The Chronicles 2020

THE CHRONICLESACADEMY OF LANGUAGE STUDIES, UITM CAWANGAN TERENGGANU
LANGUAGE : THE WINDOW TO THE OUTSIDE WORLD
Issues in online education;
Are we ready to embrace the
new norms in education?
Travelogue: Intriguing
Iceland and chasing the
aurora
Bangau oh bangau

About sanshu

Painting with paper

ACADEMY OF LANGUAGE STUDIES UITMCT

Academy of Language Studies
Website: https://terengganu.uitm.edu.my/v3/
index.php/academic/academic-centres/acade-
my-of-language-studies
Facebook: Akademi Pengajian Bahasa - UITM
Cawangan Terengganu
Twitter: @APBuitmt
Instagram: apbuitmt
.....................................................................
About the magazine
The Chronicles is the official e-magazine for
Academy of Language Studies, Universiti
Teknologi MARA Cawangan Terengganu,
published with the aims to be a platform for
the staff and students of UiTM Terengganu to
express their creativity and ideas, provide dif-
ferent point of views when it comes to teaching
and learning languages, and to keep up with the
latest trends and activities conducted by APB.
.....................................................................
Advisors
Professor Dr Azman bin Che Mat
Wan Najmiyyah binti Wan Adnan

Project leader
Najlaa’ Nasuha binti Mohd Radin

Secretary
Norhayati binti Husin

Committe members
Roszainora Setia
Masliza Mat Zali
Luqmanul Hakim Zulkornain
Norhamimah binti Rani
.....................................................................

Cover image : Photo by Daniil Silantev on Unsplash

2

CONTENT THE CHRONICLES 2020

FROM THE HEAD OF CENTRE FOR ACADEMY OF LANGUAGE STUDIES, UITM
CAWANGAN TERENGGANU - 4
THE EDITORIAL TEAM - 5

THE ISSUE OF CHEATING IN ONLINE ASSESSMENT - 6
TELADAN DAN PENGAJARAN DALAM KISAH KISAH BANGAU - 8

LANGUAGE PARODY, ABSOLUTELY CORRECTION! - 12
HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR ONLINE TEACHING - 14

A REVIEW OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ETEMS IN THE TEACHING OF MATH-
EMATICS AND SCIENCE IN NATIONAL SCHOOLS IN MALAYSIA - 16
A GLIPMSE INTO SUCHEN CHRISTINE LIM’S THE RIVER’S SONG - 20

PAINTING WITH PAPER: PAPER ON THE EDGE BY YULIA BRODSKAYA - 24
BREATHE BY BENI RUSANI - 26

RECLAIM YOUR HEART BY YASMIN MOGAHED - 27
CHASING THE AURORA - 28

INTRIGUING ICELAND PICTORIAL - 32
MDAB DAN KEBERKESANANNYA SEBAGAI PROGRAM ALTERNATIF KEPADA KE-

CICIRAN LEPASAN SPM: SATU PERSPEKTIF UMUM - 38
THE FUTURE IS HERE. IT’S TIME FOR YOU TO EMBRACE CHANGES! - 40
AKTIVITI BIRO PENULISAN, PENYELIDIKAN, PENERBITAN, PERUNDINGAN, &

INOVASI APB 2020 - 44
GUNMA UNIVERSITY AND UITM CAWANGAN TERENGGANU; IT IS OUR

FOURTH YEAR! - 45
LOOK DEEPER - WRITE - THE WONDERS OF WRITING BY NICOLETTA DEME-

TRIOU - 46
ABOUT SANSHU - 48
FRENCH WORDS IN ENGLISH - 49
KALIMAT MUTAQATIEA - 50
IT SEEMS LIKE YESTERDAY - 51
PANDU DAN UJI - 52

THE BENCH - 53

3

ACADEMY OF LANGUAGE STUDIES UITMCT

FROM THE DESK OF OUR KPP;
ACADEMY OF LANGUAGE STUDIES AND LAW

UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA CAWANGAN TERENGGANU

Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh
dan salam sejahtera kepada semua pembaca
e-majalah The Chronicles edisi terkini.

Pertama sekali tahniah saya ucapkan kepada semua
ahli jawatankuasa yang bertungkus lumus menyiapkan
edisi ini. Semoga e-majalah The Chronicles ini
menjadi platform untuk pensyarah APB dan Fakulti
Undang-undang UITMCT untuk
menulis, berkongsi kepakaran,
pengalaman dan berinteraksi dalam
persekitaran akademik yang
segar. Oleh kerana kita masih dalam musim
pandemik Covid19 yang belum reda sepenuhnya,
diharapkan semua menjaga diri dan
keluarga masing-masing. Gunalah peluang menghadap
komputer nanti untuk menyumbang dalam edisi
The Chronicles yang seterusnya. Selamat membaca!

Professor Dr Azman Che Mat.
Ketua Pusat Pengajian

Akademi Pengajian Bahasa dan Undang Undang

4 Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

THE CHRONICLES 2020 Photo by Joanna Kosinska on Unsplash

THE EDITORIAL TEAM OF
THE CHRONICLES 2020

Welcome to our The Chronicles
e-magazine for 2020! 2020 has
definiteley given us many unforgetful memories
with the new norms and new way of life. Much
effort has been into this issue and we hope that
you find it to be aspiring, exciting and uplifting.
We hope that this e-magazine will be a great
platform for us to share interesting experience, ideas,
innovation, thoughts, and writings. We are pleased
to invite more articles for the upcoming issues.
In the meantime, sit back, relax and enjoy reading
this e-magazine!
Have a nice day ahead everyone!

The editorial team of The Chronicles 2020

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ACADEMY OF LANGUAGE STUDIES UITMCT Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash

THE ISSUE OF CHEATING
IN ONLINE ASSESSMENT
by Siti Norliana Ghazali

Covid 19 has forced many universities around the world to migrate
to online teaching and online assessments. One of the less desirable
effects of online classes is cheating. Previous studies suggest that
cheating increases among those taking online and distance learning
mainly as it is easier to cheat. Students taking online classes are also
deemed as less committed to integrity compared to those who are
involved in face to face classes (Rowe,n.d). MacEwan University find
that there has been 38% increase of cheating cases since classes are
moved online due to Covid 19 , including plagiarizing and submitting
others’ work as their own (Rossiter,2020).The most common and
serious cheating involve students getting help from others while
taking test as well as paying someone else to take the test for them.
Conducting assessments online is an ethical challenge to the
educational institutions and students involved. This is not helped
by the ‘willful ignorance’ of many instructors and administratorsas
any technological tools that can be used to combat cheating like
employing proctors are expensive and beyond most universities’
budgets. It is also easier for students to cheat online as they are more
technologically savvy than some of their lecturers. Cheating is also
made easier if instructors do not conduct the exam simultaneously.
Students also take advantage of online assessments by claiming that
they have power or internet interruptions and should be allowed to
retake the test (Rowe.n.d)
There are many measures that can be taken by lecturers to reduce
cheating during online assessments. Individual integrity, however,
is better at preventing cheating than any other possible measures.
Furthermore, lecturers are advised to create an environment
that discourage cheating; for example by creating creative video
explanation on plagiarism and cheating or discussing about it in class
(Klein,2020). Alternatively, instructors can ask all students to read
and sign an integrity pact before doing online tests.
In addition, test should be conducted simultaneously whenever
possible to reduce cheating. If students have internet problems and
have to retake the test, they should be given a different set of questions.
Multiple sets of questions should also be prepared for students who
have to sit for the test at another time due to emergencies like medical
and family problems (Budhai,2020).

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THE CHRONICLES 2020

Even if students take the test at the same time, the questions can be
randomized and the answers can be shuffled to discourage discussion
and sharing answers among students (essential ways to). It is also better
if instructors do not to make it possible for students to view all the
questions once they log in but to get students to answer one question
before they can proceed to the next one.
Another suggestion is to increase the number of assessments which
means less marks are allocated for each test. This lessen the pressure
for students to score in the test and reduce cheating (Klein,2020).
Whenever possible, instructors should avoid using multiple choice
questions, true or false and short answer questions. In order to make
it harder for students to cheat, instructors can utilize critical thinking
questions where students have to explain and apply their knowledge or
provide evidence to support their answers. Using complex and creative
group projects and presentations that show students’ ability instead of
giving questions that students can google or find the answers in their
textbooks can also reduce cheating (Budhai,2020).
Other possible ways to reduce cheating is to allow open book assessment,
to set time limit to reduce time for students to look for answers externally
(essential ways to), to make it compulsory for students to switch on
their laptop camera or to use proctors and software for universities that
can afford them. However, we have to bear in mind that there is no
100% fail safe strategy to prevent cheating; and increasing awareness
and integrity during online assessments is probably the best prevention
to combat cheating.
REFERENCES:
• Budhai,S. (2020) Fourteen simple strategies to reduce cheating on

online exams. https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/educational-
assessment/fourteen-simple-strategies-to-reduce-cheating-on-
online-examinations/
• Klein,A. (2020) How to prevent student cheating during remote
learning: four tips. https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2020/08/25/
how-to-prevent-student-cheating-during-remote.html
• Rowe,N.C. (n.d) Cheating in online student assessment: beyond
plagiarism. https://www.academia.edu/23799177/Cheating_in_
Online_Student_Assessment_Beyond_Plagiarism
• Rossiter,S. (2020) Cheating becoming an unexpected Covid 19 side
issue for universities. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/
cheating-becoming-an-unexpected-covid-19-side-effect-for-
universities-1.5620442
• Essential ways to prevent cheating in online assessments (2 August
2020) In Proprofs https://www.proprofs.com/c/lms/essential-
ways-to-prevent-cheating-in-online-assessments/#:~:text=%20
Essential%20Ways%20to%20Prevent%20Cheating%20in%20
Online,options%20within%20a%20question.%20When%20
creating...%20More%20

7

Photo by Grégoire Bertaud on UnspalshACADEMY OF LANGUAGE STUDIES UITMCT

TELADAN DAN PENGAJARAN
DALAM KISAH-KISAH BANGAU

by Nurhafizah Alili

“Melalui cerita-cerita sang
kancil yang sarat dengan nasihat
dan pengajaran ini, anak-anak
kecil dididik secara tidak langsung
tentang nilai-nilai murni seperti
baik-hati, hormat - menghormati,
tidak bersikap sombong,
dan saling tolong -
menolong antara satu sama lain.”

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THE CHRONICLES 2020

Cerita rakyat merupakan cerita yang disampaikan secara turun-temurun melalui lisan, tulisan atau
bentuk-bentuk simbolik yang mengandungi teladan atau pengajaran, tradisi serta pantang-larang
budaya setempat. Dalam masyarakat melayu, terdapat pelbagai bentuk cerita rakyat seperti hikayat
(iaitu sastera bertulis yang menceritakan tentang seseorang atau kejadian yang penting seperti
Hikayat Malim Deman, Hikayat Awang Sulong Merah Muda, dan Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa),
cerita jenaka (iaitu cerita pendek yang memberikan hiburan seperti Pak Pandir, Si Luncai dan Lebai
Malang), dan cerita binatang (iaitu cerita dongeng yang menampilkan haiwan yang boleh berfikir
dan bertingkah-laku seperti manusia seperti kisah ‘Sang kancil dan Buaya’, ‘Anjing dengan Bayang-
bayang’ dan ‘Burung Gagak dengan Takar’).
Watak yang sering ditampilkan dalam cerita binatang masyarakat Melayu adalah sang kancil iaitu
seekor haiwan bertubuh kecil yang panjang akal, berani dan baik-hati. Terdapat pelbagai versi
kisah sang kancil dalam sastera Melayu; antara yang popular ialah Hikayat Pelanduk Jenaka yang
dihasilkan sekitar 1650. Melalui cerita-cerita sang kancil yang sarat dengan nasihat dan pengajaran
ini, anak-anak kecil dididik secara tidak langsung tentang nilai-nilai murni seperti baik-hati,
hormat-menghormati, tidak bersikap sombong, dan saling tolong-menolong antara satu sama lain.
Manakala sindiran-sindiran tajam yang ditampilkan secara halus dalam cerita-cerita ini pula dapat
memberi pengajaran kepada masyarakat yang lebih dewasa untuk memperbaiki tingkah-laku atau
sikap buruk yang boleh merugikan diri sendiri atau masyarakat secara umumnya.
Namun begitu, tidak semua cerita binatang menampilkan tokoh utama yang bersifat baik dan
berwibawa seperti sang kancil. Dalam cerita ‘Bangau dan Ketam’, ‘Mengapa Bangau Kurus’ dan
‘Bangau dan Anjing’ – tokoh utama iaitu bangau disifatkan dengan sifat-sifat buruk yang merugikan
dirinya sendiri.
Pertama, dalam cerita asal-usul ‘Mengapa Bangau Kurus’, bangau disifatkan sebagai haiwan tamak,
alpa dan tidak berhati-hati ketika bertutur kata. Dikisahkan, pada suatu hari Raja Sulaiman
memanggil semua burung datang mengadap baginda kerana baginda ingin menunaikan hajat
mereka sempena genap seratus purnama baginda memerintah. Merak yang ingin menjadi burung
paling cantik di dunia meminta bulu yang bewarna-warni. Kelicap yang gemarkan madu pula
meminta paruh yang panjang bagi memudahkannya menghisap madu bunga. Tempua yang inginkan
sarang yang cantik pula meminta kepandaian membuat sarang. Burung pipit yang kerdil pula minta
diberikan kepala yang bewarna putih agar mudah dilihat dari jauh. Setelah semua burung selesai
membuat permintaan mereka, tinggallah seekor bangau yang sombong. Setelah ditanya oleh Raja
Sulaiman akan hajatnya, maka dengan angkuhnya bangau menjawab, “Patik ingin makan tujuh hari
sekali, tuanku.” Permintaan bangau menyebabkan Raja Sulaiman dan burung-burung lain yang
mendengarnya berasa hairan dan terkejut. Raja Sulaiman menyuruh bangau mengulang sekali lagi
permintaannya, dan bangau tetap berkata, “Patik ingin makan tujuh hari sekali, tuanku.” Setelah
berpuas hati dengan jawapan bangau, maka Raja Sulaiman pun menunaikan permintaannya.
Setelah bangau kembali ke tasik untuk mencari ikan keesokan harinya, seekor ikan pun tidak timbul
untuk mengisi perutnya lapar – sehinggalah pada hari ketujuh, barulah dia mendapat seekor ikan.
Termenung bangau memikirkan nasibnya. Ia kemudian teringat kembali permintaannya di hadapan
Raja Sulaiman –iaitu ia meminta makan tujuh hari sekali, bukan tujuh kali sehari. Namun, tidak
seekor burung pun memperbetulkan permintaannya kerana sikap sombong dan angkuhnya itu.

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ACADEMY OF LANGUAGE STUDIES UITMCT

Kedua, dalam cerita ‘Bangau dan Anjing’ – sifat sombong dan lupa diri apabila dipuji
telah merugikan bangau itu sendiri. Dikisahkan, pada suatu hari - anjing yang sedang
kelaparan ternampak seekor bangau yang sedang bertengger di sebuah pohon. Ia sedang
memegang seekor ikan yang besar dengan paruhnya. Kemudian anjing menegur dan
berpura-pura kagum dengan keindahan rupa bangau. Ia memuji-muji tubuh bangau
yang besar dan putih bersih, kakinya yang kuat, sayap nya yang lebar dan paruh yang
indah. Anjing terus memuji dan berhelah agar bangau membuka mulutnya. Anjing
berkata,” Burung yang sempurna sepertimu pasti memiliki suara yang merdu, sudah
pasti engkau layak digelar sang ratu bagi segala burung di rimba ini.” Bangau yang
terpedaya dengan kata-kata anjing itu lalu membuka mulutnya dan mengeluarkan suara
yang keras. Ikan yang berada diparuhnya itu jatuh ke tanah dan terus disambar anjing.
Ketiga, dalam cerita ‘Bangau dan Ketam’ pula, sifat tamak dan pentingkan diri sendiri
menyebabkan bangau kehilangan nyawa. Dikisahkan, pada zaman dahulu, seekor
bangau yang tua tinggal di sebuah tasik. Oleh kerana ia telah tua, ia tidak berdaya lagi
menangkap ikan. Bangau mencari helah agar perutnya yang kosong dapat diisi tanpa
perlu berpenat-lelah menangkap ikan di tepi tasik. Ia bercerita kepada penghuni tasik
bahawa kemarau yang panjang akan terjadi dan tasik akan kering. Penghuni tasik yang
khuatir meminta pertolongan bangau untuk menyelamatkan mereka dari musibah yang
bakal terjadi. Menurut bangau, ada sebuah tasik yang besar dan dalam tidak jauh dari
kawasan mereka. Oleh kerana keringatnya yang sudah tua, ia tidak mampu membawa
lebih dari seekor ikan setiap kali terbang ke sana. Setiap hari, bangau mengangkut
seekor demi seekor ikan untuk dipindahkan ke tasik lain. Malangnya, ikan-ikan tersebut
dibawa ke batu besar berhampiran tasik dan dimakan dengan lahap sekali. Setelah ikan
yang dibawanya habis dimakan, ia terbang lagi untuk mengangkut ikan yang lain pula.
Sehinggalah suatu hari tiba giliran ketam. Ketika dibawa terbang oleh bangau hampir
ke batu besar tersebut, ketam melihat tulang-tulang ikan yang bersepah di atas batu.
Tahulah ketam bahawa bangau telah menipu mereka selama ini. Setelah tiba di batu
besar itu, ketam yang masih lagi berpegang pada leher bangau dengan sepitnya itu
menyepit leher bangau dengan kuat sehingga lehernya terputus. Maka, tamatlah riwayat
bangau yang tamak itu.
Sebagai kesimpulan, sifat angkuh, tamak, alpa, mudah lupa diri, dan pentingkan diri
sendiri merupakan sifat-sifat buruk yang perlu dijauhi. Disebabkan sifat-sifat ini, bangau
bukan sahaja tidak punya sahabat yang menegurnya ketika ia berbuat salah, tetapi ia
juga kehilangan apa yang diusahakannya dengan bersusah-payah kerana lupa diri sebab
pujian. Selain itu, ia juga kehilangan nyawa dan mendapat nama buruk kerana menipu
demi kepentingan diri sendiri. Semoga kisah-kisah bangau ini dapat diceritakan kepada
anak-anak kecil agar mereka mendapat pengajaran dari cerita-cerita ini.
Bibiliografi:
• Mamat, S.F. et.al (2019). Kisah sang kancil dan memerang sebagai penerapan adab

kepimpinan dalam kalangan kanak. Jurnal Kesidang, 4. 77-89.
• Putih,O.(1995).Himpunan366ceritarakyatMalaysia.Malaysia:UtusanPublications.

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Photo by Abdulla Samooh on Unsplash THE CHRONICLES 2020

“Dalam cerita ‘Bangau dan Ketam’ pula,
sifat tamak dan pentingkan diri sendiri
menyebabkan bangau kehilangan nyawa”

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ACADEMY OF LANGUAGE STUDIES UITMCT

LANGUAGE PARODY, ABSOLUTELY
CORRECTION!

by Juliana Mohd Nor & Salihah Abdullah

Kampung People is a popular Malaysian drama that features a Malay family that lives in a city and had to
move to a small village under some sort of witness protection program. The drama is currently in season 2
and can be viewed online. The drama pokes fun at the lifestyle of urban family vs. village folks. One aspect
of life that was highlighted in the story is the use of English as part of the dialogues use by the characters in
the drama. The English used is intentionally broken and is reflective of the perception that Malaysians have
toward English as a second language (ESL) acquisition in Malaysia as well as its Malaysian learners or user’s
language behaviours. The broken English used in the drama is a major attraction that is received warmly
by most Malaysian audiences because they are humorous and relatable. It signifies a form of solidarity that
links language acquisition, perception and a community together. Let’s take a look at some of
the popular ‘broken’ English used in the drama from season one in
the first three episodes.

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THE CHRONICLES 2020

Broken English Meaning

1. So much pokoks So many trees

2. Not helper you at all Not helping at all

3. Go to pulau island Go to the island

4. I is cannot like this I cannot be like this

5. Finally we already here in our destination Finally we have arrived at our destination

6. Absolutely in correction Absolutely correct

7. Monthsary/monthfivesary Monthly anniversary/ five month anniversary

8. Many many too much acting Overacting

9. I is coming I am coming

10. What is happen? What happened?

11. I want to eats I want to eat

12. I is very busy I am very busy

13. I is cannot I can’t/I cannot

14. I is pinjam phone sekejap Let me borrow your phone for a while.

15. Mom akan continuing my job work My mom will continue my work

Interesting, right? Language parody is common in the
world of entertainment and it occurs everywhere not
just in Malaysia. Every language learner who wants to
acquire another language may encounter problems
and situations. Some may be funny, and some may be
cringey. Nevertheless, take it for what it is. A learning
experiences. As for Kampung People, the drama, lets
enjoy it for what it is. A drama that happens to use
language as a tool for humour.

Photo by Kampung People Facebook Page 13
Photo by Waniesukarno.com

ACADEMY OF LANGUAGE STUDIES UITMCT

How To Improve Online teaching has existed a few years ago and it
Your Online has become popular after the arrival of Covid-19
Teaching pandemic all over the world. In conjunction with
the scenario, most of the educators have to shift their
by Razifa Mohd Razlan teaching methods or approaches to online teaching.
Online teaching is different from traditional teaching
as it requires different methods and apps. No matter
what methodologies the educators opt, we still have
to apply some of the strategies in online teaching
as it can create a better and meaningful learning
atmosphere to the learners. Here are some strategies
on how to make online teaching effective.

First of all, is to engage with your online learners.
In traditional teaching, it is easy to engage with
the students as we can see and control them if they
have lost focus or tend to be playful in class unlike
online teaching. In online teaching, the educators
have to establish their virtual existence from the
beginning of the course. The educators have to
create new learning community just like we are in
a normal traditional classroom. Then, we can set
the class as schedule or adjust the time as online
teaching is always flexible. In order to engage with
our community, we can choose the right platform
that is available for online posts, forums, discussions
and so forth. When the students see the efforts of
tasks from their friends in the activities or tasks
indirectly it will encourage the others to participate.
Instead of that, the educators should have two ways
communication during online teaching so that the
learners will be more engaged and active.

On top of that is to create a supportive leaning Photo by Ilya Pavlov on Unsplash
environment. As educators, we have to create a
supportive online community for our learners.
According to Cooper (2016), the best option to
accomplish online learning is through encouraging
both educator-to-learner engagement and learner-
to-learner interaction.

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THE CHRONICLES 2020

Dr Judith V. Boettcher, PhD and author of A Faculty Lastly is to create a virtual learning content mobile.
Guide for Moving Teaching and Learning to the As we know gadgets and learners cannot be separated.
Web, recommends some strategies as follow. Firstly Therefore, it’s smart to use some gadgets as learning
is from the beginning of your online course, get the tools for online learning. According to Cooper
ball rolling with a personal introduction post, and (2016), mobile learning offers key advantages for
promote participants to share their own short bio or learners, granting them to connect with latest course
introduction to the group. Next is to create an open materials and related content anywhere, anytime.
forum or discussion board where students can post With the suitable size of information, learners can
to ask help and assistance from each other. Lastly is to digest it quickly and easily and they can deal with
create small groups, similar to traditional study groups, course materials at their own pace. The contents
for supportive mentoring of fellow learners. With must be accessible via smartphones, laptops, or iPads
these strategies, learners can cooperate together and in order to ensure the successfulness of our teaching.
be active learners that can benefit all individuals in the Prakash (2019) suggests that the contents should
community. be shared into the potential of communication via
Furthermore, the educators can use a mix of learning social media channels, e-mails, student chat groups
tools for better engagement. Nowadays, we are lucky and more, giving learners a platform to communicate
to have technology that assist us to create better online with their co-learners and teachers too. Hence, with
teaching and at the same time allow us to collaborate and the use of some gadgets, we can open up their minds
engage with the students like we are in the classroom. that gadgets are not only for entertainment but the
Cooper (2016) states that the best online educators apply functions are even more.
a mix of both synchronous and asynchronous activities, Hence, as educators we have to always move forward
designing a blend of traditional online learning styles as we cannot run ourselves from technology.
with newer, more collaborative audio and visual tools. We need to equip ourselves with latest apps and
Working with a combination of activities can lead to technologies. With the advancement of technology
more engaging and interesting contents and enhancing used in online teaching, it can develop a more
learner engagement with both the educator and other positive learning environment to our students. Thus,
learners. it can create a memorable and meaningful learning
Next is to provide ongoing feedback. Feedback is crucial and not to mention a professional relationship with
element for all effective learning atmospheres including the students can be established too.
online. As online educators, we need feedback to References:
establish a virtual learning that is engaged, informative • Cooper,S. (2016). 5 strategies to improve
and motivational for the learners. We can encourage
the learners to share their feedback continuously by your online teaching. Retrieved September
having collaborative exercises so that the learners can 20,2020, from https://elearningindustry.com/5-
determine which behaviours or skills that need to be strategies-improve-your-online-teaching
improved. Apart from that, we also can apply reflective • Prakash,V. (2019), 8 ways to enhance
teaching where the students can share their opinions the learning process in online education.
or comments towards our teaching or learning process. Retrieved September 21, 2020 from https://
Therefore, by looking as some feedback the educators elearningindustry.com/learning-process-in-
can improve their teaching styles or approaches from online-education-8-ways-enhance
time to time.

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ACADEMY OF LANGUAGE STUDIES UITMCT

16

Photo by Alex Kordatiev on Unsplash THE CHRONICLES 2020

A Review of the Implementation
of ETeMS in the Teaching of
Mathematics and Science in
National Schools in Malaysia

by Ruzana Omar

Introduction
ETeMS was introduced in 2003. It was initiated by the former Prime
Minister of Malaysia, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad in 2003 due to the
deteriorating level of English among school children and also graduates
of local university. It has been reported that local graduate had difficulty
to get jobs compared to those who had completed their tertiary education
abroad. Lacking of soft-skills was believed to be one of the reasons that our
local graduates to have less market value. The decreasing level of students
in public higher education institution (IPTA) has also been related to their
language-mastering vulnerabilities (Kamarudin, 2002). A major concern
on the lack of graduates’ ability to speak well in English as a contributing
factor to unemployment (Portal Pendidikan Utusan, 2003). Finally, in stages
starting in 2012, the government has agreed to terminate and eradicate this
policy.

17

ACADEMY OF LANGUAGE STUDIES UITMCT Photo by Gayatri Malhotra on Unsplash

What causing the issue to be still ringing in the air, even after the decision has
been made by the Ministry of Education is that due to the preference of the
parents and the students in urban schools to use English rather than Bahasa
Malaysia to learn Mathematics and Science. The abolition of ETeMS received
objections from parents of the middle and upper class who supported the
policy and indicated that options should be offered to students to study
Mathematics and Science in English or Bahasa Malaysia (Rashid, 2012).
Students in urban schools are said to be having benefits
from the implementation of PPSMI but students from rural
schools go against it. Research by educationists reported
that rural school’s students’ results in both the subjects
had been deteriorated due to the usage of English as the medium of
instruction. They were reported to be having difficulty to understand
the language used, what more to understand the contents of the subjects.
Literature Review
There was a fierce debate going on about the implementation of ETeMS
amongst Primary and Secondary school students in our country whereby
it has become an issue amongst educationists, politicians and parents
of the students affected; on one side advocates for the retained of the
implementation of ETeMS whereas the other side supports to eradicate it,
and to replace it with National language as the medium for teaching in both
the subjects. Studies have been conducted, such as by Pillay (2003), Foong
(2003), Ong and Tan (2008), and Yahaya et. al. (2009), on the effectiveness
of this policy in schools. However, except a preliminary study by Tan and
Chan (2003) in Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) no systematic study was
done on the implementation of PPSMI at the university (Isa, et. al., 2010)
The teaching of Science and Mathematics in English (PPSMI) was
replaced by the policy of dignifying Bahasa Malaysia and strengthening
English Language usage, or the acronym for Memertabatkan Bahasa
Melayu dan Memperkasakan Bahasa Inggeris (MMBMMBI), effective
in 2012.Not to interfere with students learning process, “a soft-
landing” approach had been introduced whereby English as a medium
of instruction would not be slashed abruptly but rather had been used
by stages. The first batch of students had started their year one in 2012
with Year One pupils have reverted to being taught both subjects in
Bahasa Malaysia, while the policy is in transition for other levels.
The Ministry argued that this reversal was necessary because
ETeMS resulted in a lack of Mathematics and Science mastery, as
expressed in the results of the national exams, where the number
of students who scored good grades for the two subjects had
significantly decreased (Ministry of Education, 2015, para 4).

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THE CHRONICLES 2020

Conclusion
The policy of the government should concentrate on the intensity of
mastering Mathematics and Science up to the level of SPM in the primary and
secondary school. This has been effectively introduced as the teachers and
students have a strong command of the language through the use of Bahasa
Malaysia. That explains the reason why studying Science and Mathematics in
Bahasa Malaysia effectively is easier for them. Using English as the language
for learning Mathematics and Science will not ease the learning process and
will not improve the students’ achievement in Mathematics and Science
(Selamat,et.al., 2010). An essential step had been taken with the introduction
of The Dual Language Program (DLP) in 2016 under the foundation of
MBMMBI at selected schools to give options to the parents and students in
the urban school and those who advocate for the language to be taught in the
schools in Malaysia.

References
• Selamat, S , Esa, A, Saad, S.S, et.al. (2010).Teaching and Learning

Mathematics and Science in English in Primary Schools in the State of
Johor, Malaysia. Journal of Education. 16 (2011), 61-73, ISBN 99917-2-
603-9.
• Foong, C.K. (2004). English for the teaching of Mathematics and Science
(ETeMS): From concept to implementation. http://www.eltcm.org/eltc/
download/paperbank PDFs/English for the Teaching of Mathematics and
Science paper.pdf [20 November 2010].
• Isa, Z, Zakaria, A.M, Azlan, M.I, et.al. (2010). Students’ Perceptions of the
Implementation of Teaching and Learning of Science and Mathematics
in English. Kongres Pengajaran dan Pembelajaran UKM. Procedia Social
and Behavioral Sciences 18 (2011). 361–366
• Kamaruddin, I.F. (2002). USM Usaha Hasilkan Siswazah Berkualiti. Berita
USM
• Ministry of Education (2015) SBA concept. [online]. Available at: http://
www.moe.gov.my/en/soalan-lazim-view?id=147&keyword=& [Accessed
10 January 2015].
• Ong, S. L. & Tan, M. (2008). Mathematics and Science in English: Teachers
experience inside the classroom. Jurnal Pendidik dan Pendidikan, 23:
141-150.
• Pillay, H. (2003). Winds of change: Teaching Science and Mathematics in
English – A perspective from the school. IPBA e-Journal p. 1-5.
• Portal Pendidikan Utusan 2003, 2003. Dicapai dari www.pts.com.my.
• Rashid, A.R. (2015).Exploring Teachers’ Co-construction of Social Support
on a Social Networking Site. University of Nottingham. Dissertation.
• Tan, H. & Chan, S. H. (2003). Teaching Mathematics and Science in
English: A perspective from Universiti Putra Malaysia. Proceedings of the
ELTC ETeMS Conference 2003: Managing Curricular Change, pp. 1 – 15.
• Yahaya, M. F., Mohd Noor, M. A., Mokhtar, A. A., Mohd Rawian, R.,
Othman, M. & Jusoff, K. (2009). Teaching of Mathematics and Science in
English: The teachers’ voices. English Language Teaching, 2(2): 141-147.

19

ACADEMY OF LANGUAGE STUDIES UITMCT Photo by Jack Anstey on Unsplash

A Glimpse into Suchen Christine Lim’s The River’s Song

By Mazni Muslim

Suchen Christine Lim is an established voice in Singaporean literature in
English with multiple awards and fellowships to her credit. She was born in
Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia in 1948. When she was about thirteen or fourteen, her
family moved to Singapore due to these two reasons – her mother remarried

and moved to Singapore and she failed miserably her Bahasa Malaysia
subject. She believes that if she had remained in Malaysia, she would never

have gone to university. When her family migrated to Singapore, she was
so relieved not to have study Bahasa Malaysia that she simply took to
English and blossomed (Quayum, 2007: 194).
Suchen Christine Lim is known as a novelist. She stumbled into writing

through children’s story writing competition. To date she has four
novels – Ricebowl (1984), Gift from the Gods (1990), Fistful of Colours
(1992) and A Bit of Earth (2001) – which are categorized as historical

novels. To her, writing a novel is like preparing ourselves
to run the 36-mile marathon. It requires training
every day. And the grind of the long-distance
runner is so different from the glamour of the
sprint. Novelists need reflection. They need
time to reflect, time for solitude, time for the
artist to be alone for a long period of time
(Ng, n.d.). She states that writing a novel
is more challenging than short stories or
plays. Besides its length, it involves the
necessary chaos that a writer has to go
through before he can see the beauty of the
form and substance woven and integrated
into an organic whole (Damyanti, 2013).
She chooses to write fiction anchored in
history because it is challenging and it
requires research. The gestation period
is longer (Quayum, 2007: 199). She adds
that the journey through chaos may take
a year or two or three or four. The novel’s
demands are many, and each novel has its
own unique set of requirements. Fiction
celebrates ordinary individual and in
fiction, the ordinary person is made
extraordinary

Photo by atticbooks.in

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THE CHRONICLES 2020

Lim’s latest historical novel, The River’s Song was launched The River’s Song is a story about love and loss, about
in October 2013 in Singapore. She began writing the novel family secrets left untold, about identity and about
in the end of 2009 and completed it in early 2013. Her the magical world of music. Lim’s latest book is both a
literary agents at Jacaranda Press who are actively seeking moving love story between two ordinary individuals,
out Singapore fiction for a global market sold it almost Wong Ping Ping a music professor in UC Berkeley and
immediately to Aurora Press of the United Kingdom. The Wong Fook Weng, the master flautist in the Singapore
plan is to have the book published in time for the Singapore Chinese Orchestra, as well as a fictionalised account
Writers Festival 2013. The new novel is fuelled by nostalgia of the eviction of squatters and boatmen from the
and grief. It began in part with the death of her mother Singapore River. Lim reveals that the memory of a
five years ago, a loss that stopped her writing for at least 12 squatter farmer evicted from the Singapore River in
months. What broke the block was writing a funeral scene the 1970s led her to write The River’s Song (Damyanti,
that eventually led to a story set in Singapore’s past (“Oh, the 2013). Even Lee Tzu Pheng, the Singapore poet mourns
places Singapore tales go,” 2013). Memory and history are the clean-up of the Singapore River when she composes
important elements in Lim’s fiction as all of her novels are these stanzas for her poem “Singapore River”: “The
set in the past, dealing with past exper iences, whether in operation was massive/ designed to give new life/ to the
Singapore of the 50s and 60s or Malaya in the late 19 th and old lady. We have cleaned out/ Her arteries, removed/
early 20 th centuries (Quayum, 2007: 198). The River’s Song detritus and slit,/ created a by-pass/ for the old blood./
was based on one of Lim’s most heart-breaking memory of Now you can hardly tell/ her history.” The poet laments
Singapore. Lim was haunted for a long time by the image the blind ignorance of the consequence of the cleaning
of a wiry, bare-chested, sun-browned man crouched among process to the river’s
his pots of wilting chilli plants, his lost and vacant eyes historical value.
gazing through the railings of a 12-storey apartment block It is a love story set during the 1970s clean-up of the
(Damyanti, 2013). In the writer’s own words: Singapore River that moved hundreds of hawkers and
coolies out of the area. The novel is Lim’s tribute to
Many years ago, a family that was evicted from their the Singapore River she grew up with and which the
vegetable farm along the Singapore River moved current generation knows little of: a noisy conclave of
into a three-room flat on the tenth floor of a public- ware-houses, boat-building shops, traders, hawkers,
housing block. Their floor had a common corridor entertainers and coolies who eked out livelihoods
that led to the lift. Every morning on my way to take on the riverbanks (Nanda, 2013). She was inspired
the lift, I had to pass their flat. And every morning by memories of the vendors and boat builders she
I saw the father of that family, a gaunt, silent man encountered as a young girl more than 50 years ago
with a grim and sun-burnt face, crouched among his on the banks of the Singapore River during primary
six pots of wilting spring onion and chili plants, his school field trips organised by her geography teacher at
vacant eyes gazing through the iron railings at the the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus School in
concrete blocks of flats as he pulled at his cigarette. Victoria Street (“Oh, the places Singapore tales go,”
This man’s suppressed grief, part of the cost of 2013). The description of the Singapore River even
development in Singapore, is one of my most heart- appears in Hwee Hwee Tan’s Foreign Bodies (1997).
breaking memories of this city.(Handal, 2015) Mei, the central character in the novel describes
This image appeared in the novel in the form of Wong the following: “I could see the Singapore river from
Fook Weng’s father Uncle Chong Suk who “collapsed in the where I sat. Fifteen years earlier, refuse from the Clarke
corridor outside, near his chilli plants” (Lim, 2013: 177). Quay hawker centre had bobbed along the river –
“The memory of his father’s listless figure crouched in the plastic cups, straws, half-eaten noodles, Coke cans, the
common corridor outside their flat, gazing vacantly down at Straits Times, the Yellow pages and other sheets of oil-
the car park below through the bars of iron railing tore his stained paper used to wrap food. But today the river
heart” (p. 177). was as clean and green as the rest of the country” (p.
147).

.

21

Photo by Goodreads.comACADEMY OF LANGUAGE STUDIES UITMCT

ThnLeeaeahsneraetdlhiyafKdrveioeutfiffsoielaiwnbysuEsnftheaqprronF(tiouYoConveefddmoaeltrbikgholerhlwruEriconomcedwutpitkanoelneen1waeodi”eun,dmtY9TralrEehthrluy28neS(hiusbeyonisepCw07ci.nneeta1qnvnash1,iachntiT9oeiuggrgh4anSrartaol7oinowaas.hiosb)ililnvvr7oenm”qptl.pHenaoeiedtmraik,Hutgoeen(rnTdmlstshniedv.faCarrrh2,aseakuhredcespesteefntl0anothsPtpne,uawsofdhaonRhte1muorcuidardaierrthaeno4gcian“oecodbMlersvlclto)fooivic1se,,temel1ethk.nwhsitnaeeRd9i2adrt9cneeensisssrThagan7s0tiwsw7hskhyovihsrhce01t-feh7sdoopsiwewheaoulueste4patioseafhurser(.ihPvplrli)tsaliuOrGyeotlgmrbn.eeSaluIcadnhsydsetuituLiowPeoonvobrvi-oangsndmeubweeem“vunlhdemwavseegilerirgetenpctaasoeamsnabampharr,KwlsopcaaaaesnolisowUetam1eacrmatnta,eokpatomfnedltwt0unlta2htreoteiieelsitetseslooe0areeaalnhemxafvhyrisnnnnl1nfyrahfttgeeeaoerfRPheitr4gogtorwadaaoewooeorrei:oSwtiprnwuts$mvrmfrifkfRa2tsehelmo.dyn1eeadhkaedd5ctlBieTleirrl7nidbvrheelreLene7efvuohm0meedroeedti)rgeceMcstatrneM.fuimleegua.eemaptrovertMgbtcodeirddnksoeirraiInKoolywytvi4ntoaretnerlahvkrioruu0laoiljtatLes-bciieetsLeeahdh0tnlatvnvoruhaeitsldeeocvreensen0eeeeednn-p.eetptyeerrr,
to a new lighter anchorage at Pasir
Panjang by the Port of Singapore

pcolootthlsioeasunsadanlnlidivdvetebhss:oeto2iar9ctofk5baf9um(Npislioqdaliluenelruasdst,tarteanee,dnmro2dst0moa1btvonu3oedd)amdr.tutmaefhbnrneebodtinimirso,rhfnsuattebmhchtvhlbeeeeiielrasribarheisvleoushed,tabtru5.shos0niaBmaws0nddtae0edrsAlonetelhouidfdctaatesstbswhohmfbeonakaearraednismLlrrtrltksyiiuefvem.sadanercnF’sgsrnst,edeowoivrdnuaretehngylhsrf-odereasonoamillpruirdmtvecemhfeerhalboadltmb,irhtuneotoieisshgrrlfaifsebenao,mvsandfwce,nldughosetkdeeoaursotvknnmateaea-nhbrlurnaseelasnepdosrl,
arPBTenroeaodsdcftge”oBsrn(saoDcobolruukatdLstceaiolo,-ypAfSyRu2s.ac0onh1seee5,n”T2oCb0py1he8rK,)is.iLtrFiiknmouersmtLhRiaomeksv’eesisewlwa“hthseo,isstUhtonaSrvoyeivsepylseeiwtrmsthoopinlcryahelauhd…napistu,abtgedjooeoyntwotsnoteahltebeeclanetce.ehdaInraaesntshtdoebnaoeworooikvfreds“tts1oin0rog0ef

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THE CHRONICLES 2020
References
• Choo, F. (2014). 5 interesting facts about the Singapore River clean-up. Retrieved October 28,

2014 from www.straitstimes.com.
• Damyanti. (2013). Suchen Christine Lim talks about writing in Singapore. Daily (w)rite. Re-

trieved October 28, 2014 from damyantiwrites.wordpress.com.
• Dutta-Asane, S. (2018). Writing matters: In conversation with Suchen Christine Lim. Retrieved

September 8, 2018 from https:kitab.org
• Handal, N. (2015). The city and the writer: In Singapore with Suchen Christine Lim. Retrieved

August 9, 2018 from https://www.wordswithoutborders.org
• Lim, S. C. (2013). The river’s song. Twickenham, UK: Aurora Metro Books.
• Nanda, A. (2013). In tune with change. Retrieved November 3, 2013 from www.sundaytimes.

com.
• Ng, Y. S. (n.d.). Interview with Suchen Christine Lim. Writing the city. Retrieved March 29,

2012 from http://civiclife.sg/writingthecity
• Oh, the places Singapore tales go. (2013). Retrieved November 1, 2014 from http:thestraits-

times.com
• Overaa, R. B. (2014). The river’s song. Asiatic, 8 (1) (June 2014), 257 – 260. Retrieved October

28, 2014 from asiatic.iium.edu.my
• Quayum, M. A. (ed.) (2007). Peninsular muse: Interviews with modern Malaysian and Singa-

porean poets, novelists and dramatists (pp. 187 – 204). Switzerland: Peter Lang.

23
Photo by Henry & Co. on Unsplash
Photo by Mike Enerio on Unsplash

ACADEMY OF LANGUAGE STUDIES UITMCT

PAINTING WITH PAPER:
PAPER ON THE EDGE by
Yulia Brodskaya

A review by: Wan Najmiyyah Wan Md
Adnan

I have to confess that I was Yulia Brodskaya’s
avid fan long before she wrote the book.
My passion was in paper arts and I first
found her as a paper artist around 2007-

2008. Hence, when I found out the she
was writing a book, I consistently kept
checking her book updates. When the
book finally reached me, I was definitely

not disappointed. I was actually surprised
at how well-thought out this book was.
At first glance, the book was very visual,
vibrant and not a typical coffee-table
book. Reading this book brought so much
joy and inspirations.
Yulia Brodskaya is a Russian artist based in the UK. She is an established paper artist,
a professional graphic designer and also a talented illustrator. Her main passion revolves around
the use of paper as a form of art. She received her well-deserved fame when she did contemporary
interpretations of quilling – by forming unique art designs through the use of colourful paper pieces.
Over the years she has received a lot of recognitions from established brands collaboration.
The content of Painting with Paper: Paper on the Edge
is divided into five chapters: Introduction, Paper
Lettering, Inspiration from Nature, Portraits, Longer
Pieces and Final Words. The book starts with an
introduction about herself, how she started and how
she finally established herself as an artist. The rest of
the book content is a series of self-reflections – she
tells stories and inspirations behind each and every
artwork that she produced. Paper Lettering told how
she started the paper exploration in typography, and
later it moves to how she gets inspiration from nature.
Her evolvement as an artist continued when she started
experimenting with paper on portraits and the book
then moves to her current love of exploring the longer
and bigger pieces of paper strips in her works.

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THE CHRONICLES 2020
What I love about this book is how she consistently
emphasises that she is not creating paper craft, but
she is painting with paper. Reading this book was like
reading her art journey, and each chapter portrays an
insight into her experience and creative processes,
the mistakes that she encountered and how to move
forward from them. You would feel like you are
taking a peek into a brilliant artist’s mind. It actually
made me reflects on my own life as this book always
highlights on the importance of having inspiration,
self-discipline and never-give-up attitude. She is
also very generous in sharing practical tips about
her paper art methods and how she did her detailed
research when working on her pieces.
I would describe the language that she uses in this
book as very enticing – even poetic at times. If you
are visual individuals, this book would be immensely
attractive as the vibrant colours of every page gave
it a very significant identity. You do not have to be
an artist or a designer to appreciate beautiful things.
On the other hand, for those who appreciate good
writing, this book would also quench your thirst for
its enjoyable story-telling.
All in all, this book triggers me to get in touch with my creativity and to create unique expression of

myself rather than a replica
of someone else’s vision.
To quote the author, “We
become good at whatever
we practice, so the key is to
keep going no matter what; to
know that every moment you
are exactly where you need to
be, and to enjoy the journey
as much as possible.” (p. 176)

25

ACADEMY OF LANGUAGE STUDIES UITMCT

Breathe (Beni Rusani)

A review by Najlaa’ Nasuha binti Mohd Radin

“Death is constant.Time is the only variable” Mad Doc

Breathe by Beni Rusani is one of the locally published medical
English novels that received a noticeable fame on Twitter when
it was first published in 2017. Observing its limelight, I ended up
with a copy of the novel a few months after its debut.

Being narrated from the third point of view, reading the novel
somehow made me feel closer towards its protagonist, Dr Adam.
Despite being portrayed as an experienced, good looking and
successful cardiologist at the University Hospital, Dr Adam too,
like other normal human beings, is dealing with his own ultimate
unspoken misery; a failing marriage.

An unfortunate event hits Dr Adam’s life when he gets an
unexpected cardiac arrest which leaves him in dire straits of his life. A
series of flashbacks unfold the whole plot of the novel; from his life as an
undergraduate medical student to his early days of reporting duty as a
junior doctor, how he met his wife, Julia, the special bond that he has with
his once senior colleague-then-becoming his close friend, the Mad Doc
and all the patients who were significant throughout his career.

Surrounded by other secondary characters, an inspiring Professor
Black, an unforgettable Dr Adam’s first love; Julia, the mysterious and
unpredictable Mad Doc, the twin patients; Nadia and Diana makes the
storyline interesting and gives me overwhelming feelings.

The awe inspiring quotes, dramatic storyline, thrilling medical suspense and
fantastic plot twists captivate my undivided attention until its last page. A story
of survival and second chances was well portrayed in Dr Adam’s struggles to

gasp for air is worth reading for!

26 Photo from the Goodreads

THE CHRONICLES 2020

Reclaim your heart by Yasmin Mogahed

A review by Nooryuhanis binti Hashim

After almost two months, I am exultant to announce that finally, I managed
to finish the book. What a journey to finish the book! Is it worth to read the
book? Ironically, my answer is YES despite of the time that I have taken to
finish reading it. I do learn a lot about MYSELF from this book. Many reviews
said that this book is sort of like self-manual where it helps you to fix you
yourself. I do agree with them, because this book helps me to realize many
things which I have never thought off. Let’s start with the author, who is a
well-known speaker and most of her writings focuses mainly in spiritual and
personal development and she is Yasmen Mogahed. I have heard about her
magnificent achievements long ago, but none triggered me to read any of her
writings or getting to know her before, lo and behold! look where am I now,
reviewing her book.

This book entitled Reclaim Your Heart was first published in year 2012, and
now it is still a best-selling book. Can you imagine that this book is still hot in the market? Wow? What could
be its content that make people go CRAZY over it? This book is not like ordinary book with hard cover and
thick pages, but it is similar to the size of note book and it has only 168 pages only. Yes, only 168 pages, but the
content is worth reading. Mostly written based on her experience, daily situations and others’ experience, she
wrote them beautifully where she also included some Quran verses and hadiths to support her opinions. This is
the best part because as Muslim, these two are our life manuals. The book is about how you can Own your heart
after encountering many in this life; love, loss, happiness, pain and emptiness. Basically, this book opens up the
heart to see the TRUE LOVE because this world is full of deceptive traps.

When I said that Yasmin used her experience as the content of her writing, she shared one beautiful du’a which
was given by her reader. The du’a says “May Allah have shown you your HOME IN JANNAH so any hardship is
made easy on you”. This du’a really strikes me, even now, I feel overwhelmed and I literally cried when I shared
this du’a during my book review session. The feeling is indescribable because who would’ve thought that we will
be given a place in Jannah or more or less, a home because we are a sinner and may Allah have mercy upon us
and reward us a place in Jannah. Being married for almost 8 years, every day, every minute and every second,
there is always new thing to learn and to adapt. There is one part in this book where it mentions the husband-
wife relationship in which the husband would expect the wife to show more respect and the wife would expect
the husband to show more love towards her. Little did we know that, these two are reciprocal. Yes! They are
reciprocal when each one shows unconditional love and respect. This makes sense now when Islam teaches its
believer, especially the husband to be very kind towards family and the wife to obey to the husband.

Yasmin and her thoughts magically bring me to think of many things – my life, my struggles and my relationship
with both Allah and other people. We were told to do some reflections before sleeping and yes, this book has
actually awakened me that the trivial action- reflection, does give big impact for me to be a better person.
Overlooked matters such as the society (ummah), and technology (Facebook and other social media) are also
mentioned. If I were to explain every single part of the book, it would be lackluster for you to enjoy reading the
book. Before I finish my review, I personally love the way Yasmin consistently reminds the purpose of living in
this world. Everything that we do, starts with a purpose. So, ask yourself, what is the purpose of you reading the
book? As for me, I have found my purpose and I hope you will find yours too!

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash 27

ACADEMY OF LANGUAGE STUDIES UITMCT

Chasing the

Aurora

by Roszainora Setia

28Photo by Sami Takarautio on Unsplash

THE CHRONICLES 2020

Oh my oh my
Such a beautiful sight to savor
A magnificent generous gift of nature
Into the unspoilt Lapland icy ❄ forest we went
A truly winter wonderland endeavour
Tinted with various shades of green & blue
Filled with stars after sunsets
Breathed in the frosty ☃ air
Aren’t we exceptionally pleasurable lucky?
To witness the balletic dancing northern lights?

Aurora has always been on my-to-see-wish list. I obviously didn’t care much about it when I was little.
In Dec 2016 when we were in Iceland I had a missed out on the experience, onceagain to the dismay
of my boy. It’s the day I was blessed enough to “partly” witnessed the aurora borealis. Partly? Well, it’s
because I wasn’t keen to leave my bedroom to a -2’c outside in the middle of the night. Unlike other
people, there’re days that am not that excited over something. I took a photo of its hint of arrival before I
went to bed. Then I woke up to go to the toilet maybe around 2 am -ish. I knew I saw it outside the huge
kitchen window but I was half asleep contented with just that and went back to bed. Told my buddy
casually bout it the next day. The locals confirmed yupp it did come the night before. It was really the
northern lights that I saw! Do I still love it even though I didn’t drag myself out to the lone field to fully
experience it in its full splendour? Yes you bet I do!
I chatted to a couple from Wales who without fail come to Iceland every year just to witness the
phenomenon. Such a dedication! There were years of waiting yet sometimes it didn’t show.
You might wonder why you can’t be sure of the occurrence of aurora? Well, for one thing it’s a natural
phenomenon which only God can control. It depends on seasonal and daily variations in aurora
prediction index. If it’s cloudy you can’t see it.

29

ACADEMY OF LANGUAGE STUDIES UITMCT

between electrically charged particles released from the sun that enter the earth’s atmosphere and collide
with gases such as oxygen and nitrogen. The lights are seen around the magnetic poles of the northern
and southern hemispheres.
The aurora borealis (northern lights) form when charged particles emitted from the sun during a solar
flare penetrate the earth’s magnetic shield and collide with atoms and molecules in our atmosphere.
These collisions result in countless little bursts of light, called photons, which make up the aurora.
The aurora borealis most commonly occur between 60°-75° latitude, but during great geomagnetic
storms the auroral oval expands equatorially and can reach 30° latitude or further. In the northern
hemisphere they are called the aurora borealis (northern lights) and in the southern hemisphere aurora
australis (southern lights).
An auroral display might be observed any night from dusk until dawn as long as it is dark, which
excludes Alaskan summer nights (May-July). The best time to view them is between midnight and 2 am.
During the previous semester break, after saving some bucks, off I went to the Arctic Circle other than
my boy’s request, hoping that maybe the aurora would come out and play. It is after all, for some, an
experience you should witness with your own eyes at least once in a lifetime. So on the night of 12 Feb
2019 I decided to join an excursion to watch the northern lights in the Lappish forest on an icy frozen
lake about 30 kms from the centre of Rovaniemi. Why we need to go further away from the city? It is
because Rovaniemi is such a vibrant city with lights all over and aurora wouldn’t be too clear with all
the light pollution.
So off we went towards the silent Lappish forests, while waiting we had fire grilled Lappish gingerbread
with cheese and herbs hot tea. Legends of aurora are many. The Samis used to think that the Northern
Lights were living beings with a soul and ability to hear and understand the humans.
During the faster movements of the Northern Lights no-one was allowed to make noises or talk loud.
And you could not point them with your finger either. This reminds me of our own legend that we can’t
point finger to the rainbows. If you insulted the Northern Lights you could be attacked by them and
punished.

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THE CHRONICLES 2020

According to the Sami legend, the Aurora Borealis was married to the daughter of the moon much to
the fury of the sun.
The Sámi people (also spelled Saami) are a Finno-Ugric people inhabiting Sápmi, which today
encompasses large parts of Norway and Sweden, northern parts of Finland, and the Murmansk Oblast
of Russia. The Sámi have historically been known in English as Lapps or Laplanders.
The Samis tell a story about Niekija, the daughter of the moon, who fell in love with the Northern Lights.
She was very pretty with a round face and red cheeks and her hair had the color of silver. The story tells
she shined and glittered when she moved. She rejected the son of the sun, & married the Northern
Light. After a while when the Northern Light was away with his brothers, Niekija was banished by the
sun to go back to the moon. Northern Light and his brothers continued to protect Niekija from the
wrath of the sun and his son. Since then, Niekija continues to watch the sky and the Northern Lights
for ever.
For me, it was quite an experience standing on miles of a frozen lake with total darkness but dotted with
more stars than you could imagine to see. Suddenly, a green smudge of light makes its shy appearance
as if saying hello to me and slowly manifests itself into dancing master of shimmering green light later
dominates the sky. MasyaAllah! What a beautiful sight!
In the holy Quran, there are ayaah which may be hinting these:

And He it is who has set for you the stars that you may guide yourselves by them in the darkness
of the land and the sea. We have detailed Our messages for a people who possess knowledge.
6:97
Do they then not travel through the Earth, so that their minds gain wisdom and their ears thus
learn to hear? 22:46
I feel so fortunate and blessed to be able to witness Aurora Borealis and have it crossed in my lists. Time
for another adventure!

Photo by Johny Goerend on Unsplash 31

ACADEMY OF LANGUAGE STUDIES UITMCT

Intriguing Iceland (Pictorial)

by Roszainora Setia

Part 1:
We are about to land. What a magnificent view down there! Since I still have some time left before I switched off
my gadgets, might as well I check on the prayer times to prepare ourselves once landed. I took out my notebook
and write the times. Oh my…Fajr prayer starts at 0320 am. And sunrise is at 0600 am. 1327 pm- dhur ; 1715pm
- asr ; 2046 pm – maghrib; and finally 2324 pm - isya. It is extremely cold, I could foresee the boy trying hard
not to fall asleep before isya.
For no specific reason other than accommodating my dear family members, Datin Rosina and Amy’s preference
of places to embark on our adventure and the name ‘Leifur Eíriksson’ enticing me, I decided to set my foot on
the land of fire and ice ❄ again after less than a year, much amusement indeed to my family.

Top picture: I took it on flight about 11 am and it is After having a quick snack and coffee, we collected
on South Iceland. We left Oslo around 9.45 am on our 4wd vehicle at Sixt. Its own striking orange
that day, which is just the right time. We could see building can be visibly clear from the airport lobby.
the volcano and hot springs steaming. I believe We could literally walk there but we still opt to
that’s the ring road we see. Look at that tiny string take the free shuttle as it’s very cold even basking
(the only road) and how most area is uninhabited. under the bright afternoon sun. Obviously, the sun
I’m glad I made that choice as the trip proves to be is tame here. We are excited and could not wait for
awesome. our adventure to begin.

We arrived at Keflavik airport and went pass im-
migration smoothly. I decided to withdraw money
here, as it is easier. It would be very difficult to get
cash once we are on the road in nowhere later.

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Friends and relatives keep asking me to share the
experience of planning and carrying on with the
journey. Most of them are interested to know more
about the cost of the trip.
Well, for a start, you could get return flight tickets to
Iceland RM500 with low cost flights and basic car
rental may only set you back to RM600 for 5 days.
However, those types of tickets and choice of cars,
didn’t suit my troops, time, purpose, comfort, and
destinations. First of all I have with me an elderly
(who is active and bubbly) and the boy who can be
fussy at times (*chuckled).
In general, we spent about RM3500 on specific
car (including full coverage insurance, petrol and
additional needs) and RM900 on return tickets with
Icelandair (as we only select departure and arrival
times that are convenient to us and our connecting
flights) which we are extremely satisfied and happy
about.

The boy had fun running around here. That’s
the old Garðskagi Lighthouse which was built
in 1897. It is now used as a centre for studying
the thousands of migrating birds - arrive there
from Greenland and North America every year
to breed on the surrounding shore. That church
there told a devastating story of hundreds of
icelandic seamen drown in1685

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ACADEMY OF LANGUAGE STUDIES UITMCT

Had our lunch and head straight to our 1st pit stop-
Garður -municipality and town located in south-
western Iceland, bordered by the Faxaflói Bay on
the Southern Peninsula.Gardur-means garden/
yard- named after one of the many earthen walls
once erected on the boundaries between properties.
Sandgerði is one of the Iceland’s major fishing com-
munities and is located on the very northern tip of
the peninsula. Population less than two thousand.
Its vast area implies the very limited number of
human you could see in kilometres.

Bridge between continents : Bridge between Europe Iceland´s largest mud pool-highest up in the Gunnuhver
and North America on Reykjanes peninsula. Situated group. It is 20 meters wide across a rim of mud, boiling
in Sandvík - small footbridge over a major fissure vigorously-close to Reykjanes lighthouse. Named
which provides clear evidence of the presence of a Gunnuhver after a female ghost that was laid there. She had
diverging plate margin. Now I could say “I just went caused great disturbance until a priest set a trap for her and
from Europe to North America in a jiffy!” she fell into the spring. This happened about 400 years ago.

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THE CHRONICLES 2020

Next - Grindavík-one of the few cities with a harbour
at this coast. Most of the inhabitants work in the fishing
industry. The Blue Lagoon, Grindavík’s premiere
attraction, is located 3 miles (4.8 km) from the town
centre

Bleu Lagoon/Blue Lagoon/Bláa lónið is a geothermal
spa located in a lava field in Grindavík

Gunnuhver-the ghost in the hot springs. But the one 35
in blue is not a ghost! That’s the boy

ACADEMY OF LANGUAGE STUDIES UITMCT
Then we stopped by at Seltun. It is so much different from other geothermal plac-
es- this one looks like Mars!

Kleifarvatn is the largest lake on the Reykjanes Peninsula-about
10 km²

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THE CHRONICLES 2020
These are on our way from Hafnarfjörður going back to
Reykjavík. Hafnarfjörður (a port town in southwest coast)
-about 10 km south of Reykjavík- It is the third-most
populous city in Iceland, after Reykjavík and Kópavogur)
Grindavík, Krýsuvík, Selatangar, Festarfjall and
seemingly endless lava fields are among places we get
to see.

Completing our Reykjanes route, we were
happy to be able to rest well in our apartment
which is conveniently located in the city
centre right behind the Hallgrimskirja

37

ACADEMY OF LANGUAGE STUDIES UITMCT Photo from UiTM Sarawak

MDAB DAN KEBERKESANANNYA SEBAGAI PROGRAM
ALTERNATIF KEPADA KECICIRAN LEPASAN SPM:

SATU PERSPEKTIF UMUM
Mohd Ariff Nafizi Ibrahim

MDAB merupakan satu program yang dibangunkan oleh bekas Timbalan Cancelor UiTM iaitu YBhg. Tan
Sri Dato’ Sri Professor (Ir.) Dr. Sahol Hamid Abu Bakar dan ianya adalah titik tolak kepada cetusan idea oleh
bekas Perdana Menteri Malaysia yang ke-6 iaitu YAB Datuk Seri Haji Mohd Najib Tun Haji Abdul Razak.
Merupakan satu alternatif kepada lepasan SPM yang tidak mendapat keputusan yang memberangsangkang,
MDAB telah menjadu satu inisiatif yang dijalankan oleh UiTM secara umumnya sebagai salah satu tanggu-
ngjawab sosial korporatnya terutama sekali dalam usaha mengatasi masalah keciciran lepasan SPM yang
terutamanya mereka yang terdiri daripada kumpulan B40.
Secara amnya, melalui MDAB, terdapat dua program yang ditawarkan iaitu Pra Perdagangan yang dikhusus-
kan kepada lepasan SPM yang mengambil aliran sains sosial dan bagi mereka yang mengambil aliran sains
pula, Pra Sains turut ditawarkan sebagai pilihan. Kelayakan minimum yang diperlukan oleh calon pelajar
Pra Perdagangan adalah mendapat kredit bagi tiga mata pelajaran yang diduduki sewaktu SPM serta lulus
Bahasa Inggeris dan Matematik. Kelayakan yang sama juga diperlukan bagi membolehkan calon pelajar Pra
Sains layak untuk memohon program tersebut. Walau bagaimanapun, mereka ini perlulah mendapat kredit
bagi mata pelajaran Matematik dan lulus salah satu daripada tiga mata pelajaran sains iaitu fizik, kimia atau
biologi.
Berdasarkan rekod, MDAB telah dijalankan di UiTM Cawangan Terengganu (UiTMCT) seawal tahun 2011.
Sepanjang tempoh tersebut, terdapat pelbagai cerita suka-duka yang dikongsi oleh para pensyarah yang ter-
libat dalam proses pengajaran dan pembelajaran kumpulan pelajar MDAB ini memandangkan pencapaian
mereka dalam peperiksaan SPM. Secara amnya juga, perkongsian ini sedikit sebanyak turut menimbulkan
persepsi yang kurang menyenangkan terhadap kumpulan pelajar ini. Oleh yang demikian, berdasarkan rekod
yang telah berjaya diselidiki melalui rujukan nombor pelajar yang disemak melalui sistem Student Informa-
tion Management System (SIMS), satu kajian ringkas telah dijalankan untuk mengenalpasti tahap pencapaian
bekas pelajar MDAB yang pernah mengikuti program tersebut sepanjang sesi akademik Jun 2011 sehingga
Mac 2018 yang lalu. Berikut merupakan data bekas pelajar MDAB yang berjaya diperolehi berdasarkan SIMS:

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THE CHRONICLES 2020

Merujuk kepada data bekas pelajar MDAB yang Pra Sains juga merupakan program alternatif
berjaya diperolehi berdasarkan SIMS, jumlah yang boleh membantu mangatasi masalah
bekas pelajar MDAB UiTMCT ialah 1924 orang, keciciran lepasan SPM khususnya daripada
satu jumlah yang agak besar. Daripada jumlah aliran sains walaupun purata pencapaian status
tersebut, 1470 (76.40%) orang daripada mereka LNT bekas pelajar program ini adalah rendah.
merupakan bekas pelajar Pra Perdagangan, Seramai 529 (44.27%) bekas pelajar MDAB
manakala 464 (23.60%) orang lagi merupakan Pra Perdagangan telah menamatkan pengajian
bekas pelajar Pra Sains. mereka di peringkat diploma dalam kepelbagaian
Terdapat 1195 (81.29%) bekas pelajar Pra bidang sscial sains di UiTM.dan 317 (26.53%)
Perdagangan berjaya memperolehi status LNT bekas pelajar program ini masih dalam tempoh
dan seramai 275 (18.71%) daripada mereka pengajian mereka. Selain itu juga,terdapat hanya
gagal untuk mencapai status tersebut dan 29.2% bekas pelajar MDAB Pra Perdagangan
tidak dapat meneruskan pengajian mereka di telah gagal dan tidak meneruskan lagi pengajian
peringkat diploma. Seramai 232 (51.10%) pelajar mereka. Ini sekali lagi membuktikan bahawa
telah berjaya melanjutkan pengajian mereka Pra Perdagangan merupakan program alternatif
ke peringkat diploma dan 222 (48.90%) pelajar yang membantu mengatasi maslah keciciran
lagi gagal untuk berbuat demikian. Berdasarkan lepasan SPM yang bukan daripada aliran sains.
kepada peratusan tersebut, rumusan yang boleh Oleh yang demikian, berdasarkan daripada
dibuat terhadap program Pra Perdagangan ialah penelitian terhadap perincian peratusan yang
ianya merupakan program alternatif yang boleh dinyatakan di atas, satu rumusan boleh dibuat
membantu lepasan SPM yang mendapat keputusan iaitu kedua-dua program MDAB ini secara
yang kurang memuaskan untuk menyambung dasarnya mampu menjadi program alternatif
pengajian mereka ke peringkat diploma kepada lepasan SPM yang mendapat keputusan
memandangkan purata pencapaian bekas pelajar yang kurang memuaskan. Walau bagaimanapun,
ini yang berjaya mencapai status LNT adalah bagi menangani para pelajar ini sepanjang
81.87%, Walau bagaimanapun, purata pencapaian proses pengajaran dan pembelajaran merupakan
LNT bagi bekas pelajar Pra Sains adalah 37.19% satu aspek yang sangat berbeza berbanding
manakala purata pelajar yang gagal melanjutkan dengan pandangan yang diutarakan tentang
pelajaran mereka ke peringkat diploma pula ialah pencapaian yang mampu dicapai oleh mereka.
21.89%. Ini secara tidak langsung menunjukkan Ternyata, ianya bukan mudah dan hanya mereka
tahap kesukaran program tersebut serta kualiti yang pernah bergelar pensyarah kepada para
yang ditawarkan kerana objektif asalnya adalah pelajar MDAB ini sahaja mempunyai sisi yang
untuk membolehkan bekas pelajar program sedemikian. Buat mereka ini, teruskanlah usaha
Pra Sains lebih bersedia untuk menyambung membawa pelajar MDAB ini ke satu arah yang
pelajaran mereka di peringkat diploma UiTM lebih baik kerana hasilnya tetap ada. Insya Allah.
dalam kepelbagaian bidang berasaskan sains serta
menjamin kelangsungan pencapaian mereka
dalam meneruskan pengajian.

39

ACADEMY OF LANGUAGE STUDIES UITMCT Photo by Anreas Kind on Unsplash

The future
is here. It’s
time for you
to embrace
changes!

By: Norhayati Husin, Nurul Amilin Razawi, Nur Hafizah Rabi’ah Husin

40

THE CHRONICLES 2020

The coronavirus pandemic has affected almost every aspect of everyone’s lives throughout
the world. One of the aspects getting a direct impact of such a situation is on the education
instruction. It can be clearly seen that COVID-19 has changed the traditional teaching
learning instruction in education, and people also realize that learning is not only restricted
to the physical classroom. In a report, the United Nation stated that the ‘education disruption
has had, and will continue to have, substantial effects beyond education’ (United Nations,
2020). The main issue is about the transformations needed to be done in order to ensure a
harmonious synergy among educators, students, policy makers, academic institutions and
society in adapting to the new norms of living. As educators, we do not have the ultimate
power to avoid the changes from coming. What we can do is either to wait and ignore or
plan actions for the unforeseen changes or challenges to come.
The world has been facing arduous new challenges in fulfilling the needs of “updated”
education that is different from the way it was taught to the educators. In order to keep up
with the changing needs of students, it is utmost important that educators get prepared
to keep up with the changes and not be left behind. With the COVID-19 pandemic
which is considered as the mega maleficent of the 21st century (Mustapha, 2020), it has
caused the biggest education disruption in history, a giant leap from offline instructions
to online, affecting everyone involved within the educational system. This interruption
has caused negative impacts on educators, especially those with limited conditions. Some
of these limitations are in terms of readiness, digital skills, connectivity and environment,
especially when work had to be conducted at home.
Last year, most of the tertiary learning institutions in Malaysia underwent their 1st online
learning. Lecturers had no choice but to adapt themselves to this sudden change as well as
ensure effective delivery of online content and learning. Mason (2020), posed a question
on how educators can transition into this modality and at the same time ensure students
are motivated and engaged in quality learning? With the sudden transition, some managed
to pull off interesting methods of delivery, for example recorded lectures and the use of
different online platforms. Some others still struggled to keep up with the changes.
After the first term or semester was over, many stories were unfolded, some are happy ones
and some are not. Some lecturers who are IT savvy enjoyed this teaching method as they
could use a variety of mediums to make online lessons more interesting. Not to mention
the flexibility of time and space, also provided them the ease to work and interact with
the students. However, for others, especially young educators, teaching from home during
the pandemic had given them a great challenge and slight headache when they were also
automatically bound with the house chores and kids needed to be taken care of. They had
the concern to keep everything running smoothly without neglecting their kids or work
responsibilities, which was quite impossible to be accomplished to some. According to
a survey done by “The Impact of Covid-19” (2020, as cited in Leonhardt, 2020), 54% of
working parents claim that they feel guilty because they could not fully take care of their
children, while 43% reported feeling guilty when they were caring for their families and
could not fully focus on their work responsibilities. Other than technical issues, some
were also disrupted by their environment such as noisy housing areas, interruption from
their family members or some might even have to do a part time job to financially help
their family who got affected from the pandemic.

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ACADEMY OF LANGUAGE STUDIES UITMCT

It needs to be highlighted that changes will inevitably Some students might appreciate learning better when
come, following new and current demands the educators ask them to do autonomous learning while
students need in order to survive in the current some others might want to be dependent on the
time and future.The new demands in tertiary educators. This is important especially now when
education can be due to several reasons such as they are learning at their own space and pace and
rising aspirations, changing patterns of employment where teachers have limited access to help them in
and careers and rising incomes and wealth (Kaneko real meetings.
& Kitamura, 1995). With these changes, only then On the other hand, educators too should be able to
progress can happen and at the same time ensure learn new learning technologies so as to keep abreast
the lecturers’ professional development continues with the evolution of online distance teaching.
(Burner, 2018). Ali Abi Talib (RA) once said, “Do As much as it has been emphasized on the online
not raise your children the way (your) parents raised platforms for learning, educators should embrace the
you, they were born for a different time”. This saying changes and make a move forward, in line with the
is applicable to lecturers as they need to have suitable technologies. Take as many chances to explore new
teaching instructions for students’ current situation. online teaching and learning platforms, adapt and
Due to this, lecturers must be ready to learn, adapt apply the new knowledge especially when dealing with
and deliver the lessons accordingly. If lecturers do the generation Z, Alpha and the generations to come.
not take any action to prepare themselves, disruption They are the generation who are also known as the
in education will happen, causing substantial effects, children of millennials, those with technology being
extending beyond education instructions stuck in their own identity, and with social media
being an important part of life (Luthra & Mackenzie,
Therefore, educators now should plan and design 2020). They might have better experience of
lessons according to the students’ individual using the technology and that is why
needs and they should be as flexible as possible. educators should be able to be one
As Kamalludeen (2020) points out, the academic step ahead, or at least at par in terms
goals may remain the same for the whole class but of incorporating technology in the
an individual student may progress through the teaching and learning process. Not
lessons at their own speeds and particular learning to forget the technical skills that
needs. This is where students’ learning styles and are involved when setting up the
preferences are taken into account. The design of lessons using
the lessons should be varied to cater to the various
learning styles and preferences. ome students might
understand the lesson better when they are being
exposed to sounds, music and videos while some
others might prefer slides to study.

Photo by NordWood Themes on Unsplash

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THE CHRONICLES 2020

References:
• Burner T. (2018). Why is educational change so
difficult and how can we make it more effective?.
Forskning og Forandring, 1 (1), 122–134. https://doi.
org/10.23865/fof.v1.1081
• Kamalludeen, MR. (2020). Transitioning to the
new normal in education. Retrieved from https://
www.thestar.com.my/opinion/letters/2020/04/28/
transitioning-to-the-new-normal-in-education
• Kaneko, M. and Kitamura, K. (1995). Towards mass
higher education: Access and participation, Country
Case Study - Japan, Mimeo, Ministry of Education,
Science and Culture, Tokyo
• Leonhardt, M. (2020). Parents struggle with
remote learning while working from home: ‘I’m
constantly failing’. Retrieved from https://www.cnbc.
com/2020/09/17/remote-learning-why-parents-feel-
theyre-failing-with-back-to-school-from-home.html
• Luthra, P. & Mackenzie, S. (2020). 4 ways COVID-19
could change how we educate future generations.
Retrieved from https://www.weforum.org/
agenda/2020/03/4-ways-covid-19-education-future-
generations/
• Mason, J. (2020). Adapting Teaching Skills to an
Online Environment. Retrieved from https://
evolllution.com/revenue-streams/distance_online_
learning/adapting-teaching-skills-to-an-online-
environment/
• Mustapha, R. (2020). Challenges of online teaching.
Retrieved from: https://www.nst.com.my/opinion/
columnists/2020/06/596794/challenges-online-
teaching. June 1, 2020
• UNICEF (2020). Childcare in a global crisis:
the impact of COVID-19 on work and family
life. Retrieved from https://www.unicef-irc.org/
article/2027-40-million-children-miss-out-on-early-
education-in-critical-pre-school-year-due-to.html
• United Nations (2020). Policy Brief: Education during
COVID-19 and beyond. Retrieved from https://
www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/sg_policy_brief_
covid-19_and_education_august_2020.pdf

Photo by Thomas Spark on Unsplash 43

ACADEMY OF LANGUAGE STUDIES UITMCT

Aktiviti Biro Penulisan, Penyelidikan, Penerbitan,
Perundingan, & Inovasi APB 2020

oleh: Wan Najmiyyah Wan Md Adnan

Biro Penulisan, Penyelidikan, Penerbitan, Biro ini juga berjaya mengadakan APB Colloquium
Perundingan, & Inovasi APB (4PI) telah ditubuhkan pada 29 September 2020 juga melalui platform Google
dengan objektif untuk merancang merancang Meet. Seramai 30 staff UiTM Cawangan Terengganu
program bagi menggalakkan penglibatan pensyarah telah menghadiri sisi perkongsian tersebut. Seramai
dengan aktiviti kesarjanaan, berkongsi maklumat empat orang penceramah telah membentangkan
geran penyelidikan, berkongsi peluang untuk kertas kerja. Penceramah pertama ialah Puan Masliza
membentangkan penyelidikan, menguruskan Editing Mat Zali dengan tajuk Interactional Metadiscourse
Committee, menguruskan penerbitan Language Analysis of Evaluative Essay, penceramah kedua
Bulletin dan mengintai dan merebut peluang untuk ialah Cik Wan Najmiyyah Wan Md Adnan dengan
melaksanakan aktiviti kerjasama dengan pelbagai tajuk Social Representations in News Discourse
pihak.Sepanjang tahun 2020, biro ini merancang dan of Countries Affected by Aviation Disaster,
melaksanakan beberapa aktiviti kesarjanaan seperti penceramah ke tiga ialah Dr Goh Ying Soon dengan
Book Review Sharing Session 1 & 2 dan juga APB tajuk Displaying your Professionalism through
Colloquium. Writing Research, Publication and PhD Study, dan
Book Review Sharing Session 1 & 2 merupakan penceramah keempat ialan En. Luqmanulhaqim
perkongsian maklumat dan kemahiran oleh Zulkornain dengan tajuk I Can’t Practice What I
pensyarah-pensyarah Akademi Pengajian Bahasa dan Preach – The Case of English Language Teachers.
Undang-undang di UiTM Cawangan Terengganu, Kehadiran di sesi APB Colloquium juga amatlah
Kampus Dungun. Book Review Sharing Session memuaskan dan rata-rata peserta memberikan
1 telah diadakan pada 10 September 2020 dan respon yang baik dan mengharapkan agar aktiviti
23 September 2020 bermula jam 2.30 petang dan seperti ini dapat diteruskan di masa yang akan
tamat pada jam 4.30 petang, dengan menggunakan datang.
platform Google Meet. Sesi pertama dijayakan oleh Pihak biro berharap perkongsian-perkongsian
tiga pengulas buku yang terdiri daripada Cik Najlaa’ ini dapat meningkatkan lagi pengetahuan dan
Nasuha Mohd Radin dengan buku bertajuk Breathe kemahiran pensyarah-pensyarah di UiTM
oleh Beni Rusani, Puan Nooryuhanis Hashim Terengganu, khususnya pensyarah-pensyarah di
dengan buku bertajuk Reclaim Your Heart oleh Akademi Pengajian Bahasa dan Undang-undang.
Yasmin Mogahed dan Cik Wan Najmiyyah Wan Md Pihak biro juga merancang untuk mengadakan lebih
Adnan dengan buku bertajuk Painting with Paper banyak aktiviti-aktiviti kesarjanaan pada tahun 2021.
oleh Yulia Brodskaya. Sementara itu, sesi kedua Book
Review Sharing Session dijayakan oleh Mr. Wong Photo by Bench Accounting on Unsplash
Hoong Cheong dan Dr Goh Ying Soon dengan buku
bertajuk Shuowen Jiezi, Puan Wan Mardiana Wan
Musa dengan buku bertajuk Isteri Dominan oleh
Bonda Nor dan Farizah Shamsudin, dan Puan Nor
Zaitolakma Abdol Samad dengan buku bertajuk
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory oleh Roald Dahl.
Kehadiran di kedua-dua sesi amatlah baik dan
mendapat sambutan yang menggalakkan.

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THE CHRONICLES 2020

Gunma University and UiTM Cawangan Terengganu;

It is our fourth year!

by: Najlaa’ Nasuha binti Mohd Radin

2020 marks the fourth year of the collaboration between Akademi Pengajian Bahasa UiTM Cawangan
Terengganu with the Office of International Affairs UITM Cawangan Terengganu in conducting English
language classes to the students of Gunma University, Japan.
This time around, a total of 9 Japanese students spent a month of their summer break in UiTM Cawangan
Terengganu, attending the Language and Culture Programme 2020. During the English classes, the Japanese
students were divided into two groups and they had the opportunity to join the English classes with our
local Malaysian UiTM students, conducted by the English lecturer around the campus. Various activities
were conducted by our dedicated and creative English lecturers which include photo scavenger hunt,
photojournalism, newscaster activity, in class presentation of various topics, role plays and many more.
Apart from that, the Japanese students were also given the chance to visit various iconic and famous places
in Terengganu like in Terengganu like Pasar Payang, Terengganu State Museum, Noor Arfa Batik, Pulau
Perhentian. Their taste buds were also taken into adventure with various local Malaysian and Terengganu
delicacies such as durian, nasi lemak, nasi dagang, keropok lekor, lemang, satar and other street foods
which are commonly found at the night market.
The feedback received by the Gunma university students were overwhelmingly positive and most of
them enjoyed the golden opportunity given to them to mingle around, make friends and experience the
Malaysian unique culture, food and language. It is hoped that this collaboration will be continued in the
future to promote our beautiful and unique country to the whole world.

Photo by Kumiko SHIMIZU on Unsplash

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ACADEMY OF LANGUAGE STUDIES UITMCT
A video review by:  

Putri Nur Qamarina Abdul Hafiz, Nur Athasha Syamira Mohd Ali & Wan Najmiyyah Wan Md Adnan 

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THE CHRONICLES 2020

Description:
Putri Nur Qamarina Abdul Hafiz and Nur Athasha Syamira Mohd Ali are currently students in their third
semester of Diploma in Office Management and Technology, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Terengganu
Branch, Dungun Campus. This video review is a class project conducted during ELC231 class, under the
tutelage of APB English lecturer, Wan Najmiyyah Wan Md Adnan.

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ACADEMY OF LANGUAGE STUDIES UITMCT

About “Sanshu”

Wong Hoong Cheong, Dr Goh Ying Soon

Have you ever curious how Chinese characters were created? What is the easiest way to learn Chinese
characters?

Actually the answers to these questions related to the concept called "Sanshu". What does “Sanshu”
mean? “San” means three and “shu” means book. So “Sanshu” literally means three books.

But is “Sanshu” really referring to three books? Of course not! The concept of “Sanshu” refers to the
method of analyzing the structures of Chinese characters and explaining the rationales of the Chinese
characters’ structures.

For example, the Chinese character of the word on teaching is “教” (jiào). Shuowen Jiezi (the original
Han dynasty Chinese character dictionary with 10,516 entries, authored by Xǔ Shèn [许慎] in 2nd century)
explained the meaning of “教” (teaching) as the younger kid followed the actions of the elder. The Lesser seal
(a simplified form of dà zhuàn [大篆], adopted c. 213 BC during the Qin Dynasty for the purpose of
standardizing the script) character of the similar word “教” is displayed as below It can be converted to a
picture and is easier to explain the different components contained in that word.

Hence, the meaning of teaching in Chinese is
the elder holds a stick to guide the child in the study
process. In applying “Sanshu” in learning Chinese
characters, it will sure make learning Chinese
characters easy and fun. For more examples, do visit
http://www.learnchineseeveryday.com/

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THE CHRONICLES 2020

French words in English
by Raja Mariam Raja Baniamin

Considering learning a new foreign language? Why not French?
Believe it or not, you have already got a broad vocabulary of French
because over 10,000 English words originated from la langue française. There are many
words in English and French that are the same or very identical in spelling as well as the meaning.
Here are some common words that you might have come across before. Naturally, you may be able to say the
words with French pronunciation too. Based on the definition given, can you guess the word?

C

Stylish and elegant.

U

Goodbye.

JU

Feeling that one remembers an event or scene that one has not experienced or seen before.

XP

An action or a remark that causes somebody to feel embarrassed because it is not socially correct.

HU

Person employed to drive a car, especially for somebody rich or important.

G

A person who belongs to the middle class.

ÊÀ Ê

A private conversation between two people.

A -G

Preferring or introducing new and very modern ideas and methods.

B I

A bunch of different herbs in a small bag, used in cooking.

AE I E

A kind of perfume that contains a lot of water and does not smell very strong.
(Source of definition : Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary)

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ACADEMY OF LANGUAGE STUDIES UITMCT
oleh: Ahmad Zulfadhli Nokman

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