KUALA LUMPUR: The assumption that Bahasa Melayu is a subject that is difficult to master along with the perception that it is an unimportant subject to learn, are among the main hurdles and obstacles for teachers of the subject at Sekolah Rendah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina (SJKC).
There are also some pupils who do not see the importance of BM in their everyday lives, as they will still be able to further their education at private institutions of higher learning.
However the question beckons whether BM must be mastered or is it sufficient to have a basic command and understanding even if it is spoken with limited vocabulary.
Penny Lim, a BM teacher at SJKC Masai who has 26 years of teaching experience, admitted that many Chinese pupils faced difficulties learning the language, especially its grammar and vocabulary.
She found that the pupils were forced to mix the Chinese dialect with English as they struggled to understand the correct meaning of certain words and phrases.
She said that the surrounding environment of the school and the social setting also influenced the level and command of BM among them.
"Sometimes even if they want to say or communicate something in BM, they are unable to do so as they do not know how to construct the sentences.
"In the school where I teach, the headmaster places an emphasis on BM. So we always have activities on the subject.
"We encourage pupils to speak in BM. The environment and surroundings are very important. Presently, the number of Malay students at SJKC schools are also increasing. So they have the opportunity to master the language because it is easy for pupils to make friends. So they will attempt to speak in BM," she added.
Lim said that mingling helped pupils improve their command of a language, be it BM or Mandarin.
She said she always reminded students to make the effort to learn BM. "Usually, I will tell the pupils that if they were to fail BM, they will have to attend the Peralihan (transition) class, instead of going straight to Form 1.
"I also tell my pupils that even though there is the other option of enrolling at a private school, they still need to learn BM as it is the national language.
"No matter where we go, BM is part of our syllabus. So it is important to remind them from an early age," said Lim.
Teo Wai Sing, a former BM and Malay literature teacher, admitted that teaching BM at SJKC had its fair share of challenges.
"Pupils tend to overly depend on translating BM to Mandarin for the purpose of comprehension. Apart from this, they are not in a conducive environment to speak BM as they are among Mandarin native speakers. In general, the only opportunity for them to speak BM is during the period the subject is taught," said Teo.
Meanwhile, SJKC Masai Year 6 pupil Zhang Fei said that initially he faced difficulties to master BM especially in pronouncing certain words.
However, he said that it got better with the help of his parents and his teachers.
In fact, Zhang Fei is now more comfortable speaking in BM.
Another Year 6 pupil Guan Yu said surrounding factors had given a positive impact on his command of BM.
He said, the national language was easy to learn if it is used constantly as the medium of communication.