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Coffeeshop Chit Chat - After father talked liao,PM give support</TD><TD id=msgunetc noWrap align=right>
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</NOBR> </TD><TD class=msgDate width="30%" noWrap align=right>5:09 pm </TD></TR><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgT height=20 width="1%" noWrap align=right>To: </TD><TD class=msgTname width="68%" noWrap>ALL <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgNum noWrap align=right> (1 of 14) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft rowSpan=4 width="1%"> </TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>25312.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgtxt>Dec 4, 2009
PM ON GOAL OF CHINESE LANGUAGE EDUCATION
Help every child go as far as possible
Teaching aims to help children from different family backgrounds
<!-- by line -->By Chua Chin Hon
<!-- end by line -->
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HAVANA (CUBA): One fundamental goal in Singapore's policy of bilingual education is to help students of different home language backgrounds become as proficient as possible in the Chinese language, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
Because of this, how Chinese is taught must be adapted to better fit changing times, especially when more children are coming from English-speaking homes and technology is influencing the way they learn, he said.
In 1999, he noted, 43 per cent of Chinese pupils in Primary 1 came from English-speaking homes. Today, it is the reverse.
'We have to acknowledge this shift in language habits, and adapt our system so as to make it work for the larger number of students from English-speaking backgrounds,' he said.
Mr Lee had been asked to give his take on the issue of Chinese language education at the end of a visit to Cuba on Tuesday.
Spirited exchanges in the newspapers and online over the teaching of the Chinese language followed Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew's comments on Nov 30 that the teaching of Chinese should be made more 'fun' and move away from a one-size-fits-all approach.
One group called for the bilingual policy to be relaxed for their children. Another was concerned that MM Lee's remarks implied a lowering of language standards.
PM Lee acknowledged these divergent responses: 'There are two groups of instant responses every time we raise the subject of Mother Tongue.
'One, from those who hated the subject - 'There you are, I was right all along, now you have finally admitted that you were wrong'.
'And the other group which says 'Mother Tongue is sacrosanct, let us not touch it, do not disturb it, leave it be'.'
Such views focused on the past, he said. 'We are not arguing over the past. Rather, we are trying to deliberate what is the best way forward for the future.'
In reaffirming the bilingual policy, he described it as a cornerstone of Singapore society.
'We want to succeed at Mother Tongue because it is critical to Singapore - not just economically, but also to our sense of identity and who we are as Singaporeans and as Asians in a globalised world,' he said.
Mr Lee led a committee which reviewed Chinese language teaching in 1999, when he was Deputy PM. That review led to the introduction of a simpler Chinese Language 'B' syllabus for those who had difficulties coping with the standard syllabus.
In 2004, another review of Chinese language teaching, this time spearheaded by MM Lee, led to the introduction of a modular approach.
Even with these two reviews, PM Lee noted, policy on Chinese-language teaching is still evolving.
The Education Ministry should be ready to announce some new moves next year, he disclosed.
The ultimate goal, he stressed, is to maintain a level of working proficiency in Chinese and other mother tongues for all of the population, despite Singapore being an English-speaking environment.
And one thing has remained constant over time: There will always be those who can reach a level of proficiency in Chinese that is close to first language level.
For such students, the Bicultural Studies Programme was introduced in 2005 in selected schools.
Mr Lee also paid tribute to Chinese-language teachers, saying: 'I have visited them in schools and seen how hard they are trying - innovatively with role play, with audio-visual skits, with musicals and so on, to get the message across and make pupils interested in learning and using the language. It is not an easy job at all.'
As a parting shot, he cautioned against politicising the issue: 'If you politicise this and ask what is the popular thing to do when teaching Chinese, or for that matter English or science, then we are going to do a big disfavour to the child.
'We have to determine what is educationally sound and what is the best way to teach Chinese Language within the capabilities of the kids, to interest them in the subject and not to turn them off the language.
'And that is what we were trying to achieve.'
PM Lee, who visited Cuba after attending the Commonwealth summit, arrived home last night after a stopover in France.
[email protected]
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PM ON GOAL OF CHINESE LANGUAGE EDUCATION
Help every child go as far as possible
Teaching aims to help children from different family backgrounds
<!-- by line -->By Chua Chin Hon
<!-- end by line -->
<!-- end left side bar --><!-- story content : start -->
HAVANA (CUBA): One fundamental goal in Singapore's policy of bilingual education is to help students of different home language backgrounds become as proficient as possible in the Chinese language, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
Because of this, how Chinese is taught must be adapted to better fit changing times, especially when more children are coming from English-speaking homes and technology is influencing the way they learn, he said.
In 1999, he noted, 43 per cent of Chinese pupils in Primary 1 came from English-speaking homes. Today, it is the reverse.
'We have to acknowledge this shift in language habits, and adapt our system so as to make it work for the larger number of students from English-speaking backgrounds,' he said.
Mr Lee had been asked to give his take on the issue of Chinese language education at the end of a visit to Cuba on Tuesday.
Spirited exchanges in the newspapers and online over the teaching of the Chinese language followed Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew's comments on Nov 30 that the teaching of Chinese should be made more 'fun' and move away from a one-size-fits-all approach.
One group called for the bilingual policy to be relaxed for their children. Another was concerned that MM Lee's remarks implied a lowering of language standards.
PM Lee acknowledged these divergent responses: 'There are two groups of instant responses every time we raise the subject of Mother Tongue.
'One, from those who hated the subject - 'There you are, I was right all along, now you have finally admitted that you were wrong'.
'And the other group which says 'Mother Tongue is sacrosanct, let us not touch it, do not disturb it, leave it be'.'
Such views focused on the past, he said. 'We are not arguing over the past. Rather, we are trying to deliberate what is the best way forward for the future.'
In reaffirming the bilingual policy, he described it as a cornerstone of Singapore society.
'We want to succeed at Mother Tongue because it is critical to Singapore - not just economically, but also to our sense of identity and who we are as Singaporeans and as Asians in a globalised world,' he said.
Mr Lee led a committee which reviewed Chinese language teaching in 1999, when he was Deputy PM. That review led to the introduction of a simpler Chinese Language 'B' syllabus for those who had difficulties coping with the standard syllabus.
In 2004, another review of Chinese language teaching, this time spearheaded by MM Lee, led to the introduction of a modular approach.
Even with these two reviews, PM Lee noted, policy on Chinese-language teaching is still evolving.
The Education Ministry should be ready to announce some new moves next year, he disclosed.
The ultimate goal, he stressed, is to maintain a level of working proficiency in Chinese and other mother tongues for all of the population, despite Singapore being an English-speaking environment.
And one thing has remained constant over time: There will always be those who can reach a level of proficiency in Chinese that is close to first language level.
For such students, the Bicultural Studies Programme was introduced in 2005 in selected schools.
Mr Lee also paid tribute to Chinese-language teachers, saying: 'I have visited them in schools and seen how hard they are trying - innovatively with role play, with audio-visual skits, with musicals and so on, to get the message across and make pupils interested in learning and using the language. It is not an easy job at all.'
As a parting shot, he cautioned against politicising the issue: 'If you politicise this and ask what is the popular thing to do when teaching Chinese, or for that matter English or science, then we are going to do a big disfavour to the child.
'We have to determine what is educationally sound and what is the best way to teach Chinese Language within the capabilities of the kids, to interest them in the subject and not to turn them off the language.
'And that is what we were trying to achieve.'
PM Lee, who visited Cuba after attending the Commonwealth summit, arrived home last night after a stopover in France.
[email protected]
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