To improve English standards generally:
1. Stress the importance of English. A recent survey by a networking group called Jaringan Me-layu Malaysia said that 55% of some 15,000 parents of school-going children in rural areas prefer Maths and Science to be taught in English in schools. Only 32% felt that teaching of the two subjects should go back to Bahasa Malaysia while 66% felt their children would be able to build a better future if the two subjects were taught in English. It’s clear that even the general populace now feels English is important.
It is time for the Government and its officials to recognise this, stress the importance of English and take concrete measures to ensure its rightful place in the curriculum.
2. Realise that it’s easier to keep up with knowledge using English. English is now the undisputed de facto language of knowledge in the world. Even those from other countries who have a history of strong know-how, publish their work in English. You need to know English to get to the primary source of information. It is impossible to translate this knowledge into Bahasa Malaysia or Mandarin.
3. Prepare to overcome objections from some quarters. When a change is proposed to reflect the importance of English in the educational system, it will only be natural that language champions will oppose these changes. But the overriding decision criteria should be whether such a change is beneficial to students and the country. It is strange how many language champions send their own children to international schools.
4. Don’t pander to parochial issues. We must avoid pandering to the voices of a vocal minority at the expense of the majority who are now prepared to see the usage of English widened by teaching some subjects in English.
Some pressure groups are notorious for turning the most innocuous issues into emotional ones. The Government must not fall into the trap they lay and be unwavering in its stance.
5. Have a uniform system for English education. It will be better that whatever system is used for improving English applies across the board to all schools whether national, religious or vernacular. That will avoid further polarisation of a fragmented education system which is posing serious questions over national unity.
6. Teach some core subjects in English. The best and easiest way to improve usage of English is to teach some core subjects in English starting with science and maths. This can be increased to more subjects such as economics, commerce, accounting and other specialised and technical subjects at a later stage.
7. Have the majority of tertiary courses in government universities taught in English. It should be a given from the change in the secondary school system that the science and mathematics courses in universities should be in English straight off. But serious consideration should be given to having more courses in English and making this the norm for post-graduate courses. That will make it easier for us to link with the worldwide knowledge diaspora.
8. Project number of English teachers needed and train them. Obviously, we need to do all of these over a number of years. A rolling five-year plan should be put up and the number of qualified English teachers required projected. The necessary training, if necessary overseas, can then be implemented. In the interim, there are retired English teachers who can be hired and foreign teachers as well.
9. Train teachers to teach in English. Measures should be taken to teach science and maths teachers to conduct their courses in English. By preparing for the class in advance, it is possible to switch languages especially if you already have a basic knowledge of the language. Intensive courses for this can be taught during the long school breaks.
10. Give the system a chance to work – it takes time. Finally, even if every right effort was taken, it takes a while before results can be seen. The Government did an about turn after the teaching of science and maths was done in English for six years on a stage-by-stage basis. It must now turn around and move forward again.
Read the full text at http://thestar.com.my/columnists/story.asp?col=questiontime&file=/2011/8/24/columnists/questiontime/9354897&sec=Question Time
No comments:
Post a Comment