Bring English experts to train teachers

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After umpteen years of indecision and complacency, the Ministry of Education has resolved

to send teachers overseas to improve their command of English. Whether it will bear fruit will largely depend on the teachers' length of stay, their ability to eliminate their weaknesses and their commitment.

    The programme will be costly, and it will be merely a junket if the teachers do not buckle down to the challenge seriously. It will also be a self-defeating, wasteful exercise if it is not a long-term strategy.

   The programme cannot be launched overnight, as many critical details will have to be worked out. The impartial selection of the teachers based on capability and merit, the right choice of the training centres, the deliberation over the curriculum and staff replacement will have to be carefully planned and finalized.

   Teachers are wondering who will be picked for the training and what the criteria are. Will the candidates come from the primary, lower secondary, upper secondary, rural or urban schools? Will the teachers include those from Tamil- and Chinese-medium schools?  Will the scheme cover lecturers from public universities? 

   Perhaps officials from the Ministry of Education will need to undergo the similar training as their English standard is below par.

   Unqualified teachers


   Even if it is a stop-gap measure, the number of teachers to be trained will not be just 80 or 100. The total will exceed a few thousands who are not proficient in English. In their absence, temporary teachers will probably be recruited to fill the vacant slots.

   

   Harking back, parents may ask how and why are these teachers engaged to teach English when they are not qualified to do so from the outset. A simple conjecture is that schools have been turned into assembly lines for mass production. At each stage, there is no quality check.

    Taxpayers will argue that it will be more cost-efficient to engage overseas experts to train the teachers in Malaysia. This practical approach will not disrupt manpower deployment and affect the shortage of teachers. More teachers will also have the chance to attend specialised courses.

   In the long, realistic term, however, the standard of English in schools will not improve in any way unless the teaching approach  is revamped and the content of English textbooks is drastically revised. The Ministry of Education ought to know that the teaching methodology has gone awry.

   Grammar emphasis

   English cannot be learned parrot-fashion or through colloquial communication. A learner has to go through the stage-by-stage processes – from reading and pronunciation to speaking and writing. 

    What is missing for a long, long time is the emphasis on grammar, the vital foundation of the language. This is one of areas teachers and students are weak in.

    A close examination of the English textbooks from Standard One to Form Six reveals that they are not grammar-focused. It is not an oversight; it is a political strategy. As a result, students have to study irrelevant subjects such as hero worship, history, geography, nation building and environmental control. Such topics are acceptable as part and parcel of the acquisition of general knowledge.

   We cannot censure the authors of the textbooks which are designed and approved by the Ministry of Education. The writers merely comply with the wishy-washy requirements set by the ministry.

   Corruption of English


    An essential component of English is literature. Students should be introduced to stories, poems and plays of high quality as a pursuit of art..

   In the fifties and sixties – the golden age of Malaysian English – students had to grapple with Shakespeare’s and Chaucer’s masterpieces. They were taught to appreciate unusual English expressions and styles of writing. The advantage was that they gained from the wealth of poetry, history and information. They also benefitted from the rich vocabulary.

    English has to be taught strictly in English. Nowadays English lessons are conducted with a mixture of other languages, thus corrupting English and lowering the standard. This malpractice is also evident in universities where some lecturers are not proficient in spoken English.

    It is shocking that some English textbooks and test papers are printed with Bahasa Malaysia translation. Yet English cannot be taught through another language. You have to think, speak and write it in the linguistic, natural way.

   The situation is not going to change for the better if the shake-up does not start at the top and in the ministry. It is the ministry that has allowed the English standard to deteriorate to the present level. The Minister himself and top-echelon officials have to rethink strategies and implement prompt measures to enhance the standard. They have to get their house in order and clear the skeleton in the closet.

   We must bear in mind that it is not a quick fix. It cannot be a political ploy. Above all, it must not be a short-term policy.