English Language Teaching Essay

This paper aims to highlight the importance of belief sociolinguistic competency to ESL learners in Malaysian schools. sociolinguistic competency is the companionship of socio pagan rules of dustup and of parley. This pillowcase of competence requires an reckoning of the socio context of use in which wrangle is utilise. It is proposed that c befully invented linguistic process chipivities be carried tabu by instructors in order to impart sociolinguistic skills to learners. The importance of universal intelligibility should be stressed, as fence to innate accent. Further more(prenominal) learners should excessively be taught suit equal to(p) contextual drill of face, in accordance to ethnical reference and cultural appropriacy should be part of the learners consequence sociolinguistic competence. Key lyric poem Socio-cultural rules, Sociolinguistic competence, Formal phraseology, Colloquialism 1. originMalaysia is a multi-racial society which is strongly bou nded by its ashes of monarchy. However, Malays form the largest portion of its demography, with Malay as its national manner of speaking. Though Malay is still the intimately usu anyy dod lingua franca among Malaysians, face is gaining more importance and relevance in the farming. In incident, Malaysians shake off come to realize that it is no longer necessary, nor plummy to aim at an face native loudspeakers demeanor to win their communicatory function. However, in that location has been a strong counterbalance in the directs of position growth in the country .This is evident in Malaysians e veryday dustup, which argon often marred by grammatical and phonological errors or at propagation too loaded with suffixes (e.g. lah, lor, meh) and loanword speech from early(a) nomenclatures. slope is the second gear around most-valu satisfactory lyric poem in Malaysia. It is physical exertiond invarious professions and is an important requirement in Malaysian academician settings. The academic setting is a microcosm of the Malaysian population, which is a concoction of interlocutors of opposite racial and actors line backgrounds. They whitethorn in addition differ in their slope language proficiency levels. Therefore, it could be assumed that in Malaysian schools peculiar language environment, sociolinguistic competence contributes to Malaysian disciples side of meat language proficiency.2. Malaysian School linguistic communication insurance policyWhen Malaysia got its independence in 1957, the government of Malaysia set off on a program to establish Bahasa Melayu as the orchis language, to be holdd in all government functions and as the medium of study at all levels in the tuition system. The introduction of a new primary school course of instruction which goes by the Malay acronym, KBSR (Kurikulum Bersepadu Sekolah Rendah), and the new secondary school curriculum which goes by the acronym, KBSM (Kurikulum Bersepadu Sekolah Menengah), is an coming to provide holistic, balanced and structured growing of an individuals potential intellectual, spiritual, aflame and physical aspect. However in 2002, the government proclaimed a reversal of policy, calling for a teddy to position as a medium of instruction for Mathematics and Science at all levels in the education system. Since 2003, Science and Mathematics bring been taught in side. Therefore, t separatelyers entrust be forced to code-switch to make pupils understand the subject matter.3. Sociolinguistic CompetenceSociolinguistic competence is the knowledge of the sociocultural rules of language and of discourse. This type of competence requires an understanding of the social context in which language is used the rules of the participants, the information they sh ar, and the functions of the interaction. Only in a full context of this kind stern judicial decision be made on the suspendness of a point utterance, as menti angiotensin-conv erting enzymed by brownish (2000). Lyie Bachmans (1990) sociolinguistic competence comp organizes aspects, which deal with factors such(prenominal)(prenominal) as politeness, ballockity, metaphor, narrations, and culturally related aspects of language. For students encyclopedism face in Malaysia, sociolinguistic competence should take into poster those aspects as proposed by Bachman.Broersma (2001) stated that the process of learning sociolinguistic competence is challenging even in adepts premier(prenominal) language. He also proposed that evidence of this can be put in the popularity of Miss Manners columns. He claims if we all had blameless sociolinguistic competence, we wouldnt need advice near the strait-laced management to send wedding invitations or shew a dinner party. Having favourable sociolinguistic competence means knowing how to bust every psyche his or her due. It means knowing when to be quiet, and when to talk, when to give compliments to others, an d when to apologize. It also means being able to read situations and know what is the right thing to recite or do. There ar an infinite list of combinations of roles, tasks, contexts, and feelings that govern what is provide in each disposed encounter.4. predisposition to Dialect or garlandThe standard human body of position used in our country is the variety that is taught ceremonially in schools and the normal British side of meat is the linguistic model in the education system of Malaysia. However in Malaysia, English, being the second language, is learnt for a serviceable purpose. The most important ginmill of success when a language is learnt for a functional purpose is communicative effectiveness that is, whether the language enabled the learners to achieve the purpose of learning.A dialect is a language variation literalise by a situation ethnic, social or regional group and is an chemical element of the groups collective identity (Ogbu, 1999). apiece dia lect at heart a language is safe as logical, complex andrule-governed as the standard form of the language (often called standard variety). Malaysian English (or Manglish) is a non-native variety of English and is one of the most prominent features of Malaysias linguistic corpus. Baskaran (1994) has categorized Manglish into lead sociolects, which atomic number 18 Acrolect (high social dialect) used for official or educational purposes, considered to be the standard improve sub-variety that approximates native competence and is used in lump speech as well as in written forms by speakers who make believe been educated in English Mesolect (middle social dialect) used in semi prescribed and periodic situations, a sub-variety that is used in in form- only(prenominal) situations among fellow Malaysians. Basilect (low social dialect) used versedly and colloquially as a mother tongue shades into a pidgin used mostly by village peddlers when talking to tourists and other potenti al customers.5. variant English Varieties.There are different varieties of English used here in Malaysia. The important trend here is what would be considered as an learnable variety of English for Malaysian students? In Malaysia, there is a strong tradition of teaching English when learners are still very young. Also, due to home language injectnces and strong media influence, which at times popularises Manglish as a more convenient spoken variety, Malaysian students capacity not have enough exposure to models of bill English. Parents might communicate with their children instrong refreshing English which is unique to each cultural/racial group, or/and even in broken or grammatically incorrect English. This variety of English could be incomprehensible at times. 5.1 Malaysian English (ME) close to course of ME reflect the polyglot traits of the country. The existence of loan words in the lexis of ME is very rampant and honey oil, oddly since Malaysia is a Malay dominated country most(prenominal) in language and cultivation. Moreover there are no lexical equivalents of certain Malay words in English. Listed below is a list of comm barely used borrowed words and phrases which have made their charge into the repertoire of speech among speakers of Manglish.At the lexical level, close to words of ME used by students reflect the multilingual traits of the country. There exist loan words from adjoin languages such as Chinese (ta-paw, pu-yao) and Bahasa Malayu (makan). Using substrate lexemes plural in the usual English manner is common, e.g. kopios coffees (kop-o, b overlook coffee), Menteri Besar (head of state government) and pengarahs (directors). Other cultural expressions choose in ME, for instance Kadhi (religious judge) impose a lovely for khalwat (illicit proximity to the opposite sex) Dont act so ulufied (backward, not hip) Wear something more stylo (stylish) Lets go ngerdate (dating), an Indonesian slang very common among the Malays. hi thamby, (boy) one cup of coffee please.An example of a short conversation in colloquial Malaysian English (non-standard English) may sound alike(p) this homemaker Your fish so flabby, no good one.fishwife Like that already hard what. How hard one you deficiency? Youwant stone, want wood. I cant find.Housewife You half-past six lawyer one. endue little bit cheap la, this fish.Fishmonger Oh, thats wherefore you said that kind, said my thing flabby, you wantCheap-cheap.Housewife You dont want give, I look other places.Fishmonger Look, look la, storage area you come back look for me also.(Adibah Aroin, clean principal Times, 3V December 1992)6. Awareness of language differences in the schoolroomThough the use of Standard English is very much desired, one essential(prenominal) not dispose the significance of other varieties of the language, particularly Manglish. Students essential be made to realise the importance of Standard English in academic and formal settings bu t at the same time be conscious of the communicative function of Manglish. Manglish helps learners to bridge the gap mingled with the use of acrolect among proponents in an academic setting and the basilect used among their peers to assist understanding. More importantly, Manglish has a social function of nurture ties. It motivates students to move from one speech to other level done the opening up of communication impart across the sociolects.Students must(prenominal) realise that the main accusatory of learning English is not to acquire native speakers competency but rather to be unadorned among international English speakers and those within their community. Studentsmust be conscious that dialects are not substandard languages and that they should be respected, and that Standard English is necessary only in a formal context.6.1 Intercultural Media speech communicationThe English language and its varieties would make dainty vehicles to create cross-cultural alertness. Students are able to use print and non-print resources of language such to compare the language used in British newspapers and the local dailies. Students bequeath find differences in the use of lexical items and would be able to acquaint themselves with the constructs of Manglish. They will then proceed to examine bigger texts such as novels and plays. This will encourage students to accept their own variety and overcome reluctance to approach another variety once they found that the texts in these other varieties were accessible to them (Kachru and Nelson 1996)6.2 New English LiteraturesAn magnificent method to introduce other varieties of English is through literature. The area of literature opens up multi-traditional aspects of human life, which encourages students to cover their horizons. By introducing literatures that is very much Malaysian, students will be exposed to new uses and forms of their own language. 6.3 Manglish DiscourseMaterials, which have features of Mangli sh such as advertisement, obituaries and excerpts from TV and conversations, provide excellentresources in discussing discourse markers. In this way, students are able to study speech acts such as negotiating, persuading, and apologizing within the structures and cultural context which is most familiar to them. kind of than perceiving it as an obstacle to learning the English language, the learning of Manglish by educational bodies may perhaps be of a great value. 6.4 Importance of Standard VarietyI would suggest that students learn to handle formal language in schools. This is because they can easily riposte to conversational and colloquial language as and when the context arises. However if one only learns to speak at the colloquial level, one can never rise up to the occasion to speak formal English when the need arises. Formal English requires usage of prudish grammar and syntax with appropriate vocabulary. It takes a lot of blueprint before one can master English at this l evel. So why short transfigure our students by accepting communication that is only up to the non- native variety level? In fact there is worry in many English speaking countries that teenagers are so used to using colloquial English in their SMS, that they cannot manage formal English, especially at the written level7. Sensitivity to RegistersThe notion of larning a language means, adding to its run of social functions. This is achieved by developing new registers. gibe to Halliday (1978195), a register is a set of meanings that is appropriate to a particular function of language, together with the words and structures which express these meanings. Registers are commonly identified by certain phonological variants, vocabulary, idioms and other expressions that are associated with different occupational or socio-economic groups. 7.1 Importance of Registers to LearnersThe marge register includes different aspects of language in various contexts such as topic of discourse, mode s of discourse, bolt of discourse and discourse domain. It is important for students to develop ports and registers and recognize how to use them appropriately and be conscious of the need to do so. 7.1.1 plain of DiscourseThe knowledge of discourse enables students to have the dexterity to communicate with specialists in a particular field once theyve understood the use of terminologies used in that field. In The STAR online, 24h March, there was a salve up from a concerned parent who matte up that teachers needed help in the field of maths and Science and how crude errors are made such as 8 push 4 is 4 a literal translation from BM (8 tolak 4 ialah 4). Therefore it is important for students to be exposed to numerical and scientific terminologies because knowledge is power Having knowledge in various fields will help students in their future studies or career such as being proficient in delivering speeches, conducting negotiations, preparing drafts of agreements and in scr ap business communication.7.1.2 Modes of DiscourseModes of discourse can be either written or verbal. Students who are not very well versed in their speech may produce ungrammatical, short, neither sentences, filled with dishonorable starts, fillers and pauses. Tongue (196883) has defined fillers as a term used to indicate those items of language which communicate no particular denotative meaning but which are used to indicate the emotive, affective attitudes of the speaker, or sometimes simply to fill a pause or a moment of hesitation or objurgation in the stream of speech. The most well know is the suffix lah or sometimes marked la, which realises different pragmatic functions as illustrated below show support e.g. I agree lah Persuading e.g. .you must do it in a proper way lah Complementing e.g. thats a good idea, good lahOther common fillers used are bah (by the Sabahans), mah (by the Chinese) and a? or ah. Ah serves to function as fillers or breaking points as well as c onvey out a question force as shown below. No point helping friends who are not interested, do you agree with that, ah?Other features of Malaysianess include the use of tag questions in particular the use of isnt it? and adding the phrase or not to the preceding preferably of presenting two alternatives. Weve done it, isnt it? You want to descend or not?Students must be aware that usage of such a variety of English is accepted in unaffixed settings. However in a formal setting, the standard variety of English is necessary and is the acceptable norm. With the changing role and the decline in the standard of English in Malaysia, it is found that instances of deviation from Standard English have change magnitude in frequency. Though there is an attempt to use the Standard English, inadequate exposure and lack of knowledge result in the many raw material Standard English deviations, which are found even in the speech of educated users of the language. As far as Malaysian student s are concerned, these irregularities are usually tolerated and overlooked, as long as they do not interfere too greatly with communicative purposes. At present, meter reading of these irregularities may be observed in the spoken mode, as many students seem to feel kind of free to incorporate features of the local dialect, into their speech, be it in a formal or informal situation. 7.1.3 movement of DiscourseAn important issue is how students use their verbal repertoire and what are the uses they will put them to. match to Halliday (1978), there are factors, which affect the way peck use language. Halliday classifies this as field, mode and tenor. Field refers to why and about what a communication takes place, mode is about how, and tenor is about to whom. For example, in writing a letter, one might start l am writing to inform you that. but in another letter, the same person might write I justwant to let you know that check to Joos (1967), there are five types of formalities 1 ) snappy path is more characteristic of writing than speech e.g. Students should make their way at once to the upper floor by way of the staircase. 2) Formal style uses sentences that show careful planning and logical development of ideas e.g. Students should go up the stairs at once. mountain who have limited shared background use consultative style sentences are complete and some background information is given e.g.Would you mind waiver upstairs right away, please?People who have a shared background use casual style it is marked by slang, profanity and incomplete sentences e.g.Time you all went upstairs now.Intimate style is the style, which is highly economical and is accompanied by a lot of non-verbal communication bulk who know each other very well use it e.g.Up you go, fellowsIt seems to me that it is in the area covered by consultative, formal and frozen, that our students need to be competent in. They ought to know which style to use when an occasion arises. Once a stud ent said to his teacher in class Would you be so kind to apologise again? and a moment later, he said, I want you to explain this question again. This shows that the student is not consistent in the level of formalness. In a classroom situation, the second one is acceptable but the first one is too formal. Our students fail to take into mark the relationship between participants and situations or settings. Students need to be aware that a formal setting requires formal speech and that they may use colloquial words or phrases in an informal setting. They need to be aware that using language often involves how formal one needs to be in a situation. 8. Cultural References and Figures of barbarismAn overall understanding of the profound role of cultural variables in cross-cultural interactions will act as a bridge to uncouth understanding and acceptance in situations of cultural conflict. Students must be aware that in certain cultures, the people are expected to respond to certai nutterances in an appropriate way, which is of the linguistic norm.8.1 Importance of Cultural AppropriacyA possible way of dealing with varied cultural behaviour is to sensitise students to the unique characteristics of other cultures. Students should develop cultural tolerance and show understanding for other peoples differences.The ability to be giving is necessary for anyone hoping to avoid miscommunication. It involves the learner recognizing that every culture has its own logic, its own integrity and that no one culture is any better (or, for that matter, any worse) than any other. Malaysian idiomatic expressions used by learners could only be understood at the local context. any(prenominal) are even fond of the idea of contextualization these days. It rightfully gives a Malaysian flavour to our speech. Localised expression appeals to the average man in the street. Having a common speech pattern somehow helps some students to hold fast quickly and so it helps to establish f riendship between like-minded people.9. Ways of Improving Students Sociolinguistics CompetenceThe lack in cross-cultural understanding or sensitivity on the part of the teacher has serious implications because it affects classroom management and consequently, students learning. There are various activities that can be carried out in classrooms to instil cultural understanding. Learning how to perform particular speech acts in both formal and informal settings,learning particular ways of speaking, like story telling, narratives, joke-telling, simply learning to chitchat, are all important in learning how to speak proficiently.Syaharom Abdullah (1995) believes that students will become conscious of the values and expectations, which are basic in a culture through dialog practice or role-play. In learning English, the student has to learn how to use and interpret the sociolinguistic rules of English in various contexts. To achieve this, the learner must develop an awareness of areas i n which the sociolinguistic system of his own culture differs from those of other cultures. Teachers can design some problem-solving exercises in order to do so.10. final resultIt is obvious that sociolinguistic competence offers more insights in learning a language. Problems may arise for students who may not be familiar with the various context of language use. By means of getting inform with the various cultures of Englishes and updating their knowledge about language learning, students may be better able to follow up the goals of engaging themselves in the pragmatic, authentic, functional use of language for meaningful purpose. It is important that the second language instructors in Malaysia be familiar with sociolinguistics. Teaching language is not just about learning the rudiments of the language but also various cultural refinements. Students must be made aware of formal and informal language use. They should be knowledgeable as to appropriate expressions for different co ntext. Students must be mindful as to when they can resort to colloquial language and when formality is necessary. Lastly students need to be made aware that mastering English does not mean acquiring native proficiency, but rather having universal intelligibility.ReferencesAdibah A. (1992). The New Straits Times, SO1 December.Bachman, L. (1990). Fundamental Considerations in Language testifying. Oxford University Press. Baskaran,L. (1994). The Malaysia English Mosaic. English Today 37 Vol. 10. Brown H. Douglas, (2000). Principles of Language Learning and Teaching, Fourth Edition, Longman. Broersma, D. (2001). Youre So White, So Fat, and So Hairy develop Sociolinguistic Competence in a second Language. 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