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Forum: How to Teach English in Primary Classes Moderator – Yau Seen Hui Professor Chan – Chan Sing Yung Moderator

Professor Lim – Lim Rou Yunn Professor Lau – Lau Siew Hung

: Good morning to everyone. I am Yau Seen Hui, Ministry education of United States welcome everyone who attended this forum discussion. According to the Malaysia Department Department of Education, Education, the primary grades are the most critical time for students to learn English language arts and the goal of schools should be that by the time students leave grade three. Leading a primary classroom is a challenge because you have to teach all subjects and manage a classroom of different levels and personalities. So now let us first welcome Lim Rou Yunn, Professor of Cambridge University to give her opinion on this discussion.

Professor Lim : In my opinion, as a teacher we should assess each student in our class near the beginning of the year based on the already expected outcomes for their age ; maintain regular records for each student. For example, if you are teaching kindergarten, assess how much of the alphabet the student knows and whether she knows concepts related to book structure, such as reading from left to right or knowing the front of the back of the book. If you are teaching a second grade class assess the phonemic awareness and vocabulary recognition of each student. Moderator :

Thank you Professor Lim for her opinion. Okay, now let ’s invite Professor Chan from Harvard University to give her opinion on how to teach English in primary classes.

Professor Chan: Chan: I personally think that we should divide the class into groups in which members of the same group have the same reading ability. Assign each group an appropriate book. Rotate from group to group so students can read the book with you and discuss the plot and new vocabulary words. As you are working with another group, other groups can work on a follow-up activity or read the book to

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themselves in quiet voices. According to Dr Elaine, associate professor in Literacy and Early Education at Malaysia University, this is more effective than round –robin reading, where students of a whole class consecutively take turns reading. Moderator

: Yeah, I do agree with you. Group reading is more effective compare to round-robin reading because students among themselves can discuss the plot with each other. Next, beside me is Professor Lau. She is from Oxford University. Can you share your experience with us?

Professor Lau : Around 1988, I was teaching in St. Paul primary school, London. Through my 26 years experience, teacher can teach students new vocabulary through experiential activities. For example, when reading a story aloud to the class, point to a word and ask students to think of a synonym that could replace that word. Brainstorm on the board according to a theme, such as mammals or fruits, and ask students to think of words relevant to the topic and throw in some new words that they can learn. Moderator

: Thank you Professor Lau for sharing her experience. Moreover, I think that having each student create a collage of items that are all the same colour or begin with the same letter can help students to remember the object names they do not know. Professor Lim, do you have any suggestion to teach primary student?

Professor Lim:

I suggest teacher can practice spelling with students through organizing dictation activities. With the youngest grades, call out letters for them to write down. For the older primary grades, start by testing them with spelling words and work up to simple sentences. Dictation tests with sentences will help students understand words within their context and punctuation rules. How about you, Professor Chan?

Professor Chan: Chan: For me, teacher can organize creative writing sessions in classroom



pictures and ask for help with labeling their images. Older students should be allowed to write without worrying about perfect grammar or spelling. Moderator

: Professor Lau, how about your opinion?

Professor Lau

: In my view, teacher can organize interactive stations representing all current curriculum areas when they are teaching, such as listening, writing, speaking, reading and grammar. Recruit a volunteer parent to lead each station and divide students into small groups and let them take turns participating at each station.

Moderator

:

Thank you Professor Lim, Professor Chan and Professor Lau for their view. Let me conclude what they have said just now. Teaching English does not have to be limited to the language arts block; it can take place through all subjects, during recess or lunch and any other time of day.

Do you think that English Class is importance? Yes, I do. Whether you are taking an English class in middle school, high school college or graduate school, you may wonder why English matters, particularly if you plan to study or work in a field in which you think English is irrelevant. Possibly the most important reason to take an English class is its relevance to virtually all fields and careers. Wherever speaking, writing or critical thinking is required, English class is useful.



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