A Sarawakian Assistant Minister has just issued a statement, suggesting that foreign teachers should be called in to teach English in Sarawak. I include the press report below; following my refutations on his notion. Yes, with all due respect I totally disagree with Dr. Annuar Rapaee's suggestion, and I totally believe that we have no need to engage with foreign teachers in order to increase our people's mastery of English language. Here are my reasons:
[1] Foreign teachers, being native speakers of English language, doesn't necessarily mean they are good teachers - or more precisely, the best teachers to teach our students. It makes more sense, to have someone who is a native, or fluent, speaker of Malay (or the local dialect) who is also proficient in English to teach our young generation the language, since they are native speakers of Malay and the local dialect.
[2] We must not look down on local English teachers. My generation, to recall my own experience, never had a foreign English teacher. My English teacher is Sarawakian, a local who spoke with impeccable Sarawakian dialect when she was not speaking in her fluent English. Still we can all speak in English, and understand it very well. A lot of my friends furthered their studies overseas, some even to the extend of completing their PhD studies in English-speaking countries. Our local teachers are trained for years to teach English; if it doesn't work, then maybe something is wrong with our curriculum, or the system that we use to teach our young generation.
[3] Language is a tool, and it is an important tool when learning knowledge. Knowledge are conveyed through language. However, we must also understand that language conveys meaning, and those meaning are shaped by the worldview of the culture of that language. It is then very important that when learning a foreign language - like English - we learn it on top of a solid basis of our own culture, lest we let our own culture be infested by a foreign one. In this case, a Western culture. Yes, there are positive elements in the Western culture which we should learn from; but the Western culture itself as a whole is neither suitable nor compatible for us. A foreign English language teacher will not only bring their knowledge of the language, but also their own Western culture which would be unhealthy for our younger generation since they are still in the stages of finding their identity. It would be better to have native English speakers to train our teachers instead.
[4] The state is emphasizing on digital economy, and that's probably a good thing. However, one important thing that I have learned from my teachers, is that it is imperative to focus our education on producing "a good man" first, before producing "a good citizen" or "a good worker". We give too much emphasis on learning science and technology, yet we give very little importance on the most fundamental disciplines of knowledge. We tend to be ignorant of the fact that it is important to first teach a human being on how to live as a human. Subjects such as Islamic studies for muslims, moral education for non-muslims, art, history, bahasa Melayu and others are treated as petty subjects and never really given much attention. Some of the subjects may be categorized as a core subject, but have never really given the time, funding, and importance as science and technology subjects. Have we ever officially engaged with top muslim scholars from outside Malaysia to help improve Islamic studies education, for instance? Only a secular-liberalist, with no knowledge of the history of the Western and Islamic civilizations and their correlations, would think that Islamic studies is of little relevance when talking about digital economy.
[5] English is important. However, it is neither the most important nor the most urgent subject that we need to be teaching our young generation. I have mentioned the reasons before during the time when we were opposing the implementation of PPSMI. Read here, here and here.
I am very sure that Dr. Annuar Rapaee has only the people's best interests at heart when voicing out his suggestions. However, I firmly move to reject that notion; and I believe there are much more important things to implement in our education system in order to really prepare our generation for the digital future.
Teach them adāb, before knowledge.
Dr Annuar in favour of engaging foreign English teachers
SIBU: Assistant Minister of Education and Technological Research Dr Annuar Rapaee is of the view that engaging foreign teachers to teach English should be seriously looked into in order to strengthen proficiency in the language.
“It is my personal opinion that the matter of calling for foreign (English) teachers to teach English should be seriously looked into because it has been proven previously that this is one of the important ways to improve our proficiency and command of English, more so now that the state is emphasising on digital economy.
“These foreign (English) teachers can also help in the professional development of our own teachers (in the state),” he said.
However, he hoped that the services of the foreign teachers would not be needed forever.
“But at this initial stage, it is my personal opinion that their services are needed in line with the national policy of improving English proficiency and I think foreign teachers will actually bring a lot of difference to our state,” added Dr Annuar, who is also Assistant Minister of Housing and Public Health.
The Nangka assemblyman was speaking to reporters after officiating at Bandong Walk Mini Carnival 2017 here on Saturday night.
He was posed a question relating to the recruitment of English Teaching Assistants (ETAs) from overseas, who he admitted were known for their high standard of English.
“Previously, we used to bring English teachers from England as well as India and our standard of English was very high,” he pointed out.
Asked on the level of command of English in the state presently, he said: “I believe the level of command of English now is due to only teaching English subject in English. Logically, I feel that the command is not that good if compared to the yesteryears of 70s and 80s.”
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Research will conduct a three-day Sarawak English Language Education Symposium (Seles) 2017, starting today.
On this, Dr Annuar revealed that over 900 English teachers throughout the state will gather in Kuching to attend the seminar, where several experts have been invited, including from Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, to expound on the subject and share their knowledge.
He also said after the seminar, strategies would be drawn up to improve the standard of English, adding that this is a long-term effort.
Asked if there was a time frame to improve English, he said it should start at an early age.
“Because we believe that children below the age of 12 or 10 are quick to grasp any language taught to them,” he said.
On the ‘Spell it right’ competition, he explained that this was to cultivate interest in English among the participants.
[ Source: Borneo Post Online ]
All posts in this blog are my own personal views (unless explicitly mentioned otherwise) and are not to be associated with any organization or institution related to me.