Background – Peer review or evaluation has been seen as a promising approach in helping students to learn from one another instead of relying solely on their overwhelmed teachers for feedback on their written work. However, there have been mixed reviews on the effectiveness of this method. This study aims to examine the effects of peer review on blogging buddies’ writing performance as well as to suggest the groundwork needed for an effective way to pair the blogging buddies to ensure that the peers can bilaterally benefit each other. Methods – A qualitative case study was conducted on eight students from a private university in Malaysia. The writing scores for three different essays (pre and post peer review) were tracked to observe its effects on the respective blogging buddies’ writing performance. Results – The findings have shown that the students’ proficiency levels played an important part in pairing the students as it impacted their writing performance and the effectiveness of the peer review activity. Poor proficiency students who were paired with average proficiency students seemed to make the greatest progress and were the most prominent beneficiaries. Even though these average students benefited from being a reviewer; this pairing was a disadvantage when they reposted their essays after peer review. For high proficiency students who were paired together, they recorded either an increased score or a same score in their post-peer writing. Conclusions – This study has shown that for peer review via weblogs to be effectively implemented in writing classes, proper groundwork needs to be laid for instructors to ensure that adequate training is provided, the peers are properly paired, and sufficient support is provided to these blogging buddies.

This scoping review examines how workplace language proficiency and corporate language policies function as dimensions of human capital, shaping employee mobility and organisational outcomes in multilingual contexts. Drawing on 12 empirical studies (2010–2025), supplemented by one influential review work used for context, the review integrates two analytical lenses: (1) language ceilings and walls, which capture invisible barriers to vertical and horizontal mobility, and (2) the Language Needs Analysis (LANA) framework, which categorises language demands at the individual, organisational, and operational levels. Findings indicate that language proficiency and inclusive language policies act as strategic resources that enhance employability, cross-border collaboration, and knowledge transfer. Conversely, rigid monolingual policies often reproduce inequalities and limit career progression. The review highlights the role of language-sensitive HRM in developing sustainable talent pipelines, advancing diversity and inclusion, and strengthening workforce resilience. Methodologically, this study applies PRISMA-ScR guidelines to ensure transparency and rigour, while offering a framework for future research at the intersection of human capital theory, language policy, and global HRM. By reframing communicative competence as career capital, the review underscores the need to integrate language training and policy design into broader human capital development strategies.

Writing has been acknowledged as a key skill to law students and lawyers. In English as a Second Language (ESL) learning, law students form part of ESL learners. Multiple studies shed light on the unsatisfactory writing performance among ESL learners and link such poor writing performance to an affective construct, writing anxiety. Nevertheless, research on writing anxiety among law students, whose writing ability is requisite, is scarce. With the objectives of determining anxiety level and identifying anxiety types experienced by law students at a Malaysian private university, this study offers insights into their writing experience as ESL learners. A mixed methods approach, consisting of Cheng’s (2004) Second Language Writing Anxiety Inventory (SLWAI) and the semi-structured interview, is applied to achieve the research objectives. The key findings reveal that the highest percentage of the law students studied in this research encounter a high level of writing anxiety. While cognitive anxiety is the most predominant form of writing anxiety, avoidance behaviour is the least obvious form. Based on these findings and the conclusions drawn, this study draws attention to the necessity of addressing writing anxiety among law students in tandem with building strong basic writing skills.