IREFER to Samuel Yesuiah’s letter, “Language only taught for 5.7 days in a year” (NST, Sept 11). We are aware that the insufficient allocation of time for learning English in schools has affected students’ performance and proficiency in the language.
Therefore, I would like to suggest solutions that may be useful and helpful for students, teachers and parents.
For the sake of producing individuals with a good command of English, the Education Ministry has introduced policies and plans, while the state governments put in extra effort by conducting special programmes to help schoolchildren develop an interest in learning the language.
For instance, the Johor English Language Teaching Association organises an annual conference that discusses challenges, problems and solutions to English teaching and learning.
The Terengganu government promotes English through the Terengganu English (Trenglish) programme launched last year.
Just like the recruitment of native speakers as Fulbright English Teaching Assistants in selected schools in the country to help our students learn English, Terengganu’s Hired English Language Personnel (T-Help) are appointed to enhance student participation in the teaching and learning of English.
These T-Helps are posted to selected schools with poor performance and a high population of students to encourage learners of different levels of proficiency to be involved in English activities organised by Trenglish.
This programme has convinced sceptical students that learning the language is not a tedious and tortuous process. Instead, it is an enjoyable, exciting and enlightening experience that makes pessimistic learners become optimistic, and turns introverted learners into extroverts.
As they develop a positive mindset to learning English, these enthusiastic learners volunteer in Trenglish On-Air, Busking Band Performance, English camps, as well as competitions, including storytelling, poetry and drama.
Their spirit, commitment and confidence prove that the programme is effective in helping students overcome their fear and anxiety in learning English. I feel the programme should be introduced to other schools and states so that the benefits are shared by all.
Besides boosting students’ confidence, enhancing their speaking skills and polishing their talent, teachers should cultivate in students a love of reading, a traditional and timeless remedy that helps students improve their vocabulary, acquire knowledge, increase intelligence, widen perspectives, develop emphatic feelings and write better.
One way to promote reading is through the Nadi Ilmu Amalan Membaca (Nilam) programme introduced in the late 1990s. The programme, carried out in collaboration with the school library, is essential to inculcate reading habit in students and help them become avid readers who believe that books are not only a source of knowledge but also an entertainment for the mind.
Reading can develop and improve students’ thinking ability. So, it is advisable for English teachers to begin the lesson with a light reading activity that activates their linguistic intelligence.
Finally, schools and education departments should plan English programmes for Year Six and Form Three students after they complete their public examinations.
We need to shape students into lifelong learners who continue to learn even when the examinations are over.
n MUHAMAD SOLAHUDIN RAMLI,Marang, Terengganu