Language Policy.

Background.
SMK Sungai Tapang, located in Kota Sentosa, Kuching, Sarawak has a population
of over 2, 000 students comprising mainly the Chinese, and a minority of
Malays, Ibans and Bidayuhs and very few Indians. All these racial groups speak
different mother tongues but they are all required to learn Bahasa Malaysia as
the first language and English as the second language. Thus, all of them can
speak in these two languages, even though, at different levels of proficiency.
Because of their diverse racial, cultural and ethnic backgrounds, different
languages such as Mandarin and other Chinese dialects, Bahasa Malaysia,
English, Iban, Bidayuh and the local Malay dialect are used widely in this school.
Bahasa Malaysia is used as the language of instruction to teach all the subjects
except for Mathematics and the science subjects which are taught in English until
2017. Mandarin is also offered to those students who are interested in the
subject. As the majority of the students are from the Mandarin medium primary
schools, many have a poor command and understanding of Bahasa Malaysia
and English.

There is a great difficulty categorising the students into the two levels of
language groups, language and literature or language acquisition. Since,
majority of the students are of Chinese origin who use Mandarin as the medium
of instruction in the primary school, Mandarin is widely used, but because
Bahasa Malaysia is the national language and the medium of instruction in the
secondary school and English is the chosen second language, these two
languages are also widely used. Nevertheless, none of these three languages
are the students mother tongue, as the Chinese students actual mother
tongues are the different local Chinese dialects such as Hakka, Hokien, Teo
Chiew, Foo Chow, Hainan, just to name a few, and the Malays mother tongue is
the Sarawak Malay dialect whereas the Ibans and Bidayuhs have their own
dialects too. The Bidayuhs face an even daunting task of defining their mother
tongue as all the four major splinter groups have different dialects which are
barely understood the other group. On the other hand, the majority of the
Bidayuhs, Ibans and the Malays attending this school are also Chinese educated
in the primary school , hence they are able to speak Mandarin too. Thus, the
majority of the students do speak at least two or three languages. Nevertheless,
none of their mother tongue are taught in school.
As there is no prominent and clear line to define whether students can be
categorised as the first language group, language and literature or the second
language group, language acquisition, a system to classify them into these two
categories is used. To this effect, the public examination and/or the school
examination results is used to decide which students fall into the respective
language groups. To further reinforce the credibility of the categorisation,

further assessment of the students language proficiency through reports and

verification from the language subject teachers are utilised.
As an IB school, we recognize that students have diverse linguistic backgrounds
and that their mother tongues are not the language of instruction in the school.
Hence, it is necessary for us to be open-minded and tolerant of these
limitations and the students difficulties in using and understanding the
language of instruction, and then appreciate that there is a need to use
different languages, inside and outside the classrooms, to enable students to
understand what transpired. As we embrace linguistic and cultural diversities,
we hope that this will help to bring about international-mindedness amongst our
students.
Language of instruction. The language of instruction in all the classes is
Bahasa Malaysia, except for the subject English language, Mandarin and the
Science and Mathematics subjects which will use English until 2017.
Sometimes, when there is a dire need to do so, the mother tongue is also used
to enable students to understand the lesson better. To further develop the
students potential in Bahasa Malaysia and English, we emphasize that all
teachers are not only subject teachers but they are also language teachers.
Correcting language. As language is an important medium which is used to
impart content knowledge and to illustrate ideas both orally and in the written
form, teachers must correct the language errors in assignments done by
students in all subjects. This is in line with the IB requirement of emphasizing
that all teachers are language teachers.
School assemblies. Bahasa Malaysia is used during the school assembly
which is carried out once a fortnight on Wednesday morning. Sometimes, when
the need arises, important matters have to be explained in Mandarin or English
to facilitate better understanding and dissemination of information.
Remedial Classes. As the majority of our students are from the Mandarin
Medium primary schools, many have poor speaking and comprehension skills of
Bahasa Malaysia. Form one students who have very poor command of the
language are identified and are given remedial lessons using material
appropriate to their level. Identification of the students level of language
proficiency in the national language is done through the diagnostic test carried
out in January and continually monitored through school based assessment.
Library. Books and magazines in Bahasa Malaysia, English and Mandarin are
available in the library. Students are free to go and access and borrow these
materials during recess time or at any other time when they are free and the
library teacher is available. Other than this, library periods are incorporated in
the English and Bahasa Malaysia periods. Teachers are encouraged to bring
their students to the library to read and borrow books. Books from the library
can be borrowed for duration of two weeks.

Language used outside the classroom. The language used for official
correspondence and discourse is Bahasa Malaysia. School events, daily
announcements, sports and other activities carried out in the school is also done
in Bahasa Malaysia. However, the languages used for day to day communication
in the school depend on the situation and the persons involved. It can either be
English, Bahasa Malaysia, Mandarin, Bidayuh, Iban or any of the local dialects.
This flexibility is necessary to ensure that the message intended is understood
and thus limiting the possibilities of miscommunication and misunderstanding.