Khazriyati Salehuddin

An investigation into Malay numeral classifier acquisition through an elicited production task

The act of categorization and labeling is fundamental in human cognition and language development. By studying numeral classifier acquisition, researchers are able to examine how children learn to categorize and label objects in their environment using a constrained framework. The current study investigated the acquisition of eight shape-based numeral classifiers in Malay through an elicited production task in 140 6- to 9-year-old children. The aim was to examine the developmental patterns observed in the production of Malay shape-based numeral classifiers. Results indicated that the ability to produce the correct numeral classifiers is a relatively prolonged process that involves an interaction of a variety factors, including semantic complexity, input frequency, and the formal teaching of numeral classifiers in school.

Eliciting Elements of Higher Order Thinking Skills in the Higher Secondary Examination Question Structure in Japan and Malaysia

This study was aimed at eliciting the elements of Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) in Japan through the Senta Shiken (センター試験, henceforth, SS) examination paper, which is a standardised summative examination at the end of Japanese students’ schooling. The Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (Malaysian Certificate of Education, henceforth, SPM) was also used to compare the structure of examination questions in these two countries. This paper discusses the findings in the experimental session that was carried out in order to identify the experience of students in answering the two forms of examination questions. A total of 3 questions of the Physics subject from the same topic in SPM and SS were selected to be answered by the respondents that comprised of 11 students (3 females and 8 males). The problem-solving process was performed on the computer using the mouse by the respondents and was recorded in the JING application. An interview session was also carried out after the respondents had completed the experimental session in order to help the analysis of the students’ experience when answering the SPM and SS examination questions. Results of the study show that the structure of the SS questions in Japan can encourage students to think more critically compared to the structure of the SPM questions. It is hoped that the findings of this study can provide guidance to the education sector in Malaysia.

Teacher Trainees’ Perspectives of Teaching Graphic Novels to ESL Primary Schoolers

Students in the 21 st century are exposed to multimodal texts, which are texts with the combinations of the modes of prints, images, gestures and movements. Graphic novel is one of the examples of a multimodal text and this genre is introduced in the Language Arts module as part of the English language subject in the new Curriculum for Primary Schools in Malaysia. Hence, it is important that teachers should first be aware of how to make the most of multimodal texts before introducing their pupils to the strategies necessary for comprehending the text. However, without proper training on how to approach the genre, the teaching of graphic novels may pose difficulties for teachers in general and especially so for teacher trainees. This paper reports the findings of a survey conducted on teacher trainees to explore the challenges they faced in teaching graphic novels to primary schoolers. Results show that although the graphics succeeded to entice the pupils into reading the text, the teacher trainee felt that the graphics did not help their pupils in understanding the storyline. The pupils’ eagerness to go through the graphics has caused them to ignore the words in the speech balloons. Consequently this has led to incomprehensible input and misinterpretation of the content. Results from t hese preliminary findings can be used to further investigate the strategies good readers use to read and comprehend graphic novels, so that teacher trainee would be better prepared to utilise graphic novels in their English classes. Keywords: graphic novels; multimodal; teacher trainees; primary pupils; reading graphic novels