Reverting To English-Medium Schools Impossible Overnight - Melta

By R. Vikneswaran KUALA LUMPUR, July 20 (Bernama) -- While there is a growing chorus for English-medium schools in the country, the Malaysian English Language Teaching Association (MELTA) feels that reverting to the English medium is best done in phases. Its president, Prof Dr S. Ganakumaran, said he believes that reverting to English overnight may not be possible, what more when there is a serious shortage of English language teachers globally. "I don’t think it is possible. You can have pockets, or in the whole country you can have 100 English medium schools, but you cannot convert all schools into English medium. You do not have the people or teachers. Even teaching mathematics and science in English did not see the light of the day. "So, we have to do this in a very practical and sensible way because we know that other languages are also important. We do not want to kill the other languages," he told Bernama when met at the recent Erican International English Language Training Conference press meet at Wisma MCA (MCA headquarters). The Ruler of Johor, Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar, had recently joined the chorus of voices from activists and non-governmental organisations for the country to bring back the English medium of instruction in schools, taking Singapore as the model. According to Ganakumaran, the situation of English inefficiency among Malaysians is alarming as the gap between what Malaysians can cater and the demand at the workplace globally is widening. If one compares the level of English today with the level 20 or 30 years back, there is a reason to worry. What more, everyone else, Indonesia, Vietnam were working extra hard to make sure their people were catching up, he said. He said the impact would not be just on individuals but on the country, in terms of commerce, business, investment, selling Malaysia's knowledge and skills. Ganakumaran indicated that the education system that required teachers to chase the syllabus rather than make students understand content was one of the root causes of a lack of proficiency in the language. On the way forward, the government could use English for non-critical subjects like civics, sports science and physical education to provide enough space for the students to communicate in English, he said. "What could be done is to have some other subjects in English. They tried science and mathematics in English but failed. There was too much of pressure, but what is stopping us from doing other subjects? "It complements what happens in the classroom. You cannot learn a language if you do not have the opportunity to use it. That is the basic principle of language. "The critical point is creating the opportunity to constantly use the language because in a lot of schools, especially in the rural areas, there is no chance to speak English outside the school," he said. Ganakumaran also noted that teachers should adopt new and creative pedagogies (teaching methods) as the current generation was more digital-savvy. As some of the teachers maintain 'old school' methods, Ganakumaran said, once the students enter the class, they feel the classroom is disconnected from the real world. "So, the more the teachers begin to use the (new) technology, the more successful the classroom will be," he said. -- BERNAMA