FINAL DRAFT OF READER RESPONSE

In Lotbiniere (2009) "Malaysia drops English Language teaching" article, he discussed the possible reasons why the government had decided to drop the PPMSI policy and implement a new policy instead. Lotbiniere showed two sides of a coin, those who supported and those who opposed the policy. One of the reasons given by the government was the existence of English language disparity in terms of rural and urban areas, yet, he mentioned that many suspected the main reason was the government opposition party had gave them political pressure by saying that PPSMI compromised malay heritage.


Though Lotbiniere's article was mainly on presenting the current situation of Malaysia's decision, the fact that the students’ results for maths and science had dropped by 2.5%, I agree with the government’s decision of having English being taught in a separate class. The main reason why the government chose to remove the PPSMI was English is more unfamiliar to the students and it will be easier for students to learn in the language that they are used to. Maths and Science are the primary subjects emphasized by many education systems to drive development and progress around the world. These are important to Malaysia so that they can catch up with the global economics and hence, it is important for the citizens to have a profound knowledge in these subject areas.

Learning English in a separate subject helps the students to fully understand the technical usage of English correctly. If they learn English to learn Maths and Science, they probably will only know the English technical terms for these subjects. This will still pose a problem when they want to communicate with the speakers from other countries. Having it taught in a separate class, the students can learn how to communicate in English via different mediums like oral and written. After which, it is easier for them to learn how to write scientific papers which then, they are only required to learn certain technical terms in English. Otherwise, they still have to learn the correct way of phrasing and sentence structures. Actually, what matters is how students present their ideas for readers to understand, which is difficult to learn when English is a tool for learning Maths and Science, instead of being treated as another subject. A very good example will be China’s education system, which managed to develop many global speakers with impressive communication and technical skills. This has been proved to be really successful as many Chinese students manage to do really well academically when they study abroad. 

From my personal interactions with my China’s friends, they say that they initally faced communication issues but they rectified them rather fast as they took extra English classes in the British Council and learnt formal English. Therefore, it is easier for students to learn English and Maths in their preferred language and to have English in a separate class.