ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING CENTRE (ELTC)

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION MALAYSIA

Oral Proficiency in English

for Secondary Schools
(OPS-ENGLISH)

Why OPS-English?

ISSUES AND CONCERNS

Deputy Prime Minister & Minister of Education Malaysia

Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin
even after learning the language for 13

years at primary, secondary and

matriculation levels, some students still
could not master English.

students must be given the opportunity

and exposure to speak and understand
both languages.
August 2011
New Straits Times

TAN SRI MUSTAFA MANSUR

President,FMM
is very concerned over the poor
command of English among our
workforce.
Competency in English is the key to
creating a pool of competitive, highly
skilled and knowledgeable
manpower.
September 2011
New Straits Times

Research Findings
Dr. Fauziah Hassan
Faculty of Educational Studies
Universiti Putra Malaysia

Focus is on reading and writing

Most frequent activity writing exercise, grammar
and reading comprehension
Speaking & Listening least effectively developed
(little weightage)
Least used materials -Tapes, Videos, T.V.
programmes

OPS-ENGLISH:
AN MBI INITIATIVE
MBI OPS English towards KSSM integration

MBI - OPS ENGLISH TOWARDS KSSM INTEGRATION

ENGLISH LAB
Initiative: OPS English

Initiative Charter Template

Objective

To improve students listening and speaking skills

To integrate OPS English into KSSM English Language Curriculum

Rationale

Expected impact (KPI and targets)

To enhance listening and speaking skills in the teaching and learning of

English lessons in classroom

To employ fun and innovative methods to teach listening and speaking

To improve students listening and speaking skills in English
To build students confidence to speak in English
To explore the possibility of incorporating OPS English as an integral
part of KSSM English Language Curriculum

Key actions / analyses

i

Training of trainers and teachers to ensure effective delivery of OPS

English lessons in listening and speaking skills

ii

Develop teaching and learning materials and sharing of best

practices from pilot to enhance delivery of OPS English

iii

Ensure alignment of OPS English with KSSM English Language

Curriculum

iv

Continuous programme monitoring and evaluation to upkeep quality

of delivery of the programme

Funding and other support

Funding
MoF and other support
EPU

Stakeholders / key syndication required

Funding
and other
support
Kementerian
Kewangan
Bahagian Kewangan, KPM
Bahagian Pembangunan Kurikulum
Bahagian Buku Teks
Jemaah Nazir dan Jaminan Kualiti
Bahagian Pengurusan Sekolah Harian
JPN
PPDs and ELO
Owner(s)

SOURCE: English lab

12,600 lower secondary school English

teachers are trained to deliver effective
integrated listening and speaking skills
lessons to students by 2015

BPG / ELTC

MBI - OPS ENGLISH TOWARDS KSSM INTEGRATION | CASE FOR CHANGE

OPS English has conducted its pilot and response is positive

OPS English has conducted pilot study in 20 schools
nationwide

Objectives

To improve students listening skills in English

OPS English has c
To create a non-threatening environment for
speaking

To build students confidence to speak in

English

To explore fun and innovative methods in

and feedback from teachers and

students is positive
OPS English focuses on listening and
speaking. The impact on students is
marvelous - truly a success story.
Assistant District Language Officer,
Petaling Perdana

learning English
Focus

20 pilot schools across all bands

5,219 students, 60 teachers
Based on the English Language syllabus for

Content

secondary school (KBSM)

So far the response for the programme

has been very good - can see the
enthusiasm in the students.
English Language teacher,
SMK Puchong Batu 14

Adopts a back to basics approach focusing on

communication skills

Materials
utilised

SOURCE: ELTC

Students Handbook
Teachers Companion
Audio video DVD

OPS English is quite easy can help

me to speak English
Form 1 student,
SMK Puchong Batu 14

MBI - OPS ENGLISH TOWARDS KSSM INTEGRATION | SOLUTIONS OUTLINE

Some challenges from pilot have been identified to further improve

implementation of OPS English
Challenges

Lab recommendations

Teachers inability to implement the

programme particularly in conducting
lessons focused on listening and
speaking skills

1 Provide training courses to enhance

Possible mismatch between

instruction and assessment, where
assessment is prepared focusing on
reading and writing skills

2 Leverage on key learnings relating

to instruction and assessment of
listening and speaking from pilot
and share best practices

Integrating OPS English into the

KSSM in 2017

3 Align and integrate OPS English to

complement KSSM in 2017

SOURCE: ELTC; English lab

pedagogical skills for integrated

listening and speaking skills as well as
further understanding of the current
School Based Assessment

OPS-ENGLISH:

A PPPM INITIATIVE
(Wave 1)
2013 - 2015

WHAT IS OPS-ENGLISH?

Bringing back the Art of Conversation

When learning a language, it is listening and
speaking that starts off your foundation.
Reading and writing is incidental. The stronger
the foundation, the easier it is to build on
reading and writing, not the other way round.
Dr Ranjit Singh Gill, Director of ELTC
(The Star, 8 September 2012)

What is OPS-English?

It is based completely on the existing English

Language Syllabus and Curriculum
Specifications for Secondary Schools and is
merely a different realisation of the syllabus.

Components of OPS-ENGLISH
Build the students vocabulary
Provide or create non-threatening
environment for speaking
Create a supportive learning community
Give every opportunity for students to speak
the language

Objectives of OPS-ENGLISH
To listen to and understand spoken English
To build students confidence to speak
Target group: Form 1 and Form 2 students
Selection of schools: Bands 3- 6 schools
Implementation Strategy:
2012 (Form 1)

Term 1
100 % OPS-ENGLISH

2013 (Form 1 & 2)

100% OPS-ENGLISH

2014 (Form 1 & 2)

100% OPS-ENGLISH

2015 (Form 1 & 2)

100% OPS-ENGLISH

Term 2
Incorporate OPS-English into
KBSM curriculum
Incorporate OPS-English into
KBSM curriculum
Incorporate OPS-English into
KBSM curriculum
Incorporate OPS-English into
KBSM curriculum

OPS-ENGLISH
Objectives

To improve students oral communication skills

To develop students confidence in speaking in English

Target

Form 1 & 2 students in Band 3 6 schools

STRATEGY

ROLL-OUT

Semester 1 OPS-English
Semester 2 Revert to
normal teaching with OPSEnglish elements
incorporated

Year

No of
Schools

No of Lead
Trainers

2013

216

36

612
72

(From1)
(Form 2)

56,000

2014

817

180

2,728 (Form 1)
612 (Form 2)

260,500

2015

682

180

2,728 (Form 1)
2,046 (Form2)

341,000

RESOURCES

No of Teachers

No of
students

Materials are a complete but different

realization of the syllabus
Provide a large amount of input through
listening and speaking
Foster meaningful use of language
Encourage student interaction through
pair- and group-work
Support students attempts to speak
through role plays, communication
activities and simulations
Materials incorporate school-based
assessment

Programme Outcomes:
provide & equip teachers with practical and
hands-on strategies

enhance aural and oral skills amongst students

empower the students to speak the English
language through fun and non-threatening
activities

OPS-ENGLISH MATERIALS

Teaching and Learning Materials

Students Handbook

Students Handbook
10 units
Each unit:
comprises 6 pages
covers a theme from the KBSM
syllabus

Page 1: Stimulus

Page 2: Building Blocks

Page 3: Language in Action

Page 4: Language in Use

Page 5: Having Fun

Page 6: Fun in Sharing

Teachers Companion

Teachers Companion
Comprise:
Mapping of content/skills
Lesson steps for each unit

MAPPING OF UNITS

SAMPLE: CREATIVE NOTES

Lesson Steps

The Approach
3Ps Approach (Presentation, Practice, Production)
Task Based Approach (TBA)
Teacher Talk Approach (TTA)

3Ps Approach
Involves 3 stages:
1. Presentation stage: teacher presents in context
the target language item(s)
2. Practice stage: learners practice the language
item(s) via controlled practice tasks
3. Production stage: learners are given the
opportunity to use language in controlled and
meaningful situation (with/without the teacher)

TBA Approach
Begins with the objective and end product in mind.

1. Pre-task stage: teacher introduces the topic and

clarifies the task
2. Task stage: learners work collaboratively in pairs
and small groups
3. Planning stage: learners in their respective groups
work and prepare their presentations, reports etc.

Teacher Talk Approach

Focuses on the role of the teacher in the classroom
1. To model rather than to talk/instruct
2. To question rather than to tell

Audio-Video DVD

Why the Audio-Video DVD?

Comprises an Audio recording of the targeted
vocabulary in the Word list for all 10 units
Presents the vocabulary in a Powerpoint-like
presentation
Includes 10 videos to present the targeted sentence
patterns
Enhances students vocabulary
Exposes students to repeated use of the language in
context

Q&A