THE fuss about the teaching of Science and Mathematics in English through the Dual Language Programme (DLP) is rather puzzling.
When I first started my teaching career, I had to teach Chemistry in Bahasa Malaysia (BM). Throughout my schooling years, I had been taught all my subjects in English.
So, it was a daunting task to teach Chemistry in BM.
In fact, my grasp of BM was so atrocious that I didn’t know what “ibu jari” meant when I was in Form Five; I thought it was my mother’s thumb! It was that bad.
Somehow, being thick-skinned and learning from mistakes, I made the transition in a matter of time.
There were no extensive courses and teaching aids to guide us through for a soft landing. We had to improve our spoken BM skills by ourselves.
What was important was constant practice. With constant usage of the language, and the terminology, my spoken BM became more fluent.
In my second year of teaching, I was confidently teaching in BM.
It was the same with all my colleagues and friends. They adapted to the situation rather quickly. No big deal.
Fast forward to the present, the teaching of Science and Mathematics in English has caused such a furore.
Much money has been spent on teaching aids and courses, among others, to assist teachers to be competent in English, so that they are able to teach both these subjects in English. Sad to say, it has been a rocky journey.
Our teachers need to play their part to get to the crux of the problem.
They must change their mindset and put in concerted efforts to improve their spoken English.
Practice makes perfect. Constant usage of the language on a daily basis is very important.
When I was the head of my school’s academic department, there were a few teachers who never failed to converse with me in English. Thus, their grasp and fluency of English improved by leaps and bounds.
In a nutshell, to improve one’s grasp of English, one needs to do one’s part. You yourself are the determining and deciding factor.
THIAGAN MATHIAPARANAM
Klang
