From Language Support to Disciplinary Practice: Embedding Academic Writing in Malaysian TVET Final-Year Projects
Year: 2026
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Final-year projects (FYPs) require technical and vocational education and training (TVET) students to convert disciplinary knowledge into sustained academic and technical writing. Yet language support is often positioned outside the project processes in which such writing is produced. This developmental study examines student perceptions and implementation priorities for embedded FYP writing support through the expert-reviewed Cross-Curricular Instructional Model of English Writing Skills (C-IMEWS). A cross-sectional questionnaire was completed by 218 students from seven faculties at a Malaysian technical university. Because 108 records were submitted through one shared data-entry email account and respondent uniqueness could not be independently verified, the analysis was revised to distinguish full-sample descriptive findings from a sensitivity sample excluding those records (n = 110). Full-sample ratings were positive across four provisional writing-focused composites (M = 4.13–4.20). Sensitivity-sample means remained positive and were slightly higher (M = 4.21–4.28), indicating that the broad descriptive pattern was retained. However, very high internal consistency (α = .929–.970 in the full sample), strong inter-composite correlations (r = .85–.91), and VIFs of 4.98–5.89 indicate substantial construct overlap. In the sensitivity sample, correlations and VIFs were even higher. Consequently, the composites are treated as provisional analytical groupings rather than validated latent scales, and the regression is retained only as an exploratory analysis. Full-sample differences associated with prior technical-report experience did not remain statistically significant in the reduced sample, which was highly unbalanced for that comparison (99 experienced; 11 inexperienced); subgroup claims are therefore not treated as robust findings. Open-ended responses prioritised report organisation, scaffolding, exemplars, feedback, and carefully governed digital or AI-supported assistance. The study contributes pre-implementation evidence for refining C-IMEWS, but it does not establish writing improvement, instrument validity, or causal relationships among the measured perceptions.
Language: English
Subfield: Linguistics and Language
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W7225461111