I am impressed with Khairy Jamaluddin. He is indeed capable of making cogent arguments when he is not playing politic. However, much as I would like to agree with him that students find learning Math and Science in English really difficult, I’m afraid the system must go on.
By claiming that the system fails to improve English proficiency among students, Khairy is evidently an impatient guy. One year of learning Math and Science in English and you expect them to speak and write English like you? Come on, get real Khairy. I live in New Zealand for almost 3 years already, yet I still can’t make sense of the Kiwi accent, let alone talk in that accent. Given the policy is only 1 year-old, it is only natural that it hasn't been fruitful.
And of course there are flaws in the policy, one of them being Math and Science teachers not proficient in English themselves. But this is just as true as not all Math and Science teachers are proficient in Bahasa too. I had first hand experience learning Phisics with a teacher who can barely speak in Bahasa; most of the time she taught us in English. Malay students complained that they had difficulties understanding what she says, after which she ended up teaching by reading from the Buku Rujukan Pelangi terbitan Fajar Bakti. Problem solved. I am by no means suggesting teachers who are not proficient in English to read from Reference Books; in fact I strongly oppose teachers who reproduce facts from books to teach their students. I am just making a point that weakness in language is inevitable among teachers. Even if they can speak fluent English, is there guarantee that they can communicate their points well across to students? I don’t think so.
I simply don’t understand why is there the need to reconsider changing the medium back to Bahasa, I just don’t. Does learning Science and Math in English make us less Malaysian? I couldn’t care less about English to be honest, but somehow it bothers me that my future generation will suffer in the future if they continue to dodge English. I love Malaysia too much, I don't want it to be small fry to such a competitive world. I could choose to be quiet about this and dwell with the fact that KJ is just stupid to bring up the issue. In fact, I have long ago decided to send my children to Julia Gabriel Speech and Drama Centre. But I want my future generation to be successful, I want them to conquer the English language, I want them to be able to compete in the global market. I am talking about the entire future generation, not just my sons and daughters.
I don’t usually talk about myself in my blog, but I think it is necessary to talk about my audit presentation that I had last week. To pass the Auditing course, I had to run the tutorial a.k.a. workshop with my teammates There were 5 of us – 2 Kiwis and 3 non-Kiwis (including myself). I have to admit I have difficulties understanding the Kiwi accent – they talk twice as fast and their slang is anything but normal. Hence during Q&A session I was quite slow in my response towards their questions. Maybe once or twice I would delay answering by saying “Could you further explain your question..?” so that I get more time to make sense of what they say. Well it’s cheesy I know, but at least it’s better than to stand still and give the 'stupid Asian' look (pardon my language, but 'stupid Asian' is normally what Kiwis would think of us whenever we look puzzled in class). Despite my effort, I was still marked down by my tutor. Unfortunately he doesn't tolerate with the fact that I am a foreign student – he gave 8 points out of 10 to us non-Kiwis, and 9 to the Kiwis simply because the Kiwis could respond quicker and less hesitant than we non-Kiwis could.
It gives me some comfort to know the reason I was marked down was because English is a second language to me and so it is only normal that I am slow in picking up what Kiwis say, but it makes me sad when thinking how unsuccessful I was in sharing my thoughts with others. So what is the significance of knowing so many things but not knowing of how to share them with others? What is the value of knowledge then, if you can’t communicate it to others?
If we change the medium back to Bahasa, learning will of course be easier for students who have problems with English. It’s a good solution as far as it goes, but then the future of our students will be bleak because they cannot communicate their knowledge effectively with scholars from different parts of the world. I know it’s hard to learn something in a language you are not comfortable with; I myself am struggling everyday to understand the “Kiwi English”. But it has to be done. I am tired of feeling inferior to my Kiwi classmates. I don’t want my future generations to feel the same feeling of inferiority when they are placed in the middle of the English-speaking community.
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education
Posted at: 06:14 AM | Add Comment
