No abstract

Learning strategies are one of the multiple factors in accomplishing learners' objectives in acquiring a new language. Hence, the aim of this research is to investigate the strategies that language learners use during their language-learning process. The instrument for this quantitative research is a survey. It has three sections. The first section consists of 2 items on demographic profile, while the second section has 19 items on direct learning strategies. The last section has 22 items on indirect learning strategies. The respondents are 132 undergraduate students taking French as a third language at one of the public universities in Malaysia. The data collected from the respondents were then analyzed using SPSS. The findings show that rehearsal has the highest mean (3.8), but critical thinking has the lowest (3.5). The research also reveals that the help-seeking strategy has the highest mean (4.1), whereas the metacognitive self-regulation strategy has the lowest mean (3.5). From the correlation analysis, the research also indicates a significant association between direct and indirect strategies (r=.779**) and (p=.000). In other words, this research proves that there is a strong relationship between direct strategies (which consist of rehearsal, organization, elaboration and critical thinking strategies); and indirect strategies (metacognitive selfregulation and resource management strategies) in foreign language learning. For future research, it is beneficial to determine if the gender of the learners influences the choice of learning strategies, as this would allow instructors to refine and alter their teaching approaches according to their audience.

Faced with Covid-19 pandemic, the higher learning institutions across the planet continue to conduct classes for students via online learning. Educators impart knowledge using the latest technology at their disposition. These educators have to ensure that the online classes are engaging will lead to new understanding. Online classes can be stressful for some students and less motivating for others. It is crucial to identify the ideal online learning setting for foreign language learning as it can encourage students to actively participate in class. This quantitative research is conducted to investigate meditational process in online foreign language learning classes. The instrument used is a survey adapted from Arbaugh, Cleveland-Innes, Diaz, Ice, Richardson & Swan (2008). The survey consists of 34 items, is given to 163 bachelor degree students taking French as a third language in a public university in Malaysia.. The data is collected online via the Google Form and it is then analyzed using SPSS. The analysis from the data collected shows that teaching presence has the highest sum of mean, followed by cognitive presence and social presence. For teacher presence, the findings reveal that the instructors communicate the course design and its organization to the students clearly. In addition, the study shows that the instructors facilitate the learning process and give feedback to the students in a timely manner. For cognitive presence, the findings reveal that students could integrate new information to answer questions, use learning activities to construct explanations and use reflections and discussions to understand fundamental concepts in online classes. As for social presence, it is discovered through this study that it has the lowest sum of mean, especially regarding group cohesion. Therefore a future research focusing on how to improve group cohesion would be interesting and beneficial for the betterment of online foreign language learning classes.

Learning motivation is one of the important factors that ensure the success of language acquisition. Although numerous studies has been done on students' learning motivation, little is known about online learning motivation. Hence, this quantitative study aims to explore students' online learning motivation when learning a language through Social Cognitive Theory (SCT). Data were collected using a survey of 5-point Likert scale given to learners studying languages in a Malaysian public university. The survey consisted of four sections. Section A has 2 items on demographic profile. Section B has 12 items on behavior. Section C has 14 items on personal factors. Section D has 12 items on environmental factors. The respondents were 108 diploma and bachelor degree students. Data analysis was done using SPSS. The findings showed that SCT has a positive impact on students' online learning motivation. All three elements of SCT which are behaviour, personal factors and environmental factors were significant in promoting students' online learning motivation for language learning. Moreover, there are also a strong positive relationship between behaviour and personal factors, a moderate positive relationship between behaviour and environmental factors, and a moderate positive relationship between environmental and personal factors. These findings established that SCT has an important role in cultivating online learning motivation in a language classroom. Teachers can also design their teaching and learning process based on SCT as it is proven to promote students' online learning motivation. Therefore, future studies on SCT can be beneficial towards students' online learning motivation.

Spiritual leaders achieve power over their followers through various means. Often overlooked is what happens in the interaction between spiritual leaders and their followers in the creation and legitimation of the leader's power. In this study, we examined the discursive construction of leader-follower relationship in consultation interactions between a spiritual leader and his followers. Fifteen consultation sessions were analyzed using the discourse analytical approach. The analysis focused on legitimation and discursive strategies used by the leader to legitimize his power over his followers. The findings show that a set of strategies are relied on as standard procedure by the leader to reinforce his authority, used when interacting with a compliant followership. However, a different set of strategies are deployed in situations when the leader's authority is challenged. The results reveal that the authority of the leader is not a natural given, but needs to be actively negotiated and defended in the ongoing process of interaction.