Research carried out by the staff of the School of Creative Arts and Communication reflect the rich and diverse industrial/academic backgrounds of its staff:

Azmyl Yusof
Singing to a different tune: A reflection
This research investigated on the Malaysian singer songwriters and ‘experimental’ music movement and their ‘contestation’ for alternate cultural spaces.

The use of popular songs in contemporary Western films in representing drug themes
This research investigated on the functions of the use of popular music in contemporary Western films in representing drug themes. Results of the study indicated that the use of popular songs do not necessarily reflect only the character’s psychological state in relation to the semiotic codes of film music but a song’s cultural significance tends to also reflect the relationship between the characters and their social and cultural setting in the film’s world.

Dr Lee Eileen
Getting to Shakespeare’s Hell in the ESL classroom
In addition to deciphering Shakespeare’s language, there are other aspects/areas in Shakespeare’s plays such as the concept of Hell and black humour which may prove equally demanding in the teaching of Shakespeare in the ESL classroom. Using Taoist, Muslim, and Hindu concepts of the afterlife as a prelude to teach and read the Porter scene in Macbeth, the research highlighted the need to tap into the different ethnic and religious backgrounds of the ESL students to help them grasp the concept of black humour in the Porter scene. The findings of the study emphasized how diversity in the Malaysian classroom can be used creatively to make Shakespeare accessible to the ESL reader.

The process of language shift in the Kristang community
Papia Kristang (PK) or Malacca Portuguese Creole has been spoken by the Kristang speech community at the Portuguese Settlement, Malacca, for at least five centuries. However, by 1984 the creole is considered endangered and is listed on the UNESCO Red Book of Endangered Languages. This study on the language shift at the Portuguese Settlement confirms that a mixed code is used as the default means of communication which strongly suggests that the phenomena of language shift in non-migrant minority communities seldom begins or ends with monolingualism but rather with different levels of bilinguality and bilingualism with different generations. Based on the research, an intergenerational model, as opposed to a unidimensional model, of language shift was developed to depict the process and product of language shift in minority bilingual communities such as the Kristang community.

Language maintenance and ethnolinguistic vitality at the Portuguese Settlement, Malacca
By 2003, no child speaker under the age of twelve is able to speak Papia Kristang, the five hundred years old Portuguese creole spoken by the Kristang community at the Portuguese Settlement. A community’s awareness of and its response to its endangered language situation is a fundamental factor that will determine the future of its language. The research on the ethnolinguistic vitality of the community indicate that the socio-economic, socio-historical, socio-psychological background of the community and the socio-political context of intergroup relations in the country are interlinking factors that determine the attitude and language behaviour of the speakers. In conclusion, the lack of urgency for language maintenance by the community is best analysed and understood by taking into consideration the context of its minority status and the dynamics of intergroup relations in the country.

Swearing in bilingual communities
Swearing is an expression of anger and frustration. Impoliteness research and discourse analysis suggest that despite its taboo, speakers acquire the pragmatics of when, where, how, and with whom swearing is appropriate. Triggered by recorded data of naturally-occurring conversations in which the researcher found that most swearing is carried out in the mother tongue, a research is being carried out to investigate in what language a (Malaysian) bilingual usually swears in and why.

Srikumar Ramayan
The representation of the Orang Asli community in the Media
The media, mainly the press, play an important role in shaping the attitude of the nation to and of a particular community. The Orang Asli or indigenous people of Malaysia comprise less than 7% of the total population of Malaysia. A study on the themes reported on the community in a local English daily, The New Straits Times, prior to the 12th Malaysian general elections on 8 March 2008, showed that the sudden increase in the news articles in September 2008 was due to the protest held over their rights to land and the implementation of projects by the government. The study found that the amount of news stories on the community did not increase significantly before or after the general election and that one third of the space of the newspaper which covered the Orang Asli community was merely to create hype to the government’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects.

Suffian Hadi
Awareness and readiness of commercialisation among university researchers
Research universities in the world such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US generated more than USD 21 million in annual licensing revenues from commercialisation activities. Seeing the potential of income generation and sustainable wealth, Malaysian universities have also been encouraged to commercialise their research produce. A study conducted at a local public university investigated the level of knowledge, attitude and readiness of local university researchers on research development and the process of commercialisation. Results from the study indicate that for universities to succeed in research and commercialisation, local researchers must first be educated on the need to change, the importance of commercialisation, the current demands in the industry and the processes involved in the commercialisation of research.

• Azmyl Md Yusof (2010). Facing the music: Music subcultures and ‘morality’ in Malaysia. Media Asia 2010: Asian Conference on Media and Mass Communication. Osaka, Japan.
• Lee, E. (2010). Language shift in the Kristang community: Process and Product. International Conference on Linguisitics, Literature and Culture 2010 (ICLLIC 2010), School of Humanities, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia.
• Lee, E. (2010). To Hell, with Shakespeare. International Conference on Leaner Diversity (ICELD 2010), Faculty of Education, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, Malaysia.
• Lee, E. (2011). Language maintenance and competing priorities at the Portuguese Settlement, Malacca. South Eastern Conference on Linguistics LXXV111 (SECOL 78), Dept of Linguistics, University of Georgia, Georgia, USA.
• Srikumar Ramayan. (2011). The representation of the Orang Asli community in the Media. 2011 Shanghai International Conference on Social Science (SICSS2011), Shanghai.
• Suraiya Ibrahim, Mohammad Rezal Hamzah, Suffian Hadi Ayub, Ku Amir Ku Daud, Siti Norjunita Mohd. Radzi (2011). Factors Affecting Students’ Performance In The Principles Of Accounting Course For The Programme Of International Business & Engineering Entrepreneurship. Malaysian Technical Universities International Conference On Engineering And Technology (MUiCET 2011). Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM).
• Suffian Hadi Ayub, Prof. Dr. Zul Azhar Zahir Jamal, Mohammad Rezal Hamzah, Nor’izah Ahmad (2010). Awareness & Readiness Of Commercialisation Among Unimap Researchers. International Conference on the Roles of the Humanities & Social Sciences in Engineering (ICoHSE 2010). Universiti Malaysia Perlis.
• Brig. Jen. Prof. Dato’ Dr. Kamarudin Husin, Mohammed Rezal Hamzah, Suffian Hadi Ayub, Nor’izah Ahmad, Suraiya Ibrahim (2010). Program Seven Pillars: Satu Model Pembangunan Mahasiswa Seimbang. Seminar Pendidikan Melayu Antarabangsa 2010 (SePMA 2010), Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia and Sekretariat Dunia Melayu Dunia Islam.

• Azmyl Md Yusof. (2010) “Facing the Music: Music Subcultures and ‘Morality’ in Malaysia”. In Yeoh Seng Guan (ed.) Media, Culture and Society in Malaysia. London: Routledge.
• Lee, E. (2008). The significance of building and activating background knowledge in the teaching of Shakespeare in the ESL classroom. Polyglossia Vol. 15, p. 35-43.
• Lee, E. (2010). To Hell, with Shakespeare. Science Direct Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences Vol. 7, p. 312-325.
• Lee, E. (2011). Language maintenance and ethnolinguistic vitality at the Portuguese Settlement, Malacca. Ritsumeikan Journal of Asia Pacific Studies Vol. 30.
• Lee, E. (forthcoming). Language shift in the Kristang community: Process and Product. In Linguistics, Literature and Culture: Millennium Realities and Innovative Practices in Asia, eds. Shakila Abdul Manan & Hajar Abdul Rahim. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

• ERGS, MoHE, 2011. ‘The Measurement of Commercialization Competencies and assessing its framework in the Institute of Higher Learning towards Institutional Capacity Building and Wealth Creation. ‘ Researchers: Mohammad Rezal Hamzah (PI), Suffian Hadi Ayub, Julinawati Suanda, Husna Afifi Mohd. Jusoh @ Yusof, Maskor Bajuri
• FRGS, MoHE, 2010. ‘Repositioning the Electrical and Electronics Subsector in the Northern Economic Region to attain Global Prominence.’ Researchers: Ku Amir Ku Daud (PI), Prof. Dr. Zul Azhar Zahid Jamal, Assc. Prof. Dr. Syed Alwee Aljunid, Suffian Hadi Ayub, Mohammad Rezal Hamzah, Adi Anuar Azmin
• UniMAP Short Term Grant, 2010. ‘Awareness and readiness of commercialisation among UniMap researchers.’ Researchers: Suffian Hadi Ayub (PI), Prof. Dr. Zul Azhar Zahid Jamal, Mohammad Rezal Hamzah, Nor’izah Ahmad.
• KLIUC Research Grant, 2011. The relationship between interactions-based diversity and intercultural sensitivity among undergraduate students. Researchers: Norzita binti Yunus (PI), Munirah Ilias, Azman bin Ramlie, Suffian Hadi Ayub
• Sunway Internal Research Grant 2011. ‘Investigating language maintenance and cultural viability in the Hainanese community Researchers: Lee Eileen (PI), Lyon Laxman, Wong Shin Pyng