The Malay College Kuala Kangsar
NAKAJIMA Toru

Key Devices in Malaysia’s Secondary Education

At the Malay College Kuala Kangsar, studying a foreign language is a compulsory subject, and students can choose from among four foreign languages. Ingenuity is needed to ensure that the languages do not end up fighting amongst themselves to attract learners from among the 120 new students who enroll each year. To achieve that, it is essential that the people representing each language constantly maintain a relationship of good communication. It is important that the Japanese language department does not plan an event of some kind on its own, but instead holds it with the cooperation of all the foreign languages. I think it will be useful if learning a foreign language increases students’ motivation for learning other subjects, and in addition, that it serves as an opportunity for them to understand their own culture (Malaysian cultural understanding). With that in mind I would like to introduce four points to remember.

(1) Ingenuity for Cultivating Students’ Understanding of Japanese People

The learning goals of secondary school learners differ greatly to those in so-called higher educational institutions, who want to study in Japan or get a job at a Japanese company.

At the front lines of secondary education, students’ motivation is for the most part easily encouraged and at the same time easily cooled. It is temporary, transient and impulsive.

When newly-enrolled students are surveyed, the results show that a large number have a pretty accurate knowledge of where Hokkaido and Mount Fuji are located on a map, possibly because there are now direct flights from Malaysia to Sapporo, Hokkaido. There are also some students who already know some expressions in Japanese, such as greetings. However, when it comes to Japanese people, the students’ knowledge is extremely weak, and in particular, while they may know a little about Japanese historical figures, most are unable to answer when asked to cite a modern Japanese figure. They can only name Anime writers or popular singing groups, and it appears that their interest in Japan follows a steady downhill course, in the following order:

(1) Japanese-made → (2) Japan → (3) Japanese language → (4) Japanese people.

In light of this, I held classes in which I used simple terms to convey Japanese peoples’ values and the things that Japanese people consider as important (such as punctuality, cleaning and greetings), and explored what areas were similar to Malaysia. I realized that in the name of cross-cultural understanding, rather than citing the areas that differ between the two countries, what matters is to look for common areas and give the students a feeling of kinship with Japan.

(2) Ingenuity for Cultivating Students’ Understanding of Their Own Culture

There are also many students who do not have a good grasp of Malaysia or its culture.

Coming up with an explanation for why each member of a Japanese household has a set of chopsticks for their personal use, or why Japanese chopsticks are a different shape and material to chopsticks in China and Korea is no easy task. Similarly, if students are asked to explain – without relying on abstract concepts such as its traditional, religious or customary – why they eat rice with their hands, many are at a loss to answer.

A swimming contest was held at the school the other day. It is a boys’ school, and on the day in question female teachers were forbidden from entering, which meant, in other words, that all the staff and students present were males. So why did the students wear bathing suits that did not expose their legs? Explaining this situation to Japanese children is in fact very difficult. When giving “living lessons,” there are a large number of hints or tricks that can be found outside of textbooks. What is demanded is an intuitive “sense of smell” from Japanese-language teachers in possession of flexible mindsets.

A Japanese cultural introduction lesson

(3) An Approach of not Putting Up National Borders

Preparing for a cheering squad contest

As is the trend worldwide, K-pop is booming in Malaysia also. As someone born in the Showa period (1926–1989), the fact is that to me this is quite irritating. Supporting and recommending only J-pop to these students, who are capable of empathy that goes beyond their nationality whether it be for a song or a video, is unacceptable. It is necessary to have the flexibility to use whatever means we have to lift students’ motivation for learning. The quantity of information they have at their disposal through the Internet is enormous, and while they are inexperienced when it comes to conveying information themselves, they are hungry when it comes to taking information onboard. And furthermore, they combine that information indiscriminately. More than a few Japanese teachers of the Japanese language will declare: “Taekwondo? It's Korean, I don’t know it.” When it comes to the things that will stimulate students’ five senses, there are no national borders.

In July last year an international languages festival was held that brought together the individuals who oversee the compulsory foreign language subjects (French, Chinese, Arabic and Japanese). Foreign language learners from secondary educational institutions in the vicinity as well as ambassadors and consul generals from the respective countries, educators and graduates were also invited to the event and experienced the language and cultural characteristics of each country. Taking care to not deliberately limit events to the Japanese language alone may well be necessary going forward also.

(4) Ways of Increasing the Number of People who Have Visited Japan Before

There are close to 40 teachers at the school. All are Malays and as such are Muslims. There are no Chinese or Indians. Quite a large number of the teachers have overcome these religious constraints to travel to Japan several times. The school principal is also Malay, but has visited Japan three times and also knows greetings in Japanese. The school also offers an opportunity for a school trip to Japan every year. During those trips, in addition to presenting opportunities for the students to enjoy being able to make themselves understood in Japanese, it is also necessary to create settings that ensure they have chances to come together with people of their own age group. Many students do not fully understand just what an unforgettable experience it can be to actually meet and have a verbal conversation, as opposed to having friends online. One of the most effective methods for boosting motivation for learning at the front lines of secondary schools is to come up with and implement new programs for interacting with Japan, increase the number of people who have visited Japan, if only by a few people, and have them discuss that experience in class and share Japan’s good points and bad points.