Page 10 - ELG1601 Jan Issue 432

ELAsia
Page 10 January 2016

Malaysia attempts to halt slide ...

Claudia Civinini describes how initiatives designed to reverse falling
levels of English have faced delays and been met with some resistance

ost older generations and parents the freedom to make
of Malaysians, par- their own choices. ‘A school can
‘Mticularly those who only offer DLP if there are fifteen
received their primary and sec- or more parents who want their
ondary education during the early child to be in the English language
years of the post-colonial era, programme,’ she explained. ‘I
from late 1950s to 1970s, when strongly believe that a programme
the medium of instruction was can only be successful if the peo-
still English, have proficiency lev- ple involved are willing to be in it,
els that are almost native-speaker rather than forced to do it.’
level,’ according to a former Eng- In line with the MBMMBI
lish teacher (who wishes to remain policy, the education ministry
anonymous), now coordinating announced in mid-2015 that it
EL programmes at provincial would hire trained English teach-
level in Malaysia. But she added, ers from India to help raise the
‘The level of English language competence of local teachers, but
proficiency among today’s gen- Courtesy IQRemix the controversial move was put
eration of Malaysians is declining on hold in November. The Star
in comparison.’ Online reported that the minis-
The Malaysian press has TALL ORDER Malaysia has indefinitely postponed its plan to make try had a technical team deciding
given extensive coverage to the secondary school certificate English paper a compulsory pass whether ‘there was a need to take
the country’s falling level of in English language teachers from
English, from complaints about not taking education policies seri- and Strengthening the English overseas or utilise local teachers,
English teachers’ proficiency to ously. However, secondary school Language (MBMMBI) policy in including pensioners’, and that the
reports that some 1,000 students teachers and teaching associa- 2010, which replaced the Teach- results would be released in 2016.
in Malacca allegedly dropped tions were hugely relieved. The ing and Learning of Mathematics In November 2015 the state
out of medical school due to Malaysian English Language and Science in English (PPSMI). of Sarawak made English, along
poor English. The government Teaching Association (Melta) The ministry of education admit- with Bahasa Malaysia, the pre-
has launched different language and the National Union of the ted that, ‘if the PPSMI policy is ferred official language of the
policies over the years to address Teaching Profession (NUTP) continued, a larger number of our state administration. ‘I am just
the situations, but not all of them both supported the decision, call- pupils will fail to master math- being practical – we don’t want
seem to have been successful. ing for an official timeline for ematics and science and will our graduates to be unemploy-
The government’s Education the new implementation. Melta eventually be left behind’. able,’ the chief minister told the
Blueprint 2013–25 announced told the Malaysian Digest that a The MBMMBI policy rein- Malaysian press. Despite sup-
that from 2016 the Sijil Pelaja- four-to-five-year notice would stated the Malay language as port from the ministry, he has
ran Malaysia (SPM) secondary be required to allow students and a medium of instruction at received sharp criticism from
school certificate English paper teachers to fully prepare. national and secondary schools, Malay-rights groups and other
would be a compulsory pass. According to our source, a and added more teaching hours politicians. The state opposition
However, earlier this year the compulsory SPM English pass for English. It will also launch leader, although agreeing with the
Malaysian Examination Syn- will not help improve English the Dual Language Programme decision, cautioned him that the
dicate, part of the ministry of language proficiency among (DLP) later this year, with 300 federal government could invoke
education, postponed this indefi- students as it would place ‘more primary and secondary schools the national language policy and
nitely. The ministry said this emphasis on examination-ori- taking part in the pilot. Under ask federal government agencies
would give teachers and schools ented activities in the classroom, the DLP, schools will be able to in Sarawak not to entertain any
more time to prepare, adding that which will contribute to a dete- teach science and mathematics correspondence in English, or
large numbers of students, espe- rioration of the quality of English in English to three year groups: refuse to fund language training
cially in rural areas, would have teaching and learning’. In her standard 1(6–7 years old), stand- programmes for civil servants.
failed the SPM had the compul- view, the best way to foster pro- ard 4 (9–10) and form 1 (12–13), The Gazette contacted the
sory pass been implemented. ficiency in English is to instead the Rakyat Post reported. Malaysian Ministry of Educa-
Reactions to postponement immerse students in the language. Our source agreed the DLP tion for a comment but as we
have been mixed, with parents’ The government launched its will probably work better than went to press we were still wait-
groups accusing the ministry of Empowering Bahasa Melayu the PPSMI as it gives schools ing to hear back from them. n

... while Vietnam aims high

Mall Salusbury reports on an ambitious plan to boost language learning

ietnam’s National Foreign of the pre-service training cur- 80 out of 2,000 newly arrived Ho of English in schools across the
Languages 2020 project riculum for English language Chi Minh City University students country by 2015 had only reached
Vhas set the nation an ambi- teachers’, says Dr Tu Anh. scored a B1 on a CEFR-linked thirty schools. At one of these, the
tious task – to have ‘the majority There will be reforms in Eng- test, while at Tay Bac University Le Quy Don High School for the
of youths able to use a foreign lish language assessment too, nine out of ten students scored A0, Gifted in Da Nang City, the maths
language proficiently by 2020’. she added. New English tests are the lowest score possible. Vietnam teachers had self-taught them-
In practice the vast majority of in the pipeline that will examine Net attributed these low scores to selves English, while some were
foreign language classes in the all four skills, not just the read- ‘insufficient’ hours devoted to Eng- university lecturers with limited
Socialist Republic’s schools are ing and listening skills currently lish on university degree courses. availability. Tran Thi Anh Dao, a
and will continue to be English. tested in the national Vsteps and Changes to teacher training teacher at the school, said prepa-
Dr Vu Thi Tu Anh, direc- Steps English exams taken by – not just for English language ration time for a 45-minute maths
tor of the General Education around one million high school – are also overdue. VNS news lesson in English was ‘seven to
Department at the ministry of students each year. A National website in December 2015 ten days’. A teacher at Ha Tinh
education, gave an update on Foreign Language Testing Cen- quoted associate professor Tran High School for the Gifted admit-
the Languages 2020 policy at tre will be developed, along Xuan Nhi, a former deputy min- ted on the same website their
a conference in Seoul attended with a range of diagnostic Eng- ister of education, as saying as English skills were no better than
by the Gazette in October. Like lish tests designed to encourage of 2014 there were too many the students’ skills and they had to
many South East Asian nations’ development of the four skills. graduates leaving Vietnam’s 120 take extra English lessons for half
current initiatives aimed at dras- For higher education, there teacher training institutes, which a year to keep up.
tically improving their English will be an ‘open policy’ on evi- produced 35,000 ‘excess’ sec- Hanoi will host the next British
proficiency, Languages 2020 has dence of English proficiency ondary and high school teachers Council New Directions inter-
the Asean economic community needed for university entry, with across the country who had not national conference on English
– the single market established Toefl, Ielts, Pet and the Cam- yet found employment. (Profes- language assessment in October.
in 2015 within a trading bloc of bridge English CAE and FCE sor Xuan Nhi advised the number The Vietnam ministry of educa-
Asean trading nations – in mind. tests all allowed, along with the of these institutes be cut to around tion had agreed to send answers
English will now become Vsteps and Steps. thirty or forty, with more ‘highly to questions supplied by the EL
a compulsory subject from There are several challenges on qualified’ teacher trainers.) Gazette, but as we went to press
the third year of state primary the road to improving Vietnam’s In the same month Vietnam in mid-December 2015, they
school, and an English teacher English fluency. Vietnam Net Bridge reported that a pilot project were still waiting for these to be
framework is to be developed. Bridge English language website which began in 2011 for maths translated and for the answers to
This includes the ‘renovation reported back in 2008 that only to be taught through the medium be approved internally. n