Here's a little background about me and what I used to do. I used to teach diploma students English (in preparation for MUET). I know,VERY NERDY of me. I have nothing against the students. I have major issues with the system.
For many years now since I quit my job (including lecturing), my mum had been trying to get me back to teaching English. She'd send me job openings about universities wanting English teachers. She'd also push me to doing my masters so that I can teach Bachelors Degree programs.
To be honest,I have been holding back on doing my masters coz I am just having way too much fun doing things I like. I have the materials for my research already. Not sure if they are still relevant but if I could just sit and take the time to write a damn thesis,I'd have my masters degree in no time. Ok, I am just not in the mood for it now.
But back to the job opening, I have a problem getting into a system whereby you as a teacher has the mindset of kids with bad English come from certain areas. English is NOT their first language. It's not most of our first language. In case they haven't realized, kids grow up in households speaking languages like Malay, Hokkien,Cantonese,Mandarin,Tamil,Urdhu and so on........
What I'm getting at is that back in uni,we had to do Arabic as a graduating requirement. Our lecturers were well aware that most of us do NOT speak Arabic at home. They don't come into class with a certain mindset that discriminates non-Arabic speaking students from those who are already fluent Arabic speakers. In fact,the Arabic speaking kids are more than open to help us learn Arabic and pass our papers. If we lack the basics,they'd tell us to do the right thing by quitting that class that semester to not ruin our scores and help us work on the basics before attempting a class.
Similarly, you cannot set an expectation towards students especially if they are not even speaking English as a first language. Some of us grew up speaking English and we had a whole lot of practice and exposure to the language. You can't expect these kids to pass an exam within a short period of time and then penalize them and label them as though they are bad students. It's a language class. You as the educator need to get with the damn program!
HELP THEM!
I was thrown into teaching a class with absolutely zero teaching training and capabilities. I had a syllabus guide and some materials to work with. Out of my own effort, I gauged the kids by having them write out an open topic essay just to see what exactly I was dealing with. All I can say is that these kids needed help and more time to get their basics straight before attempting the test.
Here's what I intend to do. I'm gonna teach basic English for pre-university students as well as anyone who needs help getting the basics of English FOR FREE. I also have experience in teaching English to working people while I was working with them. I'd totally teach FOR FREE.
