Journal of Education and Human Development

The Re-Introduction of English Literature Subject in Malaysian Secondary Schools; Urban versus Rural Teachers
Ashairi Suliman, MelorMd Yunus

Abstract
The teaching and learning of English Literature in the Malaysian English Second Language (ESL) context has evolved over the time. Literature in English component is introduced since 2000 in Malaysian Education System, with the intentions to develop language proficiency apart from instil reading habit among the students. Then, Ministry of Education Malaysia announced the re-introduction of English Literature subject in secondary schools, starting from the year 2016. This is part of the reformation for the national education system. This invites lots of responses and concerns from various parties. Therefore, this study serves as a means to seek the differences between teachers’ level of readiness, teaching in the urban and rural areas towards this implementation. For that purpose, 320 English teachers from two different localities, in the state of Sarawak have been selected as the sample. They were given questionnaires and SPSS Version 21 was employed to generate the findings. The results indicated the existence of significant difference between these two localities, whereby the teachers in the rural area demonstrated higher level of readiness towards this proposal. To sum up, this implies that teachers, despite localities play a major role in nurturing and developing the quality of Malaysian Education System.

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