Moses Samuel

Headlines in Newspaper Editorials: A Contrastive Study

Newspaper editorials constitute a part of media discourse, which is an extremely important field of research in intercultural rhetoric analysis and EFL (English as a foreign language)/ESL (English as a second language) studies. Specifically, certain features of editorial headlines and also their important role in monitoring and directing readers’ attention have made the interface between the linguistic analysis of newspaper editorial headlines and teaching of EFL as a relevant issue in language teaching. Through conducting a contrastive textual analysis of selected headlines, culled from the editorials of the English newspaper, The New York Times, and those of Persian newspaper, Tehran Times, the present study aimed at exploring the kind of textual and rhetorical strategies the two newspapers used for propagating their preferred ideologies. The results of the study indicated that headlines in the two papers presented a subjective attitude of the writers (newspapers) toward the topic. However, based on the analysis of the data, it became clear that there were certain differences between the two sets of headlines in terms of Presupposition, and certain Rhetorical devices.

Genre analysis of the letters of appeal

This study uses the genre analysis methodology used in the English for Specific Purposes (ESP) school, relying mostly on Bhatia’s (1993, 2004) and Swales (1990) models of genre analysis. Two hundred letters of appeal written by postgraduate students whose native language was other than English in a public university in Malaysia were included in the study. The sample included letters written by a variety of students from different language backgrounds. The criterion for selecting the corpus was the communicative purpose (Askehave and Swales, 2001) of the letters: stating a request. The study analyzed the genre of the letters of appeal to identify the structural or rhetorical moves that existed in the genre.

Articulation of medium of instruction politics in the Malaysian Chinese press

In postcolonial multilingual societies, matters of education are deeply rooted in the discourse of ethnicity. In Malaysia, the interface between ethnicity and education is reflected in recent debates on the choice of medium of instruction (MOI). In 2002, the Malaysian government introduced English as MOI by replacing Malay, the national language, for teaching mathematics and science, at the school level. However, in 2009, the policy was reversed to Malay. This policy initiative has been actively contested in the Malaysian media. Through an analysis of news reports on the controversy published by the Malaysian Chinese newspaper, Nanyang Siang Pao, this paper aims to illustrate how a sizeable ethnic minority is able to position itself vis-à-vis a national policy. To explain the ethno-political construction of MOI debates in the newspaper, we use two concepts, namely, ‘plurality of struggles’ (Laclau, 2006a, 2006b; Laclau & Mouffe, 1985) and ‘transmission of the speech of others’ (Bakhtin, 1981). These notions are contextualized in the macro-context of a multi-ethnic polity in which Chinese society, Chinese press and Chinese education are seen to co-construct community interests.

Construction of nationhood through education in Malaya: revisiting the Barnes and Fenn-Wu Reports

This article provides an analysis of two colonial reports, the Barnes and the Fenn-Wu Reports on education in the British colony of Malaya. The popular stance on the Barnes and the Fenn-Wu Reports is that one is an effect or reply to the other. We argue on the contrary that the two reports construct a common argument on nation-building which becomes apparent through a dialogic reading of the reports. We show how the two reports, written in the 1950s, reflect the anxiety of the colonial rulers in constructing a nation and the ethnic communities (the Malays and the Chinese) in pre-independent Malaya. These communities were constructed not without their inherent antagonism as well as their reciprocal vulnerabilities in a future political state. This act of articulation is predominantly a political act constructed through a complex web of interdiscursivity and intertextuality. The spectres of the Barnes and the Fenn-Wu Reports continue to surface in education and nation-building discourse in modern-day Malaysia.

Persistent Monologicality amidst Variation in Teachers’ Questioning Practices in Malaysian English Language Classrooms

This video study examines teachers’ questioning practices in English language classrooms in Malaysia, and how different types of questions, wait time, and reaction moves influence classroom interaction. The study found that although there was an overarching monologicality across all classrooms, teachers’ questioning practices were not limited to the typical, monologic mixture of display questions, non-existent or short wait time, and/or reaction moves which could obstruct student talk. There were also opportunities for dialogicality initiated through teachers’ employment of referential questions, longer wait time, and/or reaction moves which could facilitate advanced student talk, but monologicality in classroom interaction persisted. Such observation directs our attention to the understanding and further contemplation that nurturing dialogicality is not a mere issue of strategy use.

The Educational Landscape of Malaysia

The term ‘landscape’ typically connotes a broad view of the lay of the land – its topography and changing contours of highlands and lowlands and changing vegetation. Etymologically, the suffix scape comes from the Old English word sceppan or scyppan, meaning shape. Thus, by derivation, the word landscape would refer to the shape of the land, and landscape artists, for instance, would seek to represent a view of the scenery seen and capture it with a ‘broad brush’. In contrast to portraits which offer a close-up view, landscapes offer the benefit of a view from afar, thus capturing the big picture. So, metaphorically, Malaysia’s educational landscape, likewise, paints a broad picture of the ‘topography’ of the education scene in the country, covering with a broad brush aspects of its history, the organization of the education system and major emergent themes. The main purpose of the chapter is then to provide the context against which subsequent chapters may be viewed.

Teachers and Teaching in Malaysia

The purpose of this chapter is to broadly describe and discuss the characteristics of teachers in Malaysia and their classroom practices, in the midst of significant and much-needed systemic changes that are expected in the years to come. The data are drawn from various national and international agencies as well as from IMCEP (Inquiry into Malaysian Classroom Educational Practices), a research project that researched teachers’ practices in Malaysian classrooms. The IMCEP study found that the predominant teaching practices in Malaysian classrooms are very unlikely to help students improve higher-order thinking and “learning-to-learn” abilities. It is critical to note that when such practices are so consistent and widespread, system-wide issues must be raised. How pedagogical practice plays out in the classroom is shaped in significant ways by the larger social, cultural and political milieu. The discussion attempts to highlight some of the key narratives within this context.

Education and Politics in Malaysia

In a heterogeneous country like Malaysia, it is not surprising that education policy has often interacted with the politics of race, religion and language. The nature of these interactions, however, has evolved over time as policymakers, politicians and citizens dealt with the challenges of globalization, a growing economy and shifting demands of an increasingly complex employment market. This chapter distils the views of two politicians, one formerly from the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) Coalition and the other from the opposition, in order to highlight the continued influence of race and religion in the politics of education but also the emergence of other contending forces of influence, including market-based pressures, especially at the higher education level. Through the various narratives and questions posed, a dynamic and evolving education policy landscape is revealed. The views of both politicians show the tensions and contestations between moving away from a race-based lens of education policy and maintaining a tight control of education policy that serves the larger political interests in the country.

A Model of Critical Peer Feedback to Facilitate EFL Writing in Online Context

Peer feedback in EFL writing has been regarded as time-consuming, and inefficient. An approach is to study the mental process of feedback to improve its quality. It is believed that higher-order thinking can produce high-order peer feedback in higher-level writing. In this study, “critical thinking” is explored to facilitate peer feedback and writing with higher-order thinking skills. “Critical peer feedback” is conceptualized with the integration of critical thinking and feedback in order to improve the quality of feedback. This study aims to study the process of critical peer feedback through blogs and discussion the model of critical peer feedback. A qualitative case study is conducted with six junior students majoring Business English in a Chinese university. Three models of critical thinking are transferred to the participants in the workshops. Three kinds of data including semi-structured interviews, six writing assignments and the artifacts of critical peer feedback, are analyzed by Nivivo 10. The finding reveals that the Revised Blooms Taxonomy is more acceptable for the beginners of critical peer feedback which provides a six-step model of critical thinking. The conclusion of critical peer feedback model in online context may be significant to its further practice in various courses.

Online Features of Qzone Weblog for Critical Peer Feedback to Facilitate Business English Writing

Qzone weblog is one of the most popular weblogs in China. This study explores Qzone weblog for critical peer feedback to facilitate Business English writing among the Chinese undergraduates. A qualitative case study is conducted by NVivo 8 to analyze the three research data of semistructured interviews, Business English writing assignments, and critical peer feedback artifacts. Three research questions are focused on the case participants’ perception of this study, the strength and weakness of Qzone for critical peer feedback, and online features of Qzone affecting critical peer feedback in Business English writing. The findings indicate that Qzone weblog is a convenient information communication technology platform for online critical peer feedback among the Chinese undergraduates. The six aspects of strength and five online features are coded by NVivo 8, which are models by NVivo 8 with figures. The weakness of Qzone is the character number limitation for blogging and feedback. The conclusion of this study will be applied for the use of Qzone weblog and other kinds of weblog for online peer feedback in English writing.