TEACHING PORTFOLIO

1. Statement of Teaching Responsibilities

My teaching responsibilities include teaching the English for Academic Communication (UHB 1412/1322), Advanced English for Academic Communication (UHB 2422), English for Professional Communication (UHB 2332), English for Mechanical Engineering (EME), English proficiency courses from Level 1 to Level 4 (UHB 1212, 1222, 2132, 2232), and Business Communication (SHB 3023) to UTM undergraduates. Apart from that, I also teach the following courses to UTM TESL undergraduates: Oral Communication Skills (SHE 1353), Interactive Skills for Academic Purposes (SHE 2292), and a graduate course that is, Discourse Analysis (MPB 1623) as an elective course. I occasionally have the opportunity to teach professional courses such as Report Writing for Executives, Public Speaking, and Oral Presentation. I was also given the opportunity to teach Critical Thinking and Reading, Human Communication, and Speech Communication, replacing the regular lecturer. In addition, I also taught Materials Design and Adaptation and English for Specific Purposes to the Certificate of TESL students consisting of teachers and working adults from 1995-1997. Beside that, I also have taught courses designed for a specific target group such as English for Personal Assistants which is a part of a human resource development programme of UTM.

Prior to my PhD study leave, I have supervised one Master’s student thesis in the area of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) investigating the needs analysis of the Naval cadets. After I came back with my PhD, I have supervised three Master’s students’ project papers in the area of Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) and English Language Teaching, discourse analysis and communication as well as English language learning and motivation At the moment, I am supervising one Master’s student project looking at how peer interaction can help improve students’ communication skills. I am also a supervisor to three PhD candidates – one in the area of Communication, and two in the area of English language learning and motivation. At the undergraduate level, I have supervised one student and I am supervising another student who is preparing for her Projek Sarjana Muda (PSM). In addition, I am the academic advisor to two M.Ed. TESL students.

Besides supervising the graduates and undergraduates, I have also been an examiner for students’ project papers and Projek Sarjana Muda (PSM). From 1994-1998, I was an academic advisor to the Management Technology undergraduates.


2. Statement of Teaching Philosophy

My teaching philosophy has evolved over time. I view my encounter with students as challenging and rewarding. Thus, I look forward to meeting them in the classrooms. I believe that college students should be able to think for themselves and learn independently. They will learn well if they are given the opportunity to apply what they learn, that is to learn by doing. It is therefore my responsibility to provide students with opportunities to experience their learning by ‘doing’ and by interacting among themselves.

I consider each student as unique and every one of them has special needs, strengths and weaknesses. Hence, I subscribe an approach where students are given opportunities to utilise their strengths and at the same time learn from their peers to minimise their weaknesses. This is achieved by encouraging them to work in groups where they are able to combine their individual and interpersonal skills and to learn from their peers. These skills, also known as generic skills, are real-life skills that will help them get through in their life. To assist the students to achieve these, I subscribe the following views:



a. The teaching and learning process should be student centred. Students should be involved in active learning and the teacher acts as a facilitator.
b. The teacher should be well-prepared before teaching and this also means that I will be prepared with the current happenings as I will use this to stimulate discussions in the classrooms before I go into the actual teaching. The knowledge about the current affairs helps mould students into being responsible citizens.
c. A friendly, conducive and non-threatening environment is important to assist students’ learning. I will try to make the classroom environment conducive for learning to take place and I should be approachable to the students.
d. The use of teaching aids promotes teaching and learning. I will try as much as possible to have teaching aids such as the use of overhead projector, power point presentation, and video presentation whenever possible.

3. Statement of Teaching Methodology and Strategies

English is a second language and to some students, it is a foreign language. Therefore, I will create an environment that is not threatening to the students to learn. This is done by stating at the very beginning that learning English is fun, and that everyone makes mistake. Thus, they do not have to feel embarrass or afraid that they might make mistake in the process of learning the language. I encourage participation from students and try to drive home this point to the students – ‘the more they talk, the more they will learn’. This is because learning language requires a lot of practice as it is skill-based.

Pair work and group work constitute most of my classroom activities. This is one way of encouraging students to speak-up because working with their peers reduces their anxiety level as opposed to speaking alone in front of the classroom. Besides, cooperative learning in which students learn from each other is achieved through pair work and group work. The concept of peer teaching and learning could be achieved through group work and it is good for students with short attention span. In addition, some learners learn better in a group environment since they can have more interactions. Slow students do not feel inhibited to interact among their friends in small groups while better students can lead by taking charge and help their fellow group members. The group work will then be followed by oral presentation – either the whole group will present their findings or a few representatives will present on behalf of the group and this depends on the requirement of the tasks. Oral presentation is usually slotted in the middle or towards the end of the semester where students’ confidence is assumed to be higher than that at the beginning of the semester.

Moreover, I encourage students to make use of my consultation hours to provide extra help and guidance especially to those who prefer a one-to-one interaction with the teacher.


4. Description of Course Materials

Oral Communication Skills (SHL 1353) is a course that carries three credit hours taught to the first year TESL students. This course introduces students to the two-pronged framework to speech training. The first focuses on discrete elements of pronunciation aimed at improving intelligibility and linguistic competence while the second focuses on general features of speech communication aimed at improving communicability. The course also incorporates the importance of effective communication in the private and public communicative events. In the first half of the semester, students are introduced to the different speech sounds and phonetic transcriptions. They are taught of how the different sounds are produced. The second half of the semester prepares them for oral presentations – from topic selection to actually giving an oral presentation.

UHB 1412 – English for Academic Communication is a course which carries two credit hours involving four class hours per week. The course prepares students for the skills needed to perform academic tasks, such as taking notes from written and oral texts, producing academic assignments and giving oral presentations related to their academic assignments. It will emphasise on various skills such as looking for information from different sources (print, Internet, etc.), extracting information from different text types, making notes of information obtained, expanding notes into coherent extended texts, and presenting information as well as giving viewpoints in an oral presentation. At the end of the course, students should be able to apply the skills in an academic setting when communicating in both oral and written discourse.

UHB 3022 – English for Workplace Communication is an elective course which carries two credits. The course aims to introduce students to the basic principles of communication at the workplace. Students will learn how to process and communicate information in the workplace to accomplish projects individually and part of a team. As an elective course, it is offered to students after they have completed two compulsory English language classes that are UHB 1412 English for Academic Communication and UHB 2422 Advanced English for Academic Communication. Thus, students who take UHB 3022 course are usually the third or the final year students. When teaching these students, I will draw from their experience undergoing their practical training prior to taking this class. Relating what I am teaching to the workplace is important so that students are able to see the relevance of what they are learning with the working requirements. I encourage participation and allocate time for consultation after the class hour.

Discourse Analysis (MPB 1623) is a three-credit post graduate course offered to the postgraduate students of TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language). This is an elective course and it is offered once a year. However, if the number of students registering for the course is fewer than five, the department has decided not to offer the course since it is not economical to do so. The course introduces learners to the nature of spoken and written texts, to develop sensitivity to the ways speakers and writers adjust their communication according to the situation and goals, and to use the right tools to analyse sets of discourse. This course aims to heighten learners’ awareness of how language and texts vary as they serve the communicative goals of human beings in their social contexts. Since this is a master’s class, the learners are required to present their views on issues related to the topics covered in class and they are encouraged to relate and share their working experiences when discussing the issues. The project assigned to the class is to analyse an actual discourse – spoken or written – using the theories discussed in class. This is where they can apply their life experiences and the theories learned in order to complete the task.

UHB 2332 English for Mechanical Engineering (EME) is a course which carries two credit hours involving four meetings per week. The course is tailored to meet the needs of the Mechanical Engineering students. EME utilises Mechanical Engineering content in the teaching of English to the Mechanical Engineering students. The objective of the course is to enable the students to utilise their content subject in the language classroom. This is to give motivation to the students to apply their knowledge in their area. At the same time, it also motivates them to acquire the language that can be used to talk about the engineering world. For the purpose of this course, the students are given the module on the subjects, lecture notes and list of supplementary reading materials. For evaluation purposes, the students are evaluated on the projects they carried out, in class assignments, written report and oral presentations.

The above are a few examples of the courses that I am currently teaching and the courses that I have taught for the past few semesters. My philosophy of teaching is translated into my teaching practise when I teach those courses.

5. Efforts to Improve Teaching

In developing my professionalism, I strive to continue to improve as a teacher in many different ways such as attending conferences and workshops to find out innovative ways to improve my teaching and to help my learners.

I also took up a few research grants to conduct research into ways to help students improve their learning of the English language. I have presented the research findings at conferences nationally and internationally in an attempt to share the findings with others.

Seminars attended

2007 - The Association for Business Communication 9th European Convention, Istanbul, Turkey. 23-26 May 2007. Presented a paper on Communicating at the Workplace - this conference is attended by Business Communication, Management and Communication practitioners from all over the world.

2007 - The Association for Business Communication 7th Asia-Pacific Convention, Hong Kong. 28-30 March 2007. Presented a paper on the analysis of corporate web pages of telecommunication companies in Malaysia.

2006 - The 5th Language for Specific Purposes conference. Presented a paper on the use of Weblogs to promote students writing and conducted a workshop on meeting the requirements of workplace communication.

2005 - English Language Teaching (ELT) regional seminar. Presented a paper on note making as a tool to promote writing among ESL learners.

1994 – INTELEC: International conference on teaching and learning

1995 - 1st International conference on English for Specific Purposes (ESP)

1996 – Conducted a workshop at the 1st National Seminar on Language Teaching and Learning. This workshop is a result of a research conducted on materials preparation and design for the Mechanical Engineering Faculty. The title of the workshop is ‘Portfolio writing as a tool for developing writing skills’.

1997 – 2nd ESP International Conference. Presented a paper entitled Marriage of Convenience in ESP. This paper reports the findings on the collaboration between the content lecturer and the language teacher in conducting an English for Specific Purposes. This is part of the research findings on materials design and preparation for mechanical engineering.

1997 – Malaysian English Language Teachers Association (MELTA) Biennial International Conference. Presented a paper entitled Enculturation Task as Initiation to the Discourse Community. This paper reports a teaching/learning activity that can be conducted in class especially an ESP class.

1999 – 1st MICOLLAC – International Conference on Language, Literature and Culture. Presented a paper on the use of electronic mail (email) in organisations. This survey forms the basis for a larger PhD research, looking at the patterns of email communication in organisations in Malaysia.

2000 – 3rd International Language for Specific Purposes (LSP) Conference. Presented a paper entitled “Corporate Culture: What is it doing in LSP”. This paper reports the findings of a larger research, investigating the role of corporate culture in organisational documents.

2001 – 2nd MICOLLAC – conducted a poster presentation on the use of language in specific context. This is also part of a larger research on the use of language in different context.

2002 – Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) ASIA – presented a paper entitled “The Dynamics of Electronic Mail Communication in Organisations”. The paper reports the dynamics of email as a communication medium. It discusses samples of how people in organisations use language differently and creatively in different situations and with different people.

2003 – Teaching Portfolio workshop, April 2003. I have attended a two-day workshop on how to develop a teaching portfolio. By attending this workshop, I was able to reflect on my teaching philosophy, principles and practices.

2004 – Language and Communication in the Media Conference. I attended this conference in order to stay informed of any new findings, trends or developments in the field. This is important since I am teaching Discourse Analysis. The findings reported in the conference can be disseminated to the students as well as give me ideas on how to approach the different discourses with my students.

Moreover, in an effort to improve the teaching of English, I have collaborated with a group of colleagues to research on the preparation of materials for Mechanical Engineering faculty. This is an attempt to improve the teaching and learning of students since the faculty requested that the teaching of English is geared towards the Mechanical Engineering field using mechanical engineering biased materials.

In addition, I also exchange ideas and views on teaching and learning with my colleagues through formal and informal discussions as well as in teaching and learning workshops. By constantly discussing the issues, new developments and current trend in the field, I would be able to reflect on my teaching and hence, improve any weaknesses discovered along the way and strengthen the good things that I am doing .

6. Evaluation of teaching

At the end of the semester, I often ask my students to comment on my teaching. They are given a feedback form where they can write comments and give suggestions so that I know what I have to improve and what I have to maintain. This is in addition to the OMR form which is given to the students every end of semester for them to evaluate a lecturer’s teaching. My students’ evaluations from all of my classes are positive and most often, students comment on my enthusiasm and compassion. Some students would come to my office and extend their gratitude for my guidance throughout the semesters. My master’s students who are all schoolteachers thanked me for my guidance. They said that I was able to make the subject interesting despite the fact that the subject is tough and ‘dry’ to them. I was commended for being approachable because that makes it easy for them to ask for guidance whenever it was necessary. To the undergraduate students, I was seen as a lecturer who has a lot of patience and kind. Examples of the students’ evaluation forms are attached in the appendix.


7. Product of teaching (Evidence of students’ learning)

Some of the courses that I taught require students to carry out projects and these projects were in the form of writing and oral presentation. The master course in Discourse Analysis for example, requires students to write a written report and to give an oral presentation. The students prepared power point presentations in which I was delighted to see. An example of the student’s written report is provided in the appendix.

A few students wrote a thank you note either at the back page of their written reports or they sent me email messages. Students also came to say thank you that they managed to secure better position in their organisations because of their ability to speak English well and that they are confident with themselves. Those students attributed their confidence to my guidance when they sat for my class.

8. Teaching goals: Short term and long term

My short-term goals are to update my course materials into multimedia format and e-learning format. This is because by doing so, students would be able to access the materials anytime, anywhere. This promotes unlimited opportunity for learning which is good for slow learners.

My long-term goal is for the students to be able to have access to my materials on the web. In addition, I would like my students to be able to use available software which links are provided in my web page. Besides, I hope my web page can be a platform that enables students to surf and create discussion groups to discuss matters relating to the subject or topic posted on the page. Moreover, I would like to create user groups to access my lectures.


9. Other items

I have received the Anugerah Kepujian Universiti in 1998 for an excellent contribution to the University for the year 1997 and even though it is not a teaching award per se, I know that I have done my job well so far and one of the most important jobs is teaching.



10. Appendices

Appendix 1: List of subjects taught.

Year Course Code and Subject Duration Level Credit Hours

Semester 1, 2007/2008

• Oral Communication Skills 3ct
• English for Academic Communication 2 ct
• English for Workplace Communication 2 ct


Semester 1, 2006/2007

• English for Professional Communication
• English for Academic Communication
• Oral Communication Skills


Semester 2, 2006/2007

• English for Academic Communication
• Advanced English for Academic Communication

Semester 1, 2005/2006

• Advanced English for Academic Communication
• Oral Communication Skills

Semester 2, 2005/2006
• English for Academic Communication
• Advanced English for Academic Communication

Semester 1, 2004/2005

• Discourse Analysis MPB 1623 M.Ed (TESL)
• Oral Communication Skills (SHL 1353)B.Ed (TESL)
• Interactive Skills for Academic Purposes (SHL 2292)B.Ed (TESL)


Semester 2, 2003/2004

• English for Academic Communication
• Public Speaking (UKQ 1291) Sarjana Muda


Semester 1, 2003/2004

• Discourse Analysis (MPB 1623)M.Ed (TESL)
• Oral Communication Skills (SHL 1353)B.Ed (TESL) 3 ct


Semester 2, 2002/2003

• English for Professional Communication UHB 2232
• English for Academic Communication UHB 1322

Semester 1, 1998/1999

• Bahasa Inggeris 3
• English for Mechanical Engineering UHB 2232

Semester 1 dan 2, 1997/1998

• Bahasa Inggeris 2 UHB 1222
• Bahasa Inggeris 3 UHB 2232
• Business Communication SHM 3013


Semester 1 dan 2, 1996/1997

• Bahasa Inggeris 2 UHB 1222
• Business communication SHM 3013
Certificate in TESL 2 ct
• Materials Adaptation and Design - Two semesters 30 hours

Semester 1 dan 2, 1995/1996

• Bahasa Inggeris IV (UHB 2042)
• Bahasa Inggeris III (UHB 2032)
• Business communication SHM 3013

Certificate in TESL 2 ct
• English for Specific Purposes - Two semesters


Semester 1 dan 2, 1994/1995

• Public Speaking (SHM 2013)
• Bahasa Inggeris 4 UBI 2042


Semester 1 dan 2, 1993/1994
• Bahasa Inggeris 3 UBI 2032
• Business Communication II (SHM 3013)

Semester 1 dan 2, 1992/1993
• Public Speaking SHM 2013
• Bahasa Inggeris 2 UBI 1022

Semester 1 dan 2, 1991/1992
• Bahasa Inggeris 2 UBI 2131
• Bahasa Inggeris 3 UBI 3151

Semester 1 dan 2, 1990/1991
• Bahasa Inggeris I UBI/D 1131
• Bahasa Inggeris 2 UBI/D 2131