English Day on Tuesdays
TUARAN: The Sabah Education Department has launched an English Day Programme and announced Tuesdays will be observed as ‘English Day’ for the education community, including those working in education offices.
Its director, Datuk Jame Alip said it was highly recommended for school management to create an environment to provide more opportunities for students to communicate in English.
Jame said the department had actually announced every Tuesday as English Day back in 2013.
“By having this event, we are going to strengthen the existing programmes in schools and at the same time, we are encouraging those who are in Sabah Education Department and district education offices to use the English language, especially on Tuesdays.
“It shows our commitment at all levels to utilize the English language, as the proverb says, practice makes perfect.”
Jame said applying English language in our daily conversation did not mean that we were forgeting our national identity.
“Malay language still remains as our national and unifying language.
“In fact, this programme is in line with MBMMBI. It means that we need to ensure the usage of Malay language as a medium of communication in all national and secondary schools and to ensure that each child can master both Malay and English languages well and fluently.”
Jame said although students spent thousands of hours learning English, employers have expressed concern over the decline of English proficiency, particularly in spoken English among their employees.
He said this was an issue that was much debated in the community as educators, parents and employers wondered what has gone wrong with the way English was taught in schools.
“It is learned that we can easily acquire the language if we can apply it frequently.
“Hence, it is highly recommended for school management to create an environment that provides more opportunities for students to use English.
“At the same time, English teachers should imrpove their teaching methods to arouse interest among the students and encourage the use of English outside the classroom via co-curricular activities and to have continuous campaign to promote reading in English extensively.”
Jame added that despite the postponement of English as a mandatory passing subject for Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM), the State Education was always on alert and ready for any changes that might take place.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Haji Aman said the State Government was committed to seeing improvement of proficiency in English among students.
Musa said the State Government would work hand in hand, especially with the Sabah Education Department to ensure basic needs in schools, particularly in rural and remote areas, were met.
“We hope this will reduce the gap between rural and urban areas and improve achievement among students.
“It is our collective responsibility to instil confidence in using this language so that it is used in daily communication and is not limited to just aiming to get the minimum requirement for passing it in exams,” Musa stated this in his speech at the launch of the state-level English Day programme by the State Education Department at SMK Sri Nangka here.
His speech was delivered by Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun, who is also the State education exco.
“We need to em bark on continuous efforts to encourage the younger generation to be well versed in English.”
Although other languages were also widely spoken, Musa said English was the official medium of communication in many countries.
He said an estimated two billion people worldwide use English to communicate on a regular basis, which was about a third of the global population.
“It is worrying to note that some students think that they can do well later on without mastering at least some of the key competencies in the English language.”
In a highly globalized world, Musa said it was necessary to be able to communicate in English as it was the dominant business language.
“Feedback from all over the world shows that cross-border business communication is most often conducted in English.
“This language’s importance in the global market place cannot be understated.
“Learning English can change your lives and we need to keep encouraging students to not shy away from this language.”
For those who enjoy reading and other forms of media, Musa said many of the world’s top films, books and music were published and produced in English.
“By learning English, you will have access to a great wealth of knowledge and entertainment.
Musa added that about half of the content produced in the Internet was in English, which translated into a huge amount of information that one could lose out on by ignoring the language.
“While learning English can be challenging and time consuming, it is necessary to make the sacrifice as it does open doors to many opportunities and to some extent, boosts innovation.”
Musa pointed out that some resisted speaking English as they regarded it as glorification of a colonial language, while others shy away when they were labelled as showing off or being arrogant when they used the language.
“This is not a good situation to be in as it may demotivate those who are willing to brush up their English proficiency.”
He said the Education Department ran a number of programmes to upgrade the level of English achievement and the level of proficiency among users, including the Highly Immersive Programme where 23 schools were currently taking part in, as well as the Dual Language Programme in which Mathematics and Science were taught in English.
In addition, he said 15 Fulbright English Teaching Assistants (ETA) from the United States have taken part in the Upholding Bahasa Malaysia and Strengthening English Language policy (MBMMBI), which has gained positive feedback from students and schools.