Since the term 'janda', Malay for previously married women, is typically seen to carry a negative connotation, this study set out to investigate society's perceptions towards media portrayal of the word 'janda' in Malaysia. It also aimed to examine the significant difference between gender on the perceptions towards the media portrayal. The quantitative approach was employed in this research and data for this study were questionnaire responses collected from 381 respondents of different backgrounds. The results showed that in general, the media in Malaysia portrays janda negatively. However, there are still positive portrayals of janda in the media as independent individuals especially when it relates to their children. Other than that, it was also discovered that there was a significant difference in the perception of media portrayals of janda in Malaysia between genders and it seemed that women felt that the media portrayed jandas more negatively compared to men. Future research could use qualitative methods to have an in-depth analysis and a further understanding of the reasons for negative media portrayal of janda and how it influences society, both directly and indirectly.

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the education system in this world, forcing students to navigate challenges and risk factors. Hence, this study was conducted to understand the challenges and risk factors faced by university students in Malaysia due to the sudden shift to online distance learning. It utilised a qualitative method and the data was obtained using open-ended questions via Google Form. The findings discovered that there were 4 themes under challenges, namely cultural (44.4%), individual (33.3%), technological (25.0%), and academic (i.e. their studies) (13.9%). The challenges were compounded by the risk factors, which were family (36.1%), health-related factors (27.8%), individual (25.0%), the pandemic (19.4%), social (8.3%), and geographical (2.8%). It can be inferred from the findings that students faced challenges during ODL and the risk factors may worsen the effects of the challenges on the students. Interestingly, it was observed that the students sought outlets to share their stressful experiences and were willing to use tools such as personal reflections. Since university students struggle with many mental health challenges, further research could look into students' reflections to determine their potential as a therapeutic tool in the classroom.

2020 started off with the hit of Covid-19 which has halted various sectors including the educational sector. The mode of learning has abruptly changed to online learning as the virus limits any physical contact and almost everyone was affected. Language anxiety is not a newly coined term and has been around for a long time. However, research that studies second language anxiety in online mode classes is still very limited. Therefore, this research intended to investigate the contributing factors towards KUPTM’s TESL Undergraduates language anxiety and discover the coping strategies in dealing with such anxiety in an online learning environment. A mixed method study involving a survey and four (4) interviews was done. All 105 participants of this research were the students who were involved in online language learning. The data from the survey was analysed using IBM SPSS Statistic 25, while the interviews would support the quantitative findings through thematic analysis. The findings showed that the biggest factor that leads to language anxiety is the fear of negative evaluation, followed by the factor of distractions and the lack of a productive environment, and the third factor discovered from the data is communication apprehension. The coping strategies were divided into three domains; cognitive, affective and behavioural. It was found that the most used coping strategies by the participants of this research was behavioural. The results highlight a number of implications and recommendations for future researchers.