Siraj, Saedah and Norman, Muhammad Helmi and Hussin, Zaharah and Siraj, Fadzilah and Gleriat, Shirley and Hamdan, Mohd Fairuz and Sumari, Melati (2015) AMOS 4M: teaching indigenous through touching and true-love (Teaching 2T). In: International Conference on Knowledge Transfer (ICKT'15), 1 - 3 December 2015, Putrajaya, Malaysia.

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Abstract

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) reports that the current Orang Asli (the indigenous people of Peninsular Malaysia) population is around 178,000 people with a high incidence by poverty of 50.9% and hardcore poverty of 15.4%. The report also indicates that the literacy problem among Orang Asli is becoming more severe, where there are limited opportunities for them to receive education. Although previous studies have designed learning modules and activities for the Orang Asli, limited studies have focused on their learning styles in which they prefer indigenous art, language, ritual, folklore and taboos without a fixed syllabus. In an attempt to solve the Orang Asli literacy problem as well as to fill the research gaps, a teaching module for Orang Asli through the concepts of “touching” and “true love” has been developed under the “Asas Membaca Orang Asli” (AMOS 4M) (basic reading Orang Asli module) project or “AMOS 4M: Teaching Indigenous Through Touching and True-Love,” where the 4Ms stands for “Menyebut, Menyanyi, Melakon, Membaca” (pronouncing, singing, dramatizing, and reading). The module has been initiated since the year 2007. AMOS 4M focuses on literacy pedagogy among the Orang Asli community which includes children and adults aims to serve as module for training existing teachers in Orang Asli schools as well as pre-service teachers. Past studies have discovered that Orang Asli are “kinesthetic learners” that need learning with “hands-on” experiences (such as skills using hands, singing and acting). As such, the module integrates the “touching” concept to suit the “kinesthetic learning style” the Orang Asli.An approach with the “touching” concept would be to the touching of natural resources, (e.g. touching the earth).This could in turn increase their level ofinterest and attract their attention during the teaching and learning process. On the other hand, the “true-love” concept refers to their “love of nature” and “true-love” or affection shown towards them during teaching and learning sessions.The utilization of natural products such as clay, leaves, seeds, bamboos, and sand has been integrated during class sessions. The utilization of the natural products are essential as the Orang Asli see the products as daily or “everyday” products that they are used frequently around them. The integration of modern pedagogical approaches has been observed to distract them from learning, as they cannot link or associate the approaches with their daily lives.In relation, the teacher-centered (constructive) approaches used in classrooms have to be also “individualized.” In other words, as compared to regular learners, Orang Asli learners require more one-to-one attention from the teachers.In conclusion, the AMOS4M module via integration of the concepts of “touching” and “true love” has shown that the Orang Asli learners have had a positive impact on the reading in which they master reading in a period of three months. As a result, the successful pedagogical strategy has been introduced to Orang Asli teachers in Malaysia to develop the learners‟ basic reading skills.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Additional Information:	ISBN 978-967-394-255-8
Uncontrolled Keywords:	AMOS 4M, Indigenous, Teaching, Orang Asli
Subjects:	L Education > LB Theory and practice of education
Divisions:	School of Computing
Depositing User:	Prof Madya Fadzilah Siraj
Date Deposited:	05 Dec 2016 03:29
Last Modified:	05 Dec 2016 03:35
URI:	https://repo.uum.edu.my/id/eprint/20191

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