Enhancing your English should start as early as possible

“We have to make sure that we get it right as early as possible. We should be looking at an even earlier level than tertiary. At university, it should be about developing English which you have already learned at school and not only starting to learn it. The propensity to learn is highest the younger you are. It can be as early as two”

Iman Alia Anuar

KUALA LUMPUR — As an advocate of the English language, Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim stresses on the importance of learning English at an early age before problems arise much later. Simultaneously, steps have been taken by the Ministry of Education to enhance English in schools.

After the Teaching and Learning of Science and Mathematics in English policy (PPSMI) was abolished in 2009, the latest pilot project Dual Language programme (DLP) was introduced. It provides the option for 300 schools to teach certain subjects in either English or Bahasa Melayu. Unlike PPSMI, DLP is not imposed but rather offered as a choice. The parent has to give consent for their child to take part in DLP.

“This has never happened before. Usually, it is the principal who makes the decision on behalf of the parent and the student. We’ve come a long way in ensuring that parents, as very important stakeholders in education, have their voices heard,” said Noor Azimah, the founder of Parent Action Group for Education (PAGE).

Noor Azimah referred to an international research which indicated that 15% to 20% English hours that is conducted in classrooms now is not sufficient to achieve operational proficiency. “The objective was to enhance English but nobody wanted to prolong the English subject within the curriculum.”

The lack of English proficiency may have played a role in the statistics revealed in 2015 by the Prime Minister’s department in which graduates were among 400,000 unemployed individuals.

“Back to the international research, this is exactly what is happening. This is why we are looking at a radical approach with the DLP and PPSMI before that,” she said.

Additionally, it was recently reported that 1,000 local doctors dropped out after their housemanship training due to a poor command of English.

“I find it puzzling but I don’t doubt that it was a contributing factor. That was a big wake-up call for everybody. I feel that we are still not realising the importance of English until we are head-hunted. If you cannot realise it on your own then you will continue to be left behind and just add on to the statistics of the unemployment rate,” she said.

Noor Azimah also said that some of the unemployed graduates who took the Malaysian University English Test (MUET) were most probably scoring a Band 1 and 2.  “They could still continue their degree and yet graduate without being able to speak in English with confidence.”

Therefore, the urgency to improve English should be paid more attention in schools.

“We have to make sure that we get it right as early as possible. We should be looking at an even earlier level than tertiary. At university, it should be about developing English which you have already learned at school and not only starting to learn it. The propensity to learn is highest the younger you are. It can be as early as two,” she said.