International students’ perspectives of Malaysian English teachers’ spoken English

Abstract

Numerous studies comparing native and non-native English teachers have found that ESL students prefer native teachers for teaching speaking skills and pronunciation. In other words, non-native teachers are viewed as less superior in matters related to spoken language. This study explores international students’ views on spoken English of Malaysian teachers in English language classrooms. 81 international students who were attending English language classes as a preparation for university programmes at a Malaysian university participated in the study. The students were given a short writing task which required them to rate as well as stated their views on their Malaysian teachers’ spoken English in terms of speech rate, pronunciation, vocabulary, syntax, intelligibility, nativeness and acceptability for global communication. The study found that the international students considered the variety of Malaysian English used in the classroom as highly intelligible with high ratings for speech rates, vocabulary and sentence structures. Malaysian English is also viewed as highly acceptable for global communication. Although the teachers’ spoken language was rated lower for pronunciation and nativenesscompared to other traits confirming the views that non-native teachers are perceived as less proficient in pronunciation compared to the other skills, the ratings were still high indicating that in general, the acrolectal variety of Malaysian English as spoken in English classes is reasonably well accepted by other non-native speakers.

Language Acquisition of Declarative and Imperative Sentences in five-year-old Children

“…These sentences allow them to communicate efficiently while navigating the complexities of language. Through simple sentences, children demonstrate their understanding of syntax, sentence structure, and their growing vocabulary (Teh & Pilus, 2019). Furthermore, the simplicity of these sentences enables children to focus on conveying their intended message without getting bogged down by intricate grammatical rules.…”

The tolerance of English instructors towards the Thai-accented English and grammatical errors

“…Kanoksilapatham (2016) similarly reports that her university student-subjects view native-English pronunciation as a favorable accent. The desire to speak like native speakers of English is quite common in Thailand as well as other countries in which English is taught as a foreign language such as China (Jieyin, 2018), Malaysia (Teh & Pilus, 2019) and Jordan (Alghazo & Zidan, 2019). Trakulkasemsuk (2012) outlines some broad components that embody the properties of Thai English.…”

Teaching Speaking Skills: Practices and Techniques in Rural Schools

“…Its vitality makes it an important contributor to language learning approaches. However, some teachers are reluctant to genuinely practise it (June & Zanariah Pilus 2019). They still employ traditional methods or conventional teaching practices which focus more on a teacher-centred approach.…”

“…Both employers and also students come to an agreement that English plays a vital role in employability (Siti Zaidah Zainuddin, Pillai, Dumanig, & Phillip 2019). Issues related to Malaysian students' inability to function well in the English language have long been highlighted by scholars (Lim, Melor Md Yunus, & Mohamed Amin Embi 2017;Chin, Lim, Mok, Saw & Tey 2017;June & Zanariah Pilus 2019).…”

“…In addressing this issue, the government had considered various incentives such as sending English teachers to courses and exchange programmes overseas to enhance their proficiency level in the language. Nevertheless, all of the strategies planned by the government would be wasted if the willingness of teachers to make changes to transform education in the country is still at the minimum level (June & Zanariah Pilus 2019). Although English Language Teaching (ELT) practices in Malaysian schools have been given much emphasis by the government, more needs to be done.…”