“Malaysia drops
English language teaching”, published by Max de Lotbiniere, regarding to
Malaysia will be phasing out the use of English to teach Science and Mathematics.
English was once the medium in most schools in Malaysia; as poor in English
will affect graduates competing for their work against people from other
countries, such as neighboring Singapore. However, Malaysia government decided
to abandon the use of English to teach math and science after eleven years of
practice in 2013 and English will be teach in a separate class. One of the reasons
mentioned was the dominance of English language will undermining student’s
grasp of their first language. Others, especially the parents in urban areas,
felt disappointed against the government’s decision. In my opinion, Malaysia government
should review on their decision and reconsider hence to have a better solution in
order to come to an agreement for both parties.
Today, in Malaysia,
some families are spending large amount of effort in sending their children
abroad or expensive private schools to learn English, there is no doubt that
have a strong foundation in English language, which in turn may offer them a
competitive edge over their peers in this globalized world. Singapore as a very
small neighboring country insists on using English as their first language. The
gaps between the rates of economical, medical development are remarkable.
However, as stated in the article, “the education authorities outside the major
cities failed to find enough staff to teach in English. (Lotbiniere,2009) ” This
will eventually cause gaps between urban and rural areas in Malaysia, thus
people who were not getting benefits from this English teaching program will
exert pressure against the government. One option could be offering a good paid
teaching job for the teachers who are willing to teach in the rural areas, this
will increase the probability dramatically. There are more people benefited
from this English teaching program, this group of people have a strong believe in that English is a critical factor for the further. This can be prove from the
article, “84% out of 40,000 people agree with the post in Dr Mahathir ‘s blog,
that they felt disappointment and even anger towards the government’s decision.(lotbiniere,2009)”
In conclusion,
English is necessary as it plays a crucial role in allowing partners from
different racial groups to communicate with on another effectively. The
abandonment of this English teaching program will eventually cause Malaysia losing
out economically.
