[PSLE MT] PSLE less weightage in Chinese / Mother Tongue
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Read comics. Watch chinese cartoons. :celebrate:
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HyperKiasu:
Ya, that's their style.... once they announced in the media, it's actually all decided. Mebe we should stage a protest!
MOE mentioned the potential change in a very unformal occasion leh.... they let us debate, let us plead.....BUT whatever had been decided has been decided ......they just don't want to shock us all of a sudden......verykiasu2010:
the big question is : does MOE listen ? if they have hardened their hearts in their internal deliberation before they sounded out the potential changes, they might have already decided what to do and just give u time and space to ventilate but nothing will change their heart. -
tamarind:
So more business for enrichment centres with parents rushing to sign up their preschool kids for oral chinese classes.
minnie,
MOE has just announced that starting from next year, they are going to make all kids take a diagnostic test in P1 that will determine what type of methods will be used to teach them during Chinese lessons.
MOE press release on 10 March 2010 :
\"Greater attention will be given to develop the listening and speaking skills of students. MOE will equip schools with a diagnostic tool to assess the CL oracy competence of Primary 1 students at the start of the school term. The information would enable teachers to better customise their teaching to meet the different learning needs of students. \"
My worry is that a child who cannot converse in Mandarin very well at the beginning of P1, will be put in a Chinese class where they use mostly English to teach Chinese, or teach a lower standard of Chinese. This will be very sad because a child may know how to read and listen far better than he can speak the language. I thought schools are supposed to teach, why test a child at P1 before they even start teaching ?
My DS is one who can't speak well but read well. u know, some kids are more articulate and have gd pronunciation. But he seems to have short tongue, has problems pronouncing certain sounds. If he's assessed on things like clarity, pronunciation, fluency, cham liao lor!
Based on all the announcements about chinese teaching by LKY, MOE since late last year, I think they are moving towards:
1. Heavy emphasis on oral instead of written chinese
2. No need to learn how to write chinese characters because with hypy, the students will type their essays on laptops.
3. allow use of laptops during exams too for the students to type instead of write.
4. Teach chinese as if it's a foreign language. -
dimsum:
Ya, that's their style.... once they announced in the media, it's actually all decided. Mebe we should stage a protest![/quote]they just pre-alert us....
MOE mentioned the potential change in a very unformal occasion leh.... they let us debate, let us plead.....BUT whatever had been decided has been decided ......they just don't want to shock us all of a sudden......HyperKiasu:
[quote=\"verykiasu2010\"]
the big question is : does MOE listen ? if they have hardened their hearts in their internal deliberation before they sounded out the potential changes, they might have already decided what to do and just give u time and space to ventilate but nothing will change their heart.
dun think protest will work.... -
tamarind:
I agree that reading is the best way to learn Chinese and in fact for all language no short cut except reading widely.
I believe in building a strong foundation from 3 years old. It takes many years to study a language and to be good at it, not just at P6. The only way to be very good in Chinese, is to read as many Chinese story books as possible. This is from my personal experience. I was one of the top scorers for Chinese in school, all the way to A levels. My Chinese essays consistently get the highest marks. No enrichment class for me, I don't even remember studying very hard. I only remember reading all the 金庸 novels, and all the 亦舒 novels, which are hugely enjoyableHyperKiasu:
Of coz it is enjoyable if your kids are too young to face the stress of PSLE lol.....
or, enjoy of Chinese = CCA of Chinese hor.....
Chinese was the subject that I spent the least effort in, but scored the highest.
Those parents who think that memorizing the textbook, and doing tons of assessments, will make a kid do well in Chinese, are making a mistake.
And I think u have some sort of gift for Chinese language. but for majority Chinese learner, weightage cut is disincentive.
Ungifted + unmotivated = ???
If parents are very PSLE score-oriented and weightage is cut by 50%, parents will let kids cut time by 50% accordingly....and if they really love Chinese, they can still love it like their \"hobby\"......Never be a priority in terms of academic.... -
but ca1 only take up about 10% of the total final marks doesn't meant that students do not have to put in effort to study... those parents who think that 10% is not important and do not encourage their kids to study to study hard for it will loose out to those who still work hard for it ... :roll:
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dimsum:
Looks like the MOE direction is towards lowering the Chinese level in accordance to deteriorating Chinese standards in society. I wonder why they can't make Chinese more fun. I recently had a conversation w/ a friend who has 3 kids in primary school. She said the Chinese books in school are usually very boring, contents are too politically correct (need to be a perfect child, respect teachers, follow rules etc). On the other hand, there's a much wider variety of Eng books and the contents are usually much more lively and interesting.Based on all the announcements about chinese teaching by LKY, MOE since late last year, I think they are moving towards:
1. Heavy emphasis on oral instead of written chinese
2. No need to learn how to write chinese characters because with hypy, the students will type their essays on laptops.
3. allow use of laptops during exams too for the students to type instead of write.
4. Teach chinese as if it's a foreign language.
Another reason it's hard to learn Chinese here is that you don't need it to survive in Singapore but you can't survive w/o Eng. If you look around in the streets, there're very few signs in Chinese outside of Chinatown. All govt docs and school newsletters are in Eng (even newsletters from Berries!). I noticed there's more Chinese signs in the streets in Malaysia. If its usefulness is not obvious and not used in daily life, it's just like a dead language like Latin for the kids. There's absolutely no incentive for them to learn the language except for exams. No wonder I've heard cases where some people graduated from A-levels in Singapore but can't read a Chinese book :? -
To understand the issue, one needs to differentiate the dog from the tail and see which is wagging what.
What is the end result we seek and by what means are we trying to achieve it by?
The prevailing opinion is that somehow raising the bar in terms of weightage somehow translates into greater proficiency in the language.
Really?? Please show me how that works…
Over the many years when the weightage for CL2 have held steady, have the standards held steady or improved?
Clearly, the correlate to higher standards in Chinese is not whether the weightage is high or low, but the standard of instruction.
For folk who are encumbered by a lack of ability in Chinese, this is no longer an incentive to perform better, but rather a punitive measure by which further academic progression is inhibited.
To those who scream ‘UNFAIR’, the motivation for opposing this measure is then very clear. It is not about promoting the standards of Chinese, but rather, preserving your competitive advantage over other students.
I support this measure fully. Its not about lowering the standards of Chinese, for which the solution is increasing the standard of instruction, but levelling the playing field and focussing on the relevant subjects that will deliver for society a productive adult at the end of schooling. -
wondering whether school will allocate less time to MT lessons if cut is significant...
there are too many ripple effects....
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3Boys:
Actually I do not think there is anything wrong with the statement in bold. For parents who did an excellent job to create that competitive edge, why not? I am not one of those parents as my kid's level of Chinese is not competent, however I give kudos to parents who are able to do so. What is wrong in giving credit where it is due? I do not think my child is born inherent with the lack of ability to learn the language, what I do know is that I have not done the right thing enough resulting in this. Should I feel that since I did not do as well as those parents who did better, I should pro this motion to help my child gain back some advantage? Maybe you think that I am dumb, but I am willing to admit that I did not develop my child well enough in learning the Chinese language as a mother tongue. I am willing to make amends and work towards it, but not at the expense of others.
To those who scream 'UNFAIR', the motivation for opposing this measure is then very clear. It is not about promoting the standards of Chinese, but rather, preserving your competitive advantage over other students.
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