Teaching Science in English in Malaysia

Hello.

I am Science teacher. I teaching in SMK Bingkor in Sabah, Malaysia. Government Malaysia make compulsory in schools for Science subject to be teach using english language, starting in 2003.

I am worry because my english not good. I'm scared one day my students will think i am stupid. I must learning english very fastly.

How can I learn english. please advice me. Thank you.

<<I'm scared one day my students will think i am stupid>>

Nur Sabrina Joe, I'm just curious.Why did the school even picked you to teach science when you seem to be unqualified for the job? Wouldn't that be bad for your students? I mean, the students might pick up your "broken english" and then eventually it becomes ingrained in their speech and writing.

You could try and learn as much english and as quickly as possible using the ANTIMOON method or whatever quick methods but you need at least 1-2 years of intensive study, I think.

I'm not trying to discourage or negatively criticizing you. But the students deserve better.

Nur Sabrina Joe,

I do understand your problem and as for Sho, maybe you don't quite understand the situation here in Malaysia. Maybe I could clarify the matter a little. Nur Sabrina is just another one of the casualty cases as a result of a change in the education system many years ago. During the colonial era, education was conducted in British English but after the colonial era when Malaysia achieved its independence, the government decided to change the system from English-based to Bahasa Malaysia-based; Bahasa Malaysia (BM) being our country's national language. So, what happened was that the generation that was educated under the new government learnt everything under the sun in BM with the exception of English language of course. Nur Sabrina and even myself, we grew up learning Science in BM. However, in 2003, the government decided to change the system again and now Science and Mathematics are taught in English. And so you can imagine the difficulty that she has to go through adapting to this change.

As a Science teacher, Nur Sabrina may be qualified when it comes to teaching the content. The biggest problem she faces now is how to disseminate the content to her students IN ENGLISH. Not all Malaysians speak English all the time and it is even more difficult to TEACH a content subject IN ENGLISH to a group of students who may not even be familiar with the subject. So, it may be or may not be her fault for seemingly being "unqualified" for the job.

But Nur Sabrina, I would suggest that you start reading more English materials to familiarize yourself with the language especially in Science. Language learning requires practice. If you limit your reading to just your KBSM textbook and workbook, I'm almost sure your English will never improve. Surf the internet for articles, make full use of the school library. It may seem weird for a teacher to do that, but teachers are still learners.
If you face difficulty, I'm sure the English teachers in school will be more than willing to help you.

One more thing, I understand that teaching IN ENGLISH is difficult because it is very different from casual speaking. You can try asking the English teachers in school or the senior teachers who might have been educated in the British era for tips. The internet has many useful articles about teaching in english. So, maybe you could firstly familiarize yourself with speaking in English, by using English in your everyday conversation instead of BM. From there, you can slowly build your confidence and fluency.

Don't be afraid to use the language or feel embarassed if you make mistakes. Even English teachers sometimes make mistakes. But the important thing is you got to try. And looking at your case, you have no choice. It's either you swim or sink. Students might laugh at you sometimes, but don't be discourage ok? As long as you try hard to improve, that's what matters. All the best to you!

Rachel

Thank you for advice. It is more help to me than the "etems course" ("English in teaching maths and science" course) I joined. Are you english teacher?

You said :The internet has many useful articles about teaching in english

Do you know the websites for articles??? Please tell me.

Thank you.

<<we grew up learning Science in BM. However, in 2003, the government decided to change the system again and now Science and Mathematics are taught in English.>>

Your government is ridiculous. Now I see my Malaysian friends' point when they said their education system back home was totally screwed up. Pity.

Hi Nur Sabrina Joe. Hi teacher.

I am your ex-student from one of your science classes in the past when science were still taught in Bahasa Malaysia. Gosh, I never knew your english is that bad, teacher. But hey, you came to the right forum for help with your english. I think you failed your english papers in the PMR and SPM exams. And that is the reason for your incompetency in using English to teach science.

But why are you worried when you are actually using Bahasa Malaysia 98% of the time when teaching in class at present? My younger sister in one of your science classes told me about that. The only time you had used English was when you were reading science terms right from the textbook or from the blackboard. You use Bahasa Malaysia to communicate with the students all the time!! That's understandable. You coudn't stand embarassment.

Anyway, I'm here to help you, teacher. First let me correct your writing:

You wrote:
I am Science teacher. I teaching in SMK Bingkor in Sabah, Malaysia. Government Malaysia make compulsory in schools for Science subject to be teach using english language, starting in 2003.

I am worry because my english not good. I'm scared one day my students will think i am stupid. I must learning english very fastly.

How can I learn english. please advice me. Thank you.


Corrected version:

I am a Science teacher. I am teaching in SMK Bingkor in Sabah, Malaysia. The Government of Malaysia has made it compulsory in all schools for Science subject to be taught using the english language, starting in 2003.

I am worried because my english is not good. I'm afraid one day my students would think i am stupid. I must learn english very quickly.

How could/should I learn english. please give me advice. Thank you.

And who's the teacher now, teacher? I'm kidding. :)


I think you should take up english classes. I did since graduating from SMK Bingkor. Some of them are really good. I'll recommend 2 of them to you if you're interested. Please let me know. Bye for now.

The Malaysian government's decision to use English as a medium of instruction for science strikes me as the latest nonsense in the English frenzy going on worldwide. What's the point?

Because most science texts are in English? Many countries in the world use English science texts, without forcing their teachers and students to conduct every class in English. (And some of those countries have better fluency in English than Malaysia.)

One language to unite the country? Malaysia is not Nigeria. Bahasa Malaysia exists for that purpose.

Or is it merely to increase English skills? Teaching subject matter in the language is a great way for students to learn the language--IF the teacher is native or near-native. (Like the French language immersion programs in Canada.) However, having to listen to questionable English from the teacher--and even more questionable English from other students--is hardly a great way to learn the language. One is better off studying on one's own with authentic audio input (a la Antimoon).

I understand why people want to learn English well, but it's gotten to a point in many countries (and their governments) that borders on a mania.

English is the language of international communication.

English is the language of knowledge.

In the past, Latin served a similar function.

<English is the language of international communication.>
<English is the language of knowledge.>
<In the past, Latin served a similar function.>

Fine. So what's the point? The students in Scandinavia, the Netherlands, and Germany, for example, learn excellent English, without being forced to conduct all their science classes in the language. One can learn the language well (and probably more effectively) than by forcing students and teachers to use their imperfect English on one another. (Once again: the Canadian immersion programs use NATIVE speakers.)

Yes, English has a similar function as Latin did. And that's the point: There were VERY few people (including teachers) who could SPEAK Latin fluenty (and no native speakers). That didn't stop people from using it as their main source of academic knowledge.

English is obviously useful, but I question whether the average person would benefit greatly from the path that the Malaysian government has decided to subject its students and teachers to.

>>Fine. So what's the point? The students in Scandinavia, the Netherlands, and Germany, for example, learn excellent English, without being forced to conduct all their science classes in the language. One can learn the language well (and probably more effectively) than by forcing students and teachers to use their imperfect English on one another. (Once again: the Canadian immersion programs use NATIVE speakers.)<<

In the case of Scandinavia, the Netherlands, and Germany, you must remember that these are natively Germanic-speaking areas to begin with, which most definitely gives them an edge with respect to learning English over people whose native languages are not Germanic languages.

<In the case of Scandinavia, the Netherlands, and Germany, you must remember that these are natively Germanic-speaking areas to begin with, which most definitely gives them an edge with respect to learning English over people whose native languages are not Germanic languages.>

That's exactly right, which makes my point even stronger. The teachers in those countries could probably use English in their classes, with a reasonable accent, and with decent grammar and vocabulary. And yet they choose not to. In the meantime, Malaysian students--who, as you noted, are not Germanic language speakers--are subjected to (and are forced to stumble through themselves) very non-native pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary. Does this sound like an effective method? Can you imagine how much time and money is spent getting teachers to a reasonable (and still probably less-than-ideal) level?

1. I have two suggestions:

They can translate the main English science texts into Bahasa Malaysia for the average student. This would cost a fraction of the time and money used in training hundreds or thousands of teachers, as well as help the local publishers. Advanced students can stick to the English texts.

2. They could use the time and money to set up EFFECTIVE language teaching classes. Can you imagine the amount of authentic English material--videos, books, magazines, e-mail connections to native English-speaking students--that they could buy with the money they're spending on getting local teachers up to even a mediocre level? Couple the materials with a good methodology (based on lots of comprehensible input) and consider the possibilities. As the authors of the Antimoon method have pointed out, listening to your fellow countrymen speak imperfect English in a class is hardly an effective method.

Governments in general tend to be comprised of idiots. When it comes to their decission about education, the Mayasian Governement seems to be a fine example of this. A move such as this can only damage Sceince and English teaching.

My advice, besides studying up on English, would be to get away with using as little English as possible letting your students know that you don't have to know a word of English to be a good scientist. Your knowledge of science should be proof enough that you're not stupid. I remember a maths teacher I once had whose English wasn't all that great (this is in Australia) but the class got on with learning & he got on with teaching regardless (admittedly this was at University, high school is a different story).

Corrected corrected version:

I am a science teacher. I am teaching in SMK Bingkor in Sabah, Malaysia. The Government of Malaysia has made it compulsory in all schools for science to be taught in English, starting in 2003.

I am worried because my English is not good. I'm afraid one day my students will think I am stupid. I must learn English very quickly.

How can/could/should I learn English? Please give me advise. Thank you.

Jim wrote:
<<How can/could/should I learn English? Please give me advise. Thank you. >>

Corrected phrase:
Please give me ADVICE.

“Advice” is the noun, “advise” the verb

This must be his typing mistake.

Anyway, thanks Jim for correcting the errors in my writing. I appreciate it.
And I agree with what Mitch says:
<<One can learn the language well (and probably more effectively) than by forcing students and teachers to use their imperfect English on one another>>

One best example is myself and my ex-teacher here who requires help with her english. Although I'm slightly better than her in English, teaching her with my less-than-ideal english won't really help her reach an optimum level. Likewise, my Malaysian university lecturers aren't better at english themselves, thus passing on their imperfect English to students like myself. This cycle of language failures goes on and on and is exactly the present scenario in Malaysia's education system.

Mitch also says:
<<Teaching subject matter in the language is a great way for students to learn the language--IF the teacher is native or near-native>>

In Malaysian Government schools,there are virtually no native speakers teaching the English subject or subjects-taught-in-English. An exception would be private colleges and schools but their numbers are small. Local teachers here are mostly mediocre at best in their English level.

My friend told me that Chinese Malaysians go to Chinese school and never actually learn MB. Now even native Malaysians do not want to learn MB because the grammar rules change year by year for some reason, that it is confusing enough which makes they rather learn English instead. Is that true?

<< My friend told me that Chinese Malaysians go to Chinese school and never actually learn MB. Now even native Malaysians do not want to learn MB because the grammar rules change year by year for some reason, that it is confusing enough which makes they rather learn English instead. Is that true? >>

Not true. BM (Bahasa Malaysia) is also taught in most Chinese schools. And some Chinese actually go to Malay schools (schools that use Bahasa Malaysia as the medium). Yet most Malaysian Chinese parents prefer to send their kids to Chinese schools if they could afford that.

It's true that the grammar rules for BM changed several times in the past. But it hadn't been so much that it frustrated learners, at least not me. And that was not the reason people has preferred to learn English rather than BM. Rather, it's the realization of English's importance and benefits that has people started learning English.