scholarly journals Pre-school Teachers’ Beliefs towards Their Abilities of Teaching English to Pre-schoolers in Pahang, Malaysia

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 103-114
Author(s):  
Aisyah Khaleeda Rosli ◽  
Noor Raha Mohd Radzuan

Recent studies have revealed that English has become a global language that is commonly used, particularly in the education sector, for various purposes. In the education sector, teachers serve as the most important role model in improving learners’ English language competency. Evidently, at the age of 4 to 6 years old, preschoolers are proven to be able to learn a second language sufficiently hence it is critical for pre-school teachers to be able to teach English to the children at this stage precisely. English, however, is not set to become one of the major requirements for pre-school teachers, especially in Pahang, Malaysia. Due to this, the beliefs of the pre-school teachers initiate a critical indicator in deciding if, given the circumstances, pre-school children can receive adequate English inputs and exposure at their age. The aim of this study is to identify the beliefs of pre-school teachers in their ability of teaching English to preschoolers in Pahang, Malaysia. In the study, 60 pre-school teachers in Pahang were given a set of questionnaires consisting of 14 items and all 60 were returned. In the pilot study, the questionnaire showed a 0.9 Cronbach alpha value indicating a high reliability point. The findings of this study suggest a much more positive view of teachers’ beliefs in pre-school English teachings. This can become a stimulus for the growth of English proficiency among Malaysian children and consequently improve the standard of English in Malaysia in the future.

Author(s):  
Amar Ali Khan ◽  
Manzile Maqsood ◽  
Sajid Umair

English is considered as a universal and global language. It serves as a bridge between different cultures and countries. Owing to its great importance research studies are being carried out across the world in order to find out the best ways of teaching English Language at earlier stages of schooling. One such identified way is balanced literacy. This is a systematic approach towards teaching English not as a subject but as a language. This study was conducted to see the effect of technology infused balanced literacy approach on the learning skills and engagement level of English learners in context of Pakistani schools where English is taught as a second Language. An intervention of six weeks was carried out. During the study the conventional teaching methodology of English was also observed. The results of the study suggest the use of balanced literacy for improvement of reading skills.


English Today ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 3-8
Author(s):  
Kingsley Bolton ◽  
David Graddol ◽  
Rajend Mesthrie

ABSTRACTAs English Today notches up a century, it's high time to acknowledge Tom McArthur's inimitable contribution to the study of English worldwide.Tom McArthur's contribution to English language studies has been immense, and has had a powerful impact at a number of levels. Tom started his life as an educator, gaining crucial exposure to English across the globe very early in his career, when in one of his first jobs teaching English at the Cathedral School in Bombay (Mumbai). After a varied academic career, which included a post at the University of Quebec, Tom returned to the UK to start a new journal for Cambridge University Press, English Today. Tom's brief at that time was to be the founding editor of a journal that would inform a wide readership about the highways and byways of the English language, during an era when English was becoming a global language at an unprecedented speed.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 37-54
Author(s):  
Shahiza Ahmad Zainuddin ◽  
Yusri Kamin

The competency of English among future graduates has consistently been discussed and has become a national concern. The impact of not having competency in English contributes to the hindrance of communication. Thus, English language becomes a major factor graduates are not able to secure suitable employment or to perform at work. The Technical and Vocational Education Training providers such as polytechnics share the same concern as the other institutions. English courses are taught as compulsory course for all students and students are given opportunities to practise the language through co-curricular activities. Communicative English is offered in three semesters, to support the core subjects and complement the technical subjects. In leading towards development and preparing graduates to meet the needs of the future, it is pertinent to ensure that the outcome of English courses in polytechnics is to produce graduates with adequate language competency and ready for work. This chapter reveals the challenges faced by English and content lecturers based on teaching English in polytechnics, teaching the discipline content in English and the collaboration between both subject lecturers. Qualitative data is gathered based on interviews with the lecturers to discover the perception of lecturers from language and content disciplines. The challenges in teaching and learning English are analysed and recommendations for improvement are beneficial to be used as interventions to improve the teaching and learning of English in polytechnics.


2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 312
Author(s):  
Mohd Hafizuddin Mohamed Jamrus ◽  
Abu Bakar Razali

Abstract: This research reports on Malaysian English teachers’ readiness and acceptance in using Augmented Reality (AR) in English instruction and their intention to use AR in teaching English reading. Through a survey on 181 Malaysian English language teachers in Klang Valley, Malaysia, it was found that Malaysian English teachers possess quite a high level of acceptance in using Augmented Reality in the teaching of English reading with 60.8 % (n = 110); and have a high level of readiness in using Augmented Reality in the teaching of English reading at 63.0% (n = 114). The researchers also found significant correlation between level of acceptance and behavioral intention (r = .935**, p = .00, p < .05) between teachers’ acceptance with their intention to use Augmented Reality in teaching of English reading at .05 level of significance. There is also high correlation between teachers’ readiness with intention to use augmented reality in teaching English reading, with the correlation coefficient (r), at .924.  In conclusion, Malaysian secondary school teachers’ acceptance and readiness to use Augmented Reality (AR) in teaching English reading are high and there is a positively significant relationship between acceptance and readiness with intention to use AR in teaching English reading.   Keywords: Acceptance, Augmented Reality, English Language Learning, English Reading, Readiness, Intention to Use


2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 567-570
Author(s):  
Agim Poshka

This study analyses how culture is covered in English as a Foreign Language classes but also in the teaching materials. There is also a continuous parallelism regarding the aspects of cultural relativism in English language teaching. The study analyses cases from the publisher of English language teaching materials (EFL) and reflects on how this concept is this perceived among scholars in England, Japan and North Macedonia.A list of precautions are suggested which aim to serve as an example of the need that native cultures have to protect themselves from global (or sometimes the popular) culture. It is realistic to expect that globalization can and will impact even the most isolated culture, but it also becomes the responsibility of the popular or global culture (in this case, the English Language) and the designers of the Teaching Materials(TM) in the Foreign Language to take into consideration local/native cultural specifics. This alertness would not only protect the native or L1 language, but it would add more value to the teaching materials since it is not as superficial as are present materials. The incorporation of many national and even local elements increases the effectiveness of the teaching materials and, through the methodological approaches, bridges the gaps between L1 (Native culture) and L2 (Target Culture).In order to conceptualize the impact that global/popular culture has on a native language, researchers have offered a number of frameworks. These frameworks analyse the root that the Foreign language uses to impact the native language. In one of the studies from prof. Michel Byram in his research on Culture studies in foreign language education (1989) elevates the phenomena to a different level by speaking about the “hidden” curriculum in second and foreign language teaching. In this context he indicates that language teaching can rarely be purposeful without implicitly teaching the culture of its speaker. There are a number of frameworks that have been offered as analyses of Culture teaching in teaching English as a Foreign Language. One of the frameworks, which was conducted through analyses of the Japanese market in English as a foreign language (EFL) publications, is offered by Ito Horumi in his article “A New Framework of Culture Teaching for Teaching English as a Global Language.” He depicts the impact that Globalization and English as a global language have to the Japanese Culture. The impact is evident in the (as he calls them) “Changes in Cultural Orientation of English Textbooks”.The study also suggests educational frameworks that could be implemented in a local context and use English as common ground but also neutral territory for students of different ethnic or cultural groups.


Author(s):  
Nataliia Sukhachova ◽  
Valentina Voskoboinyk

The paper focuses on the peculiarities of application of the Learning Communities to teaching English for Specific Purposes at the university. Combining two disciplines (a practical English language course and a business-oriented one) over a semester, around interdisciplinary themes requires intentional restructuring of students’ time, credit, and learning experiences to build community, changing of the curriculum and fostering more explicit connections among students, between students and their teachers, teachers and administration, and among disciplines. The experience of using the Learning Communities approach has demonstrated the positive results for all involved. Studying real-life professional situations through case studies and problem-based tasks through collaboration in English, students benefit from both developing their English language competency and mastering the material on the disciplines related to their future professional field. Teachers experience a more coherent and enriched teaching environment. The university gets the opportunity to develop models for students’ internships and cooperative education that are designed for the needs of local businesses and provide outreach to the community.


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