Malaysia is preparing to face 21st century learning challenges in order to fulfill the global needs. As a result, Higher-Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) have been introduced in the education system with the purpose to produce critical students who are able to compete at the international arena. Thus, this study investigated the question types used by teachers of English as a second language (ESL). Besides, this study also examined the challenges faced by the teachers in incorporating HOTS element in their teaching. The data for this study were gathered by means of class observations, interviews and questionnaires. The data collected by means of classroom observation and interviews were analysed thematically whilst the questionnaire data were analysed using descriptive statistic method. The findings of this study reveal that ESL teachers favour display questions or LOTS compared to referential questions, HOTS. This is due to lack of knowledge regarding HOTS questions and students' English low proficiency level. This study, therefore, recommends that ESL teachers are in need of adequate training on HOTS before they can successfully implement HOTS in language classrooms and further relevant studies should focus on the ways in which HOTS can be incorporated in ESL classrooms.

Speech act is a branch of pragmatics in which spoken words or utterances play an important role beyond the function of language in communication. In leadership, speech acts enable leaders to initiate a desirable action or behaviour among their followers, and at the same time, convey information more effectively. As such, constative speech acts are commonly used by leaders to describe or depict facts or states of affairs which are either true or false. As to investigate how the different constative speech acts could be used in this context, a qualitative study was conducted with an objective to analyze the constative speech acts of female student leaders in a Malaysian secondary school based on Theory of Speech Acts by Bach & Harnish (1979). Purposive sampling was used to select the research participants and data was gathered from them through a focus group discussion with the researcher. Findings showed that the research participants used various constative speech acts including predictive, assertive, ascriptive, responsive and suggestive in describing the behaviour and characteristics of a good leader. As a conclusion, constative speech acts of the research participants suggest that they could be analytical, firm and sensitive school leaders.