Factors Influencing Low Level of English in Rural TADIKA

Factors Influencing Low English Fluency Level in Tadika of the Rural

Areas: The Case of Tadika Cemerlang Murni in Parit Buntar, Perak
by Balvinder Kaur Khalsa

So why did I decide to write on the English level at Tadika Cemerlang Murni in Parit Buntar?
Well, the reason is to find out the factors which contribute to the poor English fluency level
of the children level of the students at Tadika Cemerlang Murni, Parit Buntar.

I have noticed during my practicum observation of the KPAKK practicum trainee teachers for
the trainee teachers from KPAKK at Tadika Cemerlang Murni, Parit Buntar recently that the
kindergarten students were unable to say utter, pronounce or nor understand any word words
in English at all. I tried speaking to them in English but they seemed to be confused appeared
confused with what I asked. I just simply asked the following questions. I was simply asking
the following questions:-

Have you taken your breakfast? sadly no response.

Where is your pencil?....a girl looked at me in a confuse state.
Where do you want to go?no responsebut the little boy just walked off

Then, I asked do they understand what I asked . A few of them just shook their heads
confirming that that they do did not understand. It was upsetting situation as compare to the
other side of our country like in Ipoh and Kuala Lumpur the English level in Kindergarten
students are much more better. This was an upsetting situation if compared with the other
states in the country such as Ipoh and Kuala Lumpur where the English fluency level is more
promising than here in Parit Buntar. They at least understand what is being asked to them.
Children from those areas at least understand what is spoken to them and are able to respond
though with minimal number of words. So, I made up my mind to find out why the English

level is so poor in Tadika Cermerlang Murni. That thought had driven me to identify the
factors influencing the level of English fluency in kindergarten children nowadays.

Altogether, There there are 9 students in Year 5 five years old children and 12 students in
Year 6 six years old children which carry in total around 21 students children registered in the
kindergarten. The classes are conducted separately according to the childrens age group in
different rooms. The owner,

Puan Hasmah is a very friendly and welcoming lady. She was

fine with this mini research that I carried out to find out the factors that contribute to a lower
level of English level at factors influencing the level of English fluency in her kindergarten.

Apart from asking random questions to draw the childrens interest, Another another activity
which I tried with them was matching alphabets with words in English. I asked them after
they finished their activity with the trainee teacher. We did the activity after the children have
finished their activity with the trainee teachers.

A forsome answered epal

B for ..no answer
C for ..no answer.. I helped them by saying cat
D for ..no answer.. They just blinked their eyes in confusion.
Then the alphabet continued until it came to G.
G for ..they said gajah . I corrected them by saying it is giraffe.

There are in fact various factors that contribute to this situation. The first factor is that these
students children are not exposed to the English language. Here, the teachers role as an
instructor is vital to expose, introduce, communicate and teach in English. However, in
Tadika Cemerlang Murni the teachers are unable to converse in English as they themselves
are not comfortable using English language to communicate with others. So, it is important to

make sure teachers have courage are determined and efforts to use English language when
teaching to teach students children at least the basic English.

Secondly, the parents do not communicate in English with their kids as many of them they
themselves are not good fluent in English as they come from village and rural areas. This was
stated by the owner of the Kindergarten. In this case, the parents role growing up
environment can be seen clearly as a second factor which contribute to the poor English
fluency level among these students children. Parents do tend to not put so much of
importance give priority to using and learning on English language at home and depends
depend only on the teachers to teach their children and school to provide to their childrens
need. Furthermore, the parents Parents also do not put any efforts to buy any book English
books in English for their children. However this factor cannot be considered as the main
factor contribute contributing to the poor English level

level of English fluency in

kindergarten children nowadays.

Do you observe any improvement after our trainees teach trainee teachers have taught
them???

The third Third factor which lead leads to the poor English level among the students children
here is the peer factor pressure. This is because the students children are most of time with
their friends from 7.30am-4.30pm. spend most of their time with their friends be it, in school
or at home. Most of the students These children typically converse and communicate in
Bahasa Melayu with each other during their daily routines such as eating, bathing and during
their P&P activities with their friends which thus resulted to them not using English at all. So
it is obvious that this This has obviously related to the factor contribute contributing to the
poor level of English in students level of English fluency in kindergarten children nowadays.
because students are unable to improvise their English language if they do not use it on daily
basis.

In my opinion, the fourth factor is that, English is not considered as the Second Language but
as a Foreign Language. I am saying this based on what I have observed, that the students and
teachers prefer using the North language or Bahasa Utara such as depa, hat ni, hat
tu, hangpa, lagu ni, habaq, ayaq and many more. In this situation, when someone
speaks in English with the students they considered it as an alien language. Therefore the
North language or Bahasa Utara should be minimized and the correct language should be
used in order to educate these children in a proper manner.

I have encouraged the KPAKK trainee teachers to conduct a few English lessons with the
students children concentrating on the alphabets and the basic things in daily life. They
successfully conducted some of the English lessons and the students gave good response
although it was a little hard to teach them in English. It was observed that during the English
alphabets lesson the students had difficulties pronouncing the words like elephant, umbrella,
watermelon, frog, mouse and bird.

Last but not least everyone, mean to say the teachers and parents should work hand in hand to
put some efforts to improve the English level English fluency level of the children at Tadika
Cemerlang Murni, Parit Buntar. In order not to stay nave in the world which is moving so
fast where every sin single thing is preferred to be spoken and written in English, Tadika
Cemerlang Murni, Parit Buntar should think about the future of the children studying there.
By doing so, the children will have a more secure future as they are embarking to a
more advanced learning environment.

References Bibliography
Azizi.Yahaya, Noordin Yahaya, Ooi Choon Lean, Abdul Talib Bon and Sharifuddin Ismail
et al, (2011). Factors contributing to proficiency in English as a second language
among Chinese students in Johor Bahru. Elixir Psychology 41 (2011) 5837-5848.
ChristinaKatz (2011). Write a How-to Article in 6 Easy Steps. Writers Digest. Retrieved

from http://www.writersdigest.com/whats-new/write-a-how-to-article-in-6-easy-steps,
retrieved on, . -> include date!