I am an associate professor at the Department of Asian and European Languages, Faculty of Languages and Linguistics, University of Malaya. Much of my research focuses on the psychological and emotional dimensions of learning additional languages. My broader academic interests include quantitative methods in applied linguistics and natural language processing. I am also increasingly interested in the study of the human sensorium—particularly how sensory perceptions, such as olfaction, intersect with language, cognition, and emotion. In my research on language learning, one of the directions I pursue is exploring how language learners perceive and imagine the cultures of their target language communities. This interest led to the publication of my book, Stereotypes and Language Learning Motivation: A Study of L2 Learners of Asian Languages (Routledge, 2020). I actively engage with theoretical perspectives and seek innovative methodologies that help explain the psychological phenomena involved in learning a new language. This line of inquiry resulted in my most recent book, Emotions and Affect in Language Learning: A Photovoice Study of Learning in Lockdown (Routledge, 2025). In this work, Lev Vygotsky’s concept of perezhivanie provides the theoretical grounding for exploring language learners’ lived experiences during the COVID-19 lockdown. My work has appeared in journals such as Applied Linguistics, Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, System, and Journal of English for Academic Purposes. I welcome opportunities for collaboration with researchers working in related areas.

Mohd Hafiz Jamaludin is a senior lecturer in the Department of Shariah and Law, Academy of Islamic Studies, University of Malaya. He is a graduate of Al-Azhar University, Egypt, in 2007, with a degree in Shariah Islamiah. In 2009, he pursued postgraduate studies in the Department of Shariah and Law, Academy of Islamic Studies, University of Malaya, specializing in the Law of Fatwa. He completed his postgraduate studies in 2011. Subsequently, he received sponsorship from the Ministry of Higher Education of Malaysia under the Bumiputera Academic Training Scheme (SLAB) to pursue his doctoral studies in Shariah Law in 2012 at the same university. Throughout his doctoral studies, he had the opportunity to attend courses in Arabic language and Islamic Studies Methodology at the Islamic University of Madinah, Saudi Arabia, in 2013, and the Student Exchange Program at The Istanbul Foundation for Science and Culture, Turkey, in 2014. He completed his doctoral studies in 2016. He has been involved in various research projects led by his supervisor, Professor Dato’ Dr Ahmad Hidayat Buang, in the fields of fatwa and Islamic finance. Furthermore, he led a research project in the field of Islamic finance funded by the Ministry of Education, University of Malaya, and INCEIF in 2017. He has published several articles in the fields of Shariah, fatwa, and Islamic finance in local and international journals, as well as presented at national and international conferences. He is the first of three siblings, is married to Norlaila Md Yusof and is blessed with three children.

Rusnah S. D. Hussen, PhD: Studied Applied Chemistry at the University of Malaya and obtained MSc and PhD in Material Science and Nanotechnology. The scientific work covers the preparation of renewable resource derived surfactants and their molecular self-assembly related to drug carriers for life science applications. Besides physical investigations of self-assembling materials, the research is emphasizing on the development of surfactant formulations for specific applications, e.g. water-oil emulsions and vesicles for medical applications.  The research also includes metallomesogens for molecular switch applications related to liquid crystalline behaviour. Investigations cover spectroscopy, physical measurements at the nanoscale, optical polarising microscopy and systematic surface studies.