By PRIYA KULASAGARAN educate@thestar.com.my
While there are calls for action against the declining English standards, what needs to be done is to ensure that policies on improving the language should be for the long term.
LAST WEEK, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin reportedly said that he himself was at a loss as to why Malaysian students have a poor grasp of the English language.
“I have instructed the education director-general to look into the curriculum to see why our students are unable to master English as a second language despite learning it for 13 years,” said Muhyiddin, who is also Education Minister.
As always, this was the cue for a flurry of commentary over the declining standards of English and general hand-wringing over what can be done about it.
Questions have also been raised over the need for a new study following the current implementation of Upholding Bahasa Malaysia and Strengthening English (also known by its Malay acronym MBMMBI) policy, as well as the new Standard Curriculum for Primary Schools (KSSR) introduced this year.
Also left unanswered is whether English will be made into a must pass subject for the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examinations; the idea was mooted by the minister himself in 2009.
Although the ministry stated then that 80% of the feedback received supported the proposal, there has been no subsequent developments on the matter.
Among those concerned over the issue is Parent Action Group for Education Malaysia (Page) chairperson Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim.
“I think this admission reflects poorly on the ministry,” she says.
“Why weren’t these studies conducted before RM3bil was allocated for the MBMMBI policy?
“Education policies need to be well thought-out for the long term, and we cannot afford to have new policies with each new minister.
“In the end, it is the students who become victims of all these ‘experiments’.”
To be fair, the ministry has embarked on initiatives to improve English language skills to complement the MBMMBI initiative, the latest of which is the Pedagogy Standards for English Language Teaching.
Launched by Muhyiddin in July, the standards were developed by the English Language Training Centre (ELTC), the Education Ministry’s in-service teacher education provider.
Goals for teachers
ELTC director Dr Ranjit Singh Gill says the standards served as ‘aspirational’ goals for English language teachers rather than prescribing a minimum requirement.
“The main aim is to help teachers identify their strengths and weaknesses to help them chart their own career development.
“It will also help us in designing programmes to cater to teachers’ needs,” he says.
While it is still too soon to gauge the response to the project so far, Dr Ranjit thinks that teachers will be open to using the self-assessing standards.
“Judging from the number of teachers who take it upon themselves to further their studies, I think that there is a genuine desire among our teachers to improve themselves,” he says.
Former education director-general Tan Sri Alimuddin Mohd Dom also believes that the MBMMBI policy is sufficient to cover the language issue.
“The MBMMBI initiative is suitable because it addresses both the role of the national language in ensuring social cohesion, while recognising the importance of English as a global language.
“We should keep in mind that the purpose of the national education system is not just to prepare students for the workforce, but also to promote national unity.
“Of course, it will require all parties to play their roles if it is to work; teachers have to be passionate about teaching English, students need to be motivated to learn, and parents need to be more involved in their children’s academic study,” he says.
Alimuddin also thinks that there is a serious rift in the public discourse of education and language, based on comments published by the media and posted on the blogosphere.
“On one hand you have those who are pushing for the direction of English medium schools, while on the other, there are those who lament the position of the national language.
“If these two divisions cannot reach a consensus, it will be a very problematic situation for the national education system as a whole,” he says.
A notable feature of this ‘rift’ is the Teaching of Mathematics and Science in English (better known by its Malay acronym PPSMI) first introduced by then Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in 2003.
Announced six-months before its implementation to the tune of RM5bil, the ministry reversed the policy in 2009.
PPSMI proponents continue to applaud the policy’s aims of exposing students to Mathematics and Science knowledge in English, saying that this will enable Malaysia to achieve a developed nation status.
Detractors meanwhile, say that the policy was implemented at the expense of Bahasa Melayu’s status as the national language, and cause rural students to lose out in their academics.
Numerous surveys have been cited by both parties to support their arguments, but a 2010 study stands out both in its methods and findings.
Carried out by Universiti Teknologi Mara researchers, the study involved 186 urban and rural Year Four pupils taking two sets of Mathematics tests; one purely in English, the other in both English and Bahasa Melayu.
The study concludes that all the students performed poorly in both tests, with the rural students being weaker than their urban counterparts.
While there are calls for action against the declining English standards, what needs to be done is to ensure that policies on improving the language should be for the long term.
LAST WEEK, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin reportedly said that he himself was at a loss as to why Malaysian students have a poor grasp of the English language.
“I have instructed the education director-general to look into the curriculum to see why our students are unable to master English as a second language despite learning it for 13 years,” said Muhyiddin, who is also Education Minister.
 |
| ... it is the students who become victims of all these ‘experiments’. — DATIN NOOR AZIMAH ABDUL RAHMAN |
Questions have also been raised over the need for a new study following the current implementation of Upholding Bahasa Malaysia and Strengthening English (also known by its Malay acronym MBMMBI) policy, as well as the new Standard Curriculum for Primary Schools (KSSR) introduced this year.
Also left unanswered is whether English will be made into a must pass subject for the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examinations; the idea was mooted by the minister himself in 2009.
Although the ministry stated then that 80% of the feedback received supported the proposal, there has been no subsequent developments on the matter.
Among those concerned over the issue is Parent Action Group for Education Malaysia (Page) chairperson Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim.
“I think this admission reflects poorly on the ministry,” she says.
“Why weren’t these studies conducted before RM3bil was allocated for the MBMMBI policy?
“Education policies need to be well thought-out for the long term, and we cannot afford to have new policies with each new minister.
“In the end, it is the students who become victims of all these ‘experiments’.”
To be fair, the ministry has embarked on initiatives to improve English language skills to complement the MBMMBI initiative, the latest of which is the Pedagogy Standards for English Language Teaching.
Launched by Muhyiddin in July, the standards were developed by the English Language Training Centre (ELTC), the Education Ministry’s in-service teacher education provider.
Goals for teachers
ELTC director Dr Ranjit Singh Gill says the standards served as ‘aspirational’ goals for English language teachers rather than prescribing a minimum requirement.
“The main aim is to help teachers identify their strengths and weaknesses to help them chart their own career development.
“It will also help us in designing programmes to cater to teachers’ needs,” he says.
While it is still too soon to gauge the response to the project so far, Dr Ranjit thinks that teachers will be open to using the self-assessing standards.
“Judging from the number of teachers who take it upon themselves to further their studies, I think that there is a genuine desire among our teachers to improve themselves,” he says.
Former education director-general Tan Sri Alimuddin Mohd Dom also believes that the MBMMBI policy is sufficient to cover the language issue.
“The MBMMBI initiative is suitable because it addresses both the role of the national language in ensuring social cohesion, while recognising the importance of English as a global language.
“We should keep in mind that the purpose of the national education system is not just to prepare students for the workforce, but also to promote national unity.
“Of course, it will require all parties to play their roles if it is to work; teachers have to be passionate about teaching English, students need to be motivated to learn, and parents need to be more involved in their children’s academic study,” he says.
 |
| Staging plays and dramas are another avenue through which schoolchildren can express themselves in the English language. |
“On one hand you have those who are pushing for the direction of English medium schools, while on the other, there are those who lament the position of the national language.
“If these two divisions cannot reach a consensus, it will be a very problematic situation for the national education system as a whole,” he says.
A notable feature of this ‘rift’ is the Teaching of Mathematics and Science in English (better known by its Malay acronym PPSMI) first introduced by then Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in 2003.
Announced six-months before its implementation to the tune of RM5bil, the ministry reversed the policy in 2009.
PPSMI proponents continue to applaud the policy’s aims of exposing students to Mathematics and Science knowledge in English, saying that this will enable Malaysia to achieve a developed nation status.
Detractors meanwhile, say that the policy was implemented at the expense of Bahasa Melayu’s status as the national language, and cause rural students to lose out in their academics.
Numerous surveys have been cited by both parties to support their arguments, but a 2010 study stands out both in its methods and findings.
Carried out by Universiti Teknologi Mara researchers, the study involved 186 urban and rural Year Four pupils taking two sets of Mathematics tests; one purely in English, the other in both English and Bahasa Melayu.
The study concludes that all the students performed poorly in both tests, with the rural students being weaker than their urban counterparts.
