Customizing English Language Program for EFL Learners
Customizing English Language Program for EFL Learners
Abdul Halim Ibrahim , Khalid Ismail, Abdul Halim Ali Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, Tanjung Malim, Malaysia
Philip Wee UCSL, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
This paper discusses the importance of having a customized instructional approach specifically for students who are learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in the foreign language setting. Most of the innovations introduced by the Education Ministry of Malaysia such as the Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) and phonics are suitable for ESL (English as a second language) learners, while the EFL learners are still left behind. A suitable teaching approach which customizes the needs of the students in EFL setting, especially in the state of Terengganu should be introduced. The main focus of the program exploits reading and writing skills in providing language input since these two skills are more dominant in terms of utility and functions among the EFL students as compared with the ESL students who are enable to exploit speaking and listening skills because of the natural setting. The research investigates the prospect of developing a suitable language teaching program based on 10 basic sentence patterns (10SP) which are exploited through the principles of transformational generative grammar and customized learning experiences focusing on reading as a bridge in acquiring other language skills such as writing, listening, and speaking.
Keywords: language learning settings, linguistic cues, sequencing input, sentence patterns
Choosing one teaching strategy to suit all students from various backgrounds is bound for failure, because students are individuals with a lot of differences and studies have shown that students respond to teaching strategy in different ways, the same strategy can be accepted, refused, or ignored by the same or different groups of students in different situations. In Malaysia, the Ministry of Education provides one English language syllabus for all teachers to follow, one textbook for the whole population (e.g., Year 1) to use, a suggested teaching approach for teachers to apply and usually teaching is monitored by the education district officers. The practice has not contributed much to the improvement of English language achievement among EFL (English as a Foreign Language) students in the rural areas, even though the students in ESL (English as a second language) setting especially in the urban areas benefited from it. It can be concluded, innovations made by the
Corresponding author: Abdul Halim Ibrahim, Ph.D. (TESL), Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris; research fields: second language acquisition, reading skills, and pedagogical grammar. E-mail: [email protected]. Khalid Ismail, Ph.D. (accounting), Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris; research fields: management and economics. E-mail: [email protected]. Abdul Halim Ali, Ph.D. (Malay Literature), Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris; research field: contemporary Malaysian literature. E-mail: [email protected]. Philip Wee, M.Ed. (TESL), UCSL; research fields: reading skills and second language acquisition. E-mail: [email protected].
CUSTOMIZING ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROGRAM FOR EFL LEARNERS
ministry so far have only benefited one group of students but have neglected majority of students who are in the EFL setting especially in the rural areas.