Teachers’ perception towards malay students’ performance of english language in Marang District / Mohd Sabri Ibrahim

English Language is a compulsory subject taught in the Malaysian school curriculum beginning at the very first year of schooling, Year One. After five years in primary school the pupils will sit for Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) examination in Year Six. The students will then attend secondary school, and sit for two more examinations, which are the Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR) and Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM). The results of these examinations are always used as yardstick to determine the students’ level of proficiency and the school performance including the English language.
In relation to the English results, it is generally considered that the schools in urban areas have scored better than those in the rural areas. However, there are varying degree of achievement in English among students in urban schools as well. The different levels of achievement among schools whether urban or rural are to be expected even though students have gone through the same English curriculum from Year One to Form Five.
There are many factors contributing to the level of performance of students in English especially in the rural areas. Factors such as lack of exposure and family background are obvious in influencing their performance. However, these factors are not the prime factors because there is evidence of students who can still achieve good results in English even though they are from non-English speaking background and have studied in rural schools.