Slide Bridge ESL is proposed as a classroom-oriented design that extends slide-based teaching for Malaysian

diploma level learners of English. The core problem concerns platform lock in and variable connectivity that

constrain sustained speaking practice, while common slide interaction tools generate momentary engagement

without durable gains in oral communication. The research design follows a design science approach comprising

a synthesis of mobile and digital learning literature, a requirements analysis with Malaysian diploma level ESL

communicative progress under mixed device conditions. Recommendations include small pilot implementation,

iterative usability refinement based on educator feedback, and alignment with program outcomes to support later

Speaking in English is one of the biggest challenges faced by many Malaysian diploma students. A study by

Aziz and Kashinathan (2021) found that learners often feel nervous about speaking in front of others and harbour

anxiety about making mistakes, which reduces their willingness to engage in oral communication. Even when

speaking tasks are included, many students still report frequent hesitation, pauses, and difficulties producing

This concept paper proposes SlideBridge ESL as a response to these challenges. The idea is to reimagine slide-

based teaching as a mobile-friendly design that makes space for more authentic, fair, and continuous speaking

practice. By combining features such as timed discussions, role plays, short presentations, and persistent group

workspaces with simple analytics and offline support, the design aims to give learners more consistent chances

to speak and to help teachers observe their development more clearly. In doing so, the design aligns with

Malaysia’s English Language Education Reform goals to strengthen communicative proficiency through

The aim of this study is to conceptualise a mobile learning design that extends slide-based teaching into sustained

MALL reviews further show rapid post-2019 growth in studies using smartphones and social-messaging tools

to scaffold interaction, although many interventions are short in duration and small in scale, highlighting a need

for longer trials in authentic classroom contexts (Guo et al, 2024). These strands collectively suggest that mobile

tools can extend opportunities for oral production beyond whole-class teacher talk, provided activities are

intentionally sequenced for interactional practice. Within Malaysia, similar emphases on communicative practice

inform policy and curriculum discussions, but applications at diploma level remain under-examined,

underscoring the need for a locally responsive design such as SlideBridge (Ministry of Education Malaysia,

Classroom response systems and interactive presentation platforms are widely adopted to activate prior

(licensing, content portability, connectivity) that can limit sustained, talk-heavy activities (Pichardo et al., 2021).

For a slide-centred classroom to promote continuous speaking practice, interactive check-ins may therefore need

to be complemented by structured speaking tasks, such as timed-rounds or role-plays, and mechanisms that

persist group work across sessions. In Malaysian higher education specifically, comparative designs that

integrate slides with extended speaking practice are limited, which clarifies SlideBridge’s contribution beyond

In the Malaysian higher-education context, uneven access to stable connections and capable devices continues

to constrain participation in synchronous oral tasks, particularly for students from lower-income households. A

national study of lower-income undergraduates found significant digital-use disparities linked to perceived

norms and access factors, underscoring a persistent “usage” divide beyond basic access (Devisakti et al., 2023).

Qualitative work with Malaysian undergraduates similarly reports connection speed and instability as recurrent

barriers during online speaking activities (Saputra et al., 2023). These findings support offline-tolerant, cache-

(device or LAN) with later sync to a coach server or data portal, enabling activity tracking and analytics without

continuous internet connectivity, an approach increasingly adopted in institutional partnerships serving remote

learners (Learning Equality, 2021; BCcampus-Learning Equality, 2024). Adapting these patterns to slide-based

ESL classes would allow speaking tasks and group work to continue reliably on heterogeneous devices, with

data synchronized when connectivity permits. By leveraging these patterns, SlideBridge aims to keep oral

Many diploma-level ESL classes in Malaysia remain slide-centred. Polls and quiz add-ons boost attention and

quick checking, but they rarely create the extended, back-and-forth talk that actually builds speaking fluency. A

recent review of Kahoot! shows consistently positive effects on engagement and test performance, yet its

measures are mostly cognitive/affective rather than spoken-production outcomes, suggesting the need for

explicitly oriented to extended oral interaction while remaining usable under variable connectivity. The stance

is to extend slide-based lessons rather than replacing them, embedding more speaking opportunities within a

All sessions run in the browser on modest devices, and core artefacts, such as prompts, notes, short audio

responses, and participation logs, are saved locally first and then synchronised or exported when connectivity is

available. This offline-first pattern mirrors established approaches in low-bandwidth learning platforms and

allows lessons to continue even when the network drops. To support institutional adoption, optional integration

with existing Learning Management Systems (LMS) can be explored so that access, enrolment, and basic

tasks are purposeful and sustained (Li, 2024). Relative to quiz-oriented slide add-ons, these sequences keep

Teams retain their notes, scripts, rotating roles, and feedback across weeks so that collaboration does not reset

each class meeting. This continuity reflects trends in collaborative mobile-assisted language learning, which

increasingly scaffold ongoing interaction via mobile and social affordances (Guo et al., 2024). At the same time,

continuity across sessions can surface challenges in group dynamics, including uneven participation or

dominance by particular members. To mitigate these risks, the design anticipates role-rotation prompts and

lightweight participation views to support equitable turn-taking. Since continuity can add to teacher workload,

the blueprint also assumes simple management features, such as reusable team templates and quick progress

The blueprint answers three constrains surfaced in the literature. First, speaking requires structured, repeated

turns, not just momentary slide interactivity (Wang & Tahir, 2020). Second, mobile-supported routines can move

oral performance when they are task-rich and sustained (Li, 2024). Third, connectivity/device gaps are a practical

barrier in Malaysia, so cache-then-sync is not optional but essential for equitable participation (Devisakti et al.,

If feasible, the design should yield more frequent and more evenly distributed talk, proximal mechanisms linked

to speaking development in MALL contexts, while giving teachers usable, classroom-safe evidence of progress.

It is also important to acknowledge that the proposal remains untested and assumes a degree of instructor

design that extends slide teaching into structured, collaborative oral work. The Phase One blueprint specifies a

web-first presenter and student client, speaking-focused activity sequences, such as timed rounds, role-plays,

micro-presentations with brief quick checks, persistent group workspaces, and classroom-safe analytics,

including participation counts, simple talk-time indicators, and contribution balance, running on an offline-

tolerant cache-then-sync or export flow. Taken together, these choices aim to create more authentic speaking

and align workflows with programme goals for long-term study and scaling. In these pilots, close collaboration