IPOH: With the advancement in science and technology and the advent of globalisation, there is now a renewed and urgent focus on raising the standard of English in the country, the Raja Puan Besar of Perak, Tuanku Zara Salim, said yesterday.
CONGRATULATIONS: Tuanku Zara (right) presents certificate and trophy to a recipient. — Bernama photo
She said that as global interconnectivity increased, it was essential that students and Malaysians became effective communicators who were not only fluent and proficient in English but also keen appreciators of the language and its literature.
“Mastery of the English language is essential to an individual’s success and to secure our country’s position in the global economy. It allows us to participate and interact meaningfully on a global scale,” she said in her speech at the Ninth Cambridge English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) certificate presentation in conjunction with the Silver Jubilee Celebration of the Ipoh Learning and Training Institute, here.
Tuanku Zara also presented the Cambridge ESOL certificate to 121 students.
The English language was and would likely remain the language of global exchange and the primary medium of science, commerce, international relations and popular culture, she said.
“We must always be on guard to ensure that we do not fall any further behind than we already are. We live in an era of truncated messages and limited attention spans that threaten to further weaken our command of the language.
“In a world of tweets and SMSes, we should be all the more relentless in our aim to raise the bar of English language proficiency,” she said.
Tuanku Zara said teachers and schools played an essential role in creating an environment where English was well-spoken and well-understood.
Good communication went beyond grammar, vocabulary and sentence structure and included the ability to convey ideas and impart messages with clarity, persuasion and creativity — to be able to influence and inspire, she said.
“This means teachers of the English language themselves need to possess the drive and passion to hone their own language skills so that they can be effective role models to their students,” she said.
Tuanku Zara said parents were advised to teach English to their children before they began formal education because studies had shown that the ability to learn a language was at its optimum in a child’s first five years.
“Even if parents are not speakers themselves it should not stop them from exposing their children to the language through as many means as possible — through books, music, television programmes, movies, theatre and through interaction with other English speakers,” she said. — Bernama