NG MEE MEE 780506-01-5016

INTRODUCTORY

As we know, English is the most widely used language in the world. More and more people are trying to speak in English well. What does it mean by speaking in English well? Speaking in English well simply means that a person is able to speak Standard English, which is to speak English with correct grammar and pronunciation. English plays an important role in the world. People from western and eastern countries communicate and do business with each other in English. For example, our neighbouring country, Singapore. English is the official language of the country. Singaporeans use English to communicate with each other, it shows that English is an important tool to unify the people. In other words, English plays an important role as a unifying language. In our country, Malaysia, our government has taken many steps to improve the use of English among our young people. Government spend millions of Ringgit to implement English in the teaching of Mathematics and Science programme in order to improve our young generations English. Furthermore, more and more Malaysians are trying their best to speak in English well. Majority of the Malaysians would like to master the language so as to change their lives.

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Interview:
The importance of Speaking Well in the English Language
To discuss the matter in detail, I would like to introduce our honourable guest, Madam Fong Yen Ha. She is an academician. She is the principal of SMK Chaah, Johor. She has more than 25 years of teaching experience and 15 years of experience as an administrator in secondary school. She is also active in writing, especially in writing articles, journals and novels in English.

Interviewer : Fong :

Good morning, Mdm. Fong. Im Ng . Im here to interview you for an article which Im about to write. Good morning, thank you for inviting me to this interview session. It would be glad to share my ideas and opinions with others. How can I help you? Madam, Im going to write an article on The important of Speaking Well in the English Language. Before we go any further, could you explain in detail the meaning of speak well in this context?

Interviewer :

Fong

Em Speaking well in English means to speak standard English that is to speak English with correct grammar and pronunciation. Speaking well can be divided into two categories: accuracy and fluency. Accuracy focused on correct use of grammar, vocabulary, and other skills. Fluency is the ability to speak smoothly and clearly.

Interviewer : Fong :

What is the importance of speaking well in the English language in our daily lives? Can you give me an example? Speaking well will lead to better understanding in speaking in English well. We can convey our ideas and thoughts clearly and effectively, avoid misunderstanding and communication breaks down. The listeners are in no doubt about what we said. If you give information in English verbally, you 1

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are unable to speak well, ultimately, you will cause great trouble that involves killing peoples lives if it happening an emergency case. For example, if an accident occurred in one place and you were the only witness of the accident and had to make an emergency call for ambulance, fire brigade or police. Mumbling, slurring or bad pronunciation may cause misunderstanding. Because of this misunderstanding, any delay may cause the death of a person. Due to the explosive of language world wide, English plays a vital role. Interviewer : Is there any action taken by our government especially Educational Department to improve our young generations usage of English especially oral communication? Fong : Actually, our former prime minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohammad realised the importance of English language by implementing the teaching of Mathematics and Science programme. Even though this programme has been implemented for 6 years, this programme might be reviewed. Some Malaysians disagree with the implementation of ETeMS because teaching Mathematics and Science in English is a hard task for those teachers who are not able to speak well in English. They faced a lot of difficulties in teaching these two subjects. They find it difficult to express the concepts, ideas and thoughts because of language barriers. They just dont know how express themselves in English. If the lessons were carried out in their mother tongue, they can easily go about it. Interviewer : Fong : Do you think speaking well English is important for our career? Yesbecause as we know as the days go by, English is so widely spoken, it is often referred to as a world language. It is the worlds second largest native language. English can be at least understand almost everywhere among scholars and educated people, as it is the world media language, language of cinemas, TVs, pop music and the computer world. 2

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Interviewer : Fong :

Then, why is speaking proper English important for our career? A number of studies have demonstrated that those who have advanced knowledge of the English language either in the field of writing or speaking are more likely to advance their careers. Erin addition to this, those studies has also demonstrated that a strong command of English will lead to higher paying jobs, more social mobility, and a great deal of social success. However, if you want to surpass your colleagues, and be more marketable, you need to have a powerful command of the language.

Interviewer : Fong :

Will the factor of not speaking well in English or poor command of English fail us during job interviews? Certainly, it will, because in most cases, jobs which offer higher salaries will have higher levels of competition, and even if youre qualified, one mistake during the interview will kill the chances of success. As a result, having a good command of English and being well-prepared before job interviews will lead to success.

Interviewer : Fong :

Besides the points that weve discussed just now, what are your view of other important reasons of speaking well in English? Uhwe can see that English is the ideal language for many countries around the world, and it is also prominent in education, communication world news and business. So, if you wish to be successful in international business, learning English is really important. In many places such as Asia, the ability to learn English will determine who will increase their living standards, and will also remain in poverty.

Interviewer : Fong :

Besides the importance of speaking well in English affecting our daily lives, business and education, do you think it is important for international travel? Of cause. Much of the information about those countries is in English. English is spoken in large hotels and tourist attractions, at air ports, and in shops that tourist frequent. There are newspapers printed in English, and TV 3

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news are available in English. Tours are almost always conducted in English. Even in countries where for people speak English on the street, people who work with tourists generally speak English. In some countries even drivers or buses or cab drivers and sellers at the stalls speak English. Interviewer : Now, back to our topic, it seems like just a few western countries like the United States of America, the United Kingdom and Canada use English language in their governance, dont you think so? Fong : Oh, no! In many former British colonies, English is still used as a medium of communication. English is widely used in Hong Kong, Singapore, the Philippines and even Malaysia. They are 16 countries in Africa have retained English as the language of governance. Interviewer : We have come to the end of the interview. As we have seen, by speaking well in English language is just like having an international passport which enables you to communicate effectively. An ability in speaking well in English means you can convey your thoughts or ideas effectively, clearly and concisely. Speaking well in English is a skill which enables one to gain business, enable teachers to deliver knowledge more effectively, travel freely without barrier and get a higher paying job. Once again, I would like to express my thankfulness to Mdm. Fong for your time. Thank you. Fong : Youre welcome.

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Article:
The importance of Speaking Well in the English Language
It is a fact that English is the most widely used language in the world. More and more people are trying to speak in English well. Therefore, this months issue is The importance of Speaking well in English. Speaking well in English means that a person is able to speak English in fluently and accurately. English plays an important role in the world. People from western and eastern countries communicate and do business with each other in English. For example, our neighbouring country, Singapore. English is the official language of the country. Singaporeans use English to communicate with each other, it shows that English is an important tool to unify the people. In other words, English plays an important role as a unifying language. There are many reasons as to why speaking well in English language is important. In our country, Malaysia, our government has taken many steps to improve the use of English among our young people. The government has spent millions of ringgit to implement English in the teaching of Mathematics and Science programme in order to improve our young generations English. Furthermore, more and more Malaysians are trying their best to speak well in English. A majority of Malaysians would like to master the language as to change their live. For this purpose, we have interviewed an academician, Madam Fong Yen Ha who has enlightened us on this topic. She gave us some valuable information. She is the principal of SMKChaah,Johor. She has more than 25 years ofteaching experience and 15 years of experience as an administrator in secondary school. She is also active in writing, especially in writing articles, journals and novels in English. The meaning of speak well in this context is speaking fluently and accurately. Accuracy focused on correct use of grammar, vocabulary, and other skills. Fluency is the ability to speak smoothly and clearly. 5

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Firstly, speaking well in the English language is important in our daily lives because it will lead to a better understanding among those among us. We can convey our ideas and thoughts clearly and effectively, avoid misunderstanding and communication break downs. The listeners are in no doubt about what we have said. If we give information in English verbally and we are unable to speak well, ultimately, we will cause great trouble that might involve killing peoples lives if it happens in an emergency case. For example, if an accident occurred in one place and you were the only witness of the accident and had to make an emergency call for ambulance, fire brigade or police. Mumbling, slurring or bad pronunciation may cause misunderstanding. Because of this misunderstanding, any delay may cause the death of a person. There are certain fields of work where this is very important, like the job of an Air-controller when speaking to an aircraft pilot. It is equally important in giving instructions in English. When evacuating people from a burning building, captain of a ship and teaching first aid. In relationship, it is important to speak in English well so as to have a clear unambiguous communication to avoid misunderstanding. Secondly, due to the explosive of language world wide, English plays a vital role. There are many actions have been taken by our government especially the Educational Department to improve our young generations usage of English especially oral communication .Actually, our former prime minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohammad realized the importance of English language by implementing the teaching of Mathematics and Science programme. Even though this programme has been implemented for 6 years, this programme might be reviewed. Some Malaysians disagree with the implementation of ETeMS because teaching Mathematics and Science in English is a hard task for those teachers who are not able to speak well in English. They faced a lot of difficulties in teaching these two subjects. They find it difficult to express the concepts, ideas and thoughts because of language barriers. They just do not know how express themselves in English. If the lessons were carried out in their mother tongue, they can easily go about it. 6

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Thirdly, speaking well in English is very important in business, government, international relations. English is the main language of international business, diplomacy, and science.It is a common language that a Russian businessman and a Japanese businesswoman are likely to use to communicate. English is an official language of many professional and international organizations, including the United Nations.It is usually the language of international conferences, and international athletics. Most commodities such as silver, gold, and hard currency are traded in English. Throughout the world, many professional papers are published in English. Even papers that are published in other languages often have abstracts in English.English is used in government and as a medium of communication among people who do not have another language in common.. (http://funeasyenglish.com/english-facts-why-should-you-learn-glish.htm) If we speak English in a manner that is eloquent, this will create a powerful impression. Most of us are familiar with people appearances, but the manner in speaking is also important. Even if were dressed nicely, using poor English will show that we are wolves in sheeps clothing. We might look nice on the outside, but we are not so nice on the inside. To succeed, we must focus on our appearance as well as our manner of speaking. This is especially true for those who live in English speaking countries such as the United States of America or Great Britain. People who speak English have a certain status in society. glish.htm That is another idea that mentioned by Mdm. Fong is speaking well English is important for our career. For example, there are sixteen countries in Africa have retained English as the language of government. Now standard English is taught in schools in those countries, because it is necessary for careers. As the days go by, English is so widely spoken; it is often referred to as a world language. It is the worlds second largest native language. There are over 400 million native English speakers worldwide and there are over 500 million speakers of English as a second or foreign language. 900 million people using English, out of a total world population of about 6.7 billion people, 7 (http://funeasyenglish.com/english-facts-why-should-you-learn-

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is only 15% of the total population. Then why is English so important? The importance of English is not in the number of speakers, but what English is used for. (http://funeasyenglish.com/english-facts-why-should-you-learn-glish.htm) English can be at least understand almost everywhere among scholars and educated people, as it is the world media language, language of cinemas, TVs, pop music and the computer world. A number of studies have demonstrated that those who have advanced knowledge of the English language either in the field of writing or speaking are more likely to advance their careers. Based on the studies, they have also demonstrated that a strong command of English will lead to higher paying jobs, more social mobility, and a great deal of social success. However, if you want to surpass your colleagues, and make yourself more marketable, you will need to increase you English skills (http://www.exforsys.com/career-center/english-vocabulary/why-speaking-properenglish-is-important.html) In addition to this, the factors of not speaking well in English or poor command of English also will fail us during job interviews. In most cases, jobs which offer higher salaries will have higher levels of competition, and even if we are qualified, one mistake during the interview will kill the chances of success. As a result, having a good command of English and being well-prepared before job interviews will lead to success. We know that English is the ideal language for many countries around the world, and it is also prominent in education, communication world news and business. So, if we wish to be successful in international business, learning English is really important. In many places such as Asia, the ability to learn English will determine who will increase their living standards, and will also remain in poverty. Besides that, speaking English well is ones basic needs especially to new comers who move to a country whereby the official language is English. In the United States and Canada, the immigrants especially from the Asia countries would need to speak well in English as it helps them to obtain new or better jobs, to communicate with others and solve their daily problems. Those, who can speak well in English, can easily get jobs which are related to their preferred fields.

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On the other hand, speaking well in English is important for international travel. Much of the information about those countries is in English. English is spoken in large hotels and tourist attractions, at air ports, and in shops that tourist frequent. There are newspapers printed in English, and TV news are available in English. Tours are almost always conducted in English. Even in countries where for people speak English on the street, people who work with tourists generally speak English. In some countries even drivers or buses or cab drivers and sellers at the stalls speak English. (http://funeasyenglish.com/english-facts-why-should-you-learn-glish.htm) Mdm. Fong also told us that not only just a few western countries like the United States of America, the United Kingdom and Canada use English language in their governance.In many former British colonies, English is still used as a medium of communication. English is widely used in Hong Kong, Singapore, the Philippines and even Malaysia. They are 16 countries in Africa have retained English as the language of governance. As a conclusion, speaking well in English language is just like having an international passport which enables us to communicate effectively. An ability in speaking well in English means we can convey our thoughts or ideas effectively, clearly and concisely. Speaking well in English is a skill which enables one to gain business, enable teachers to deliver knowledge more effectively, travel freely without barrier and get a higher paying job.

NG MEE MEE 780506-01-5016