The Teaching of Science in English in the Malaysian Classroom (original) (raw)
Related papers
2010
Every human acquires a language or learns a language. Many prefer to learn a second language (L2) in the present day context. Researchers reveal that English is the most frequently taught and learnt foreign language (FL) or L2 in the world at present. In Commonwealth countries, it is said that there is a rapidly growing trend towards learning in the English medium. In 'Future of English points out that the English medium education is accused of undermining the attempts at improving educational disparities rejecting non-elite groups. When we consider the English medium, we find that one of the statements, made by the Hong Kong Education Commission (1999) is very much relevant to our education system as well.
立命館言語文化研究, 2010
Malaysia has gone through vast changes in various fields since it attained its independence from Britain in . Among these changes were implementations of policies related to educational syllabus and the medium of instruction where languages were used to impart knowledge. The country had inherited a divide-and-rule system from the colonial era where schools in the past were set up along ethnic lines and conducted in different languages. Hence, education in Malaysia has been multilingual. During pre-independence, primary schools were available in four medium of instruction, namely English, Malay, Mandarin, and Tamil. During post-independence, Bahasa Malaysia (Malay) was declared the sole national language in . However, severe race riots occurred in May , which catalysed a change in the education system where all English medium schools were instructed to phase out. National Language and National Educational
ENGLISH PROFICIENCY OF GRADE 9 JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS THE PROBLEM AND ITS SETTING
The resurgence of English proficiency has fallen to an abysmally low level on the ability of learners to fluently speak, read and write due to the effects on the language environment and preference as exposed in mass/social media, technology-based and printed reading materials. Thus, this study was aimed to determine the level of English Proficiency of Grade 9 Junior High Students of Jose Sanvictores Sr. National School.
English language in the Malaysian education system: Its existence and implications
Proceedings of Third Malaysian Postgraduate Conference (MPC 2013)
This article sets out to give a historical account of English language education programs in Malaysia as a foundation for understanding the existence of English language in Malaysia and its importance to Malaysian learners. The language background of Malaysians is very much tied up with the historical and educational background of the country. English is taught as a compulsory subject in schools despite the evolution of the Malaysian education system toward Bahasa Malaysia as the language of instruction. Since 1974, communicative language teaching has been proposed for the English language syllabus and it is an approach to engage learners in interaction and meaningful communication. However, differences between the school and university classrooms differentiate the language learning process. Malaysian learners who still have to learn English in universities need to develop a positive attitude for meaningful learning to occur.
International Education Studies, 2015
This paper reports a study on the perception of the people toward the teaching and learning of Science and Mathematics using English. Altogether, 641 respondents obtained randomly from all over Malaysia participated in the study. The respondents, male and female from the age of 20 to 55 were given a set of questionnaire, containing statements on various issues of Science and Mathematics. Each statement is accompanied with five choices of responses in the form of Likert type scale ranging from 1. Strongly disagree, 2. Disagree, 3. Not sure, 4. Agree, and 5. Strongly agree. One of the statement of the questionnaire analysed was "It is easier to learn science and mathematics in English". The raw data was analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) and also ANOVA. The result of the study shows that 45.7% of the respondents rejected the statement, 24.4% accepted the statement and 29.3% were not sure. There is significant difference of means between the respondents with academic background in science compared to respondents with non-science academic background.
Asian Social Science, 2014
This paper attempts to explain the status of English in Malaysia and the constructivism learning theory which is of interest to the researcher for educational research and practice. Vygotsky's Social Development Theory is one of the foundations for constructivism which promotes learning contexts in which students play an active role in learning. A teacher should collaborate with his students in order to help facilitate meaning construction in students. Therefore, learning becomes a reciprocal experience for the students and teachers.