3L: The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies – Vol 21(3): 1 – 12 1 The English Language Curriculum in Malaysian Indigenous Primary Classrooms: The Reality and the Ideal WARID MIHAT University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus warid.mihat@gmail.com ABSTRACT The decision to introduce the Asli Penan Curriculum (KAP) was met with mixed reactions when it was officially announced in the Malaysian education development plan 2013-2015. This study explores the decision made by the MOE and discusses the implementation of the English KSSR in lower primary (Year 1-3) indigenous schools. Data were collected using a questionnaire and interviews and 3 documents that represent English KSSR in Malaysia: the Standard Content Document (DSK), the Standard Performance Document (DSP) and textbooks by MOE using Williams 4 paradigms of evaluation. The findings of the study showed that KSSR is less suitable for indigenous pupils in this context because the language skills set by the MOE in the KSSR are higher than what the indigenous pupils can achieve. This study also found that guidance and support for teachers in indigenous schools are lacking and that there is a need for an alternative syllabus for the indigenous schools. Keywords: indigenous students; KAP; KSSR; language curriculum; syllabus development; current issues. INTRODUCTION Alongside the implementation of K9 schools, KSSR KAP is another initiative by the Ministry of Education of Malaysia (MOE) in meeting the needs of indigenous communities in Malaysia. It provides an alternative syllabus apart from the KSSR which is widely used in Malaysian primary classrooms. The decision to introduce the Kurrikulum Asli Penan (KAP) or Penan Curriculum in the Malaysia Education Development Plan 2013–2015 however has received mixed responses from teachers in indigenous schools. The issues raised by the teachers teaching in the community, perhaps, can be capsulated into a single query: ‘Will this curriculum segregate the indigenous schools from the mainstream system?’ However data or reports on this issue are scarce making responses to the query mentioned earlier rather challenging. Studies on this matter is indeed prominent to the survival of the community. Often being described as a community with a high rate of illiteracy (Hanlen 2010, Johari & Nazri 2007), it cannot be denied that acquiring English can lead the community to a better life and future; as well as empower them in the process of developing their community. Cummins (1996) suggests that a study on matters related to indigenous communities must not be done from the side of the community but rather to the system that has been offered to them; and this study is an advocate of this notion. MALAYSIAN ENGLISH LANGUAGE CURRICULUM IN ACTION KAP was approved in 2007 and pilot studies were carried out in several indigenous schools (Bahagian Pembangunan Kurikulum [BPK 2013, Rosli, Zahedah and Lokman 2009). According to Rosli et al, (2009), the first version of KAP was designed in 5 modules and these modules were developed based on the 7 objectives as follows: - To develop the reading, writing and numeracy skills amongst indigenous pupils. - To inculcate ‘come to school’ habit amongst indigenous pupils. brought to you by CORE View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk provided by UKM Journal Article Repository