EVER since the national education policy was changed, the English language was replaced by Bahasa Malaysia and used as the
lingua franca in national schools in the late 1970s.
Many people, including me, have been urging the government to revert to the use of English in national schools, especially since the 1990s.
This is because the standard of education has dropped and many students, right up to university graduates, are below par compared with the standard achieved before the new policy change took effect.
Comparisons made with other countries in Asia and Europe show that we have fallen behind them, including some that were previously below us.
Substantiated claims — such as Malaysian top universities in the world’s top 100 list and accolades for Malaysians acknowledged as the best speakers and users of the English language outside Great Britain — became history.
Now our top universities cannot even make the world’s top 200 list.
Many graduates, some with second degrees, find themselves unemployable by government-linked companies and local companies, not to mention multinationals and foreign companies or corporations, for the same reason.
Bad English can be heard and seen everywhere, even on official notices put up by ministries and government agencies, with the latest being the notice put up to welcome United States President Barack Obama to the 27th Asean Summit and Related Summits last month.
The Education Ministry recently announced the introduction of the Dual Language Programme (DLP) and the HIP (High Immersion Programme).
Hopefully, these programmes, still in their trial stages, will put an end to all stop-gap initiatives.
Nevertheless, implementing these programmes will be challenging and commitment by all involved will be needed to make them successful.
Many things must have been considered by the ministry before it made the decision.
In my opinion, what is lacking are resources and logistics.
Drawing out suitable programmes, since the ministry and public universities have many specialists and experts in education, is the least of their worries.
Recently, some offered suggestions to make DLP and the HIP more effective.
One of the better suggestions that I came across was for primary school students in national schools to learn only commu-
nicative English during their first three years.
Grammar, spelling, dictation and
composition are not to be stressed at this stage.
Let them learn to speak or communicate properly first in English.
Let them learn the basics as well as simple reading and writing exercises.
Here is where, we, the public, can help. This way, there is no need to bring in teachers from India or other countries.
We can be roped in to complement what the teachers are doing.
I am quite sure there are many of us
who are gung-ho about this and want to help.
This includes people from all walks of life, retired teachers included, who live within a short distance from schools.
A complementary programme like this can be made a temporary one lasting from, say, one to three years or until the whole machinery of teaching and learning at all national schools can move smoothly by
itself without the need for outside assistance.
Technicalities in the teaching and learning of English grammar, not to make the students linguists but just to be proficient in English, should be taught only from the fourth year of primary school.
Later, when they get into secondary schools, they can then learn more as required of them, as well as English literature, to include famous works and classics.
They should, by the 10th or the 11th year, know the intricacies of English grammar.
They should be able to spell English words, have good vocabulary, read and understand what they read, string simple and complex sentences properly, understand metaphors and similes, poems and poetry, write, summarise passages, compose 1,000-word essays, write simple book reviews, reports, formal and informal letters, emails and,
last but not least, speak English with confidence in any situation, especially in public, with strangers and with native English speakers.
The DLP and HIP programmes, and other programmes that run parallel with the use of Bahasa Malaysia, which remains the
major language used in national schools, will make our young people bilingual and it
will prepare them when they further their studies locally or overseas, and most
importantly, when they start to earn a
living and contribute to the country and society.
After they complete secondary school, we should at least have young Malaysians who are good in English and Bahasa Malaysia and, this time, the country and the people will benefit more than before, and everyone wins.
n Hussaini Abdul Karim, Shah Alam, Selangor