Malaysia,
One School System with One Language.
In
teachers training, we were trained not to talk in any other language except
English during the teaching and learning period. My first posting as a trained teacher
was in a Tamil vernacular school, Sek. Keb. Tamil Desa Cempaka consists of
pupils from the low cost housing are which was formerly known as Ladang
Jindaram. Most their parents worked at the palm oil estate. This school did not
have an English optioned teacher for (a teacher trained to teach English) at
least 7 years. My first year there, I would call my father and cry to him over
the phone to on what kind of failure I was at my job. It was that difficult to
teach these children English with just one language.
Soon, I picked up their mother tongue
and everything seems a little easier. Though some of you may see this as a
defeat on my part, I asked myself would I rather have the student go home
confused, uninterested, and given up or is it better to bend the rules and make
sure the students gain some knowledge. The verdict favored on code switching.
The way I controlled it is by not repeating the same translated words again the
next day. The children were allowed to write down the translation in a small
vocabulary book and refer to it when needed. It was time consuming but it paid
off.
Today, I teach at a National school, Sek
Keb. Puchong Perdana. This school is in an urban area and has been graded as
town school. Then again, there is hardly a day I go about teaching without code
switching. It is just easier faster and the students get it. I would not want
to spend 10 minutes trying to explain one word. Having gone through these
situations the phrase one language of education and communication is a
nightmare. It is attainable if the children are trained to use one language
since preschool and are educated in a boarding school, where there would be
less if not no mother tongue influence at all.
Now let us look at the even bigger
picture. Why do we educate our children? Why do we spend so much time and money
on our language planning and policy? The answer is as simple as to ensure these
children will grow up to contribute to the country’s development and well being
by either serving or working in specific areas. If we were to choose only one
language what will that language be? English? Bahasa Malaysia? Either way
choosing just one language and suppressing our opportunity to seek global
market seems a little preposterous. Scenario: being a multiracial the child who
has an ability to speak at least two languages, will be able to bring in more
benefits from other countries which speak any of those two languages in comparison
to a child who speaks one language only. In other words, a child who speaks
English, Malay and Chinese will be able to communicate with Indonesia, China
and most western countries in depth rather than a child who speaks one
language. In Malaysia most of us can speak at least two languages and most
Chinese and Indians can speak three languages. Our language is our identities
we are known as a multiracial country are we not? This is our advantage in the
international zone, why suppress it and break our own legs. In addition to that
point, do you remember the last time you filled in an employment form for a job
interview. A famous question on these forms will be the language you can speak,
read and write. No one can deny the ability to speak many languages serves as
an advantage to the employee. Choosing to use only one language as the language
of education and communication will encourage our children to shy away from
stepping out in the world. Vice verse foreign countries may find it cumbersome
to communicate with us too. To be truthful even the Japanese has picked up
English to break its barrier and venture in to the global market. We need more
than one language.
Although I am against one language of
communication and education, I am all for one school system; the condition
being, the school system should be able to cater all levels of student, student
of various races, and benefit the development of our country in various fields.
From what I have personally seen and am going through now. We are making a
better system planning compared to few years back. This is the result of us
learning from our mistakes but that should not be the reason to make more
mistakes too. We should be able to predict and avoid making mistakes before the
plan is implemented. Ensure the stability of the system before implementing and
confusing everyone. Back in the 90’s we heard reports of children not being
able to speak a full sentence in English during their job interviews. Today I
am teaching in school and I can assure you if you follow the current KSSR
system accurately minus the burdening paper work. The children can answer
simple questions at the age of 8-9. Thus, we are getting better just ensure its
stability before executing it.
I
doubt I can make myself any more convincing, one language of education and
communication does more damage than titivate our nation on the other hand one
solid school system can benefit us more than an unstable one.
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