SHARING THE SAME PILLARS - PERILS OF FIRST LANGUAGE SECOND LANGUAGE 'SOUND-FUSING' THE ALPHABET

the abc's of sharing the same pillars
separating first language second language sound systems

"One of the 4 objectives of the KBSM English language programme states thus:

“At the end of the secondary school English language programme the students should be able to read and understand prose and poetry for information and enjoyment ".

For this to happen under present English teaching and learning circumstances, the Ministry has once published a Compendium Bahasa Inggeris KBSM outlining, inter alia, on the need to introduce Class Readers, suggesting that one-fifth of the teaching hours be slotted for this. And to date, that suggestion has remained in the Compendium.

The number of class students and the lack of time, books and competent teachers plus general apathy to anything which is not examination business have turned reading into a foreign element in the educational and teaching process. And the price for that could be seen in the fall in the standard of language fluency and proficiency, thus perpetuating learning disabilities. What is most troubling is the sure prospect of a continuous 'tikus baiki labu' scenario in the attempts to remedy the situation.

We have looked at the reading disability problem in the schools at close range, and have drawn certain conclusions that coincide with the comments made in the Compendium. It is the taught curriculum (English as taught) that compounds the problem and breeds learning disability, and not the quality of the official curriculum or the various suggested tools of instruction available. Language is not taught as language is to be taught."

"The programme that we envisage, and whose worth has been proven in our rural and suburban 'laboratories' basically underline basic aim of CERAP; to enhance/boost/ supplement/develop reading and learning skills among low achievers in English (especially among students whose academic records tend to veer downwards), via an approach to pedagogy that is simple, practical and yet effective. And more importantly, to ensure that the high-achievers be put on an extensive enrichment practice, for it is from their lot that the quality coaches come from."

"An enforced literacy programme such as CERAP is able to raise literacy and the appreciation of the written word, allowing them to acquire a sustainable second language leading to post-SPM level."