Studying literature can be challenging for ESL learners. With the new cycle of poems introduced by the Ministry of Education in 2015, the teachers responded with great concerns over how to teach their students, who found poetry difficult and boring. Furthermore, the teachers found poetry less favourable compared to other literary genres. In order to fill the gap of a better understanding of the poems, in more engaging ways, the researchers designed a board game. The compulsory (new) poems for Forms Four and Five were used. 20 students and 40 teachers participated in this study. Data comprised the responses of the students and teachers, to the questionnaire and interview after the game. The game sessions were videotaped. The analysis of the data showed that the participants responded positively to the game. Hence, this game served as a supplementary tool in the teaching and learning of poetry in more engaging ways.

Increasingly, most communication in current times are online and this characteristic has been heightened due to restrictions caused by the Pandemic. During online communication, the art and etiquette of communication is often omitted. We, the researchers observed that online interactions tend to be careless and too quick with expressions of anger or just, communication that is quick, resulting in sometimes inadvertent rude, abrupt and ambiguous communication.  Hence, to address this problem, we designed a mobile app called, “Wait”. The objectives of this app are to enable students and members of the public, to “wait”, think and refer to alternative ways on how to begin, end and use specific keywords in response to various general situations using polite expressions. This app is an easy- to- use mobile app. The researchers conducted a preliminary study with school and college students whereby they were given online questionnaires before and after using the Apps. The results showed positive feedback, in the form of polite and effective communication after the use of the app.

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One of the major challenges faced by students, especially at higher learning institutions, is to read analytically and think critically. This results in the lack of interpretation skills which are required in the content of written texts. One of the courses offered in a Malaysian Public University aim at honing skills such as reading comprehension skills and various critical thinking strategies that can be applied in reading and writing. TAWA is an innovation that assists students in a step-by-step approach in tackling one particular assessment (assignment) – Written Article Analysis, from the above mentioned course. In this particular assessment, students are to read and analyse a piece of writing using critical reading elements. Besides that, students also have to work through the article systematically, engaging with the author, such as identifying author’s tone, purpose of writing and intended audience. Students are also required to identify the main ideas and recognise supporting details used by the author. Armed with these, and more, students are required to critically evaluate arguments in terms of soundness, logic, credibility, relevance and validity. This is a process which assists them in developing informed opinions on the subject matter. As one goes deeper, there are numerous aspects to look into and these may be overwhelming to students. A pilot study was conducted in a public University with 80 participants. The control group (40) went through the common traditional teaching method while the experimental group (40) was exposed to additional materials from TAWA. A test was administered to both groups and the results showed that there were statistically significant differences between the experimental group and the control group in favour of the experimental group that were exposed to TAWA. Hence, this innovation has achieved the objective of bringing about a clear, easy-to-follow, simple way of what needs to be done when analysing a written text. Ultimately, TAWA is recommended as an effective tool to be used in assisting one to become a better critique in evaluating and analysing a written piece of work, apart from performing better in the course.