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International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences

Open Access Journal

ISSN: 2222-6990

Teachers’ Understanding and the Level of Implementation of Authentic Elements in the Teaching of Malay Language Writing and Their Relationships with School Type, Teachers’ Experience, and Specialization

Zulkifli Osman, Anida Sarudin, Abu Hassan Abdul, Razali Ayob

http://dx.doi.org/10.6007/IJARBSS/v9-i1/5787

Open access

The aim of this study is to examine teachers’ understanding and the level of implementation of authentic elements in their teaching of Malay language writing by focusing on the relations of the above factors (dependent variables) with three independent variables, namely school category, teachers’ experience and specialization. The research design of this study was based on a quantitative approach using a survey method. In this survey, a questionnaire was used to examine the level of implementation of authentic elements in the teaching and learning process of Malay essay writing involving Form-Two students (aged 14 years). The teacher questionnaire consisted of three parts to elicit information pertaining to teachers’ background, the level of the implementation of authentic elements in their teaching practice, and their comments and suggestions. The participants of this study were 193 teachers who were selected from 59 low-performance schools throughout Malaysia. Descriptive and correlational analyses were performed using SPSS. The analyses revealed that the overall implementation of authentic elements in the teaching process was at the moderate level. Furthermore, the relations of all variables, except teachers’ specialization, were found to be not significant. Even though the strength of the relationship between teachers’ specialization and the implementation of authentic elements in their teaching practice was found to be small, such a finding may raise some concerns among the stakeholders, notably school administrators. Clearly, teachers who are less specialized in teaching Malay language writing may need more guidance to help them use more authentic elements in their teaching practice. As such, they may require sufficient resources and support to help improve their teaching practice, the impact of which can help improve students’ learning performance.