You Say What?!

Lately, I have had to work with quite a few fresh graduates – and the experience has left me wondering if I’m in a foreign land. It’s not because speaking to them is a new and exotic experience, but because the English spoken seems foreign enough. This makes me think – what’s happening in schools and local universities?

I’ve heard of teachers who suffer trying to instill basic language skills in their students, worried that they will not do well in their English exams. However, when the results are announced, these students will be awarded A’s, but don’t reflect the results at all. So much has been said about the importance of English. The Maths and Science subjects were supposed to have been taught in English – how many schools carried it out?

Have you taken a look at the standard of English used in some of these text books? It’s enough to make you faint. I have also heard that there are some lecturers who refuse to speak in English and are very adamant about it. How can the learning begin when the teaching or teachers in this case refuse to budge?