OSAKA--Moses Samuel, an associate professor at the University of Malaya, stressed at a recent convention that securing qualified teachers with sufficient English skills and creating proper learning environments are the keys to successful early-years English education.
During his keynote speech at the annual three-day convention of the Japan Association of College English Teachers, held last month at Kansai Gaidai University in Hirakata, Osaka Prefecture, Samuel talked about the challenges Malaysia faced when the country's national schools started to teach first-grade through 12th-grade science and math in English instead of Malay.
In Malaysia, English was introduced as a colonial language, as was the case in many Asian countries. When the nation became independent from Britain in 1957, some schools kept teaching in English, while others switched to Chinese, Tamil or Malay.
In the wake of race riots in 1969, people began using Malay as a tool to foster national unity, and leading schools that still taught in English gradually shut down after 1971.
Malay replaced English as the language of instruction at the university level by 1983, and the linguistic nationalism of the 1970s and '80s saw English demoted from a medium of instruction to just another subject in the school curriculum, according to Samuel.
With rapid economic growth and the increasing impact of globalization, however, Malaysia began rethinking the role of English in national development goals and instructed public schools to use English when teaching science and math.
"One big problem is getting the [best qualified] teachers," says Samuel.
The years of linguistic nationalism meant the generation then growing up had fewer opportunities to learn English, reducing the number of Malaysians who now speak the language fluently. As a result, the government is rehiring retired teachers who were educated in English and also is importing teachers from other nations, such as Britain and the Philippines.
To raise the quality of teaching, the foreign teachers often serve as district educational officers who help local teachers from neighborhood schools improve their English. The government also provides scholarships to send teachers to other countries to hone their English skills.
"We also give special allowances for English teachers--5 to 10 percent more salary--if you teach in English, to provide an incentive," he said.
Despite such efforts, Malaysian newspapers are full of stories blaming teachers for poor educational standards. "What's happening now all over the world is starting [English education] earlier, but it all depends on whether you have the right teachers," he said. "Though we start it earlier, how we cope with the quality and how we can get the number of teachers, that's the real challenge."