During PBS 3, I had carried out an interview with a class teacher in a school located in a

FELDA settlement. Out of all the teachers there, I interviewed Puan Suriana binti Malim, as
she has served in the school for 20 years as an English teacher as well as Science teacher.
Considering her years of experience in teaching, she has a good grasp or idea of her
students’ sociocultural background, making her a suitable candidate. In this interview report,
the discussion covers three matters which are the aspects, effects and implications of
various socioculture on learning and facilitating in classrooms.

The first discussion of the interview, covers the aspect of various socioculture on learning
and facilitating in classrooms of the school. According to Puan Suriana binti Malim, most of
the students enrolled in the school come from rather moderate family and some from poor
family. For example, some students’ parents are working as a restaurant owner or as a
rubber harvester in the rubber plantation. Since the school is located in a FELDA settlement,
it is no surprise that there are those who work such jobs (Suriana, 2022). Besides that, Puan
Suriana claims that some students are not entirely exposed to Technological Information
such as social media. However, there are exceptions to the few students who came from a
moderate or rich family. This is because they have the capability to access such technology
and are likely given the “chance to explore” more than those who do not. Other than that, in
terms of students themselves, majority are Malays, while only few who are Indians. Puan
Suriana, further claimed that the exact number of Indian students are more or less than 20
and most of them live either in the plantations or from an estate which she classified them
one of the poor families (Suriana, 2022). Not mentioned in the interview, there are no
Chinese students enrolled there as far as things concerned. Despite, living in different
locations, race or having different backgrounds, interaction among students are good and
pose no problems (Suriana, 2022). However, these aspects of socioculture among students
may pose problems on their learning as well for teacher facilitating the classrooms which
brings us to our next discussion.

The second discussion covers the effects on various socioculture aspects on learning and
facilitating classrooms. Puan Suriana claimed that majority of students are not given early
exposure towards English language at home. The students’ parents seem to solely rely on
schools on giving the student the exposure towards the English language. It is not to say that
they are not given early exposure at some point. For example, there are students who are
given such exposure yet less due to them having access to some degree Technological
Information such as social media platform like Youtubes, Facebook or watching
entertainment programs through a television (Suriana, 2022). However, it is to say that the
English Language is not encouraged enough by parents themselves. Poor families such as
those who works in the plantations or estates are not as fortunate as they do not have such
privileges. Because of this, students who came from such backgrounds have problems in
following lessons in classroom and teachers has to make an extra effort to ensure they do
not get left behind.

In conclusion, Puan Suriana as an English teacher, implies that the less the students
exposed to the English Language the harder for them to follow the lesson. Given the
consideration of some students’ backgrounds and their lack of exposure, students’ learning
of the English Language can be determined by their family’s socioeconomic status, and their
access to Technological Information (Suriana, 2022).