BAHASA MELAYU DI AUSTRALIA: GLOBAL CLASSROOM
30 June 2022 – On 16 and 29 June 2022, the Centre for Modern Languages (CML) successfully conducted a Standard and Basic Global Classroom (GC) session for 2 courses, namely UHF2192 Bahasa Melayu Komunikasi and UHF 2161 Malay For Intermediate.
This year second cycle of online global classroom sessions were attended and benefitted by Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP) international students who enrolled for UHF2192 Bahasa Melayu Komunikasi course for semester 2 2021/2022 and a number of international students who voluntarily interested to join in.
The online sessions were organised and facilitated by Ms. Jamilah Bebe Mohamad, the course instructors for the courses. In UHF2192 and UHF 2161, students learn Malay vocabulary such as nouns, verbs and adjectives related to daily activities and conversations as these are essential communication skills to accomplish as university students and to be able to interact with the locals in Malaysia.
To make it more meaningful, Mr. Mohammed Ragab Ahmed from Wave International Australia, was invited as the honourable guest lecturer to deliver his lecture on “Aktiviti Harian and Perbualan Harian”.
The feedback received from the participants was encouraging and positive. According to Zhen Yang (23), fourth-year international student from Faculty Industrial Sciences & Technology, the session was truly fascinating and increased her motivation to continue learning Malay because Mr. Mohammed Ragab himself is a Sudanese who happened to be fluent in Malay and currently working as a Project Engineer in Australia.
She added that Mr. Mohammed Ragab’s unique experience on learning Malay from Malaysians who work or own restaurants serving Malay cuisine in Australia shows that Malay language and culture are not only appropriate and relevant in Malaysia, but also in other countries. She also noted that the ability to be multilingual would be an advantage to any individual.
Overall, it is hoped that the valuable insights from these sessions would create awareness about the Malay language across borders and cultures.
Prepared by: Jamilah Bebe Mohamad
