1.0 IntroductionMalaysia is a multi-cultural society. The main ethnic groups are the native Malays as well as large populations of Chinese, and Indians. The findings of a study carried out by Salfarina, Mohd Zaini and Azeem Fazwan (2009) showed that ethnic groups in Malaysia, like many other developing countries have gone through various historical and development changes. Besides that, influence from immigration and emigration has shaped ethnic relations into a complex, dynamic and fluid situation. Thus, teachers teaching in a classroom where diversity of culture becomes an integral part of the student population, have an important role in creating acceptance among the diverse ethnic groups. The feelings of acceptance towards each others cultural and ethnic difference can be inculcated by creating a culturally conducive classroom environment. In fact, it is the best and most important place to teach about different cultures, since it is in the classroom that students from diverse cultures grow up and learn together. If children are exposed to a multicultural classroom environment where they learn to appreciate each others differences and respect each others strengths and weaknesses, right from the beginning of their academic years, it will be easy for them to get along with children from other cultures and this would eventually strengthen the relationships of the diverse ethnic groups in the classroom. In order to accomplish this role, teachers themselves must believe in the importance of creating a healthy multicultural environment which treats everyone as equals.

2.0 The Development of Culture-Friendly Environment in the Classroom

2.1 Teaching and Learning ActivitiesLegendary writer Maya Angelou once said that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength. This is true even in a multicultural classroom. For any child the classroom is a second home where they spend half their time learning, communicating, playing, building relationships, forming an identity and forging a unique place for themselves. This makes it even more important for a teacher to understand the dynamics of diversity such as ethnicity, race, language, culture, education, religion, socio-economic standards of the students in the classroom. The success of a multicultural classroom can be studied by the advancement of the educational goals of all the students, and the fostering of a supportive and respectful teaching environment. In order to achieve the success of a multicultural classroom, teachers need to have diversity of teaching and learning activities in the classroom which can culture-friendly environment in the classroom among the students. First of all, before having the activities, teachers need to be aware of the learning style in the classroom. Every culture has its own way of imparting knowledge which may be remarkably different from the dominant culture into which a child is thrust. Take for example East Asia: students from China, Japan and Korea are used to a teacher-centric, book oriented, rote memory learning style. The students themselves are introverted and are uncomfortable with public touch and intense displays of opinions or emotions. Students from countries such as India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka will look to the teacher for constant guidance, and accept everything the teacher says as absolute truth. On the other hand, students from progressive western cultures are more comfortable with asking questions, challenging information, and communicating their displeasure with the teacher or the lesson. A teachers openness to and acceptance of the varied learning styles can make teaching in the classroom a more tolerant, inclusive and cohesive experience.Next, teachers should encourage diversity rich activities in the classroom. For example, teachers can create their own classroom library and encourage each child to contribute one book from their culture or their background to the library. Then, the students can take turns reading the books about different culture in Malaysia from the library and have an open discussion about the content with the teacher and other students. Through the activity of sharing the book from different cultures, the students can gain more new knowledge about different cultures in Malaysia. By having that knowledge, the students will be more aware towards other cultures and they will respect their friends from different cultures and try to avoid sensitive issues related to the culture in the classroom. From this activity, it can create tolerance among the students from different cultures. By having tolerance in the classroom, the students will feel more accepted to be in the multiracial classroom. This clearly can create a culture-friendly environment in the classroom.In addition, teachers can plan a cultural exchange unit where students are asked to bring in something that reflects their heritage or their cultures. This could be a piece of handicraft, food and traditional clothing. In this activity, the students will have to share their handicrafts, traditional foods with their friends from different cultures and they also can show their traditional clothes in the classroom. This activity is vey interesting because the students can share their culture background in term of food, handicraft and clothes. By sharing foods and their cultures, the students will be closer to each other because they already know their friends background. This will create sense of acceptance among the students in the classroom. By having sense of acceptance among the students from different cultures and background, they will create a harmony classroom and at the same time the teachers manage to create a culture-friendly environment in the classroom through this activity.Besides that, in order to create a culture-friendly environment in the classroom, teachers can organize trips to museums or galleries which show and explain about different cultures in Malaysia. This is another way for students to come into contact with the history and art of different cultures and ethnics in Malaysia and learn a great number of things from there. Some museums and galleries even offer hands-on experiences for the students, so they can create things they can even take home with them. This will be a great experience for the students where they can learn about different cultures in Malaysia and at the same time they can practice the cultures in the museum also. This will strengthen the students knowledge about the multicultural in Malaysia.As a conclusion, there are many opportunities in class where we can present multiculturalism to our students. As long as we avoid stereotypes and over generalizations, students can benefit a great deal from learning about people and the countries they come from. The most important thing they will have learned, however, will be how beautiful diversity is. Hold these awareness activities on a regular basis, especially at the start of a school year, so that what is considered different becomes something familiar and exciting to the students.2.2 Teaching and Learning MaterialsTeaching and learning materials are very important aspect that needs to be considered by teachers before teaching and learning session in order to create a culture-friendly environment in the classroom. Teaching and learning management begins with the planning and preparation of appropriate teaching materials. A creative teacher will adapt teaching aids with the lesson so that students can easily master a complex abstract concept. This is acknowledged by Mayer & Gallini (1990) who argue that "teachers should clearly explain and give examples related to improving the effectiveness of teaching". The use of effective and appropriate teaching aids is very important to help teachers explain difficult and abstract concepts to students. The use of teaching aids can help to explain a concept. Among the examples of teaching aids that are often used are materials such as photographs, graphics, mind maps, diagrams, radio, computer, video, flash card, diagrams, newspapers, magazines, audio visual aids, model, prototype or historical materials. The selection of appropriate teaching aids is very important to enable teachers to use them to explain abstract concepts effectively. Besides that, teachers should be aware of cultural issues in Malaysia. Teachers should avoid from using sensitive teaching materials which can humiliate the students cultures or backgrounds. This can avoid the teachers from being bias towards the students who are not from the same race as the teachers. By using suitable teaching materials in the classroom, teachers can create an interactive lesson and at the same time the culture-friendly environment can be established in the classroom.In addition, teachers also need to select materials from the right resources. Teachers should avoid from choosing sources which can give negative influences to the students such as the teachers use an article about politics as a reading material. This is not suitable for the students especially the primary students. All this information can influence their minds, so teachers should select materials from suitable sources such as textbooks, reference books, the Internet, information newspapers, magazines, radio and television, and journals. Sources that are accurate, appropriate, and sufficient can challenge students' minds and inspire their interest to understand the subject better. Before using the sources, teachers should check and adapt first the sources so that the materials will not destroy the culture-friendly environment that teachers have created in the classroom. Thus, in the planning stage, it is important for the teacher not only to obtain sufficient information from various sources before starting each lesson but the selection of the teaching and learning resources has to be appropriately done.

2.3 Classroom ManagementA teacher is a 'manager' in the teaching learning process. The ability of the teacher to manage the classroom effectively is vital in order to create a conducive teaching and learning environment. According to Salhah Abdullah (2006), the teacher as a facilitator plays the role as planners, managers and implementers have guided systematic management. Management involves the processes of planning, implementing, evaluating and taking initiative to improve the process. On top of that, in order to create a friendly cultural environment in a multicultural classroom, teachers need to stay alert and aware of surrounding situation. Teachers should be aware of their surrounding especially the students. Teachers need to be able to meet the needs of students of varying abilities and cultures within the same classroom. Even though many teachers would like to be able to teach a class of students with similar background knowledge and motivation, this rarely if ever happens. Therefore, teachers have the responsibility to vary instruction and enable all students an opportunity to learn. Teachers have to take the students interests into consideration while teaching them. When the students look bored, teachers should prepare with interesting activities so that the students will not feel bored to continue learning the lesson that the teachers carry out. When the students feel motivated to learn, then lesson can be carried out effectively.Besides that, teachers also should be systematic in planning the lesson and evaluating the students. This is a criterion that can ensure the effectiveness of classroom management. Teachers must be organized. Without a good system of organization and daily procedures in place, the job of teaching not only becomes more difficult but the teacher themselves could also be in professional jeopardy. If a teacher does not keep accurate attendance, grade, and behavioral records, this could result in administrative and legal problems. In addition, teachers need to be patient in handling students from all backgrounds. Teachers need to impart knowledge of their subject matter to all students. This goes beyond simply stating the knowledge that they have gained through their own education. Instead, teachers must possess an aptitude to teach the material through different methods based on the needs of the students.A teacher also need to be prepared to change and flexible. Teachers who are inflexible will not survive very long in the profession without burning out. No day is typical in the life of a teacher. Very few lessons go exactly as planned. Interruptions can ruin the momentum of a class. Student disruptions can upset you and others, placing learning on the back burner. If teachers have not prepared themselves to be in a constant state of flux, then they need to re-evaluate their choice of profession. Instead of looking at this instability in a negative light, it is important to see the positives in the situation. Change is necessary and exciting. Each day presents new challenges to overcome. Necessity is the mother of invention, and we will find that we invent many new techniques and ideas to help we adapt to the changing atmosphere of the school. Teachers are suffering burnout all over the nation. In fact, it is estimated that 50 percent of teachers leave the profession in their first five years of teaching. This number is so high because teaching is a stressful job. Unfortunately, teachers cannot change the school system, the interruptions, or the disruptions that will occur in the class each day. What you can alter is your own attitude about these disruptions. Being flexible and adaptable will help teachers deal with the many stresses of the job while allowing you to keep your sanity.Next, teachers need to have a good time management. Time management skills are very valuable for the teacher. Teachers should not waste time in the classroom since it all needs to be focused on education. Lessons should not be rushed, but teachers need to know that there are lots of other things to do in the classroom. If a lesson takes too long, it can really mess up the plans for the rest of the day. If a lesson does not take as long as it should, there is a gap and students are not going to have anything to do. This can easily lead to behavioral and disciplinary problems. On top of that, teachers really need to know how to move from one thing to the next as quickly as possible. Teachers need to have smooth transitions from subject to subject so that students can easily follow along. Not moving to the next thing quickly looks clumsy and unorganized and makes the teacher look like she or he does not know what they are doing. Time management makes it easier for students to learn. They spend more time learning, and less time goofing off or doing things they should not be doing.Last but not least, teachers also need to be effective in communication with the students. Communication is both receptive and expressive. Teachers must be skilled at listening to their students as well as explaining things clearly. Teachers need clarity of thought to present the material. They must be able to break down complex ideas into simpler parts and smaller steps to transmit to their students. They must be able to adapt their methods of communication to all students regardless of ability or learning style. They are also able to "read" the students and adapt to the needs of the individual. Effective communication includes transforming the boring into the interesting and having good presentation skills. In addition, good teachers communicate concern and caring by their tone of voice and use of body language. They learn their students' names early in the school year and use their names when addressing them. They get to know their students' hopes, fears and preferences and communicate this knowledge to their students. They communicate their appreciation for what their students do by celebrating their successes and constantly encouraging them. This helps students feel recognized and validated.All in all, these are all the criteria for teachers in becoming a good classroom manager. By having good classroom management, teachers can establish the friendly cultural environment in the classroom without having any problem.

2.4 Assessment for Student PerformanceAssessment is a systematic process of collecting and analyzing data to determine whether any of the objectives have been achieved. This means that assessment is carried out to track the progress of students mastery and identify the strengths and weaknesses of students in learning. Then, assessment also needs for teachers to plan for enrichment and remedial activities and they also can identify the effectiveness of teaching that allows teachers to improve teaching take action to address the weaknesses and improve the teaching and learning process. On top of that, culture-based assessment means that the assessment performed by the teacher to gather information in decision-making, should take into account students' cultural diversity so that decisions made are valid and reliable. In fact, culture-based evaluation plays an increasingly important role in education.Teachers need to plan culture-based assessment based on the sensitivity of students from the different cultural backgrounds. The focus of the evaluation should not discriminate against anyone and at the same time is able to make decisions about the student's progress as well as to identify or classify students according to their abilities. In addition, this assessment aims to provide feedback on the strengths and weaknesses of teaching and learning and the development of educational programs. Generally, the culture-based assessment aims to gather information for the development, diagnosis and further action and to evaluate the use of authentic and alternative procedures. The assessment also aims to acquire data about learning opportunities for all students and reduce the bias in traditional assessment practices.Teachers need to have the ability in designing culture-based assessment tools that can provide opportunities for students to demonstrate their competence in a variety of ways based on local conditions, including the knowledge and skills related to the understanding of traditional cultural practices. Furthermore, teachers should take into account a variety of problem-solving skills in assessing the learning potential of the students under their care and provide appropriate opportunities for students to improve themselves. The teacher's role is to address the cultural issues when they teach and develop appropriate evaluation tools. Therefore, it can be said that culture is not only affecting the daily practices (patterns of behavior, traditions, habits or customs) but also the way students understand and perceive cultural issues in the teaching and learning process. This is particularly important for teachers as the basis of teaching and learning and in designing the assessment tools.We should be aware that even the most knowledgeable teachers may not necessarily be able to identify culture-relevant elements in the teaching and learning process or even design a culture-based assessment tools. As such, teachers must be sensitive to the fact that there are several characteristics that need to be given emphasis when designing the assessment tools to accommodate the needs of students from diverse cultural backgrounds. In the context of culture-based assessment, formative assessment that is designed or constructed should revolve around the same context or issues as in teaching and learning with the purpose of gathering data to assess the effectiveness of teaching. Besides that, the assessment tools design should focus on matters that are not sensitive to students from any cultural background. In fact, teachers should not create any kind of cultural sensitivity or biasness in the assessment procedures or even in any of the items. One of the important characteristics that can affect the performance of students is the language used in the assessment tool. Language has a great influence on the way students respond to tasks.All in all, there have been challenges in the assessment process but a greater challenge is related to appropriate teaching strategies and the development of teaching and learning. Culture-friendly process is ways that can be used to evaluate students without affecting its validity and reliability when making a decision. The type of assessment discussed can reduce bias elements against a particular ethnic group and suggestions posed by the teacher should be considered when preparing a formal or an informal assessment. If the curriculum is culture-friendly with relevant content for students, there will not be much problem when designing the assessment tools for students. We will succeed if we use all our resources and manpower to do the best for our students who are at risk and if we do justice to them despite their diverse cultural background.

3.0 Lesson PlanSubject: English LanguageTheme: World of Self, Family, Friends Topic: People Around MeClass: 3 CerdikDate: 12 February 2013Time: 11.00 a.m 12.00 p.m.Enrolment: 30 pupilsFocused skill: Writing SkillIntegrated skill: Reading SkillPrevious knowledge: Pupils already learnt to construct simple sentencesContent Standard: 3.3 By the end of the 6-year primary schooling, pupils will be able to write and present ideas through a variety of media using appropriate language, form and style.Learning Standard : 3.3.1 Able to create simple texts using a variety of media with guidance: (a) non-linearLesson Objectives: By the end of this lesson, pupils will be able to:1) Read at least 2 out of 3 simple sentences correctly2) Write at least 2 out of 3 simple sentences about themselves correctly.3) Write at least 3 out of 4 simple sentences about the friends that they have chosen correctly.

Educational Emphasis : Multiple Intelligences Interpersonal, Moral Value respect for beliefs and cultures of various races Teaching Aids : Family photo, traditional clothes, traditional foods, A4 papers, whiteboard, marker pen, mahjong paper

Stage/ TimeContentTeaching/ Learning StrategiesRemarks

Set Induction(5 minutes)Lets Know My Family

Sample of questions:1) What can you see from this photo?2) Can you see who the people I point out in this photo are?3) How many people can you see in this photo?1) Teacher brings his or her family photo to the classroom.2) Teacher shows the photo to the pupils and asks them a few questions about the photo3) Teacher points to his or her picture in the photo and asks the pupils whether they know who the teacher point out is.4) Teacher explains about the family photo to the pupils

Teaching aids: Family photo

Pre-writing(15 minutes)Criteria of culture that teacher explains to the pupils:1) Background 2) Foods3) Traditional clothes

Example of sentences:1) I am a Malay people.2) Malay people like to eat Nasi lemak and teh tarik everyday.3) Malay people wear Baju Melayu and Baju Kurung.4) By using the photo that the teacher brings, teacher explains the culture of his or her family.5) Teacher explains the background of the culture of his or her family to the pupils.6) Teacher draws a mind map on the whiteboard about the criteria of the teachers culture.7) Teacher shows the pupils the traditional clothes of the teachers race and culture.8) Teacher shows the foods of the teachers culture and gives the pupils to taste it.9) Teacher tells the pupils that Malaysia has many different races and cultures and teacher also explains that the pupils need to respect to each other without considering the different in religion and culture.10) Teacher shows how to construct simple sentences based on the teachers culture.11) Teacher read first the sentences.12) Teacher asks the pupils to read the sentences constructed by the teacher.

Teaching aids: Realia Traditional clothes

Moral value:Respect to each other without considering the different in religion and culture

While-writing(15 minutes)Expected sentences from the pupils:1) I am a Chinese people2) I like to eat kuih bulan and char kue tiaw.3) I wear cheong sam cloth.

1) Teacher distributes the worksheet which consists of mind map which needs to be completed by the pupils.2) The teacher asks the pupils to fill in the worksheet by referring their own culture and background.3) Teacher asks the pupils to fill in the mind map by following the way teacher has shown on the whiteboard.4) After the interview session done, teacher asks the pupils to say thank you to their friends.5) By using the mind map, teacher asks the pupils to construct simple sentences based on mind map that they have filled.6) The pupils may refer to the examples given by the teacher while constructing the sentences.7) Teacher checks the sentences by asking the pupils to read their own sentences.

Teaching aids: Worksheet

Post-writing(20 minutes)Interview activity

Questions prepared by the teacher:1) What race are you from?2) What are your traditional foods?3) What are your traditional clothes?4) What do you do with your family during your festive day?5) Teacher asks the pupils to choose one of their classmates from different races.6) Teacher explains the activity that they are going to do.7) Teacher asks the pupils to interview their friends by using the questions prepared by the teacher.8) Teacher distributes plain A4 papers to the pupils so that they can write the sentences on the papers given.9) Pupils start interviewing their friends and ask all the questions prepared by the teacher.10) By using all the information gathered by the pupils by interviewing their friends, teacher asks the pupils to construct simple sentences about heir friends.11) Teacher asks the pupils to read their sentences in order to check their works.12) Teacher gives comments to the pupils sentences and corrects them if there is any mistake.13) Teacher praises the pupils for giving cooperation in the interview activity.

Teaching aids: A4 papers

Moral Value:We need to say thank you to the pupils that helped us.

Closure(5 minutes)Lets sing

I love you songI love you, You love me,We are happy family,With the great big hug and a kiss from me to you,Wont you say you love me too.

1) Teacher paste a lyric the song on the whiteboard.2) Teacher sings the song first and makes actions based on the song.3) Pupils listen and see to the teachers performance.4) Teacher then asks the pupils to sing the song together with teacher and with the actions.

Teaching aids: Mahjong paper

4.0 Justification on the Lesson PlanBased on the lesson plan that my friend and I have prepared, I have chosen Communicative Language Teaching method as the method to be applied in the lesson plan. The goal of the communicative language teaching method is to develop what Hymes (1972) referred to as "communicative competence". The goal of this method is to enable students to communicate in the target language. This is in line with the activity provided in the lesson plan which the students need to interview their friends from different races about their background and culture during the lesson. Actually, this lesson is prepared to develop culture-friendly environment in the classroom but at the same time the activity helps the students to develop their communicative competence by having the interview session among the students. The activity in the lesson plan is in line with the aims of the Communicative Language Teaching method which are to develop the communicative competence among the students and enable the students to communicate in the target language, English language. This method is really suitable with the activities provided in the lesson plan. It will help the students to develop their competency in using English language in their daily life. Furthermore, by using Communicative Language Teaching method, it will make the activities become more interesting where the students can interact and communicate with their friends to get new knowledge and this will avoid them from feeling bored during the lesson.The strategy that I have used in the activities in the lesson plan is based on the student-centered learning strategies. In the lesson plan, the students need to move around and meet their friends and they also have to communicate and cooperate together to get the information from their friends based on the task given. I have chosen the student-centered learning strategy because it helps the students to develop the skills that will help them through their life, such as the communicational and team work skills, since they are cooperating, negotiating and working all together in the class. By having this kind of activity, the students will mix around with their friends with different races, cultures and ethnics. This can increase harmony among the students and this also indirectly can enhance the culture-friendly environment among the students in the classroom. In addition, through the activities in the lesson plan which used the student-centered learning strategy, the students can develop tolerance, understanding and respect of others opinions by listening carefully to each other. Since all the students are involved in the learning process, they become more confident and independent in their own learning. I believe that the student centered learning can be really an opportunity for those students who love to be fully involved in the learning and teaching processes in the class. This strategy is very suitable to be used in the classroom in order to create a culture-friendly environment in the classroom.In addition, the activities in the lesson plan are more towards developing communication skills among the students. For example, the students need to interview their friends to know their friends background and their cultures. The students will get new knowledge through the activities provided in the lesson plan and at the same time, all activities in the lesson plan help in creating culture-friendly environment in the classroom. The students get to know their friends from different races and cultures. This will avoid the students from having negative perceptions towards their friends who are not in the same race with the students. The activities are very suitable for the primary students as the value of culture-friendly environment need to be foster in them since kids yet. So, when they grow up they will respect other races and ethnics and this will maintain the harmony in the multiracial country, Malaysia. Indirectly, creating culture-friendly environment is being fostered in the students through the activities prepared in the lesson plan.Next, the materials needed in this lesson plan are the traditional clothes and the traditional food. For example, if the teachers are Malays, teachers need to prepare Baju Melayu or Baju kurung and brings traditional foods of Malay people. All these materials will be used as set induction in order to attract the students interests to pay attention in the lesson that they are going to learn. By using all the materials brought, teachers will introduce the Malay culture to the students and explain to the students especially the students who are from different races about the culture of Malay people. Then, from that stage, the students then have to introduce their races and cultures to the classroom in term of interview activity among the students. Teachers will act as the facilitator during the activity is being conducted. All in all, I think the activities prepared in the lesson plan are suitable for the students especially in order to create culture-friendly environment in the classroom through the lesson prepared. This will ensure the culture-friendly environment can be established in the classroom and the students know their responsibility in maintaining that environment in the classroom.

5.0 Conclusion Based on the discussion about culture-friendly environment in the classroom, it is clearly seen that teachers play an important role in creating a united Malaysian. In order to achieve this goal, teachers need to understand and appreciate the cultural diversity among the ethnic and culture groups first before they can encourage and inculcate such feelings amongst the students in the classroom. Hence, creating a conducive atmosphere whereby students from all culture and ethnic groups can work together in peace and harmony is the responsibility of the teachers since, as we can see there are many benefits associated with creating a harmonious, culture-friendly environment in the classroom. First, it encourages collaboration, teamwork and cooperative social skills among the students irrespective of their race and ethnics. Besides that, it also creates the feeling and understanding of unity in diversity among students from the diverse ethnic and cultural groups. It also helps the students from different cultural background to be comfortable and respect with each other and in a way, this boosts their self-esteem. All of this in turn will benefit society on a whole for it helps to develop united Malaysian citizens.

References Marzano, R. J. et al.(2006). A Handbook For Classroom Management That Works. Victoria: Hawker Brownlow.Santrock J.W. (2006). Educational Psychology: A Tool for Effective teaching (3rd edition).New York: Mc Graw HillJones, B. F. (1995). Comprehensive classroom management: Creating positive learning environments for all students. Massachuset: Allyn & Bacon.Noriati, A,R., Boon,P.Y., Sharifah Fakhriah & Zuraidah A.M. (2011). Budaya dan Pembelajaran. Shah Alam: Oxford Fajar Sdn Bhd.Montgomery,W.(2001). Creating Culturally Responsive, Inclusive Classrooms. Teaching Exceptional Children, Vol.33(4) pp 4-9.Jovanovic, J., Solano-Flores, G., & Shavelson, R. J. (1994). Performance-based assessments: Will gender differences in science achievement be eliminated? Education and Urban Society, 26(4), August, 352-366.Micheal & Mike, (2008), Motivation on the Students. Assessed on 28 February 2013. http://www.behavioradvisor.com/Motivation.html

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