Background Cultural literacy in higher education is often treated as a broad multicultural aspiration, yet students also need structured opportunities to interpret the local arts, symbols, and social values that shape their own communities. This study examined whether the TANJAK Learning Model could strengthen preservice elementary teachers’ cultural literacy in Malay arts and culture. Methods A quasi-experimental one-group pretest-posttest design was used in a limited classroom trial at Universitas Riau. The model was implemented in two course meetings covering Malay music appreciation and Malay dance appreciation. Students completed LMS-based pretests and posttests, and they responded to a reflection questionnaire after the learning cycle. Descriptive statistics and paired-sample t-tests were used to analyse the quantitative data. Results In the Malay music session, the mean score increased from 87.21 to 96.05, with a significant paired-sample difference (t = −6.27, p
Zufriady et al. (Mon,) studied this question.