary to sustain the journal. We would like to express our heartiest gratitude to all who have made this journal a reality for 2021. Thank you and stay safe. “Science brings society to the next level; ethics keep us there”- Dr. Hal Simeroth Khairul Aini Mohamed Jiri, PhD Editor-in-chief ESL Practitioner Journal 2021 ESL PRACTITIONER JOURNAL Issue 9 Volume 1 November 2021 CONTENTS Page DIRECTOR’S NOTE EDITOR-in-CHIEF’S NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHORS 1. A CASE STUDY ON THE IMPACT OF COACHING TOWARDS THE HIGHLY IMMERSIVE PROGRAMME (HIP) IN SK BINUANG, LAHAD DATU, SABAH Peh Li Foon 2. EXPLORING THE REFLECTIVE PRACTICES OF ENGLISH TEACHERS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN SABAH Betty D Primus @ Betty Adantus 3. USING VOCAB TAG TO IMPROVE THE TEACHING OF SPELLING FOR DAYS OF THE WEEK TO YEAR 2 PUPILS Kwan Pei Ling 4. THE HIVE PROJECT - THE AUSTRALIA AND MALAYSIA PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM Shafizah Binti Shariff 5. COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS USING ORAL COMMUNICATION STRATEGY INVENTORY Siti Mariam Zakaria 6. TEACHER’S PERSPECTIVE OF BLENDED LEARNING DURING PANDEMIC COVID -19 Juhaida Abdul Aziz Yap Soon Li iv v

ESL Practitioner: The Journal of the English Language Teaching Centre ABOUT THE AUTHORS Peh Li Foon is currently the Language School Improvement Coaches + (SISC+) in Pejabat Pendidikan Daerah Lahad Datu, Sabah. She had served in both primary and secondary schools as the English Language teacher as well as the English Language Expert. Her areas of interest are teacher continuous professional development, action research and coaching. She can be contacted at [email protected]. Betty D Primus started her career as an English teacher at several secondary schools in Sabah before embarking on a new path: School Improvement Specialist Coach Plus (SISC+). Her passions include Teacher Professional Development and Reflective Practitioners. She is currently pursuing her doctorate in Education Leadership at the University of Glasgow, UK. She can be contacted at [email protected] Kwan Pei Ling obtained her Bachelor of Teaching (Hons) TESL from IPG Kampus Pendidikan Teknik. She is stationed at SJKC Pai Chai as Ketua Panitia Bahasa Inggeris. In 2019, she represented her school and won the first runner up in Karnival Koakademik Bahasa Inggeris Peringkat Negeri Pulau Pinang HIP Best Practices. Kwan Pei Ling can be contacted at [email protected]. Shafizah binti Shariff began her career as an English Language teacher in 1999 after graduating from the University of Surrey in TESL. She has 22 years of teaching experience in secondary schools. She is a Master Teacher and believes that the harder the struggle, the more glorious the triumph. Shafizah can be contacted at [email protected]. Siti Mariam binti Zakaria is currently teaching in SMK Putrajaya Presint 5 (1). She has embarked on her journey as an ELT practitioner since 2001. Her passion and interest in TESL have been amplified through numerous courses conducted by ELTC, CDC and JPWPP. She can be contacted at [email protected]. Juhaida binti Abdul Aziz (PhD), currently an expert English teacher at SK Panchor, Muar after teaching in 8 other primary schools for 29 years. She pursued her doctorate in TESL from UKM in 2015. Passionate in areas related to flipped classroom and blended learning with technology to provide best practice for learners. To contact her, e-mail at [email protected]. Yap Soon Li (Christopher) holds a doctoral degree (PhD) in English Language Education - TESOL from USM.  In addition, he serves as the National Master Trainer of CEFR for the English Language.  In 2020, he has been awarded as the Excellent Teacher of English (Guru Cemerlang DG44), and in 2016, he received the MELTA Silver Award for his English language research.  He can be contacted at [email protected]. vi

ABOUT THE AUTHORS Peh Li Foon is currently the Language School Improvement Coaches + (SISC+) in Pejabat Pendidikan Daerah Lahad Datu, Sabah. She had served in both primary and secondary schools as the English Language teacher as well as the English Language Expert. Her areas of interest are teacher continuous professional development, action research and coaching. She can be contacted at [email protected]. Betty D Primus started her career as an English teacher at several secondary schools in Sabah before embarking on a new path: School Improvement Specialist Coach Plus (SISC+). Her passions include Teacher Professional Development and Reflective Practitioners. She is currently pursuing her doctorate in Education Leadership at the University of Glasgow, UK. She can be contacted at [email protected] Kwan Pei Ling obtained her Bachelor of Teaching (Hons) TESL from IPG Kampus Pendidikan Teknik. She is stationed at SJKC Pai Chai as Ketua Panitia Bahasa Inggeris. In 2019, she represented her school and won the first runner up in Karnival Koakademik Bahasa Inggeris Peringkat Negeri Pulau Pinang HIP Best Practices. Kwan Pei Ling can be contacted at [email protected]. Shafizah binti Shariff began her career as an English Language teacher in 1999 after graduating from the University of Surrey in TESL. She has 22 years of teaching experience in secondary schools. She is a Master Teacher and believes that the harder the struggle, the more glorious the triumph. Shafizah can be contacted at [email protected]. Siti Mariam binti Zakaria is currently teaching in SMK Putrajaya Presint 5 (1). She has embarked on her journey as an ELT practitioner since 2001. Her passion and interest in TESL have been amplified through numerous courses conducted by ELTC, CDC and JPWPP. She can be contacted at [email protected]. Juhaida binti Abdul Aziz (PhD), currently an expert English teacher at SK Panchor, Muar after teaching in 8 other primary schools for 29 years. She pursued her doctorate in TESL from UKM in 2015. Passionate in areas related to flipped classroom and blended learning with technology to provide best practice for learners. To contact her, e-mail at [email protected]. Yap Soon Li (Christopher) holds a doctoral degree (PhD) in English Language Education - TESOL from USM.  In addition, he serves as the National Master Trainer of CEFR for the English Language.  In 2020, he has been awarded as the Excellent Teacher of English (Guru Cemerlang DG44), and in 2016, he received the MELTA Silver Award for his English language research.  He can be contacted at [email protected]. vi

1 A CASE STUDY ON THE IMPACT OF COACHING TOWARDS THE HIGHLY IMMERSIVE PROGRAMME (HIP) IN SK BINUANG, LAHAD DATU, SABAH PEH LI FOON PPD LAHAD DATU, SABAH e-mail: [email protected]

ESL Practitioner: The Journal of the English Language Teaching Centre A CASE STUDY ON THE IMPACT OF COACHING TOWARDS THE HIGHLY IMMERSIVE PROGRAMME (HIP) IN SK BINUANG, LAHAD DATU, SABAH ABSTRACT The effectiveness of Highly Immersive Programme (HIP) to inculcate positive behaviours towards the learning and usage of the English Language among students in school is based on a whole-school approach involving full support of the four fundamental factors. This study aims to examine the impact of the School Improvement Specialist Coach Plus (SISC+) coaching on HIP in Sekolah Kebangsaan Binuang, Lahad Datu involving collaboration of stakeholders particularly parents and community. Observations, reflective discussions, teacher’s self-reflection, visual materials, and documents are recorded and analysed to provide effective interventions and feedbacks. The findings show with systematic, effective, consistent coaching to teachers from SISC+ is utmost necessary to enhance teachers’ creative professional development. In sum, the study proves coaching to teachers could elevate the school level of immersiveness in English through various interventions. Keywords: Highly Immersive Programme, stakeholders, support, coaching, collaboration INTRODUCTION Quality education makes a critical contribution to the development of human capital and labour force productivity, driving medium to long-term gains in economic growth in a country. Raising education quality would definitely boost Malaysia’s attractiveness to investors and skilled workers, increasing the value added of domestic businesses and their global value chain participation while easing concerns with talent migration patterns. No one can deny the importance of English language in the present time as global language. Therefore, it is crucial that Malaysian graduates have English proficiency to enhance their employability and marketability in this era of globalization. The renovation of English Language teaching policy is determined to come up with an effectiveness policy to benefit and educate the younger generation who will be leading the country in the future. Hence, considerable efforts are being made to increase the quality of basic education, including reversing a decline in English language proficiency that is affecting one of Malaysia’s competitive advantages within the region by upgrading teachers’ skills in this area (World Bank, 2013). Meanwhile based on the OECD’s benchmark Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), Malaysian students had not performed well (OECD, 2016). Student scores for Mathematics, Science and Reading were among the lowest of the 65 countries surveyed in 2012, with Malaysia outperformed by less developed regional neighbours such as Vietnam. Scores for Reading and Science declined between 2009 and 2012, suggesting Malaysia’s basic education system was struggling to keep pace with global benchmarks. Furthermore, Michael (2012) proposes that in order to enhance students’ English language competency, it is important for them to communicate using the target language as much as they could. The frequent usage of the language will finally lead students to acquire high level of proficiency in this language. The problem with Malaysian students is that they speak English only in the classrooms and when they step out of the classroom; they tend to start speaking in their mother tongue. The issue of students not having enough contact hours in using English aside from the classroom lessons was emphasised in the circular “Surat Pekeliling Ikhtisas Bil. 1/1999: Garis Panduan Pengendalian Aktiviti Sokongan Bahasa Inggeris Di Sekolah” (No. Rujukan: KP (BS) 8591/Jilid XV/ (1) 4 Januari 1999) where all schools are encouraged to create various English Language support activities outside the classroom, enhancing the need of collaboration from all school parties besides planning high impact activities that support the learning, motivation and proficiency of students. The circular also stressed on the need of State Education Department and District Education Office to ensure all schools implement the activities as instructed. They need to provide guidance or advice to any school which in need of assistance. Consequently, the launching of the English Language Education Reform in Malaysia: The Roadmap 2015-2025 by the Education Ministry’s is an indication of the nation’s determination to bring about substantial improvement in our students’ proficiency in the English language. The roadmap: a 10-year reform plan to improve English language (EL) education in Malaysia, considers EL education as a continuous learning journey from preschool to university. It was produced to address a fundamental problem faced by our young people today. They have to cope with a rapidly changing and increasingly globalised world and job market which requires them to communicate effectively in English at a much higher level than before. They need to be aware of the wider world in which they are growing up, and they need sufficient support to enable them to achieve the necessary levels of English proficiency. The most substantial change brought about by the roadmap is the adoption of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), which represents the international standard for describing and measuring language proficiency at each stage of education. The adoption of the CEFR leads to changes in curriculum, teaching and learning, and assessment. All of these, including teacher education and training, are being aligned to the CEFR. Teachers need to know about the CEFR, and as part of their continuous professional development, they are given CEFR-related training to familiarise them with the CEFR and with appropriate approaches to teaching and learning and learning materials. Particular attention is being paid to the upskilling of teachers, both in terms of their English proficiency and their knowledge of teaching. The reform plan also calls for greater student engagement with English outside the classroom as an essential part of the educational experience provided by the school. Thus, Highly Immersive Programme (HIP) a programme introduced under the new language education policy known by its widely-used Malay acronym MBMMBI (Memartabatkan Bahasa Malaysia dan Memperkukuh Bahasa Inggeris), and its English 2 3

ESL Practitioner: The Journal of the English Language Teaching Centre Furthermore, Michael (2012) proposes that in order to enhance students’ English language competency, it is important for them to communicate using the target language as much as they could. The frequent usage of the language will finally lead students to acquire high level of proficiency in this language. The problem with Malaysian students is that they speak English only in the classrooms and when they step out of the classroom; they tend to start speaking in their mother tongue. The issue of students not having enough contact hours in using English aside from the classroom lessons was emphasised in the circular “Surat Pekeliling Ikhtisas Bil. 1/1999: Garis Panduan Pengendalian Aktiviti Sokongan Bahasa Inggeris Di Sekolah” (No. Rujukan: KP (BS) 8591/Jilid XV/ (1) 4 Januari 1999) where all schools are encouraged to create various English Language support activities outside the classroom, enhancing the need of collaboration from all school parties besides planning high impact activities that support the learning, motivation and proficiency of students. The circular also stressed on the need of State Education Department and District Education Office to ensure all schools implement the activities as instructed. They need to provide guidance or advice to any school which in need of assistance. Consequently, the launching of the English Language Education Reform in Malaysia: The Roadmap 2015-2025 by the Education Ministry’s is an indication of the nation’s determination to bring about substantial improvement in our students’ proficiency in the English language. The roadmap: a 10-year reform plan to improve English language (EL) education in Malaysia, considers EL education as a continuous learning journey from preschool to university. It was produced to address a fundamental problem faced by our young people today. They have to cope with a rapidly changing and increasingly globalised world and job market which requires them to communicate effectively in English at a much higher level than before. They need to be aware of the wider world in which they are growing up, and they need sufficient support to enable them to achieve the necessary levels of English proficiency. The most substantial change brought about by the roadmap is the adoption of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), which represents the international standard for describing and measuring language proficiency at each stage of education. The adoption of the CEFR leads to changes in curriculum, teaching and learning, and assessment. All of these, including teacher education and training, are being aligned to the CEFR. Teachers need to know about the CEFR, and as part of their continuous professional development, they are given CEFR-related training to familiarise them with the CEFR and with appropriate approaches to teaching and learning and learning materials. Particular attention is being paid to the upskilling of teachers, both in terms of their English proficiency and their knowledge of teaching. The reform plan also calls for greater student engagement with English outside the classroom as an essential part of the educational experience provided by the school. Thus, Highly Immersive Programme (HIP) a programme introduced under the new language education policy known by its widely-used Malay acronym MBMMBI (Memartabatkan Bahasa Malaysia dan Memperkukuh Bahasa Inggeris), and its English ESL PRACTITIONER JOURNAL Issue 9 Volume 1 November 2021 CONTENTS Page DIRECTOR’S NOTE EDITOR-in-CHIEF’S NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHORS 1. A CASE STUDY ON THE IMPACT OF COACHING TOWARDS THE HIGHLY IMMERSIVE PROGRAMME (HIP) IN SK BINUANG, LAHAD DATU, SABAH Peh Li Foon 2. EXPLORING THE REFLECTIVE PRACTICES OF ENGLISH TEACHERS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN SABAH Betty D Primus @ Betty Adantus 3. USING VOCAB TAG TO IMPROVE THE TEACHING OF SPELLING FOR DAYS OF THE WEEK TO YEAR 2 PUPILS Kwan Pei Ling 4. THE HIVE PROJECT - THE AUSTRALIA AND MALAYSIA PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM Shafizah Binti Shariff 5. COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS USING ORAL COMMUNICATION STRATEGY INVENTORY Siti Mariam Zakaria 6. TEACHER’S PERSPECTIVE OF BLENDED LEARNING DURING PANDEMIC COVID -19 Juhaida Abdul Aziz Yap Soon Li 2 3

ESL Practitioner: The Journal of the English Language Teaching Centre translation as ‘To Uphold Bahasa Malaysia and to Strengthen the English Language’, was introduced to replace the previous policy called the ‘Teaching and Learning of Science and Mathematics in English’ (more commonly referred to by its Malay acronym, PPSMI (Pengajaran dan Pembelajaran Sains dan Matematik dalam Bahasa Inggeris), is implemented to improve the English proficiency of students through extra exposure to the language in schools. HIP is very much in alignment with the Student Aspirations of the Malaysian Education Blueprint (MEB) 2013-2025 in which the MEB espouses students to be bilingually proficient to be globally competitive. Shift 2 under MEB ensures every child is to be proficient in Bahasa Malaysia and English language, and also encourages every child to learn an additional third language. HIP is implemented in stages, commencing with the Pilot Phase in 2016 and eventually roll-out to all schools by 2018. In sum, the Education Ministry believes that HIP will increase exposure time to the language through its language usage through the out-of-class activities. When students play, interact and have fun using English as a medium of communication and learning, they will develop an appreciation for the language and be comfortable to use it in their daily lives. BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY HIP aims to inculcate positive behaviours towards the learning and usage of the English Language. The approach is to empower schools, by the schools and for the schools. Schools are provided with a toolkit from HIP Secondary Guidebook, Version 1: 2016 – 2018 in 2017 as they will be guided for a more purposeful planning of activities, based on their local context and capabilities. The toolkit contains different levels of readiness and greater involvement from parents and community. It has examples of best practices with vivid visual descriptions on the types of activities teachers (in-class, out-of-class, extra classes, and outreach) from the schools that have implemented English enrichment activities in and out of class successfully. The success of the HIP largely depends on the combination of four fundamental factors, namely the school head, teachers, students as well as parents and community. Each factor plays a critical and supportive role in the learning process of students and is crucial to the improvement of students’ learning outcomes. The School Heads who function as the anchors, teachers as doers, students as learners and parents as well as community as the supporters. Each role is elaborated with examples as to ensure the sustainability and success of the programme. There will be a support mechanism to encourage schools to share, learn and encourage each other on the implementation of English enrichment activities such as peer-to-peer learning, support by coaches, district and state officers, and the use of toolkit. In the toolkit, the roles for Principals and Teachers are explained as they are crucial for the success of HIP. Therefore, there is a significant relationship of the School Improvement Specialist Coaches (SISC+) with teachers pertaining to the success of the programme. It is crucial that SISC+ play their roles and responsibilities to facilitate and mentor teachers in creating highly immersive English environment in the class besides supporting teachers in their planning and implementation of HIP activities in class. Why has SISC+ been brought forth to the scene in the implementation of HIP? In accelerating school improvement, the Ministry has taken measures to strengthen and refocus its aim to support student learning in schools and improve the overall performance of schools. One of the measures undertaken is in Shift 6: Empower, State Education Department and District Education Office, and schools to customise solutions based on need. In the past, many programmes had been designed according to a “one-size-fits-all” model and thus, OECD report (2016) suggested that different sets of interventions were required in order to best serve schools at different performance levels. Realising the need to improve teachers’ professionalism on-site, the Guidelines Management of District Transformation Program (DTP), Edition 3.0, 2017 has emphasized that the SISC + in the District Education Office have their roles to ensure the success of the District Transformation Program under the Malaysia Education Blueprint (MEB) 2013-2025. The role of SISC + is as the front line to spearhead the improvement of school standards and performance, which is crucial to support the improvement of the system in Wave 2 implementation of MEB 2016 - 2020. SISC + serves as a liaison between the ministry and the school in delivering curriculum and assessment. They are to guide teachers towards improving the quality of teaching, and enhancing understanding of the policy, new curriculum and assessment of guided teachers. (DTP, 2017). In addition, as in one of the PowerPoints (Figure 1) taken during a presentation by Dr Kalminderjit Kaur a/p Gucharan Singh, the Assistant Director of the English Language Teaching Centre (ELTC) stressed on the role of SISC+ in coaching teachers to enhance the HIP learning environment in the classrooms. In addition, SISC+ needs to support teachers in the planning and implementation of HIP activities in the classrooms as explicitly described in Figure 1. Figure 1 The role of SISC+ in HIP 4 5

ESL Practitioner: The Journal of the English Language Teaching Centre Why has SISC+ been brought forth to the scene in the implementation of HIP? In accelerating school improvement, the Ministry has taken measures to strengthen and refocus its aim to support student learning in schools and improve the overall performance of schools. One of the measures undertaken is in Shift 6: Empower, State Education Department and District Education Office, and schools to customise solutions based on need. In the past, many programmes had been designed according to a “one-size-fits-all” model and thus, OECD report (2016) suggested that different sets of interventions were required in order to best serve schools at different performance levels. Realising the need to improve teachers’ professionalism on-site, the Guidelines Management of District Transformation Program (DTP), Edition 3.0, 2017 has emphasized that the SISC + in the District Education Office have their roles to ensure the success of the District Transformation Program under the Malaysia Education Blueprint (MEB) 2013-2025. The role of SISC + is as the front line to spearhead the improvement of school standards and performance, which is crucial to support the improvement of the system in Wave 2 implementation of MEB 2016 - 2020. SISC + serves as a liaison between the ministry and the school in delivering curriculum and assessment. They are to guide teachers towards improving the quality of teaching, and enhancing understanding of the policy, new curriculum and assessment of guided teachers. (DTP, 2017). In addition, as in one of the PowerPoints (Figure 1) taken during a presentation by Dr Kalminderjit Kaur a/p Gucharan Singh, the Assistant Director of the English Language Teaching Centre (ELTC) stressed on the role of SISC+ in coaching teachers to enhance the HIP learning environment in the classrooms. In addition, SISC+ needs to support teachers in the planning and implementation of HIP activities in the classrooms as explicitly described in Figure 1. Figure 1 The role of SISC+ in HIP ESL PRACTITIONER JOURNAL Issue 9 Volume 1 November 2021 CONTENTS Page DIRECTOR’S NOTE EDITOR-in-CHIEF’S NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHORS 1. A CASE STUDY ON THE IMPACT OF COACHING TOWARDS THE HIGHLY IMMERSIVE PROGRAMME (HIP) IN SK BINUANG, LAHAD DATU, SABAH Peh Li Foon 2. EXPLORING THE REFLECTIVE PRACTICES OF ENGLISH TEACHERS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN SABAH Betty D Primus @ Betty Adantus 3. USING VOCAB TAG TO IMPROVE THE TEACHING OF SPELLING FOR DAYS OF THE WEEK TO YEAR 2 PUPILS Kwan Pei Ling 4. THE HIVE PROJECT - THE AUSTRALIA AND MALAYSIA PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM Shafizah Binti Shariff 5. COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS USING ORAL COMMUNICATION STRATEGY INVENTORY Siti Mariam Zakaria 6. TEACHER’S PERSPECTIVE OF BLENDED LEARNING DURING PANDEMIC COVID -19 Juhaida Abdul Aziz Yap Soon Li 4 5

ESL Practitioner: The Journal of the English Language Teaching Centre Moreover, as mentioned in the HIP Toolkit for HIP Version 1.0 (2016), in ensuring better students’ outcomes, partnership between schools, parents and communities are equally crucial in accelerating English proficiency amongst Malaysian students. Bunce (1995) advocates that to develop a highly immersive language rich environment for students, students are deliberately and recurrently exposed to the English language through a variety of high-quality linguistic input both within and beyond the classroom. In 2019, SK Binuang was taken as one of the ten primary focused school in the district to be coached for English language performance improvement for UPSR 2019. As the researcher was the SISC+ in Lahad Datu, the researcher discovered Year 6 UPSR English language results in 2018 for both Paper 1 and Paper 2 of SK Binuang were very discouraging, with the achievements of 51.19% and 33.33% respectively. The UPSR school performance had dropped as compared to 2017 – 2018. Figure 2 English language Paper 1 UPSR results for SK Binuang (2016 – 2019) Figure 3 English language Paper 2 UPSR results for SK Binuang (2016 – 2019) The researcher also gathered further information pertaining to the implementation of HIP in Lahad Datu. In 2017, twenty schools comprising of ten primary schools, nine secondary schools, and one college vocational were the first group selected to implement the HIP. The following year, 2018, the second group of forty-three primary schools implemented HIP fully. Based on the data collected for the immersive level from the self-assessment tool in 2018, fourteen schools had achieved Level 2 (the school community as a whole tried to engage the students in an English environment but may not be consistent), and the other nineteen schools achieved Level 3 (the school community as a whole engages the students in a good and meaningful English immersive environment) which included SK Binuang, an increase to one level higher but was still a low Level of 3 (Table 1). Table 1 Pre and post-assessment HIP 2018 (Pejabat Pendidikan Daerah Lahad Datu) NO SCHOOL PRE SCORE POST SCORE PRE LEVEL POST LEVEL STATUS 1 SK AMALANIA 152 209 2 3 INCREASE 2 SK BAKAPIT 102 106 2 2 INCREASE 3 SK BANGINGOD 159 159 2 2 NIL 4 SK BATU 6 1/2 218 214 3 3 DECREASE 5 SK BIKANG 156 227 2 3 INCREASE 6 SK BINUANG 152 162 2 3 INCREASE 7 SK BUKIT BALACON 152 226 2 3 INCREASE 8 SK CENDERAWASIH 158 204 2 3 INCREASE 9 SK FAJAR HARAPAN 154 222 2 3 INCREASE 10 SK KENNEDY BAY 167 196 3 3 NIL 11 SK LAHAD DATU II 148 148 2 2 NIL 12 SK LAHAD DATU III 134 159 2 2 NIL 13 SK PAYANG 134 139 2 2 NIL 14 SK PEKAN 140 160 2 2 NIL 15 SK SABAH COCOA 206 215 3 3 NIL 16 SK SAHABAT 2 144 175 2 3 INCREASE 17 SK SAHABAT 4 138 198 2 3 INCREASE 18 SK SAHABAT 16 152 160 2 2 NIL 19 SK SEPAGAYA 158 159 2 2 NIL 20 SK SILABUKAN 159 160 2 2 NIL 21 SK SILAM 148 175 2 3 INCREASE 22 SK SRI DARUN 117 137 2 2 NIL 23 SK SRI PANTAI 157 154 2 2 NIL 24 SK ST STEPHEN 147 171 2 3 INCREASE 25 SK TAMBISAN 172 178 3 3 NIL 26 SK TANJUNG LABIAN 135 168 2 3 INCREASE 27 SK TANJONG PARAS 155 228 2 3 INCREASE 28 SK TAWAIYARI 139 199 2 3 INCREASE 29 SK TELISAI 142 156 2 2 NIL 30 SK TUNGKU 189 209 3 3 NIL 31 SJKC CHEE VUN 172 178 3 3 NIL 32 SJKC KIAU SHING 31 176 1 3 INCREASE 33 SJKC SIN WAH 88 126 2 2 NIL 6 7

ESL Practitioner: The Journal of the English Language Teaching Centre The researcher also gathered further information pertaining to the implementation of HIP in Lahad Datu. In 2017, twenty schools comprising of ten primary schools, nine secondary schools, and one college vocational were the first group selected to implement the HIP. The following year, 2018, the second group of forty-three primary schools implemented HIP fully. Based on the data collected for the immersive level from the self-assessment tool in 2018, fourteen schools had achieved Level 2 (the school community as a whole tried to engage the students in an English environment but may not be consistent), and the other nineteen schools achieved Level 3 (the school community as a whole engages the students in a good and meaningful English immersive environment) which included SK Binuang, an increase to one level higher but was still a low Level of 3 (Table 1). Table 1 Pre and post-assessment HIP 2018 (Pejabat Pendidikan Daerah Lahad Datu) NO SCHOOL PRE SCORE POST SCORE PRE LEVEL POST LEVEL STATUS 1 SK AMALANIA 152 209 2 3 INCREASE 2 SK BAKAPIT 102 106 2 2 INCREASE 3 SK BANGINGOD 159 159 2 2 NIL 4 SK BATU 6 1/2 218 214 3 3 DECREASE 5 SK BIKANG 156 227 2 3 INCREASE 6 SK BINUANG 152 162 2 3 INCREASE 7 SK BUKIT BALACON 152 226 2 3 INCREASE 8 SK CENDERAWASIH 158 204 2 3 INCREASE 9 SK FAJAR HARAPAN 154 222 2 3 INCREASE 10 SK KENNEDY BAY 167 196 3 3 NIL 11 SK LAHAD DATU II 148 148 2 2 NIL 12 SK LAHAD DATU III 134 159 2 2 NIL 13 SK PAYANG 134 139 2 2 NIL 14 SK PEKAN 140 160 2 2 NIL 15 SK SABAH COCOA 206 215 3 3 NIL 16 SK SAHABAT 2 144 175 2 3 INCREASE 17 SK SAHABAT 4 138 198 2 3 INCREASE 18 SK SAHABAT 16 152 160 2 2 NIL 19 SK SEPAGAYA 158 159 2 2 NIL 20 SK SILABUKAN 159 160 2 2 NIL 21 SK SILAM 148 175 2 3 INCREASE 22 SK SRI DARUN 117 137 2 2 NIL 23 SK SRI PANTAI 157 154 2 2 NIL 24 SK ST STEPHEN 147 171 2 3 INCREASE 25 SK TAMBISAN 172 178 3 3 NIL 26 SK TANJUNG LABIAN 135 168 2 3 INCREASE 27 SK TANJONG PARAS 155 228 2 3 INCREASE 28 SK TAWAIYARI 139 199 2 3 INCREASE 29 SK TELISAI 142 156 2 2 NIL 30 SK TUNGKU 189 209 3 3 NIL 31 SJKC CHEE VUN 172 178 3 3 NIL 32 SJKC KIAU SHING 31 176 1 3 INCREASE 33 SJKC SIN WAH 88 126 2 2 NIL ESL PRACTITIONER JOURNAL Issue 9 Volume 1 November 2021 CONTENTS Page DIRECTOR’S NOTE EDITOR-in-CHIEF’S NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHORS 1. A CASE STUDY ON THE IMPACT OF COACHING TOWARDS THE HIGHLY IMMERSIVE PROGRAMME (HIP) IN SK BINUANG, LAHAD DATU, SABAH Peh Li Foon 2. EXPLORING THE REFLECTIVE PRACTICES OF ENGLISH TEACHERS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN SABAH Betty D Primus @ Betty Adantus 3. USING VOCAB TAG TO IMPROVE THE TEACHING OF SPELLING FOR DAYS OF THE WEEK TO YEAR 2 PUPILS Kwan Pei Ling 4. THE HIVE PROJECT - THE AUSTRALIA AND MALAYSIA PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM Shafizah Binti Shariff 5. COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS USING ORAL COMMUNICATION STRATEGY INVENTORY Siti Mariam Zakaria 6. TEACHER’S PERSPECTIVE OF BLENDED LEARNING DURING PANDEMIC COVID -19 Juhaida Abdul Aziz Yap Soon Li 6 7

ESL Practitioner: The Journal of the English Language Teaching Centre The researcher realised the involvement of non-English teachers and parents with community in SK Binuang were not high in their self-assessment toolkit, and thus, some interventions were needed to enhance the scores as to ensure the Level 3 of 164 in 2018 would not decrease in 2019. As highlighted in one of the Malaysian Education Blueprint (MEB) 2013-2025, SISC+ officers are empowered to customize solutions based on needs and enhance teacher professional development in order to build their professional capabilities. Therefore, it was the researcher’s responsibility and accountability to coach and assist teachers in providing coaching and empower teachers to seek effective interventions in enhancing students’ engagement through effective HIP activities in school. From the study of the HIP English Day SK Binuang report of the first half of the year (January – May 2019), she found out the activities organised were mostly conducted by the teachers without any involvement of other fundamental factor especially parents and community. Other issues to the ineffectiveness of the HIP report were lack of time, lack of student’s English proficiency and confidence, lack of teacher’s planning and organising skills to name a few. Those issues identified had brought forth the researcher to adopt SK Binuang as her focused school in coaching as the school performance had dropped tremendously in the UPSR English papers for two consecutive years (2017 – 2018), the level of English language immersive in that school was in low Level of 3 without any Outreach activities with parents and community. In a nutshell, the concern to improve teachers’ creativity in their teaching strategies in and out of the classroom through various HIP activities based on the fundamental factors, had led the researcher to conduct a case study with the hope that with the involvement of her coaching to the teachers involved especially the Head of English Panel, the immersive level of English would improve in the aspects of creative and innovative teaching, students’ active participation in their fun learning activities as well as enhancing the involvement of parents and community as a whole. AIM OF THE STUDY The study aimed to research the impact of SISC+ coaching towards the HIP in SK Binuang, Lahad Datu, Sabah. RESEARCH QUESTIONS This study will determine the followings: 1. What were the interventions that SISC+ needed to provide teachers in enhancing students’ engagement? 2. How could the SISC+ coaching enhances teachers’ creativity and innovation in teaching strategies in and out of the classrooms? 3. How could SISC+ help to enhance the immersive level of HIP in school through the involvement and collaboration of parents and community? This study was conducted in a selected school in Sabah and cannot be generalised to both urban and rural schools in the other states in Peninsular Malaysia. In addition, this study only concerned the coaching and mentoring of SISC+ on English language in the Malaysian context and cannot be generalised to other populations using similar methods of instruction. LITERATURE REVIEW Teacher quality has been reported as an indicator of student achievement and gains (Goe, 2007). This relationship is seen as not limited to test scores alone. Tucker and Stronge (2005) state that highly effective teachers had an enriching effect on their students’ daily lives and lifelong educational and career goals. This statement is supported from a study by Chetty et al. (2011) who find what students achieve later in their lives could also be traced back to the quality of the teachers they have earlier in their lives. Hence, many of the training programmes under the MBMMBI policy as listed in the 2014 MBMMBI booklet (MOE, 2014) follow the traditional approach to professional development. An alternative to improve the professional development is the professional learning community model. This model assumes the idea that the learning and sharing of knowledge is promoted through collaborative collegial effort and that participation in professional learning community would lead to changes in teaching practices and student learning (Caena, 2011). Therefore, one of the moves towards working in communities of practice in Malaysian schools is the School Improvement Specialist Coaches (SISC) programme which, like the MBMMBI policy, is initiated under the National Key Results Areas (NKRA) for education in the Government Transformation Programme (PEMANDU, 2012). This programme aims at narrowing the achievement gap between the lowest and highest performing schools and also at empowering the District Education Offices in their endeavour to improve student outcomes. In 2011, 199 English language, Bahasa Malaysia and Mathematics teachers were selected among recipients of the Excellent Teachers award and were provided with training as master coaches. These coaches worked with administrators and teachers in low performing schools to identify problems that were prevalent in these schools and then designed interventions to solve the specific problems identified. The coaches would visit and monitor 8 9

ESL Practitioner: The Journal of the English Language Teaching Centre RESEARCH QUESTIONS This study will determine the followings: 1. What were the interventions that SISC+ needed to provide teachers in enhancing students’ engagement? 2. How could the SISC+ coaching enhances teachers’ creativity and innovation in teaching strategies in and out of the classrooms? 3. How could SISC+ help to enhance the immersive level of HIP in school through the involvement and collaboration of parents and community? This study was conducted in a selected school in Sabah and cannot be generalised to both urban and rural schools in the other states in Peninsular Malaysia. In addition, this study only concerned the coaching and mentoring of SISC+ on English language in the Malaysian context and cannot be generalised to other populations using similar methods of instruction. LITERATURE REVIEW Teacher quality has been reported as an indicator of student achievement and gains (Goe, 2007). This relationship is seen as not limited to test scores alone. Tucker and Stronge (2005) state that highly effective teachers had an enriching effect on their students’ daily lives and lifelong educational and career goals. This statement is supported from a study by Chetty et al. (2011) who find what students achieve later in their lives could also be traced back to the quality of the teachers they have earlier in their lives. Hence, many of the training programmes under the MBMMBI policy as listed in the 2014 MBMMBI booklet (MOE, 2014) follow the traditional approach to professional development. An alternative to improve the professional development is the professional learning community model. This model assumes the idea that the learning and sharing of knowledge is promoted through collaborative collegial effort and that participation in professional learning community would lead to changes in teaching practices and student learning (Caena, 2011). Therefore, one of the moves towards working in communities of practice in Malaysian schools is the School Improvement Specialist Coaches (SISC) programme which, like the MBMMBI policy, is initiated under the National Key Results Areas (NKRA) for education in the Government Transformation Programme (PEMANDU, 2012). This programme aims at narrowing the achievement gap between the lowest and highest performing schools and also at empowering the District Education Offices in their endeavour to improve student outcomes. In 2011, 199 English language, Bahasa Malaysia and Mathematics teachers were selected among recipients of the Excellent Teachers award and were provided with training as master coaches. These coaches worked with administrators and teachers in low performing schools to identify problems that were prevalent in these schools and then designed interventions to solve the specific problems identified. The coaches would visit and monitor ESL PRACTITIONER JOURNAL Issue 9 Volume 1 November 2021 CONTENTS Page DIRECTOR’S NOTE EDITOR-in-CHIEF’S NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHORS 1. A CASE STUDY ON THE IMPACT OF COACHING TOWARDS THE HIGHLY IMMERSIVE PROGRAMME (HIP) IN SK BINUANG, LAHAD DATU, SABAH Peh Li Foon 2. EXPLORING THE REFLECTIVE PRACTICES OF ENGLISH TEACHERS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN SABAH Betty D Primus @ Betty Adantus 3. USING VOCAB TAG TO IMPROVE THE TEACHING OF SPELLING FOR DAYS OF THE WEEK TO YEAR 2 PUPILS Kwan Pei Ling 4. THE HIVE PROJECT - THE AUSTRALIA AND MALAYSIA PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM Shafizah Binti Shariff 5. COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS USING ORAL COMMUNICATION STRATEGY INVENTORY Siti Mariam Zakaria 6. TEACHER’S PERSPECTIVE OF BLENDED LEARNING DURING PANDEMIC COVID -19 Juhaida Abdul Aziz Yap Soon Li 8 9

ESL Practitioner: The Journal of the English Language Teaching Centre the schools under their charge only three times a year. Based on the success of the programme, a spin-off programme called the SISC+ programme required the selected coaches to be based full-time at the local district education departments and to monitor the schools under their charge. In accordance with the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) issued in the District Transformation Programme 2019, SISC+ who are instructional coaches, are responsible for coaching the middle leaders who are the head of department, head of panel and teachers, to develop effective and quality intervention. According to Grant and Cavanagh (2011), coaching is a goal directed activity as it is focused on the attainment of professional or personal outcomes valued by a coachee or learner. Despite of whether these goals are focused on the acquisition of specific skills (public speaking), improved performance (goal setting, action planning) or are more developmental in nature (defining a personal approach to leadership), a coachee’s success will depend on how well they can manage their thoughts, feelings and action in support of goal attainment. In addition, on-site professional development requires professional communication and collaboration among teachers. Little (2002) states three conditions for promoting professional communication and collaboration among teachers. The conditions are shared interests and shared responsibility (interdependence), opportunity, and resources. Little has also pointed out the important role of formal decision making at the school level, leadership and culture building that would help to ensure these conditions for teachers. As an instructional coach in Lahad Datu Education Office, the researcher strongly believes in the theory of Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) in which Vygotsky (1978) defines the distance between the actual development level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem-solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more knowledgeable other. There are a few essential factors that are critical to the success of this learning process: • The presence of someone with the knowledge and skills to guide the learner, • Scaffolding, or supportive activities provided by the mentor or teacher would help to guide the learner through the ZPD, and • Social interactions that allow the learner to observe and practice their skills The concept of the "more knowledgeable other" is quite simple and fairly self-explanatory. The more knowledgeable other is someone who has a higher level of knowledge than the learner and therefore, the researcher opines herself as the knowledgeable other who could provide critical guidance and instruction during the sensitive learning period to her coachee. While the coachee might not yet be capable of doing something on her own, nonetheless, she is able to perform the task with the assistance of a skilled coach. Hence, ZPD is a moving target. Motivation and learning process have a deep connection. Motivation is the core for human being’s aspirations and achievements. Thus, motivation is crucial to succeed in educational matters and without the fighting spirit nothing is possible not only in education but also in real life. The learning process is an endless lifelong process. In order to continuously achieve a high motivation is crucial. In order to build up her coachee’s motivation to a higher level, the researcher advocates the Self-Determination Theory (SDT) by Deci and Ryan (1985) which stresses on providing a nuanced understanding of human motivation. SDT provides different perspectives for understanding coaching. At the macro level, the theory provides a meta-theoretical account of the growth tendencies, innate psychological needs and socio-cultural factors that shape human personality, behavioural self-regulation and well-being (Ryan & Deci, 2000), and thus, it deals on conditions that are required if people are to "do well" and "feel good" throughout the course of their lives. At this level, coaching can be seen as representing a component of the broader conditions of a person’s life. At the micro level, SDT helps practitioners appreciate the importance of the working alliance and understand that, through the process of relating, interpersonal conditions can be created that are necessary for optimal growth and development. The use of core microskills such as active listening, expressing empathy, exploring successes, identifying personal strengths, encouraging volitional acts and other supportive gestures are important because of their potential to enliven developmental processes that are central to human flourishing (Keyes & Haidt, 2003). In conclusion, with the application of ZPD and SDT coaching which propose that people can move towards more self-determined action over time, via processes of internalisation and integration and the scaffolding provided during the process of coaching, the researcher believes the coaching could be successfully carried out with her teachers and create great impact towards the HIP activities. METHODOLOGY This study was deployed using grounded theory research in the qualitative design in which according to Strauss and Corbin (1998), a theory is generated or grounded in data from participants who have experienced the process. The researcher employed qualitative research as Creswell (2013) proposed the study could empower individuals to share their stories, hear their voices and minimize the power relationships that often exist between the researcher and the participants of the study. Hence, this study aimed to understand the impact of coaching towards the HIP in SK Binuang. The study was conducted using reported document analysis on the school UPSR results, the annual HIP English Day plan as well as the online reports of HIP self-assessment tool. Next, observation in the coaching visits especially during the English Day activity on Tuesday were recorded in the SISC+ Coaching report with visual materials such as photographs and finally, the coachee’s self-reflection on the impact of coaching was provided. Additionally, several reflective discussions with SISC+ during coaching visits with her coachee and the HIP coordinator were conducted. In 2019, SK Binuang which was located about 7 kilometres from town, was taken as one of the ten primary focused schools in the district to be coached for English language performance improvement in UPSR 2019. Asmussen and Creswell (1995) explained in a case study, the researcher explored an issue and consequently, a detailed understanding 10 11

ESL Practitioner: The Journal of the English Language Teaching Centre the researcher advocates the Self-Determination Theory (SDT) by Deci and Ryan (1985) which stresses on providing a nuanced understanding of human motivation. SDT provides different perspectives for understanding coaching. At the macro level, the theory provides a meta-theoretical account of the growth tendencies, innate psychological needs and socio-cultural factors that shape human personality, behavioural self-regulation and well-being (Ryan & Deci, 2000), and thus, it deals on conditions that are required if people are to "do well" and "feel good" throughout the course of their lives. At this level, coaching can be seen as representing a component of the broader conditions of a person’s life. At the micro level, SDT helps practitioners appreciate the importance of the working alliance and understand that, through the process of relating, interpersonal conditions can be created that are necessary for optimal growth and development. The use of core microskills such as active listening, expressing empathy, exploring successes, identifying personal strengths, encouraging volitional acts and other supportive gestures are important because of their potential to enliven developmental processes that are central to human flourishing (Keyes & Haidt, 2003). In conclusion, with the application of ZPD and SDT coaching which propose that people can move towards more self-determined action over time, via processes of internalisation and integration and the scaffolding provided during the process of coaching, the researcher believes the coaching could be successfully carried out with her teachers and create great impact towards the HIP activities. METHODOLOGY This study was deployed using grounded theory research in the qualitative design in which according to Strauss and Corbin (1998), a theory is generated or grounded in data from participants who have experienced the process. The researcher employed qualitative research as Creswell (2013) proposed the study could empower individuals to share their stories, hear their voices and minimize the power relationships that often exist between the researcher and the participants of the study. Hence, this study aimed to understand the impact of coaching towards the HIP in SK Binuang. The study was conducted using reported document analysis on the school UPSR results, the annual HIP English Day plan as well as the online reports of HIP self-assessment tool. Next, observation in the coaching visits especially during the English Day activity on Tuesday were recorded in the SISC+ Coaching report with visual materials such as photographs and finally, the coachee’s self-reflection on the impact of coaching was provided. Additionally, several reflective discussions with SISC+ during coaching visits with her coachee and the HIP coordinator were conducted. In 2019, SK Binuang which was located about 7 kilometres from town, was taken as one of the ten primary focused schools in the district to be coached for English language performance improvement in UPSR 2019. Asmussen and Creswell (1995) explained in a case study, the researcher explored an issue and consequently, a detailed understanding ESL PRACTITIONER JOURNAL Issue 9 Volume 1 November 2021 CONTENTS Page DIRECTOR’S NOTE EDITOR-in-CHIEF’S NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHORS 1. A CASE STUDY ON THE IMPACT OF COACHING TOWARDS THE HIGHLY IMMERSIVE PROGRAMME (HIP) IN SK BINUANG, LAHAD DATU, SABAH Peh Li Foon 2. EXPLORING THE REFLECTIVE PRACTICES OF ENGLISH TEACHERS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN SABAH Betty D Primus @ Betty Adantus 3. USING VOCAB TAG TO IMPROVE THE TEACHING OF SPELLING FOR DAYS OF THE WEEK TO YEAR 2 PUPILS Kwan Pei Ling 4. THE HIVE PROJECT - THE AUSTRALIA AND MALAYSIA PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM Shafizah Binti Shariff 5. COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS USING ORAL COMMUNICATION STRATEGY INVENTORY Siti Mariam Zakaria 6. TEACHER’S PERSPECTIVE OF BLENDED LEARNING DURING PANDEMIC COVID -19 Juhaida Abdul Aziz Yap Soon Li 10 11

ESL Practitioner: The Journal of the English Language Teaching Centre would emerge from examining it. The reasons for SK Binuang to be chosen in the study were due to the urgency of the researcher to ensure there would be an improvement in the English language UPSR 2019 result and an increase of 2019 HIP score. Therefore, the researcher had chosen the Head of English Language Panel or better known as coachee in the coaching of the District Transformation Programme, as the researcher’s purposeful sampling in the study. In brief, the researcher’s coachee is a 20-year-experience female English language teacher, who had been working in three other primary schools before she transferred to her current school in Lahad Datu. The coachee hailed from Tawau, Sabah and is 42 years old. The coachee holds a post of DG34 as an English language teacher. The coachee was trained in Gaya Teacher Training College in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. For the purpose of this study, the participant involved was the Head of English language Panel who was the coachee in the coaching programme. The coaching was conducted within eight on-site visits. Among the visits, the researcher had two reflective discussions with the Head of Panel and the HIP Coordinator which lasted about an hour. During one of the researcher’s visits, the researcher involved in the school English Day activity. The researcher observed the English language panel organized the activity. The researcher involved with the English language teachers and students in their singing activity and prize award ceremony. Immediately after the activity ended, the researcher discussed with her coachee of the strengths and weaknesses found. Clarification on certain doubts was discussed. The researcher encouraged her coachee to give her views and the follow-up interventions for future improvement. Many a time, the coachee’s creative ideas were voiced out during the coaching sessions. The researcher felt that her coachee had a lot to offer to her students and the HIP as well. To enhance the score for HIP outreach after studying their annual HIP plan, the researcher shared some creative ideas and the information of College Community. The researcher suggested the school could collaborate with other agency and encouraged the involvement of parents in the HIP activity. Finally, the activity agreed upon was encouraging students to decorate cupcakes and learn English through the communication with community. Due to certain constraints, the researcher and the coachee came to a consensus. The researcher, on behalf of District Education Office, would contact and prepare the invitation letter to the college for the outreach activity. The researchers also prepared certificates of appreciation and gifts. Meanwhile, the coachee agreed to prepare the venue, students and teachers-in-charge for the activity. The researcher permitted her coachee to make a choice of her students to be involved in the Outreach activity. The coachee had chosen Year Three as the coachee felt comfortable working with the afternoon session teachers. To ensure the involvement of the school head, the researcher also sent a personal message requesting the headmistress to present and support the Outreach activity if the headmistress was available. Consequently, an outreach activity involving a collaboration of all HIP stakeholders was organised. In short, the outcome of the activity with the collaboration of stakeholders from school, parents, community and the district office, displayed great success in enhancing pupils’ engagement in learning English authentically. Finally, after the coaching sessions ended for that year, the researcher encouraged her coachee to write a self-reflection on the impact of her coaching towards HIP in her school using a narrative writing. The coachee’s self-reflection was analysed and the outcomes were positive pertaining to the study of research questions. DATA COLLECTION The data was collected in various manners. To triangulate the study, the researcher had collected multiple and different sources to ensure reliability and validity, for example observations, recorded documents, audio visual materials from Facebook, photographs and a written self-reflection. The researcher recorded her coaching visits in her SISC+ log book as it was the requirement of SISC+ official working document to school. The coaching visits recorded in the log book allowed the researcher to follow up and follow through her coaching with several consistent interventions. The photographs of the coaching visits and also the HIP activities in the school were displayed in English HIP school Facebook by the coachee. It was a collection of activities which could prove the progress made by the coachee in creating various English activities for her students to engage in their learning. Reports of the school HIP performance and the UPSR results 2018, were collected from the compilation of the researcher’s Assistant District Education Office of Learning Sector. Lastly, an evaluation of the researcher’s coaching, the coachee’s feedback of her professional self-growth and the impact of coaching in HIP were shared to the researcher in writing. Figure 4 English HIP SK Binuang Facebook 12 13

ESL Practitioner: The Journal of the English Language Teaching Centre school, parents, community and the district office, displayed great success in enhancing pupils’ engagement in learning English authentically. Finally, after the coaching sessions ended for that year, the researcher encouraged her coachee to write a self-reflection on the impact of her coaching towards HIP in her school using a narrative writing. The coachee’s self-reflection was analysed and the outcomes were positive pertaining to the study of research questions. DATA COLLECTION The data was collected in various manners. To triangulate the study, the researcher had collected multiple and different sources to ensure reliability and validity, for example observations, recorded documents, audio visual materials from Facebook, photographs and a written self-reflection. The researcher recorded her coaching visits in her SISC+ log book as it was the requirement of SISC+ official working document to school. The coaching visits recorded in the log book allowed the researcher to follow up and follow through her coaching with several consistent interventions. The photographs of the coaching visits and also the HIP activities in the school were displayed in English HIP school Facebook by the coachee. It was a collection of activities which could prove the progress made by the coachee in creating various English activities for her students to engage in their learning. Reports of the school HIP performance and the UPSR results 2018, were collected from the compilation of the researcher’s Assistant District Education Office of Learning Sector. Lastly, an evaluation of the researcher’s coaching, the coachee’s feedback of her professional self-growth and the impact of coaching in HIP were shared to the researcher in writing. Figure 4 English HIP SK Binuang Facebook ESL PRACTITIONER JOURNAL Issue 9 Volume 1 November 2021 CONTENTS Page DIRECTOR’S NOTE EDITOR-in-CHIEF’S NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHORS 1. A CASE STUDY ON THE IMPACT OF COACHING TOWARDS THE HIGHLY IMMERSIVE PROGRAMME (HIP) IN SK BINUANG, LAHAD DATU, SABAH Peh Li Foon 2. EXPLORING THE REFLECTIVE PRACTICES OF ENGLISH TEACHERS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN SABAH Betty D Primus @ Betty Adantus 3. USING VOCAB TAG TO IMPROVE THE TEACHING OF SPELLING FOR DAYS OF THE WEEK TO YEAR 2 PUPILS Kwan Pei Ling 4. THE HIVE PROJECT - THE AUSTRALIA AND MALAYSIA PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM Shafizah Binti Shariff 5. COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS USING ORAL COMMUNICATION STRATEGY INVENTORY Siti Mariam Zakaria 6. TEACHER’S PERSPECTIVE OF BLENDED LEARNING DURING PANDEMIC COVID -19 Juhaida Abdul Aziz Yap Soon Li 12 13

ESL Practitioner: The Journal of the English Language Teaching Centre FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS The visits and the coaching sessions conducted with the researcher’s coachee and the school HIP coordinator, were fruitful. After two discussions on HIP planning and its activities, the researcher realised the involvement of the non-English teachers and parents as well as the collaboration with community were not high based on the HIP online report, and thus, the researcher planned to encourage the coachee to seek some interventions in enhancing the improvement of scores from the performance Level 3 of 164 in 2018, to a higher score in 2019. From the visits and discussions conducted, the researcher discovered that her coachee, the Head of English Panel and the HIP coordinator, were unable to extend their level of immersiveness in English due to the teachers’ lack of interest in using English extensively along with lack of teachers’ commitment in the programme. This was caused by the lack of understanding of the teachers where the programme was not solely involving the English Language panel but all stakeholders: school head, teachers, students, parents and community as a whole school approach programme. The lack of attention given by the administrator in HIP and lacking financial support to buy materials for the programme, had therefore, demotivated the researcher’s coachee to explore her creativity further. Soon after, the researcher followed up her findings collected from her coaching and had a discussion with her Assistant District Education Officer. Upon getting the permission from the researcher’s Assistant District Education Officer, the researcher was able to invite Lahad Datu College Community lecturer and two tertiary students to organise an English aural-oral demonstration session using cupcakes. The activity conducted had been a tremendous success. Students, teachers, parents and the administrators were enjoying themselves happily and were speaking English with some trying their best to repeat the responses given by the College presenters throughout the session. In addition, the researcher did not expect her coachee’s initiative to create an authentic situation where she had earlier announced to her students to prepare aprons, additional baking materials and the creative chef’ caps, similarly like the TV programme “Junior Master Chef”. It was such an immense picturesque view to observe the high spirit of students’ enthusiasm in following the English instructions with joy and laughter to complete their tasks. At the same time, the school head, teachers and parents were seen having fun along in decorating their cupcakes with students. In the researcher’s coachee’s self-reflection after the coaching had completed upon her in December 2019, the coachee expressed the unexpected success of the HIP Outreach activity had spurred her desire to do more for the school HIP, which the coachee carried forward with many interesting creative activities involving students, teachers and villagers. The coachee even shared and posted her students’ HIP involvement occasionally in the HIP SK Binuang Facebook. The coachee also stressed that she was inspired to create more challenging creative activities for the school in future. The impact of the coaching towards the school HIP activities did show improvement significantly. In Table 2, the HIP performance 2019 for pre-assessment and postassessment, the researcher discovered from the analysis of the pre and post assessments as recorded in Table 2, HIP performance of SK Binuang had increased 13 marks with a higher level of performance which was from the score of 191 in the post-assessment as compared to the score of 178 in pre-assessment. Table 2 Pre and post-assessment HIP 2019 (Pejabat Pendidikan Daerah Lahad Datu) NO SCHOOL PRE SCORE POST SCORE PRE LEVEL POST LEVEL STATUS 1 SK AMALANIA 249 240 4 3 DECREASE 2 SK BAKAPIT 106 107 2 2 INCREASE 3 SK BANGINGOD 184 205 3 3 INCREASE 4 SK BATU 6 1/2 164 207 3 3 DECREASE 5 SK BIKANG 265 170 4 3 DECREASE 6 SK BINUANG 178 191 3 3 INCREASE 7 SK BUKIT BALACON 229 239 3 3 INCREASE 8 SK CENDERAWASIH 158 170 2 3 INCREASE 9 SK FAJAR HARAPAN 160 186 2 3 INCREASE 10 SK KENNEDY BAY 145 155 2 2 INCREASE 11 SK LAHAD DATU II 205 205 3 3 NIL 12 SK LAHAD DATU III 168 190 3 3 INCREASE 13 SK PAYANG 127 147 2 2 INCREASE 14 SK PEKAN 186 192 3 3 INCREASE 15 SK SABAH COCOA 232 235 3 3 INCREASE 16 SK SAHABAT 2 165 198 3 3 INCREASE 17 SK SAHABAT 4 156 162 2 3 INCREASE 18 SK SAHABAT 16 157 158 2 2 INCREASE 19 SK SEPAGAYA 158 154 2 2 DECREASE 20 SK SILABUKAN 160 222 2 3 INCREASE 21 SK SILAM 156 184 2 3 INCREASE 22 SK SRI DARUN 145 155 2 2 INCREASE 23 SK SRI PANTAI 180 165 3 3 DECREASE 24 SK ST STEPHEN 145 170 2 3 INCREASE 25 SK TAMBISAN 158 204 2 3 INCREASE 26 SK TANJUNG LABIAN 147 153 2 2 INCREASE 27 SK TANJONG PARAS 115 195 2 3 INCREASE 28 SK TAWAIYARI 195 176 3 3 DECREASE 29 SK TELISAI 141 152 2 2 INCREASE 30 SK TUNGKU 189 200 3 3 INCREASE 31 SJKC CHEE VUN 170 188 3 3 INCREASE 32 SJKC KIAU SHING 204 240 3 3 INCREASE 33 SJKC SIN WAH 159 160 2 2 INCREASE 14 15

ESL Practitioner: The Journal of the English Language Teaching Centre as recorded in Table 2, HIP performance of SK Binuang had increased 13 marks with a higher level of performance which was from the score of 191 in the post-assessment as compared to the score of 178 in pre-assessment. Table 2 Pre and post-assessment HIP 2019 (Pejabat Pendidikan Daerah Lahad Datu) NO SCHOOL PRE SCORE POST SCORE PRE LEVEL POST LEVEL STATUS 1 SK AMALANIA 249 240 4 3 DECREASE 2 SK BAKAPIT 106 107 2 2 INCREASE 3 SK BANGINGOD 184 205 3 3 INCREASE 4 SK BATU 6 1/2 164 207 3 3 DECREASE 5 SK BIKANG 265 170 4 3 DECREASE 6 SK BINUANG 178 191 3 3 INCREASE 7 SK BUKIT BALACON 229 239 3 3 INCREASE 8 SK CENDERAWASIH 158 170 2 3 INCREASE 9 SK FAJAR HARAPAN 160 186 2 3 INCREASE 10 SK KENNEDY BAY 145 155 2 2 INCREASE 11 SK LAHAD DATU II 205 205 3 3 NIL 12 SK LAHAD DATU III 168 190 3 3 INCREASE 13 SK PAYANG 127 147 2 2 INCREASE 14 SK PEKAN 186 192 3 3 INCREASE 15 SK SABAH COCOA 232 235 3 3 INCREASE 16 SK SAHABAT 2 165 198 3 3 INCREASE 17 SK SAHABAT 4 156 162 2 3 INCREASE 18 SK SAHABAT 16 157 158 2 2 INCREASE 19 SK SEPAGAYA 158 154 2 2 DECREASE 20 SK SILABUKAN 160 222 2 3 INCREASE 21 SK SILAM 156 184 2 3 INCREASE 22 SK SRI DARUN 145 155 2 2 INCREASE 23 SK SRI PANTAI 180 165 3 3 DECREASE 24 SK ST STEPHEN 145 170 2 3 INCREASE 25 SK TAMBISAN 158 204 2 3 INCREASE 26 SK TANJUNG LABIAN 147 153 2 2 INCREASE 27 SK TANJONG PARAS 115 195 2 3 INCREASE 28 SK TAWAIYARI 195 176 3 3 DECREASE 29 SK TELISAI 141 152 2 2 INCREASE 30 SK TUNGKU 189 200 3 3 INCREASE 31 SJKC CHEE VUN 170 188 3 3 INCREASE 32 SJKC KIAU SHING 204 240 3 3 INCREASE 33 SJKC SIN WAH 159 160 2 2 INCREASE ESL PRACTITIONER JOURNAL Issue 9 Volume 1 November 2021 CONTENTS Page DIRECTOR’S NOTE EDITOR-in-CHIEF’S NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHORS 1. A CASE STUDY ON THE IMPACT OF COACHING TOWARDS THE HIGHLY IMMERSIVE PROGRAMME (HIP) IN SK BINUANG, LAHAD DATU, SABAH Peh Li Foon 2. EXPLORING THE REFLECTIVE PRACTICES OF ENGLISH TEACHERS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN SABAH Betty D Primus @ Betty Adantus 3. USING VOCAB TAG TO IMPROVE THE TEACHING OF SPELLING FOR DAYS OF THE WEEK TO YEAR 2 PUPILS Kwan Pei Ling 4. THE HIVE PROJECT - THE AUSTRALIA AND MALAYSIA PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM Shafizah Binti Shariff 5. COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS USING ORAL COMMUNICATION STRATEGY INVENTORY Siti Mariam Zakaria 6. TEACHER’S PERSPECTIVE OF BLENDED LEARNING DURING PANDEMIC COVID -19 Juhaida Abdul Aziz Yap Soon Li 14 15

ESL Practitioner: The Journal of the English Language Teaching Centre Meanwhile, in Figure 4, the total HIP school scores analysed in 2018 as compared to 2019 showed improvement in scores for both pre and post assessments with an increase of 26 marks for pre-assessments (2018 -2019) and an increase of 29 marks for post-assessments (2018-2019). Hence, the immersive level of English had been raised for the school. Figure 4 Analysis of HIP pre and post assessments for SK Binuang (2018– 2019) Overall, it could be observed that the researcher’s coaching had impacted the coachee’s professional growth positively as an effective middle leader in SK Binuang. Firstly, the analysis HIP online reports of 2019 displayed in the first half and second half of the year on the four fundamental factors: School Head, Teachers, Students as well as Parents and Community depicted the interventions on outreaching the community and enhancing the involvement of all HIP stakeholders were successful as the score level of immersiveness improved to a better score of performance level 3. Secondly, the coachee understood that any interventions made should be based on data analysis and not from assumptions. From the analysis of the HIP reports and activities conducted, the researcher’s coachee was more aware of the importance to analyse data before planning the program as it increased the impact of intervention. Other than that, to sustain a two-way coaching session between the coach and coachee, the researcher always encouraged her coachee to relate to the school’s strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities, in order to improve the collaboration of the four factors during her coaching visits. Upon realising her coachee’s goal where she needed assistance in getting collaboration with the local community especially experts from other fields to participate in her HIP activities, the researcher voluntarily connected with the concern parties and provided support in organising the meaningful Outreach activity such as providing the tokens of appreciation, connecting with the Director of Lahad Datu Community College and issuing letters of invitation and certificates to respective contributors. Finally, by giving the empowerment to the researcher’s coachee to plan her school HIP with purpose and flexibility, the coachee had successfully prepared and carried out the Outreach activity with tremendous creativity especially in encouraging students to design their own Chef aprons and caps; as she wanted her students to feel the authentic situation during the activity besides creating the element of fun learning and creativity among her students. Due to her passion to ensure the success of her HIP Outreach activity, she managed to persuade her colleagues, Headmistress and parents to be involved as well. Parents supported their children by assisting them to create aprons from recycled materials and baking materials. They were there in school to support their children’s learning as well. In sum, the support and coaching the researcher had shared with her coachee through ayear coaching had indeed given her a better perspective of the benefits in coaching especially on HIP and the self-growth of herself as a confident dedicated teacher. CONCLUSION The study has shown the benefits of HIP could only be implemented successfully with the involvement of the four fundamental factors, namely the school head, teachers, students as well as parents and community. They are the pivotal players that play a critical and supportive role in the learning process of students and is crucial to the improvement of students’ learning outcomes. Besides, the support provided by SISC+ with a systematic, effective, consistent coaching to teachers is utmost needed to ensure the education transformation emphasising of strengthening the usage of English widely is realised by 2025. In conclusion, the study has proven that with the teacher’s intrinsic motivation, SISC+ consistent support on-site, positive leadership with great teamwork, high exposure of English environment either in the activities or the site itself, it would definitely lead to the enhancement of English usage and the effectiveness of the HIP in school, and thus, learning English will become enjoyable, fun and meaningful for the school community as a whole. 16 17

ESL Practitioner: The Journal of the English Language Teaching Centre Finally, by giving the empowerment to the researcher’s coachee to plan her school HIP with purpose and flexibility, the coachee had successfully prepared and carried out the Outreach activity with tremendous creativity especially in encouraging students to design their own Chef aprons and caps; as she wanted her students to feel the authentic situation during the activity besides creating the element of fun learning and creativity among her students. Due to her passion to ensure the success of her HIP Outreach activity, she managed to persuade her colleagues, Headmistress and parents to be involved as well. Parents supported their children by assisting them to create aprons from recycled materials and baking materials. They were there in school to support their children’s learning as well. In sum, the support and coaching the researcher had shared with her coachee through ayear coaching had indeed given her a better perspective of the benefits in coaching especially on HIP and the self-growth of herself as a confident dedicated teacher. CONCLUSION The study has shown the benefits of HIP could only be implemented successfully with the involvement of the four fundamental factors, namely the school head, teachers, students as well as parents and community. They are the pivotal players that play a critical and supportive role in the learning process of students and is crucial to the improvement of students’ learning outcomes. Besides, the support provided by SISC+ with a systematic, effective, consistent coaching to teachers is utmost needed to ensure the education transformation emphasising of strengthening the usage of English widely is realised by 2025. In conclusion, the study has proven that with the teacher’s intrinsic motivation, SISC+ consistent support on-site, positive leadership with great teamwork, high exposure of English environment either in the activities or the site itself, it would definitely lead to the enhancement of English usage and the effectiveness of the HIP in school, and thus, learning English will become enjoyable, fun and meaningful for the school community as a whole. ESL PRACTITIONER JOURNAL Issue 9 Volume 1 November 2021 CONTENTS Page DIRECTOR’S NOTE EDITOR-in-CHIEF’S NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHORS 1. A CASE STUDY ON THE IMPACT OF COACHING TOWARDS THE HIGHLY IMMERSIVE PROGRAMME (HIP) IN SK BINUANG, LAHAD DATU, SABAH Peh Li Foon 2. EXPLORING THE REFLECTIVE PRACTICES OF ENGLISH TEACHERS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN SABAH Betty D Primus @ Betty Adantus 3. USING VOCAB TAG TO IMPROVE THE TEACHING OF SPELLING FOR DAYS OF THE WEEK TO YEAR 2 PUPILS Kwan Pei Ling 4. THE HIVE PROJECT - THE AUSTRALIA AND MALAYSIA PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM Shafizah Binti Shariff 5. COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS USING ORAL COMMUNICATION STRATEGY INVENTORY Siti Mariam Zakaria 6. TEACHER’S PERSPECTIVE OF BLENDED LEARNING DURING PANDEMIC COVID -19 Juhaida Abdul Aziz Yap Soon Li 16 17

ESL Practitioner: The Journal of the English Language Teaching Centre REFERENCES Asmussen, K. J., & Creswell, J. W. (1995). Campus response to a student gunman. Journal of Higher Education, 66, 575-591. Bunce, B.H. (1995). Building a language focused curriculum for the preschool classroom (2). Paul H. Brookes Pub Co. Caena, F. (2011). Literature review: Quality in teachers’ continuing professional development. European Commission. Retrieved from http://ec.europa.eu/education/policy/strategicframework/doc/teacher- development_en.pdf Chetty,R., Friedman, J. N., Hilger, N., Saez, E., Schanzenbach, D. W. & Yagan, D. (2011). How does your kindergarten classroom affect your earnings? Evidence from Project Star. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 126(4), 1593-1660. Retrieved from http://obs.rc.fas.harvard.edu/chetty/STAR.pdf Creswell, J.W. (2013). Qualitative inquiry and research design. California: Sage Publications. Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. New York, NY: Plenum. English Language Teaching Centre (2016). Toolkit for the Highly Immersive Programme (1st. ed.). Ministry of Education. Goe, L. (2007). Linking teacher quality and student outcomes. In Dwyer, C. A. (Ed.), America’s challenge: Effective teachers for at-risk schools and students. Washington, D.C.: National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality, Retrieved from http://www.gtlcenter.org/sites/default/files/docs/NCCTQBiennialReport.pdf Grant, A. M., & Cavanagh, M. J. (2011). Coaching and positive psychology. In K. M. Keyes, C. L. M., & Haidt, J. (Eds.). (2003). Flourishing: Positive psychology and the life well-lived. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia. (1999). Surat Pekeliling Ikhtisas Bil. 1/1999: Garis Panduan Pengendalian Aktiviti Sokongan Bahasa Inggeris Di Sekolah. KPPM, Malaysia. Little, J. W. (2002). Professional communication and collaboration. In Hawley, W. D. with Rollie, D. L. (Eds.), The keys to effective schools. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, Inc. Ministry of Education. (2013). Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025. Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia, Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.187/eag-2016-en. Ministry of Education, Malaysia (MOE). (2014). Dasar Memartabatkan Bahasa Malaysia Memperkukuhkan Bahasa Inggeris. Putrajaya: Ministry of Education, Malaysia. http://www.moe.gov.my/cms/upload_files/articlefile/2015/articlefile_ file_003767.pdf Ministry of Education, Malaysia. (2018). English language education reform in Malaysia: The roadmap 2015-2025. Ministry of Education Malaysia. Nixon, S., Asada, H., & Koen, V. (2016). Malaysia's economic success story and challenges economics department working papers no. 1369, Retrieved from http://www.oecd.org/countries/malaysia/Malaysia-s-economic-success-story-andchallenges.pdf OECD (2016). Education at a Glance 2016: OECD Indicators. Paris: OECD Publishing PEMANDU (2012b). Government transformation programme: The roadmap 2.0, Jabatan Perdana Menteri, Malaysia. Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55 (1). Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. (1998). Basic of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA:Sage. The World Bank Annual Report. (2013). Washington, DC. © World Bank. Retrieved from https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/16091 Tucker, P. D. & Stronge, J. H. (2005). Linking teacher evaluation and student learning. Virginia: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development Alexandria. Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind and society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. 18 19

ESL Practitioner: The Journal of the English Language Teaching Centre Nixon, S., Asada, H., & Koen, V. (2016). Malaysia's economic success story and challenges economics department working papers no. 1369, Retrieved from http://www.oecd.org/countries/malaysia/Malaysia-s-economic-success-story-andchallenges.pdf OECD (2016). Education at a Glance 2016: OECD Indicators. Paris: OECD Publishing PEMANDU (2012b). Government transformation programme: The roadmap 2.0, Jabatan Perdana Menteri, Malaysia. Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55 (1). Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. (1998). Basic of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA:Sage. The World Bank Annual Report. (2013). Washington, DC. © World Bank. Retrieved from https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/16091 Tucker, P. D. & Stronge, J. H. (2005). Linking teacher evaluation and student learning. Virginia: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development Alexandria. Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind and society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. ESL PRACTITIONER JOURNAL Issue 9 Volume 1 November 2021 CONTENTS Page DIRECTOR’S NOTE EDITOR-in-CHIEF’S NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHORS 1. A CASE STUDY ON THE IMPACT OF COACHING TOWARDS THE HIGHLY IMMERSIVE PROGRAMME (HIP) IN SK BINUANG, LAHAD DATU, SABAH Peh Li Foon 2. EXPLORING THE REFLECTIVE PRACTICES OF ENGLISH TEACHERS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN SABAH Betty D Primus @ Betty Adantus 3. USING VOCAB TAG TO IMPROVE THE TEACHING OF SPELLING FOR DAYS OF THE WEEK TO YEAR 2 PUPILS Kwan Pei Ling 4. THE HIVE PROJECT - THE AUSTRALIA AND MALAYSIA PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM Shafizah Binti Shariff 5. COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS USING ORAL COMMUNICATION STRATEGY INVENTORY Siti Mariam Zakaria 6. TEACHER’S PERSPECTIVE OF BLENDED LEARNING DURING PANDEMIC COVID -19 Juhaida Abdul Aziz Yap Soon Li 18 19

EXPLORING THE REFLECTIVE PRACTICES OF ENGLISH TEACHERSIN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN SABAH BETTY D PRIMUS @ BETTY ADANTUS UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW, UK e-mail: [email protected] 2

ESL Practitioner: The Journal of the English Language Teaching Centre EXPLORING THE REFLECTIVE PRACTICES OF ENGLISH TEACHERS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN SABAH ABSTRACT Reflective practice is regarded as being central to teachers' professional development and critical in improving instructional quality. Teachers who constantly reflect on their teaching will continuously find better ways to improve their practice. This qualitative study explored the ways English teachers engage in reflective practice and its contributions to their professional development. This study employed semi-structured interviews and document reviews to gather data from four informants based on purposive sampling. The findings revealed that teachers did engage in a systematic reflective cycle following the experiential learning sequence. The constraints of time and lack of pedagogical knowledge to engage in reflective practice were among the challenges encountered by participants. The study highlighted the need for collaboration and continuous pedagogical support for teachers to reflect critically and meaningfully to improve their practice. Keywords: Reflective Practice, Teacher Professional Development, Teacher Learning INTRODUCTION In recent years, Malaysia continues to go through various education reforms to raise the standards of education in all schools. The New Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013 – 2025, focuses on providing equal and quality education for all with more emphasis on studentcentred learning and the acquisition of higher-order thinking skills (Malaysia Education Blueprint, 2013). The need to transform classroom experience to meet the demands of the 21st century has inspired the reforms in education and It is vital for teachers to constantly reflect on their teaching, sharing and seeking out best practices as they are the agents of change. Their roles are crucial in determining the success of the educational reforms as well as educating a future-ready workforce that will enhance a nation's economic competitiveness (OECD, 2005; Rönnström, 2015). Therefore, they need to keep improving their instructional knowledge and skills. This means that teachers need to go beyond their traditional roles of the transmitter of knowledge to meet the educational challenges of the 21st century. It is vital for them to continually reflect on their teaching, sharing good ideas and seeking out best practices as well as constantly challenging themselves to find better ways of approaching a task or solving a problem (Teo, 1998). To achieve this, they need to engage in reflective practice regularly (Kheirzadeh & Sistani, 2018; Farrell, 2007). Being reflective becomes a vital aspect of their professional development throughout their careers (Farrell, 2015), especially when dealing with educational reforms that demand them to be agents of change in schools (Fullan, 2016). Many research findings point out the positive impact of engaging in reflective practice on teachers' professional development and teaching quality (Farrell, 2018; Mann & Walsh, 2017; Farrell & Bennis, 2013; Ferrarro, 2000) and the need to promote it through continuous professional development (CPD) in schools (Cirocki & Widodo, 2019; Allison 2014). Many claim that through reflection, teachers constantly examine their practices to improve teaching quality and provide meaningful learning experiences for their students (Farrell, 2018; Aizan et al., 2014; Soisangwarn & Wongwanich, 2014; Sellars, 2012; Farres, 2004; Toh, 2001). It allows them to personalise the changes that they want to make to suit their styles and students' learning needs. Besides, the changes and reforms occurring across the curriculum and education world demand teachers to be reflective practitioners to be on par with the requirements of the system. Smyth (1993) claimed that the emphasis is not on what reflective practitioners do best, but rather on drawing on their existing knowledge and understanding to help gain more insights on a particular task. It is more on the practitioners being assisted to put theories into practice and look at ways to use them as a springboard for actions. Thus, through reflective practice, teachers can implement educational reforms based on the resources and context they are in. Osterman and Kottkamp (1993) explain that reflective practice helps practitioners develop a greater level of self-awareness about the nature and impact of their performance, which then creates opportunities for professional growth and development. As they develop conscious awareness of their actions, they can identify the development areas that need attention, and question and analyse the theories that guide their practice. Eventually, they will improve, enhance and enrich their teaching repertoire to keep abreast with the changes and reforms today. PROBLEM STATEMENT Hatton and Smith (1995) state that reflection takes time, and it involves gathering, analysing and evaluating information about classroom events (Mann & Walsh, 2017). Farrell (2007) explains that the next step would be to compare the information gathered to the teachers' existing underlying assumptions and beliefs before any changes and improvement can happen in their teaching. Learnings from the reflective process will help to inform future pedagogical decisions. With the changing landscape of English language teaching in Malaysia, English teachers need to keep learning and developing themselves professionally (Farrell, 2007) and implement changes to meet the requirements of educational reforms outlined by the policymakers and to make the changes relevant to their contexts. Hackett (2001) points out that reflective practice is a complex and intellectually challenging activity that entails a focused, systematic and guided effort in exploring classroom practices. It involves gathering information about the classroom happenings then analyse and evaluate the information which is then compared to the underlying assumptions and beliefs for changes and improvement to take place in their teaching (Farrell, 2007). Therefore, to engage in reflective practice, teachers need to have sufficient time to reflect effectively, come up with possible solutions and develop them. However, research suggests that Malaysian teachers do not engage in reflective practice continuously and effectively (Suhaily & Faizah, 2013; Lilia et al., 2011; Subramaniam, 2001) due to reasons like the lack of time, the complexity of the activity and the lack of emphasis on the importance of reflective practice. Many teachers, in Malaysia especially, find it to be 22 23

ESL Practitioner: The Journal of the English Language Teaching Centre 2017; Farrell & Bennis, 2013; Ferrarro, 2000) and the need to promote it through continuous professional development (CPD) in schools (Cirocki & Widodo, 2019; Allison 2014). Many claim that through reflection, teachers constantly examine their practices to improve teaching quality and provide meaningful learning experiences for their students (Farrell, 2018; Aizan et al., 2014; Soisangwarn & Wongwanich, 2014; Sellars, 2012; Farres, 2004; Toh, 2001). It allows them to personalise the changes that they want to make to suit their styles and students' learning needs. Besides, the changes and reforms occurring across the curriculum and education world demand teachers to be reflective practitioners to be on par with the requirements of the system. Smyth (1993) claimed that the emphasis is not on what reflective practitioners do best, but rather on drawing on their existing knowledge and understanding to help gain more insights on a particular task. It is more on the practitioners being assisted to put theories into practice and look at ways to use them as a springboard for actions. Thus, through reflective practice, teachers can implement educational reforms based on the resources and context they are in. Osterman and Kottkamp (1993) explain that reflective practice helps practitioners develop a greater level of self-awareness about the nature and impact of their performance, which then creates opportunities for professional growth and development. As they develop conscious awareness of their actions, they can identify the development areas that need attention, and question and analyse the theories that guide their practice. Eventually, they will improve, enhance and enrich their teaching repertoire to keep abreast with the changes and reforms today. PROBLEM STATEMENT Hatton and Smith (1995) state that reflection takes time, and it involves gathering, analysing and evaluating information about classroom events (Mann & Walsh, 2017). Farrell (2007) explains that the next step would be to compare the information gathered to the teachers' existing underlying assumptions and beliefs before any changes and improvement can happen in their teaching. Learnings from the reflective process will help to inform future pedagogical decisions. With the changing landscape of English language teaching in Malaysia, English teachers need to keep learning and developing themselves professionally (Farrell, 2007) and implement changes to meet the requirements of educational reforms outlined by the policymakers and to make the changes relevant to their contexts. Hackett (2001) points out that reflective practice is a complex and intellectually challenging activity that entails a focused, systematic and guided effort in exploring classroom practices. It involves gathering information about the classroom happenings then analyse and evaluate the information which is then compared to the underlying assumptions and beliefs for changes and improvement to take place in their teaching (Farrell, 2007). Therefore, to engage in reflective practice, teachers need to have sufficient time to reflect effectively, come up with possible solutions and develop them. However, research suggests that Malaysian teachers do not engage in reflective practice continuously and effectively (Suhaily & Faizah, 2013; Lilia et al., 2011; Subramaniam, 2001) due to reasons like the lack of time, the complexity of the activity and the lack of emphasis on the importance of reflective practice. Many teachers, in Malaysia especially, find it to be ESL PRACTITIONER JOURNAL Issue 9 Volume 1 November 2021 CONTENTS Page DIRECTOR’S NOTE EDITOR-in-CHIEF’S NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHORS 1. A CASE STUDY ON THE IMPACT OF COACHING TOWARDS THE HIGHLY IMMERSIVE PROGRAMME (HIP) IN SK BINUANG, LAHAD DATU, SABAH Peh Li Foon 2. EXPLORING THE REFLECTIVE PRACTICES OF ENGLISH TEACHERS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN SABAH Betty D Primus @ Betty Adantus 3. USING VOCAB TAG TO IMPROVE THE TEACHING OF SPELLING FOR DAYS OF THE WEEK TO YEAR 2 PUPILS Kwan Pei Ling 4. THE HIVE PROJECT - THE AUSTRALIA AND MALAYSIA PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM Shafizah Binti Shariff 5. COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS USING ORAL COMMUNICATION STRATEGY INVENTORY Siti Mariam Zakaria 6. TEACHER’S PERSPECTIVE OF BLENDED LEARNING DURING PANDEMIC COVID -19 Juhaida Abdul Aziz Yap Soon Li 22 23

ESL Practitioner: The Journal of the English Language Teaching Centre a challenge due to the constant pressure of standardised assessment and testing while also being involved in various menial tasks. The same challenges are discussed in qualitative research involving four participants conducted by Suhaily and Faizah (2013). The study highlights teachers lack time to engage in effective reflective practice due to the different roles they play within their working hours doing non-teaching assignments like 'clerical tasks' and sometimes having to act as a counsellor to solve students' attitude problems, their teaching activities. In addition, a study by Choy et al. (2019) on student teachers' reflective practice indicates the lack of critical thinking skills among these teachers that hinder the effectiveness of the process. Furthermore, the operational guideline of the process involved in reflective practice is ambiguous (Malakolunthu, 2007; Lee, 2003). Lee (2003) further elaborates that there is a conceptual framework to guide the implementation of reflective practice in the practicum model introduced by the Teacher Development Centre (BPG, 1996:2) but lacks the finer details on the process and the stages to achieve critical reflection. Therefore, Ong et al. (2020) suggest that the process of reflective practice be taught explicitly to the pre-service teachers. There are quite a few studies on teachers' reflective practice in Malaysia but most of this literature involves practicum, pre-service or student teachers. However, empirical research on reflective practice among in-service teachers in Malaysia, and Sabah, specifically, are still limited. OBJECTIVE This study explored Sabah English teachers' engagement in reflective practice, specifically on the process and the challenges they faced in actively engaging in daily lesson reflection. The findings of this study provide insights into the current reflective practice of Sabah English teachers in secondary schools, the challenges and the possibilities for future training in teacher professional development. This study contributes to the literature on reflective practices among in-service English teachers in Sabah. Research Questions 1. How do Sabah secondary English teachers reflect on their teaching practices? 2. What are the challenges faced by Sabah secondary English teachers to engage in reflective practices? LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK Teacher learning is closely related to their ability to reflect effectively. The more teachers are engaged in reflective practice, the more they understand their students and explore better teaching strategies to solve their problems (Farres, 2004; Ng. et al., 2004; Sellars, 2012; Songsaiwarn & Wongwainich, 2014). Teachers should not solely depend on the professional development courses organised by the Ministry of Education or the District Education Office to improve their practice. It is still vital for them to reflect on their practices so they will always find purpose and direction amidst the changes and not implement them merely for the sake of it or because of top-down policy directives (Ng et al., 2004). A reflective teacher will think about how they can realise the education policies within their unique contexts. The most common evidence of reflection done by the teachers is in the written form. Hatton and Smith (1995) outline four types of writing that teachers employed when engaged in reflection - Descriptive writing, Descriptive reflection, Dialogic reflection and Critical reflection. The first type – descriptive writing is not evidence of reflection as it consists of mere reports of the events in the classroom or during the lesson. Descriptive reflection involves teachers' attempts at providing reasons for their actions based on their judgement and students' work. The third type, dialogic reflection, goes deeper into an issue by engaging the practitioner to ask questions and explore possible reasons for what happens in the classroom, while critical reflection requires teachers to provide reasons for their decisions or events that happen and take into account the broader historical, social and/or political contexts. A study conducted by Hatton and Smith (1995) indicates that the most common type of reflection was descriptive. This is echoed by a study conducted by Lilia et al. (2011) and Maarof (2007) which indicate that teachers’ reflections were mostly descriptive writing, stating only one or two sentences explaining whether the event went as planned or not without much elaboration. This is further confirmed by research conducted on practicum student teachers at Batu Lintang Sarawak, that a very low level of reflective pedagogical thinking was used by the participants (Toh, 2001). Subramaniam (2001) also finds that the reflective practices among teacher trainees who participated in a study were mostly superficial accounts of the lessons, with very little evidence of critical reflection. This raises the question of whether teachers, be it pre-service or in-service, reflect on their teaching at more than the surface level. Reflective Practice as a Strategy for Professional Development Reflective practice refers to the act of creating a habit, structure or routine to enable teachers to engage in reflection regularly. Osterman and Kottkamp (2004) explain that engaging in reflective practice is challenging, demanding, and often trying and will be more successful as a collaborative effort. Reflective practice is the central idea of any effective teacher preparation programme and the development of professional competence. According to Loughran (2002), reflective practitioners become truly responsive to the needs, issues and concerns that shape teaching practices when they experience the development of knowledge and understanding of the setting or the ability to recognise and respond to the knowledge. Therefore, reflective practice supports the professional development of teachers (Gadsby & Cronin, 2012; Lee, 2005; Osterman & Kottkamp, 2004; Ligadu, 2012). Through reflective practice, teachers become more aware of their strengths and weaknesses (Nor Hasima et al., 2013), which can be a powerful tool for improved pedagogical skills. They further elaborate that through reflective practice, teachers are better at dealing with challenges at schools and are able to bridge educational theories into 24 25

ESL Practitioner: The Journal of the English Language Teaching Centre so they will always find purpose and direction amidst the changes and not implement them merely for the sake of it or because of top-down policy directives (Ng et al., 2004). A reflective teacher will think about how they can realise the education policies within their unique contexts. The most common evidence of reflection done by the teachers is in the written form. Hatton and Smith (1995) outline four types of writing that teachers employed when engaged in reflection - Descriptive writing, Descriptive reflection, Dialogic reflection and Critical reflection. The first type – descriptive writing is not evidence of reflection as it consists of mere reports of the events in the classroom or during the lesson. Descriptive reflection involves teachers' attempts at providing reasons for their actions based on their judgement and students' work. The third type, dialogic reflection, goes deeper into an issue by engaging the practitioner to ask questions and explore possible reasons for what happens in the classroom, while critical reflection requires teachers to provide reasons for their decisions or events that happen and take into account the broader historical, social and/or political contexts. A study conducted by Hatton and Smith (1995) indicates that the most common type of reflection was descriptive. This is echoed by a study conducted by Lilia et al. (2011) and Maarof (2007) which indicate that teachers’ reflections were mostly descriptive writing, stating only one or two sentences explaining whether the event went as planned or not without much elaboration. This is further confirmed by research conducted on practicum student teachers at Batu Lintang Sarawak, that a very low level of reflective pedagogical thinking was used by the participants (Toh, 2001). Subramaniam (2001) also finds that the reflective practices among teacher trainees who participated in a study were mostly superficial accounts of the lessons, with very little evidence of critical reflection. This raises the question of whether teachers, be it pre-service or in-service, reflect on their teaching at more than the surface level. Reflective Practice as a Strategy for Professional Development Reflective practice refers to the act of creating a habit, structure or routine to enable teachers to engage in reflection regularly. Osterman and Kottkamp (2004) explain that engaging in reflective practice is challenging, demanding, and often trying and will be more successful as a collaborative effort. Reflective practice is the central idea of any effective teacher preparation programme and the development of professional competence. According to Loughran (2002), reflective practitioners become truly responsive to the needs, issues and concerns that shape teaching practices when they experience the development of knowledge and understanding of the setting or the ability to recognise and respond to the knowledge. Therefore, reflective practice supports the professional development of teachers (Gadsby & Cronin, 2012; Lee, 2005; Osterman & Kottkamp, 2004; Ligadu, 2012). Through reflective practice, teachers become more aware of their strengths and weaknesses (Nor Hasima et al., 2013), which can be a powerful tool for improved pedagogical skills. They further elaborate that through reflective practice, teachers are better at dealing with challenges at schools and are able to bridge educational theories into ESL PRACTITIONER JOURNAL Issue 9 Volume 1 November 2021 CONTENTS Page DIRECTOR’S NOTE EDITOR-in-CHIEF’S NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHORS 1. A CASE STUDY ON THE IMPACT OF COACHING TOWARDS THE HIGHLY IMMERSIVE PROGRAMME (HIP) IN SK BINUANG, LAHAD DATU, SABAH Peh Li Foon 2. EXPLORING THE REFLECTIVE PRACTICES OF ENGLISH TEACHERS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN SABAH Betty D Primus @ Betty Adantus 3. USING VOCAB TAG TO IMPROVE THE TEACHING OF SPELLING FOR DAYS OF THE WEEK TO YEAR 2 PUPILS Kwan Pei Ling 4. THE HIVE PROJECT - THE AUSTRALIA AND MALAYSIA PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM Shafizah Binti Shariff 5. COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS USING ORAL COMMUNICATION STRATEGY INVENTORY Siti Mariam Zakaria 6. TEACHER’S PERSPECTIVE OF BLENDED LEARNING DURING PANDEMIC COVID -19 Juhaida Abdul Aziz Yap Soon Li 24 25

ESL Practitioner: The Journal of the English Language Teaching Centre practice. Similarly, Smyth (1993) also states that the knowledge gained through reflective practice is more comprehensive, meaningful and relevant to their needs, and the process helps inform teachers’ pedagogical decisions - to determine what should and should not be done next. Reflective Practice as Experiential Learning Reflective practice is a means to professional development as it creates a context for meaningful learning which derives from the older tradition of Experiential Learning theories involving a cyclical process of systematic inquiry and analysis (Osterman & Kottkamp, 2004). The Experiential Learning Cycle is a four-step cycle as depicted in Figure 1. Figure 1 Reflective Practice - An Experiential Learning Cycle Source: Osterman and Kottkamp, 2004 Reflective practice begins with a problematic experience drawn from teachers’ professional practice, leading them to examine their current practice until they achieve greater awareness that will create meaningful and enduring changes. A problematic experience will create a need to learn more about the issue identified. This inquiry process is also known as reflective thinking (Dewey, 1933) which is the key to professional growth as it helps to empower us to make effective decisions and move away from purely impulsive and routine action. This results in reflective action. For Dewey, problems can be key moments for learning as we reflect on these experiences, find solutions and learn from them (Scales, 2013). Besides that, a problem could also mean a question, dilemma, curiosity or gap in knowledge that needs solutions. Thus, reflective practice could also be a problem-solving strategy (Osterman & Kottkamp, 2004), and it must be relevant so it will create a need to learn and be able to engage individuals in the process. The next important step in the cycle is observation and analysis. According to Osterman and Kottkamp (2004), this is the most critical and complex stage as practitioners gather and critically examine the information about the experience for a deeper understanding of their practice. From the observation and analysis, they begin to understand the problem better and are ready to explore new ideas and strategies. For this, practitioners may rely on their professional knowledge to address the problems identified. Real learning occurs when practitioners change their thinking, action and behaviour as a result of their newfound awareness, exploration and confirmation of ideas, information or theories that guide their practice. At this stage, practitioners are actively experimenting with new ideas and strategies and are geared towards improved practice (Osterman & Kottkamp, 2004; Kolb, 1984). According to Osterman and Kottkamp (2004), a reflective practitioner will go through the cycle in a continuous flow from problem identification to active experimentation, iteratively, and may spend a long time between analysis and problem identification. Teachers go through the process until they can do it seamlessly to improve on their practice and develop themselves in the profession. Schӧn (1983) develops the concepts of reflection-in-action, which refers to the act of reflecting while conducting teaching and learning sessions, and reflection-on-action which focuses on the act of reflection after the completion of the lesson. He believes that one should be constantly aware and monitor the learning session as it develops so changes can be made, when necessary, then be able to reflect upon it after the process has ended by analysing and evaluating the practice for future development or improvement. The concept of reflective practice as defined by Schön (1996) involves the teachers thinking carefully about their teaching experiences in applying knowledge to practice. By being reflective, a teacher can look at what is being taught, the teaching practice and the outcome of the lessons. It serves as a means of professional development which begins in the classroom. Reflection-on-Action Reflection-on-action is most obvious and easily documented since it is the thinking and reflecting that occurs after a lesson, class, or event. In reflection-on-action, the reflective teacher tends to change the plan of action for the subsequent lessons. There are various strategies for teachers to be engaged in reflective practice after a lesson. It is important that the teachers choose the right strategy as they need to understand their abilities and personal preferences to avoid a mismatch of tools and practitioners. There are a plethora of strategies and tools to use to help in reflective practice like reflective journals, mentoring, group dialogue and videotaping. However, the choice of tools alone will not make reflective practice effective. Two prominent components of reflective thinking as suggested by Dewey (1933) and which must be considered are the process and the content. The quality of reflection and the content of the reflective practice should be considered so it will be relevant and meaningful to ensure the cycle will lead practitioners to effective professional development. Therefore, the level of reflectivity demonstrated by teachers should be an important consideration for meaningful and progressive learning to occur. This study focused on the four cycles of Experiential Learning Theory and Schӧn’s reflection-on-action model to determine the different ways English teachers in secondary schools engage in reflective practice after a lesson was conducted. This paper also explored how they identify issues and work on addressing them and reach a new awareness of their behaviour which then leads to a change in practice. 26 27

ESL Practitioner: The Journal of the English Language Teaching Centre the problems identified. Real learning occurs when practitioners change their thinking, action and behaviour as a result of their newfound awareness, exploration and confirmation of ideas, information or theories that guide their practice. At this stage, practitioners are actively experimenting with new ideas and strategies and are geared towards improved practice (Osterman & Kottkamp, 2004; Kolb, 1984). According to Osterman and Kottkamp (2004), a reflective practitioner will go through the cycle in a continuous flow from problem identification to active experimentation, iteratively, and may spend a long time between analysis and problem identification. Teachers go through the process until they can do it seamlessly to improve on their practice and develop themselves in the profession. Schӧn (1983) develops the concepts of reflection-in-action, which refers to the act of reflecting while conducting teaching and learning sessions, and reflection-on-action which focuses on the act of reflection after the completion of the lesson. He believes that one should be constantly aware and monitor the learning session as it develops so changes can be made, when necessary, then be able to reflect upon it after the process has ended by analysing and evaluating the practice for future development or improvement. The concept of reflective practice as defined by Schön (1996) involves the teachers thinking carefully about their teaching experiences in applying knowledge to practice. By being reflective, a teacher can look at what is being taught, the teaching practice and the outcome of the lessons. It serves as a means of professional development which begins in the classroom. Reflection-on-Action Reflection-on-action is most obvious and easily documented since it is the thinking and reflecting that occurs after a lesson, class, or event. In reflection-on-action, the reflective teacher tends to change the plan of action for the subsequent lessons. There are various strategies for teachers to be engaged in reflective practice after a lesson. It is important that the teachers choose the right strategy as they need to understand their abilities and personal preferences to avoid a mismatch of tools and practitioners. There are a plethora of strategies and tools to use to help in reflective practice like reflective journals, mentoring, group dialogue and videotaping. However, the choice of tools alone will not make reflective practice effective. Two prominent components of reflective thinking as suggested by Dewey (1933) and which must be considered are the process and the content. The quality of reflection and the content of the reflective practice should be considered so it will be relevant and meaningful to ensure the cycle will lead practitioners to effective professional development. Therefore, the level of reflectivity demonstrated by teachers should be an important consideration for meaningful and progressive learning to occur. This study focused on the four cycles of Experiential Learning Theory and Schӧn’s reflection-on-action model to determine the different ways English teachers in secondary schools engage in reflective practice after a lesson was conducted. This paper also explored how they identify issues and work on addressing them and reach a new awareness of their behaviour which then leads to a change in practice. ESL PRACTITIONER JOURNAL Issue 9 Volume 1 November 2021 CONTENTS Page DIRECTOR’S NOTE EDITOR-in-CHIEF’S NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHORS 1. A CASE STUDY ON THE IMPACT OF COACHING TOWARDS THE HIGHLY IMMERSIVE PROGRAMME (HIP) IN SK BINUANG, LAHAD DATU, SABAH Peh Li Foon 2. EXPLORING THE REFLECTIVE PRACTICES OF ENGLISH TEACHERS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN SABAH Betty D Primus @ Betty Adantus 3. USING VOCAB TAG TO IMPROVE THE TEACHING OF SPELLING FOR DAYS OF THE WEEK TO YEAR 2 PUPILS Kwan Pei Ling 4. THE HIVE PROJECT - THE AUSTRALIA AND MALAYSIA PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM Shafizah Binti Shariff 5. COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS USING ORAL COMMUNICATION STRATEGY INVENTORY Siti Mariam Zakaria 6. TEACHER’S PERSPECTIVE OF BLENDED LEARNING DURING PANDEMIC COVID -19 Juhaida Abdul Aziz Yap Soon Li 26 27

ESL Practitioner: The Journal of the English Language Teaching Centre METHODOLOGY This study employed qualitative research methods to explore a process and develop a detailed understanding of a central phenomenon or issue (Creswell, 2012). For this study, the phenomenon being researched was the various strategies that the English teachers in secondary schools apply to engage in reflective practices related to the teaching and learning process in the classroom. It aimed to explore the participants' daily reflective practices and the extent to which their reflections helped them to improve on their teachings and professional growth. The interpretative paradigm of phenomenology was able to capture and reveal some of the complexity of their experiences which then led to a deeper understanding of the English teachers' reflective practices. As Creswell (2007) puts it, the data and insight gained from a phenomenological study provide a deep understanding of the phenomenon studied. In this case, knowledge of the reflective practices experienced by several teachers will be valuable to other educators or policymakers who wish to learn or provide more training in this area. Besides, the study also unearthed the challenges that the teachers faced and the factors that influenced their reflection process. It helps to paint a clearer picture of the reflective practices of English teachers through their existing experiences or daily instruction. These experiences and feelings were interpreted and put together to develop a deeper understanding of the reflection process and ways it helped enhance their teachings and professional learnings. This research employed 'purposeful sampling' involving four teachers, one male and three female English teachers with experience ranging from 10 to 25 years. These teachers are referred to as the informants for this study. They were willing to participate in this study and taught at four different suburban schools in several districts in Sabah. This provided the researcher with meaningful insights into the ways the different contextual backgrounds influence the teachers' ability to engage in effective reflective practice. These teachers have worked closely with the researcher for more than a year and obtaining rich and relevant data will not be a problem. The selection of these informants was based on these criteria: a variety of contexts as they come from four different schools yet shared the same phenomenon; teach English and do reflection of their teachings to improve. All informants had agreed to participate in this study willingly and signed a consent form provided prior to the interviews and document reviews. For this study, all the informants were given pseudonyms to protect their identities and maintain privacy. Table 1 below depicts the informants' criteria: Table 1: Informants Demographic Details Informant (Pseudonym) Teaching Experience Current Location Nina 4 years in one primary school 15 years in three secondary schools Secondary School A in District A Frankie 2 years in private school 15 years in two secondary schools Secondary School B in District B Rima 23 years in two secondary schools Secondary School C in District A Sheila 16 years in two secondary schools Secondary School D in District C There are two major sources of data in this study: one-to-one semi-structured interviews and document reviews. The former includes a set of protocols (Appendix A) to get more information on teachers' preferred ways of reflecting on their teaching practices and their perceptions on the importance of engaging in the process. These interviews were conducted at their respective schools using the English language which lasted about one-two hour for each informant. The latter consists of the informants' lesson plans focusing only on the reflection notes which is compulsory following the Education Circular Vol.3/1999 by the education system. The Circular specifies that a teacher's lesson plan should include three main elements: the objective of the lesson, how the objective is achieved and a statement informing the achievement of the objective. Additionally, the researcher also reviewed the informants' short notes or personal journals if they had one. The data from the documents were recorded as field notes for further analysis. Both data sources are necessary for this study as they help reveal the reflective practice strategies that the informants employed and how their teachings were affected by their reflections. Four interview transcripts and ten reflection notes were analysed using grounded theory data analysis. The trustworthiness of the data was a primary concern of the researcher. Therefore, member checking, triangulation and an audit trail were conducted. DATA ANALYSIS For this study, the coding process was done manually using coloured papers, coloured pens and assigning numerical codes to the categories or themes that emerged from the previous process. The codes were then compared and grouped for similarities to determine the major findings of the study. The initial codes identified earlier were reduced to four main findings and later to two major themes through the process of eliminating redundancies. The diagram in Figure 2 illustrates the process of coding until the final findings emerged. Figure 2 The Coding Process 28 29

ESL Practitioner: The Journal of the English Language Teaching Centre There are two major sources of data in this study: one-to-one semi-structured interviews and document reviews. The former includes a set of protocols (Appendix A) to get more information on teachers' preferred ways of reflecting on their teaching practices and their perceptions on the importance of engaging in the process. These interviews were conducted at their respective schools using the English language which lasted about one-two hour for each informant. The latter consists of the informants' lesson plans focusing only on the reflection notes which is compulsory following the Education Circular Vol.3/1999 by the education system. The Circular specifies that a teacher's lesson plan should include three main elements: the objective of the lesson, how the objective is achieved and a statement informing the achievement of the objective. Additionally, the researcher also reviewed the informants' short notes or personal journals if they had one. The data from the documents were recorded as field notes for further analysis. Both data sources are necessary for this study as they help reveal the reflective practice strategies that the informants employed and how their teachings were affected by their reflections. Four interview transcripts and ten reflection notes were analysed using grounded theory data analysis. The trustworthiness of the data was a primary concern of the researcher. Therefore, member checking, triangulation and an audit trail were conducted. DATA ANALYSIS For this study, the coding process was done manually using coloured papers, coloured pens and assigning numerical codes to the categories or themes that emerged from the previous process. The codes were then compared and grouped for similarities to determine the major findings of the study. The initial codes identified earlier were reduced to four main findings and later to two major themes through the process of eliminating redundancies. The diagram in Figure 2 illustrates the process of coding until the final findings emerged. Figure 2 The Coding Process ESL PRACTITIONER JOURNAL Issue 9 Volume 1 November 2021 CONTENTS Page DIRECTOR’S NOTE EDITOR-in-CHIEF’S NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHORS 1. A CASE STUDY ON THE IMPACT OF COACHING TOWARDS THE HIGHLY IMMERSIVE PROGRAMME (HIP) IN SK BINUANG, LAHAD DATU, SABAH Peh Li Foon 2. EXPLORING THE REFLECTIVE PRACTICES OF ENGLISH TEACHERS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN SABAH Betty D Primus @ Betty Adantus 3. USING VOCAB TAG TO IMPROVE THE TEACHING OF SPELLING FOR DAYS OF THE WEEK TO YEAR 2 PUPILS Kwan Pei Ling 4. THE HIVE PROJECT - THE AUSTRALIA AND MALAYSIA PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM Shafizah Binti Shariff 5. COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS USING ORAL COMMUNICATION STRATEGY INVENTORY Siti Mariam Zakaria 6. TEACHER’S PERSPECTIVE OF BLENDED LEARNING DURING PANDEMIC COVID -19 Juhaida Abdul Aziz Yap Soon Li 28 29

ESL Practitioner: The Journal of the English Language Teaching Centre In the beginning, a total of 16 codes were identified. These codes were then reduced to four main themes: i. the process of reflection ii. the content of reflection iii. motivation to engage in reflection iv. the challenges teachers faced engaging in reflective practice FINDINGS The Process of Reflection One of the main themes that emerge from the data analysis is the process of reflection. The data shows that teachers were involved in a reflective cycle that consists of four main steps following the Experiential Learning Cycle. The cycle of reflective practice that is evident among all the teachers in this study began with their involvement in an experience in which they started to see problems or concerns that they wanted to address. Next is their reflection when they recorded their thoughts, actions and interpretations of the situation they had experienced. Subsequently, they would bring their reflection notes to the next step - Abstract Reconceptualization - teachers begin to explore theories that are useful to explain "the relationship between actions and outcomes and to begin the search for strategies that are more consistent with espoused theories and more effective in achieving intended outcomes." (Osterman and Kottkamp, 1993:3). This step requires them to co-construct meanings through interaction with colleagues and other professionals that eventually leads them to a newfound understanding, knowledge and awareness of their practice as well as the need for new strategies, ideas and theories. Once new awareness, new ideas or strategies were gained, the teachers experimented with the newfound knowledge and technique in the final step which was also the start of a new cycle. Data from both interviews and document reviews indicate that all teachers started with a personal experience of teaching weak students or their concerns over techniques and strategies to guide students to achieve desired outcomes. Nina, an experienced English teacher began reflecting when she noticed a gap in students' knowledge. From her observation of students' performance during her class, she noted the gap in students' knowledge in her reflection note: “I need to guide weaker students to do the i-Think map as some of them still unable to do the map.” Frankie, another experienced English teacher from the nearby district also began with identifying a gap in students' knowledge. The reflection note below indicates the observation made by Frankie; “Students needed a lot of help as their lack of vocabulary hindered their understanding of the text.” His concern was to help students understand a text by addressing their vocabulary needs. Rima followed the same step which is evident from her interview response "For English they have problems in vocab and constructing sentences. Out of 23 of them, I can say that 10 to 15 are really have problem with vocab." At this stage, all three of the informants noticed problems and concerns that need to be addressed. Data were obtained through observation, recalling of main events and input from students' performance during class. Only one informant mentioned the use of students' feedback as a source of data on students' learning. In the interview, Rima shared that sometimes she asked her students for feedback. However, it was not the main source of data for her reflection. It can be concluded that teachers involved in this study gained insights into students' learning from their experience of teaching them in the class. The main source of data is through observation of the students' performance during lessons. There is also some evidence of data triangulation with the summative assessment performance and students' feedback for some teachers. The process of data gathering is crucial to assist in meaningful reflective practices. In this step, teachers attempt to generate possible explanations for the problems or identify questions to further analyse the issue. This process is also known as reflection-on-action (Schӧn, 1983) when teachers were engaged in reflective practice, identifying and comparing theories and practice, and the achievement of outcomes after a lesson. There were only two main strategies for teachers to gather their data: written notes and mental notes. Written Notes as a Source of Data Almost all teachers mentioned that they kept notes of critical or main issues of their students learning or ways to teach them. Sheila spent time after a lesson to recall her concerns and generate strategies to teach her students better, "I will think and write it down about ways of teaching the students." Similarly, Nina kept notes on issues that she felt were important to be shared with her colleagues. "Sometimes I will write notes so that I can share them with my friends. I just jot down some notes in my notebook." She confessed that she did not write her notes every time a lesson ends and her motivation to write was purely for sharing and discussing with others. She also shared that she found keeping notes a useful activity as she could refer to them when she discussed them with her colleagues. For Frankie, writing down notes on his lesson is a must: “I usually jot them down in my lesson plan book.” He shared that most of his notes were about students’ learning issues and plans to address those problems. He also noted down students who were absent from his class to determine the next course of action for them. On the other hand, Rima disliked writing notes after her lessons. She did it just to fulfil the requirements of the lesson plan. She said that writing reflection demanded she uses formal sentences. However, Rima did recall some of the strategies that she used effectively in her class. For this step, the teachers normally recalled the situations during the learning process and wrote their thoughts or observation data in a notebook or lesson plan after the lessons. The notes were meant to be referred to for future planning or discussion. No evidence of analysis 30 31

ESL Practitioner: The Journal of the English Language Teaching Centre At this stage, all three of the informants noticed problems and concerns that need to be addressed. Data were obtained through observation, recalling of main events and input from students' performance during class. Only one informant mentioned the use of students' feedback as a source of data on students' learning. In the interview, Rima shared that sometimes she asked her students for feedback. However, it was not the main source of data for her reflection. It can be concluded that teachers involved in this study gained insights into students' learning from their experience of teaching them in the class. The main source of data is through observation of the students' performance during lessons. There is also some evidence of data triangulation with the summative assessment performance and students' feedback for some teachers. The process of data gathering is crucial to assist in meaningful reflective practices. In this step, teachers attempt to generate possible explanations for the problems or identify questions to further analyse the issue. This process is also known as reflection-on-action (Schӧn, 1983) when teachers were engaged in reflective practice, identifying and comparing theories and practice, and the achievement of outcomes after a lesson. There were only two main strategies for teachers to gather their data: written notes and mental notes. Written Notes as a Source of Data Almost all teachers mentioned that they kept notes of critical or main issues of their students learning or ways to teach them. Sheila spent time after a lesson to recall her concerns and generate strategies to teach her students better, "I will think and write it down about ways of teaching the students." Similarly, Nina kept notes on issues that she felt were important to be shared with her colleagues. "Sometimes I will write notes so that I can share them with my friends. I just jot down some notes in my notebook." She confessed that she did not write her notes every time a lesson ends and her motivation to write was purely for sharing and discussing with others. She also shared that she found keeping notes a useful activity as she could refer to them when she discussed them with her colleagues. For Frankie, writing down notes on his lesson is a must: “I usually jot them down in my lesson plan book.” He shared that most of his notes were about students’ learning issues and plans to address those problems. He also noted down students who were absent from his class to determine the next course of action for them. On the other hand, Rima disliked writing notes after her lessons. She did it just to fulfil the requirements of the lesson plan. She said that writing reflection demanded she uses formal sentences. However, Rima did recall some of the strategies that she used effectively in her class. For this step, the teachers normally recalled the situations during the learning process and wrote their thoughts or observation data in a notebook or lesson plan after the lessons. The notes were meant to be referred to for future planning or discussion. No evidence of analysis ESL PRACTITIONER JOURNAL Issue 9 Volume 1 November 2021 CONTENTS Page DIRECTOR’S NOTE EDITOR-in-CHIEF’S NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHORS 1. A CASE STUDY ON THE IMPACT OF COACHING TOWARDS THE HIGHLY IMMERSIVE PROGRAMME (HIP) IN SK BINUANG, LAHAD DATU, SABAH Peh Li Foon 2. EXPLORING THE REFLECTIVE PRACTICES OF ENGLISH TEACHERS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN SABAH Betty D Primus @ Betty Adantus 3. USING VOCAB TAG TO IMPROVE THE TEACHING OF SPELLING FOR DAYS OF THE WEEK TO YEAR 2 PUPILS Kwan Pei Ling 4. THE HIVE PROJECT - THE AUSTRALIA AND MALAYSIA PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM Shafizah Binti Shariff 5. COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS USING ORAL COMMUNICATION STRATEGY INVENTORY Siti Mariam Zakaria 6. TEACHER’S PERSPECTIVE OF BLENDED LEARNING DURING PANDEMIC COVID -19 Juhaida Abdul Aziz Yap Soon Li 30 31

ESL Practitioner: The Journal of the English Language Teaching Centre was mentioned, and some went straight to the solutions of the problem, as shared by Sheila, “…write it down about ways of teaching the students.” She explained that she may or may not refer to other sources for new ideas and strategies. Mental Notes as a Source of Data Another strategy is making mental notes of the experiences teachers encountered during lessons. Most of the data remained in their minds and were not recorded in written form. Rima confessed that she did not usually write down her thoughts of the situations in the classroom. This is also true for Nina. She did write some notes, but most were left unwritten, “The rest kept in my brain.” When reviewing their reflection notes, all of them wrote between one to two sentences only. Below is an example of the written reflection by Nina: “Students were actively answering the questions in groups and were able to answer the questions which are 90% correct.” This indicates that most of the data on the teaching and learning process was left unwritten. The findings show that teachers only reflect on major issues that they encountered in their personal experiences. It was noted that teachers wrote only about the problem and the solution for it. Apart from that, they also wrote about the achievement of an objective or student performance. Teacher Interaction as a Source of Data A few strategies were mentioned by the teachers as ways to get more ideas: formal interaction, informal interaction, research and online interaction. All these were done to find ways to solve the problems of students’ learning. This falls under the Abstract Reconceptualization step as teachers gained more input to support or enrich their knowledge and geared them towards achieving new awareness on the problem which will move them to the discovery of a new concept, idea, strategy, technique or mindset change. The strategies employed to discover the benefits and potentials for new learning are formal and informal interaction, virtual interaction and research. All teachers mentioned that they were involved with formal interaction. Nina and Frankie referred to formal interaction as in “…panel meeting” which consisted of all the English teachers in their schools. Although they meet regularly for panel meetings, all teachers felt that formal meetings do not help much in their reflection. During the interview, Nina shared that she felt uncomfortable discussing issues with the presence of her boss. “If it’s formal, you are afraid to discuss certain issues because your boss is around, and you don’t want to look as if you are against the system.” (Nina – Interview Excerpt). She further elaborated on the importance of abiding by the system and therefore, ideas were restricted, and this situation did not help in reflection. Frankie shared the same opinion as Nina with regards to formal meetings; "Formal meetings may branch out to unrelated issues. Especially when the meetings include the attendance of the principal" (Interview excerpt). Besides feeling uncomfortable during formal meetings, Frankie mentioned the possibility of branching out to unrelated issues to be discussed in the gatherings. Thus, the most crucial matter of students' learning was not addressed sufficiently. It was agreed that formal interaction is not the best strategy to gain more insights to aid in reflection. Ideas did not come freely as they felt uncomfortable during the meetings and the focus or scope for discussion was broad and general. However, all teachers concurred that interaction with colleagues did help them in reflection especially when it was done informally. Rima said that engaging in informal interaction about students and lessons was preferable because she felt "…comfortable and less stressed. No need to think formal sentence and also can do whenever and wherever." This indicates that informal interaction creates a comfortable atmosphere for the participants to share or exchange ideas, and it can happen anywhere and anytime. Nina shared the same opinion stating that, “…it helps a lot if I reflect it with my colleagues because I know we are in the same boat...so finding solutions together to solve the issues...”. This indicates that collaborating with colleagues helped her to find solutions together and it was better because everyone experienced the same situation or the same problem. Nina further explained that when reflecting alone ideas may not come freely. This was the reason she preferred to be in a group for reflection as “…ideas flow freely…” during informal interaction. This was supported by Rima, saying that, during informal interaction “…ideas come [faster] when they mention something and vice versa.” Frankie concurred that informal meetings were better because issues discussed were “…more focus on teaching.” He found that discussing with colleagues informally helped him to find solutions and was more focused on the issue at hand. There was no need to discuss other unrelated matters. Place and Time as a Catalyst of Productive Reflection In addition, almost all teachers agreed that informal meetings can happen anytime and anywhere. Therefore, reflection can happen as frequently as needed as shared by Frankie during the interview: “We meet anytime in the staffroom. Almost every now and then, every week.” Nina gave the same response saying that informal meetings happened “almost three to four times in a week.” She further elaborated those informal interactions occurred “…during free time if we don’t have class or maybe on the way to our respective classes.” This further strengthened the benefit of informal interactions which can help teachers to constantly reflect together anywhere and anytime of the day. It also emphasises that informal interactions do not take much time to get teachers to share ideas. It can happen during their walks to their classes which are usually around five to ten minutes. However, Sheila found that she did not get to meet with her colleagues regularly due to time constraints. For her, meeting every day was a challenge but she agreed that informal interactions helped her in reflecting on and solving her students’ learning issues. She further elaborated that she usually had a full timetable making some days impossible to meet with other colleagues for discussion. Besides the ease of meeting frequently for informal interactions, the teachers also mentioned some benefits of informal interactions. Rima shared that she could get direct responses and feedback from her colleagues on what she needed to do next. For Nina, she found that informal interactions motivated her to share her ideas as well. She was happy to help her colleagues by sharing activities that she found successful while receiving some 32 33

ESL Practitioner: The Journal of the English Language Teaching Centre matter of students' learning was not addressed sufficiently. It was agreed that formal interaction is not the best strategy to gain more insights to aid in reflection. Ideas did not come freely as they felt uncomfortable during the meetings and the focus or scope for discussion was broad and general. However, all teachers concurred that interaction with colleagues did help them in reflection especially when it was done informally. Rima said that engaging in informal interaction about students and lessons was preferable because she felt "…comfortable and less stressed. No need to think formal sentence and also can do whenever and wherever." This indicates that informal interaction creates a comfortable atmosphere for the participants to share or exchange ideas, and it can happen anywhere and anytime. Nina shared the same opinion stating that, “…it helps a lot if I reflect it with my colleagues because I know we are in the same boat...so finding solutions together to solve the issues...”. This indicates that collaborating with colleagues helped her to find solutions together and it was better because everyone experienced the same situation or the same problem. Nina further explained that when reflecting alone ideas may not come freely. This was the reason she preferred to be in a group for reflection as “…ideas flow freely…” during informal interaction. This was supported by Rima, saying that, during informal interaction “…ideas come [faster] when they mention something and vice versa.” Frankie concurred that informal meetings were better because issues discussed were “…more focus on teaching.” He found that discussing with colleagues informally helped him to find solutions and was more focused on the issue at hand. There was no need to discuss other unrelated matters. Place and Time as a Catalyst of Productive Reflection In addition, almost all teachers agreed that informal meetings can happen anytime and anywhere. Therefore, reflection can happen as frequently as needed as shared by Frankie during the interview: “We meet anytime in the staffroom. Almost every now and then, every week.” Nina gave the same response saying that informal meetings happened “almost three to four times in a week.” She further elaborated those informal interactions occurred “…during free time if we don’t have class or maybe on the way to our respective classes.” This further strengthened the benefit of informal interactions which can help teachers to constantly reflect together anywhere and anytime of the day. It also emphasises that informal interactions do not take much time to get teachers to share ideas. It can happen during their walks to their classes which are usually around five to ten minutes. However, Sheila found that she did not get to meet with her colleagues regularly due to time constraints. For her, meeting every day was a challenge but she agreed that informal interactions helped her in reflecting on and solving her students’ learning issues. She further elaborated that she usually had a full timetable making some days impossible to meet with other colleagues for discussion. Besides the ease of meeting frequently for informal interactions, the teachers also mentioned some benefits of informal interactions. Rima shared that she could get direct responses and feedback from her colleagues on what she needed to do next. For Nina, she found that informal interactions motivated her to share her ideas as well. She was happy to help her colleagues by sharing activities that she found successful while receiving some ESL PRACTITIONER JOURNAL Issue 9 Volume 1 November 2021 CONTENTS Page DIRECTOR’S NOTE EDITOR-in-CHIEF’S NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHORS 1. A CASE STUDY ON THE IMPACT OF COACHING TOWARDS THE HIGHLY IMMERSIVE PROGRAMME (HIP) IN SK BINUANG, LAHAD DATU, SABAH Peh Li Foon 2. EXPLORING THE REFLECTIVE PRACTICES OF ENGLISH TEACHERS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN SABAH Betty D Primus @ Betty Adantus 3. USING VOCAB TAG TO IMPROVE THE TEACHING OF SPELLING FOR DAYS OF THE WEEK TO YEAR 2 PUPILS Kwan Pei Ling 4. THE HIVE PROJECT - THE AUSTRALIA AND MALAYSIA PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM Shafizah Binti Shariff 5. COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS USING ORAL COMMUNICATION STRATEGY INVENTORY Siti Mariam Zakaria 6. TEACHER’S PERSPECTIVE OF BLENDED LEARNING DURING PANDEMIC COVID -19 Juhaida Abdul Aziz Yap Soon Li 32 33

ESL Practitioner: The Journal of the English Language Teaching Centre from them, “I can share my ideas with the rest...maybe they have ideas on how to handle the issues and maybe they can use the activities which were successful” (Interview excerpt). Teachers felt that informal interactions helped them to reflect effectively and improve their practices as they were able to exchange ideas in a non-threatening atmosphere, focusing on the issues rather than on many other unrelated matters. Virtual informal interactions were also highlighted by the informants. Almost all teachers mentioned that they were members of virtual groups through applications like WhatsApp and Telegram using their smartphones or tablets. This way, they were able to discuss issues and exchange ideas with teachers from other schools or districts especially on matters concerning the public examinations. They also formed a network to gain more ideas on their problems so the matters could be solved effectively. Rima shared that during her first working experience, she was not close to her colleagues, so she sought help from friends “…from Kelantan and Malacca about this.” In addition, all teachers spent time surfing for online materials and better teaching ideas to overcome their students' learning issues. Researching materials online or in print usually was done after they had identified issues in their lessons. From the research that they had done, teachers gained new knowledge and awareness on the nature of their students' problems as well as alternative ways to overcome the issues encountered. The final step in their reflective cycle is when the teachers implemented and experimented with new ideas or techniques. According to Sheila, once she was able to identify the students’ strengths and weaknesses, she was better able to plan and implement her next lessons with them. Rima also was able to plan and implement her lessons better once she understood her students more so she would "make lessons as simple as possible considering the students' level." For Nina, reflecting on her practices, especially with her friends, helped her in developing her teaching skills as she gained more knowledge in areas that she was not confident in before. Frankie concurred with Nina saying that once he knew more about his students, he was able to change his approach to help them better. From the analysis, teachers in this study did practice a a-four-step-cycle of reflective practice. The Content Another finding that emerged from the data involves the content of the teachers' reflections. This will give depth to their reflective practice and determine whether their reflections will lead them to new learnings. Based on the data, it is noted that all teachers focused their reflections on four main components: "evaluation", "pedagogical content", "classroom management" and "problem-solving". Evaluation Evaluation refers to the assessment of their practices, mostly on the effectiveness of their teaching tools and techniques and whether the objectives were achieved (Aizan et al., 2014). According to Rima, when reflecting she would need to be aware of the number of students who achieved the objective set for a lesson she conducted. This is also the case for Frankie. He mentioned that during reflection he would explain “Whether or not the lesson was successful or unsuccessful and why.” Sheila also focused on the achievement of the lesson objectives stating that when reflecting, she needed to "…think another method of teaching if the objective is not achieved." Similarly, Nina’s reflection note described that her students “…were actively answering the questions in groups and were able to answer the questions which are 90% correct.” This shows that Nina concurred with the others, writing down the achievement and the students’ performance during lessons. Pedagogical Content Besides evaluation, teachers were also concerned about the delivery of pedagogical content during the lesson. Pedagogical content refers to the knowledge, skills or items taught in a lesson considering the students' levels and abilities. All informants in this study focused more on the content of their lessons. They were concerned about choosing appropriate content to match their students' levels, ways to teach the literature component, vocabulary, grammar, reading and writing skills as well as preparing the students for public examinations. Sheila was concerned with her 'weak students' and that was the focus of her discussion with other teachers. Rima also shared the same problem, having 'weak students' to teach so her focus was more on finding ways to help students in literature components and writing as both aspects were found to be challenging content to disseminate to the students. Nina's concern was on getting her low proficiency students to pass the public examinations: “…PMR and SPM format, various techniques on how to teach low proficiency students…” This was also supported by the reflection notes that she wrote, "Guidance was given to the weaker students on how to locate the answers from the text." (Nina - Reflection Note) Another focus that interests the teachers to reflect is on classroom management with regards to the students' interest and engagement in learning the English subject. Nina echoed this when she mentioned that she discussed "how to motivate rural students to like learning the English Language". Frankie’s keenness to learn more about “…students’ behaviour and attitude towards learning” by discussing them with the previous teachers of the students shows that managing the class and planning for a suitable lesson was one of the important aspects that he reflected on. This shows that all teachers constantly thought about the content that they were going to deliver in their lessons, the suitability and effectiveness of activities for their students' levels. 34 35

ESL Practitioner: The Journal of the English Language Teaching Centre students who achieved the objective set for a lesson she conducted. This is also the case for Frankie. He mentioned that during reflection he would explain “Whether or not the lesson was successful or unsuccessful and why.” Sheila also focused on the achievement of the lesson objectives stating that when reflecting, she needed to "…think another method of teaching if the objective is not achieved." Similarly, Nina’s reflection note described that her students “…were actively answering the questions in groups and were able to answer the questions which are 90% correct.” This shows that Nina concurred with the others, writing down the achievement and the students’ performance during lessons. Pedagogical Content Besides evaluation, teachers were also concerned about the delivery of pedagogical content during the lesson. Pedagogical content refers to the knowledge, skills or items taught in a lesson considering the students' levels and abilities. All informants in this study focused more on the content of their lessons. They were concerned about choosing appropriate content to match their students' levels, ways to teach the literature component, vocabulary, grammar, reading and writing skills as well as preparing the students for public examinations. Sheila was concerned with her 'weak students' and that was the focus of her discussion with other teachers. Rima also shared the same problem, having 'weak students' to teach so her focus was more on finding ways to help students in literature components and writing as both aspects were found to be challenging content to disseminate to the students. Nina's concern was on getting her low proficiency students to pass the public examinations: “…PMR and SPM format, various techniques on how to teach low proficiency students…” This was also supported by the reflection notes that she wrote, "Guidance was given to the weaker students on how to locate the answers from the text." (Nina - Reflection Note) Another focus that interests the teachers to reflect is on classroom management with regards to the students' interest and engagement in learning the English subject. Nina echoed this when she mentioned that she discussed "how to motivate rural students to like learning the English Language". Frankie’s keenness to learn more about “…students’ behaviour and attitude towards learning” by discussing them with the previous teachers of the students shows that managing the class and planning for a suitable lesson was one of the important aspects that he reflected on. This shows that all teachers constantly thought about the content that they were going to deliver in their lessons, the suitability and effectiveness of activities for their students' levels. ESL PRACTITIONER JOURNAL Issue 9 Volume 1 November 2021 CONTENTS Page DIRECTOR’S NOTE EDITOR-in-CHIEF’S NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHORS 1. A CASE STUDY ON THE IMPACT OF COACHING TOWARDS THE HIGHLY IMMERSIVE PROGRAMME (HIP) IN SK BINUANG, LAHAD DATU, SABAH Peh Li Foon 2. EXPLORING THE REFLECTIVE PRACTICES OF ENGLISH TEACHERS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN SABAH Betty D Primus @ Betty Adantus 3. USING VOCAB TAG TO IMPROVE THE TEACHING OF SPELLING FOR DAYS OF THE WEEK TO YEAR 2 PUPILS Kwan Pei Ling 4. THE HIVE PROJECT - THE AUSTRALIA AND MALAYSIA PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM Shafizah Binti Shariff 5. COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS USING ORAL COMMUNICATION STRATEGY INVENTORY Siti Mariam Zakaria 6. TEACHER’S PERSPECTIVE OF BLENDED LEARNING DURING PANDEMIC COVID -19 Juhaida Abdul Aziz Yap Soon Li 34 35

ESL Practitioner: The Journal of the English Language Teaching Centre Problem-solving Another main concern for teachers' reflection was the need to solve the problem that they encountered during lessons in the class that they taught. Problem-solving looks at the identification of a problem or issue and ways to overcome it. Sheila mostly discussed students' problems with her colleagues which was also the focus for Frankie in his reflection note, “Students needed a lot of help as their lack of vocabulary hindered their understanding of the text. A remedy was to provide translations of anticipated difficult words at the start of the session.” (Frankie – Reflection Note) In this note, Frankie noted that his students had a problem comprehending a text given to them due to the lack of vocabulary. He proposed a remedy for it was to provide the translations of the anticipated difficult words whenever he began a lesson. Nina also shared that she mostly reflected on ways “…to solve and find solutions for the issues.”. Hence problem-solving was the primary concern for these teachers' reflective practice. All of them engaged in reflective practice mainly to solve issues they encountered during lessons which they then noted in their notes, discuss with their colleagues or explore more related resources. Levels of Reflection In terms of the levels of reflectivity, this study analysed the reflection notes written by the teachers based on the guide by Hatton and Smith (1995) that outlines four levels of reflection with descriptive writing as the lowest, followed by descriptive reflection, dialogic reflection and the highest is critical reflection. Based on the data analysis of their written reflection, it is evident that these teachers were at the two lowest levels of reflectivity: descriptive writing and descriptive reflection. None of them demonstrated dialogic and critical reflection which are crucial for learning. Nina talked about the technique she used using a thinking map but found out that some students could not complete it. She felt that she needed to give more guidance to the students, “I need to guide weaker students to do the i-Think map as some of them are still unable to do the map". This reflection note falls into the category of descriptive reflection as she relied on her personal judgement and students’ work to provide a reason for the occurrence without considering other factors that might contribute to the issue. Rima wrote a simple note about the success of implementing her lesson according to her planning: “The lesson was conducted as planned.” And "The lesson was not conducted as planned because the assembly finished at 8.00 a.m." The first note is just a statement informing that her lesson activities went smoothly without much elaboration. Similarly, the second note is merely descriptive writing and is not considered a reflection. Both notes fall into descriptive writing and do not tell much about the lessons. Frankie demonstrated his ability to go further up the level, as shown in his reflection note, “Students needed a lot of help as their lack of vocabulary hindered their understanding of the text. A remedy was to provide translations of anticipated difficult words at the start of the session.” Although the note mentions his plan for future lessons, it does not explore the rationale for the action decided upon. This falls under the second category of descriptive reflection (Hatton and Smith, 1995). The teacher did not attempt to discover the factors that may contribute to the lack of vocabulary among his students. Nina also demonstrates some level of descriptive reflection in the note below. She stated in her reflection note that she needed to give more guidance for her students who were not able to use the tool she asked them to, “I need to guide weaker students to do the i-Think map as some of them still unable to do the map. They prefer to do it in a note form”. She did mention the reason for her students not to use the tool she proposed but did not consider changing the technique. Her next note however merely descriptive writing of what happened during class, “Students were actively answering the questions in groups and were able to answer questions which are 90% correct.” But since she was describing her students’ engagement and performance, this could be considered as descriptive reflection. None of the teachers demonstrates critical reflection and not even dialogic reflection in which they need to go deeper into an issue and explore possible reasons for it. Their notes are merely descriptive writing or descriptive reflection. Motivation The next major finding of this study is the source of motivation for teachers to engage in reflection. Based on the data, teachers were motivated to reflect when they received support from their colleagues, other officers or when they noted that their students had improved or showed better performance. All teachers mentioned the importance of collegial support, especially during informal interactions. During these meetings, they were able to exchange ideas and discuss problems. Rima mentioned that with colleagues she could get direct responses and feedback. This is seconded by Nina who mentioned that she felt motivated to discuss with her colleagues as she was able to exchange ideas on a shared problem. Besides collegial support, three of the teachers also mentioned the support and help provided by the School Improvement Specialist Coaches Plus (SISC+) in supporting them to reflect: “Yes. The SISC+. She supports me.” (Sheila) "Yes, I do...from my DELO and especially from my SISC+ who is always helping us, my colleagues and I, ...coaching, to solve and plan activities for our students." (Nina – Interview excerpt) 36 37

ESL Practitioner: The Journal of the English Language Teaching Centre Frankie demonstrated his ability to go further up the level, as shown in his reflection note, “Students needed a lot of help as their lack of vocabulary hindered their understanding of the text. A remedy was to provide translations of anticipated difficult words at the start of the session.” Although the note mentions his plan for future lessons, it does not explore the rationale for the action decided upon. This falls under the second category of descriptive reflection (Hatton and Smith, 1995). The teacher did not attempt to discover the factors that may contribute to the lack of vocabulary among his students. Nina also demonstrates some level of descriptive reflection in the note below. She stated in her reflection note that she needed to give more guidance for her students who were not able to use the tool she asked them to, “I need to guide weaker students to do the i-Think map as some of them still unable to do the map. They prefer to do it in a note form”. She did mention the reason for her students not to use the tool she proposed but did not consider changing the technique. Her next note however merely descriptive writing of what happened during class, “Students were actively answering the questions in groups and were able to answer questions which are 90% correct.” But since she was describing her students’ engagement and performance, this could be considered as descriptive reflection. None of the teachers demonstrates critical reflection and not even dialogic reflection in which they need to go deeper into an issue and explore possible reasons for it. Their notes are merely descriptive writing or descriptive reflection. Motivation The next major finding of this study is the source of motivation for teachers to engage in reflection. Based on the data, teachers were motivated to reflect when they received support from their colleagues, other officers or when they noted that their students had improved or showed better performance. All teachers mentioned the importance of collegial support, especially during informal interactions. During these meetings, they were able to exchange ideas and discuss problems. Rima mentioned that with colleagues she could get direct responses and feedback. This is seconded by Nina who mentioned that she felt motivated to discuss with her colleagues as she was able to exchange ideas on a shared problem. Besides collegial support, three of the teachers also mentioned the support and help provided by the School Improvement Specialist Coaches Plus (SISC+) in supporting them to reflect: “Yes. The SISC+. She supports me.” (Sheila) "Yes, I do...from my DELO and especially from my SISC+ who is always helping us, my colleagues and I, ...coaching, to solve and plan activities for our students." (Nina – Interview excerpt) ESL PRACTITIONER JOURNAL Issue 9 Volume 1 November 2021 CONTENTS Page DIRECTOR’S NOTE EDITOR-in-CHIEF’S NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHORS 1. A CASE STUDY ON THE IMPACT OF COACHING TOWARDS THE HIGHLY IMMERSIVE PROGRAMME (HIP) IN SK BINUANG, LAHAD DATU, SABAH Peh Li Foon 2. EXPLORING THE REFLECTIVE PRACTICES OF ENGLISH TEACHERS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN SABAH Betty D Primus @ Betty Adantus 3. USING VOCAB TAG TO IMPROVE THE TEACHING OF SPELLING FOR DAYS OF THE WEEK TO YEAR 2 PUPILS Kwan Pei Ling 4. THE HIVE PROJECT - THE AUSTRALIA AND MALAYSIA PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM Shafizah Binti Shariff 5. COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS USING ORAL COMMUNICATION STRATEGY INVENTORY Siti Mariam Zakaria 6. TEACHER’S PERSPECTIVE OF BLENDED LEARNING DURING PANDEMIC COVID -19 Juhaida Abdul Aziz Yap Soon Li 36 37

ESL Practitioner: The Journal of the English Language Teaching Centre Rima shared that the SISC+ supports her in reflection and pedagogical strategies: "She always provides us strategies to teach according to students' level and capability, share related information on teaching. Help me on how to tackle students' interest in learning English. Yes of course in reflection." (Rima – Interview excerpt) Besides that, seeing their students improve and perform better enhanced their motivation to reflect on their practice because when their students did better, they learned that their strategies worked, and they continued to look for more ways to achieve the same success. This finding tells us that teachers need constant support to engage in reflection as well as for them to see immediate results of their improved strategies to give them the motivation to reflect. Challenges The finding indicates that all teachers struggled to reflect effectively and consistently. Sheila felt that doing reflection is a challenge because she needed to continue finding ways to improve her lesson especially when her objective was not achieved. This is echoed by Rima saying that reflection was not easy: “…we have to use formal sentence, aware on how many students have or have not achieved and so on.” This indicates the need for sufficient pedagogical knowledge to support their reflections. In addition, the teacher's reflection notes show little evidence of their effort to explore issues in-depth. The reflection notes were written as a compulsory requirement of the Education Circular Vol.3/1999 in which teachers are required to state how far the lesson objective was achieved in every lesson plan. Since the process is not clearly specified, therefore, all teachers demonstrated a shortened version of the reflection process. They began by stating the problem based on their personal judgement straight to the solutions with the absence of dialogic reflection that involves them asking questions, exploring possible reasons and theories. Dialogic reflection is key to critical reflection (Hatton and Smith, 1995). It could be due to their lack of knowledge to engage in the act, or they did not have sufficient time to reflect further into the issues. Nina suggested time is a factor for effective reflection. She mentioned that sometimes “…the ideas may come after the next day…” hinting at the time needed to come up with an idea may take more than a day. This is also evident in their reflection notes which were written in one or two sentences and did not reflect critically on their practice. Frankie shared the same opinion when he implied that reflecting alone may not always result in new ideas. He explained that collegial support sometimes helped him get more ideas and it was fast: “Most of the time I am able to come up with my next plan. When I don’t have ideas, I would consult my colleagues.” This is supported by Nina who explained that it was easier to discuss and reflect together: “…finding solutions together to solve the issues will lessen my burden of cracking my brains to solve it.” In sum, the challenges that the teachers faced are the pedagogical knowledge to reflect deeper, the time factor for them to explore the issues more and support for active exploration of ideas and strategies. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION The findings of this study reflect the low levels of reflectivity among the informants. This is similar to the findings from previous studies on the levels of reflectivity among pre-service teachers in Malaysia (Subramaniam, 2001; Toh, 2001; Wong et al., 2015; Aizan et al., 2014; Nor Hashima et al., 2013; Lilia et al., 2011; Suhaily & Faizah, 2013). This reveals a critical issue in teachers' professional development as we learned that there is not much improvement in the level of reflectivity among the in-service teachers, despite having years of experience in teaching compared to when they were in their pre-service period. It is also worrying as the findings point out that teachers use reflection to evaluate the effectiveness of their means to achieve an end which tells us that they are more focused on getting the job done rather than developing and improving their professional learning which will also impact their students holistically. This means that teachers are more concerned with their strategies to achieve their objectives as well as solving problems of classroom management and students' learning issues. This coincides with the findings by Aizan et al. (2014) which also reveal that the focus of teachers' reflections was evaluation and problem-solving. Two themes that emerged from the findings of this study are collaborative reflection and pedagogical support that are crucial for teachers' reflective practice so that it will lead to learning and professional growth. Collaborative Reflection It is evident from the interview data that all teachers preferred to discuss their concerns with their colleagues rather than thinking about them on their own. During informal interactions with peers, teachers shared practical experiences with other human beings after recalling and thinking about them on their own. This is consistent with the findings by Hatton and Smith (1995) and Farrell (2001) that reflecting within a group was comfortable, less stressful and members felt supported as they learned from each other. According to Stones (1994), collaborative reflection with colleagues is a crucial factor for professional growth as they coconstruct meanings, finding solutions and new learning together. He further elaborates that when teachers benefit from the active sharing of experiences and direct feedback from professional colleagues for reflection and problem-solving, they will be better at making informed decisions which will likely result in more effective actions. Furthermore, this kind of collaboration helps teachers to see new perspectives on teaching and supports their professional growth (Soisangwarn & Wongwanich, 2014; Osterman & Kottkamp, 2004). On the other hand, teachers were not fond of writing down their reflections despite the benefits that they can derive from them as suggested by various studies (Aizan et al., 2014; Gil-Garcia & Cintron, 2002; Subramaniam, 2001; Farrell, 2001). The challenge as outlined in this study is the constraint of time to develop critical reflection. Besides, teachers struggled with their knowledge to reach new perspectives in their practices as they were more focused on basic issues like the delivery of their lessons and the achievement of objectives. Thus, this reflected their inability to reach the critical level of reflection, which leads to another theme that emerged from this study – the need for pedagogical support for effective reflective practice among teachers. 38 39

ESL Practitioner: The Journal of the English Language Teaching Centre DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION The findings of this study reflect the low levels of reflectivity among the informants. This is similar to the findings from previous studies on the levels of reflectivity among pre-service teachers in Malaysia (Subramaniam, 2001; Toh, 2001; Wong et al., 2015; Aizan et al., 2014; Nor Hashima et al., 2013; Lilia et al., 2011; Suhaily & Faizah, 2013). This reveals a critical issue in teachers' professional development as we learned that there is not much improvement in the level of reflectivity among the in-service teachers, despite having years of experience in teaching compared to when they were in their pre-service period. It is also worrying as the findings point out that teachers use reflection to evaluate the effectiveness of their means to achieve an end which tells us that they are more focused on getting the job done rather than developing and improving their professional learning which will also impact their students holistically. This means that teachers are more concerned with their strategies to achieve their objectives as well as solving problems of classroom management and students' learning issues. This coincides with the findings by Aizan et al. (2014) which also reveal that the focus of teachers' reflections was evaluation and problem-solving. Two themes that emerged from the findings of this study are collaborative reflection and pedagogical support that are crucial for teachers' reflective practice so that it will lead to learning and professional growth. Collaborative Reflection It is evident from the interview data that all teachers preferred to discuss their concerns with their colleagues rather than thinking about them on their own. During informal interactions with peers, teachers shared practical experiences with other human beings after recalling and thinking about them on their own. This is consistent with the findings by Hatton and Smith (1995) and Farrell (2001) that reflecting within a group was comfortable, less stressful and members felt supported as they learned from each other. According to Stones (1994), collaborative reflection with colleagues is a crucial factor for professional growth as they coconstruct meanings, finding solutions and new learning together. He further elaborates that when teachers benefit from the active sharing of experiences and direct feedback from professional colleagues for reflection and problem-solving, they will be better at making informed decisions which will likely result in more effective actions. Furthermore, this kind of collaboration helps teachers to see new perspectives on teaching and supports their professional growth (Soisangwarn & Wongwanich, 2014; Osterman & Kottkamp, 2004). On the other hand, teachers were not fond of writing down their reflections despite the benefits that they can derive from them as suggested by various studies (Aizan et al., 2014; Gil-Garcia & Cintron, 2002; Subramaniam, 2001; Farrell, 2001). The challenge as outlined in this study is the constraint of time to develop critical reflection. Besides, teachers struggled with their knowledge to reach new perspectives in their practices as they were more focused on basic issues like the delivery of their lessons and the achievement of objectives. Thus, this reflected their inability to reach the critical level of reflection, which leads to another theme that emerged from this study – the need for pedagogical support for effective reflective practice among teachers. ESL PRACTITIONER JOURNAL Issue 9 Volume 1 November 2021 CONTENTS Page DIRECTOR’S NOTE EDITOR-in-CHIEF’S NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHORS 1. A CASE STUDY ON THE IMPACT OF COACHING TOWARDS THE HIGHLY IMMERSIVE PROGRAMME (HIP) IN SK BINUANG, LAHAD DATU, SABAH Peh Li Foon 2. EXPLORING THE REFLECTIVE PRACTICES OF ENGLISH TEACHERS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN SABAH Betty D Primus @ Betty Adantus 3. USING VOCAB TAG TO IMPROVE THE TEACHING OF SPELLING FOR DAYS OF THE WEEK TO YEAR 2 PUPILS Kwan Pei Ling 4. THE HIVE PROJECT - THE AUSTRALIA AND MALAYSIA PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM Shafizah Binti Shariff 5. COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS USING ORAL COMMUNICATION STRATEGY INVENTORY Siti Mariam Zakaria 6. TEACHER’S PERSPECTIVE OF BLENDED LEARNING DURING PANDEMIC COVID -19 Juhaida Abdul Aziz Yap Soon Li 38 39

ESL Practitioner: The Journal of the English Language Teaching Centre Pedagogical Support The findings indicate that teachers were mostly at the basic level of reflectivity which did not result in much learning. This does not relate well with the framework underlying reflective practice proposed by Osterman and Kottkamp (2004) in which they illustrate that in order to change their practice, reflective practitioners need to identify, examine and modify their theories-in-use that guide their actions. The teachers also did not spend much time in the second stage of the Experiential Learning Cycle when they need to examine their theories-in-use. From the content that these teachers focused on, we learned that their only concern was to overcome problems of teaching their students without thinking of their learning. Therefore, pedagogical support is crucial to help these teachers examine their theories-in-use and explore issues with regards to other factors that might influence the problems instead of just focusing on evaluating their use of tools and achievement of objectives. The present study has practical implications for policymakers, teacher training colleges, district education offices, schools and English teachers themselves. All parties are responsible to help teachers to develop their reflectivity and to encourage reflective practices as a means to develop professional development. Policymakers need to develop a strategy or approach that will help teachers to develop their skills in reflection and engage in reflective practices effectively. Since 2013, with the launch of the new Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013 – 2025 (MOE, 2013), the Ministry of Education has appointed Schools Improvement Specialist Coaches Plus (SISC+) to give pedagogical support to Mathematics, English and Malay language teachers in Malaysia. They are responsible to coach and mentor teachers according to their subjects. This was a good move as most teachers were cited saying that the SISC+ supported them in reflection and finding new input to address the problems they had identified. This is in line with the conclusion made by Moran and Dallat (2001) that the role of a mentor is to stimulate reflective conversation and support the reflective process "…by using a variety of techniques, such as questioning, listening, challenging assumptions, describing behaviour based on observations and offering insights and observations" (p.25). It is advisable to continue having SISCs+ to support teachers in reflective practices. However, sufficient training opportunities for them in this area should be made available from time to time to cope with various levels of teachers' professional development needs. It is also high time for the teacher education programme to focus more on developing teachers' reflective ability. In addition, reflectivity needs to be included and be explicitly taught in teacher education programmes. It is important that the pre-service training of teachers be focused on developing effective reflection strategies and to promote the reflective practice as the key for professional learning. Professional Learning Communities (PLC) and Action Research (AR) could be some of the strategies to be explored in depth. Pre-service teachers need to be engaged in PLC and AR as much as possible to promote the role of teachers as researchers, so they continue to grow in their profession even when they are at schools. Opportunities for teachers to be involved in PLC and AR to develop critical reflection should be created so more teachers will reflect in-depth and enhance their professional development. Consistent with the findings that teachers prefer reflecting with their peers, it is then vital to create such opportunities for them to collaborate and reflect on their experiences, exchanging ideas and techniques. It also helps to get teachers to become involved in a mentoring relationship to support them in obtaining data from their classroom experiences, analysing and connecting it to relevant theories and venture into new dimensions to grow professionally instead of just focusing on basic instructional aspects. The findings indicate the need for teachers to engage in effective and meaningful reflective practices by focusing on collaboration and pedagogical support to help achieve success in this area. Possible recommendations for future research could focus on teachers at urban and rural schools to provide a more inclusive interpretation of the phenomenon concerned. It is also recommended to explore the level of reflectivity of teacher reflection and the challenges teachers face in developing critical reflection. This will further contribute to the literature and towards the betterment of education especially in raising teachers' quality by focusing on reflective practice. 40 41

ESL Practitioner: The Journal of the English Language Teaching Centre is then vital to create such opportunities for them to collaborate and reflect on their experiences, exchanging ideas and techniques. It also helps to get teachers to become involved in a mentoring relationship to support them in obtaining data from their classroom experiences, analysing and connecting it to relevant theories and venture into new dimensions to grow professionally instead of just focusing on basic instructional aspects. The findings indicate the need for teachers to engage in effective and meaningful reflective practices by focusing on collaboration and pedagogical support to help achieve success in this area. Possible recommendations for future research could focus on teachers at urban and rural schools to provide a more inclusive interpretation of the phenomenon concerned. It is also recommended to explore the level of reflectivity of teacher reflection and the challenges teachers face in developing critical reflection. This will further contribute to the literature and towards the betterment of education especially in raising teachers' quality by focusing on reflective practice. ESL PRACTITIONER JOURNAL Issue 9 Volume 1 November 2021 CONTENTS Page DIRECTOR’S NOTE EDITOR-in-CHIEF’S NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHORS 1. A CASE STUDY ON THE IMPACT OF COACHING TOWARDS THE HIGHLY IMMERSIVE PROGRAMME (HIP) IN SK BINUANG, LAHAD DATU, SABAH Peh Li Foon 2. EXPLORING THE REFLECTIVE PRACTICES OF ENGLISH TEACHERS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN SABAH Betty D Primus @ Betty Adantus 3. USING VOCAB TAG TO IMPROVE THE TEACHING OF SPELLING FOR DAYS OF THE WEEK TO YEAR 2 PUPILS Kwan Pei Ling 4. THE HIVE PROJECT - THE AUSTRALIA AND MALAYSIA PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM Shafizah Binti Shariff 5. COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS USING ORAL COMMUNICATION STRATEGY INVENTORY Siti Mariam Zakaria 6. TEACHER’S PERSPECTIVE OF BLENDED LEARNING DURING PANDEMIC COVID -19 Juhaida Abdul Aziz Yap Soon Li 40 41