THE CENTRE FOR MODERN LANGUAGES VNW ACTION RESEARCH TEAM WINS GOLD AT FESTIVAL OF TEACHING AND LEARNING IDEAS 2025

KUALA TERENGGANU, 11 November 2025 – The Centre for Modern Languages (CML) action research team has secured the Gold Award at the Teaching and Learning Innovation Competition during the Festival of Teaching and Learning Ideas (FoTLI) 2025. The event was organised by Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT) in collaboration with the Malaysian English Language Teaching Association (MELTA). This year, FoTLI received 224 submission entries from universities and higher education institutions across Malaysia.

The project, “Visualise and Write (VnW): Integrating AI Image Generators to Enhance Descriptive Writing,” was developed by a team from CML UMPSA comprising Hamizah Zahari, Siti Ainun Jariyah Hassan, Dr. Umi Kalsom Masrom, and Roszalina Abdul Rahim from Universiti Islam Pahang Sultan Ahmad Shah (UnIPSAS).

Innovating Descriptive Writing Through AI

The Visualise and Write (VnW) project was initiated to address a common challenge among diploma-level and technical university students which is the difficulty in visualising scenes and generating vivid ideas for descriptive writing tasks. In response to the growing need for digital and multimodal literacy in higher education, the project integrates an AI image generation tool as visual stimuli to support students’ writing development.

Through the use of AI-generated images, students were guided to observe details closely, expand vocabulary, and craft more expressive descriptions. The project was implemented through a structured action research process involving cycles of planning, intervention, observation, and reflection, enabling the team to refine its strategies based on students’ progress and feedback.

Project Objectives

The VnW project is driven by four key objectives:

• Enhancing descriptive writing skills by linking visual prompts with idea development, sensory detail, and coherent expression.
• Strengthening students’ digital literacy through the ethical and creative use of AI tools in academic tasks.
• Boosting motivation and classroom engagement, particularly among students who face challenges in imagination-based writing activities.
• Evaluating the effectiveness of multimodal, AI-assisted teaching approaches in improving students’ overall writing quality.

This achievement demonstrates the practical application of technology in language teaching and highlights our teaching staff's commitment to improving teaching and learning methods at CML UMPSA, particularly in the English language.

The recognition received at FoTLI 2025 reflects UMPSA’s ongoing efforts to strengthen technology-supported learning, particularly in language education. The VnW team plans to build on this momentum by expanding the project and exploring more AI-enhanced approaches to support students’ writing development.

Prepared by: Hamizah Zahari & Dr Umi Kalsom Masrom