REACH (Telegram) 22 - What are your thoughts on these new initiatives? How else can the Government and various stakeholders increase the use of mother tongue languages (MTLs) amongst young people?
(SK)
16 Sep 2024 (10am - 7pm)
REACH (Telegram)
REACH Singapore, [16/9/2024 9:45 AM]
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Megan 😊
REACH Singapore, [16/9/2024 10:01 AM]
📢 Topic 📢
More students will be allowed to study mother tongue languages – Chinese, Malay or Tamil – at a higher level in secondary schools as part of a series of efforts being rolled out over the next few years to shore up bilingual education. From 2026, students who do well in the subject in the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) will be able to take higher mother tongue languages (HMTLs) in Secondary 1, regardless of their overall PSLE score.
💬 What are your thoughts on these new initiatives? How else can the Government and various stakeholders increase the use of mother tongue languages (MTLs) amongst young people?
Speaking at the Mother Tongue Languages Symposium on Sept 14, Minister of Education Chan Chun Sing acknowledged how English proficiency is necessary, but is on its own not sufficient for Singapore’s society given the importance and benefits of MTLs to Singapore.
He also provided more details on the thrust to improve MTL learning first outlined by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong in his maiden National Day Rally speech in August.
To better tackle the declining proficiencies of mother tongues and preserve bilingualism, MOE will increase efforts to expose students to MTLs earlier in life.
📌 New structured reading programme for primary schools
A structured reading programme, also known as MTL Soar, will be rolled out progressively to all levels in primary schools by 2029 - Primary 1 and 2 pupils will have 30 minutes of their mother tongue curriculum time set aside weekly for reading and library activities.
It will be differentiated according to the learning needs of students, with those who are stronger reading books that are richer in content and that can stretch their learning. Those who need more support will have books that are more accessible for them.
📌 Scaling up of existing pilot programmes in MOE kindergartens
Minister Chan said that under a pilot programme in two MOE kindergartens – MK@Hougang and MK@Elias Park – the daily curriculum time dedicated to these languages will increase from one hour to 1½ hours from 2025, adding how more must be done to take the use of MTLs out of the classroom and to leverage technology such as artificial intelligence to improve language learning.
📌 Benefits of promoting and preserving bilingualism in the long haul
Some pupils are already taking part in a pilot of the MTL Soar programme through an initiative known as Reading Passports, where they are given a document containing fun activities to complete after reading books. Primary 1 pupil Ganeshram Jaikumar is one such student, whose mother noted how the programme has increased his confidence in Tamil as well as motivated him to "start conversations with his grandparents and great-grandparents, by asking them to read the books with him.”
On its wider implications, Minister Chan said that “the ability to speak two languages and understand two cultures enables us to maintain a strong link to our heritage and forge connections with people around the world”. Doing so is also particularly important for Singapore as a multiethnic society to strengthen our internal social fabric and national identity.
👉🏻 https://str.sg/jdFb
👉🏻 https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/secondary-school-students-higher-mother-tongue-classes-psle-scores-moe-4608756?cid=internal_sharetool_androidphone_16092024_cna
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REACH Singapore, [16/9/2024 11:00 AM]
[ Poll : I am confident that these initiatives will help to promote bilingualism amongst young people. Please share the reason for your answer in the chats! ]
- Yes
- No
- Maybe
REACH Singapore, [16/9/2024 11:02 AM]
Dear Contributors,
Please take a moment to participate in our polls 📊 and share your opinion 💭. The poll questions are pinned for easy reference, and your vote is anonymous.
We look forward to hearing your thoughts on today’s topic!
Thank you.
Megan
REACH Singapore, [16/9/2024 11:50 AM]
Dear Contributors,
We want to HEAR MORE from you!
💬 What are your thoughts on these new initiatives? How else can the Government and various stakeholders increase the use of mother tongue languages (MTLs) amongst young people?
We have had good feedback from this group, and we hope that we can keep the discussion robust and active!
Do also share your opinion by participating in our polls! The poll questions are pinned for easy reference.
Thank you!
Megan 😊
Jun Ming, [16/9/2024 12:35 PM]
It depends on what the gov purpose in letting more people to learn MTL. Is it just for daily communication with others? Or is it more for professional settings in work and study
Jun Ming, [16/9/2024 12:46 PM]
Maybe setting mtl as a requirement to uni might help
Jun Ming, [16/9/2024 1:21 PM]
And the chance of applying it in daily life is important too
REACH Singapore, [16/9/2024 2:02 PM]
📢 Topic 📢
REACH Singapore, [16/9/2024 3:16 PM]
Dear Contributors,
Please take a moment to participate in our polls 📊 and share your opinion 💭. The poll questions are pinned for easy reference, and your vote is anonymous.
We look forward to hearing your thoughts on today’s topic!
Thank you.
Megan
REACH Singapore, [16/9/2024 3:16 PM]
LCL (Danny 心), [16/9/2024 3:21 PM]
*Merits of learning Mother Tongue Language*
1. Personally, I feel that in addition to English Language as a working language, being proficient in Mother Tongue is equally important.
2. The reasons bbeing :-
a. Mother Tongue is our root and heritage - and speaking, reading and writing in our Mother Tongue will enable ourselves to understand and live our roots, culture better.
b. Mother Tongue enable us to read and understand the 哲学，the profound philosphy of thousand of years of our cultural civilisation, 佛，道，儒 思想 (Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism philosophy)
And how this philosphy eg. 佛法 influence the research and understanding of 量子物理 Quantum Physics.
Eg.
起心动念 造宇宙。
26 Aug 2024
"Experiments Prepare to Test Whether Consciousness Arises from Quantum Weirdness"
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/experiments-prepare-to-test-whether-consciousness-arises-from-quantum/#:~:text=5%20MIN%20READ-,Experiments%20Prepare%20to%20Test%20Whether%20Consciousness%20Arises%20from%20Quantum%20Weirdness,-Researchers%20wish%20to
Researchers wish to probe and prove consciousness has a basis in quantum mechanical phenomena.
c. Mother Tongue enable us to understand the profound employment, deployment of defense - Suntze Art of War 孙子兵法。
In which its strategies have been adopted by militaries all over the World today.
The crux of the strategies can also be adapted to the business field, starting, expanding and managing the complex business in a highly competitive business world.
d. Mother Tongue enable us to understand the moral values, ethics of the conduct of human-to-human interaction, human-to-society interaction and how human should wholesomely behave in a society - to enable individual, household, and a society coexist in a harmonious community -- preventing conflict and confrontation that lead to chaos and destruction.
e. Mother Tongue allow us to understand the art, dance, songs, martial arts, gymnastics eg. 太极，八卦, 少林 TaiChi, BaQua, Shaolin etc.
f. Mother Tongue enable us to understand how our history and how our civilisation evolve from many dynasties 朝代 eg. 秦始皇，三国，明朝，宋朝，清朝 (QingShiWang, Three Kingdoms, Ming dynasty, Sung dynasty, Qing dynasty) - the rise and fall of the community civilisation.
g. Mother Tongue enable us to understand the meaning of different cultural festive celebration eg. 农历新年，端午节，etc.
h. Of course, able to converse, read and write our Mother Tongue will enable us to conduct professional communication, do business with our business partners eg China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau and Chinese diaspora in other Countries that converse in the Mother Tongue Language.
LCL (Danny 心), [16/9/2024 3:40 PM]
*The Learning Journey*
1. During my time in Primary School, there is only 1st language - English Language - that are conducted in all subjects - English, Math, Science.
All Mother Tongue is conducted as 2nd Language.
There is no Higher Mother Tongue at that time.
2. Armed with 2nd Language Mother Tongue, we can read, write and converse relatively well.
We are able to read books, novels, newspaper and able to write composition and comprehension - all the way to secondary schools and do well in GCE "O" Level Mother Tongue exam.
3. In private time, the Mother Tongue knowledge learn can even able to 读经文，哲学，兵法，事实，历史 - profound scripture, philosophy, Art of War, news, history.
4. And later part, Higher Mother Tongue is introduced (that I missed) - to cultivate business Mother Tongue, media quality Mother Tongue talents.
5. Looking at the current proposed policy to boost the learning of Mother Tongue --- it is many notches up the ladder to cultivate Mother Tongue talents notably:-
a. More students who do well in Mother Tongue at Primary level can study higher Mother Tongue at Secondary level regardless of the overall score in PSLE.
b. Scaling up of pilot Mother Tongue programme in kindergarten.
And other activities.
6. I feel that the Mother Tongue quality will improve quite noticeably with this new policy.
7. But proficiency in a language need alot of lifetime practice. It cannot be learn in a class and then not used it in the daily life.
Hence, using it in everyday context will help to ensure the proficieny of the Mother Tongue as well as the English Language as the working language.
8. My experience is :
a. Speak Mother Tongue at home with parents, among siblings and grandparents or even neighbors as well as in Mother Tongue classes.
b. Speak English Language at work, with colleagues and in professional settings.
9. These will ensure proficiencies in both Mother Tongue and English Language.
LCL (Danny 心), [16/9/2024 3:53 PM]
10. Of course watching TV drama mother tongue, sing songs - will reinforce the mother tongue proficiency.
LCL (Danny 心), [16/9/2024 4:00 PM]
11. By immersing in Mother Tongue, read and interact with foreign people will help us to understand the nuance, their thinkings, their culture, their underlying subtle inklings of how and why foreign people behave the way they are --- and will be very useful in social interaction, business, politics and geopolitics --- to avoid miscommunication and misreading of situations that arises.
12. In fact as observe, US and China geopolitics tensions - can be better managed if both China and US understand one another culture better - and many confrontations will be unnecessary.
The mistrust at the current level - in many instances - are due to misreading of nuances that escalated into open differences.
REACH Singapore, [16/9/2024 4:03 PM]
📢 Topic 📢
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