Interesting article on the above on Page 3 in your paper (FT 7/1).
Skimming through the article, I noticed a line which said lecturers from a couple of universities would do a strategy paper to assist on how to deal with the issue.
I have spoken to several university lecturers, especially from abroad, and have found their English proficiency in a sad state. I have always wondered how they got the jobs, especially when the students they would teach may not be competent in English themselves. Believe me, I have read several job application letters, and most graduate applicants have pathetic English, to be least offensive!
If efforts are being made to raise English competency then it’s a very noble idea. However, the lecturers who will actually sit in the task team should be English language proficient, oral and written both. About three years ago, after the graduation ceremony of a major university, invited guests were hosted to a lunch at the venue (Laucala Bay). A senior lecturer from India pronounced “dessert” as “desert” (vast sandy and dry regions).
I couldn’t hold my laughter, briefly walked out of the room, and returned to have my dessert, and not “desert”! We still laugh on this joke.
My point is, language proficiency is extremely vital, be it formal writing or conversational. Basic pronunciation and grammatical correctness must be emphasised in the early stages of children’s learning. If we have teachers who ask “… why you never did your homework?”, we will certainly keep on getting answers like “… Master, I am sick yesterday” or “… I was go to the hospital”. A lot of people would actually agree with me, and would have even funnier examples of poor sentences.
It’s not something that we will achieve tomorrow or next year; it may take a good whole decade, to be realistic. But what can start tomorrow is getting teachers who themselves are proficient, and this applies not to English teachers only, but also to crops, maths, panel beating, electrical, or beauty therapy teachers etc.
The positive thing is that the problem has been highlighted before the start of the new school year. The sad thing is that it takes a long time to do research and write a paper for recommendations, and even longer for implementation.
If I were to present a paper for the same, here it is: “Upgrade all teachers’ English”. Period. Students will naturally be compelled.
By the way, I am contributing because I have children in school, and I can’t make it to the forums to have my say.
