Malaysia is in the process of changing the medium of instruction for mathematics and science from Malay to English since 2003. To ensure the success of this transition, teachers have to be professional prepared to teach in English. This research aimed to survey the Malaysian science/ mathematics teachers' perception towards this professional preparation effort. The findings showed that although the teachers perceived they are professionally prepared to teach mathematics/science in English, they still need more preparation in overcoming students' difficulties in learning the subjects in English especially for students who are weak in English or mathematics/science or both.
Malaysia experienced a major shift in language policy in 2003 for the subjects of science and maths. This meant a change in the language of education for both national and national-type schools. For national schools, this resulted in a shift from Bahasa Malaysia, the national language to English. Parallel with this, to ensure homogeneity of impact of change, the State persuaded the national-type schools, which have been utilizing the language of community, Mandarin and Tamil respectively, as medium of instruction since independence in 1957, to shift to English for the teaching of science and maths.
There is a continuing debate on the status and use of English in Malaysia. Historically, English experienced rise and fall of its status and importance here. This is because of the change of attitudes towards the language in the passage of time. Thus, the researcher found it relevant to profile Malaysians undergraduates' contemporary attitude towards English. The purpose of this study was to investigate Malaysian undergraduates' attitudes towards English since this group of people is considered an important source of human capital in the development of the nation. Data for this study was collected through a questionnaire survey administered upon a sample of UPM (University Putra Malaysia) undergraduates and analyzed them quantitatively. The findings revealed that the respondents showed positive attitudes towards English. They also felt that Malaysian variety of English should be standardized. Source Language in India; Feb2008, Vol. 8 Issue 2, p3-3, 1p. Author: Rahman, A. R. M. Mostafizar.
