Being Malaysian, my personal experience tells me that most Asian educational institutions are still obsessed with the colonial mentality of only preferring or wanting native speakers as English teachers. Having said that, of course, hesitantly, I would also admit that native knowledge of the English language is not an automatic passport to work anywhere abroad, but people from South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the USA The UK obviously has a better chance, when it goes toe-to-toe with another equally if not better qualified candidate, say from Malaysia, to secure an English teaching job.
Malaysia was a former British colony. We are also members of the Commonwealth. English is taught in schools from primary to upper secondary, and continues through the tertiary levels to obtain the first degree, the master’s degree and the doctorate in the subject itself. English is the second language of the country and the most widely spoken throughout the country besides the native Malay language. Most of our crème de la crème are educated at prestigious institutions in the UK and the US, comfortably confirming themselves to the demands of the language, being the Lingua franca of the world. For a population of less than 30 million, Malaysia has some of the best English-language newspapers and tabloids in Southeast Asia, circulating to a wide range of readers. In addition to the current flourishing of news media, there are more and more local news portals written in English that cater to all strata of global society, regardless of whether they are local or international.
In the judicial development of the country since independence in 1957, being a former British colony, this was the catalyst for its policy makers to anticipate and emulate British common law, which became the laws of the country. The Malaysian Government recognizes only a handful of institutions from the UK, Australia, Singapore (affiliated with the University of London) and New Zealand where the degrees offered by these institutions are accepted as the only degrees permitted to practice law in the courts of Malaysia. Malaysia. I am a product of the same brilliant British-based Malaysian education system, so where did I go wrong to even be refused an interview for an English teaching job in Japan, once? Ironically, I have been successfully working my craft for the last eight years outside of Malaysia, previously employed at an international school in Surabaya in Java, and now in Medan, North Sumatra. Both international schools operate under the education curriculum of Singapore, another former British colony and member of the Commonwealth. The makeup of these two schools is mostly made up of students from wealthy backgrounds, including some of their foreign-educated siblings and parents. Most of the above students begin a journey to take O’ and A’ levels before continuing their tertiary education in countries of their own choosing. Preferred destinations are the US, UK, Australia, and Singapore.
A simple click on Wikipedia will reveal that Singapore’s education system has been described as “world leading” and in 2010 was among those singled out for praise from former UK Conservative Education Secretary Michael Gove. The Singapore Government spends around 20 per cent of the annual national budget on education. An education group called Pearson had conducted a study comparing measurable things like grades and ranking different countries on the success of their education system.
Key findings reported for the year 2015/16 showed that most East Asian countries have the best education system in the world. These nations continue to outperform others. South Korea leads the ranking, followed by Japan (2nd), Singapore (3rd) and Hong Kong (4th). My key focus here is Singapore, a nation born of independence from its colonial masters, following the breakup of a brief period of association with Malaysia. Despite the extraordinary economic growth achieved by this island nation, there is not much that favors preferential treatment for Singapore at the expense of Malaysia. Both countries have more or less the same racial diversity, the same potpourri of cultures, traditions and religions. Even the education system is based on the same British system, adjusted and fine-tuned to meet the respective local consumption of the two countries and meet the criteria set out in their respective national education plans and philosophies. If I can penetrate the Singapore education system with my Malaysian qualification, especially by securing a job as an English teacher in these institutions, wouldn’t it be an exaggeration to say that both countries are far apart in terms of their education? policies and achievements? Japan is second, only one place above Singapore and I was denied for not being a native speaker.
Does native accent replace non-native substance? Does native accent replace non-native talent? Some educational institutions in a Southeast Asian country neighboring Malaysia even went so far as to hire low-budget tourists, who in the course of their travels, out of options, turned to work to earn some extra money to continue their travels, such as an interim remedy. measure to cover the quotas of English teachers. In fact, I understand that these are private schools and they have the right to employ whoever they deem ‘right’ to be in their organization. However, the same cannot be said for their clients: students who I believe come from all walks of life.
There are many Asian countries that consider Asian faces unsuitable for teaching English. They are too attached to the idea that only Westerners, regardless of their country of origin, will make good English teachers. This is politically incorrect, and the stereotypical notion that most Caucasians speak better English than Asians, and therefore will make better teachers, needs to be addressed before the education sector becomes embroiled in a struggle not to lose equality of conditions in the international arena. .
