Coach-a-Coach Learning Station literacy workforce FRANCHISE

Coach-a-Coach Learning Station

Spaqle for Spik franchise

The First Franchise
SPAQLE for workplace literacy

The Second Franchise

Spik! for schoolplace literacy

ORGANISING GENIUS AND REGRADING THE GRADING SYSTEM - CALL IT THE OTHER GSAT - GRADING SCHOOL ADVANCEMENT TEST

50 hour schedule sessions plus 50 hour student's own time

ORGANISING GENIUS AND REGRADING THE GRADING SYSTEM - CALL IT THE OTHER GSAT - GRADING SCHOOL ADVANCEMENT TEST 

ORGANISING GENIUS
Organising Genius refer to the ranking of coaching groups as groups of Teams A, B, C, D in competitive mode an enforced extensive reading programme, first cohort for first 1000 minutes practice to refresh Basic English, to select coaches, to identify non-starters, to match actual Level with literature level, and inculcate the reading habit.

REGRADING THE GRADING SYSTEM
Regrading the grading system means the school set a target of raising literacy level 30% of National Grade Average by designating the test for outcomes in the form of  ADVANCEMENT TEST  where the grading is for EFFORT, FREQUENCY, FLUENCY, CORRECT GRAMMAR.

GRADING SCHOOLS
Grading schools refer to the quantification of time and place slotted, or EFFORT. The final tally, for all.

The ADVANCEMENT TEST will measure progress and practice effort and time to complete module based on learner literature books grade Level, for completion through group practice, conducted by literacy coaches a.k.a. reading instructors led by school's programme facilitator.

The four grief areas targeted by LINUS post practice screening
are Bahasa Melayu Standard Rumi/Jawi, Bahasa Arab, Bahasa Inggeris, Sains & Matematik.

The ADVANCEMENT TEST for the following 1st to 10th placing for-

BEST

1. STORYTELLER
2. READER
3. SPELLER
4. MIMIC
5. HANDWRITING
6. NARRATOR
7. AUDIO RECORDING
8. COACH
9. GROUP
10. ACHIEVER

Learner literature books are grouped as practice module COMPONENTS (listening, reading. writing,speaking skills) used on regular basis in group listening/audio recording, reading and writing sessions.

True grading for streaming purposes; for first language mastery, for reading fluency, for correct grammar, and for group camaraderie. Confucius said many hands make light work / orang tua-tua bilang mau-pakat membawa berkat .
Linus Coach-a-coach Express Games as examples of the Lesson Plans as supplement to, and for supporting the National Curriculum.

• KERAP Bahasa Melayu Amali

Kaedah Ekstensif Regu Amalan Pembacaan
[Modul TEBAS - Teknik Expresi Bahasa Amalan Standard]

• CERAP Bahasa Inggeris Amali

Coach-a-Coach Extensive Reading Assistance Plan
[Modul BILAS - Bahasa Inggeris Latihan & Ajar Semula]

• SERAP Sains & Matematik

Science Extensive Reading Assistance Plan [EST- English for Science & Technology]
[Modul SMISTI - Skim Mampan Inggeris Sains,Teknologi & Informasi]

• TERAS Bahasa Arab & Jawi

Tunas Ehsan Rancangan Abjad Sejawi
Modul FAHMA [Fasih Amal Hafal Makhraj Abjad]

Managing an Interventionist Student-Centric Literacy Initiative - A Practice Manual for School Heads (Organising genius and the case for true grading for streaming purposes!)

Organising genius and the case for true grading for streaming purposes!

One of the difficulties faced by language teachers is in grading students performance. The false assumptions generated by a dumbed-down official National Grade Average has put language 'educators' in a quandary- whether to trust our nation's Standard 6 UPSR/GSAT (Grade Six Assessment Test) and plod along or to take interventionist measures.

Interventionist measures in educational parlance refer to the duty of each teacher to implement special pedagogic fine-tuning to bring EVERYBODY to par. At its most basic, RUN a literacy enhancement drive to speed up skills acquisition AND PROPEL THE LEARNING SPIRIT. Without language skills, without ability to comprehend text, by rote memory drilled unto, and the rush by schools to complete the examination curriculum and wave.'paper proof of success' mindset to please both parents and Jabatan, the purpose of education is missing. The purpose FOR education is also missing. This may partly be proof of  the much written, a dumbed-down education grading system where 70 % of those who obtained A's in English UPSR are either false beginners or functional illiterates. Most of these 70% end up in Band 2 MUET(Malaysian University English Test) ranking and remain functional illiterates.

Interventionist measures is to be taken by the teacher in daily contact with pupils, not by some Jabatan armchair expert miles away from reality, staring at budget allocation of new Dasar, clueless as to the nature of problems on the ground. Interventionist measures in educational parlance means remedial measures to jump-start pupils interest and desire and motivation to excel by 'teaching reading first', a competitive, structured literacy programme'. Meaning you actually teach them how to read by getting them to do it.

 

One could not help but notice the paradox of  one such official 'interventionist measures', the PPSMi.which let to the 're-spinning' of the National Grade Average, which has unfortunately slowed the learning process, dampen student interest and producing net effect when 'education quality' graded artificially. Student complacency and lack of urgency in knowledge acquisition is fashioned after their teachers. An outlook to learning based on a false sense of comfort and security due 'paper proofing' activities. But not fool proof, if one is to add.

School heads realise and continue to berate in private Jabatan interventionist measures. It is time for schools' own interventionist measures.

REGRADING THE GRADING SYSTEM AND CALLING IT THE OTHER GSAT - GRADING SCHOOLS ADVANCEMENT TEST 

 

Coming...............

1.     EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Bringing literacy home

This Paper is a report of sorts on the plight of schoolchildren and teachers alike, participants in ‘bad practices’ that lead to learning discrepancies. Our assumptions on learning discrepancies are: that it is curable once students take the role of learners; that continuous mute testing and paper proof success goes against the evidence; that it is imperative teachers take the role of facilitator and provide the conditions for learning. There can be no lifelong learner lest the teacher be a lifelong reader. And School Heads are in best position to lead lifelong learning initiatives.

According to established leading research findings on the subject, learning disability stems from reading disability, and that learning discrepancies are treatable. It has been noted that a large number of school-leavers in Malaysia, those who either continue their studies or enter the job market are functional illiterates in English and victim of at best ‘mal-administered education processes’. To aid literacy enhancement and level the playing field to close the achievement gap among students from different and varied backgrounds, a peer coaching, student-driven academic co curricular Literacy Enhancement Drive [LED] is proposed.

The LED initiative is a capacity building interventionist way of giving students more time to acquire the linguistic skills and overcome L1, L2 confusion. The LED Initiative could change the entire learning culture and make simple the delivery of the hitherto formal intensive examination-biased ‘delivering’. Our observations of current teaching methodologies found that due to the “dumbed-down” national grade average, there is a lack of opportunities and conditions in the school setting for top and gifted students and the strong achievers to advance beyond the examination requirements and not be on rote memory mode.  If current teachers are trained (or retrofitted, to be exact) to facilitate and guide peer coaching what will happen is hyperbolically, ‘a user reengineered pedagogy of method and content for psycho motoring literacy by reengineering the teaching mind’.

The notion "User reengineered" is introduced because the student is now the syllabus. “Reengineering” the teaching mind means that teachers, at the minimum, will have acquired their own growing fluency with improved grammar usage, coupled with a newly-acquired lifelong learning outlook. “Reengineering” the teaching mind means that teachers, at the maximum, will have to learn along and polish language status quo and self achievement. The LED Initiative can be dubbed as ‘an in-service learning curve imbedding methodology to raise literacy level of both the teacher and the student’, and to be managed by School Heads.

  

We propose a Cerap Led initiative for Heads’ consideration; a Local Agenda 21 type community initiative on Literacy and Numeracy (LINUS) enhancement to “ensure that every child can read independently and effectively before leaving primary school.” The LED Initiative is to level the playing field and resolve the unanswered call for steps to improve the literacy skills of struggling readers. It is also an agenda to discover and groom high achievers, those handicapped by present learning mode, with a chance to advance further, freed of artificial constraints within the system.

School heads should collaborate with NGO's and PTA’s to create a  scheme that  recruit and coach jobless graduates from the community and turn them into mobile 'reading instructors', through a ‘barefoot doctor’ version of literacy coaches -  a ' francais kampung’ literacy outreach Brigade. We propose both Gabungan Majlis Guru Besar Malaysia (GMGBM) and Majlis Pengetua Sekolah Malaysia respond to this challenge by setting aside funds and time for installation into the school system a LED initiative that ropes in jobless yet eligible graduates as literacy coaches who want to make a difference in the life of a child.

Skim Pembacaan Inisiatif Kelab or spik!

This initiative is to train and place literacy coaches as reading instructors operating in local primary and secondary schools to provide comprehensive reading support to students who are below grade level in reading. 

These eligible graduates will be coached and be equipped as Brigade members to run SKIM PEMBACAAN INISIATIF KELAB or spik!, which in turn will see a sharp rise in their literacy skills leading to better employment prospects now that they have been forced to ‘find their tongue’. The SPIK! programme works in partnership with district education offices to identify primary school students who are in need of extra assistance. Reading support is provided at partner schools during the normal school day as well as during community support after-school programs.

The initiative offers Brigade members the unique opportunity to gain hands-on experience providing a meaningful service to local children and schools while at the same time earning money to support their upward move in workforce literacy. More importantly this second chance at literacy attainment raises self-esteem and effective communication skills in L1 and L2 using modules for Workforce Literacy.  Positions could then be made available for reading coaches as well as facilitators who qualify to help coordinate the scheme at each partner school or community centre dubbed as coaching stations.

If the reason for specific learning difficulties among schoolchildren is reading disability,

If the reason for reading disability among schoolchildren is non-reading,

If the reason for non-reading among schoolchildren is they are not asked to read,

If the reason schoolchildren not asked to read- not part of the examination business,

If the reason reading not part of the examination business is teachers lack time for it,

If the reason teachers lack time for it is they don't make time for it,

If the reason teachers don't make time for it is because reading not part of the examination business,
Is the reason reading not part of the examination business due to our lack of common sense?

So we ask where the readers are unless we produce them. And banking on the axioms of set theory that practice makes perfect, if we produce a reading coach we then produce a coaching station; and by producing a coaching station we produce the reading habit.

2.     INTRODUCING CERAP AS INTERVENOR

Cerap bahasa is Malay for 'mind your language'

Coach-a-coach Extensive Reading Assistance Plan, CERAP, is a method and content solution for language teaching and learning of English. It is designed as a supplementary remedial cum enrichment programme to fill the gaps found in the present taught curriculum, for experience has taught us that one of the main reasons why students fail in learning is their lack of reading skills.

The present method of language teaching and learning presupposes the ability of students to obtain input for acquisition, and hence usage, of a second language via the formal intensive teaching method. The present way of English language teaching and learning also dispenses with the need for 'sound' or PROOF OF READING FLUENCY even for teachers! 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.

This lack of reading skills is rooted in learning discrepancies acquired by students' in the rush by Malaysian schools to complete the curriculum, or to target a specific examination. There are too many instances of slow learners who are left behind whilst exceptional, gifted ones are ignored. Only the “average” ones are led along to go through this system of learning, which may or may not produce students of an acceptable standard.

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' (literally, like mice repairing the gourd, which means to worsen a situation) scenario in the attempts to remedy the situation

Results from all leading research findings on the subject proved beyond doubt that students who have an early initiation in proper reading skills using interesting books in a non-threatening environment improved their learning capacity by leaps and bounds within a short period of time. We feel that there is a need then to put into place a remedial cum enrichment "interventionist" method syllabus such as CERAP, since by applying a more structured reading skills approach it will inevitably uplift reading standards as well as improve students’ general academic achievement in schools.

The programme that we envisage basically underline the basic aims 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.

3.     COACH-A-COACH EXTENSIVE READING ASSISTANCE PLAN: PUTTING COMMON SENSE TO REASON

The method module for school implementation is designed to resolve classroom problems in teaching English to a big and mixed ability crowd of up to 40 students by using the big numbers to advantage. The key idea behind the method is firstly, to get the students to read as many books as fluently as possible via a graded reading programme consisting of books and accompanying audio materials. It is an enforced reading programme conducted on a regular basis by 4 coaching teams per class under the teacher's supervision.

The method of coaching is called coach-a-coach because it is peer teaching with effort as part of the evaluation and grading component. The reading practice is conducted by groups of ten students on a read aloud take-a-turn reading, with the coaches continuously correcting each and every mistake. The stress on frequency for fluency, or fluency from frequency, produces the necessary reinforcement needed for retention of subject matter in a tongue-tied environment prone to the disincentives caused by the rule of disuse (lidah dah berkarat) and issues of cultural permission (kaffir language) of the English language.

The content of the module is a selection of materials designed with a remedial cum reinforcement cum enrichment approach that seeks to screen students in the four areas of language skills, i.e. listening, reading, writing and speaking through continuous practice. It is an "interventionist curriculum" to ensure all the gaps in skills, gaps produced by the examination/testing approach in schools, are now filled. It basically employs a student-driven, peer learning approach geared to solve the stuck on the language malaise that is the product of years of distorted language teaching.

Low achievers can be taught to excel by the simple approach of enhancing their reading skills and also by boosting their interest in learning with suitable supplementary modules. And for low achievers, we discovered, there is more pleasure for them to be coached by their peers, to be huddled together whilst the head coach cues correct pronunciations, or spelling, or assist them as their written work are being done.

These modules could be used as part of an English Coaching Games for primary school students preparing the UPSR year-end written examinations, running it from February to April. Schools will have the advantage of lifting their takeoff value from a higher level, and producing students who enter secondary school with functional and usable English. It helps correct the 'anomaly' of L1 and L2 national grade average, as it levels the playing field and jumpstarts reading.

These modules could also cover the core areas of science or mathematics without the need to change the tools of instruction, or the medium. This is where a creative school might want to add the science and mathematics textbooks as reading materials, to ensure that each student who competes would end up reading the whole book before June. From June onwards revision and remedial exercises follow, and the other like could be scheduled.

This coach-a-coach approach not only enhances general reading skills, but have an in-built scheme whereby more coaches are trained internally as the programme develops. In this way the programme feeds itself without the need for onerous funding and training programmes for teachers. An enforced literacy programme such as CERAP is able to raise literacy and the appreciation of the written word, allowing learners to acquire a sustainable second language leading to at the least Intermediate mastery before leaving school.

We have also seen from our research how delighted the students were with their new-found skills and also their new-found love for books that many offered to stay on as coaches beyond the designated time, creating an almost instant shift in their outlook to learning. An interesting spin-off - from our experience - is that teachers as facilitators, and coaches themselves improve their own language skills along the way in the course of implementing the programme.

We have tested this peer coaching method, albeit on a small scale at primary, secondary level (1996-2001 in Terengganu and Pahang) and post-SPM and university level (2002-2010 UNITAR-COSMOPOINT-RANACO-UMT). We now feel that there is a need to incorporate this dynamism into the present school system so that low achievers will not fall by the wayside while their better classmates are being dragged more and more into complex IT-based learning methods, with the goal that the number of quality students coming out of the system are increased whilst the late-bloomers are catered for. 

And with the daily diet of written exercises completed in each session, to be peer marked and corrected on the spot, parents need no longer worry about present state of affairs where teachers are too busy to mark and supervise pupils’ written work, and where mistakes get uncorrected and undetected for life, and achievement level frozen up to tertiary level.

In a CERAP programme, the assigned teacher/facilitator will be supervising 4 coaching teams, each team ensconced to a component of the content module, competing to complete and then move on to a higher level, or switching to a different component, say from reading to storytelling to writing mode. The flexibility is there to maintain group dynamism by allowing students to excel by having games and competitions, using the underlying content-woven 3000 keywords corpus target.

We propose a minimum of 2 sessions per week, each lasting 90 minutes (1 hour of reading + 30 minutes of writing, spelling & other exercises per session), so that each student does 6 minutes of reading while being read to for the remaining 54 minutes, strictly speaking. Thus on a weekly basis, each student would have actually read for 12 minutes and listened for 108 minutes, making a 2 hour weekly diet of ongoing reading practice and 1 hour reinforcement activities. Compare this to virtually zero hour reading in most schools, where language is taught sans the sounds!

We have tested students from primary to university level using Oxford's Test yourself samples, and unsurprisingly the grammar skills of a graduate is approximate to that of any primary school advanced pupil. The same applies to most language teachers tested.

Non-English teachers or even volunteers from amongst parents (where it is done off school hours) could conduct the supervision of the coaching. Thus from one perspective the method should be able to produce a pool of ‘Language Para-teachers’ who would have acquired enough reading skills to be able to run the programme from constant repetition and contact with the language.

An interesting spin-off could be an impact on the tuition business run by teachers in their spare time as there are bound to be parents prepared to pay for private tuition operators simulating the CERAP programme. It is important that the capacity building path of obtaining input for skills acquisition be addressed first before students are expected to handle the 'communicative' aims of the second language syllabus in secondary schools.

Since the nature of the coaching sessions requires actual reading and active participation, the excitement and joy of competition provide the impetus for students to excel. This we have been able to observe at close range, the paradigm shift produced by actual reading practice. Compare that to the staid, passive and multiple-choice rote manner English is being taught!

4.     COACH-A-COACH EXPRESS GAMES –DOUBLE JOY OF LEARNING AND COACHING

What is most important is to be able to assemble a group of 10 coaches first to compete in a school run English Coaching Games, each coach assigned to 10 students, with each willing to push the group to the finals, so to speak.

Students are put on a 3-stage reading programme. The stages are tagged Remedial, Enrichment and Further Reading for students from Primary Four to Secondary Three category. This is an important grading element for the home tuition part, i.e. for sibling coaching. There will be instances where siblings from different grades end up with same module level and this acts as a catalyst for the elder one to remain ahead, or else be coached by the younger brat, so to speak.

The Further Reading stage would include read aloud sessions using science and mathematics textbooks, which will eventually generate enough interest matter in the subject.

Presently the teaching of mathematics and science though officially in English are not so taught in the 'taught curriculum' (the actual manner subject treated as against actual way it should be). Instead of teaching mathematics and science in English, it could instead be designed to run as an ongoing coach-a-coach book club/class library scheme so that students who have achieved progress post-CERAP do not wane on their reading.

The other element suggested is the passing out in June/December where awards will be given to the best reader, best mimic, best coach, best coaching team, best storyteller, best speaker, best speller, best effort etc., which needless to say, provide the impetus for the progress and success of the students. As a highlight, a district-wide competition could then be held after the UPSR and PMR exams where selected students represent their respective schools before the school year-end. Scenes of students whiling and idling while waiting for UPSR and PMR results will be a thing of the past as schools could put them to good use as coaches to run ongoing CERAP activity.

This grading through practice enables the teacher to arrange the team according to achievement, thus having 4 teams made of A, B, C and D ranking. The team members are encouraged to vie for the A team to qualify as coach to be assigned to the other 3 teams. Here the class is involved either in remedial stage or enrichment. In a dream setting, a teacher supervises the ongoing practice of 4 teams, one doing the storytelling component whilst the other 3 practice the other components.

5.    LANGUAGE IS ABOUT NUMBERS – GRADING THE EFFORT AND RECORDING THE EVENT

The formula to note here is that using a 3000 word corpus as a target, the drill and practice requires a constant brush of the first 1000 crucial words; with a learning outcome credo requiring students to read aloud, spell and write them, and eventual USAGE (ability to produce written essays or speak the language when required). Through reading practice students understand and master the school English language syllabus more easily. We gauge this against the official school examination, and discovered that students who are able to read Book 6 of our remedial Class Reader fluently eventually are in the top spot. The reading for pleasure aspect begets understanding!

This is the most fascinating part of CERAP coaching for students: recording the event. Armed with borrowed laptop, thumbdrive and Microsoft recorder, and an enthusiasm rarely seen from even from the shyest violet, group members record their favourite story readout in storytelling mode to be uploaded to a Kelab Tunas Ehsan portal linked in a school website/ homepage/ weblog. In any competitive environment, a public 'display' of effort to be appraised by the school community and family members is bound to generate ‘surreptitious coaching’ and repeated recording practice and practice. The accumulated recordings are then graded and marked for listening practice use by the next coaching cohort.

6.     FIRST THINGS FIRST – ONE IN HAND IS WORTH TWO IN THE BUSH

BILAS - BAHASA INGGERIS AMALI LANGUAGE PRACTICE THRUST

TEBAS - BAHASA MELAYU AMALI LANGUAGE PRACTICE THRUST

Why TEKNIK EKSPRESI BAHASA AMALAN STANDARD OR TEBAS:

The progress to a second language mode, we notice, is faster once students go through a foreign language approach in language learning i.e. through an enforced reading programme. Thus as a supplemental programme it does not interfere with the ongoing lessons and reduces the exam-phobia and “examicide” of English. The progress to a second language mode, we notice, is fastest if students have acquired and mastered the First language first.

The English BAHASA INGGERIS LATIHAN & AJAR SEMULA is a refresher course module [BILAS]. But BILAS must begin with the discernment of L1 and L2 sound and grammar systems. In removing the perils of 1st language 2nd language 'sound-fusing', there is need for screening of student’s sound box and quarantining of local dialects through enforced reading of First language practice modules. There is evident L1 interference where L1 and L2 share the same alphabetic ’pillars’

So TEBAS first before BILAS!

7.     CONCLUSION – MAKHRAJIC MAGIC AND THE GLINT FROM PRACTICE

TERRABACA is Malay coinage for Tunas Ehsan Rancangan Regu Amal Baca, roughly translated as peer coaching reading practice plan for the sprouting of virtues, or Coach-a-Coach in student parlance. It is a practice method lesson plan for Bahasa Inggeris Amali, OR in student parlance  ‘try read and teach read’ peer activity dubbed as coach-a-coach:

·         As an interventionist lesson plan run by student club as an academic co curricular tutorial group, it is to boost capacity and understanding whilst nurturing good learning habit and skills acquisition.

·         As peer coaching it is about 'organizing genius', about bringing fun to learning, about psycho-motoring literacy, about nurturing intellectual curiosity, about producing the reading habit, and about  empowering minds.

·         As reading solution it is outcome based, gradable for effort and frequency, proof of the pudding for fluency aside from the school based assessment or written examinations.

·         As student is the syllabus method plan, it is structured along Bloom's Taxonomy of three "domains": Cognitive, Affective, and Psychomotor, plus one other domain, GROUP SPIRIT drawn from the adrenalin rush to complete highest levels and excel in the language Games.

·         As  a LINUS Coach-a-Coach Express Games for L1 and L2 screening (or heats before the Finals), with outcome to be graded in terms of goals set by School Heads using modules above National Grade Average bandwidth .

·         Within the domains, learning at the higher levels is dependent on having attained prerequisite knowledge and skills at lower levels. So goal of Bloom's Taxonomy is to motivate educators to focus on all three domains, creating a more holistic form of education

·         Within the domains, learning a foreign language and the progress to higher levels is dependent on having attained prerequisite knowledge and language skills in First Language

  As a pedagogic guide TERRABACA also stands for the following-

 

T - Teacher is the best learning portal as facilitator 

E - Extensive reading using language learner books as practice modules 

R - Reading practice for fluency leading to correct grammar, to understanding and to usage leading to sustained reading habit

R - Recording the event for peer review of audio readout and for Club Games contest events; “multi-mediating” of skills in the home-grown language audio lab

     A - Assistance, reading instructors as coaches, creating all round group camaraderie

B - Bloom's Taxonomy three "domains": Cognitive, Affective, and Psychomotor plus one other domain, SPIRIT. Taxonomy is to motivate educators to focus on all three domains, creating a more holistic form of education. So to body, mind and soul we add Practice Spirit via Coach-a-Coach Express Games!

A - Alphanumeric skills to speed up reading and writing leading to second language acquisition, leading to the ‘arrival of meaning’; Alphanumeric in recording the grading and quantifying the effort

C - Capacity building for input acquisition and auto-grammar through constant coaching practice

A - Advancement of coaches and the top 30% to higher level practice sessions leading to Intermediate Mastery or Cambridge ‘O’ Level equivalent, or to top MUET outcome.

 ADDENDUM

confucius said many hands make light work / orang tua-tua bilang mau-pakat membawa berkat

Maratib of the TERRABACA Lesson Plans as supplement to, and for supporting the National CurriculumKERAP Bahasa Melayu Modul TEBAS
Kaedah Ekstensif Regu Amalan Pembacaan


CERAP Bahasa Inggeris Modul BILAS
Coach-a-Coach Extensive Reading Assistance Plan

SERAP Sains & Matematik Modul SMISTI (Skim Mampan Inggeris Sains,Teknologi & Info)
Science Extensive Reading Assistance Plan [EST- English for Science & Technology as Further Reading CERAP and KERAP Plan]

TERAS Bahasa Arab & Jawi Modul FAHMA (Fasih Amal Hafal Sistem Makhraj Abjad)
Tunas Ehsan Rancangan Abjad Sejawi

Tunas Ehsan or the Sprouting of Virtues is STRICTLY METHOD and introduces learners to a practical application of the virtues of long-forgotten tradition and ethos, banking on the social capital generated from its implementation among the young, our future, to wit,

- sprouting virtues, from school to home, and back
- buah cempedak di luar pagar/teach that I correct each mistake - mispronunciations, misspellings etc -
- muafakat membawa berkat - many hands make light work
- pada asasnya belakang parang sekalipun jika diasah lagikan tajam! - neglect not the slow learners, the late bloomers, the non-starters because with Kelab TUNAS EHSAN, now everybody can read (because everybody asked to read, period!).

and applying the following method ideas

- mushrooming of coaching stations anywhere/everywhere...for the glint from practice
- practice is from frequency to fluency - the alphanumerics of buah cempedak di luar pagar
- Apex now the Axis or Puncak kini Paksi leading to breeding and crossbreeding of coaches
- Teaching reading first as First Principle or 'Iqra

and all else leading to

* Further Readings in Science, Mathematics and the Encyclopaedia of life - SERAP for PPSMI
* Accredited Quality Screening - in choice of coaches, and books as practice sets, in grading the effort, recording the event
* Kelab TUNAS EHSAN is to obtain proof of the pudding and the arrival of meaning...of common endeavour to improve the learning culture

10 RIGHTS OF THE READER

Coach-a-coach Extensive Reading Assistance Plan: Putting common sense to reason

A REMEDIAL, INTERVENTIONIST METHOD AND CONTENT  LESSON PLAN CALLED CERAP

Preface

Reason for specific learning difficulties among schoolchildren, reading disability.
Reason for reading disability among schoolchildren, non-reading.
Reason for non-reading among schoolchildren, not asked to read.
Reason schoolchildren not asked to read, not part of the examination business.
Reason reading not part of the examination business, teachers lack time for it.
Reason teachers lack time for it, they don't make time for it.  
Reason teachers don't make time for it, reading not part of the examination business.
Reason reading not part of the examination business, our lack of common sense?

SO WE SAY,
WHERE ARE THE READERS UNLESS WE PRODUCE THEM;
PRODUCE A READING COACH AND YOU PRODUCE A COACHING STATION; AND
PRODUCE A COACHING STATION AND YOU PRODUCE A READING HABIT.

1. Introducing CERAP

[Note: Cerap bahasa is Malay for 'mind your language']

Coach-a-coach Extensive Reading Assistance Plan, CERAP, is a method and content solution for English language teaching and learning. It is designed as a supplementary remedial cum enrichment programme to fill the gaps found in the present taught curriculum, for experience has taught us that one of the main reasons why students fail in learning is their lack of reading skills. The present method of language teaching and learning presupposes the ability of students to obtain input for acquisition, and hence usage, of a second language via the formal intensive method. The present method of English language teaching and learning also dispense with the need for 'sound' or PROOF OF READING FLUENCY even for teachers!

This lack of reading skills is rooted in learning discrepancies acquired by students' in the rush by Malaysian schools to complete the curriculum, or to target a specific examination. There are too many instances of slow learners who are left behind whilst exceptional, gifted ones are ignored. Only the “average” ones are led along to go through this system of learning, which may or may not produce students of an acceptable standard.

An early CERAP experimental programme conducted by Terrabaca Management (in Terengganu and in Pahang between 1996 -2001) proved beyond doubt that students who have an early initiation in proper reading skills using interesting books in a non-threatening environment improved their learning capacity by leaps and bounds within a short period of time. We feel that there is a need to further develop this into a remedial cum enrichment "interventionist" method syllabus using a more structured reading skills approach which will uplift reading standards as well as improve students’ general academic achievement in schools.
 
The selected modules could be run as an English Coaching Games for the primary school students preparing the UPSR year-end written examinations, running it from February to April. Schools will have the advantage of lifting their takeoff value from a higher level, and producing students who enter secondary school with functional and usable English. It helps correct the 'anomaly' of L1 and L2 national grade average as it levels the playing field and jumpstarts reading.
 
This coach-a-coach approach not only enhances general reading skills, but have an in-built scheme whereby more coaches are trained internally as the programme develops. In this way the programme feeds itself without the need for onerous funding and training programmes for teachers. 
 
An interesting spin-off - from our experience - is that teachers as facilitators, and coaches themselves improve their own language skills along the way in the course of implementing the programme. We have also seen how delighted the students were with their new-found skills and also their new-found love for books that many offered to stay on as coaches beyond the designated time, creating an almost instant shift in their outlook to learning.
 
We have tested this peer coaching method, albeit on a small scale at primary, secondary level (1996-2001) and post-SPM and university level (2002-2010). We now feel that there is a need to incorporate this dynamism into the present school system so that low achievers will not fall by the wayside while their better classmates are being dragged more and more into complex IT-based learning methods, with the goal that the number of quality students coming out of the system are increased whilst the late-bloomers are catered for. 

The B.I.L.A.S  module is perfect for implementation at the community college level (Basic PMR or SPM with low English language exposure). An enforced literacy programme such as CERAP is able to raise literacy and the appreciation of the written word, allowing learners to acquire a sustainable second language leading to Intermediate mastery before leaving school.
 
Low achievers can be taught to excel by the simple approach of enhancing their reading skills and also by boosting their interest in learning with suitable supplementary modules. And for low achievers, we discovered, there is more pleasure for them to be coached by their peers, to be huddled together whilst the head coach cues correct pronunciations, or spelling, or assist them as their written work are being done.
These modules could also cover the core areas of science or mathematics without the need to change the tools of instruction, or the medium. This is where a creative school might want to add the science and mathematics textbooks as reading materials, to ensure that each student who competes would end up reading the whole book before June. From June onwards revision and remedial exercises follow, and the other like could be scheduled.
 
The programme that we envisage, and whose worth has been proven in our rural and suburban 'laboratories' (research done in Terengganu and in Pahang from 1996 to 2001, and amongst university students in 2002-2010) 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.

2. Reading Method Solution
 
The method solution lives out the philosophy of "Blessedness in Togetherness" (Muafakat Membawa Berkat) and the basic Malay adage on a life of learning as encapsulated in the “Buah Cempedak Di Luar Pagar” pantun - the philosophy of a more caring, cheaper and better learning strategy through a simple student-centred approach.
 
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' (literally, like mice repairing the gourd, which means to worsen a situation) 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.
 
But more importantly we have found a method solution for English language teaching and learning in schools, which in a manner of speaking, is a method of 'down-right-sizing' the logistics for implementing the recommendations of the compendium and beyond. We have tested the method, obtained paper proof of results rating and now seek the attention of all concerned parents and teachers alike to hear us out on the proposed method and observe its practical implementation on the school system.
 
The method module is called in layman's jargon, the Coach-a-Coach extensive reading assistance programme, or CERAP, and its implementation calls for the involvement of another form of PTA's or P.I.B.G. i.e. PELAJAR, INSTITUSI, BAPA & GURU in a concerted, fun-filled competitive environment, an outcome-based approach aimed to ease language acquisition process whilst conditioning the learning activity to be more humane, with a sense of camaraderie and peer respect.
 
3. The Method Content Module
 
The content of the module is a selection of materials designed with a remedial cum enrichment approach that seeks to screen students in the four areas of language skills, i.e. listening, reading, writing and speaking. It is an "interventionist curriculum" to ensure all the gaps in skills, gaps produced by the examination/testing approach in schools, are now filled. It basically employs a student-driven, peer learning approach geared to solve the stuck on the language malaise that is the product of years of distorted language teaching.
The method module for school implementation in turn is designed to resolve classroom problems in teaching English to a big and mixed ability crowd of 40 students by using the big numbers to advantage. The key idea behind the method is firstly, to get the students to read as many books as fluently as possible via a graded reading programme consisting of books and audio-cassettes. It is an enforced reading programme conducted on a regular basis by 4 coaching teams per class under the teacher's supervision.
 
The method of coaching is called coach-a-coach because it is peer teaching with effort as part of the evaluation and grading component. The reading practice is conducted by groups of ten students on a read aloud take-a-turn reading, with the coaches continuously correcting each and every mistake. The stress on frequency for fluency, or fluency from frequency, produces the necessary reinforcement needed for retention of subject matter in a tongue-tied environment prone to the disincentives caused by the rule of disuse (lidah dah berkarat) and issues of cultural permission (kaffir language) of the English language.
 
And with the daily diet of written exercises completed in each session, to be peer marked and corrected on the spot, parents need no longer worry about present state of affairs where teachers are too busy to mark and supervise pupils’ written work, and where mistakes get uncorrected and undetected for life, and achievement level frozen up to tertiary level. We have tested students from primary to university level using Oxford's Test yourself, and unsurprisingly the grammar skills of a graduate is approximate to that of any primary school advanced pupil. The same applies to most language teachers tested.
 
In a CERAP programme, the assigned teacher/facilitator will be supervising 4 coaching teams, each team ensconced to a component of the content module, competing to complete and then move on to a higher level, or switching to a different component, say from reading to storytelling to writing mode. The flexibility is there to maintain group dynamism by allowing students to excel by having games and competitions, using the underlying content-woven 3000 keywords corpus target.
 
We propose a minimum of 2 sessions per week, each lasting 90 minutes (1 hour of reading + 30 minutes of writing, spelling & other exercises per session), so that each student does 6 minutes of reading while being read to for the remaining 54 minutes, strictly speaking. Thus on a weekly basis, each student would have actually read for 12 minutes and listened for 108 minutes, making a 2 hour weekly diet of ongoing reading practice and 1 hour reinforcement activities. Compare this to virtually zero hour reading in most schools, where language is taught sans the sounds!
 
Non-English teachers or even volunteers from amongst parents (e.g. where it is done off school hours) could conduct the supervision of the coaching. Thus from one perspective the method should be able to produce a pool of English para-teachers who would have acquired enough reading skills to be able to run the programme from constant repetition and contact with the language.
 
An interesting spin-off could be an impact on the tuition business run by teachers in their spare time as there are bound to be parents prepared to pay for private tuition operators simulating the CERAP programme. It is important that the capacity building path of obtaining input for skills acquisition be addressed first before students are able to handle the 'communicative' aims of the second language syllabus.
 
Since the nature of the coaching sessions require actual reading and active participation, the excitement and joy of competition provide the impetus for students to excel. This we have been able to observe at close range, the paradigm shift produced by the CERAP way. Compare that to the staid, passive and multiple-choice rote manner English is being taught!
 
The proposed content modules consist of 4 components; each component complements the other, being tools for the main method component, which is practice. The books and audio may be sourced as meets our initial requirement on quality and practicality. The internet has vast materials for the creative web-miner. What is most important is to be able to assemble a group of 10 coaches to compete in a CERAP English Coaching Games, each coach willing to push the group to the finals, so to speak.
 
Students are put on a 3-stage reading programme. The stages are tagged Remedial, Enrichment and Further Reading for students from Primary Four to Secondary Three category. This is an important grading element for the home tuition part, i.e. for sibling coaching. There will be instances where siblings from different grades end up with same module level and this acts as a catalyst for the elder one to remain ahead, or else be coached by the younger brat, so to speak. The Further Reading stage would include read aloud sessions using science and mathematics textbooks, which will eventually generate enough interest matter in the subject.
 
Presently the teaching of mathematics and science though officially in English are not so taught in the 'taught curriculum'. It could instead be designed to run as an ongoing coach-a-coach book club/class library scheme so that students who have achieved progress post-CERAP do not wane on their reading. Recorded versions of Best Reader, or students’ reading selected for in-house use for new entrants to the programme, provide ample opportunity for the creative to put up online blogs or to ‘youtube’ it, and also to record progress in a group email alert.
 
The other element suggested by CERAP is the passing out in June/December where awards will be given to the best reader, best coach, best coaching team, best storyteller, best speaker, best speller, best effort etc., which needless to say, provide the impetus for the progress and success of the students. As a highlight, a state-wide competition could then be held after the UPSR and PMR exams where selected students represent their respective school before the school year-end. Scenes of students whiling and idling while waiting for UPSR and PMR results will be a thing of the past as schools could put them to good use as coaches to run ongoing CERAP activity.
 
4. CERAP tools
 
The four content components – sets of books selected and used for CERAP activity are meant to cover the following areas of activity:
1. Basic Literature in storytelling mode (designed to detect listening skills problems and to determine suitable materials to overcome difficulties)
2. Graded readers / keywords in read aloud mode (reading for grammar skills enabling students to master through practice diction and correct grammar)
3. Grammar Practice/structural words and sentence patterns ( writing skills using structured materials leading students to confident composition writing or prose)
4. Conversation practice (include speaking skills and formal English usage using graded materials leading to confident usage)
 
5. CERAP THROUGH BILAS FIRST
 
We mentioned in our earlier posting tools used in our proven research amongst pupils from Malaysian schools. In most rural or semi-urban setting schools are rushed in completing the 'testing' or 'examination' curriculum so that the taught syllabus distorts the necessary lesson requirement, both in content and pedagogy. Therefore we introduced the term BILAS, (adopting the Malay word bilas for 'rinse'), to propose that pupils go through a language rinsing process before the move to secondary education. Our BILAS or Bahasa Inggeris Latihan & Ajar Semula  [English Language Refresher & Practice] tools refer to books that could be used as practice sets. These are recommended supplemental materials other that the present books used by teachers as practice-for-examination sets.
 
We recommend a foreign set here, as we believe that the transition from foreign language to second language mode can only be achieved once pupils have gone through enough drill practice and structured usage. In the present learning environment pupils' only contact with the language is from the adhocism generated by lessons meant to beat the examination system, which produced dysfunctional English for the majority. The better ones manage due to exposure from usage at home or because their parents introduce them to correct practice at an early stage.
 
BILAS 1
 
Basic Literature in Storytelling Mode
 
We have experimented using Ladybird's Favourite Tales & Classics Collection for Remedial and Enrichment (for listening skills) in rural Malay schools effectively. The book and audio segment, the logistics nightmare, as some teachers put it, has to be addressed. For a basic reading room what is needed is a cassette player and either a Japanese table (UPSR) or a table to fit 10 chairs (PMR). Most schools have media rooms but for the creative, sessions could be held under the tree in the school garden.
This is a most effective component, as pupils tend to progress rapidly once they recognise sounds from words they are familiar with but never asked to say out loud. This familiarity is now enforced through constant writing, through copying of all words pronounced, through spelling drills etc..
The storytelling mode draws out students from their shell of "abashment" and brings out the “literary types” where fluency is concerned. This component is to fill one of the missing gaps in language teaching-the development of listening skills leading to reading skills, leading to fluency. There are abundant photo-copiable materials from the web for the creative school to compile a set of class readers.
 
BILAS 2
 
Hidden Grammar - Key words in Read aloud mode
 
By using Ladybird's Key Words Graded Readers series, we are then able to place each student in his or her respective level, or to use present teaching parlance, to discover their take-off-value. This grading enables the teacher to arrange the team according to achievement, thus having 4 teams made of A, B, C and D ranking. The team members are encouraged to vie for the A team to qualify as coach to be assigned to the other 3 teams. Here the class is involved either in remedial stage (Book 6 below) or enrichment (Book 7 onwards). In a dream setting, a teacher supervises the ongoing practice of 4 teams, one doing the storytelling component whilst the other 3 the Hidden grammar component. It is possible to bring down each team's voice level so that the humming is at the same sound level.
 
We have experimented with this using Ladybird's Key Words reading scheme as a grading and grammar automatization set, and found that it is designed for just this kind of logistics, besides having been in the market for more than 20 years. The formula to note here is that using a 3000 word corpus as a target, the drill and practice requires a constant brush of these first 1000 crucial words; with learning outcome credo requiring students to read aloud, spell and write them, and eventual USAGE (ability to produce written essays or speak the language when required).
 
The reading practice helps students understand and master the school English language syllabus more easily. We gauge this against the official school examination, and discovered that students who are able to read Book 6 fluently eventually are in the top spot. The progress to a second language mode, we notice, is faster once students go through a foreign language approach in language learning i.e. through an enforced reading programme. Thus as a supplemental programme it does not interfere with the ongoing lessons and reduces the exam-phobia and “examicide” of English.