[PSLE MT] PSLE less weightage in Chinese / Mother Tongue
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ksi:
Just wondering, how about Thai or Indo Chinese couple turned Singaporean and child has to choose Chinese as MT? There might be a growing numbers of such children too since our government promoting citizenship to foreigners. Can someone advise if such kids are compulsory to take MT or hv special waivers?
even if they are granted waivers, dun think they will give up MT...
I have one Indian turned Singaporean collegue whose two kids are in international school but they hire Chinese tutors to teach two kids Chinese twice a week for more than 5 years...... -
online letter ST dare not put on print
http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/OnlineStory/STIStory_523960.html
May 8, 2010
Irony of weighting review
IT WAS with wry humour that I read the report, 'Mother tongue weighting in PSLE could be cut' (April 21).
Since 2001, when I went to study in the United States, I have noticed a strengthening of interest among non-Chinese in learning Chinese. This trend corresponded to the rise of China as a global economic power.
In recent years, this wave shows no signs of cresting. Rather, its momentum has increased. It is thus ironic that at this juncture, Singapore considers what I never thought it would: shooting itself in its thus far blemish-free economic foot. Below, I draw attention to three foreign reports that testify to the burgeoning global interest in Chinese.
The first is a blog entry by Mark Glaser published on Sept 25, 2006 in MediaShift, the online journal of PBS, an American non-profit public broadcasting television service with 354 member TV stations in the US.
Titled 'English today, Mandarin by 2020?', the entry quotes results from a Pew/Elon survey that showed that 57 per cent of respondents believed that English would no longer remain the dominant lingua franca by 2020. While other respondents were uncertain whether Chinese would replace English, there was no doubt that its global importance was on the wax rather than the wane.
That was in 2006.
Earlier this year, China Daily ran a report by Lei Xiaoxun and Cheng Guangjin, titled 'Demand for Mandarin on the rise'. It reported that British Schools Secretary Ed Balls had urged that children in Britain be allowed to study Chinese under a government plan. Although this proposal had several goals, that which was most stressed by Mr Balls was 'business-oriented demand'.
China, on its part, is also actively putting out cultural and linguistic tentacles. In Lei and Cheng's report, it was noted that 282 Confucius Institutes and 272 Confucius Classes have been set up in 88 countries and regions, and that more than 40 million people are learning Chinese worldwide.
Many countries, of which the US has been a leader for the past 15 years, have also been sending students to China on cultural and language programmes. I can testify to the veracity of this statement. At Yale University, where I am based, there are now more prestigious fellowships for China-based programmes than ever before.
The most recent report is by Edward Wong in The New York Times, titled 'Indonesians seek words to attract China's favour'. It reports that the Regent of Lamongan, Indonesia has mandated that all schools in the region teach Chinese 'to prepare the youth for doing business with China'.
Now I may be wrong, but growing up in Singapore, the one thing I had internalised was that my country placed economic considerations as the foremost common good. This meant that while I could never justify certain laws - think caning and the chewing gum ban - to some of my liberal-minded foreign friends, I could always assure them that Singapore was a good place to do business. This was because most of the talent in the Government is channelled to ensuring that Singapore maintains its economic edge through careful anticipation of global economic trends.
I would hesitate to say that now if the mother tongue weighting reduction is approved. Imagine this: Within the next 10 years, non-Chinese from metropolitan US to rural Indonesia would be able to speak Mandarin, perhaps some more fluently than Chinese Singaporeans, who are generally losing touch with their linguistic heritage. This scenario is not at all far-fetched. I already hear it on occasion, in the subway cars of New York, in the classrooms at Yale.
So let the Ministry of Education decide according to what it deems the best interests of Singapore and its denizens. For those in Singapore with an eye on China-related business prospects, however, it might be a good time to begin looking closely at more distant shores.
Clare Eng (Ms) -
still got ppl who needs to be educated on the importance of China when everyone in the world starts to \"ride on the rise of China\"...
中欧国际工商学院
http://www.ceibs.edu/today/rankings/index.shtml
MBA Programme (despite its young age of 16yrs only):
* #22 worldwide, full-time MBA Programme (2010); 3-year average ranking = #14: Financial Times
* #2 \"Best Business School in Far Eastern Asia\" (2009): Ed Universal (award chosen by 1000 international b-school deans)
* #5 \"Schools in Asia most favored employers\": QS Top MBA website
why can it achieve that???
its presence in China: students pool/faculty talent pools...all want to ride on the rise of China.... -
HyperKiasu:
by the way, CEIBS is heavily funded by the EUstill got ppl who needs to be educated on the importance of China when everyone in the world starts to \"ride on the rise of China\"...
中欧国际工商学院
http://www.ceibs.edu/today/rankings/index.shtml
MBA Programme (despite its young age of 16yrs only):
* #22 worldwide, full-time MBA Programme (2010); 3-year average ranking = #14: Financial Times
* #2 \"Best Business School in Far Eastern Asia\" (2009): Ed Universal (award chosen by 1000 international b-school deans)
* #5 \"Schools in Asia most favored employers\": QS Top MBA website
why can it achieve that???
its presence in China: students pool/faculty talent pools...all want to ride on the rise of China.... -
ksi:
Ermmm.. he made those statements based on his own personal learning experience (but he learned at an old age) and what her neurologist daughter said. So, I won't say it's based on some solid, scientific research.
Tamarind, I suppose the main data point is LKY. He stood up to say that it was a feat from a bio point for some people. For LKY to make such statements, it would be assumed that he had done his research sufficiently to make the statements. Of course there is a possibilty of error but let's give him some benefit of doubt. -
ksi:
Just wondering, how about Thai or Indo Chinese couple turned Singaporean and child has to choose Chinese as MT? There might be a growing numbers of such children too since our government promoting citizenship to foreigners. Can someone advise if such kids are compulsory to take MT or hv special waivers?
My ex classmate was a Eurasian (Singaporean). He didn't take any MT in PSLE. In secondary, he took one of the 3rd languages offered.
So I think it's also not compulsory for foreigners to take MT. -
tamarind:
Fully agree. Early exposure and POSITIVE attitude by the parents towards learning Chinese are the key factors.
Very few of the minority 10% will be able to demonstrate this learning disability. Because most of them don't have the disability, they only started to learn Chinese too late.
MOE should setup nurseries and kindergartens where only Chinese is taught (no English at all), and kids can attend since 3 years old. Families that speak only English at home should send their kids to these pre-schools and I can guarantee that they will have no problems in Chinese. -
Did everyone read the news on ST today. It had a coverage of views from both camps. It does appear that based on feedback to the forum. Around 80% are against lowering of MT.
I also found it heartening to know that those against the lowering of MT are young professionals who had benefitted from the bilingual system.
Another interesting observation was the 1991 GE results where due to CL decision at that point, it cost the ruling party 4 seats. Is our GE round the corner??? -
dimsum:
That's right. We should only listen to experts in education who have conducted extensive research on a huge number of kids. These people must also be experts in Chinese. Not just based on personal experiences only. LKY was a lawyer and politician, not an educator, and he is certainly not an expert in the Chinese language. A chinese teacher in primary school is more qualified than him to make any comments about this issue, because the teacher has taught hundreds of children, LKY has not.
Ermmm.. he made those statements based on his own personal learning experience (but he learned at an old age) and what her neurologist daughter said. So, I won't say it's based on some solid, scientific research.ksi:
Tamarind, I suppose the main data point is LKY. He stood up to say that it was a feat from a bio point for some people. For LKY to make such statements, it would be assumed that he had done his research sufficiently to make the statements. Of course there is a possibilty of error but let's give him some benefit of doubt. -
If there is no scientific evidence of MT disability, then ATTITUDE is the only explanation of why one can be tortured by MT given same good MT exposure at early age.
Perhaps those 10% are fully loaded thus able to afford giving up MT. they always have backup plan…
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