My emails to our ministers on Astro programme

The more appropriate title may be 'Rancangan Tergendala'. I am taking a short break from my continuation of articles on Stephen Krashen. This is a result of a challenge by some opposition members asking me why I had not written to ministers complaining about matters.

I have written several emails to Dr. Maszlee Malik and to Ms Teo Nie Ching and they do not even have the courtesy to respond. 

Similarly I also wrote to Mr.Gobind Sindh Deo to no avail.

Here are my emails to these ministers who probably do not understand what I am writing about. Now. let us eee if the opposition party members will act on this complaint.

Stephen Krashen Whole language proponent (Part 2)

Here is a recent FaceBook discussion between Stephen Krashen and me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8gFfr2b5hU

Luqman Michel: "Stephen Krashen, Let us start with the same question I have asked Claire Walter above. Are phonemes in the ABC song above taught correctly?"

Dr.Stephen Krashen – Whole language proponent (Part 1)

                                      This guy wants to change an axiom into a hypothesis.

Recently I happened upon something written by Stephen Krashen which I disagree with. I made some comments in a blog post where both of us are members. In fact, that blog post is exalting him as another ‘God of education’. I have already written about the other ‘Gods of Education’ in my posts on my blog.

The Star online - Response to 'Transforming Dyslexia one word at a time'

On 4.10.2018 I read an article on Star online written by Dr Mullai A. Ramaiah who is the president of THE National Organisation for Dyslexia Malaysia (NOD)

NOD claims that it is teaching through the phonetic approach.  Upon reading the article I know that neither Dr. Mullai nor NOD knows what they are talking about.

Here is the whole article as published:

Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER)

On 13.9.18 I wrote to ACER on FaceBook the following. I wrote to them as their name indicates that they are Educational Researchers.

Reduce illiteracy 

Would any researcher here like to discuss why kids who fail to read in English are able to read in many other languages? I have taught more than 50 kids, many of whom were wrongly certified as dyslexic. I have found that all my students are in fact instructional casualties. Let us please discuss.

 The following is the response from ACER.

Dyslexia simulation by people with vested interest

Recently I read an article on Dyslexia Simulation covered in KMT 3 News.

Watch the simulation for yourself at LINK

Blaming Phonics

Here is part of a conversation I had in a group on FB. If more parents open up and write like this lady, many teachers and parents will benefit a great deal from the discussions in that group. 

1.Research says that the best way to getting better at reading is Reading.

2.The problem is not insufficient phonics teaching as some claim, but it is insufficient access to books.

3.Research tells us that better libraries is associated with better reading scores.

Emails to Astro’s CEO - Henry Tan

These are my emails to the CEO of Astro, Mr.Henry Tan and to his PA Ms. Nora Yahya. 

My first email was sent to the CEO on the 8.10.2018 after several attempts to the staff of Astro since 13.9.2018.

22.10.2018

Dear   Mr. Henry Tan,

This is my third email to you.

Peace is better than being right - Is it?

This is a warning to all teachers and parents to be wary of letting babies and kids listen to Charlie and the alphabets.

This morning while scrolling messages on LinkedIn I saw the above message.

I have written many posts on my blog as well as on LinkedIn saying that kids disengage from learning to read when they are confused. 

Well, I definitely want peace as I had fought a one and a half year battle with my former Lions club that had misappropriated funds meant for the poor. The club was deregistered on 28.6.2018.

Australian Literacy Educators' Association

Let us take a short break from Astro and see what our 'Learned friends' from Down Under are doing.

More than a month ago I listened to a YouTube video by Alvin Irby found here. 

I found the above on Face Book on the page of ALEA Mackay - Australian Literacy Educators' Association.

The following is what I read about ALEA.

Astro TV and their 'Tidak apa' (lackadaisical) attitude

My first email to Astro complaining about the BabyTV programme teaching alphabet sounds  that is detrimental to kids was dated 13^th September 2018.

I had also sent a link to my book for them to buy and read as to why that programme is not suitable for kids.

I fail to understand why Astro just cannot promise to stop airing that one programme 'Charlie and the Alphabet' until they are convinced that what I am saying is true and then completely ban that particular episode.

I received several responses and some of the emails are as below.

Instructional casualties – ‘Dysteachia’

Here is part of a comment I made in one of the posts on LinkedIn.

You need to know how to teach the basics. You also need to understand why many smart kids are not able to read in English but are able to read in other languages.

The following is part of the response by the author of the post.

But remember that we all teach in different places. What is true for some (like this) is not for others. (Marcela Falcone)

This was my response to her comment:

Teachers all over the world have been continuously saying that many kids are unable to read because of 'Dysteachia' (a word coined by teachers in the US.) Has anyone said what it is that is being taught wrong by teachers? Why is it that many kids still leave school as illiterates?

Correspondence between BabyTV and Luqman Michel (Part2)

Many educators and scientists in the world have said that many kids cannot read because of ‘Dsytechia’ (a term coined by teachers). This simply means that kids cannot read because teachers do not know how to teach.

However, no one has ever said what it is that is being taught wrongly. I know the answer to that question and have said it many times. It is simply because about 20% of kids in the world are prone to shutting down when taught wrong phonemes/sounds represented by letters.

Correspondence to and from BabyTV and Luqman Michel

I wrote to BabyTV, the producer of the programme aired by Astro, on 12^th September 2018.

There was a prompt response on 13.9.2018 from Debbie Pattinson who is the consultant to BabyTV

I responded immediately telling her about the programme that I believe will result in more kids shutting down from learning to read.

I requested her to read a copy of my book.

On 17.9.2018 Debbie responded as follows:

Dyslexia vs Shut Down Kids (Part 4)

I will get back to Dr.Maszlee Malik and Astro soon. Meanwhile let us continue with Dyslexia vs. Shut down kids.

“Increased phonics instruction will not help a child with dyslexia. Children with dyslexia are able to learn phonics once they have the underlying phonemic awareness abilities; although they may continue having trouble applying it. This is why difficulty with phonics and word pronunciation is a good warning sign of dyslexia.”

My Response: With the exception of 2 kids none of my more than 60 students to date had problems with word pronunciation. I am sure there are kids who have problem with word pronunciation as well as phonological awareness problem. However, to call these kids dyslexic and say that 20% are so is definitely a crime.