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Reforms to learn mother tongue in SG | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| QiuJP Triglot Senior Member Singapore Joined 5665 days ago 428 posts - 597 votes  Speaks: Mandarin*, EnglishC2, French Studies: Czech, GermanB1, Russian, Japanese | Message 1 of 13 19 January 2011 at 8:37pm | IP Logged | ||
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http
://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStor y_625697.html PUPILS who enter Primary 1 from next year will be studying their mother tongue languages differently from now. There will be greater emphasis on real-life usage and interaction skills, both oral and written. When they take the Primary School Leaving Examination in 2017, one-fifth of the mother- tongue exam will be items that test these skills. The change is part of an overhaul of the way that the Education Ministry (MOE) approaches mother tongue teaching. Instead of training students just to do well in existing examinations, MOE aims to get students to see and use their mother tongue as living languages - languages that enable them to communicate with others and to connect with their cultural heritage. It is in the process of developing 'proficiency descriptors' - measures of the oral and written language skills that a child should possess by, say, Primary 6 and Secondary 4. As an example, a child at Primary 6 might be required to 'engage in conversations on topics familiar to students, asking for clarification when unsure', according to MOE. Teaching methods, classroom tests and national examinations will all have to be aligned to achieve these new proficiency standards. A good step to fix boring languages in schools? Let's discuss. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Ari Heptaglot Senior Member Norway Joined 6392 days ago 2314 posts - 5695 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, Cantonese Studies: Czech, Latin, German | Message 2 of 13 20 January 2011 at 1:30pm | IP Logged | ||
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That's wonderful news! Does this include non-Mandarin Chinese lingualects?
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 newyorkeric Diglot Moderator Singapore Joined 6189 days ago 1598 posts - 2174 votes Speaks: English*, Italian Studies: Mandarin, Malay Personal Language Map | Message 3 of 13 20 January 2011 at 1:43pm | IP Logged | ||
No, just Mandarin. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| WANNABEAFREAK Diglot Senior Member Hong Kong cantonese.hk Joined 6637 days ago 144 posts - 185 votes 1 sounds Speaks: English*, Cantonese Studies: French | Message 4 of 13 20 January 2011 at 6:04pm | IP Logged | ||
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Pardon my ignorance, however, somehow I feel the government is kind of racist and only favours the Chinese population. I also feel that it is pointless to promote Mandarin in this country as people will just speak Singlish anyway.
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| mrwarper Diglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member Spain forum_posts.asp?TID=Registered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5036 days ago 1493 posts - 2500 votes Speaks: Spanish*, EnglishC2 Studies: German, Russian, Japanese | Message 5 of 13 21 January 2011 at 12:12am | IP Logged | ||
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Sounds like just washing down the language study, and that's not a good thing.
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| leosmith Senior Member United States Joined 6360 days ago 2365 posts - 3804 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Tagalog | Message 6 of 13 21 January 2011 at 1:32am | IP Logged | ||
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Singapore is the country I most often hear mentioned, first hand, as being troublesome to communicate in. I hear
things like "they don't speak real Mandarin" and "they don't speak real English" all the time. I wonder if it's true, if so I wonder what the reason is, and I wonder if there are any other countries that have the same issue. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| newyorkeric Diglot Moderator Singapore Joined 6189 days ago 1598 posts - 2174 votes Speaks: English*, Italian Studies: Mandarin, Malay Personal Language Map | Message 7 of 13 21 January 2011 at 2:31am | IP Logged | ||
Yes, it is true to some extent. There are many times that I have a hard time comminucating, even with people who seem to speak reasonably good English. My Singaporean wife, who is bilingual in English and Mandarin, even feels it and recently remarked that she is better understood in the United States. I don't really know what the reason is. Part of the problem may be that Singapore no longer imports teachers from Great Britain and now relies on local teachers. The level of English has really deteriorated since they made that change though I can't say for sure if it's the cause or not. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| newyorkeric Diglot Moderator Singapore Joined 6189 days ago 1598 posts - 2174 votes Speaks: English*, Italian Studies: Mandarin, Malay Personal Language Map | Message 8 of 13 21 January 2011 at 2:35am | IP Logged | ||
The government policy is that you should learn your mother tongue in addition to English. If you are Malay, you learn Malay. If you are Chinese, you learn Mandarin. If you come from a Tamil speaking family, you learn Tamil. All three of these along with English of course are official languages. Where the government has promoted Mandarin over other languages is in regards to Chinese dialects. Those have been marginalized. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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