FOCUS ON ENGLISH AT ALL LEVELS

ANEW wave of emphasising English as the medium of instruction and communication is back.

Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad recently announced the introduction of English competency tests for civil servants. This is to ensure civil servants, especially high-ranking ones, can present themselves well during meetings with international partners. Dr Mahathir also promised to review the education system from kindergarten to university level.

I am delighted that attention is given to all educational levels in Malaysia. As a lecturer in a public university, I have to agree our undergraduates have a poor command of the English language.

This jeopardises the performance of students in the university. From my experience, students have problems understanding lectures conducted in English and communicating with the lecturers in the language.

In a new environment using a strange language, students lose attention and interest and, eventually, give up on the course.

I have noticed that despite students coming with excellent grades in their pre-university education, many could not score well even in the first semester of their tertiary education.

Academic performance does not depend only on students’ intelligence, but also on their ability to adapt to an unfamiliar environment where everything is delivered in English.

Students’ presentation or viva voce is another key aspect to justify their ability in mastering a language. As a course is conducted fully in English, students usually present their work in English, be it a lab report or a test.

I have encountered many instances where serious grammatical errors, including spelling errors, are detected in their work or during their presentation.

This language problem either distorts or hampers the delivery of an idea by the students. This, in turn, makes it hard for lecturers to grade students’ work because the content is not properly presented. Likewise, the problem occurs in the form of answers provided in exams.

As a young lecturer, I was advised not to penalise students for grammatical errors. But how are we going to judge a situation if storytellers cannot deliver their message accurately using the right language?

Undergraduates suffer not only from their poor soft skills, but also the lack of written English proficiency.

The root cause of the problem could be a poor emphasis on the language in early childhood education. At most educational levels prior to the tertiary level, the chances of learning or even mastering the English language are limited as there is only one English subject in the curriculum.

Despite the Malaysian University English Test (Muet) being a requirement for entering university, English proficiency among undergraduates continues to be poor. News reports have said that local graduates suffer from unemployment because they are not good in English.

Globalisation is not new and everyone knows the importance of mastering the English language. It is not a simple task yet an urgent one. Our education curriculum must encourage the use of English language at an early age. With a strong foundation in the language, our children would not have any difficulty when entering the next level of education.