EMPOWERING STUDENTS’ PERSUASIVE AND ARGUMENTATIVE SKILLS THROUGH GLOBAL CLASSROOM

29 May 2023 – In a remarkable endeavour to empower students' persuasive speech and argumentative essays, the Centre for Modern Languages (CML) has successfully conducted two Basic Global Classroom (GC) sessions for UHL2412 English for Academic Communication course via Google Meet.

It turned out to be a promising start as the first UHL2412 online GC session on May 11, 2023, Thursday, attracted a number of 59 Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP) students from section 10G and 20G.

In this session, students gained valuable insight from Dr. Abdallah A. Hardan Al-Thamir from the University of Anbar, Baghdad, Iraq, who made a significant impact on the session by providing valuable insight on the power of technology, and global collaboration to foster critical thinking and persuasive writing among students.

Furthermore, his insight on “The Art of Persuasion”, undoubtedly enriched the session, offering students a practical guide on improving their persuasive writing skill.

The second cycle of the UHL2412 online GC session on 29 May, 2023, was another successful session with the participation of 56 UMP students from section 05G, and 08PD. The honourable guest speaker for this session, Dr. Djoko Sutriano from Universitas Ahmad Dahlan, Kota Yogyakarta, Indonesia, supplemented the session with fresh perspectives on ‘Mastering the Arts of Argument: A Guide for Argumentative Essay Writing’.

Indeed, cross-cultural interactions and exposure to other viewpoints are important in the educational journey. Such sessions like these, can nurture essential 21st-century skills such as research, citation, and evidence-based writing, enabling students to be more critical on issues across borders and cultures.

Moreover, the inclusion of Persuasive Speech and Argumentative Essay components within the course content has proven to be highly beneficial as it provides students with essential skills for both academic, and professional life.

Through these combinations, students had the opportunity to express their thoughts, and opinions on a wide array of topics, which not only helped them develop well-structured and persuasive arguments but also honed their skills to critically analyze information, articulate their thoughts clearly, logically, and convincingly.

It is also important to acknowledge, and appreciate the significant roles played by the instructors of the course, namely Ms. Noor Azlinda Zainal Abidin, Ms. Aisyah Hanum Abu Bakar and Ms. Rosnani Ismail. Their contributions have been instrumental in ensuring the smooth running of the sessions, creating a safe, and inclusive learning environment for the participants as well as effectively guiding students throughout the sessions.

Ms. Aisyah Hanum, the coordinator of the UHL2412 course, also hopes that more Global Classroom sessions will be held for this course in the near future so that more students could have the opportunity to interact with guest speakers from abroad, and enrich their learning journey.

The session ended with photo sessions to commemorate the events, and recognise the dedication of the speakers, instructors, and participants.

Prepared by: Rosnani Ismail, Noor Azlinda Zainal Abidin and Aisyah Hanum Abu Bakar