Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ummul Khair Ahmad Profile Page
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ummul Khair Ahmad
513
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ummul Khair Ahmad
Deputy Dean (Research & Graduate Studies)
Admin Office D06
31900/1901
...

Profile

Department of Modern Languages
B.Sc. Educ. (English) (Indiana), M.A (Linguistics) (Indiana), Ph.D (Linguistics) (Michigan)

Research

  1. A typology of spoken academic discourse for Science and Engineering in Malaysian Institute of Higher Learning. FRGS. RM25, 000.00. September 2009-August 2011.
  2. A Study of lecturing styles in Malaysia and the UK (UTM Leader) in partnership with Hilary Nesi, University of Coventry, British Council, PMI 2 Connect—Research Cooperation Award. £40,000.00 May 2008—April 2010.
  3. Contrastive Investigation on Complex Idiosyncratic Linguistic Features of Malay and English in a Parallel Corpus of Translated Domains of Knowledge. (Leader Suad Awab, Universiti Malaya) FRGS. RM 110,000.00. November 2007- October 2009.
  4. Evaluation of Grammatical Analysis in the Development of E-Translation Software, MIMOS. UKM Pakarunding and MIMOS Berhad. (Leader Rogayah A. Razak, UKM) January 2006 – February 2007. RM 570,000.00.
  5. Writing from the periphery: Genre analysis of scientific articles of non-native English speaking researchers. English Language Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA.1998-2000.
  6. Research and development of instructional materials for institutions of higher learning with special emphasis on science and technology (RELP).Research and Consultancy Unit, UTM.1991-1993

Publication

  1. "The issues of patchwriting and plagiarism amongst non-native graduate students." In Issues in language teaching and learning amongst non-native speakers: language competence and performance. Vol. 1. 2nd International Conference ILLANS 2009. pp. 173-183. Shah Alam: UPENA. 2009. [with Kobra Mansourzadeh]
  2. "Ragam ayat pasif dan aktif dalam bahasa Melayu Saintifik: satu analisis wacana" in Idris Aman dan Mohammad Fadzeli Jaafar (Eds.) Teori Penyelidikan Bahasa, pp 1-23, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2005.
  3. "Memekarkan aktiviti penterjemahan ilmiah" Dewan Bahasa, 5(8):42-47. August 2005.
  4. "Pengalaman Penerbit Universiti: Menerbit dan Memasarkan Buku Ilmiah." in Mohd Anwar Ridhwan (Ed), Penerbitan Buku dalam Bahasa Melayu: Cabaran dan Pengalaman. pp. 55-68, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2005.
  5. "Pelaksanaan dan cabaran perolehan manuskrip ilmiah secara strategik." In Prosiding Seminar Penerbitan Ilmiah: Economics of Short Run Printing, pp 1-18. Sintok: Penerbit Universiti Utara Malaysia. 2004.
  6. "Consider this: The roles of imperatives in scholarly research articles" Applied Linguistics, 19(1):97-121. 1998 [with JM Swales, YY Chang, D Chavez, D Dressen and R Seymour]
  7. "Jalinan ayat pasif dan aktif dalam Bahasa Melayu Saintifik" Jurnal Dewan Bahasa, 42(5):393-401. May 1998.
  8. "Research article introductions in Malay: Rhetoric in an emerging research community." In Anna Duszak (Ed.) Culture and Styles of Academic Discourse. pp. 273-304. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. 1997.

Proceedings

  1. Issues of patchwriting and plagiarism amongst non-native graduate students. Issues in Language Learning amongs Non-Native speakers (ILLANs 2009), Shah Alam, 2-3 Dec 2009. [with Kobra Mansourzadeh]
  2. Non-Native University Students’ Perception of Plagiarism. Profiting from Learners and Teacher Investment in ELT, ICELT 2009, Melaka, 10-11 November 2009. [with Kobra Mansourzadeh and Grace Koh]
  3. Pragmatic Annotations in Spoken International Corpus. American Association of Corpus Linguistics Annual Meeting (AACL 2009). 11-13 October 2009. University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. [with Hilary Nesi and Noor Mala Ibrahim]
  4. Response to and effect of humor in Engineering Lectures in Malaysian and UK Higher Education Contexts. Laughter and Humour Interaction. University of Huddersfield, UK. 24-25 June 2009 [with Nick Endacott]
  5. No, cheap cheap only lah: The sociopragmatics of giving and receiving compliments in Malaysian English. 18th MELTA International Conference, Johor Bahru. 13-15 June 2009. [with Grace Koh Ming Ai]
  6. The Structure of Engineering Lecture Discourse: the case of Malaysian classroom. Poster Presentation, Aston Summer Conference on Corpus Linguistics. Aston University, Birmingham, UK. May 2009. [with Noor Mala Ibrahim]
  7. We do something else-lah: Disagreement amongst Malaysian English Speakers and its classroom implications. 6th International Language for Specific Purposes, Johor Bahru. 9-10 April 2008. [with Angela Kwon Mei Jun]
  8. Newspaper Editorials from Malaysia and Pakistan: a cross cultural genre perspective. 6th International Language for Specific Purposes, Johor Bahru. 9-10 April 2008. [with Farzana Kausar]
  9. Corresponding grammatical analysis of parallel English-Malay texts in a machine-aided translation software. 11th International Conference on Translation, Kuala Lumpur, 21-23 November 2007. (with Rogayah A.Razak, Norizan Rajak, Salina Jaafar and Su’ad Awab).
  10. Sintaksis Struktur Koordinat dan Subordinat dalam Korpus Teks Selari Inggeris-Melayu. SKALI 2007. Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, March 2007. [with Rogayah A. Razak, Norizan Rajak, and Su’ad Awab.]
  11. Panelist for forum “Peranan Penerbitan Ilmiah sebagai Wahana Kecemerlangan Pendidikan Negara” at MAPIM Book Launch, Kuala Lumpur International Book Festival, 26 April 2005, PWTC Kuala Lumpur.
  12. Penterjemahan teks ilmiah peringkat tinggi dan sumbangannya dalam industri perbukuan negara. Invited speaker for Majlis Sehari bersama Penerbit “Peranan dan Sumbangan Penterjemahan dalam Industri Buku di Malaysia, organized by Institut Terjemahan Negara Malaysia and Perpustakaan Negara Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, 27 July 2004.
  13. Pelaksanaan dan Cabaran Perolehan Manuskrip Ilmiah secara strategik, Invited speaker for Seminar Penerbitan Ilmiah 2003, Universiti Utara Malaysia, 19-20 October 2003, Langkawi, Kedah.
  14. Penterjemahan ilmu dan masa depan bahasa Melayu sebagai wahana ilmu sains dan teknologi: satu khayalan yang tiada kesampaian? Persidangan Penterjemahan Antarabangsa ke-9, Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, Kuala Lumpur, 2-4 September, 2003.
  15. Bahasa Melayu merentasi cabang ilmu: Projek Ensiklopedia Sains dan Teknologi (EST). Persidangan Antarabangsa Pengajian Melayu ke-2, Beijing, China. 7-9 Oktober 2002. (with Mohd Azraai Kassim, Mohd Rashidi Md. Razali, and Khalid Mazlan).
  16. Usaha penterjemahan di institusi pengajian tinggi dalam mengembangkan ilmu berbahasa Melayu. Persidangan Antarabangsa Pengajian Melayu ke-2, Beijing, China. 7-9 Oktober 2002. (with Muhd. Mansor Abdullah).
  17. Pengalaman penerbit universiti menerbit dan memasarkan buku ilmiah. Invited speaker in Majlis Pertemuan Penulis Ilmiah Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 3 September 2002. Kuala Lumpur.
  18. Penerbitan dan pemasaran buku-buku ilmiah di Malaysia. Invited speaker in Seminar Penerbitan ilmiah 2002, UNIMAS-MAPIM, 26 August 2002, Kuching, Sarawak.
  19. Pemerkasaan bahasa Melayu dan penterjemahan teks ilmiah peringkat tinggi: antara impian dengan kenyataan. Persidangan Antarabangsa Bahasa dan Pemerkasaan, anjuran Persatuan Bahasa Moden, Petaling Jaya, 11-13 April, 2002. (with Khalid Mazlan).
  20. Hegemoni bahasa dan cabaran globalisasi dalam penterjemahan teks ilmiah peringkat tinggi. Persidangan Penterjemahan Antarabangsa ke-8, Langkawi Kedah, 3-5 September 2001. (with Khalid Mazlan).
  21. The construction of professional identity: balancing cultural-rhetorical tradition and disciplinary convention in scientific communications. Universiti Putra Malaysia 2nd Malaysia International Conference on Languages, Literatures, and Cultures (MICOLLAC 2001). Kuala Lumpur. 17-19 April 2001.
  22. Writing in different tongue: Scientific communication of Malaysian research writers. 3rd International Conference of Language for Specific Purpose, “Tuning in to the New Millenium” Johor Bahru. 14-16 November 2000.
  23. Peranan Penerbit Universiti Teknologi Malaysia Memacu Penerbitan Ilmiah. Konvensyen Industri Perbukuan Negera, Bangi. 8-9 November, 2000. [with Khalid Mazlan]
  24. Romancing the west: cultural transference in scientific communication from peripheral discourse community. 12th World Congress of Applied Linguistics, AILA ’99 Tokyo on “The Roles of Language in the 21st Century: Unity and Diversity”, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan. 1-6 August 1999.
  25. The internationalization of scientific discourse: Is there room for culturo-linguistic identity? Universiti Putra Malaysia First Malaysia International Conference on Languages, Literatures, and Cultures (MICOLLAC) 1999 on ‘Interconnections in the New Millenium’, Kuala Lumpur. 10-12 May 1999.
  26. Cultural, Linguistic and Non-Linguistic influences in Scientific Communication: Opportunities or Limitations? Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Third International Conference on 'The Role of Language in a Borderless World: Harkening to the Voices of Asia', Kuala Lumpur. 20-22 October 1998.
  27. Ragam ayat aktif dan ayat pasif dalam Bahasa Melayu Saintifik. Seminar Kebangsaan Linguistik (SKALI) ke-3. Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, Selangor. 18-19 November 1997.
  28. Insights from contrastive rhetorical analysis for ESP classroom. Universiti Teknologi Malaysia Second International Seminar on English for Specific Purposes, 'Meeting The Challenges of Today and Tomorrow', Johor Bahru. 7-9 October 1997.
  29. Cross-cultural variation in scientific communication: Swales' CARS model crashes? 1997 Annual Meeting of American Association of Applied Linguistics, Orlando, Florida, USA. 8-11 March 1997.
  30. English triumphant: A problem as much as a solution? (Is the increasing dominance of academic English a threat to academic cultures?) A panel discussion of international scholars in commemoration of 1997 Martin Luther King's Day Celebration. The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. 20 January 1997.
  31. Scientific Communication: The case of a small, peripheral discourse community. 1996 Annual Meeting of American Association of Applied Linguistics, 'Discourse Community', Chicago, USA. 22-25 March 1996.
  32. Scientific English and Scientific Malay: Some preliminary comparison. SEAMEO Regional Language Center Seminar, 'Culture and Literature in Language Learning', RELC, Singapore. 7-19 April 1995.
  33. ESP: The Malaysia Experience. MITESOL Fall Conference, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. 30 Oct – 2 September 1994.

Consultancy

Service to Professional Development:
1. Facilitator, Writing Academic Abstracts. Center for Teaching and Learning, UTM, April, Nov, 2009
2. Facilitator, Writing Thesis and Dissertation for Postgraduate Students. Center for Teaching and Learning, UTM. October 6-8 and 27-29, 2009.
3. Facilitator, Research Writing for Publication, Center for Teaching and Learning, UTM, April/October 2007, 2008, 2009.
4. Facilitator, Language at the Workplace: Written Business Communication, Malaysian Marine and Heavy Engineering (MMHE) Pasir Gudang, Johor. December 2007- January 2008 (16 hours)
5. Course Facilitator, Language for Research Work and Presentations, Center for Teaching and Learning, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn, Batu Pahat, Johor. 2008, 2007, 2005.
6. Guest Speaker, Writing Scientific Research Reports in English. Research Methodology Workshop, School of Graduate Studies, UTM. 2006.
7. Chief facilitator, Developing and Writing Academic Manuscripts, to senior Royal Malaysian Custom Officers, Akademi Kastam Malaysia, Bukit Baru, Melaka. February 2005.
8. Guest Speaker, Avoiding Plagiarism in Research Writing, colloquium for research writers/students at Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, UTM, July 2004.
9. Guest Speaker, Authors and Copyrights in Scholarly Publication, forum on publishing and publications organized by the Office of the Dean, Faculty of Science Computer and Information Systems, UTM. September 2001.
10. Guest Speaker, Teaching Language from a Discourse Perspective, English Language Teaching Course for All-Malaysian Polytechnic Lecturers, 23 –24 September 2003, Pasir Gudang, Johor, March 2001 at Politeknik Johor Bharu.
11. Course Facilitator, Writing Scientific Articles, organized by UTM Press and HRD Unit, Office of the Registrar, UTM, from 1998 to 2005.
12. Course Facilitator, Writing Original Book Manuscripts, organized by UTM Press and HRD Unit, Office of the Registrar, UTM from 1998 to 2005.
13. Course Facilitator, Proof Reading Manuscripts, organized by UTM Press and HRD Unit, Office of the Registrar, UTM from 1999.
14. Course Facilitator, A short course on Writing Scientific Articles, organized by Faculty of Chemical and Natural Resources Engineering, UTM. 5-6 June 1999.
15. Course Facilitator, Writing Research Proposal, SLAB Research Preparatory Course organized by HRD Unit & FPPSM, UTM. 28 April 2000 & 30 May 1999.
16. Guest Speaker, A short course on Writing Technical Report and Research Papers, organized by Faculty of Civil Engineering, UTM. 13 February 1999.
17. Course Facilitator, Editing a Manuscript, organized by UTM Press & HRD Unit, Office of the Registrar, UTM from 1998 to 2005.

Supervision

PhD

1. Farzana Kausar (PhD TESL) Analysis of Newspaper Editorials from Malaysia, Pakistan and USA: a cross-cultural genre analysis. On-going since July 2007 (Supervisor)
2. Sarala @Thulasi a/p Palpanadan, (PhD TESL) Narratives of scientific experiments in secondary school science subjects. Since January 2008 (Supervisor)
3. Noor Mala Ibrahim (PhD TESL) Metadiscourse in tertiary academic lectures. Since July 2008 (Supervisor)
4. Kobra Mansourzadeh (PhD TESL) Text-borrowing practices of expert writers. Since January 2009


MA

5. Grace Koh Ming Ai (MA TESL—full research) Discourse Markers in Engineering Lectures. On-going since July 2009 (Supervisor)
6. Hayati bt Ismail, (M.Ed TESL) Examining the personal pronoun system and address terms used by Malay speakers conversing in English: A cross-linguistic study. Completed February 2004 (Supervisor)
7. Hazrimah bt Abdul Rahim, M.Ed (TESL) The effects of process writing on secondary student writing performance. Completed September 2003 (Supervisor)
8. Mahani Stapa, M.Ed (TESL) Evaluating Second Language Writing: The Impact of Background Knowledge on Writing Performance. Completed December 1999. (Supervisor)

Awards

o Jasa Bakti Award for 20-year service with Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. 2009.
o Visiting Researcher, Dept of English Language Studies, Coventry University, UK. May – Aug 2009
o Visiting Scholar, English Language Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, May-December 2006.
o Excellent Staff Award, Faculty of Management and Human Resource Development, UTM, 2006.
o Excellent Service Award, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 2002, 2007.
o Fellowship, English Language Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. 1999. (USD 1000.00)
o Fellowship, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Winter Semester, 1997 (USD 3800.00)
o Research & Travel Grants, Program in Linguistics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Winter Semester 1997 (USD 550.00); Summer 1994. (USD 550.00)
o Scholarship, English Language Institute, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Fall Semester 1996/97 (USD 2500.00)
o Research & Travel Grants, Rackham School of Graduate Studies, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Winter 1996 (USD 550.00)
o Dean's List, School of Education, Indiana University, Bloomington. 1984/85.o

Others

TEACHING

  • Main areas of teaching:
    • Academic/Technical Writing
    • Introduction to Linguistics
    • Discourse Analysis.
  • Courses taught:
    • SHL 2023 Linguistics I
    • SHL 2032 Linguistics II
    • SHL 4052 Discourse Analysis
    • UHB 3042 Writing for Specific Purposes
    • UHB 2422 Advanced English for Academic Communication
    • HBET 1303 Psycholinguistics for Language Teachers (for Open University Malaysia, Johor Bahru)