Malaysian Journal of ELT Research - Volume 5, 2009

Director of Journals Basil Srisena Wijasuriya International Board of Advisors Ronald Carter University of Nottingham United Kingdom   Graham Thurgood California State University, Chico USA William Thomas Littlewood Hong Kong Institute of Education Hong Kong   Hyacinth Gaudart University of Malaya Malaysia Alastair Pennycook University of Technology Australia   Yasukata Yano Waseda University Japan Ibrahim Ahmad Bajunid Director UNESCO Regional Centre for Educational Planning United Arab Emirates   Chief Editor Basil Srisena Wijasuriya Editors Ramesh Nair Universiti Teknologi MARA Shah Alam, Malaysia   Stefanie Pillai Universiti of Malaya Malaysia Board of Reviewers Ambigapathy Pandian Universiti Sains Malaysia Malaysia   Andrew O'Sullivan Dubai Women’s College Dubai Anie bt Attan Universiti Teknologi Malaysia Malaysia   Ann Cheryl Armstrong University of Sydney Australia Arjuna Parakrama University of Peradeniya Sri Lanka   Azraai Hj Abdullah Universiti Teknologi Petronas Malaysia Bob Elliott Queensland University of Technology Australia   Chan Swee Heng Universiti Putra Malaysia Malaysia Chng Huang Hoon National University of Singapore Singapore   Cynthia White Massey University New Zealand Ganakumaran Subramaniam Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Malaysia   Goodith White University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus Malaysia Isabel Pefianco Martin Ateneo de Manila Universiti Phiippines   Jagdeesh Gill Curriculum Development Division Ministry of Education Malaysia Jenny Miller Monash University Australia   John McRae University of Nottingham United Kingdom Jonathan Newton Victoria University, Wellington New Zealand   Lesley Harbon University of Sydney Australia Lucy Pickering Georgia State University USA   Manisah Mohd. Ali Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Malaysia Mardziah Hayati Abdullah Universiti Putra Malaysia Malaysia   Mohd. Faiz Abdullah Universiti Putra Malaysia Malaysia Noraini Ibrahim Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Malaysia   Phyllis Chew Institute of Education Singapore Rani Rubdy Nanyang Technological University, Singapore   Richard Corballis University of Massey New Zealand Salah Troudi University of Exeter United Kingdom   Shanthini Pillai Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Malaysia Sonthida Keyurayong King Mongkut's University of Techonogy Thailand   T. Ruanni F. Tupas National University of Singapore Singapore

TABLE OF CONTENTS Azni Mohamed Zain and Koo Yew Lie Weblogging as a Multimedia Literacy Event: Analyzing the Discourse Space of a Student Blogger’s Speech Community Phyllis Ghim-Lian Chew Globalization, Multiple Intelligences, and ELT in Singapore Atef Saleh Al-Tamimi and Munir Shuib Investigating the Learning Styles Preferences of ESL Learners: The Case of English Majors in Universiti Sains Malaysia Maryam Farnia and Raja Rozina Raja Suleiman An Interlanguage Pragmatic Study of Expressions of Gratitude by Iranian EFL Learners – A Pilot Study Abdu Moh'd Al-Mekhlafi and P. N. Ramani Teachers' Attitudes towards Selected Foreign Language Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment Practices Kyle McGee Attitudes towards Accents of English at the British Council, Penang: What do the Students Want?

CONTRIBUTORS Azni Mohamed Zain is an English Language Teacher at Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia where she has been teaching English to tertiary level students, since 2004. Prior to that, she taught at two MARA Junior Science Colleges, where she taught upper secondary level students for a total of five years. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from California State University, Sacramento, and a Diploma in Education from the National University of Malaysia. Recently, she completed a Master of Arts in English Language Studies, also from the same university. Koo Yew Lie is an Associate Professor attached to the School of Language Studies and Linguistics, Faculty of Social Science and Humanities at the National University of Malaysia. She researches, teaches, supervises and publishes in the areas of Language, Discourse, Culture and Literacy in diverse environments. She is involved in national and international research including research in Hong Kong, China and Australia. She is an associate research member of IPPTN, the Institute of National Higher Education Research. Phyllis Ghim-Lian Chew, PhD, is Associate Professor (English Language and Literature) at the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University. She has published in World Englishes, Linguistics and Education, and the International Journal of the Sociology of Language and has been invited keynote speaker and plenary for many conferences on linguistics, woman studies, and comparative religion, both locally and abroad. She is author of the book: Emergent Lingua Francas: The politics and place of English as a World Language (New York:Routledge, 2009). Atef Saleh Al-Tamimi worked five years as a university instructor at Hadramout University of Sciences and Technology, Yemen. He is currently a PhD student at the School of Humanities, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM). His areas of interest include English for Specific Purposes (ESP), Needs Analysis and ELT research. Munir Shuib, PhD, is an Associate Professor and Chairman of the Industry and Community Network at the School of Humanities, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM). He is also an associate research fellow at the National Higher Education Research Institute (IPPTN). His research interests include ESP and graduates’ skills and competencies Maryam Farnia received her MA in English Language Teaching (ELT) from the Islamic Azad University, Iran. She is currently a PhD candidate at the English Language Studies Section at Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia. Her areas of interest include Sociolinguistics, Interlanguage Pragmatics, Contrastive Pragmatics and Language Teaching. Raja Rozina Raja Suleiman is currently a senior lecturer with the English Language Studies Section, School of Humanities, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia. Her main research interest lies in the field of Sociolinguistics and Pragmatics with an emphasis on Cross-cultural Pragmatics, Discourse Analysis and Politeness Abdu Moh'd Al-Mekhlafi, Associate Professor of ELT at the Faculty of Education in Sultan Qaboos University (Muscat), has taught ELT and Education courses at the postgraduate and undergraduate levels and supervised students’ practicums and Master’s level dissertations. He has also been the chair of the ELT department (Curriculum & Instruction) at the Faculty of Education, Sana’a University (Yemen). He has not only participated in many national and international conferences and workshops in the area of language education but has also published several papers. He has been a reviewer of articles for educational journals and has served on several committees and projects on educational reform and implementation P.N. Ramani, curriculum developer, teacher trainer and ELT administrator, is now Quality Assurance Officer, Quality Assurance Department, Ministry of Manpower, Sultanate of Oman, in Muscat. A teacher with over 35 years of experience at various levels and the author of several ELT course books and research papers, he has initiated and implemented curricular reforms in ELT in India and the Middle East besides guiding research Kyle McGee is a language/business skills instructor at the British Council, Penang where he teaches a variety of levels and age groups. He has taught English in several countries including India, Nepal, Thailand, and now Malaysia. He received his first degree in Liberal Arts and has completed the CELTA English Language Teaching certification. He is now completing his Masters in English Language Teaching at Nottingham University, Malaysia. His current interests include self-access centre evaluation and the development of learner autonomy.