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Emphasising the importance of learning English

Thursday, June 18th, 2020 at , Life & Art (https://themalaysianreserve.com/category/life-art/)

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Emphasis English Academy believes students need to have the opportunity to make mistakes and learn
from them, to get encouragement from the teachers and to be actively engaged in the learning process

By AZALEA AZUAR

IF THE English language is a virus, it is easily the most

potent with the ability to spread very fast.

Well, at least that’s how British High Commissioner to

Malaysia Charles Hay described one of the most
spoken languages in the world.

Hay said it is the fastest-growing language in human

history. One in every four of the global population or
some 1.75 billion people around the globe can
communicate in English.
It is also used as the globalPowered
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By of business and Studies show that children who start learning a
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the Internet. Hay also mentioned that English 2nd language before 5 years old have a much
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heightens the chances for anyone to (HTTPS://THEMALAYSIANRESERVE.COM/)
secure a better higher pro ciency
job.

According to job search platform JobStreet. com’s Job Outlook report last year, the second reason for
unemployment of fresh graduates is their poor command of the English language.

Jobstreet.com Malaysia country manager Gan Bock Herm said communication skills are among the top
ve skills that employers value.

A jobseeker’s employability, especially fresh graduates, will increase if they improve their communication
skills and have a good command in the language.

Malaysia’s English pro ciency, which used to be rather high according to international standards, seems to
have decreased over the years.

According to the annual Education First English Pro ciency Index, Malaysia’s position decreased from 22nd
place in 2018 to 26th place in 2019.

The country’s English pro ciency score of 58.55 is now ranked third place among Asian countries behind
Singapore (66.82), and the Philippines (60.14).

Malaysia is not alone though, as more than half of the Asian countries seem to have dropped in their
English pro ciency last year.

However, the standards of English in the region have remained the same despite substantial investments in
both public and private English education.

The founder of Emphasis English Academy Ronan O’Carroll described the language issue in Malaysia as “a
bit of a hot potato”.

“The government tries to nd the right balance between the languages in schools, but that can be very
di cult and there are various social and political aspects to it that really muddy the water,” he said.

As it is, Malaysia is home to many languages and it is indeed a huge asset to the country. In fact, it is a
norm for Malaysians to use the four widely used languages — Malay, English, Chinese and Tamil — in one
sentence.

Unfortunately, this can be disadvantageous as using multiple languages in a sentence can confuse young
learners.

“The ‘bahasa rojak’ that is often used in Malaysia is a huge challenge to children learning English. They nd
it di cult to know what is correct in English and what isn’t,” O’Carroll said.

Malaysia used to possess a very high level of English pro ciency through the period of independence.

“It’s hugely important for Malaysia to restore that to remain competitive in the global economy,” O’Carroll
said.

An Engaging Learning Process

Emphasis English Academy is a language centre established in 2004.

The centre, with branches located in Seremban and Petaling Jaya, provides English language courses to
preschool and school children across 12 levels.
“I came to Malaysia in 2003
Notifications to teach
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was surprised to discover that there were big
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differences in the understanding of the English
language among kids of the same age,” O’Carroll said.

The education system in Malaysia, mainly described

as “chalk and talk”, is deemed very old-fashioned. The
teachers would be talking, while the students have to
sit and listen.

O’Carroll said this teaching system works decently on

’Carroll (left) with his Level 6 students. Emphasis
subjects that have a lot of facts, but not for teaching
English Academy provides English language
languages.
courses to preschool and school children across
“Students need to practise speaking English in the 12 levels (Pics source: Emphasis English
classroom. They need to have the opportunity to Academy Facebook)
make mistakes and learn from them, to get
encouragement from the teachers and to be actively engaged in the learning process,” he said.

He also observed that a lot of Malaysian graduates who can read and write well in English can’t speak it
due to the “chalk and talk” method. Many developed countries have stopped using the method 40 years
ago.

O’Carroll said there is a need to teach Malaysian children to truly master the English language since tuition
centres are focused on helping students to excel in exams.

“The previous government made a big push to modernise the English language syllabus by implementing
the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages standard, or CEFR, and introducing
speaking skills as part of the curriculum. That was a very important step.”

O’Carroll said it would be ideal to see the new government continue to modernise the English language
lessons in schools.

Start from Young

In O’Carroll’s class, age is just a number. To enable students to focus on achieving more than their current
abilities, they are taught by level rather than age.

This way, the students are able to achieve minimum uency, regardless of background or previous
education.

“If the level is too easy or too di cult, students get demotivated very quickly. We group students together
by their level of pro ciency, so that they learn about topics which are challenging but achievable for them,”
O’Carroll said.

The students feel motivated to learn when they see that they’re mastering and progressing on challenging
topics.

“We guide them through the entire English language course from learning the sounds of the alphabet to
writing discursive essays on advanced topics, and we always do it in a fun and engaging way for the
students.”

The objective at Emphasis is to ensure all the students are uent in the English language.

Although it may be a long process to achieve their goal, O’Carroll said it is fantastic to see his students
transitioning from local schools seamlessly.
He is also happy that they are
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presentations in English with native English speakers.
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O’Carroll said if one were to learn English, it needs to be done from young.

“Some parents think that if their children need English, they can learn it when they are older, but it never
works out that way. Adult learners of English nd it very di cult to achieve pro ciency, especially when they
have a full-time job or kids to look after,” he said.

Studies have repeatedly shown that children who start learning a second language before ve years old
have a much higher pro ciency throughout their lives.

“We always urge parents to start their children’s journey to mastering the English language when they are in
preschool. If they start when they have graduated university, they are at a huge disadvantage which many
never recover from,” he added.

Based on O’Carroll’s observation, he said Malaysian Chinese parents seem to prioritise education more for
their children.

However, he has also seen an increasing number of Malay and Indian parents sending their children to the
language centre, which is a hugely positive step.

“Education is a crucial factor in social mobility and we know that being uent in English gives graduates a
massive advantage in the job market.”

For the past 17 years while living in Malaysia, O’Carroll has seen a rising number of middle-class Malays in
Kuala Lumpur, as well as well-educated professionals who understand that English is essential for their
children’s success.

They also believe that mastering the language is a huge asset in their personal lives too as it gives them the
advantage to become more exposed to lms, books, the Internet and social media.

Learning English from Home

When the Movement Control Order (MCO) was rst

announced, school students have been on an
extended school holiday since March 14.

Schools nationwide will be opened in stages under

the Recovery MCO (RMCO) from June 10 until Aug 31.

During the MCO period, Emphasis English Academy

has been conducting phonics lessons on YouTube. During the MCO period, Emphasis English
A lot of parents were concerned about their children’s Academy has been conducting phonics lessons
education during this period, so they pushed O’Carroll on YouTube
and his team to continue their courses online.

“We taught a range of classes for all age groups. The phonics course is one that we have been teaching for
a while and it’s a very short course, so it was ready to go online straight away,” explained O’Carroll.

“I’d love to do more English language teaching videos on YouTube. Video editing and production are new
skills for me, so it might take awhile before we have more content ready to go online, but it’s de nitely
something we’d like to do more of,” he said.

O’Carroll is pleased that his students are still able to continue learning during the MCO period.
“It’s much moreNotifications
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their parents that they can join our courses from their own
homes. It’s also great for the students to get to interact with other kids.
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“The children have been con ned to their homes for more than two months now, so keeping in touch with
their friends is important,” he added.

However, conducting online courses is not all that rosy as O’Carroll realises that it is more di cult to keep
the students engaged.

“We do a lot of activities in our classrooms to help the students practise speaking English. Those are really
fun for the students. We still do activities with the students online, but we are limited in what we can do,” he
said.

He added that the students are really happy to engage their online lessons as they sign in early and are
impatient to see their friends and teachers every week.

“The feedback from the parents has been really positive. They are delighted that we have been able to
transition to online classes so smoothly and keep their children involved in the learning process during this
period,” O’Carroll said.

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