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<DIV>The instruction-in-English-for-bilingualism-purposes argument is the one we that have been hearing constantly from the new rulers in South Africa (before and) after 1994. Perhaps Malaysia could learn from South Africa about the adverse effect of such approach to bilingualism in education. Read about our dismal school results in <FONT size=3><FONT size=2><SPAN lang=AF style="FONT-SIZE: 16pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS'; mso-font-kerning: .5pt; mso-ansi-language: AF; mso-fareast-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"><EM><FONT size=2>Reviews of National Policies for Education. South Africa</FONT> </EM><FONT size=2>(OECD 2008) </FONT><FONT size=3>and the role of the Malaysian type of approach. </FONT></SPAN></FONT></FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT size=3><FONT size=2><SPAN lang=AF style="FONT-SIZE: 16pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS'; mso-font-kerning: .5pt; mso-ansi-language: AF; mso-fareast-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"><FONT size=3></FONT></SPAN><FONT size=2>Prof. L.T. du Plessis<BR>Direkteur/Director<BR>Eenheid vir Taalbestuur/Unit for Language Management<BR>Universiteit van die Vrystaat/University of the Free State<BR>Posbus/P.O. Box 339<BR>BLOEMFONTEIN <BR>9300 RSA<BR>Tel: +27 51-401 2405<BR>Faks/Fax: +27 51-444 5804<BR>E-pos/E-mail: </FONT><A href="mailto:dplesslt.hum@ufs.ac.za"><FONT size=2>dplesslt.hum@ufs.ac.za</FONT></A><BR><FONT size=2>Web: </FONT><A href="http://www.uovs.ac.za/etb"><FONT size=2>http://www.uovs.ac.za/etb</FONT></A><FONT size=2> </FONT><BR></FONT><BR>>>> On 2009/03/10 at 04:56 PM, <hfsclpp@gmail.com> wrote:<BR></DIV></FONT>
<DIV style="PADDING-LEFT: 7px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 15px; BORDER-LEFT: #050505 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #f3f3f3">Lam Thye: Why question English policy now?<BR><BR><BR>PETALING JAYA: Social activist Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye has defended the<BR>use of English in the teaching of Mathematics and Science.<BR><BR>“Why question it now? I am surprised that there are groups who are<BR>questioning the policy after it has been in place for six years.<BR><BR>“There is nothing wrong with the policy, although there might be<BR>weaknesses in its implementation,” he said when contacted yesterday.<BR><BR>More than 2,000 people marched to Istana Negara last Saturday to hand<BR>over a memorandum to the King asking for the return of Bahasa Malaysia<BR>as the medium of instruction for Mathematics and Science.<BR><BR>Lee said the argument that teachers were not fluent in English was not<BR>justified as it was the execution of the policy that needed to be<BR>improved.<BR><BR>“What needs to be done is to address these weaknesses, not the policy,” he said.<BR><BR>He also said global competitiveness was anchored in the proficiency of<BR>English, and that the policy should not be regarded as a threat to<BR>Bahasa Malaysia as the national language.<BR><BR>“The teaching of Mathematics and Science in English is not a show of<BR>disrespect to the national language.<BR><BR>“For the future of our country, we should take steps to improve the<BR>standard of English. It’s a good thing for Malaysians to be bilingual.<BR><BR>“Our education system should also not be politicised. It’s not good<BR>for the progress and the future of our nation,” he said.<BR><BR><A href="http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/3/10/nation/3440633&sec=nation">http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/3/10/nation/3440633&sec=nation</A><BR><BR>-- <BR>**************************************<BR>N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to<BR>its members<BR>and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner<BR>or sponsor of<BR>the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who<BR>disagree with a<BR>message are encouraged to post a rebuttal. (H. Schiffman, Moderator)<BR>*******************************************<BR><BR></DIV><PRE>_____________________________________________________________________
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