Jul 11, 2009 Posted by Azly Rahman
Below is a Bahasa Melayu version of the UPSI (Universiti Perguruan Sultan Idris) study on the teaching of science and mathematics in English.
Think of the following questions as you read the summary. I invite comments as well.
1. Who sponsored the research?
2. What methodology is used?
3. What is the nature of the sampling strategy?
4. How is the data triangulated to check for validity and reliability?
5. What are the strategies of data gathering used?
6. How complex is the analysis, given that the questions are simple (the questions asked are not higher order questions nor phenomenological)?
7. What paradigm governs this research?
8. What theory informs the process and premises of data interpretation?
9. What dimensions of race, gender, class, and ethnicity, school culture, curricular design, ecology of the child, etc. is at play here?
9. How are recommendations made in vis-a-viz influencing factors and political demands?
10. Who are the researchers? What political affiliation do they hold, if any? How political is the institution?
11. How does the institution influence the reporting and next, public sharing of the findings?
12. How conclusive, as claimed, is the finding? Why does the finding warrant such a political decision?
13. How will policy-makers use findings?How has it been used now and will continue to be used?
14. What long-term consequence will this brief and inconclusive study have on the politics of education, race, teacher professionalism, human capital development, and national preparedness on globalization as well?
15. Is there a qualitative/discursive dimension of this research available in order for another set of findings to be be compared to; dimensions such as narratives, ethnographic observation, document and conversational analysis, etc.?
16. Is there a follow up study on teaching strategy, teacher qualification, etc.?
17. What is the level of competency desired as baseline and what set of rubrics is used to define competency?
18. Since the beginning of the implementation of the program, has the Teacher Education Research Unit of the Ministry of Education develop a cumulative research strategy (say, over a five-year period) to collect baseline data on the multidimensional aspects the effectiveness of the strategy?
19. How is ideology tied to this research agenda?
20. What premises inform the claim of neutrality of this research? In other words, what is this study neutral against, if any?
THE STUDY
Kajian PPSMI oleh UPSI
Kajian dijalankan oleh sekumpulan penyelidik dari Fakulti Sains Kognitif dan Pembangunan Manusia, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris Tanjung Malim yang diketuai oleh Profesor Emeritus Isahak Haron anjuran Yayasan Kajian dan Strategi Melayu.
Kajian tersebut membabitkan hampir 4000 murid tahun 5 di 68 buah sekolah rendah di Semenanjung Malaysia antara tempoh Februari 2007 dan Januari 2008.
Kajian UPSI tersebut adalah berkaitan dengan PPSMI dalam menjawab beberapa isu Pengajaran dan Pembelajaran berikut:
1. Sejauh manakah guru menggunakan Bahasa Inggeris sebagai bahasa pengantar Sains dan Matematik ?
Kajian dari sample yang berlainan pelajar sekolah rendah sepanjang 2003-2007 mendapati:
i. Lebih 85% pelajar melaporkan guru mengajar Sains dan Matematik dengan campuran Bahasa Inggeris dan Bahasa Melayu . Ini adalah kerana guru-guru ingin membantu murid-murid yang lemah Bahasa Inggeris memahami apa yang diajar.
ii. Hanya 02% guru menggunakan Bahasa Inggeris sepenuhnya.
iii. Dan 05% menggunakan Bahasa Malaysia sahaja.
2. Sejauh manakah pelajar sukar mempelajari Sains dan Matematik dalam Bahasa Inggeris ?
Berdasarkan sampel Januari 2008:
i. 83% murid pelbagai kaum menyatakan sukar belajar Sains dalam Bahasa Inggeris.
ii. 87.2% di kajian di kalangan pelajar Melayu mengatakan sukar belajar Sains dalam Bahasa Inggeris.
iii. 65%kajian di kalangan pelajar Melayu mengatakan sukar belajar Matematik dalam Bahasa Inggeris.
Berdasarkan sampel Februari 2007:
i. 70-80 peratus pelajar Melayu sekolah kebangsaan masih menghadapi masalah mempelajari Sains dan Matematik dalam Bahasa Inggeris walaupun telah menggunakan Bahasa Inggeris sejak tahun 2003.
3. Adakah mempelajari Matematik dalam Bahasa Inggeris meningkatkan pembelajaran dan prestasi Matematik pelajar ?
Kajian Sampel murid Tahun 5 Januari 2008 mendapati:
i. Skor prestasi Matematik pelajar-pelajar berkenaan adalah rendah iaitu 7.89 daripada skor maksimum 20.0.
ii. Skor murid Melayu (7.66) adalah lebih rendah dari skor murid Cina (13.0) dan India (8.21)
iii. Peratus murid Melayu yang memberi jawapan tepat adalah lebih rendah dari murid Cina dan India terutama dalam soalan yang memerlukan murid memahami ayat atau arahan dalam Bahasa Ingerís.
iv. Murid Melayu lemah dalam operasi asas dengan hanya 58.2 peratus yang mampu menjawabnya.
v. Dalam asas darab hanya 53.9 peratus murid Melayu mampu menjawab berbanding murid Cina 80 peratus boleh menjawab dengan betul.
vi. Dalam asas bahagi yang memerlukan membaca ayat dalam Bahasa Ingerís , hanya 14 peratus dan 35 peratus sahaja murid Melayu yang mampu memberi jawapan yang betul.
4. Adakah mempelajari Sains dalam Bahasa Inggeris meningkatkan pembelajaran dan prestasi Sains pelajar ?
i. Prestasi am Sains murid semua keturunan adalah rendah dengan skor hanya 4.28 daripada maksima 14.00.
ii. Skor murid Melayu lebih rendah (4.11) dari skor murid Cina (7.22) dan India (4.64).
iii. Kira-kira 83 peratus murid Tahun 5 dari semua keturunan mendapati sukar mempelajari Sains dalam Bahasa Inggeris dengan peratusan tertinggi di kalangan murid Melayu (84 peratus).
iv. Hampir 83 peratus murid Melayu tidak faham pengajaran guru Sains dalam Bahasa Inggeris.
5. Adakah pengajaran Sains dan Matematik dalam Bahasa Inggeris membantu meningkatkan pembelajaran dan prestasi pelajar dalam Bahasa Inggeris ?
i. Prestasi am Bahasa Inggeris murid Tahun 5 dari semua keturunan adalah amat rendah dengan skor 11.97 daripada skor maksimum 31.0. Skor murid Melayu hanya 11.87. Skor murid Cina (21.77) dan India (16.14).
ii. Kira-kira 73.7 peratus murid Tahun 5 dari semua kaum menyatakan sukar mempelajari Bahasa Inggerics dengan peratus tertinggi ialah murid Melayu (81.4 Peratus).
iii. Lebih 75 peratus murid Melayu tidak faham pengajaran guru Bahasa Inggerís.
Sumber: Suara Keadilan 24-31 Dis 2008
politics aside, pls look into the real issue.
ReplyDeleteI don't really care about your 20 questions.
Common sense is that learning in your native language will assist and leads to better understanding.
Why do you think Google starts their localisation program with localising contents? To get people to grasp the contents better. However, that said, I am not saying we should limit ourselves to one language. It is a narrow minded thing to limit and be sastisfied to have the ability to speak just in your own mother tongue.
The issue about Malaysian ( not just malays) being disadvantaged if they do not learn science and maths in English is more about issue of their own attitude towards learning another language, a second language. English is a language most easily accessible for knowledge so if one is left out from knowing how to communicate or use this important second language, he will missed out or lose out in a lot of area. Information is wealth.
By strengthening the English language acquisition, I am quite sure our kids will be OK. I learnt in BM these two subjects, but I went overseas and did my degree in English..no problem and I still get a good result. Why? because my English language is A during my SPM. I also got A for my maths and all my science subjects. I am not blowing my own trumpet for nothing. Just purely to proof that it has got nothing to do with learning English in Science and Maths. Mahathir wants to push the people to learn English through the compulsory subjects, but of course it failed because not many people can be equated to this great man. Tell you what, if the subjects are not made compulsory in english, I am sure these kids will not even learn English. But the issue is about getting the good grasp of the language. If it is possible that through strengthening the English classes and teachers, students may improve their English and thus have better potential of seeing it as an advantage rather than a burden.
Most who didn't do well overseas when they took SPM in BM was because they have low IQ and/or low determination and drive to study and succeed. That's all.