Chinese classes to be more varied
AUG 23, 2004Chinese classes to be more varied
By Rebecca Lee
THE teaching of Chinese in schools will move away from a one-size-fits-all approach and will be adapted to suit the varying abilities and family language background of students.
A modular approach, rather than one based on an across-the-board curriculum, will be introduced from Primary 1.
By doing so, the hope is that each and every child will be motivated to study and use the language, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
At the same time, a group of bicultural elite, who will delve deeper into the language and culture, will be groomed to sustain and pass on Chinese culture in Singapore and to engage China.
However, for the majority of Chinese students, the aim is for each to have at least a basic competency in the language and to arouse an abiding interest in it while encouraging those who can, to take it to their full potential.
The new approach, which will focus on listening and speaking, will require all students to take specified core modules.
In addition, those with less exposure to the language at home will take foundation modules. Those able to learn more can take enrichment and advanced modules and it will not be restricted to the top 10 or 20 per cent.
PM Lee, in announcing these measures yesterday, pledged that bilingualism would remain a cornerstone of Singapore's education system.
In recent months, revisions to Chinese language policy had caused concern among stalwarts who expressed a worry about falling standards.
Moves such as the introduction of an easier Mother Tongue B syllabus and a relaxation in the mother tongue requirement for university applications had been the subject of much debate in the Chinese press.
But Mr Lee noted that the latest changes he announced were meant to enable each student to take the language to as far as his abilities permitted.
Learning languages was not easy and neither was maintaining fluency, he noted.
Although he had spent 12 years in a Chinese school, he would get 'rusty' if he did not use the language for a few weeks or months. He would have to brush up on it but it was 'worth the effort', he said.
Mr Lee took pains to stress that the learning of the mother tongue was necessary to preserve Singaporeans' cultural identity and to engage Asia.
'The Europeans are learning Asian languages. If we don't, we are fools!' he said.
Mr Lee recounted meeting an Italian woman in Shanghai who spoke perfect Beijing-accented Chinese. Putting on his best Beijing accent, Mr Lee said, to laughter from the audience, that he asked her where she had learnt it. Her reply: Venice and Beijing.
He also pointed out that there are 35,000 Koreans studying in China.
Explaining the need for changes in teaching methods, he said there was a 'tremendous difference' in starting points between students from Chinese- and English-speaking homes.
Students also have different language abilities.
He said: 'If we force pupils to memorise strokes, characters and proverbs, regardless of their aptitude, then they will be turned off.
'But if we help them learn the language, help them use it in daily life... know the stories behind the proverbs, then we can arouse their interest to learn more and lay a foundation which is permanent.'
The aim is to teach Chinese as a living language - not an academic or dead subject such as Latin - with the focus on speaking and listening and with less emphasis on writing but a little more on reading.
Students taking Higher Chinese will focus on all four language skills.
A conducive environment outside the classroom is also needed for students to speak and read Chinese to reinforce what they learn in class.
Recognising the need to develop a group proficient in both English and Chinese for Singapore's upper echelons, the Government will introduce a bicultural studies programme.
It will turn out a core of about 200 students annually with more advanced knowledge of Chinese language, culture and contemporary China. They will be sent for immersion in China.
There will also be a new Special Assistance Plan scholarship scheme, akin to the Promsho scholarships for the humanities.
Stressing that Singapore was a multiracial society and the need to keep links with not just China but Southeast Asia and India as well, Mr Lee said a similar approach would be taken in the teaching of the other mother tongue languages.
Some students learning Tamil face similar obstacles as their Chinese peers but the problem is less severe among Malay students.
Still, there is now 1 to 2 per cent of Malay parents who speak English at home and for their children, Malay is like a foreign language, Mr Lee said.
'So what we do for Chinese, where there's a demand, we will also do for Malay and Tamil. And it is not just to be fair but to do the right thing to make sure Singapore stays multicultural.'
Copyright @ 2004 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.
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