Teaching Malay Language Communication Among International Students: Challenges During the Pandemic

The Covid-19 pandemic is not over yet, but surely all life activities continue with the new norm. Undoubtedly, this epidemic left a big impact on various fields, including education. To curb the spread of this epidemic, educational institutions change the teaching and learning methods from face-to-face to online. This study aims to identify the challenges faced by lecturers as well as the use of the Malay language in the teaching and learning of international students. This qualitative study uses a case study design. The case study is the teaching and learning process of Malay Communication II at the Faculty of Language Studies and Human Development, Universiti Malaysia Kelantan. A total of five participants who are Bahasa Melayu students were selected through purposive sampling. Data was collected through online interviews and analysed using a thematic approach. For validity and reliability of the study, it is done based on the researcher's verification method (Audit Trail). The results of the study show that there are three main challenges in the teaching and learning process of Malay. Nevertheless, to give more understanding to international students, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, lecturers take advantage of the chat box available in the Google Meet application. This study has implications for the selection of lecturers’ teaching approaches and methods in improving the mastery of Malay among international students. In addition, the skill of using the Malay language in teaching and learning can also be used as an element in measuring the competence of Malay language lecturers who teach international students. This strategy can indirectly help lecturers to improve the proficiency of international students in Malay subjects.