Schools to use European textbooks for English lessons

Beginning next year, public schools will conduct English lessons based on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).

The CEFR is a guide developed by the Council of Europe to assess a student's fluency in fo­­reign languages.

According to The Star, Deputy Education Minister P Kamalanathan said Year One and Two pupils, along with Form One and Two students, will have to use new English textbooks.

"The ministry will buy off-the-shelf books to cater to schools be­cause locally produced textbooks are not able to meet the new CEFR levels," he said.

The report said that the estimated price of the books was between RM78 and RM135.

Kamalanathan said that teachers were currently being trained in the new curriculum and the books were already available to all schools.

"This is part of the ministry's English reform to ensure students achieve proficiency levels aligned to international standards," he added.

There are six grades listed in the CEFR, with C2 being the highest and A1 the lowest.

Can our teachers cope?

C1 and C2 grades indicate that the person is a competent user of the language and can communicate well in both professional and academic life.

Edu­cation Minister Mahdzir Khalid has stated that English teachers need to achieve a minimum C1 grade to teach lessons based on CEFR.

Several educationists and interest groups have expressed concern over the implementation process.

Parent Action Group for Education Malaysia (Page) chairperson Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim, while welcoming such efforts, expressed scepticism over whether Malaysian teachers are equipped to implement the new curriculum.

"If teachers with 'a little bit of English' are chosen, the programme will surely fail," said Noor Azimah, who leads an NGO which has long campaigned for better English standards being used in schools.

Educationist Devinder Raj said that using the international textbooks may not be "culturally" appropriate, particularly for the rural students who may be unfamiliar with the four seasons or festivals in the United Kingdom.

The National Union of the Teaching Profession secretary-general Harry Tan believed that it would be counterproductive to force teachers to undergo the CEFR training if they are not fluent in English to begin with.

He said many English teachers are not even trained in Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL), but were chosen by school heads to teach because they know "a little more English" than their colleagues.- Mkini