This paper reviews reforms related to English language teaching in the Malaysian education system. It begins by tracing the history of Malaysia as a former British colony which has had significant influences on the status of English in the country. Then, it reviews the key educational reforms which have mainly centred on language policy, thus putting pressure on teachers who are at the front-line for the implementation of the new reforms. This is followed by the discussion on the changing approaches in the curriculum and methodology of English language teaching. This paper also reviews the formal professional development programmes which reveal that Malaysian teachers are not always given adequate and continuous support to cope with the ongoing reforms. The paper concludes that even though the changes in policies aimed to improve the quality of education, implementation was often made in haste, causing a loud public outcry from teachers.

This systematic review was carried out to provide insights into how Islam has been represented in social media; and the omissions and gaps in the synthesized literature on the topic. Two databases – Scopus and the Web of Science – were explored to collect data. Primary searches between 2010 and 2019, revealed more than 100 studies dealing with the topic of investigation. After scrutinizing abstracts and removing duplicates, 36 studies came within the research criteria and were retained for analysis. A thematic analysis was conducted for the derivation of themes. The themes that emerged were: (1) Islam as a liberal religion; (2) Islam as a religion of extremism and terrorism; (3) Islam as religion of gender discrimination; (4) Islam as a religion of collective identity; and (5) Islam as a humane religion. Although the representation of Islam in social media is wide-ranging, more empirical studies found that social media users represent Islam negatively than studies which revealed positive view of Islam by social media users.

This article provides insights into how teachers benefited from their engagement in teaching-related conversations on Facebook timelines. The main data generated from participant observation and semi-structured interviews involving 34 English language teachers were analyzed using thematic and discourse analysis approaches. The analysis reveals that the teachers’ supportive conversations on the timelines revolve around troublesome experiences encountered in school which serve as a trigger for the teachers to engage in dialogic reflection, which enables them to have a better interpretation of their professional lives. The findings from this study point towards the need for reconceptualization of ‘teacher professional development’ as an opportunity for the construction of a collective and satisfying interpretation of themselves-in-the-world, where teachers work together to make sense of both mundane reality and stressful teaching-related events through the co-construction of social support.

Following the 9/11 terror attacks, public discourse on Islam worldwide has been characterized by the distinction between radical and moderate Muslims. In this context, moderate Muslims can play a significant role in international relations and promote moderate practice in global politics. In order to address the conceptual ambiguities and enhance our understanding of acceptable Islam, this study undertook a critical review of the term Moderate Muslim and the characteristics that could be associated with this description. A systematic search of the existing literature was conducted through the relevant scientific databases of ‘Scopus’ and ‘Web of Science’ using the keywords: ‘moderate Muslim’, ‘moderate Islam’, and ‘acceptable Islam’. The search resulted in 319 articles published between the years 2001 and 2018. Following a critical analysis, 29 publications were then used to identify the characteristics of Moderate Muslims. The findings revealed that practicing Acceptable Islam, with embedded traits of non-violence and liberalism, followed by the belief in democratic, secular, and pluralist methods coupled with a spirit of tolerance is what makes (or at least is expected of) a Moderate Muslim. It is hoped that apart from extending the theoretical body of knowledge of this label, this study will also contribute to the ongoing debate about what it means to be moderate, from diverse perspectives adopted by various scholars.

Marketing and advertising messages are often designed to persuade and influence the consumers into purchasing the products or services usually designed based on market segmentation and target consumers. This segmentation may vary but the most common type of market segmentation is based on demographic information such as gender. In toy advertisements, children are the target markets. Research shows that most toy advertisements involve gender stereotypes. Therefore, this paper aims to explore the visual elements of gender stereotypes in children’s toy advertisements on social media. Using a case study approach, children’s toy advertisements on Mattel’s official Facebook page were analyzed from January 2019 to December 2019. A total of 87 relevant advertisements were gathered and subjected to content analysis focusing on gender stereotype characteristics and the presence of boy(s) or girl(s) model(s) in the advertisements. The analysis was conducted based on gender stereotype characteristics and the presence of boy or girl models in the advertisement. The findings showed that advertisements for girl toys are more frequently posted on Mattel’s official Facebook page than advertisements for boy toys. Further analysis revealed that the advertisements contained more feminine compared to masculine traits and role behaviors. However, a large majority of the advertised toys do not have emotional behaviors. It was envisaged that the findings of this study could advance our knowledge of gender stereotypes in toy advertisements.