Sebuyau pioneers NIE

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Students in all 22 schools in the constituency to use The Borneo Post as a tool to learn English

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SJK Chung Hua Sebangan headmistress Chiew Pik Sien (left) making a point to her group members during an activity.

SJK Chung Hua Sebangan headmistress Chiew Pik Sien (left) making a point to her group members during an activity.

KUCHING: Sebuyau—a rural constituency—is taking the lead in using newspapers as a teaching tool in the classroom, an effort spearheaded by its assemblyman Datuk Julaihi Narawi.

“It’s an open secret that the standard of English among our rural students needs special attention. Using newspapers is one of the best ways to enhance the teaching and learning process,” he said at the closing of a ‘Newspaper in Education (NIE) Workshop’ in Crown Towers here yesterday.

Using the ubiquitous daily newspaper as a language tool in an ESL (English as a Second Language) classroom made a lot
of sense as it is a versatile classroom tool, easily accessible, easy to use, and cost effective. Even backdated papers could still be used and still remain more current than textbooks, Julaihi pointed out.

“Students who are exposed to newspapers in the classroom will be able to establish good reading habits that will last a lifetime. We have a long way to go to improve the standard of English, and I hope all teachers here will be able to assist me and work as a team,” he told the teachers present.

He stressed Sarawak was not planning to forego Bahasa Malaysia with its move to get all students to master the universal lingua franca.

“If you go overseas, you need to be able to speak English. We want to be able to communicate wherever we go.”

He announced he would be providing all 22 schools in Sebuyau with a subscription of The Borneo Post from March to November, 2016 and to make sure every student gets a copy of the Wednesday paper, which comes with the ‘Good English’ supplement.

The NIE Workshop was a refresher course for some English teachers and eye-opening for others.

However, spirits were high even as the one-day workshop was winding down in the late afternoon as English teachers, headmasters and principals worked hard. They were even heard teasing each other.

There were nearly 30 of them, all from Sebuyau constituency, which has 21 primary schools and one secondary school. With Sarawak embracing the English language as one of its official languages, rural students need all the help they can get to catch up with their urban peers.

The workshop was facilitated by senior English lecturer Ng Kui Choo from UiTM’s Academy of Language Studies, who kicked off the workshop with an introduction to the structure and layout of a newspaper.

This was followed by giving the teachers practical activities involving newspapers that can be used in a classroom.

Ng was excited to teach what she knew. She told The Borneo Post that response from her participants was very good, and everyone did well in the practical aspects of the workshop.

While acknowledging that classroom time was limited with an existing syllabus in place, Ng said newspapers could be brought into a lesson once a fortnight to encourage reading and speaking in English.

“It’s not going to be easy, but don’t give up,” she advised.

Ng said English teachers needed to bring back ‘obsolete’ teaching techniques, such as dictation.

SMK Sebuyau teacher Susan Simon, a veteran teacher with 25 years of experience, agreed.

“Dictation helps in listening and writing. It is a forgotten technique, just like how we don’t do spelling quizzes anymore. This is very important, and it’s good to practise,” she said.

Susan added it was necessary as a teacher to be selective about newspaper stories they wanted to use in class, depending on whether students could understand and discuss the story.

“This workshop is good, exposing us to how newspapers can be an easy tool to teach English.”

Susan was among four English teachers attending, together with their principal Hasbi Ancheh.

SJK Chung Hua Sebangan headmistress Chiew Pik Sien thought the workshop was enjoyable.

“We learned how to create lessons from a newspaper. It was also good that we were in groups, where teachers were also able to learn from each other. I learned new things.”

Siti Puspa Sabang from SK Skitong Meranti was happy to have been chosen to attend.

“With English lessons, there is a need to get students interested. Newspapers are not only easy to get but there’s an added benefit of gaining knowledge from reading it.”

Also present at the closing ceremony were teachers and headmasters from Sebuyau, The Borneo Post’s editorial director Phyllis Wong, senior managing editor Francis Chan and See Hua Group area manager Wong Sing Seng.