Browsing by Author "Afiza Mohamad Ali"

This is a multimodal genre analysis study of Malaysia Regional E-Travel Guidebooks (MRTGs) by adapting the frameworks of Bhatia (2004) and Kress and van Leeuwen (1996, 2006). The analysis focused on examining the rhetorical structure, communicative purposes, linguistic features, professional practices, and visual components present in MRTGs. The analysis is done to understand how this genre-which successfully helped Tourism Malaysia to improve its tourism industry- is built up and written. To accomplish the study's objectives, a combination of textual analysis and semi-structured interviews was employed, utilizing specialized software tools such as Atlas.ti and Sketchengine. The study revealed that MRTGs exhibit a distinct structure comprising ten core moves (Headline, Introducing the Country, Urging Action, Targeting the Market, Trivia, Justifying the Destination, Endorsement, Related Info, Service Info, and Closing Info). Notably, the findings highlight the strategic deployment of linguistic features to capture the readers' attention, promote the featured destinations, motivate action, and furnish pertinent information about Malaysia. MRTGs adeptly employ a synergy of informational value, salience, and framing to offer travellers a comprehensive and captivating informational resource. Additionally, the visual elements employed in MRTGs effectively convey meaning and engage readers with the featured destinations. Crucially, the findings show that professionals within Tourism Malaysia believe that MRTGs are essential for attracting and assisting travellers, and ensuring visitor satisfaction, with a focus on transitioning to online platforms and continuous improvement. This study provides multifaceted insights that extend beyond the specific context of MRTGs, contributing significantly to the domains of genre analysis, professional communication, digital marketing, visual communication, and destination marketing. Additionally, it elucidates practical implications for professionals in the tourism industry, enhancing their comprehension of the art of crafting compelling and effective promotional materials with regards to English for Tourism.

This study aims to shed light on the use of high cognitive questions, as a learner strategy in developing critical thinking skills, as well as facilitating comprehension and production of the second language among non-native second language students. The use of high cognitive questions in non-native student discussions was examined. The focus of the study was to determine whether there is a statistically significant mean difference in students' comprehension and production of the second language and critical thinking skills when they were exposed to questioning treatments. Two groups of 10 non-native Malaysian students participated. One group was trained in incorporating high cognitive questions in group discussions while the other was not. Following this, both groups read a text, discussed and then summarized it. The discussion was recorded for transcription. The summaries were rated by two English teachers using the Communicative Profile Scale evaluation instrument to assess the students' performance in the second language. The transcribed discussions were assessed using the UNCG (University of North Carolina at Greensboro) evaluation instrument to investigate the students' critical thinking abilities, which were the ability to 'analyze and interpret', 'draw logical inferences', 'evaluate and justify inferences', 'make deductive and inductive reasoning'. Paired T-tests were used to interpret the results. The study showed that, the experimental group demonstrated a higher performance in their comprehension and production of the second language compared to the control group. The experimental group also demonstrated better results in their critical thinking abilities than the control group. It is, therefore, suggested that teachers should use high cognitive questions to help increase second language students' understanding and production of the language as well as develop their critical thinking skills.