Writing is perceived to be one of the most difficult skills for English language learners to master. Although studies on challenges faced by ESL students in writing are replete, most of them have focused on students at secondary and tertiary levels of education. Studies on learners at lower level have been scarce. Thus, this paper aims to fill the gap by examining the major problems faced by ESL primary school level students in writing in English. Survey and interview sessions were conducted to fit the purpose of the study. Data were collected from a class of 26 students from Year/Standard 6 of the primary school level in Malaysia and an interview session with the English teacher of that particular class. The findings indicate that the major difficulties charted are rooted in the students’ poor mastery in vocabulary, inability to spell words correctly and L1 interference. Thus, in order to enhance the students’ skills in writing in English, the teacher implemented some remedial measures during the teaching and learning sessions. The findings have essential pedagogical implications on understanding students’ struggle to write in English at the lower level of education.

Background and Purpose: The COVID19 pandemic challenges on learning necessitate the understanding of students’ Language Learning Strategies (LLS). Studies on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) students’ English LLS is scarce. The objectives of the study are to examine the LLS employed by STEM students learning English as a second language (ESL) in a public university (PU) in Malaysia and to investigate the LLS underlying factors pertaining to the open distance learning (ODL).   Methodology: This study was designed as survey research, employing the quantitative approach to gather data. The Strategy Inventory of Language Learning (SILL) questionnaire was administered to 250 engineering undergraduates as respondents, who were chosen using a purposive sampling method.  Data were analyzed descriptively using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21.0. The Principal Component Analysis (PCA) with varimax rotation was conducted to determine the construct validity. PCA appropriateness was suggested by the inter-item correlation.   Findings: The compensation, metacognitive and cognitive learning strategies were the most frequently used strategies while the memory and affective strategies were the least. The PCA added vital information like the memory strategy corresponds to the metacognitive strategy. The cognitive strategy concept of ‘practice,’ may demand a revisit to some traditional grammar learning methods. There are also demands for social-emotional factors to be considered. ODL has imposed bigger demands too.   Contributions: The findings may assist ESL educators to boost STEM students’ self-monitoring behavior, to plan and coordinate their own learning process. PCA’s ‘Self-Awareness’ concept revealed that policy makers need to conduct more training to ensure executions run smoothly.   Keywords: English, Language Learning Strategies (LLS), Open Distance Learning (ODL), Science Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).   Cite as: Nurul Jannah, A. G., Tengku Intan Suzila, T. S., & Zainurin, A. R. (2022). STEM students’ English learning strategies and underlying factors in relation to issues in open distance learning. Journal of Nusantara Studies, 7(2), 81-102. http://dx.doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol7iss2pp81-102

Non-native English learners often face challenges to articulate their ideas while speaking in the target language. Because of this, it was far more difficult for them to get their thoughts over to the audience. To overcome this issue, the learners employ various communication strategies to promote their audience's understanding. Hence, this research aims to determine the factors that contribute to fear of oral presentations and the communication strategies (CS) used by undergraduate students. The study employs a quantitative survey in which 201 participants in a public university in Pahang were conveniently selected to answer a threesectioned survey; Section A elicits demographic background of the participants, Section B investigates their communication strategies used and Section C probes on the causes of fear of oral presentation. The findings show that students dread oral presentations both due to internal and external forces. They commonly employ Social-affective strategies and Message reduction, orientation and non-verbal strategies to cope with their fears. Additionally, the usage of CS has a slight impact in reducing their fear of oral presentation. Future research on alternative strategies to reduce students' fear of oral presentation are therefore recommended in order to tackle the issue.