Bismillahirrahmanirrahim…
Assalamualaikum to all my
dear readers…
Today I would like to share
my opinion based on the excerpt “Dire need for English to be a must-pass
subject” from the News Strait Times dated 25th February 2013, the
Education Ministry has created a proposal to make English a must-pass subject
in the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM). In my point of view, I agree if English
to be a must-pass subject as we know English is a vital language for everyone
to be master. In this era of globalization where the world is getting smaller, it
is no mean feat to gauge success. People are more interested in looking at
academic achievement to judge someone's ability especially in English subject.
This is because English is very crucial since it is the language that has been
used by people around the world to communicate with each other.
Malaysian students must
struggle to score A in English subject in order to get a good job in high level
positions since English is necessary and been used in many working sectors in
this country including the sectors of medical, business, tourism, law and
education. For instance, we can see in a business matter, it is very important
for people who work in that sector to have the ability to speak fluently in
English so that it will be easy to them to upgrade their business into the
international market. That is the reason why almost all of the big companies in
this country will hire their worker from a person who can speak English
fluently. Therefore, Malaysian students should give extra attention to English
subject start from their high school to excel in English as a preparation for
their future especially when they step into a job market which currently is
more competitive than before.
I believe it is not
impossible to every SPM candidate to pass in English subject. However, there
are some aspects that the Education Ministry should make an improvement. As
stated in the excerpt, the ministry has to make thorough preparations before
implementing it. In my opinion one of the most important aspects that the
ministry should give attention is in term of the English teachers that provided
in every school in this country. Do you ever hear the quote "Don't give your students fish, but teach them
how to fish". I think that quotation is absolutely true in language
teaching.
The teacher
is the most influential person toward student academic achievement. Thus,
teachers must make an effort to create interest for their student to learn
English. It is because, if the students do not have an interest in their
learning, it will be harder for them to score in the subject. Undeniably, some
of the students who do not have the interest in English subject is because they
not seen English as important to their immediate needs other than to pass the
examination. That is why teachers must be trained to improve their teaching
skill to increase their students’ interest in learning English so that students
will be more excited and happy in English lesson.
In
addition, teachers must give their students a practice to communicate in
English rather than only in writing part. This is because we can see usually
teachers in Malaysia they only give their students continuous
grammatical exercises. In other words, many teachers are more interested in
training students how to read and write well in addition to make students
master in the grammar component of the language. However I think oral communication is similarly important that the
teacher must give attention. Although the drill-and-practice approach
has some benefits in language teaching, it does not help the students master the
language in the long run. Frequently, we find students who become good
test-takers, and yet they are not able to speak and write competently when they
graduate from high schools. Hence, teachers need to create a healthy balance
between preparing students for the standardized examinations and for lifelong
language skills. Therefore, Education Ministry must provide not only courageous, well-determined, and committed
teachers but also teachers who have excellent and innovative teaching
techniques.
Briefly, I think the
proposal made by the Ministry of Education to make English to be a must-pass
subject is acceptable and can give many advantages to Malaysian students.
However the ministry should make some improvement to our education sector in
order to create positive impact on student performance. I believe if the transformation
is well planned before it is being implemented it will give many advantages to
the whole nation. The Malaysian education system has to go the extra mile in
order to improve the weakness in the system used before. Thus, Malaysians who
opposed the decision should be more open-minded to accept the change for the
benefits of the upcoming generation. After considering the pros and cons, I
believe the decision will benefit Malaysians’ students to fulfill Malaysia’s
strategy to create great students to be future leaders for the country.
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