English in Use

 English Learning Approach and Strategy 

  The Background of English Learning in Primary Schools in 1960's until now

    English has been taught in Malaysian Primary schools for as long as I could remember. There's not much that I could recall but I can safely say that English lessons in class revolves around the teaching of grammar and vocabulary. So, Grammar and Vocabulary is English! I could still remember that our grammar handbook was Practical English Grammar with graded exercises published by Times Educational Ltd. Singapore. If you are lucky, you could still get them from the book stores which sell text books. Apart from that, I will have the Primary and Structural English Readers or Modern Readers (the harder version) as reading materials.

    The exercises in the Grammar books are graded and specifically arranged according to grammar topics such as Subject Verb Agreement, The Proper Nouns or Adverbs of Dergree and as such. There were tens of grammar topics to cover and mastering the skills was a nightmare!

    I should undoubtedly say that this approach is Grammar Translation Method where grammar is clearly defined and exposed. Generally, this approach or strategy could produce masters of grammar but not language users. I should say my ability in using English both in conversing and writing came from my 'environmental orientation' when I joined the English Medium school later in my lower secondary years. My mastery in grammar is adequate to write correct sentences but I lack content and organisation. I can write narratives or stories but I do not know how to convey my content or facts systematically. I was never taught how to write simple expository pieces. This phenomenon continues until now. Students achieve strings of A's in English by just being able to monitor their grammar. The 'play safe' method has been adopted by teachers across the country. The outcome always favours both the teachers and students, it is mutual. So, why bother teaching academic writing?
    The moment of truth then comes as late as MUET (Malaysian University English Test) when they are already eighteen! Writing an expository esaay is really a nightmere! The syallabus is not at fault, but the examination format does. PMR and SPM English question format have always been very safe for all. And the language instructors have been committed to play the safe game. The usual ptractice of pre-memorizing common narrative passages by copying is still carried on until today. Therefore, it is not surprizing for an examiner to find a few essays whic are quite alike.

    Who is actually reponsible to teach writing expository paragraphs? Primary school teachers or the secondary ones? The truth is, writing expository paragraphs is not as hard as it is claimed to be. A student needs to be taught how to state a simple thesis statement. Then, they proceed to brainstorming for ideas or points for the statement. The rest is just elaborating or justfiying and giving examples. The process of getting the hang of it may take some time but yet it helps the student to organize their points or ideas coherently. So, a primary school teacher may start teaching simple expository paragraphs.

    To start with, a teacher may give her class a statement for example: 

A shoolboy must wake up early for school.

The class may be given a brainstorming session to come up with some points. The points or ideas may be written in brief by projecting arrows or lines straight from the thesis statement.

    As shown above, each point may be elaborated or justified followed by examples.