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FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND LANGUAGES

JANUARY/ 2014

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SOCIOLINGUISTICS IN LANGUAGE TEACHING

MATRICULATION NO : 900907035708001
IDENTITY CARD NO : 900907035708
TELEPHONE NO : 0102400254
E-MAIL : shiktaras@ymail.com
LEARNING CENTRE : SEREMBAN
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CONTENTS PAGES

Task 1 3-5

Task 2 6-9

Task 3 10-12

Reference 13-
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1.

The English language is West Germanic language that originated from England. English
now the third most spoken native language worldwide after Chinese in Hindi, with some 380
million of speakers. It has lingua franca status in many parts of the world due to the military,
economics, politics, scientific and cultural influence. Further more, English is a language spoken
and written by many people around the world. It is considered as one of the most important
languages of the world. It is widely spoken across the globe, even on the internet. English has a
wider distribution compared to other spoken languages. It is an official language in 52 countries.
It is the most useful language to learn for international travel and is now the de facto language of
diplomacy. English is the dominant business language and it has become almost a necessity for
people to speak English if they are to enter a global workforce, research from all over the world
shows that cross-border business communication is most often conducted in English. Its
importance in the global market place therefore cannot be understated, learning English really
can change our life. Many of the world’s tops film, books and music’s are published and
produced in English. Therefore by learning English you will have access to a great wealth of
entertainment and will be able to have a greater cultural understanding. Most of the content
produced on the internet (50%) is in English. So knowing English will allow you access to an
incredible amount of information which may not be otherwise available. Although learning
English can be challenging and time consuming, we can see that it is also very valuable to learn
and can create many opportunities.

Realizing the importance of the English language, the Malaysia government has begun
implementing new curriculum to help boost the English language learning as a means of pushing
the younger generation towards being better able to compete with the global community. The
government has begun cultivating the interest among the students to learn English language but
vernacular medium learner in Malaysia and learners from rural areas facing so many problems to
proficiency in English language when learning it.
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The majority of Malaysian students are bilingual who speak Bahasa Malaysia, the
national language, and English, the second language. Both languages are compulsory subjects in
the Malaysian education syllabus. According to Marlyna Maros, Tan Kim Hua, and Khazriyati
(2007) explore interference effect of national language as an important inhibiting factor in the
acquisition of English literacy of learners. In addition, the learners have difficulties in using
correct English grammar in their writings. Three most frequent errors are wrong use of articles,
subject-verb agreement, and copula ‘be’. Moreover, not all errors are due to mother tongue
interference, a large number of errors identified suggest interference of the Malay grammar.
Linguistics differences in morphological and syntactical in Malay language and English, one of
the major factors influencing students’ inability to successfully acquire English language which
examine by Nor Hashimah Jalaludin et al. (2008), most obvious weaknesses of the students’
language ability lay in the area of grammar, particularly in the aspects of morphology and
syntax. Students also facing problems with affixes and plural inflections as these linguistics
variables do not exist in Malay language. Further, the differences in the syntactical structures
between the Malay and English language contribute to the wrong use of copula ‘be’, subject-
verb-agreement and relative pronouns. For a example

Using national language in English class room has helped her respondents to learn
English because the translation facilities helped to understand the language. Finally, it helped to
reduce the pressure to get good grades in examinations. Language learning strategies are still
underutilized and under developed among the participants and this poor use of learning strategies
could account for the students’ weaknesses in reading English text. Students never use contextual
or the background knowledge to ‘guess the contents in a reading passage’ because they highly
dependent on national language to help them comprehend an English text. The discourse of
‘privileging examination’ (Koo, 2008, p.56) is dominant across the education site. Because of the
high importance placed on national examination, it is reported that teachers tend to concentrate
on the teaching of grammar and neglect the communicative aspects of language learning in their
teaching. According to Ambigapathy (2002), students are required to learn too many
grammatical skills, which are then tested via examinations. The focus on mastering and rote
learning of skills and applying them in examinations eventually eroded communicative
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competence - hence emerged a new class of students who could pass examinations and continue
to the tertiary level without actually being able to use the English language productively in a
communicative event (ibid). Furthermore, classroom teaching is highly characterized by teacher-
centered approaches and chalk-and-talk drill method (Ministry of Education, 2003). The most
popular teaching method, sadly, is drilling using past-year examination questions, work sheets
and exercise books.

The students felt self-conscious about their speaking proficiency because they have negative
preliminary presumptions about proficient speakers’ views towards them as being slow learners,
in competent and dull, among others. As a result, they were not fully involved in classroom
activities even though they were constantly encouraged to speak freely by their teachers without
being judge mental. Therefore, these negative experiences and fear of negative judgment from
others hindered effective language learning and development among the students. Learners need
to be aware that making mistakes are parts and parcel of language learning and teachers need to
constantly reassure and encourage them to continue learning. Krashen, in his interview by Young
(1992), stated that one of the causes of speaking anxiety among students is due to teachers who
expect them, usually beginners, to perform beyond their acquired competence. This can cause
detrimental effects on learners’ motivation and confidence.

In my conclusion, vernacular medium learner in Malaysia facing similar situation as india

in learning English language. First, Bahasa Malaysia has a strong influence over the learning of
English. Interference of mother tongue language system in some ways contributes to wrong use
of English grammatical rules, morphology and syntax. Second, a strong emphasis is given on the
teaching of reading and writing skills and the mastering of grammatical rules. According to
Razianna Abdul Rahman, (2005), these items are then tested in the school examinations as well
as in the national examinations. Thirdly, felt self-conscious about their speaking proficiency.
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2.

In my opinion, yes there many Malaysians learners enrolled in vernacular medium

schools despite the potential problem of un-employability due to their low proficiency of English
language. English language proficiency is used in most contexts as a benchmark to assess an
individual’s inclusion or exclusion with regard to politics, commerce, the economy, society and
education. It’s always access to these domains is guaranteed only through a person’s proficiency
level. According to employers and academics, low levels of English language proficiency,
workplace, readiness and ability to succeed in their enrolled study programs are causing great
concerns in universities, especially in contexts where a student is characterised as an English
language learner, English as a Second Language Learner, Culturally and Linguistically Diverse
or Limited English Proficient learner (The Knowledge Loom Literacy, 2004, p. 5). Even, The
Star dated 27th July 2013 reported that make local graduates still jobless after six months of
graduating are lack of language proficiency, particularly in English. The learning of English
language, however, is perceived to be a difficult process. Factors such as motivation, aptitude,
age and socio-cultural background are known to influence learning outcomes (Balderrama &
Diaz-Rico, 2006)

In addition, limited English language proficiency contributed to graduate unemployment

and concern among politicians and academicians. The seriousness of these issues was clear when
it was highlighted that 40,000 graduates from public universities in Malaysia were unemployed
in 2002 due to their limited English language proficiency (Gill, 2004). Malaysian students have
no choice but to become proficient in English language usage in order to be included in the
academic discourse community while in the university and for employment once outside. Why
they can’t succeed as native speakers even though the learner learns English language for six
year in primary schools and five years in secondary schools in Malaysia? The major factor is
they not attained a high level of performance in their national language (BM) and in many cases
their first language (Chinese or Tamil) (Department of Multicultural Education, 2003). This
contribute factor to the English language proficiency problems of many Malaysian students. So,
it’s should be noted that the students who attend universities in Malaysia come from diverse
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ethnic backgrounds as well as speak many languages and dialects. A study has been conducted
by (Muhammad, 2007), on the investigation of the factors that cause language anxiety for ESL
learners in learning speaking skills and the influence it casts on communication in the target
language found difficulties of language learning, differences in learners’ and target language
cultures, the difference in social status of the speakers are the factors that affect to the students’
weakness of language learning.

In addition, parents are children’s first teachers from birth and assume roles in their
children’s education. They model attitudes and behavior that foster achievement and direct the
interest and activities of their children. Children often learn prejudice attitudes, cultural etiquette
and ethical customs from their parents. The results of the meta-analysis by Jeynes (2005)
indicated that parental involvement is associated with higher student achievement outcomes and
emerged consistently whether the outcome measures grades or a variety of other measures.
Academic achievement scores for children whose parents were highly involved in their education
were substantially higher than that of their counterparts whose parents were less involved.
Parental involvement required a large investment of time, reading and communicating with one’s
children.

Furthermore, a study of problems encountered by Arab EFL learners showed that learners
preferred to use Arabic rather than English for communication in both outside and inside the
classroom, the lack of the target language exposure as spoken by its native speakers, the shortage
and weakness of the contribution in their language teaching context, and lack of their personal
motivation (Loae, 2011). According to Normazidah, Koo, & Hazita (2012); Trawiński (2005),
learners have an unwillingness and lack of motivation to learn English as they do not see the
immediate need to use the language and lack of motivation for learning or the negative attitude
towards the target language. The reasons cause students’ weakness for English language learning
derived from learners’ laziness, lack of efficiency of the school, and insufficient of parents,
Chang (2010). Moreover, Alderman (2004), states to the students’ poor performance of language
learning are affected from a lack of effort, lack of effective learning strategies, whereas a good
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language learner is a highly motivated students and a successful user of a large number of
different strategies (Trawiński, 2005).

In other hand, students they feel awkward when they have to speak English to their
friends. So, they never use English with their friends outside the classroom. Most people obey
the norms most of the time (Baron et al., 2007). Teenagers are often sensitive to the social norms
of their group and often will do a lot not to break the rules of the group. For example, verbal
praise given in front of peer group for using English could cause ribald remarks from the peers.
Young people would avoid performing well for fear of negative feedback from friends who
might ostracize him and thus lower his standing in his peer group (Burns, 1982).

It’s found that, students generally have a positive attitude towards the English language.
Similar results were found by Karahan (2007) in his study with Turkish students. The students
are interested in English and they do enjoy English lessons. They are aware that English enjoys a
prestigious position in many countries. They practice English every chance they get and
frequently read and write in English and they were not afraid to speak to English speakers
whenever they can but they are not satisfied with their current English proficiency and they
found that academic work in English to be somewhat difficult. They also lack confidence when
they need to speak in English.

In my conclusion, there is a strong influence of the national language or Bahasa Malaysia

over the learning of English among Malaysian learners from vernacular schools. According to
Tse’s studies (2001a, 2001b), literacy in a first language can be fostered only when conditions
coexist to support its development, such as the environments, the opportunity to use the
language, and guidance from adults. Students should be more independent in their learning
choices. They should be more willing to be exposed to as much conversational and written
English as possible. If they are limited in their English language ability, they should consider
eliciting help from peers or teachers who are fluent in English to practice with. English
development and maintenance of the language cannot be achieved without a strong commitment
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from the students themselves. Guidance of adults such as teachers can expose them to English
literacy activities and apprentice them in the uses of the language (Smith,1988; Vygotsky, 1978).
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3.
In my opinion, as a language learner or teacher in the classroom, we will be faced with a
great variety of students with a great variety of learning styles. When planning instruction for a
multilevel class, teachers must first consider the varied proficiency levels of their students. In
general, many students perform at the same or similar level; however, there are always students
who perform “below” level and others who perform “above” level. Learning to balance the
teaching styles we use will be crucial to the successes of our pupils. We can utilize group work
within the classroom. Some concrete indoor activities examples include:

 ROLE PLAYING- Role-playing is a technique that works well with others, whether it’s
one on one or with a group of people. For example, have the students be assigned a SLO,
and have them act it out for the classroom. Another example might be to role-play with
one person being the instructor and the other being the student.

 DEBATING A TOPIC- Debates are conducted when one group of students are assigned
one side of an issue while another group argues for the other side. You can then have the
groups switch roles and argue the opposite side. Finally, you may have all the students
drop their advocacy and come to a consensus about the topic, or develop a report that
takes the best evidence and reasoning from both sides. Debates are a great way to teach
about Social Studies events.

 CREATE QUIZZES- Get students into small groups and give each group a small
segment of your lecture material. Ask each group to prepare a short quiz on their assigned
segment. You can then have each team quiz the other groups, or collect the quizzes and
give each student a package of all of the quizzes and allow the students to use them as
study material. *This method will only be truly useful for the students if you go over the
questions and provide the proper answers.
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 GROUP TEST TAKING- Create a test that can be in-class or take-home. The group is
expected to collaborate on answers, and each student reviews the score of the group.

 MIND MAPS- Mind maps and systems diagrams are great to work on in class as a
group. Have one person be the appointed drawer, while the rest of the class works
through material and suggests ideas. The group may have varied views on how to
represent some ideas; however this is a positive part of learning in groups. Natural
leaders will become apparent through this approach, which can help the teacher form
balanced groups in future tasks.

Moreover, taking students outdoors is definitely a new and interesting

learning experience and it should be one of the ways to motivate students to increase their
enthusiasm for learning English. This strategy is based on the concept of learning English at ease
which helps to break down a lot of barriers against learning the language. One of the outdoor
activities is competition among students such as storytelling, singing song individually or group,
poetry and so on.

In addition, speaking English via Internet also one of the outdoor activities can improve English
language to our vernacular medium learner. We recommend this concise list as a very helpful
material:

 iTalki is a network dedicated to people who want to improve their language skills by
conversing with native-English speakers and practicing with them while sharing their
own opinions, culture, civilization and language in return. The site advertisement “Find
everything you need to learn a language” is extremely motivating and helps with finding
a language teacher, practicing with a language exchange partner, finding new free
resources of learning foreign languages and starting group discussions.
(http://www.italki.com/
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 English Cafe is social network entirely dedicated to learning and improving English
through communication. It offers a number of resources such as groups, blogs, Skype
chat, and it has a great global English community. (http://www.englishcafe.com/)

Teacher should concern on both indoor and outdoor activities for the learner during the
lesson to improve their language. The teacher needs to resist the temptation to structure the
learning environment in a manner comfortable for him/her but not necessarily for the students.
Exceptionally able students can play an active role in and out of the classroom organization and
structure.

(2948 words)
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REFERENCE

Problems And Challenges of Learning through A second Language: The Case of Teaching of Science and
Mathematics in English in the Malaysian Primary Schools, Tan Yao Sua Centre for Policy Research and
International Studies Universiti Sains Malaysia Penang, Malaysia. [Online]
Available: - http://web.usm.my/km/25(2)2007/01274082_25.2.2007_29-54.pdf

Factors contributing to proficiency in English as a second language among Chinese students in

Johor Bahru, Azizi.Yahaya1, Noordin Yahaya2, Ooi Choon Lean1, Abdul Talib Bon3 and
Sharifuddin Ismail2 [online]
Available: - www.elixirjournal.org

Malaysian Graduates’ Employability Skills, Gurvinder Kaur Gurcharan Singh, Universiti Tun
Abdul Razak [online]
Available: - www.teo-education.com/teophotos/.../Gurvinder Malaysian Graduate

The measurement of change in English language proficiency, Sasikala Nallaya, The University
of South Australia [online]
Available: - www.iier.org.au/iier22/nallaya.pdf

English Language Teaching And Learning Issues In Malaysia: Learners’ Perceptions Via
Facebook Dialogue Journal, Wendy Hiew,Centre For The Promotion Of Knowledge And
Language Learning, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Malaysia [online]
Available: - www.researchersworld.com/vol3/Paper_02.pdf
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Graduates’ Characteristics And Unemployment: A Study Among Malaysian Graduates,

Associate Professor Dr. Noor Azina Ismail, International Journal Of Business And Social
Science Vol. 2 No. 16; September 2011.