A study of student-centered vs teacher-centered in teaching literature to students with intermediate English Language proficiency / Nazima Ismail

In Malaysian education, the English Language is considered as a second language after Bahasa Melayu. English Language is taught at all Malaysian schools and it is one of the core subjects in school. In Bahasa Melayu, Malaysian students need to learn ‘kesusasteraan’ component in order to enhance the language the same as English Language where students also need to learn the language through literature component. Effective approaches used in teaching and learning literature in this language will help students successfully acquire the language. Teacher-centred approach and student-centred approach are popular approaches in teaching and learning this language. Some teachers prefer to use teacher-centred approach or student-centred approach without considering about students’ English proficiency level and due to this problem, students are unable to acquire the language as well as what has been targeted in the teaching and learning objective. This study investigated the most effective approach that should be used in literature class for students with intermediate level of English proficiency. In order to obtain the data, 33 set of questionnaire were distributed to the respondents from Sekolah Menengah Padang Pulut Dungun, Terengganu. The result revealed that teacher prefers to use teacher- centred to students with intermediate level of English proficiency and students prefer to have student-centred approach in learning literature. The study offers additional reflection to the reflection to the teachers in providing education to students with intermediate level of English proficiency with interview results.