Malaysia: United, yet apart

Sun Aug 24 13:06:03 UTC 2008

United, yet apart

TEACHER TALK
By MALLIKA VASUGI

We have come full circle with the teaching of Maths and Science in
English, despite pessimism from some quarters. Wouldn't it be a waste
of precious time, effort and money to turn back now? AT this point in
time, the biggest question on the minds of every Mathematics and
Science teacher in Malaysia would probably be this: "Are we going to
continue in English or revert to Bahasa Malaysia?" Some await the
decision with trepidation, and nail-biting anxiety, hoping in their
heart of hearts that finally they can cease grappling with the
language and go back to the way it was before 2003.

For many other teachers, however, the whole thing points towards yet
another flaw in the system. An uncomfortable sense of uncertainty and
doubt seems to linger in the air. All that earlier talk about the need
to remain competitive in an era of globalisation, to keep up with the
rapid development in science and technology and the crucial role of
English in a knowledge-based industry — was it just hype? All that
effort towards improving standards of English among students and
teachers alike, the ETeMS (English for teaching Mathematics and
Science) programme, the buddy-support system, the course-ware, and
everything else — are they all going to count for nothing much, apart
from experience gained?

And what about the money? Surely a huge amount of money must have been
spent. All this, just to give up and turn back? Why now, just as we
are beginning to produce students with the desired levels of
proficiency and competence in English? Students who are able to
network globally and access, process and present information from
scientific texts. Isn't this what we wanted in the first place?

Is it even possible to revert?

We have come one full circle since 2003. At present the medium of
instruction for Mathematics and Science, from Year One right up to
Form Six is English.

At least that is what the official documents say. Unofficially, the
situation is less convincing.

We hear of teachers who continue to teach Mathematics and Science in
Bahasa Malaysia although it creates confusion among their students,
who have been learning both subjects in English previously.

Linguistic milestones

But to be fair, we also hear success stories of teachers who have
achieved linguistic milestones and managed to overcome initial
struggles, and can now deliver lessons confidently in English.

We have students who are so proficient in their Science and
Mathematics register that they make their teachers a little nervous.

And yet we still have students who are unable to comprehend any level
of Mathematics or Science, unless the content is delivered in their
own first language.

Thus our dilemma. Continue to teach in English and risk
incomprehension among an entire class or use Bahasa Malaysia and risk
contravening policies?

Most of us strike a happy balance.We use Bahasa Malaysia to get the
meaning across and retain the English equivalents for the Science and
Mathematics terminology.

And privately we heave a sigh of relief that the public examination
questions remain bilingual at present. Perhaps that is the best we can
do for now, while waiting for what happens next.

Then we hear stories all the time from teachers who had to suddenly
switch from teaching in English to Bahasa Malaysia way back then.

The roles seem to be reversed. There are traces of indignation in the
accounts we hear. The underlying message is, 'If we could do it, why
can't they?'

Another question on the lips of those who have lived long enough to
experience each change would be,"Why change in the first place?"

For answers we would have to go back in time, to our first Merdeka in
1957 and the achievement of nationhood, which brought with it the need
for a national language as a crucial unifying factor of the different
ethnic groups in our country.

We would have to remember 1963 as the year that the National language
Act was implemented.

And whether we like it or not, we would have to consider the dark
events of May13, 1969 which accelerated the change in the language of
instruction in schools from English to Malay until the policy change
was completed in 1977.

These were schooling years for many of us who are teachers now. Words
like "nationalism" and "unity" were just karangan (essay) topics to
us.

We munched on kuaci seeds, dipped our fingers in ketupat with rendang
and nibbled on the muruku our friends brought from home.

We sang Putra-Putri and Muhibbah with great gusto while cycling home
from school and memorised the Rukunegara for every assembly. We
dressed up in imperial robes and acted out plays from ancient China,
in flawless Malay.

If someone had pointed out that the lead character, Lady Precious
Stream, was a Malay girl, or that her 'husband' was Indian, we would
have been surprised but not duly bothered.

Patriotic

Ours was the class of '77. We were the last of the transition group.
We learned Mathematics and Science in English and the rest in Bahasa
Malaysia. I don't think it made us any less, or more patriotic.

Some of us went on to university, where we had to re-learn our
Mathematics and Science terms in Bahasa Malaysia. By the time we began
teaching, English was just another core subject.

How far have we come really in terms of national unity? Do our
students see themselves as Malaysians or cling on to ethnic
identities?

Is there integration among the races or do they cluster together as
Chinese, Malay and Indian, forming separate islands in the school
compound?

Just the week before I was conducting an activity during Physical
Education class with Form 1 students. The girls had to form a circle
by linking hands.

The circle remained unformed after a few minutes and to my dismay I
realised that it was because some girls didn't want to hold hands with
those from a different race. I had done the same activity without any
problems with another Form 1 class.

Later when I tried to analyse the situation, I realised that the group
which refused to hold hands came from a vernacular primary school and
that the barrier, to a large extent, was language. It was then that I
realised how important a national language is.

And so questions remain, lingering and unanswered. We cannot ignore
the needs of nationalism and harmony. Neither can we ignore the need
to equip young Malaysians with crucial linguistic skills for the
present era of globalisation and scientific expansion.

We cannot disregard the lack of facilities and suitable learning
environment in some rural schools nor the protests from educationists
who feel strongly about maintaining the character of vernacular
schools.

We cannot shut our ears to voices that are concerned about the threat
of language reforms to cultural identity.

And finally, we cannot brush aside the fact that much time and money
have already been spent and despite pessimism from some quarters,
positive results are beginning to show among teachers and students
alike.

"We have come far," is a lament by many Mathematics and Science
teachers. "We have come so far and achieved so much. We don't want to
turn back now."

http://thestar.com.my/education/story.asp?file=/2008/8/24/education/1834536&sec=education

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