Sunday May 26, 2013
HULU TERENGGANU:
Growing up in the rural area of Kuala
Telemong, 18-year-old Norshafiqa Rahim never had any reason to master
the English language.
The Form Six student of SMK Kuala
Telemong had no friends or family members to speak English with. She had
no chance to practise the language outside her English class.
That
all changed after the arrival of American teacher Andrew Zoromski in
February. He has been sent to the school for a year under the Education
Ministry’s English Teaching Assistant (ETA) programme.
“I was
reluctant to converse in English before this because I was afraid I
would be laughed at,” said Norshafiqa, who is now confident with her
spoken English.
“After being taught by Mr Andrew, who is a very
friendly teacher, my confidence in speaking English has improved. Now, I
can emcee in English without fear,” she said.
Another student, Afiq Abdul Razi, 18, said he had no choice but to speak in English with Zoromski.
“Mr
Andrew cannot speak in Bahasa Malaysia so I have to speak in English
even though I’m not that fluent. But now I am more confident,” said
Afiq.
There was no escape from Zoromski for Afiq because the
teacher lives in the school hostel and mingles with the students most of
the time.
Zoromski, who taught in Indonesia a few years ago,
said most schoolchildren, especially from the rural area, had basic
English knowledge but lacked confidence.
“Most of them are just
embarrassed to speak in English because they fear being corrected or
laughed at. My approach is to be less formal with them so it is easier
for them to get comfortable with me,” he said.
Zoromski said more
Malaysians in the rural areas realised the importance of English as the
international language of business and were now willing to learn and
master the language.
“Even in the village, the villagers or shopkeepers would greet me in English,” he said.
The
school’s English teacher, Shamsul Amir Ismail, noted that many students
had become more confident in English with Zoromski’s presence, with
many trying to impress the teacher with their command of the language.
School principal Tuan Pail Jusoh
said he was very pleased with the results of the ETA programme and
hoped the ministry would continue to send ETAs to the school.
TheStar online
Sunday 26 May 2013.
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