Abstract
Malaysia undertook a comprehensive reform of the primary education by introducing KSSR or the Primary School Standards-Based Curriculum in 2011. The curriculum change has largely driven by the setting of national standards for KSSR subjects. Accordingly, the Standards-Based English Language Curriculum (SBELC) was designed with significant changes in curriculum documents and organization. SBELC not only demands changes in teacher knowledge, attitudes, and instructional practices but also seeks teachers to design such activities and assessments that require pupils to comprehend the language input and answer questions with high levels of cognitive skills that emphasize on conceptual understanding and integration of many language skills and language focus rather than traditional rote learning skills. The purpose of this paper is to review curriculum change in the new English language curriculum in which higher order thinking skills and standards-based assessments are given due attention in Malaysian primary schools. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n2p494
Highlights
Malaysia undertook a comprehensive reform of the primary education system which encompassed structural and curriculum change by introducing KSSR (Kurikulum Standard Sekolah Rendah) or the Primary School Standards-Based Curriculum in 2011 starting Year 1 cohort
The new English language curriculum itself demands teachers to design such activities and assessments that require pupils to comprehend the language input and answer questions with high levels of cognitive skills that emphasize on conceptual understanding and integration of many language skills and language focus rather than traditional rote learning skills
Learning phonics is the main component of the KSSR reading skills and phonics itself is part of the new English language curriculum for primary schools, phonics approach is suggested to be used as a strategy to instil basic reading literacy in young pupils
Summary
Malaysia undertook a comprehensive reform of the primary education system which encompassed structural and curriculum change by introducing KSSR (Kurikulum Standard Sekolah Rendah) or the Primary School Standards-Based Curriculum in 2011 starting Year 1 cohort. With the emergence of KSSR, the Standards-Based English Language Curriculum (SBELC) was designed as well with significant changes in curriculum documents and organization. The Standard Document was developed and becomes the blueprint of the English language curriculum for Years 1 to 3. The SBELC gives emphases on critical and creative thinking skills as well as reasoning skills that are incorporated in the learning standards to enable pupils to solve simple problems, make decisions and express themselves creatively in simple language (Curriculum Development Division, 2011). The new English language curriculum itself demands teachers to design such activities and assessments that require pupils to comprehend the language input and answer questions with high levels of cognitive skills that emphasize on conceptual understanding and integration of many language skills and language focus rather than traditional rote learning skills. To encourage higher order thinking skills students must receive challenging tasks, encouragement to stay on task when grappling with open-ended questions, and ongoing feedback about their progress
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