The positioning of Bahasa Malaysia as the national language and the consolidation of the English Language is indeed a strategic move by the Malaysian government. Bahasa Malaysia unites the nation through linguistic-nationalism, while the English language empowers the nation through knowledge-driven nationalism and development-orientated nationalism. Thus, it is obvious that the mastery of English could contribute towards Malaysia’s aspiration to become a developed nation by 2020.
In support of the Malaysian government’s vision and aspiration, Johor Port Malaysia, in collaboration with Universiti Teknologi Malaysia Community Transformation Center (UTMCTC) and Language Academy, organized an English Language Enrichment (ELE) Program in Pasir Gudang.
The two-year program, involving 400 secondary and primary school children encapsulates a collective impact initiative which aims to drive significant improvements in school students’ achievements in the English Language.
The aims of the ELE program include promoting the use of English among primary and secondary school students, making the English learning process fun, and enriching the Englishlanguage learning experience.
ELE will incorporate activities, programs and innovations that are already making a positive difference. In this way, the language will be acquired naturally and eventually will become part of every day use.
The ELE program will be organizing through the implementation of three main projects, namely, Reading Digest, Language Camp and Online English Language Help Desk (OELHD).
Reading Digest is intended to develop a passion for reading through on-going reading activities which aim to inculcate the reading habits. Student will be involved in reading activities such as reading aloud, reading circle, sustained silent reading, story telling and digital story telling and vocabulary games.
The Language Camp is meant to empower children to use English through fun activities, while OELHD aims to support students’ English language learning by trouble shooting students’ English language problems.
