Learning language or what?

As the debate on the teaching of Science and Mathematics draws closer to its end, enthusiastic teachers, anxious parents and eager students anticipate with great fervour the round of talks surrounding the subject area in our daily news, as highly-concerned politicians, policy-makers and all those whose say matter in the final decision assert their stance.

The distressed audience nod, frown, shake their heads, with some even going so far as to let out a sigh as they listen, watch or read the statements that form the news headline and which will later result in a stimulating discussion over coffee with like-minded colleagues.

The collection of thoughts on this issue up to now is varied, ranging from the proposal to retain the current practice of using English to teach both subjects, to that which says we should revert to the old comforting practice of using Bahasa Malaysia for both subjects.

Of late, another school of thought - teach both Science and Mathematics in the students’ mother tongue - has been added to the continuum of suggestions. All of these diverse viewpoints share a common underlying ambition, namely to expand students’ proficiency either in English, Bahasa Malaysia or their mother tongue through the teaching of both Science and Mathematics in these respective languages.

While established pedagogical practices such as ‘content-based teaching’ gain their credibility essentially through the ability to encourage learning of the target language through content teaching, the distinction between those practices and our current concern calls for a moment of reflection.

Is the main objective of implementing either English, Bahasa Malaysia or the students’ mother tongue for teaching both subjects to improve their proficiency in the chosen language?

Or, should we choose a language which will benefit students’ transition to these specialised fields and prepare them to achieve an edge in the field of Science and Mathematics in the future?

As mentioned elsewhere in the lengthy discussions on this issue, due to the fact that scientific or mathematical texts are more commonly available in the English Language, it becomes fundamental to apprentice students early on to access these knowledge fields in the language in which most literature on them are written and discussed.

Surely our aspiration in schools is not to construct the fields of Science and Mathematics, or the literature in both fields, as impenetrable because of the language barrier.

As for students’ proficiency in Bahasa Malaysia and their mother tongue, I trust that our national curriculum addresses these needs, as evident in the existence of subjects that are dedicated wholly to the development of their proficiency in these languages.