ELC501 ARTICLE ANALYSIS (PRINTED)

ELC 501

ENGLISH FOR CRITICAL ACADEMIC READING



ARTICLE ANALYSIS:

QUALITY EDUCATION TO SUSTAIN GROWTH



"NAME "STUDENT ID "
"NASHIHIN BINTI ZAMREE "2016552229 "
"NURUL AISHAH HADA BINTI MAH SAINI "2016727979 "


DATE OF SUBMISSION:

10th JULY 2017







ARTICLE ANALYSIS




In the article "Quality Education to Sustain Growth" the author discussed
issue on whether the quality of education system in Malaysia needs to be
improved or not. The author used deductive manner in the text because it
starts with general point to specific point. The author's argument on this
topic is negative because the article is discussing about the pessimistic
side of education system in Malaysia. The argument is about the quality of
education system in Malaysia which is not at the best standard. The
author's purpose for writing this article is to let readers know that the
quality of education system in Malaysia is not at the good standard. The
author's tone on this article is biased because the author has a negative
attitude towards Malaysia educations system that lead to the lack of
English skill and underperformed students, the lack of qualified teaching
staff and Malaysia which struggling with a lot of educational problems. The
author's intended audiences to read this article are, Ministry of
Education, Ministry of Higher Education, parents and teachers.

The author's present his first reason by mentioning that students in
Malaysia could not speak English fluently which reflected the level of
English in Malaysia among students. He supports this using a strong
evidence by providing a personal experience by HOMEMAKER Jean Lourdes (not
her real name). She had a tough time communicating with a young local sales
attendant while looking for some organic vegetables in an upscale
supermarket in the Klang Valley recently. It appeared the young sales
attendant, who spoke minimum English, could not understand the term organic
vegetables, and hence, directed Lourdes out of the upscale supermarket
which in fact, did sell organic vegetables. She said "This may be a small
matter, but I'm certainly concerned about this trend… it adds to the
existing signs of deteriorating level of English in our country" says
Lourdes.

His second reason by mentioning the quality of education system in
Malaysia does not tally with the Malaysia's economic growth. He supports
this using research based on report by the World Bank reiterated that the
quality of education in Malaysia has simply not kept pace with country's
economic development and this is shown based on evidence on the poor
performance of Malaysian students in the Programme for International
Student Assessment (PISA). PISA is an international assessment that measure
15-year-old students' skills and knowledge in reading, mathematics and
science literacy developed by the Organization for Economic Co-operations
and Development (OECD). Another support is an expert opinion by World Bank
where in the 2012 assessment, Malaysian students were found to have
underperformed all other East Asian countries except Indonesia. Performance
of Malaysians students in key areas, including the command of English
language, also seemed to be deteriorating.

His last reason by mentioning Malaysia had low quality educators. He
supports this by using a study by World Bank. According to the World Bank,
while Malaysia is not short of teachers, there are significant concerns
about their quality, even as recent studies have identified a lack of
qualified teachers as the top constraint in the country's education system.
Another support is based on a survey where a Teaching and Learning
International Survey in 2009, found that 46% of school principals in the
country considered a lack of qualified teaching staff as a major
constraint. Even the Education Ministry had admitted that in recent years,
some candidates enrolling in teacher training institutions did not meet the
minimum requirements of academic achievement at the secondary level.

Overall, the author's argument is consistent where he keeps discussing
about the bad side of Malaysia education system from the start till the end
of the article. The author's argument is not complete because he does not
overcome with opposing point which is the positive side of Malaysia
education system. The author's argument is objective because he supports
the facts with clear and strong evidence and all the evidence came from
well-established organizations. The author's argument has credibility
because the argument is convincing where all the facts can be verified also
well-supported. The argument is valid because the author uses logical and
strong evidence.