JOHOR BARU: An English language lecturer is urging the Education Ministry to seriously reconsider the use of imported textbooks in all primary and secondary schools.
Johor English Language Teaching Association (Jelta) president Vincent D’Silva said a question which should be asked is to what extent the students, especially those from rural areas, will understand the content of the imported textbooks.
He said generally, students from rural areas have a limited command of English and could face more challenges in identifying with the lessons.
The exercise to use imported textbooks will be conducted in stages until the whole school system uses foreign textbooks.
D’Silva pointed out that there are issues that need to be approached with caution, as the government is still addressing many basic issues on teaching and learning of English.
"Malaysia is an open economy with an open education system, so we cannot avoid pertinent issues regarding the declining standards of English in the country," said D'Silva.
He noted that Malaysia is striving to move ahead by adopting the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) in the school system.
CEFR is widely accepted as the European standard for grading an individual’s language proficiency. It makes it easier for educational institutions to evaluate the language qualifications of candidates or applicants from various educational backgrounds.
According to D’Silva, the rationale is that locally produced textbooks are not able to meet the language proficiency levels expected in CEFR.
He said the decision was made with the interests of the country in mind.
However, he asked, as to what extent can students, especially those from rural areas, will understand the content.
"This is where newspapers can come in. They can play a vital role if they are inducted into the weekly lesson plan. Local dailies are rich with content on local events, issues, stories, and opinions that serve as springboards for conducting lessons," he said.
The New Straits Times-Newspaper in Education (NIE) has been bridging the gap between classroom lessons and real-life issues way before the inculcation of 21st century learning in schools today.
He added that local content is better understood as students are able to identify with local issues that affect them.
"They identify more easily with these issues, especially if they are from rural areas instead of something from a foreign country," said D'Silva.
He said NIE is not something new in Malaysia as it had been introduced in the 1980s.
However, he said, the use of newspapers depended very much on school initiatives or teachers on an ad hoc basis.
“There has to be more effort to introduce English Language lessons which are driven by newspapers,” said D'Silva, noting that he is not suggesting that newspapers replace textbooks in the classroom.
He urged the ministry to look into the use of newspapers by introducing them systematically, for example once a week or about 40 minutes, allocated for lessons which utilise content from the local newspapers.