Non-subject matter experts are not qualified to talk about the state of the English language in Malaysia and what needs to be done to improve the situation.
Prime Minister Najib Razak’s recent request in New Delhi for English language teachers (ELT) to be sent to Malaysia has met with nothing but brickbats from racists and the prejudiced back home.
Most of the critics took the cue from the National Union of Teaching Profession (NUTP) which appears to have more than its fair share of instant experts on the English language.
It’s depressing that NUTP should have the nerve to speak on the issue after running the English language into the ground ever since the last British administrator left the country. It’s commonplace for students in Malaysia to learn English for 15 years – two years in nursery, two years kindergarten, six years primary, and five years secondary -- and be able to only smile when interviewed in English for a job.
What’s NUTP’s pathetic excuse? Does it know that English is a problem all over the world including in the White Anglo-Saxon Protestant (Wasp) nations?
Parents worried about “thick Indian accents” and head-shaking
Many critics are worried that their children would end up speaking English with “thick Indian accents”, whatever it means, and keep shaking their heads all the time. The NUTP wants a study to be conducted before teachers are hired from India. In fact, Indian accents vary greatly. Many Indians speak English with an accent very close to a Standard British (Received Pronunciation) accent. Others lean toward a more “vernacular”, native-tinted, accent for their English speech.
The union did not see it fit to call for a similar study when teachers were earlier hired from the United Kingdom and recently from the United States. They just took it for granted that anyone from UK or UK can teach English and in the right accent. The UK provided 300 teachers who have all since returned home after throwing in the towel. The US will provide a paltry 75 teachers who are yet to turn up.
A big deal is being made about "American" English, but the truth is that we can just as easily call it "Victorian English" because it is closer to what was written and spoken in England in Victorian times rather than what is written and spoken in England now. Read Melvin Braggs “A history of the English language”.
It was no less than entertainer Bill Cosby who went on TV not so long ago to lament over the appalling grammar standards in America.
In the UK, it was discovered by a recent British Government study that writing standards in the country have fallen so low that there’s a move to ditch the multiple choice format and bring back essay-type questions in public examinations.
Dialect, not Standard English, common in England
Still, the critics of the Najib proposal prefer ELT from the Wasp nations. The more demanding want ELT only from England, not even Ireland and Scotland. They seem convinced that the English language is synonymous only with England. Obviously, these people have never heard English as it’s spoken in Cornwall, by the Cockneys and in Yorkshire. One can hardly recognise it as English.
These anglophile critics belabour under the delusion that ELT in England have nothing better to do than sit around waiting for an occasional call from Malaysia when someone wakes up on the wrong side of the bed.
Meanwhile, they can manage on fresh air, water and sunshine.
Patently, Malaysia could not afford to employ ELT from England in numbers on a longterm basis even if they were available and which is certainly not the case. The 300 who came from the UK and have since returned home provides a good case study.
Welcome to the real world here:
Bad users of Queen’s English may be in London, Oxford and Cambridge
The Independent, in an article penned two years ago, observed: The Queen's English, with correct grammar and vocabulary, can be spoken in many accents, say Indian or Australian, and in regional British accents such as those used in Birmingham, Newcastle or Glasgow. There are extremely good users of the Queen's English in Sweden, Sri Lanka and Singapore, and very bad users of it in London, Oxford and Cambridge. The Queen's English, with correct grammar and vocabulary, can be spoken in many accents, say Indian or Australian, and in regional British accents such as those used in Birmingham, Newcastle or Glasgow. There are extremely good users of the Queen's English in Sweden, Sri Lanka and Singapore, and very bad users of it in London, Oxford and Cambridge.
NUTP and other prejudiced critics seem to be blissfully unaware that India is the world’s leading English language call centre, that many Indian newscasters are employed by western TV networks, that many multinationals and international banks are run by Indian CEOs and American universities could not do without its legions of Indian professors. They didn’t get there by shaking their heads and speaking English in a thick Indian accent.
The top writers in the English language today are from India, while others are from the West Indies and Africa.
The bottomline is that only India can provide Malaysia with ELT in great numbers and with the right quality, all in a cost-efficient package.
India can help build up the critical mass for English language teachers
It’s easy to acquire the critical mass needed, and the economies of scale, from a country which has 1.2 billion people. In comparison, the UK has only 62 million people, the US some 311 million, and other Wasp nations anything between 5 million and 35 million. You can’t throw a stone in these latter countries and expect it to land on an ELT. India is in a league of its own.
Again, there are those who naively suggest that our unemployed graduates rather than foreigners should be hired to teach English to our children. Such critics are missing the point. This is not about providing jobs for unemployed graduates but improving English proficiency levels in the country. For this we need ELT, not unemployed graduates who have nothing to do whatsoever with the teaching of the English language and certainly cannot be trained for the task overnight. Most of the unemployed graduates couldn’t find work in the first place because they lack English proficiency skills.
Besides speaking English, students also need to build up their vocabulary through phrases rather than individual words, and acquire comprehension, grammar and writing skills. The schools are lacking in these areas.
Malaysia Chronicle
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