michaelgroves
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Pushing the envelope
February 25, 2014
In Michael Rosen‘s recent book, he talks about how he was taught to address envelopes when he was a schoolboy in the 50s and 60s. He describes in great deal the care that had to be taken with the placement of commas, the alignment of the text, and the fact that it was obligatory to end a man’s (not …
CEFR on Malaysian shores
February 13, 2014
The Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) is widely used in Europe to describe language proficiency. CELE tutor, Salomy Krishna, recently attended a symposium to discuss whether it should be implemented in Malaysia. Below are her thoughts. In its ongoing efforts to transform language education in Malaysia, the Ministry of Education has over the years implemented many changes, some controversial …
The Essentiality of Reading
February 3, 2014
CELE Tutor Yan Lai Peen reflects on the value, importance and enjoyment of extensive reading The mention of books and reading evokes one of these emotions – excitement, dread, or nonchalance – depending on who we are and how we grew up. As I grew up in a house where the television set was dominated …
Critical Thinking: State of the Union (Malaysia)
January 9, 2014
One of the CELE tutors, Wong Yao Hing, examines the teaching of critical thinking, and its place in education. Inculcating the ability of students to think critically has always been a weak link in the system of education that is practised in Malaysia. In the recently released Malaysian Education Blueprint 2013-2025, the Ministry of Education …
A Vicious Cycle (Part Two)
December 3, 2013
Yan Lai Peen continues her discussion of the Human Capital that a sound knowledge of English can provide In the last blog post, I wrote about the necessity of knowing when to use standard grammar as an educator and asserted that an educational institution is where students acquire linguistic capital, especially if it is a …
A Vicious Cycle
November 13, 2013
One of the CELE staff teaching , Yan Lai Peen reflects on the teaching of English in Malaysia, and the human capital it can provide…….. In the previous blog entry, the writer considers the gaps in the recent EF English Proficiency Index, in which Malaysia ranks 11th in the world. However, merely two months ago, …
Why international measures of English may not be so clear
November 7, 2013
Recently, English First, a global language teaching chain released the results of a survey of global English Language proficiency. In first place came Sweden, then Norway, and a slew of other European nations. Malaysia came top in Asia and 11th globally, beating Singapore into 12th place, and India came quite some way back. So, at …
Taking part in discussions
October 9, 2013
Some students find it difficult to take part in discussions, especially in English, and especially about complicated subjects. However, discussion is like many things, the more you put in, the more you get out. Below are some tips from the CELE senior tutor, Melissa Yoong, about what to do if this applies to you 1. …
A new self study resource
September 25, 2013
The British Council has a resource at http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/writing-purpose/introduction to help academic writers Based on extensive analysis of large collections of Academic Writing from British Universities, it helps students at all levels meet the expectations of academic writing.
What is “Proper” English? Part Two
September 10, 2013
In the previous post, I asked the question “What is proper English”? The English spoken around the world differs in many ways- Americans write “color” and pronounce the final “r”- the English write “Colour” and the “r” is silent. There are also plenty of examples of similar differences between Malaysian English and British English- grammatical …
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