Language and

Topic 4
the Curriculum
Component

By the end of this topic, you should be able to do the following:

1. Explain the role of language in the Malaysian preschool
curriculum.
2. Outline language components in the curriculum.
3. Identify learning objectives, content and learning standards
in the curriculum.
4. Plan the appropriate language-based activities.

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54 TOPIC 4 LANGUAGE AND THE CURRICULUM COMPONENT

In 2003, all public and private preschools (excluding preschools run by

international schools) were required to comply with the National Preschool
Curriculum formulated by the Malaysian Ministry of Education (Adelina Asmawi
& Nazilah Seyed Hend, 2016). Later, several transformational initiatives were
made to the conceptual framework and pedagogical approaches of the curriculum
in 2010 and 2016 in a move to step up the national agenda of providing world-class
preschool education and equity for all (Falilnesa Mohamed Arfan, 2018).

In this topic we will focus on salient areas of interest pertaining to the current
preschool standards-based curriculum towards attaining language and literacy
development. In relation to that, aspects of language component, learning
objectives, learning standards and language activities will be examined as well.

LANGUAGE AND PRESCHOOL

4.1

CURRICULUM
The overarching goal of the revised National Preschool Standard Curriculum
(2017), also known as Kurikulum Standard Prasekolah Kebangsaan (KSPK), is to
ensure children will be taught a standard and holistic curriculum that ensures
balanced academic development for all. The KSPK is based on six core strands.
Communications is one of the major learning strands, wherein English, Bahasa
Malaysia and Mandarin are taught and learnt. Insofar as language is concerned,
the child-centred KSPK explicitly articulates that the primary objective of
learning and teaching languages is to enable preschoolers to use language to
communicate effectively. Four keywords underpin the planning and execution
of all language teaching events in the preschool classroom:

• Enriching

• Engaging

• Safe

• Fun

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 TOPIC 4 LANGUAGE AND THE CURRICULUM COMPONENT 55

The foundation for language fluency is built through the development of

listening, speaking and early literacy skills. The Malaysian Preschool English
Language curriculum, for example, was designed to facilitate and nurture
childrenÊs effective communication with others in their immediate environment
as well as to develop an enjoyment and appreciation of the language via
stories, rhymes, poems, puppets, songs, and games, etc. Through language play,
it is envisioned that children will be motivated to imagine and recreate
meaningful, real experiences for themselves and others around them.

In the following subtopics, we will focus on the major elements of the KSPK,
highlighting its language component, learning standards and objectives, together
with examples of language activities for classroom use.

4.1.1 Language Component

The KSPK exposes children to reading, writing, listening and speaking skills
by developing mastery of the language through use of real-life contexts.
Contextualisation includes exploiting objects from the real world, pictures,
puppets, and other readily available props so that childrenÊs language experiences
transform to become something relatable and more meaningful to them.

For aural-oral competency, for example, English is taught by means of childrenÊs

active engagement in pretend play dialogues and conversations with peers and
others. Both verbal and non-verbal communication with appropriate use of
body language, gestures, facial expression, and eye contact are given significant
prominence.

One other language component stressed in the KSPK is vocabulary. How does
the curriculum facilitate the acquisition of vocabulary skills among children?
It is realised through use of language related to familiar experiences and things
in the environment along with simple selections drawn from popular childrenÊs
literature.

Development of emergent literacy among young children is further enhanced by

using a diverse array of teaching and learning resources for language activities.
Children are continually exposed to various materials and environmental print
representing the different forms and functions of the written word, such as
word cards, big books, charts, labels, signs and posters, among others.

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56 TOPIC 4 LANGUAGE AND THE CURRICULUM COMPONENT

4.1.2 Learning Objectives and Content and

Learning Standards
For purposes of our discussion regarding objectives and standards, we will
draw on relevant examples extracted from the KSPK English syllabus. The KSPK
English teaching learning objectives are designed to enable children to:

(a) Listen and respond using appropriate verbal and non-verbal responses;

(b) Communicate using simple sentences with manners;

(c) Read and understand simple sentences; and

(d) Write words and phrases.

(KSPK 2017, p. 37)

The content of the standards-based KSPK curriculum is organised around three

broad areas known as content standard, learning standard and performance
standard (refer to Table 4.1).

Table 4.1: Content Organisation in KSPK

Content Standard Learning Standard Performance Standard

Specific statement on what Fixed criteria or quality Set of general criteria

children should know and learning indicator and describing the required
do regarding knowledge, measurable achievement display of childrenÊs
skills and values during for each content standard. performance levels to
schooling. indicate mastery of a
particular skill, etc.

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 TOPIC 4 LANGUAGE AND THE CURRICULUM COMPONENT 57

For an overview of how the four English language skills of listening, speaking,
reading and writing are pulled together and developmentally sequenced against
the specified content and learning areas respectively, refer to Table 4.2.

Table 4.2: Content and Learning Standards of KSPK

Content Learning Standard

Standard 4+ 5+

BI 1.0 Listening and Speaking

BI 1.1 Listen Pupils are able to: Pupils are able to:
to and
identify BI 1.1.1 Listen to and identify BI 1.1.2 Listen to and
sounds common sounds in the respond to stimulus given:
environment
(i) Environmental sounds;

(ii) Voice sounds;

(iii) Rhythm and rhyme;

and

(iv) Alliteration.

BI 1.1.3 Listen to and

identify rimes in nursery
rhymes and songs

BI 1.2 Listen Pupils are able to: Pupils are able to:
to and
respond BI 1.2.1 Listen to and recite nursery BI 1.2.6 Listen to and recite
appropriately rhymes poems and rhymes

BI 1.2.2 Listen to and sing songs BI 1.2.7 Listen to and

respond to stories
BI 1.2.3 Listen to and repeat
greetings

BI 1.2.4 Listen to and follow simple

instructions

BI 1.2.5 Listen to and enjoy simple

stories

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58 TOPIC 4 LANGUAGE AND THE CURRICULUM COMPONENT

BI 1.3 Listen Pupils are able to: Pupils are able to:
to, understand
and respond BI 1.3.1 Use simple sentences to BI 1.3.2 Talk about favourite
in a variety of participate in daily conversations things and activities
contexts with manners to:
BI 1.3.3 Listen to and respond
(i) Exchange greetings; to oral texts

(ii) Show appreciation; BI 1.3.4 Talk about familiar

activities and experiences
(iii) Introduce oneself;
BI 1.3.5 Talk about stories
(iv) Express feelings; and heard
(v) Make simple requests. BI 1.3.6 Role play familiar
daily situations

BI 2.0 Reading

BI 2.2 Apply Pupils are able to: Pupils are able to:
sounds of
letters to BI 2.2.1 Recognise letters of the BI 2.2.5 Recognise and
recognise alphabet by their: sound out letters of the
words alphabet
(i) Shape; and
BI 2.2.6 Recognise and
(ii) Name. sound out initial, medial
and ending sounds in
BI 2.2.2 Recognise small letters of a word
the alphabet
BI 2.2.7 Blend phonemes
BI 2.2.3 Recognise capital letters of (sounds) to form single
the alphabet syllable words
BI 2.2.4 Name letters of the alphabet

BI 2.3 Pupils are able to: Pupils are able to:

Demonstrate
understanding BI 2.3.1 Recognise and read logos BI 2.3.3 Recognise and read
of a variety of and signs high frequency/sight words
texts in the
form of print BI 2.3.2 Read familiar words printed BI 2.3.4 Read simple phrases
and non-print in the surroundings
BI 2.3.5 Read simple
materials
sentences

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 TOPIC 4 LANGUAGE AND THE CURRICULUM COMPONENT 59

BI 2.4 Develop Pupils are able to: Pupils are able to:
interest in
reading BI 2.4.1 Recognise and name pictures BI 2.4.2 Read text
independently in books independently
for
information BI 2.4.3 Read and respond
and to text read
enjoyment

BI 3.0 Writing

BI 3.1 Pupils are able to:

Developing
prewriting BI 3.1.1 Demonstrate fine motor
skills control of hands and fingers by
using writing apparatus correctly

BI 3.1.2 Demonstrate correct posture

and pencil grip

BI 3.1.3 Engage in hand-eye

coordination through scribblings,
drawing lines and patterns

BI 3.2 Pupils are able to: Pupils are able to:

Developing
writing skills BI 3.2.1 Write recognisable letters BI 3.2.5 Copy simple phrases
in legible print
BI 3.2.2 Copy and write small letters
BI 3.2.6 Copy simple
BI 3.2.3 Copy and write capital letters sentences in legible print
BI 3.2.4 Copy words in legible print BI 3.2.7 Communicate ideas
and information by using
drawings, marks, symbols
and writing with invented
spelling

BI 3.2.8 Write words and

phrases in legible print

Source: KSPK, Ministry of Education Malaysia (2017)

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60 TOPIC 4 LANGUAGE AND THE CURRICULUM COMPONENT

SELF-CHECK 4.1

1. State the primary objective of learning languages in preschools.

2. What four keywords guide teachersÊ planning and delivery of

activities?

3. How is vocabulary taught and learnt in preschools?

4.1.3 Language Activities

A developing preschool child needs to be fed with fun language activities
because language activities stimulate literacy development. One of the ways
to stimulate language development is through language games. Language
games can be very useful to introduce children to rhymes, alliterations, parts
of a sentence and vocabulary. Besides, language games can be a fun way to
prepare a preschooler for kindergarten. It equips the preschooler with the
necessary tools to become more confident and creative with their language
and social skills, too.

Apart from language games, other language activities that could be incorporated
for preschool literacy development are as follows:

(a) Picture Sentence

Picture sentence is used to talk about the basic structure of a sentence of
„who‰ is doing „what‰. It is an excellent way to help children put words
together to create simple sentences as most preschoolers at this stage are
not able to read yet. You can draw pictures of nouns, verbs, adjectives,
and adverbs on cards and use them to construct sentences that can be
stimulating and fun for children.

Figure 4.1 shows you examples of picture sentences that can be used.

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 TOPIC 4 LANGUAGE AND THE CURRICULUM COMPONENT 61

Figure 4.1: Picture Sentence Activity

Source: www.spectronicsinoz.com/product/picture-sentence-key

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62 TOPIC 4 LANGUAGE AND THE CURRICULUM COMPONENT

(b) Reading Detectives

Children could be enticed to read in a fun way. Make them listen to
interesting short stories. After listening, they can be directed to play the part
of the detective where they are asked questions about what the main
character in the story did and how the problem was solved. This activity
helps young children to listen attentively.

Figure 4.2 shows samples of reading detective activities.

Figure 4.2: Examples of Reading Detectives

Source: www.criticalthinking.com/series/015/index_p.jsp

(c) Rhyme Time

Rhymes are great for young children to learn to recognise speech patterns.
Teach children rhyming words with a set of flash cards, either from a store
or make your own with rhyming word pairs. Children will enjoy pairing
the rhyming words.

Figure 4.3 provides examples of rhyme time cards.

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 TOPIC 4 LANGUAGE AND THE CURRICULUM COMPONENT 63

Figure 4.3: Examples of Rhyme Time Cards

To develop early reading skills, Table 4.3 offers a selection of simple and practical
ideas to teach sight words for teachers to use.

Table 4.3: Ideas to Teach Sight Words

Teaching Idea Materials Description

The head chair Group size cards • Mark one chair in the circle as the „Head
Chair‰.

• Play begins when you flash a card to the

person in the „Head Chair‰.

• A child can stay in his or her chair only

until he or she misses a word. When he or
she misses a word, he or she goes to the end
chair and all the children will move up one
chair.

• The object of the game is to try to end up in

the „Head Chair‰.

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64 TOPIC 4 LANGUAGE AND THE CURRICULUM COMPONENT

Around the Word cards • All the students sit in a circle. (Or they can
world remain at their desks).

• One student stands behind a seated

student. The teacher flashes them a sight
word.

• Whoever says it first moves on to the next

student. The student that makes it back to
his or her own desk or the starting point is
the winner.

• This is a quite popular game, and the little

ones love to try to stop someone from
making it „Around the World‰!

Erase relay Word list on • Write two columns of words on the

the chalkboard chalkboard that are approximately equal
in difficulty. Write as many words on the
board as there are children in the relay.

• Children are divided into two teams, and

stand in two lines at the right angles to the
chalkboard.

• At the signal, the first child in each line

points to the first word in his or
her respective column of words and
pronounces that word. If he or she
pronounces it correctly, he or she is allowed
to erase that word.

• The game is won by the side that erases

all the words first.

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 TOPIC 4 LANGUAGE AND THE CURRICULUM COMPONENT 65

Team sight A group size of • The children are divided into two teams.
word race set sight words Each team takes a turn attempting to
pronounce a word turned up from a pile
of sight words.

• If one team misses, the opposite team then

receives a chance to pronounce that word
in addition to their regular turn.

• Score is kept on the number of words each

team pronounces correctly.

• Do not have members sit down when they

miss a word, but have each team member
go to the back of the line after each try,
whether successful or not.

• This enables all members to gain equal

practice and does not eliminate those
people who need practice the most.

Which word Newspaper, • Sit with your child and look at a newspaper
wins? highlighter, to see just how often sight words pop up
word list in print.

• Ask your child to choose a sight word from

the list and an article from the newspaper.

• Look for the word together. Highlight and

count the word each time it appears.

• Try the same thing with a second sight

word.

• Which word appears more often?

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66 TOPIC 4 LANGUAGE AND THE CURRICULUM COMPONENT

Jump on it • Copy sight words on index cards (one word

per card). Make a second set of the same
words.

• Scatter one set face up on the floor, leaving

about a foot between each card. Place the
other set in a stack face down.

• Turn over the first card in the stack. Have

your child read the word (offer help
as needed) and then jump on the
corresponding card on the floor.

• Turn over the next card and have your

child read it and jump to that word.
Continue until your child has jumped on
all of the words.

• Mix up the cards and play again!

As for word attack skills, teachers could experiment with some of the strategies
given as follows (refer to Table 4.4):

Table 4.4: Strategies for Word Attack Skills

Strategy Description

Picture clues By looking at the picture, we can get clues about the meaning
of words. There might be familiar objects or actions that may
make sense and aid understanding.

Letter chunks There might be letter chunks consisting of sounds/symbols,

prefixes, suffixes, endings, whole words or base words in the
sentence that make sense. Read each chunk before blending
them all together to sound out the word.

Connecting to a When faced with an unfamiliar word, the teacher can teach
familiar word children to associate the unfamiliar word with a word that is
familiar. By doing this, children may understand the meaning
of the unfamiliar word to a certain extent.

Rereading the Rereading a sentence several times sometimes aids

sentence understanding. Children can be told to reread the sentence
and try to infer its meaning.

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 TOPIC 4 LANGUAGE AND THE CURRICULUM COMPONENT 67

Keep reading When faced with an unfamiliar word, children should be taught
to go on reading the next words and not be too bothered by the
unfamiliar ones. Sometimes, there would be clues in the
sentence that can help in aiding the comprehension of the
difficult word.

Using prior Prior knowledge can assist children in comprehension.

knowledge Children should be helped to trigger their prior knowledge.
Thinking about the topic and relating it to their prior knowledge
can facilitate understanding.

Using the dictionary Once children have learnt the letters of the alphabet, and
mastered enough words to comprehend, they can be taught to
use the dictionary to find meanings of words.

ACTIVITY 4.1

Run through the spectrum of language activities that have been

suggested. Do you think they are appropriate and feasible for use
with your group of preschoolers? Why?

Share your opinions with your coursemates in the myINSPIRE online

forum.

• Children begin to build the foundation for fluency in English through the
development of listening, speaking, reading and writing proficiency, including
vocabulary.

• The National Preschool Standard Curriculum exposes children to vital

language skills by developing language through the use of context. Objects
from the real world, pictures, puppets and other props are regularly used
so that language experiences become meaningful and relevant.

• The primary objective of the National Preschool Standard Curriculum in

learning languages is to empower preschoolers to use language to
communicate effectively.

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68 TOPIC 4 LANGUAGE AND THE CURRICULUM COMPONENT

• One of the ways to spark language development and introduce children to

rhymes, alliteration and vocabulary is through language games.

• A host of stimulating and exciting language-based activities can be devised

and optimised in a fun and purposeful way to enable and prepare a
preschooler for a rewarding language learning experience in kindergarten
and onwards to primary school.

Content standard National Preschool Standard

Curriculum
Language activities
Preschool
Language component
Learning standard

Asmawi, A., & Seyed Hendi, N. (2016). Preschool English TeachersÊ Practices
in Early Literacy Instruction: A Multiple Case Study. Asian Education
Studies, 1(2), 72.

Ministry of Education Malaysia. (2017). National preschool standard-based

curriculum. https://www.academia.edu/36967036/KSPK_BI

Mohamed Arfan, F. (2018). HDPS2603 English for your children. Open University
Malaysia.

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