Wednesday 24 February 2016

STUDYING IN BM JUST AS GOOD!

STUDYING IN BM JUST AS GOOD!
I COULD not agree more with Prof Datuk Ir Dr Wan Ramli Wan Daud on his take regarding the English language, “English not only language of science’’ (The Star, Feb 22).
He was spot on in his argument that “There is no evidence whatsoever that English proficiency is increased if English is used to teach science and mathematics.’’
It all boils down to the attitude of our students when it comes to the English language. The education system acts as a facilitator and not as the sole point where one masters the language.
The debate among many scholars, educationists and parents has been ongoing for many years on whether the Government must emphasise more on the English language.
Having had my education in Bahasa Malaysia/Melayu (BM) from the mid-1970s right up to university in mid-1990s, I do not see how one could be less proficient just because one was taught in BM.
All the subjects, be it from arts or science were taught in BM, except for the English Language.
During our time we studied Physics, Chemistry, Biology and the various maths in BM right up to Form Six. We even practised answering questions for the STPM exam that were from the United Kingdom and in English without any problems.
Learning of science and maths transcends any language as it involves reasoning, analytical acumen and above all intrinsic motivation.
There is just no logic to the argument that only if one is proficient in English can one succeed in these two fields.
Take the Chinese vernacular schools in the country. They teach maths and science in Chinese, though basically it is the national syllabus. It is an open secret that Chinese students fair better in these subjects.
No doubt the English language plays a bigger role at the international level but that does not imply that we will be left out just because our children study in BM or any other language.
Language is a communication tool or a means to acquire knowledge not a benchmark to measure progress of society at large.
The Japanese, Chinese and Koreans are way ahead in technology compared to Britain or the United States where English is their mother tongue. How could that be possible if English was the yardstick in technological advancement?
Just observe the United Nations meetings. World leaders still use their own languages proudly to address the assembly. Does that make them lesser leaders? In fact, even our leaders should be encouraged to use BM during such meetings.
It is a fallacy to assume that Westerners, especially English speaking natives, have an excellent grasp of the language. I know this from having worked with them.
Empowering a student to gain knowledge must be carried out in a holistic manner. There are various co-factors that work synergistically and the English language is just a component.
The main problem these days lies with the students who generally lack interest in reading non-examination materials. The culture of reading is far more important to enhance language skills, be it English or any other language.
It is common to see how youngsters truncate and mutilate the language especially when writing on social media platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram and even SMS.
They think it is cool to do so but unfortunately they get carried away using such writing skills even in their exams.
Who do you blame then? The teachers, parents, sophisticated “smart’’ gadgets or the entire education system for their bad English.
Let’s not be hypocrites and berate education policy makers just for the sake of it on unfounded evidence that we as a nation and our children will be left out of the race if we do not make English a priority.
Master the language as a subject first and see how at ease one can be in mastering other fields on your own initiative.
In the past parents never made a big deal when we studied in BM. Yet our time has seen great achievements and advances.
I am proud to have a degree in BM and studied everything in BM, except English as a subject. It never made me smaller in the eyes of the world.
NARINDER PAL SINGH
Shah Alam

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"Dual Language Programme" (DLP) telah mula dilaksanakan di ratusan buah sekolah kebangsaan 'terpilih' pada tahun ini.
Apakah yang dimaksudkan dengan "Dual Language" itu?
Benarkah pendekatannya dapat meningkatkan kemahiran dalam Bahasa Inggeris?
Adakah Bahasa Inggeris dapat menjamin semua pelajar menjiwai ilmu berkaitan sains dan teknologi?
Mengapa ia mendapat tentangan hebat di kalangan para ilmuwan dan budayawan negara?
Dalami hujah mereka dengan membaca buku "Kami Bantah DLP", yang boleh diperolehi di sini:-
1. Versi PDF (Percuma): http://pdfsr.com/pdf/kami-bantah-dlp;
2. Versi E-Book (Percuma): http://pts.com.my/ebook/kami-bantah-dlp/;
3. Versi cetakan (RM10 + kos pos) - hubungi kami di FB, atau Whatsapp: 019-3858301.
----------------------------------------------
Mohon sebar luas dan viralkan:
1. Page Facebook: 
“Gerakan Mansuh PPSMI - GMP ‪#‎Bantah DLP”:
dan
2. Blog: 
“Gerakan #BantahDLP”:
Terima kasih.

.



English not only language of science.

English not only language of science.
SINCE my name was mentioned in the letter “A common medium” (The Star, Feb 18) by Datin Noor Azimah on the Dual Language Programme (DLP), I would like to respond to some of the issues raised by her on why we should continue the DLP.
First of all, I beg to differ with Noor Azimah’s notion that English is the only language of science. All her arguments about the dominance of English in scientific communications merely show that English has become the de facto communication language of science but not the only language in which established science could be taught and new science could be discovered.
Major scientific discoveries of the 20th century such as the Relativity Theory of Einstein that has enhanced our understanding of the huge expanse of space in the universe and the Quantum Theory of Heisenberg and Bohr that let us understand properties of the very tiny nanoscale structures and of atoms, were discovered in German, the language of the discoverers and not in English.
Both theories underlie almost all subsequent scientific discoveries including the very recent discovery of gravitational waves by LIGO that vindicated Einstein’s Relativity.
According to the Princeton historian of science, Prof Michael Godin in his new book, Scientific Babel, English became the dominant language of scientific communication only recently, in the last 60 years, at the expense of the previous triumvirate of scientific communication languages, English, French and German.
The Anglicization of scientific communication started much earlier by the boycott of German scientists by Western European and American scientists who published in French and English in between the World Wars. German science was further decimated by the defeat in the Second World War and many German scientists were brought over to work for America and to use English in their work.
The dominance of the United Kingdom and American publishers in scientific publications after the War squeezed out French as a scientific communication language and literally forced the English language down the throat of the scientific community, who otherwise would have continued to publish in either German, French or English as was the practice before the War. As a world-ranked scientist at the top of my own field as attested by Thomson Reuters’ World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds 2016, and as a professor in chemical engineering for 36 years at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), I have taught many generations of Malaysian chemical engineers in Bahasa Melayu and have supervised successfully many MSc and PhD students, who used Bahasa Melayu in the practice of world class science in UKM’s labs and in the reporting of the scientific results in their thesis.
External examiners from other universities in Malaysia were amazed and surprised but enthusiastic that world class science could be done and reported in Bahasa Melayu very well. The students then rewrote their research results in English for publication in world renowned journals.
Hence, English does not contribute anything to the science but merely as translations or rewrites of it. Since the MSc and PhD students are among the brightest of the lot, they have no problem in communicating their scientific results in Bahasa Melayu or English at international conferences with confidence because their scientific works are world class.
Renowned scientists look for the science not the language in their presentations and papers because scientific talent is rare and far between whereas the language of communication can be easily learned on the job.
Their scientific education in Bahasa Melayu at UKM did not prevent many of my students from going on to become successful professional engineers in industry and excellent lecturers and world class scientists with many of them becoming professors and world leaders in their fields of research.
One of them in particular, Prof Dr Siti Kartom Kamarudin, a true blue alumnus of UKM who graduated from UKM with BEng, MSc and PhD all in Bahasa Melayu, is also sharing the same accolade with me as one of the World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds 2016.
The Malaysian PhD candidate at Glasgow University from the International Islamic University Malaysia, Hafizah Noor Isa who was involved in the seminal detection of gravitational waves recently, was taught science in Bahasa Melayu in primary and secondary school. Her Bahasa Melayu background does not impair her ability to do world class science at all.
I am sure this is also true for many science and mathematics teachers and professors all over the country, who have taught tens of thousands of students, science and mathematics in Bahasa Melayu before PPSMI, and whose students have become very successful in their chosen fields.
The fact that we have produced so many successful professors, engineers, medical doctors and scientists varying in age from 25 to 55 years old, who were taught science and mathematics in Bahasa Melayu before the PPSMI speaks volumes for itself. The logic that if only one is taught science and mathematics in English then one would be more successful in later life is a fallacy.
If this were to be true, then no Japanese, Korean and now Chinese technopreneurs would have succeeded as they apparently had with world-class brands without learning science and mathematics in English in their schools and universities.
Learning English through science and mathematics, I am sure every educator worth his salt agrees, is not the most appropriate way of learning a language. There is no evidence whatsoever that English proficiency is increased if English is used to teach science and mathematics.
On the other hand, there is abundant evidence to the contrary. The disastrous PISA and TIMMS results of 2012 where Malaysian students were behind other non-English speaking countries clearly demonstrated the failure of PPSMI because the Malaysian students who took the test were taught science and mathematics in English under the PPSMI.
Vietnamese students who were weaker in English fared a lot better than Malaysian students who were better in English. Why do we want to resurrect a programme that has clearly failed spectacularly? If the objective is to be proficient in English, then the right way to achieve it is to strengthen the teaching of the language by having better ways of teaching it in schools.
The Education Ministry should review the way English is taught and find ways and means to improve it, rather than rehashing the failed PPSMI in the guise of the DLP.
I think many people like Noor Azimah who wrote passionately about the DLP issue neglect to tell us or probably do not know the kind of science and mathematics learnt by our children in schools all over the world. Science and mathematics taught in schools are established scientific and mathematical knowledge that have been accepted by consensus of most scientists and mathematicians at that point of history. It should not be confused with new cutting-edge science and technology that a scientist and a professor like me has to deal with every day in my scientific work.
Established science and mathematics change very slowly because new scientific discoveries that would become established knowledge is rare and far between.
On the other hand, cutting-edge science changes rapidly as new theories are being postulated to explain newly discovered phenomena, which are accepted or discarded after undergoing rigorous scrutiny by the scientific community. There is no need for our children in schools to learn cutting-edge science because understanding it requires the scientific knowledge of a professor.
Not many people know that established science and mathematics have already been translated into Bahasa Melayu in numerous textbooks for primary and secondary schools as well as for universities published by Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) and the premier universities, Universiti Malaya, UKM, Universiti Sains Malaysia,Universiti Teknologi Malaysia and Universiti Putra Malaysia over the past 40 years.
All scientific terms in all fields are already available at the Persuratan Melayu web page of the DBP. Our children can easily gain scientific knowledge by reading them.
Even fewer know that the discovery of new cutting-edge science and mathematics in Bahasa Melayu is growing at the international level over the last few years with the indexing of bi-lingual Bahasa Melayu-English scientific journals such as Sains Malaysiana by major international scientific journal indexing services such as the ISI and SCOPUS! Now scientists from all over the world can access cutting-edge scientific knowledge in Bahasa Melayu.
The whole idea of learning science and mathematics in the mother tongue is not only simply about language patriotism as has been alleged by Noor Azimah elsewhere. The central issue lies deeper than mere patriotism. It is more about being able to create new scientific knowledge from a deeper understanding of science and mathematics, which can only be achieved by learning it in the mother tongue.
I am sure we are all familiar with the history of how both the great Islamic and the European civilisations first translated and then independently created scientific and mathematical knowledge of their own in their own languages.
No country in the world that is ahead in science and technology ever teaches its children science and technology in a foreign language.
PROF DATUK IR DR WAN RAMLI WAN DAUD
President
Former Founder Director & Principal Research Fellow
Fuel Cell Institute, UKM
Prof of Chemical Engineering, UKM.


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"Dual Language Programme" (DLP) telah mula dilaksanakan di ratusan buah sekolah kebangsaan 'terpilih' pada tahun ini.
Apakah yang dimaksudkan dengan "Dual Language" itu?
Benarkah pendekatannya dapat meningkatkan kemahiran dalam Bahasa Inggeris?
Adakah Bahasa Inggeris dapat menjamin semua pelajar menjiwai ilmu berkaitan sains dan teknologi?
Mengapa ia mendapat tentangan hebat di kalangan para ilmuwan dan budayawan negara?
Dalami hujah mereka dengan membaca buku "Kami Bantah DLP", yang boleh diperolehi di sini:-
1. Versi PDF (Percuma): http://pdfsr.com/pdf/kami-bantah-dlp;
2. Versi E-Book (Percuma): http://pts.com.my/ebook/kami-bantah-dlp/;
3. Versi cetakan (RM10 + kos pos) - hubungi kami di FB, atau Whatsapp: 019-3858301.
----------------------------------------------
Mohon sebar luas dan viralkan:
1. Page Facebook: 
“Gerakan Mansuh PPSMI - GMP ‪#‎Bantah DLP”:
dan
2. Blog: 
“Gerakan #BantahDLP”:
Terima kasih.

.



ISU DLP: GMP-BANTAH DLP ADAKAN PERTEMUAN DENGAN PRESIDEN PAS.



ISU DLP: GMP-BANTAH DLP ADAKAN PERTEMUAN DENGAN PRESIDEN PAS.
24hb Februari 2016 (Rabu): Alhamdulillah, tokoh bahasa bersama jawatankuasa Gerakan Mansuh PPSMI-Bantah DLP hari ini menemui Presiden PAS, YB Dato' Seri Ustaz Hadi Awang di Pejabat Agung PAS, Kuala Lumpur, bagi membincangkan berkenaan isu DLP serta bahasa kebangsaan.
Semoga banyak manfaatnya pertemuan ini, in sya ALLAH.
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"Dual Language Programme" (DLP) telah mula dilaksanakan di ratusan buah sekolah kebangsaan 'terpilih' pada tahun ini.
Apakah yang dimaksudkan dengan "Dual Language" itu?
Benarkah pendekatannya dapat meningkatkan kemahiran dalam Bahasa Inggeris?
Adakah Bahasa Inggeris dapat menjamin semua pelajar menjiwai ilmu berkaitan sains dan teknologi?
Mengapa ia mendapat tentangan hebat di kalangan para ilmuwan dan budayawan negara?
Dalami hujah mereka dengan membaca buku "Kami Bantah DLP", yang boleh diperolehi di sini:-
1. Versi PDF (Percuma): http://pdfsr.com/pdf/kami-bantah-dlp;
2. Versi E-Book (Percuma): http://pts.com.my/ebook/kami-bantah-dlp/;
3. Versi cetakan (RM10 + kos pos) - hubungi kami di FB, atau Whatsapp: 019-3858301.
----------------------------------------------
Mohon sebar luas dan viralkan:
1. Page Facebook: 
“Gerakan Mansuh PPSMI - GMP ‪#‎Bantah DLP”:
dan
2. Blog: 
“Gerakan #BantahDLP”:
Terima kasih.
.

GMP-BANTAH DLP ADAKAN PERTEMUAN BERSAMA BIRO PENDIDIKAN AMANAH.


GMP-BANTAH DLP ADAKAN PERTEMUAN BERSAMA BIRO PENDIDIKAN AMANAH.
20hb Februari 2016 (Sabtu): Alhamdulillah, semalam telah berlangsung sesi dialog bersama Biro Pendidikan AMANAH Nasional.
Sesi ini dipengerusikan oleh YB Aminolhuda, dan diadakan di Wisma AMANAH, Taman Wahyu, Kuala Lumpur.
Semoga banyak manfaatnya pertemuan ini, in sya ALLAH.
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"Dual Language Programme" (DLP) telah mula dilaksanakan di ratusan buah sekolah kebangsaan 'terpilih' pada tahun ini.
Apakah yang dimaksudkan dengan "Dual Language" itu?
Benarkah pendekatannya dapat meningkatkan kemahiran dalam Bahasa Inggeris?
Adakah Bahasa Inggeris dapat menjamin semua pelajar menjiwai ilmu berkaitan sains dan teknologi?
Mengapa ia mendapat tentangan hebat di kalangan para ilmuwan dan budayawan negara?
Dalami hujah mereka dengan membaca buku "Kami Bantah DLP", yang boleh diperolehi di sini:-
1. Versi PDF (Percuma): http://pdfsr.com/pdf/kami-bantah-dlp;
2. Versi E-Book (Percuma): http://pts.com.my/ebook/kami-bantah-dlp/;
3. Versi cetakan (RM10 + kos pos) - hubungi kami di FB, atau Whatsapp: 019-3858301.
----------------------------------------------
Mohon sebar luas dan viralkan:
1. Page Facebook: 
“Gerakan Mansuh PPSMI - GMP ‪#‎Bantah DLP”:
dan
2. Blog: 
“Gerakan #BantahDLP”:
Terima kasih.
.

ISU DLP: NUKILAN PROF EMIRITUS ABDULLAH HASSAN.

ISU DLP: NUKILAN PROF EMIRITUS ABDULLAH HASSAN.
20hb Februari 2016.
Merayu kepada Ketua Puteri UMNO dan Timbalan Menteri Pelancongan dan Kebudayaan, YB Dato’ Mas Ermieyati Samsudin.
Mohon kami tidak disalah fahami.
KAMI JUGA MENERIMA BAHASA INGGERIS!
Yang kami tolak itu hanyalah cara mengajarkannya, iaitu DLP, kerana:
1. DLP itu lebih teruk daripada PPSMI. PPSMI apabila dilaksanakan, telah merosakan pendidikan 3.5 juta murid. Maksudnya, bahasa Inggeris mereka tidak meningkat dan matematik dan sains mereka menurun jadinya.
2. Ajarkanlah bahasa Inggeris itu melalui mata pelajaran bahasa Inggeris. Tambah jumlah jamnya jikalau perlu.
3. Teruskan penggunaan bahasa Melayu bagi mengajarkan STEM, dan BM jangan ditolak ke tepi. Cuma bawa masuk bahasa Inggeris. 
Jangan digantikan bahasa Melayu dengan bahasa Inggeris. Itu bukan dwibahasa jadinya. 
4. Pastikan guru dan murid kita mahir berbahasa Inggeris dulu. 
Guru yang ditugaskan mengajar pelajaran STEM dalam bahasa Inggeris itu juga mestilah mahir berbahasa Inggeris. 
Jangan lupa, pastikan muridnya juga sudah fasih dalam bahasa Inggeris.
Jangan gunakan lojik "jikalau mereka fasih berbahasa Melayu, maka mereka boleh diajar dalam bahasa Inggeris. Tidak betul begitu!
Ada cara lain?
1. Jikalau ditiru sekolah Cina pun bagus. Mereka mengajar keseluruhan mata pelajaran STEM dalam bahasa Cina, kemudian diulang dalam bahasa Inggeris bagi membiasakan murid dengan istilah Inggeris. Sepatutnya itu yang kita buat. Kekalkan pengajaran dalam bahasa Melayu. Ulang saja dalam bahasa Inggeris, setelah murid faham dalam bahasa Melayu. 
2. Bahasa Inggeris boleh juga diajar secara intensif dalam masa cuti, atau katakanlah sebelum berangkat ke luar negara bagi memulakan pengajian di seberang laut.
Ada cara lain yang lebih baik dan lebih mudah bagi mempelajari bahasa Inggeris. Malah DLP itu bukanlah alternatif terbaik dan termudah. Tidak juga yang termurah.
Semoga banyak manfaatnya pertemuan ini, in sya ALLAH.
-----------------------------------------------
"Dual Language Programme" (DLP) telah mula dilaksanakan di ratusan buah sekolah kebangsaan 'terpilih' pada tahun ini.
Apakah yang dimaksudkan dengan "Dual Language" itu?
Benarkah pendekatannya dapat meningkatkan kemahiran dalam Bahasa Inggeris?
Adakah Bahasa Inggeris dapat menjamin semua pelajar menjiwai ilmu berkaitan sains dan teknologi?
Mengapa ia mendapat tentangan hebat di kalangan para ilmuwan dan budayawan negara?
Dalami hujah mereka dengan membaca buku "Kami Bantah DLP", yang boleh diperolehi di sini:-
1. Versi PDF (Percuma): http://pdfsr.com/pdf/kami-bantah-dlp;
2. Versi E-Book (Percuma): http://pts.com.my/ebook/kami-bantah-dlp/;
3. Versi cetakan (RM10 + kos pos) - hubungi kami di FB, atau Whatsapp: 019-3858301.
----------------------------------------------
Mohon sebar luas dan viralkan:
1. Page Facebook: 
“Gerakan Mansuh PPSMI - GMP ‪#‎Bantah DLP”:
dan
2. Blog: 
“Gerakan #BantahDLP”:
Terima kasih.
.

CORETAN YB DATUK MAS ERMIEYATI.


CORETAN YB DATUK MAS ERMIEYATI.
“…Saya menerima kunjungan dari Jawatankuasa Majlis Bertindak Pendidikan Kebangsaan yang dipimpin persatuan penulis seperti GAPENA, pena termasuk ABIM dan PKIM. Kedatangan mereka sebagai respon terhadap ucapan saya sewaktu Perhimpunan Agung UMNO hujung tahun lalu berkenaan isu Bahasa.
Mereka turut lahirkan kerisauan cendikiawan Melayu tentang kedudukan Bahasa Melayu dalam arus kini. Ini termasuk keresahan dalam dasar dua bahasa DLP yang dilaksanakan baru-baru ini. Malah mereka menegaskan bahawa mereka tidak membantah penggunaan Bahasa Inggeris.
Cuma khuatir Bahasa Melayu yang semakin terpinggir. Saya beri cadangan untuk dibuatkan majlis dialog agar orang ramai boleh dengar sendiri keresahan mereka ini serta cadangan dan input yang membina, in sya ALLAH.”
-- Y.B Datuk Mas Ermieyati Haji Samsudin, Timbalan Menteri Pelancongan dan Kebudayaan.

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"Dual Language Programme" (DLP) telah mula dilaksanakan di ratusan buah sekolah kebangsaan 'terpilih' pada tahun ini.
Apakah yang dimaksudkan dengan "Dual Language" itu?
Benarkah pendekatannya dapat meningkatkan kemahiran dalam Bahasa Inggeris?
Adakah Bahasa Inggeris dapat menjamin semua pelajar menjiwai ilmu berkaitan sains dan teknologi?
Mengapa ia mendapat tentangan hebat di kalangan para ilmuwan dan budayawan negara?
Dalami hujah mereka dengan membaca buku "Kami Bantah DLP", yang boleh diperolehi di sini:-
1. Versi PDF (Percuma): http://pdfsr.com/pdf/kami-bantah-dlp;
2. Versi E-Book (Percuma): http://pts.com.my/ebook/kami-bantah-dlp/;
3. Versi cetakan (RM10 + kos pos) - hubungi kami di FB, atau Whatsapp: 019-3858301.
----------------------------------------------
Mohon sebar luas dan viralkan:
1. Page Facebook: 
“Gerakan Mansuh PPSMI - GMP ‪#‎Bantah DLP”:
dan
2. Blog: 
“Gerakan #BantahDLP”:
Terima kasih.

.