From Anxiety to Artistry: Evaluating the Impact of a Specialised Guest Lecturer Webinar on Students' Perceived Paraphrasing Competencies

This study investigates the effectiveness of a Guest Lecturer Talk webinar on students' perceived paraphrasing abilities at a local university in Malaysia. Using a pre-post survey design, data were collected from undergraduate students across multiple classes and lecturers. A survey instrument measured several constructs, including understanding, interest, motivation, perceived importance, self-assessed ability, and interest in attending expert-led webinars before and after the intervention. Statistical analyses revealed significant improvements across all measured constructs, with medium-to-large effect sizes. The overall composite mean demonstrated substantial gains, although the absence of a control group renders causal claims provisional. Furthermore, internal consistency across all scales was excellent. Results indicated no significant differences in learning gains among different lecturers’ classes, suggesting the intervention was equitably effective across various instructional contexts. Participants rated the guest speaker and webinar quality highly, with speaker quality strongly correlating with overall webinar satisfaction. Ultimately, these findings, based on self-reported data, support incorporating expert-led webinars into academic writing curricula as a cost-effective and scalable complement to traditional classroom instruction, while highlighting the need for objective performance measures and longitudinal follow-up in future evaluations.

perceived paraphrasing skills; webinar; academic writing; guest lecturer; pre-post design; ESL; Malaysian higher education

1. Aliyah Hassan, F., Amirah Nabihah Zainal Abidin, N., Fadhlina Zainal Abedin, N., Purwarno, P., & Shanthi, A. (2023). The Effect of the Face-to-Face, Online, and Blended Teaching Modes on Students’ Performance in Listening. International Research in Education, 11(2), 1. https://doi.org/10.5296/ire.v11i2.20991 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

2. Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. W.H. Freeman. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

3. Bower, M. (2011). Synchronous collaboration competencies in web-conferencing environments - their impact on the learning process. Distance Education, 32(1), 63-83. https://doi.org/10.1080/01587919.2011.565502 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

4. Bower, M., Dalgarno, B., Kennedy, G. E., Lee, M. J. W., & Kenney, J. (2015). Design and implementation factors in blended synchronous learning environments: Outcomes from a cross-case analysis. Computers & Education, 86, 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2015.03.006 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

5. Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

6. Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2018). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (5th ed.). SAGE Publications. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

7. Crow, J., & Smith, L. (2005). Co-teaching in higher education: Reflective conversation on shared experience as continued professional development for lecturers and health and social care students. Reflective Practice, 6(4), 491-506. https://doi.org/10.1080/14623940500300582 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

8. Flowerdew, J., & Li, Y. (2007). Language re-use among Chinese apprentice scientists writing for publication. Applied Linguistics, 28(3), 440-465. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amm031 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

9. Hirvela, A., & Du, Q. (2013). “Why am I paraphrasing?”: Undergraduate ESL writers’ engagement with source-based academic writing and reading. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 12(2), 87-98. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2012.11.005 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

10. Howard, G. S. (1980). Response-shift bias: A problem in evaluating interventions with pre/post self-reports. Evaluation Review, 4(1), 93-106. https://doi.org/10.1177/0193841X8000400105 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

11. Keck, C. (2014). Copying, paraphrasing, and academic writing development: A re-examination of L1 and L2 summarization practices. Journal of Second Language Writing, 25, 4-22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jslw.2014.05.005 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

12. Martin, F. (2005). Exploring the possibilities for synchronous conferencing in higher education. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, 2(1), 3-15. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

13. Shanthi, A., Heng, L. T., Sharminnie, E., Purwarno, P., Suhendi, A., & Xavierine, J. (2023). Do types of gadgets used for online learning have a bearing on student academic performance? International Journal of Evaluation and Research in Education (IJERE), 12(4), 2222-2229. https://doi.org/10.11591/ijere.v12i4.25288 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

14. Shanthi, A., Ekalestari, S., Alyaa, N., Jumaat, F., Islam, U., Utara, S., Medan, K., Sembilan, C. N., Seremban, K., Sembilan, N., Selangor, C., & Dengkil, K. (2025). Understanding Learner Perspectives On E-Learning Tools : A Case Study Of The Myintegrated Reading. Journal of Academia, 13(2), 281–289. https://doi.org/10.24191/joa.v13i2.8037 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

15. Shanthi, A., Paramasivam, S., Xavierine, J., Zainal Abedin, N. F., & Ekalestari, S. (2025). Navigating Success: The Impact of Website Usability and Content Quality on User Satisfaction in Online Language Learning. International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, IX, 1605–1614. https://doi.org/10.47772/IJRISS [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

16. Shi, L. (2012). Rewriting and paraphrasing source texts in second language writing. Journal of Second Language Writing, 21(2), 134-148. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jslw.2012.03.003 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

17. Tengku Mahmood, T. F. P., Paramasivam, S., Mohd Nor Rizan, M. I., Zainal Abidin, N. F., Andang, S., & Shanthi, A. (2023). The Different Learning Modes and Their Relation to Reading Comprehension Achievement Among ESL Tertiary Learners. International Journal of Social Science Research, 11(2), 74. https://doi.org/10.5296/ijssr.v11i2.20985 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

18. Wang, Q., & Woo, H. L. (2007). Systematic planning for ICT integration in topic learning. Educational Technology & Society, 10(1), 148-156. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

19. Xavierine, J., Shah, N. binti Z., Kamarulzaman, M. H. bin, Gozzal, J., Bryce, J., Yeszhanova, S., Raman, K., & Khairuddin, N. I. (2025). Learner perceptions of TikTok video features for vocabulary learning in ESL contexts. Forum for Linguistic Studies, 7(12), 1826-1837. https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v7i12.11623 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

20. Yamada, K. (2003). What prevents ESL/EFL writers from avoiding plagiarism?: Analyses of 10 North-American college websites. System, 31(2), 247-258. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0346-251X(03)00023-X [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

• “Bro”, “Bestie”, and “Slay”: Slang and Digital Identity Among Generation Z WhatsApp Communication