scholarly journals The Malaysian EFL Education: A Brief Historical Review and Literacy Issues

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 21
Author(s):  
Harison Mohd. Sidek ◽  
Wahiza Wahi

Hailed as a lingua franca, the English language maintains its significance at the global level and due to such status, ithas been made a mandatory subject at the elementary, secondary and tertiary institutions in Malaysia. This paperpresents the review of English literacy in terms of its historical path and its status as a second language (EFL) issueswithin the Malaysian educational context. Document review was conducted for the study to find out the MalaysianEnglish literacy historical path. A library research on mainstream journals was carried out to find out EFL literacyissues in Malaysia. The historical review reveals that the mandatory inclusion of the English literacy in the schooland higher institutions’ curriculum could be traced back as a linguistic culturalization effect of the Britishcolonization. The review also indicates that the pattern of inclusion of the English literacy in the Malaysianeducational system seems to be developmental in nature but with some patterns of consistency at the initial stage ofits inclusion. With regards to the EFL literacy issues, the review shows that the shifting from the English to theMalay medium in public schools could be inferred as one of the root causes of the emergence of issues in the EFLliteracy amongst Malaysian learners. The outcomes of the review have implications on English literacy policy, futurerevisions of English literacy curriculum to alleviate the current EFL literacy issues and to increase its effectiveness inEFL teaching and learning in the Malaysian context.

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gunasegaran Karuppannan ◽  
Muhantha Paramalingam ◽  
Fazal Mohamed Mohamed Sultan ◽  
Hatnin Duari

This qualitative case study investigated the effectiveness of lesson delivery and sequence of content and learning expectations of two English Language attached to a special education (Integration programme) school in Petaling Jaya. Malaysia. It also focused on the teaching and learning problems encountered in the particular classrooms. This study brings broader understanding of strategies for effective teaching of English in a special education classroom in Malaysia. The rationale for the study stems from the need to gain greater perspective of the teaching of English learners in a special education classroom. Results reflect analysis of classroom observation, face to face interview with two English Language and document review. Emerging from the data are some effective teaching strategies and profound problems that special education English Language teachers can add to their repertoire. <p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0876/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>


2020 ◽  
pp. 555-578
Author(s):  
Eliane Thaines Bodah ◽  
Josh Meuth Alldredge ◽  
Brian William Bodah ◽  
Alcindo Neckel ◽  
Emanuelle Goellner

Our chapter aims to explore the challenges, advances, and perspectives of language-education technology in Brazil. Language-education is an extremely important topic for Brazil because many indigenous languages are nearing extinction due to the legacies of colonization and the fact that Portuguese, the national language of Brazil, is the only official language and thus the single most utilitarian method of communication. This issue is further complicated by Brazil's increasingly globalized economy, which, for many individuals, demands the acquisition of a foreign language in order to compete. The English language has been introduced into the curriculum of the vast majority Brazilian public schools over the course of the past few decades. Additionally, several private, for-profit English learning enterprises now have widespread services throughout the country. But rates of English (and even Portuguese) fluency still vary greatly among the population. This raises a number of critical questions that will be discussed in this work. Why is learning a new language such a challenge? Which methodologies can be utilized to increase language acquisition and build fluency? What are the new technologies that are used in teaching a second language in Brazilian schools, and how is their impact being measured? Are Brazilian teachers prepared to integrate new technologies and innovative methods of teaching and learning? Our methodology involves bibliographical research including a literature review, a case-study, and participatory research through semi-structured interviews. Our results have shown that several technologies are being implemented in Brazil, and that as a theoretical framework, educational communication has been recognized as a powerful tool to incorporate such technologies in language education. Overall, the use of learning technologies is common and growing among students, while it is increasing at a more institutional pace among teachers.


2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lin Han ◽  
Masdinah Alauyah Md Yusof

The English language learners’ needs changes from time to time. In Malaysia, the focus of English teaching and learning has shifted from accuracy to fluency; the effective usage of the language. Learners are expected to use the English language in daily communication and to learn the workplace English language communication skill. Due to this demand, language lecturers at higher institutions are expected to assist English language learners to use the language fluently rather than to concentrate heavily on form. Nevertheless, instigating speaking activities in Malaysian classrooms has never been easy and successful. This research was conducted with an aim to identify the underlying factors that motivate or demotivate students’ participation in an English oral classroom. The data were qualitatively collected via students’ self-reflection reports on their own participation in the English language oral class. It was found that teacher’s personality traits, students’ communication skills, learning environment, students’ motivation, self-confidence and topical knowledge, and fascinating discussion topics play significant roles in students’ participation in the English oral class. Thus, these findings could guide language teachers to consider relevant and creative oral activities to encourage students’ active classroom participation.  


2021 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 4664-4676
Author(s):  
Umaira Aleem, Dr. Sadia Irshad

This paper investigates the place of pedagogy in language-in-education policy through an analysis of how the macro-level government policy interacts with the micro-level English language teaching practices. Since 2015, the teaching and learning of English language to grade 3 students, in all public schools of the Punjab, has been carried out through a literacy and numeracy drive called LND. The present study investigated the effectiveness of teaching English to grade 3 through literacy drive policy (LDP) of LND programme. It locates the implementation of LDP, in language in acquisition policy perspective and supports the stance that language teaching and learning is central to language planning and policy research (Johnson, 2013; Menken & García, 2010). It argues that language interventions deployed at any level of education are extension of language education policies which aim to improve the quality of education and to promote the learning of the language. Like all language in acquisition policies, LDP for teaching and learning of English is being executed in the same context of increasing the number of language users through teaching of foreign or second language (Cooper, 1989). The study investigated perceptions of teachers regarding teaching and learning of English through LDP with the notion that effective implementation of any language programme is linked with the understanding and practices of teachers who are the real implementers and final arbiters at micro level (Menken, 2008). The present study included a portion of data from my PhD dissertation. It collected teachers’ experiential standpoints to explore teachers’ awareness regarding implementation of LDP and issues they face inside the classrooms when they carried out teaching learning of English through LDP. The findings of the study revealed that teachers teaching English to grade 3 lack awareness in terms of clear understanding regarding LDP mainly because it is less elaborated and not accessible. It ultimately hindered the successful implementation and poses multiple classroom challenges.


Author(s):  
A. O. Issa ◽  
K. N. Igwe

This chapter examines the influence of globalization on teaching and learning and the poor state of Information Literacy skills (IL) of students owing to the neglect of IL programmes in Nigerian tertiary institutions. Conceptualizing IL and situating it within the framework of the Nigerian higher institutions, the chapter discusses the implementation of IL programmes in these institutions and the likely attendant challenges. It concludes on the poor state of IL skills of students, which is due to the lack of implementation of IL programmes in higher institutions of learning in Nigeria. It recommends, among others, that administrators and planners of tertiary education in Nigeria should begin to see IL as more of an academic issue, rather than being a library thing, and urges regulatory agencies of these institutions to become more responsible in embracing contemporary issues like the IL programmes.


2012 ◽  
Vol 488-489 ◽  
pp. 1597-1602
Author(s):  
Yin Ling Guo

English major students in China’s provincial higher institutions are facing a very fierce employment situation. In order to improve the students’ quality and their competitiveness of getting a job, we investigated the curriculum and cultivation modes for English majors, the teaching and learning conditions of twenty three provincial colleges and universities of Henan Province in China. On the basis of investigation and analysis of the existing problems, this paper puts forward some countermeasures. Colleges and universities of different types and at different levels should have different English majors training modes in order to have their own outstanding features. Inter-disciplinary English talents can be cultivated by paying attention to students' integrated English language competence and humanistic quality by strengthening English teachers’ training and inter-university cooperation and by innovating the English major undergraduates’ cultivation methods.


Author(s):  
Darko Kovačević

Pedagogical conceptualisation of content knowledge is a significant component of the present time teaching of ESP at higher institutions, because usually the lessons in general English are not sufficient for a successful accomplishment of the teaching process assignments and learning process outcomes. In the case of art music related ESP, it is necessary, at the teacher’s side, to have a certain amount of content knowledge in the field of art music in order to be able to find and prepare the appropriate lesson materials and organise the entire teaching process, so that the knowledge is conceptualised and properly used for English language teaching and learning. Such knowledge and its pedagogical conceptualisation will be the central topics of the paper, preceded by some introductory facts on art music and texts on art music, pedagogical content knowledge and the art music related ESP.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Belinda M Hayes

<p>In recent years, the impact of major tests and examinations on language teaching and learning has become an area of significant interest for testers and teachers alike. One aspect of test impact is washback, which is traditionally described as the negative effects that result from a test. It is said to create a narrowing of the curriculum in the classroom so that teachers and learners focus solely on the areas to be tested. On the other hand, there have been attempts to generate positive washback by means of examination reform to encourage teachers and learners to adopt more modern communicative approaches to language learning. The test that is the subject of the present study is the International English Language Testing System (IELTS), which has become the preferred method of assessing the English language proficiency of international students seeking admission into tertiary institutions in many countries. Since its introduction into New Zealand in 1991, courses which claim to prepare students for the test have become an increasingly common feature of the programmes offered by both private and public sector language schools. This study investigated the washback effect of the test by studying three IELTS preparation courses offered by language schools at public tertiary institutions in Auckland. The aim was to identify the significant activities in an IELTS preparation class in New Zealand and establish whether there was evidence of washback in the way classes were designed and delivered. Various forms of data-gathering were utilised, including two structured observation instruments, questionnaires and interviews for the teachers, two questionnaires for the students, and pre- and post-testing of the students. In addition, an analysis was made of IELTS preparation textbooks, with particular reference to those which were sources of materials for the three courses. Thus, the study provided a detailed account of the range and duration of activities occurring in IELTS preparation courses as well as insight into the teachers' approach to selecting appropriate lesson content and teaching methods. The findings showed markedly different approaches between the courses, with two focusing almost exclusively on familiarising students with the test and providing them with practice on test tasks. On the other hand, the third course, while including some test practice, took a topic-based approach and differed from the others in the amount of time spent on the types of activities one might expect to find in a communicative classroom. Pre- and post-testing revealed no significant gain in overall IELTS scores during the courses. The study concludes that teachers who design and deliver IELTS preparation courses are constrained by a combination of factors of which IEITS itself is but one. It highlights the need for further research into appropriate methodologies for washback research, including the refinement and validation of observation instruments, and provides more evidence of the complex impact of tests on both classroom teaching and learning.</p>


Author(s):  
Eliane Thaines Bodah ◽  
Josh Meuth Alldredge ◽  
Brian William Bodah ◽  
Alcindo Neckel ◽  
Emanuelle Goellner

Our chapter aims to explore the challenges, advances, and perspectives of language-education technology in Brazil. Language-education is an extremely important topic for Brazil because many indigenous languages are nearing extinction due to the legacies of colonization and the fact that Portuguese, the national language of Brazil, is the only official language and thus the single most utilitarian method of communication. This issue is further complicated by Brazil's increasingly globalized economy, which, for many individuals, demands the acquisition of a foreign language in order to compete. The English language has been introduced into the curriculum of the vast majority Brazilian public schools over the course of the past few decades. Additionally, several private, for-profit English learning enterprises now have widespread services throughout the country. But rates of English (and even Portuguese) fluency still vary greatly among the population. This raises a number of critical questions that will be discussed in this work. Why is learning a new language such a challenge? Which methodologies can be utilized to increase language acquisition and build fluency? What are the new technologies that are used in teaching a second language in Brazilian schools, and how is their impact being measured? Are Brazilian teachers prepared to integrate new technologies and innovative methods of teaching and learning? Our methodology involves bibliographical research including a literature review, a case-study, and participatory research through semi-structured interviews. Our results have shown that several technologies are being implemented in Brazil, and that as a theoretical framework, educational communication has been recognized as a powerful tool to incorporate such technologies in language education. Overall, the use of learning technologies is common and growing among students, while it is increasing at a more institutional pace among teachers.


Author(s):  
Eliane Thaines Bodah ◽  
Josh Meuth Alldredge ◽  
Brian William Bodah ◽  
Alcindo Neckel ◽  
Emanuelle Goellner

Our chapter aims to explore the challenges, advances, and perspectives of language-education technology in Brazil. Language-education is an extremely important topic for Brazil because many indigenous languages are nearing extinction due to the legacies of colonization and the fact that Portuguese, the national language of Brazil, is the only official language and thus the single most utilitarian method of communication. This issue is further complicated by Brazil's increasingly globalized economy, which, for many individuals, demands the acquisition of a foreign language in order to compete. The English language has been introduced into the curriculum of the vast majority Brazilian public schools over the course of the past few decades. Additionally, several private, for-profit English learning enterprises now have widespread services throughout the country. But rates of English (and even Portuguese) fluency still vary greatly among the population. This raises a number of critical questions that will be discussed in this work. Why is learning a new language such a challenge? Which methodologies can be utilized to increase language acquisition and build fluency? What are the new technologies that are used in teaching a second language in Brazilian schools, and how is their impact being measured? Are Brazilian teachers prepared to integrate new technologies and innovative methods of teaching and learning? Our methodology involves bibliographical research including a literature review, a case-study, and participatory research through semi-structured interviews. Our results have shown that several technologies are being implemented in Brazil, and that as a theoretical framework, educational communication has been recognized as a powerful tool to incorporate such technologies in language education. Overall, the use of learning technologies is common and growing among students, while it is increasing at a more institutional pace among teachers.


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