Using of English in teaching Mathematics and Science: Is the performance satisfactory?

• Main Author: Mansor, Norudin
• Format: Book Section
• Language: English
• Published: Faculty of Communication and Modern Languages, Universiti Utara Malaysia 2007
• Subjects: LB Theory and practice of education; PE English
• Online Access: http://repo.uum.edu.my/3265/1/Nor1.pdf; http://repo.uum.edu.my/3265/; http://staf.uum.edu.my/tleia2/
• Institution: Universiti Utara Malaysia

The policy of changing the medium of instruction in the teaching of Mathematics and Science from Bahasa Melayu to English is an important innovation affecting teachers of Mathematics and Science generally. It poses special challenges not only for teachers who have been trained in the Malay medium but also for those trained in English, whose professional experience has largely involved the use of Bahasa Melayu as the medium of instruction. This investigation seeks to find out the achievement of students after considering the impact of prominent independent variables such as environment, teaching methodology, and attitude. Analysis of the development in the state of Terengganu has been carried out by the distribution of questionnaire to teachers involved. Results of the correlation and multiple regression indicated that all the three factors are significantly associated towards students achievement. However teaching methodology indicated a low level of moderate correlation which is believed to be the immediate issue that needed to be addressed in the new system.