ROLE AND PURPOSE OF LANGUAGE ART IN THE PRIMARY ESL CLASSROOM

Language art is an element that has been introduced into English Primary Curriculum. It
is for making the language acquisition more efficient thus injecting other elements toward
making the pupils become great individuals. The role and purpose of Language Art in the
primary ESL classroom cover four aspects which are inter and intrapersonal development,
linguistic development, aesthetic development, and moral value. In language arts, the lesson
will help the pupils to develop their interpersonal and intrapersonal skills. Interpersonal and
intra-personal development is vital for pupils to get to know themselves better and can
communicate well with others. (Phulsunge, 2019)stated that Intrapersonal skills & Interpersonal
Skills among pupils along with English as the medium of communication is one of the most
essential elements to make them proficient. Besides, as for linguistic development, the role of
language arts is to provide an environment for communication, expand vocabulary and build the
confidence to speak and voice out their thoughts. Furthermore, language art will help to develop
their aesthetic development. This aspect is important as it influences the pupils’ learning quality,
creative thinking, and also critical thinking as it is among aspects of 21st Century Learning.
Critical and creative thinking skills are essential as it is a demand in the IR 4.0 era said (Combs,
n.d.). Last but not least, the role of language art is to inculcate moral values in their life. This is
the most crucial thing as moral values make a person. All these four aspects are essential for
creating a harmonious classroom, especially in a multi-society classroom. Therefore, two
multicultural elements are needed to be highlighted which are language and culture.

The first multicultural element is language. In every race, society, or culture, language is
the main thing as it is their identity. It has a vital function as a communication medium.
Communication can form understanding and thus will create unity. As for a multicultural society,
language can be a bridge between one culture to another. For example, in a multicultural
society country, Malaysia has decided on that the Malay Language as their first language. This
decision helped to bring a harmonious society although they have differences in their cultures
language was a component that unites them. “The National language was the only means of
binding together the peoples of various origins in the country and achieving the goal of loyalty
thus providing a guarantee for peace and harmony”, (Seng, 2018). To conclude, language is
one of the main keys to bringing harmony to a multicultural thus it is the identity of a culture and
society.

Besides that, culture also is one of the main elements of a multicultural society. “Culture
is the characteristics and knowledge of a particular group of people, encompassing language,
religion, cuisine, social habits, music and arts”, (Pappas, 2021). Therefore, the understanding
and empathy between cultures are crucial for nation-building. In a multicultural society country,
the understanding between the cultures can form a new culture or norm where all of them
shared the same value and all of them can comprehend and thus live with them. For example,
in Malaysia, there are many cultures which are Malay, Indian and Chinese cultures. From all
these cultures it converts to become one major or common culture as take-off shoes before
getting into the house, and calling uncle, auntie to strangers that older than them to show
respects. However, in the current education scene, there are issues regarding language and
culture.

The first issue on language is the interference of mother tongue language influence in
English language acquisition, especially in Malaysia. Pupils in Malaysia have difficulty acquiring
English because of their strong mother tongue language. Certain cases occur in the urban area
but in the rural area, this issue became the main challenge for teachers. This happens because
they rarely use the English language in their daily life to be compared with their mother tongue
which is used at home and even to communicate with their friend. Things get more worried with
the indigenous pupil who has a very strong accent and native language. “For Orang Asli
students, English is more a foreign language than a second one. This is because they are only
exposed to it during the subject lessons in schools”, (Zarihan, n.d.). The problem that commonly
occurs is with pronunciation, and understanding of the language itself. Meanwhile, in urban
areas, most of the pupils have already familiar with English as some of their parents might
introduce or even use English with them at home.

Besides that, the second issue is the lack of cultural awareness among pupils. This may
happen because they did not get enough or any exposure from their parents regarding cultural
awareness. These days fighting among pupils or an intense classroom environment still occur
because one side might get offended while the other side did not intentionally offend them. For
example, using certain terms on toward another race or culture sounds offensive. Therefore
fighting scenes will occur and it might influence the way they felt about other races or cultures.
However, there every issue has its solution. Same with these issues, teachers can resolve
these issues by implementing bibliotherapy in the classroom.
 (Sara Lindberg, 2021) stated that bibliotherapy is an approach to help make things back
to the sense that uses literature to help by providing information, support, and guidance in the
form of reading books and stories. There are several types of bibliotherapy such as Creative,
Developmental, Prescriptive, and Therapeutic bibliotherapy depending on the problem to be
solved. The benefits of bibliotherapy are helping the patient to gain personal insight, receive
benefits outside treatment, and gain perspective. Therefore, it is suitable for teachers to use
bibliotherapy to resolve the issue stated above. There are a lot of reading material or children’s
literature that can be used as bibliotherapy.

Firstly, teachers can use children’s literature such as poems and short stories to
increase their engagement with English thus making them more familiar with and able to use
English with their friends. Because of that, Language Art was introduced to help the student
acquire the English language better. Thus, learning through art is more meaningful and fun for
the pupils. As result, the pupils’ motivation to learn and contribute to the lesson increased
making the lesson more effective. “When reading or studying a text, the reader becomes
emotionally attached with the story and the characters and this situation has positive effects not
only on the personal growth but also on the whole learning process”, (Viorela, 2014). For
example, the material that can be used is a short story that is well familiar and suit the pupils’
background such as Badang. From here, there are a lot of activities that can be done such as
role-playing or discussion.

Secondly, to increase the awareness, understanding, and respect among the pupils from
different backgrounds, teachers can use folktales or legends. The teacher must choose wisely
the story based on the value that is intended to be inculcated into the pupils. For example, the
lack of cultural awareness can be solved by picking a story from a certain culture such as Hang
Tuah or Mowgli that has Malay and Indian backgrounds. From there, the teacher can discuss
the value and the culture that it has. Therefore pupils’ awareness of others' cultures will rise up
and thus will appreciate and respect others.

In conclusion, many multicultural issues occur in primary school and Language Art can
act as bibliotherapy in ESL primary classrooms. Using bibliotherapy is the most suitable way to
overcome these because the pupils can learn implicitly and also explicitly. Activities such as
role-playing and discussion on the reading material will be meaningful ways to tackle these
issues as apart from learning English they can also learn about moral values. As result, they will
not only efficient in English thus they will be a great individual.
References

Combs, L. B. (n.d.). DEVELOPING CRITICAL AND CREATIVE THINKERS. Retrieved from

CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION IN EDUCATION:
https://educationinnovation.pressbooks.com/chapter/developing-critical-and-creative-
thinkers/
Pappas, S. (2021, December 15). What is culture? Retrieved from Live Science:
https://www.livescience.com/21478-what-is-culture-definition-of-culture.html
Phulsunge, D. S. (2019, January). Importance of Intrapersonal & Interpersonal Skills to Make
Work Ready Professionals. International Journal of Management, Technology And
Engineering, 6(1), 1411-1416.
Sara Lindberg, M. (2021, August 29). What Is Bibliotherapy? Retrieved from Very Well Mind:
https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-bibliotherapy-4687157#toc-what-is-bibliotherapy
Seng, A. T. (2018, October 13). Uniting a nation through language. Retrieved from New Straits
Times: https://www.nst.com.my/lifestyle/pulse/2018/10/420787/uniting-nation-through-
language
Viorela, R. (2014). The importance of literature in primary school pupils’ development and
personal growth. The 6th International Conference Edu World 2014 “Education Facing
Contemporary World Issues”, 454-459.
Zarihan, S. (n.d.). English Teaching and Learning Issues in Malaysia: Teacher's and Indigenous
Students' Perspectives of the Teaching Methods Used to teach English Language.