Abstract

The effective implementation of writing skills learning in the classroom depends on the teacher's ability to diversify teaching techniques while teaching essay writing skills. The application of teaching writing skills in the classroom must be appropriate to students' level of intelligence and needs to reach the learning objective. This study is conducted to identify the level of knowledge of Bahasa Melayu lecturers who teach the Bahasa Melayu subject for the Electrical Technology and Electronic Technology programs at Vocational Colleges on open-ended essay teaching techniques. This study was conducted using a quantitative research design. The selection of research participants was based on purposive sampling consisting of 25 Malay lecturers who teach the Electrical Technology and Electronic Technology programs at vocational colleges throughout Malaysia based on several criteria outlined by the researcher. The questionnaire study data were analysed using the Statistical Package Social Sciences (SPSS) version 29. The findings showed that the knowledge of Malay lecturers on project- based teaching techniques was the highest, where 100% of respondents answered 'Yes'. The level of use of teaching techniques that are always used by lecturers was the think-pair-share technique, which obtained the highest mean value (mean=4.38) compared to other teaching techniques. Findings on the parallel use of teaching techniques that are appropriate to the needs and desires of students in Vocational Colleges also show that project-based teaching techniques obtained the highest mean value (mean=4.38). In conclusion, the level of knowledge of Malay language lecturers on the use of teaching techniques for writing open-ended essays is high based on the overall mean level. This study is important to ensure that all Malay language lecturers in Vocational Colleges are proficient in using teaching techniques for writing skills.