6/20/2017 BenefitsoflearningMathsandScienceinEnglishLetters|TheStarOnline

Letters
Home>Opinion>Letters

Tuesday,28July2015

BenefitsoflearningMathsandSciencein
English

LOOKINGback,Ihadoneofthemostenjoyablelearning
experiencesinschoolwheremyteacherstaughtMathematics
andScienceinEnglish.

Growingupinamultiracialsociety,theEnglishlanguagewasa
commongroundformanyofustoconversewithoneanother.

Sinceprimaryschool,Ihavefullyutilisedmygeneralknowledge
fromSciencelessonsineverydaylife.Forinstance,theterm
heatresistanttaughtmehowsomeobjectsliketablematsor
woolcanresistheat.

AsIenjoyedlearningaboutanimalspecies,Icouldlookup
EnglishwrittenencyclopediasandmakeuseoftheInternetto
furtherdiscovernewthingsfromwhatIhadlearntinschool.I
alsolikedusingavarietyofreferencebookswhenstudying,
whetherpublishedlocallyorinternationally.Thisincreasedmy
interestinlearning.

LearningMathematicsinEnglishhashelpedmebuildan
understandingofsimpleMath.Asmostuniversitycourses
requiremathematics,Ihavebeenabletofurtherapplyand
rememberwhatIvelearnedinschooltoamoretertiarylevel
becausethebasicformulasremainthesame.

AsIamcurrentlyauniversityundergraduatepursuingaBA
(Hons)Englishdegree,Istillhavetodopresentationswhich
requirestatisticsandgraphs,equationsandformulaswhereall
theMathematicaltermsareinEnglish.Therefore,havinglearnt
themearlierinEnglishdefinitelypreparedmebeforehand.

http://www.thestar.com.my/opinion/letters/2015/07/28/benefitsoflearningmathsandscienceinenglish/ 1/2
6/20/2017 BenefitsoflearningMathsandScienceinEnglishLetters|TheStarOnline

Ialsowouldnthavebeenabletofunctionwellwiththecomputer
toworkonmypresentationsandassignmentswithoutknowing
howtostructuremywordsinEnglishatanacademiclevel.

Itsbenefitsgoalongwayandpreparesonefortheworkfield.
Speakingfromexperience,Iamcurrentlyonaninternshipwitha
renownedadvertisingcompanyasacopywriter,andthedemand
tobeabletounderstand,write,andspeakinEnglishwellis
extremelyhigh,asIhavetoensurethecopiescontainaccurate
English,beitspelling,grammar,andsentencestructure.

IhaveinterviewedsomefriendsfromtheAxiataYoungTalent
Programme(AYTP)camptosharetheirexperiencesonhow
learningMathematicsandScienceinEnglishhashelpedthem.

AkramYusof,24,stated:IdidMathandScienceinEnglishin
highschool.Thathelpedmytransitionwellintocollege,ifnotI
probablywouldntunderstandthejargon.

AzimIzzuddin,24,added:Itwasveryhelpfulformeresearch
wise.Allscientifictermsandmathematicalequationsarein
English.IfIweretoabstractitinBahasaMelayu,Iwouldlackin
resourcesandreferences.

OthersagreedhowlearningMathematicsandScienceinEnglish
hadhelpedthemsurviveandsucceedinuniversityaswellasin
theirdailylives.

Finally,IwouldliketoremindMalaysianshowbeneficialthe
Englishlanguageisforthefuture.

AsFrankSmithputit,Onelanguagesetsyouinacorridorfor
life.Twolanguagesopenseverydooralongtheway.

TENGKUANISAH

SwanseaUniversity,UK

TAGS/KEYWORDS:
letteronlearningmathsandscienceinenglish

http://www.thestar.com.my/opinion/letters/2015/07/28/benefitsoflearningmathsandscienceinenglish/ 2/2