INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY MALAYSIA

KULLIYAH OF LANGUAGES AND MANAGEMENT

ENCO 3103
SEM 2, 2015/2016

NAME

: MUHAMMAD AMSYAR AFIQ AHMAD AZHA (1325375)

: NUR FARHANAH ZAINAL

(1310062)

: NURIN FATINI ABDUL GHANI

(1318254)

: FATINAH MOHD KHALID

(1314660)

SECTION

:1

GROUP

:1

LECTURERS NAME: SIR MOHAMED IDRIS MOHAMED IDRIS OMER

1.

INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................3

1.1 THESIS STATEMENT............................................................................................4

1.2 ARGUMENTS.........................................................................................................4

2.

ARGUMENT 1: PROFICIENCY IN ENGLISH...............................................5

3.

ARGUMENT 2: OBJECTIVE IN TEACHING................................................7

4.

ARGUMENT 3: QUALIFICATION AND FAMILIARITY WITH THE

STANDARDIZED METHOD...................................................................................10

5.

CONCLUSION...................................................................................................13

6.

REFERENCES....................................................................................................14

1. INTRODUCTION

Embracing the steps to become a more globalized country, Malaysia has long
introduced English as one of the required subjects to be taught at schools. This is to
prepare the society and also to increase the market value of each citizen to confront
the ambitious global market of the world (Gill, Nambiar, Ibrahim, & Tan, 2010),
(O'Neill & Chapman, 2015). It is undeniable that English is the lingua franca of the
world and it is in demand to bring education forward and to develop progress in
science (Chan & Abdullah, 2015)

With the policy of teaching English as a mandatory subject in schools, students should
be able to be proficient after spending 11 years or more, in learning the foreign
language. However, it was reported that students finesses of the language are
relatively low (Jalaluddin, Mat Awal, & Abu Bakar, 2008). In accordance to that,
employers often criticize on the proficiency level of local university graduates and
perceive them as unemployable (Yahaya, Yahaya, Ooi, Bon, & Ismail, 2011).

Malaysian government has taken few initiatives to improve the acquisition of good
English among Malaysians and one of them is by changing the syllabus of Science &
Mathematics to English. Despite of the ministrys efforts in implementing English in
Science and Mathematics, the efforts did not really work effectively. (Gobel, Siew,
Sidhu, Sok, & Yuen, 2013) stated that a debate is greatly discussed by politicians and
the public, whether to intensify the teaching of English or to teach Science &
Mathematics in English.

1.1 THESIS STATEMENT

A research in the past showed that the plan of action use to teach English at school
need to be re-assessed back (Chan & Abdullah, 2015). We believe that the best way to
improve the standard of English is by enhancing the quality of English teachers. This
is due to the English teachers proficiency, objective in teaching as well as their
qualification and familiarity with the standardized method in teaching and assessing
the students.

We have to improve the English teachers quality itself, instead of implementing

Englishasthemediumofinstructionsinotherspecializedsubjectsbecauseofthree
argumentsthatwillbediscussedfurtherinthenextchapter.

1.2 ARGUMENTS
Inbrief,thethreeargumentsthatareusedtosupportthethesisstatementarelistedas
below:
1.

EnglishteachersaremoreproficienttoteachEnglishlanguage.

2.

Englishteachersonly objectiveinteaching istoassistthestudents

languageacquisition.

3.

English teachers are more qualified and familiar with the English
standardizedmethodofteachingandassessment.

2. ARGUMENT 1: PROFICIENCY IN ENGLISH

Firstly, it is very important to just enhance the quality of the current English
teachers rather than trying to implement English as the medium of instructions in
other subjects. This is simply because they are more proficient in English language
compared to those who graduated under different studies and disciplines. The
graduates who completed their study under English language field and principles
undoubtedly have more knowledge in English language. They have deeper
understanding about the English language since the English course studies such as
TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language) provide interrelated language
subjects like Morphology, Syntax, Linguistics, and such. With such comprehensive
knowledge, the teachers graduated from this course will be able to deliver good
quality English lessons to the students. According to Janzen (2008), teachers play a
vital role in modeling good language practices in their classrooms. Good English
teachers also become more important for the students especially if they want to master
the language elements of their content subject. This shows that a focus in elements of
in-depth language instruction, cultural diversity, and adaptation of knowledge to
instruction is very crucial in order to provide a good English language lesson.
Besides, the proficient English teachers also can become the role model for the
students to apply and master the correct use of English. The correct use of English is
very important in order to preserve the quality of the language. Based on the previous
researches, one of the students strategies in learning or understanding English
language is by making guesses, looking or following their friends, watching their
teachers as well as asking their parents, teachers, or peers. This conveys that the

teachers could bring a big effect to the students in many ways. Thus, good English
teachers will produce good students in English language (Yamat, 2014).
In contrast, the teachers specialized in other subjects have the higher tendency
of not having the proficiency to use English language as the medium of instructions.
These teachers who are graduated from the other field of studies such as engineering
usually have been taught in Malaysia language throughout their studies. Thus, they
may not be proficient enough to teach the students by using English language in the
classroom. According to Yahaya (2009), the scenario these days has become a great
challenge to the teachers who have been teaching and learning in Bahasa Melayu as
they are expected to perform effectively in English, to teach and acquire subject
specific knowledge. This has resulted the overall declining standards of English
language. It is a worrying issue because on one hand, the students must learn
mathematics and science content while they are still learning English, however the
teachers themselves have proficiency problems with the new medium of instructions.
Furthermore, Yahaya (2009) also suggested that Science and Mathematics
teachers would be having a difficulty to adapt the rapid change in the medium of
instructions. The lack of proficiency in English language from the teachers may resort
to the teaching of mathematics and science in a mixture of both the mother tongue and
the target language. This situation definitely does not help students in achieving the
main objective, which is to develop good English language skills. Hence, the better
solution to preserve the standard quality of English is by not implementing it to be a
medium of instructions in other subjects.

3. ARGUMENT 2: OBJECTIVE IN TEACHING

In order to improve the standards of English in Malaysia, the quality of English

teachers should be improved rather than implementing English as the medium of
instruction in other subjects. One of the reasons is due to the teachers main objective
in teaching the students. Both the English teachers and the teachers who teach
specialized subjects have different aim when they taught the students. As for the
English teachers, their only objective in teaching is to assist the students language
acquisition. Hence, they will spend more time to help the students acquire the
language. This has been supported by Salam (2014) in which he stated that a quality
instructional time spent by English teachers will facilitate the language learning
process of the students.
Besides that, they will also provide ample opportunities for their students to
practice the language. Many activities will be conducted by the English teachers,
which solely aim to aid the students in acquiring the language. For instance, the
teachers may ask the students to talk about something, which they like or read about
something, which they want to know. Thus, this is aligned with the finding of research
conducted by Yamat (2014) in which he found that it is a necessity to expose the
students with English language. In addition, he also revealed that students should be
provided with more opportunities to practice the language as it will assist them to
improve their standard of English (Yamat, 2014).
On the other hand, those who teach specialized subjects need to ensure the
students understanding on the particular subjects. They may not make much effort in
improving the students language acquisition since they prioritized on the content of
those subjects. If English is implemented as the medium of instructions in their

classes, the teachers may face some difficulties in explaining the lessons to the
students. This is true since Yahaya (2009) disclosed that the implementation of
Science and Mathematics in English language has affected the dissemination of the
content of those particular subjects. The research conducted by Tan and Lan (2011)
supported this argument in which they stated that, Explanations given in English are
less effective because not all students are fluent in the use of English. [The
explanations] need to be translated into BM (p.15). Most students especially those
who come from non-urban areas may not be proficient enough to understand the
lessons when they are being conducted in English. This will end up requiring the
teachers to spend more time and effort in translating their lessons to Malay language
rather than focusing mainly on teaching the subjects (Lan & Tan, 2008). As a result,
the teachers main objective; which is to ensure the students understanding on the
subjects will not successfully be achieved.
Some teachers may try to adapt with the implementation of English as the
medium of instructions by asking the students to focus more on certain important
terms. The teachers believe that it will assist the students in gaining good grades
during examinations. Nevertheless, the students may not fully understand what they
are learning since they will just memorize those important keywords. This will hinder
the students from completely understanding the lessons and eventually failed to
identify the relationships between those terms in various scientific processes and
mathematical operations (Bruna, Vann & Escudero, 2007). Moreover, some terms
may be totally different when they are being translated to English language such as
natrium (Translated to English: sodium) and kalsium (Translated to English:
potassium). This may bring confusion to the students and hinder them from
understanding the lessons completely. Therefore, it is undeniable that the

implementation of English as the medium of instruction will affect the students

comprehension on the particular subjects.

4. ARGUMENT 3: QUALIFICATION AND FAMILIARITY

WITH THE STANDARDIZED METHOD

The standard of English can be improved by enhancing the quality of the

English teachers itself. Therefore, it is vital for English language to be taught by the
English teachers rather than implementing the language in other subjects that will be
taught by teachers from other disciplines. This is due to the fact that the qualifications
that they have acquired from the university are not specifically for English language
teaching. In the same time, they mastered their own disciplines, for examples, science
and mathematics, in Malay. Comparing this to the teachers who have the required
qualification, they will not have any problems when dealing with the syllabus and the
language itself. It is worrying that the qualification of the teachers may affect the
students performance in language learning. This is supported by Zhetpisnaheva
(2014) that the enhancement of the students language learning is depending on the
qualification of the English teachers itself.
Other than that, teachers who have the required qualification to teach English
will be able to follow the standardized syllabus and they can also teach according to
the students level of proficiency. This is due to the acquired qualification that
required them to master and be familiar with the entire syllabus and the right methods
of teaching according to the students levels. Indeed, this will ensure the effectiveness
of the language-learning process that will make the students to fully understand the
language and enable them to practice using the language gradually. According to
Yamat (2014), English language teachers are able to measure the levels of English
language acquisition by the students and able to decide on the skills to be learnt by

students from different levels. He suggested that the childrens confidence need to be
acquired first and it will be followed by acquiring the listening, speaking, writing and
reading skills.
In contrast, teachers from other fields of studies may not be able to parallelize
the students English proficiency level with the lesson they learnt in that particular
subjects. The students will face some confusions over the term used in the class. An
example from a study done by Smit (2010), he stated that the insufficiency of the
teachers proficiency level to be used in theory classes can lead the students to be
confused and make them use the incorrect term. It happened in a cooking class where
a teacher was trying to correct the students mistake due to the normal term used by
the student which is dishwashing instead of using the specific term, stewarding.
However, that situation leads the teacher to feel unconfident to do so due to the lack
of proficiency.
Besides that, the evaluation of the students language skills is very important
in a language learning process. Richards and Nunan (1990) stressed that evaluation
is one of the tools needed in teaching profession in which it can lead to a successful
language teaching. It is indeed important for the teachers to teach the right usage of
grammars and vocabularies to the students as well as correcting the mistakes done by
them. If the teachers do not assess the language skills of the students, it will be hard
for the students to proceed their English language learning to a higher level of
proficiency.
Teachers from other disciplines may not pay their attention on the language
used by the students during the examination because the contents and understanding
on the particular subject is more important. Therefore, it is quite impossible for the

teachers to assess the students English skills when they should focus more on the
answers given by the students based on their understanding. In the meanwhile,
examinations papers have always give the options for students to answer either using
their mother tongue or English language. This is parallel to the example given by
Omar (2016), where both English and Chinese are used for science and mathematics
in Chinese schools. The examination papers are prepared using both language and
answers can also be in either language. Therefore, the aim to implement English in
other subjects to improve the standards of English may not be successful.

5. CONCLUSION

With the low standards of English in Malaysia, we believe that the best way to
improve the standard of English is by enhancing the quality of English teachers. With
that, three arguments are provided with supporting explanation on why it is proposed.
Firstly, it can no longer be denied that English teachers have an excellent proficiency,
thus giving them the credibility to teach the language. Second, different teachers have
different objectives in teaching. Science teachers focus more on students
understanding toward the subject and if Science were to be taught in English, the
teachers would not emphasize much on the grammar and the correct use of English
but instead on the content of the subject. Lastly, English teachers are graduates with
specification of knowledge on English language. Thus, they have more qualification
in understanding the syllabus of English language in school and not to mention their
familiarity with the language. With all the arguments above, it is undisputable that the
best way to improve the standard of English in Malaysia is by enhancing the quality
of English teachers.

5.1 RECOMMENDATIONS

What should be done is government should upgrade the quality of current English
teachers and this can be achieved by sending them to continuous training so that the
teachers are aware of the changes in the syllabus and they can use apply the
information that they obtained from the training in their teaching (Zhetpisbayeva,
2014). All parties involved should work as a team to meet the ideal standards of

English that will be used by Malaysian in the future later on and in this case, it will be
the policy makers and the teachers because policy makers and teacher educators
must deliberate and focus on the needs of the teachers concerned (Yahaya, 2009).
The teachers need to tell the policy makers on the need and demand of the job scope
so that the policy maker can actually make benefited changes in the policy that will
make an improvement for all sectors. Lastly, training should be compulsory to the
teachers and it is supposed to be conducted continuously. Meaning that teachers are
not only send to training for only once or twice but instead make it a yearly activity.

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