Of the four English language skills, speaking enjoys a superior status. Accordingly, it should be given high priority while teaching. In spite of its importance, teaching English speaking skill to Arab EFL learners has always been an exacting task for Arab teachers of English because it is considered a foreign language, i.e. not widely spoken or used in everyday interactions. For such a reason, Arab teachers of English are required to persistently implement new teaching strategies to tackle the problems regarding speaking skills in the classroom. Although a number of studies have been carried out to investigate the difficulties related to teaching English language skills to the Arab students in the Arab World, the current study is regarded the first study which highlights the problems in learning and teaching English speaking skill in the Saudi School in Kuala Lumpur where English is actively spoken as a second language. The main objective of this paper is to investigate the common problems which affect the teaching of English speaking skills to the Arab learners in the Saudi School in Kuala Lumpur. Additionally, it aims at exploring the areas of difficulty that prevent the Arab students from learning to speak in the English classes. This research also scrutinises the role of Kuala Lumpur ESL context on the Arab students' English language speaking skills. The current study adheres to qualitative method, and its data were collected via classroom observations and face-to-face interviews with four teachers of English and four students selected purposively. Findings included areas like learning and teaching difficulties. The study suggested some techniques to improve the teaching quality and enable the students to overcome their lack of speaking ability such as implementing communicative approach in the English classes.

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Studies have shown that traditional chalk and talk teaching methods are common among teachers of Islamic Education. Such teacher-centered pedagogy fails to promote active learning or interaction between the teacher and students; and between students and students. The result is a lack of interest in learning because students are not stimulated or engaged by interesting classroom activity or pedagogy. Numerous studies conducted by a host of countries have proven that Philosophical Inquiry Method (PIM) is effective in promoting discussion and getting students to be actively involved in learning, as they discover new meanings. Having said this, little is known about the impact PIM on Malaysian Islamic Education students' engagement. Therefore, an exploratory case study was conducted to gauge students' views and experiences of PIM to teach aqidah (creed). The study involved students aged 13-14 years old who were in Form 2 at an Islamic secondary school in Selangor, focusing particularly on the Islamic Education subject of aqidah. After completing six philosophical inquiry sessions, four students were interviewed to gauge their responses to the programme. The results of the study showed that students found the lessons easier to understand, as they explored beyond the content of the textbook and they enjoyed this new pedagogy. In the light of this, it can be said that PIM gave students a positive learning experience for the subject of aqidah.

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The purpose of the study was to explore ways of making ESL classes more engaging for language learners at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). To this end, an instructional method known as ‘Community of Inquiry' (CI) where students sit in a circle and explain, challenge and justify one another’s opinions, arguments and assertions was combined with specially written ‘thinking stories' containing philosophical issues and elements of relevance to learners' culture. Two such stories were written and taught to a class of intermediate level, ESL learners at IIUM, over a five-week period, using CI method. Qualitative research methodology was utilized to evaluate learners' responses to the method and materials. Data collection instruments included: in-depth interviews, student-diaries, focused-group observation and teacher’s diary entries. The data was subsequently transcribed, analysed and arranged into themes and sub-themes using Nvivo - a qualitative research software. The results of the research showed that CI method, combined with thinking stories, holds great potential for improving all four language skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) in a holistic way. For example, speaking and listening were practiced through CI discussions; grammar and vocabulary were learnt in-context using the thinking stories; pronunciation was practiced during read-aloud sessions of the stories and the philosophical issues and questions discussed provided an excellent stimulus for written work. In addition, students' confidence to speak-up in class grew, as did their ability to use critical thinking skills. It appears that combining CI method with thinking stories satisfied learners' cognitive, affective and cultural needs, and this, in turn, helped to increase their intrinsic motivation to study English - an important factor for effective language learning. The paper ends by suggesting ways to improve CI method for future implementations of this new approach to second language learning.   Abstrak   Tujuan kajian ini adalah untuk meneroka cara-cara bagi membuat kelas ESL lebih menarik bagi penuntut Bahasa di Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia (UIAM). Bagi tujuan ini, sejenis kaedah pembelajaran yang dikenali sebagai “Komuniti Inkuiri” (KI) di mana pelajar duduk dalam satu bulatan dan menjelaskan, mencabar dan mendokong pendapat, hujah dan dakwaan mereka, telah digabungkan dengan cerita-cerita yang ditulis khas berunsur pemikiran yang mengandungi isu falsafah dan unsur-unsur yang relevan kepada budaya penuntut. Dua buah cerita khas telah dikarang dan digunakan dalam sebuah kelas pelajar tahap pertengahan di UIAM bagi tempuh lima minggu menggunakan kaedah KI.  Metodologi kualitatif telah digunakan bagi menilai respons pelajar kepada metode dan bahan mengajar.  Instrumen untuk mengumpul data terdiri daripada temubual mendalam, diari pelajar, pemerhatian kumpulan fokus dan entri daripada diari guru.  Data yang diperolehi telah ditranskripsikan, dianalisa dan disusun mengikut tema dan sub-tema menggunakan Nvivo – satu perisian  bagi kajian kualitatif, Hasil kajian menunjukkan bahawa kaedah KI bergabung dengan cerita-cerita berunsur pemikiran mempunyai potensi yang amat besar bagi memajukan keempat-empat kemahiran Bahasa (mendengar, bertutur, membaca dan menulis) secara holistic.  Kajian juga mendapati bahawa keyakina pelajar bertutur bertambah, dan juga kemahiran berfikir kritis.  Penggabungan kaedah KI dan cerita khas untuk berfikir memenuhi keperluan kognitif, afektif dan budaya pelajar, yang akhirnya meningkatkan motivasi intrinsic untuk belajar Bahasa Inggeris.  Kertas ini diakhiri dengan cadangan bagi memperbaiki kaedah KI bagi pelaksanaan akan datang.