Malaysia: starting language study early

[Harold F. Schiffman]

Editorial: Starting early

02 Feb 2007
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MALAYSIA introduced a major adjustment in its education system in 2003 by
opting for English in the teaching of Science and Mathematics. The hope
was that besides helping to improve fluency in this global language of
knowledge and business, the use of English would also change the way
Science and Mathematics are taught and help students gain easier access
into and better mastery of the two subjects.

That language policy is proving to be a success. The Education Ministry
has supported teachers through the provision of training and technology,
and schools which adopted the recommended aids for teaching the two
subjects in English, from remedial classes to a buddy system, are doing
well.

This accomplishment has given the ministry the needed impetus to take
things further. From next week, it will double the periods for English
lessons in 50 schools. The pilot project for Year One pupils, called the
ELiTE (Early Literacy Through English) programme, will see Mathematics and
Science lessons effectively turned into English lessons as well. Besides
helping improve proficiency, the change of emphasis in those lessons will
complement the KIA2M (Early Intervention Programme for Reading and
Writing) targeting illiteracy among primary schoolchildren.

Indeed, the ELiTE programme is timely and fills a niche neglected by the
other programmes in bolstering language proficiency. For, if there is
anywhere at all where proficiency should be nurtured, it is in the early
years of a childs school life. A stronger foundation in English will mean
less problems for a student as he progresses through each school level,
and on to university. ELiTE will also be efficacious in addressing a
continuing lack of English proficiency among pupils, especially in schools
where Bahasa Malaysia is the predominant language of communication, and in
rural areas.

Part of the focus of the EliTE programme will be on reducing illiteracy
among students, a contributory cause for the large number of school
dropouts. The fact that 37 per cent of primary school children fail to
continue their studies up to Form Five is a matter of grave concern, more
so when the main reason is not poverty or other difficulties, but the
education systems lack of attention to students who fail to master the
rudiments of reading and writing. All this expected good is, of course,
still in the future. But in the light of its potential benefits, it might
be worth considering if ELiTE should not have a wider ambit of schools in
the country, as suggested by a educationist, and within a more accelerated
time-frame than is possible in a pilot scheme.

http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/nst/Friday/Columns/20070202082621/Article/index_html

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