Kegagalan Pelajar Fasih Berbahasa Inggeris Berpunca Dari Guru Yang Kurang Fasih? Setuju atau tidak.

Murid gagal berbahasa inggeris dengan fasih kerana salah guru?

" I wouldn't say all teachers are weak in English. Some of them are very good and can speak excellent English. However, their number is small and they are posted to elite schools in large towns and cities". s-simanturai

Sebelum pegi kepada tajuk, saya ingin mengulas sikit cara pembelajaran di sekolah anak saya yg saya rasa saya patut berbangga dengan usaha guru2 mereka.

Apa yang guru2 tersebut lakukan ialah mereka mendenda tiap sen dari perkataan bahasa2 lain selain BI yg tersasul keluar dari mulut mereka. Guru-guru itu pula bercakap dalam B.Inggeris sepenuhnya dan grammar yang betul even ketika bergurau sekalipun. Anak saya selalu mengajuk apa yang gurunya guraukan... adakala memang lucu... tapi saya rasa ini amat berkesan untuk proses pembelajaran mereka.

Saya ingin ucapkan syabas dan TERUSKAN!. Dah lama dah saya nak ucapkan terima kasih niii..... tapi kelu pula lidah berkata-kata.... nak jumpa Cikgu2 pun tak sempat, orang busy la katakannnn......(terima kasih juga kepada guru-guru anak saya yang sudi mencemar duli memfollow blog saya yg tak sepertinya ni... huhuhu... hai Cikgu, morning!!).

Itu kisah anak dara saya di secondary school, tentang Shashal di tadika... wallahualam pula. Tapi hendaknya tidak la seperti di dalam artikel di bawah (yang saya petik dari NST)...jika just say "yes, no, alright" je macam tu nenek kita pun boleh ajar... betul tak? Baiklah... kalau malas nak baca keseluruhannya, saya summary'kan ...

Penulis berkata punca2 kemerosotan B.inggeris di negara kita adalah kemungkinan berpunca dari kegagalan guru Bahasa Inggeris menggunakan Bahasa Inggeris dengan betul, grammar yang teruk. Saya suka highlightkan apa yg disuarakan oleh beliau yg berkenaan dengan.. "Some of them are very good and can speak excellent English. However, their number is small and they are posted to elite schools in large towns and cities".

Dihantar ke sekolah-sekolah elite dan bandar-bandar besar sajeeee??
Hmmmm..... tak mengapa la Wak Pangat..... nasib kau la Wak sapa suruh duduk terpencil nunnnn di tepi sungai, bertemankan kerbau. Takpe, pasni apa kata Wak tanamkan pada minda cucu-cucu Wak tu kata2 nenek moyang ni...


"Benih yang baik, dicampak ke laut menjadi pulau, dilempar ke hutan menjadi jati berharga".

S. SIMATHURAI , Chemor, Perak (Credit to NST)

I WOULD like to join the debate on why the standard of English here has deteriorated so badly.

I am an English language teacher of more than 35 years (I retired in 1999) and have been following the comments and feedback from parents and the public regarding the declining standard of English.

The deputy prime minister and education minister has raised these questions: Are teachers incompetent and school books unsuitable? My answer is "yes" to both questions.

When I was an English language panel head in the 1980s and early 1990s, I used to observe teachers teaching English.

To my horror, most of them spoke very bad English to the students.

On one occasion, I had the opportunity to observe a teacher teaching a Year Five class. The following was the conversation that took place after the teacher found one of her pupils sharing a textbook with her friend.

Teacher: Why you no have a book?

Pupil: I no buy.

Teacher: Why you no buy?

Pupil: Because my father no have money.

Teacher: What you father work as?

To cut a long story short, this is how most teachers in primary schools talk to their pupils.

On another occasion, a Year Four teacher asked me what was the difference between "has", "have" and "had", and how to use them in a sentence.

Mind you, this teacher scored an A for English in his Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination.

I wouldn't say all teachers are weak in English. Some of them are very good and can speak excellent English.

However, their number is small and they are posted to elite schools in large towns and cities.

English textbooks for schools should be revised to suit the needs of rural and urban students.

The education ministry should look at the textbooks, used in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, and come out with a comprehensive solution to cater to the needs of students.

Books written in those days were holistic in approach. A single textbook covered all the units in the curriculum, such as grammar, essay and summary writing, vocabulary, similes, proverbs and poems.

By the way, how many teachers nowadays can identify a clause or an adverbial clause of time, place and manner?

I would bet that a majority of them have not even heard of them.

These textbooks that I am referring to were so convenient and comprehensive that they covered a whole school year's work.

For primary schools, the Oxford English Course for Year One to Year Six was widely used. The Teaching of Oral English by Harold E. Palmer, first published in 1940, gives a very good account of grammar for beginners and also sentence construction.

Books used as supplements, included the New Royal Reader IV, V and VI for Year Four, Five and Six. These books contain interesting passages, new words, notes and meanings, summary writing and exercises.

They also cover poems and provide explanations to help students appreciate and understand poetry.

I think about 60 to 70 per cent of teachers, especially in small towns and villages, are poor in grammar.

How can they teach English if they are ill-equipped?

How do we address such a situation? Hiring foreign teachers is not the answer.

The education ministry should study to what extent the American Peace Corps volunteers were successful when they were first engaged in the 1960s and 1970s.

At that time, I was teaching English in Kota Baru, Kelantan, and had long hours of discussion with some of them.

The students found it difficult to follow their style of teaching.

If that was the case, how do we address the present situation?

The education ministry should consider employing retired English language teachers.

The government should recruit these retirees to not only help to overcome the shortage of English teachers, but also to conduct English courses to enable the teachers to raise the standard of the language.

Also, the government must make English a compulsory pass subject for all public examinations, such as the Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah, Penilaian Menengah Rendah and SPM.