This is a hot issue that is being debated up until today. Many people are still confused, be it students, teachers, academicians, and even laymen like me. We are confused as this issue had been debated for such a long time and there had been no concrete stand on the issue. In what language shall Math and Science be taught in schools? Should it be in English, in Malay, or in the mother tongue of respective vernacular schools?
As a product of national education system [this is the problem when we have many education systems in such a small country like Malaysia – everything got messed up easily], I am of the opinion that Math and Science shall be taught like before, in Malay and in Mandarin or Tamil – IF the purpose of having the two subjects being taught in English is to improve the command of English among students.
Learning these two subjects in English is not the answer to level up the proficiency of English among students. As the president of Translation and Creative Writing Association [PERSPEKTIF], Goh Hin San said “It is like operating on the leg when someone is having stomach problems”. I could not agree more on his view. He is absolutely right.
Math and Science are important subjects that would help develop Malaysia towards achieving its goal to become a developed country. Both subjects are crucial subjects and having it taught in a language which the students and the teachers could not fully understand would hamper the learning process of the subjects. It is true that English is a widely spoken language internationally but to have a good command in English does not necessarily means that we have to learn Math and Science in English.
My parents, my relatives, my teachers, and my friends learned Math and Science in Malay. So do I. But we could speak and write in English properly because the teachers always emphasise the importance of English during English classes. We had extra classes for English. We spoke English during English classes and even after classes. But the situation is different today. English is not more than just a subject to be learned in school. Teachers do not make it fun to learn English. Maybe the teachers should use the tagline that was used during my schooldays: ‘English is fun!’
In conclusion, English is not the answer if the government’s purpose of having Math and Science to be taught in English is to master the language. There are many other ways to do so. Don’t make a mistake that would be regretted later. This is for the future of Malaysia and our future depends on the policy.
p/s: Politics and educations are two different things. Maybe politicians shall be barred from being involved in policy making of the education system. Besides, by doing so, we can ensure that education will not be politicised.
Sunday, 28 September 2008
File 31 : Math and Science in English, anyone?
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6 comments:
i studied math and science in malay, and found out that in university i had to re-learn all the terms in english. it's a little ridiculous when you think of it - english is the way to go.
plus, most science journals are in english anyway.
it shud be in English. That's the way forward.Having it in other language will hamper the students.Am also from a Malay school - in the 70's I hv to go to "remove class" be4 i start my secondary education.
(in nothingness)& musidris~thanks for your views =) I agreed with both of you. As an international language, plus all the references are in English, math and science can or should be studied in English.
However, I don't quite agree with the reason given by the government for teaching math and science in English. Learning the two subjects in English for the purpose of improving the command of English?
That's quite unreasonable isn't it?
I am for English, as opposed to BM.
I have seen many students suffering from transition of languages. Especially those friends of mine who were from the vernacular schools.
My Chinese friends who used to learn Math & Science in Chinese had to learn new terms in Bahasa Melayu upon entering secondary school when they decided to go to a public school. If that was not a struggle, I do not know how to explain why some students had outstanding results in UPSR only to fail miserably during Form 1 but did relatively well in PMR and scored excellently in SPM.
Trouble came when we all entered STPM. 2004, we went to Form 6. All these while, these 'geniuses' have been so used to Bahasa Melayu and suddenly, they have to learn their terms in English pulak!!
I can understand their pain, but nothing close to all that they feel. My family speaks English all the time, I love English. I read and write in English all the time. But what about those whose parents do not speak English? Those who speaks a different language at home? Especially those who speaks Chinese and Tamil (and other more minor languages in Malaysia)?
Nothing is fair in this world. But I rather go with English. It is lame to say that teaching Math & Science in English will improve student's english. Some people cannot even speak a decent word in English after being exposed to English all their lives. But that is up to them to decide whether they want to do it or not, we have no rights to say that our system is failing because it did not teach the students to speak in English.
Teaching Math & Science in English has brought about a lot of benefit to the students since 2003. People who went abroad to study had less trouble translating words from English to BM in order to understand. More students can understand online scientific journals more easily. They are more on par with the rest of the world when they have discussions. We cannot speak BM to the Ang Mohs!
Do not worry about the other mother tongue. The generation will always have a chance to pick these things up! BM can be used in other subjects like Geography and History. We will definitely not lose our BM as the national language.
"Learning the two subjects in English for the purpose of improving the command of English..." is exactly what should be done. I am a student of English Language and Literature, and over the course of my studies I have become convinced of the fact that this is a necessary step in the direction of producing qualified graduates. The simple truth is that a person needs at least 25 000 of hours of exposure to a language to be able to speak it fluently. Even with extra classes, this number won't come close to what can be achieved with the addition of two extra subjects in which students to hone their skills. Since you do acknowledge the fact that most of the academic literature available is in English, it only makes sense that students should be made to be as comfortable as possible with the language starting with the basics in primary school, before moving on to more complicated technical terms in secondary school and university.
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