Bi-lingualism at school a mistake ?

[mrswongtuition]

insider:

She said she didn't really have to break down the words but more on 'taking a photo' of each word and her brain will capture the letters..

Your girl is a visual person. She's like me. When I study, I don't really read the content. I simply 'take a photo' of the pages in my textbook/notes. During exams, I'm able to close my eyes and 'flip' my books/notes to get the content. It helps better when key words/points are highlighted in the book when I revise.

I only discovered this when I was in S3. Maximised it & my grades improved alot from there. Moved on to Poly (due to interest) and was the top student of my course. Went on to NTU/NIE & continued to top the course

That's why I can read Chinese words & recognise them. But I was too lazy to practise writing, so I can't write

[daisyt]

This is on today CNA website. http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1018826/1/.html


SINGAPORE: Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said his insistence on bilingualism in the early years of education policy was \"wrong\". Instead it caused generations of students to be put off by the Chinese language.

Speaking first in Mandarin and then in English at the official opening of the Singapore Centre for Chinese Language on Tuesday, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew gave a blunt assessment of Singapore's bilingual policy.

He said: \"We started the wrong way. We insisted on ting xie (listening), mo xie (dictation) - madness! We had teachers who were teaching in completely-Chinese schools. And they did not want to use any English to teach English-speaking children Chinese and that turned them off completely.\"

Mr Lee added: \"At first I thought, you can master two languages. Maybe different intelligence, you master it at different levels.\"

But his conclusions now, after over 40 years of learning Mandarin, cannot be more different.

MM Lee said: \"Nobody can master two languages at the same level. If (you think) you can, you're deceiving yourself. My daughter is a neurologist, and late in my life she told me language ability and intelligence are two different things.

\"Girls are better at languages because their left side of the brain to learn languages, as a general rule, is better than the boys. Boys have great difficulty, and I had great difficulty.

\"Successive generations of students paid a heavy price, because of my ignorance, by my insistence on bilingualism. And I wasn't helped by the ministry officials, because there were two groups - one English speaking, one Chinese teaching.\"

Mr Lee said educators should first get the child interested in the language by focusing on the way it is heard and spoken. This includes incorporating drama and IT into lessons to make them more engaging.

Mr Lee said: \"It doesn't matter what level they reach, they will like the language, it's fun, and later on in life they'll use it.\"

The need to make the Chinese language more appealing to students has been a focus of the Education Ministry in recent years and one way is to re-examine how the language is taught in schools.

So the new centre set up in February to train Chinese language teachers will soon offer degree programmes that include modules on curriculum design and teaching methods.

The programmes will be offered under four agreements that were formalised on Tuesday. They include a part-time degree for preschool teachers under a partnership with the SEED Institute, a training institute for early childhood educators.

Tan Chee Lay, deputy executive director, Singapore Centre for Chinese Language, said: \"For students to learn, the golden age is from three to six. So in this period of time, if we're able to teach them well, they'll learn well and their language foundation will be there.\"

Other partners are the Media Development Authority (MDA), SIM University (UniSIM), and the University of Hong Kong.

There are over 4,000 Chinese-language teachers here and about a quarter of them have been trained by the centre so far. - CNA/vm

[Picolo]

I heard LKY over the news just now while driving too. He stressed: \"We started the WRONG way. We insisted on ting xie (listening), mo xie (dictation) - madness! ...\" He's truly more enlightened now.

[metz]

Picolo:

I heard LKY over the news just now while driving too. He stressed: \"We started the WRONG way. We insisted on ting xie (listening), mo xie (dictation) - madness! ...\" He's truly more enlightened now.

:goodpost:

[mckenzy]

Language learning is linked to personality and our learning abilities. Some are visual, some are auditory.


Alot of it has to do also with the construction of the language. As mentioned in this thread, mandarin has a very different structure compared with english.

people who grow up in europe, denmark for example, learn danish as their first language, english as an optional 2nd language. the structure is similiar (iirc) to german, swedish, and some south american languages… for these people, learning 4-5 languages is not an issue at all… but twist the structure (like Italian) and they can forget about coming close to even understanding people speak the language.

in the end, what is language for? to communicate…

[tamarind]

http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/Story/STIStory_457774.html


Don't let language drag down the best
I AM continually impressed by the ability of Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew to reflect on his policy shortcomings and change for the better ('MM Lee wants learning of Chinese to be fun', last Wednesday).

I agree that learning a language is an aptitude. Unlike science-based subjects, the study of language cannot be shoved down one's throat.

I have a daughter who has just completed primary school. The top award in her class went to a pupil who got an exemption from studying Chinese. She was not the best in class in any of the three subjects, but because of her exemption, her aggregate was the best.

About two years ago, when we found our daughter was a borderline pupil in Chinese, my wife and I were concerned that a poor score in the language would pull her aggregate results down for the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE). We were told we could take her to a child psychologist and get a note stating her inaptitude in the language so she could be exempted, come PSLE time.

We did not take the option, but I know of several parents who did.

I fully support the new approach of MM Lee that the learning of Chinese should be predicated on piquing the interest of the learner.

While it cannot and should not be an elective subject, future PSLE scores should de-emphasise language and concentrate on other assessment criteria.

I have known so many bright students who had to leave Singapore to further their education because of their lack of proficiency in Chinese.

I am glad the issue is being addressed now. Late as it may be, it is better late than never.

Boon Chin Aun

[tamarind]

[quote]
We were told we could take her to a child psychologist and get a note stating her inaptitude in the language so she could be exempted, come PSLE time. [/quote]I am surprised that it is possible to do this.

Personally I believe that if a child is very bright in English, Maths and Science, then it is not possible for him to do get an F in Chinese. Unless he totally never study Chinese. This parent perhaps has unrealistic expectations, may be he expects the child to score A*. Is it so bad to get A* all subjects and a B or C in Chinese ? I know it will pull down the PSLE score. But other kids have put in much more effort to get A* in Chinese and the PSLE score should reflect that.

[clarabella]

I have met many professionals over the years who are more than proficient in both English and MT. My husband has colleagues (locals) who are perfectly capable of writing medical papers entirely in Chinese. I do not have problems drafting legal contracts for PRC clients in Chinese, and this obviously goes far beyond conversational language skills. And by no means am I the odd one out in my firm.


In all my years in primary and secondary school, I did not have external help from parents or tutors; all I knew then were taught by school teachers. I do not recall thinking that Chinese was a much harder language to learn than English, and mind you, I was not a brilliant student either. It was simply just another subject. Because of my own experience, and because I see that many of my contemporaries are effectively bilingual, I am deeply puzzled by how Chinese seems to be such a struggle for many kids these days. I always hear that it is because Chinese is so much more difficult to learn than English. But really, math these days is a very tough subject too, so how come we can teach our kids to tackle (it seems) math so much more easily than Chinese? For goodness sake, it is supposed to be our mother tongue. If you meet a Japanese or French national who cannot speak his mother tongue and who proudly proclaims "I HATE JAPANESE/FRENCH!", what would you think?!

[starlight1968sg]

Well said, clarabella!


I am not excellent in both English and MT. But being a chinese, does not have any excuse not to do well in chinese.

But the current method of teaching chinese in primary schools really worries me because during the first term in p1, kids were taught han yu pin yin. When I read the chinese text book, I thought I was reading an English text book!

[karmeleon]

tamarind:

[quote]
We were told we could take her to a child psychologist and get a note stating her inaptitude in the language so she could be exempted, come PSLE time.

I am surprised that it is possible to do this. .[/quote]Can't say it in that way ... \"inaptitude\" in the language?

What happens is that a child who can be certified with a learning disability, and that's why it needs to be tested & certified by a psychologist. Learning disabilities like dyslexia, autism, etc. I have several friends who have kids with such and have been exempted from MT. These kids take their psle in a separate room from the rest and usually given longer time to handle their exams. Not ALL apply to be exempt from MT though. It depends on the child/parent. But MOE does seem to approve such applications very quickly these days. I've heard that approval can be received within 2 or 3 weeks.