~Cultural Course~

~ Bahasa VS English?? ~

Apa plan bagi memartabatkan bahasa Melayu (MBM) serta memantapkan penguasaan bahasa Inggeris (MBI) di semua peringkat persekolahan

Setelah enam tahun menjalani “tempoh percubaan” akhirnya dasar Pengajaran dan Pengajaran Sains dan Matematik dalam bahasa Inggeris (PPSMI) dimansuhkan baru-baru ini. Selepas Kementerian Pelajaran mengambil tindakan berani itu, masih ada lagi pihak yang mahu mengembalikan PPSMI dalam sistem pendidikan di negara ini. 

 Selepas kajian secara ilmiah telah dilakukan oleh Permuafakatan Badan Ilmiah Nasional (pembina) menunjukkan lebih banyak kesan buruk daripada baiknya PPSMI, kerajaan diminta supaya jangan berpatah balik sekalipun ada desakan daripada pihak tertentu.

Tokoh akademik, Profesor Diraja Ungku Aziz berkata, keputusan memansuhkan PPSMI adalah suatu yang sangat tepat dan memuaskan hati semua pihak. Malah langkah ini juga ke arah mewujudkan perpaduan menerusi penggunaan satu bahasa iaitu bahasa Melayu sebagai hubungan antara kaum.

“PPSMI sebenarnya adalah satu kesilapan kerana kita mampu mengajar matapelajaran sains dan matematik dalam bahasa Melayu. Universiti Malaya telah melahirkan banyak pensyarah dalam pelbagai bidang dengan menggunakan bahasa Melayu,” tegas Ungku Aziz ketika diwawancara oleh wartawan Mingguan Malaysia, KU SEMAN KU HUSSAIN dan HAFIZAHRIL ABDUL HAMID di kediamannya di Petaling Jaya Jumaat lalu.

Bekas Naib Canselor Universiti Malaya ini juga membayangkan sekiranya PPSMI diteruskan pelajar-pelajar Melayu di desa akan terpinggir dan berhenti sekolah.

“Kalau PPSMI tidak dimansuhkan, pelajar-pelajar Melayu terutama di desa akhirnya menjadi pekerja kelas bawahan, itu pun mungkin susah,” kata Ungku Aziz lagi.


  

~Language Acquisition~

         Language acquisition, the process of learning a native or a second language. The acquisition of native languages is studied primarily by developmental psychologists and psycholinguists. Although how children learn to speak is not perfectly understood, most explanations involve both the observation that children copy what they hear and the inference that human beings have a natural aptitude for understanding grammar. While children usually learn the sounds and vocabulary of their native language through imitation, grammar is seldom taught to them explicitly; that they nonetheless rapidly acquire the ability to speak grammatically supports the theory advanced by Noam Chomsky and other proponents of transformational grammar.

        According to this view, children are able to learn the "superficial" grammar of a particular language because all intelligible languages are founded on a "deep structure" of grammatical rules that are universal and that correspond to an innate capacity of the human brain. Stages in the acquisition of a native language can be measured by the increasing complexity and originality of a child's utterances. 

~What is Language~

Kelly's 4-year-old son, Tommy, has speech and language problems. Friends and family have a hard time understanding what he is saying. He speaks softly, and his sounds are not clear.

Jane had a stroke. She can only speak in one- to two-word sentences and cannot explain what she needs and wants. She also has trouble following simple directions.

Welcome.. ~ Ahlan Wasahlan~