CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
The English language is a second language (L2) to most Malaysians thus it is widely used in the country. As early of five years old; at the preschool stage, the English language is being introduced and exposed to the Malaysian children. The English language is further taught in primary and secondary school level. Hence, an average Malaysian spends 11 years learning the language in a formal manner. This reflects that the Ministry of Education (MOE) is trying to produce competent English fluent Malaysians.
Muhamad, Azman, Nurul, Baizura, Nor & Nur (2019) mentioned that English is as fairly significant in Malaysia along with Bahasa Melayu (Malay Language) as they are adopted together to create a bilingual system of education. The importance of English in Malaysia is emphasized in the Malaysian Education Blueprint 2013-2025 under Shift 1, which to uplift the learning of languages, Mathematics, and Science to international standards, as every student will receive a strong grounding in foundational skills of literacy and numeracy as well as in Science, a key growth area for the Malaysian economy (Idayu, 2019). This shows that the education system is trying to build a bilingual society to address the value of the nationality and readiness to be competitive and modest. Besides, starting from 2016, MOE has made it compulsory for the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) candidates to pass English Language paper.
L2 acquisition is essential especially English is globally used and also a lingua franca. In addition, English is widely used in tertiary education where most of the reference books are written in English. Most higher education institutions (HEIs) conduct their lecture and tutorials in English. By doing this, it will help their graduates to cater global market. Graduates who wanted to further their studies or seeking jobs could easily enter the overseas market as they have mastered the language and their prospect or qualifications are above the standard.
Nowadays, English is used in daily conversation between some families and friends, business deals, and mass media. Jemima, Melor & Jamaluddin (2017) discussed that there are children whose first language is English and who may be labelled as native speakers since their parents have chosen to use only English in the home instead of their mother tongue language. Thus, it is proven that Malaysian has accepted this colonial language and acknowledged the importance of it.
1.2 Problem Statement
Even though English is not an alien to most Malaysians, nevertheless, there are students who have difficulties to comprehend and acquire the language. Based on Malaysian Education Blueprint 2013-2025, only 28% of students achieved a minimum credit in the 2011 SPM English paper against Cambridge 1119 standards (MOE, 2016). This number is a piece of evidence that the eleven years of studying English as a core subject seems to be deteriorating. Students who are below average in English proficiency outnumbered those that are proficient in the language.
It is the Fourth Industrial Revolution, (4IR) era; where everything is handled by technology or machine. The existence of artificial intelligence, robotics, the internet of things, autonomous vehicles, bio and nanotechnology, 3-D printing, material science, quantum computing and energy storage (Diwan, 2017). Thus, the teaching and learning session in Malaysia are also moving towards the implementation of technology. Smart Schools’ project is one of the initiatives to upsurge the usage of Information Communication Technology (ICT) and it was found that 80% of teachers used ICT less than one hour per week (Unesco, 2013). This new feature of education adheres in order to align with the 21st-century learning where teaching and learning session involving technology. Everyone is talking about technology-based education in this day and age. However, how ready our education system is towards this education 4.0? Education 4.0 is a response to the needs of IR4.0 where human and technology are cooperating together to enable new possibilities (Anaelka, 2018).
Although there are schools that are fully equipped with technology, there are still some that could not get the same treatment, especially in rural areas. It is a serious issue when the teachers and students could not get a strong internet connection and high bandwidth. Hence, the teaching and learning session would not be conducted in an effective manner. Muhamad, Azman, Nurul, Baizura, Nor & Nur (2019) also highlighted that the lack of awareness from the parents and senior teachers on the importance of new technology is a major issue pertaining its implementation.
There are four skills in the English language which are speaking, listening, writing and reading. However, speaking and listening skills do not get much attention as compared to writing and reading in the Malaysian education system. The traditional approach in listening and speaking skill in English subject need to be replaced with technology-based. In order to survive in this technological world, it is important to master the English language as it is considered as the core language in communication (Helmi, Melor & Harwati, 2017). This is due because English is widely used in technology.
Nguyen and Tran (2015) also stated it is obligatory for the teachers to figure out factors that affect their speaking performance in order to help the students to tackle their problems in learning speaking. Based on the study conducted by Tamil, Melor, Ahmad, Mohd, Siti, Aliff & Sarala (2020), audio, graphics and text elements required to be integrated into listening and speaking skills. The problem is, whether these elements being implemented in teaching and learning session in schools.
1.3 Research Objectives
The objective of this research is to investigate the use of technology in
1. To identify the teachers’ use of technology in Listening and Speaking Skills in English Language class at Secondary School in Malaysia.
2. To identify the software or apps used in Listening and Speaking Skills in English Language class at Secondary School in Malaysia.
3. To identify the perceptions of the students regarding the implementation of technology in the English Language.
1.4 Research Questions
1. Do your teacher use technology in Listening and Speaking Skills in English language class?
2. What software or apps used for listening and speaking in English Language class?
3. Do you enjoy learning English through technology?
1.5 Conceptual Framework/Theoretical Framework
This research adopted the revised version of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) by Davis (1993, as cited in Vanessa Jill and Melor 2019). Figure 1.0 shows the conceptual framework used in this research.
Framework used in this research.
Figure 1.0 Conceptual Framework adapted from the revised TAM Model by Davis (1993, as cited in Vanessa Jill & Melor, 2019)
We are approaching 21st-century learning where most of the approaches in teaching and learning involved the integration of technology. Thus, there are many theories that suggest explicating the relationship between the system used and the users’ attitude (Vanessa Jill & Melor, 2019).
According to Cambridge Dictionary Online, acceptance is a universal agreement that something is satisfactory or right, or that someone should be added in a group. As cited from Vanessa Jill and Melor (2019), in order to examine its correlation, one method was introduced by Davis (1993), called Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). Fishbein and Ajden (1980) explained that this model is regained from Theory Reasoned Action which is one of the major theories in psychology as cited in (Siti Hajar, Hamidah & Rafiza, 2017). They further discussed that the Theory Reasoned Action is decided in what way an individual’s behaviour affected by intentions and if based on the approachable behaviour and action.
TAM is used as a ground-rule in this study based on two core elements of this model which are perceived usefulness and perceive ease of use. This theory is also in line and it can conclude the objective of this research. Siti Hajar, Hamidah and Rafiza, (2017) discussed that students’ learning and knowledge achievements are affected by the ease of use of certain technology. The relationship between perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness are interconnected, whereby if a man finds easy to operate technology, then the technology becomes advantageous to that person (Davis, 1986 as cited from Siti Hajar, Hamidah & Rafiza, 2017).
1.6 Summary
In conclusion, this chapter discussed the background on the topic related to the research and the problem statement. Two research questions have been created as a guide for the research in attaining the objectives of this research.
2021-1-30-1612031713