The teaching and learning of writing involve developing the linguistic and communicative competence of students. Blended learning is described as a strategic and systematic approach that integrates the best aspects of face-to-face and online interactions using appropriate communication technology. This approach engages students in a tremendous learning experience through verbal and written communication. Therefore, this study aims to explore the benefits of blended learning in learning writing among university students using focus group interviews. The respondents consist of a purposively selected sample of six second-year students from Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA), Malaysia. The interview data were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis. The findings show that the blended learning approach helps students to develop written communication skills, self-esteem, and interest in learning writing. The students viewed that this approach has provided them with the opportunity to learn in a flexible and conducive learning environment that has positive impacts on their writing. It is envisaged that this study would be beneficial to language instructors and education authorities by providing information that could be useful in the process of curriculum development, particularly for higher learning institutions.

Two universally accepted approaches to grammar instruction are explicit and implicit teaching of the grammar. Both approaches have their own strengths and limitations. Educators may face a dilemma whether to teach grammar explicitly or implicitly. This paper aims to provide insights into the educators' beliefs towards grammar teaching in Malaysian Higher Learning Institutions, and the sources of the held beliefs. Data were generated through semi-structured interviews with five educators from several private colleges located in peninsular Malaysia. Data analysis reveals that a majority of the respondents preferred grammar to be taught explicitly in their ESL classrooms; nevertheless they viewed implicit instruction as necessary when conforming to students' needs. The sources of the held beliefs are educators' experience as well as the institutional requirement. This paper draws our attention to the role of educators as an eclectic teaching practitioner who are able to apply a suitable grammar instruction according to learners' needs. It is hoped that this study will contribute to the growth of literature on grammar teaching and learning especially in Malaysian ESL classrooms.

Developing writing proficiency is complex as students need to master specific rules and acquire certain skills. This complexity often obstructs students’ interest and eventually affects their comprehension and performance in language learning. Research has highlighted the significance of English as a Second Language (ESL), particularly in the Malaysian context. This study, therefore, aims to evaluate the effectiveness of blended learning in developing English writing skills, particularly among ESL learners at a Polytechnic in Malaysia. The study adopted quasi-experimental analysis in which pre-test and post-test were used as data-gathering instruments. The data were gathered from a purposive sample of 60 ESL students separated into an experimental group and a control group. The data were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U test via the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The findings showed that blended learning is significantly effective in developing writing performance among ESL students in the selected institution. Further analysis revealed a slight improvement among students who learned through the traditional approach. This study highlights useful findings that could be useful in designing English curriculums, particularly in higher institutions. However, this experiment focuses on students’ performance, further research may explore instructors’ practices in Malaysian higher intuitions.

This study focuses on Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) includes formal, non-formal and informal learning that prepare young people with the knowledge and skills required in the world of work. English has become an important language in Malaysian higher learning institutions that is used as a medium of interaction and for other educational purposes. For this study, the researcher would like to highlight the impacts of blended learning on students’ writing performance. This is due to the concerns regarding students’ difficulty in English writing. The study used experimental research design to conduct the study that involved 60 students from semester 1 who took Communicative English 1. The study has been conducted on two groups, which were experimental and control group. The students had to answer the questionnaire regarding teacher centred approach (control group) and blended learning approach (experimental group). Also, students do writing test to be correlated with the result from questionnaire. SPSS version 23 that used Kendall’s correlation has become the the tool to analyse the result. The result shows that blended learning has a positive effect to the most students in experimental group.

Writing requires specific skills in brainstorming, organizing, editing, and proofreading. There are varieties of research conducted in finding which approach is the most impactful to teach writing and one of the approaches emphasized is blended learning, widely acceptable in education field. Nevertheless, its effectiveness on writing is still questionable and the effort to integrate blended learning in teaching writing needs a thorough consideration. Therefore, the purpose of the study is to researcrh the adequacy of blended learning approach on students’ writing performance. Employing an explanatory research type, an experimental research design was applied. A mixed-method method was executed to collect, analyse and interpret data. For quantitative, a quasi-experimental design was carried out to 60 respondents who were selected through purposive samplings and distributed to control and experimental groups. The study used pretest and posttest for both groups. The result shows that there is no significant difference of blended learning and students’ writing performance between the experimental group and control group in the pretest and posttest. Overall, the study shows that both instructions have place in writing. Hence, educators have to become eclectic practitioners who are able to apply suitable approach that can contribute to the growth of teaching and learning writing.