[The article says]; KUALA LUMPUR: People who want to engage in talks on ways to improve the standard of the English language among schoolchildren or "to bring back the good old days of good spoken English" should blog about the matter, the vice-president of Blog House Malaysia, Akhramshah Sanusi, said yesterday.
So Here I am!!
i think it is a well-known fact that the standard of English among Malaysian school students, are not the same as those pupils back in the olden days. This is because English was the Lingua Franca of most schools 30,40 years back, where the influence of British Colonial days is clearly seen....
there are definitely a lot of practical ways to improve the standard English in our country. But we must remind ourselves that it would be really hard to achieve the same exact proficiency of English like our 50, 60, 70 year-old parents have! (though it is not impossible)
There are a lot of debates going on when the MOE announced on the abolishment of PPSMI... i heard some say because they are afraid that there will be a lack of number of people will speak in Bahasa Malaysia (BM), practice the language of BM or the level of Bahasa Malaysia will deteriorate...
IN MY OPINION, i found this quite ridiculous. Of course we want to "take care" the level of Bahasa Malaysia in our country. BUT HEY, just because we want to practise more GOOD ENGLISH doesn't mean that it will affect the standard of Bahasa Malaysia in our beloved country. If we are serious about upgrading English among schoolchildren, we MUST be ready to face the consequences that may occur. HEY, every good thing surely have its PROS and CONS, right? (Besides, there are other more factors that makes a language not at the expected standard, right?)
Quote: " When I was in China, everybody there spoke in Mandarin. People in Japan also speak their own language, They will only resort to English when they want to speak to you personally. I think that it boils down to attitude. Perhaps using a language other than English is not that glamourous, as if Bahasa Malaysia is a low-class language" - Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin (deputy Prime Minister) [taken from News Straits Times, Tuesday April 26, 2011]
I dislike the statement above. The Main reason in order to have better grasp of English is not to boast around (however that depends individually) but to really have that extra market value.. if having proficiency in English, we will be outstanding than others in the sense that we may have a greater potential in getting hired for a job than those who do not have sufficient grasp of English.
It is awkward when he said that some may consider BM is a low-class language. It is completely not based on facts.. English is glamourous?? This is totally a baseless opinion...there are DEFINITELY SOLID REASONS why we need to speak English... if we are already proficient in BM (at the same time not neglecting BM), it is reasonable to practise speaking English although there might some grammar errors along the way and so on.. But that is the whole thing! we need to make mistakes in order to not repeat it, taking it as lesson and try to converse better in the future.
i think PPSMI should stay.. " Upholding the Malay Language and Strengthening Command of English " (MBMMBI) to replace PPMSI?? what is the significance or diffirence will it make by doing so?... from many reports on MBMMI, they do not tell how it would uphold the Malay Language.. it is nice to hear that the MOE are taking some great measures to improve the English Language among schoolchildren.. But are we willing to see students being seen like "experimental candidates" At first, PPSMI is introduced in 2003, then they *[found that the policy failed to achieve its objective of raising students' proficiency in English, which have affected their performance in the two subjects, especially among rural students.] According to a report, *[10 000 teachers to be specially trained this year] for such purpose. And before this they have made 12 000 teachers to involve in the same programme.. Will it really "strengthen the command of English" among schoolchildren?? No want knows for sure.. [*source; http://www.mysinchew.com/node/56632]
In my opinion, English can be improved in schools is from the teachers' initiative. If a teacher pushes his or her students to be good in English, as how he or she pushes the students to be good in other subjects until they can get good grades in examination, I believe it will definitely make a big difference among schoolchildren. MOE can do a lot on coming up with numerous programmes, but at the end it comes back to the noble teachers.
Disclaimer: No coping without permission is allowed. Excuse me for any grammar mistakes found. My English is not that perfect either!
No comments:
Post a Comment