“. . .if we were monolingual in our mother tongues, we would not make a living. Becoming monolingual in English would have been a setback. We would have lost our cultural identity, that quiet confidence about ourselves and our place in the world.” (Lee Kuan Yew, 2000).
Singapore’s bilingual education policy was borne out of a pragmatic need to operate in the global economy using the English language while maintaining the Asian languages and values of our respective cultures.
With English as the main language of instruction in all the subjects except the mother tongue, every Singaporean student -- by the time he or she leaves school -- would be able to communicate in at least two languages. They would be competent and confident enough to use Standard English wherever they are in the world without feeling their own cultural values and language crowded out. The aim of the bilingual education policy is to ensure that while Singapore remained viable economically all over the world, Singaporeans need not lose their cultural values or identity.
While the Malay Language is the National Language of Singapore, English has been the main medium of instruction in schools since 1987. Singapore’s education system promotes and stipulates bilingualism as its core policy so that children pick up at least two languages in schools -- English and their mother tongue. English is the language of commerce, technology and administration while Chinese, Malay or Tamil, enables the children from the different main races to keep in touch with their heritage and cultural values.
English would also be the language that would serve as the lingua franca for Singaporeans of different races to bond with one another. Chinese, Malays, Indian and Eurasians can use English as the common vehicle for communication and enter each other’s worlds to understand and appreciate one another.
When Singapore became independent from Britain in 1959, we could have easily gone the way of some former colonies and consigned the language of the former rulers to disuse or mangled it into pidgin. The founding fathers of modern Singapore refused to jettison what would serve us well.
In 1966 when the bilingual education policy was adopted, Singapore’s First Cabinet foresaw that the future of science and technology would be mostly written in English. Singapore’s first Prime Minister, Mr. Lee Kuan Yew knew that competency in the English language from a young age was vital: “If a student is unable to understand a language, then he is unable to receive information or knowledge in that language. It is therefore crucial that a breakthrough must be made in the English Language as early in life as possible.” (Lee Kuan Yew, 1982).
That foresight has been paying dividends for Singaporeans. When they go abroad to study in English-speaking countries they have no difficulties following lectures or writing their essays. Singapore’s students also excel in international Maths and Science tests conducted in English, faring comparably with their counterparts from many of the English-speaking countries.
In 1979, Mr. Lee launched the Speak Mandarin Campaign to steer Chinese Singaporeans to using a common Chinese language to interact with one another. This would unite the different Chinese dialect groups instead of keeping them compartmentalised and separate. The other racial communities do not have this problem of a common script sounding unfamiliar due to regional or dialectal differences.
The Government has continued to place the priority on all the races being able to get along with one another and there could be no trade- off on that. In the 1991 opening of the Speak Mandarin Campaign, then Prime Minister Mr.Goh Chok Tong stressed this as the cornerstone for nationhood. He said that while the Chinese community should be “tightly knit”, it must also be “tolerant and appreciative of other communities’ heritage, able to communicate with them in English, and work with them for a common future…”
In the years since the bilingual policy was introduced, generations of Singaporeans have felt confident to engage the world and their fellow Singaporeans of different races using English, while being firmly grounded in their own cultural values through their mother tongues.
References
Singapore Press Holdings. (2000). From Third World To First: The Singapore Story 1965-2000, Memoirs of Lee Kuan Yew . Singapore: The Straits Times Press
Call No.: SING 959.57092 LEE
Speak Mandarin. Are you game? (2008). Speak Mandarin Campaign Website. Retrieved July 9, 2008, from
http://www.mandarin.org.sg/site/
Dixon, L.Q. (2005). The bilingual education policy in Singapore: Implications for second language acquisition. ERIC Education Resources Information Center. Retrieved July 9, 2008, from
http://eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/1b/2d/e8.pdf
Daryl Chia, Fung Kiu Yan, Ong Si Yuan, Eugene Chin, Cornelius Wang
10S21
Showing posts with label Education. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Education. Show all posts
technology in education
TECHNOLOGY IN EDUCATION
Recently, a growing number of researchers have published studies that provide substantial evidence that technology can play a positive role in academic achievement. Several organizations like Edutopia, the North Central Educational Lab (NCREL) and the Center for Applied Research in Educational Technology (CARET) are documenting research studies that link technology to increases in academic achievement. Two studies are reflective of the growing body of research on technology's role in academic achievement.
Harold Wenglinsky's study, "Does it Compute: The Relationship between Educational Technology and Student Achievement in Mathematics," concluded that for 4th and 8th graders technology has "positive benefits" on achievement as measured in NAEP's mathematics test. But it is critical to note Wenglinsky's caveat to this conclusion. He argues that not all uses of technology were beneficial. Wenglinksky found using computers to teach low order thinking skills, "...[W]as negatively related to academic achievement…." Put another way, this type of computer use was worse than doing nothing. By contrast, teachers who had students use computers to solve simulations saw their students' math scores increase significantly. As he explored the reasons for the differing ways teachers used technology, Wenglinsky found that professional development was the difference between those teachers who used skill and drill software and those who used software that could create simulations. Teachers who had training and skills used technology in ways that focused students on simulations and applications that encouraged students to develop problem solving skills. Those teachers who hadn't had training used skill and drill software (Wenglinsky, 1998).
More recently, educators in Missouri issued their findings on a study of the impact the statewide eMints program had on academic achievement. This program is designed as a comprehensive approach to assist teachers to integrate technology. Participating teachers receive classroom equipment, and over two hundred hours of professional development over a two-year period. In addition to traditional workshops, eMints training includes peer coaching for individual teachers. The training is designed to help teachers integrate technology so that they can use inquiry-based teaching and emphasize critical-thinking and problem-solving skills. As one of the program leaders noted, "We find that when you put the two, (inquiry based learning and true technology integration) together there's a synergy created that really boosts students' learning" (Brannigan, 2002). The power of pairing technology with inquiry learning was directly reflected in the test scores of more than 6,000 third and fourth grade students who recently took the Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) test. "Results show that a higher percent of students in eMINTS classrooms scored in the 'Proficient' or 'Advanced' categories…when compared with other students who took the MAP tests…" (Brannigan, 2002; Evaluation Team Policy Brief, 2002).
Are International schools or local schools more beneficial?
Class size
When compared to local schools, international schools have smaller class sizes, therefore enabling a better student-teacher ratio, which in turn ensures individual attention to the students’ developmental needs. The smaller class sizes also means a better access to facilities. The Local schools have larger class sizes and the campus is sometimes cramped, facilities have to be shared among the large pool. In general, poor student–teacher ratio affects the relationship between the students and teachers. Often the students at the local schools have to fend for themselves, the teachers also have to tackle the challenge of handling an over sized class thus resulting in undue stress that affects their productivity.
Heterogeneous Class
International schools being open to all nationalities admit students from different linguistic background. Second language students at the international schools come from various educational backgrounds. The students are not necessarily from the higher end of the aptitude scale but are generally placed in the same class rooms. The teachers have to strike a balance in their teaching style so as to enable a progressive learning environment for all students. High performing students when placed along with average students may find the teaching system to be lagging, or may start feeling overconfident and eventually slide down the performance scale. On the other hand, the second language students and students with learning disabilities in spite of receiving special attention and assistance may feel pressurized amidst high performing students. Many international schools in Singapore split students into separate groups based on their language skills in order to address this issue. Singapore Local schools take in students of similar aptitude because admissions are based on merit, so students of matching abilities are grouped in a school. This enables the schools to implement special teaching techniques aimed at improving the child’s performance. Devoid of the pressure of high performing peers, the under-performing students often scale up their performance. At the same time higher aptitude students are given the opportunity to aspire for higher goals by setting competitive benchmarks.
Cost Factor
The fee is the most distinctive difference between the local and international schools. The international schools charge exorbitant fees. Parents who have the privilege of comprehensive relocation package may not feel the pinch, while the parents who pay out of their pockets, tend to be anxious of the results and performance of their kids. This will result in undue pressure on the child and may also affect their performance. The local schools charge higher fees for the foreign students however it is far more competitive than those charged by the international schools in Singapore.
Pedagogy & Peer Group
International schools sport an atypical informal atmosphere, fostering a friendly relationship between students and teachers while the local schools adorn a formal atmosphere. Many Asian expatriates find the informal environment in the international schools a little alien to their culture, but gradually warm up to the atmosphere, while the western expatriate children will feel a similar initial discomfort when put in a local school. The international schools are not exam oriented and encourage self learning and research geared towards nurturing critical and independent thinking while building the strength of character. The local schools are more focused on exams and assessments and give lots of homework but efforts are now being taken to shift away from this approach. This is being done without compromising on the strength of the fundamental education. In Singapore's international schools, the students come from affluent families, so there is not much of diversity in terms of status. So children tend to grow up without an understanding of the social disparities and at times may tend to become inconsiderate. To counter this issue, schools attempt to enlighten their students through community services and social education. Children from all walks of life come together in local schools thus they get to know the social nuances and also learn to appreciate and adapt to reality. Children of minority nationalities tend to imitate the culture of the dominant nationalities in international schools and it is the case in local schools as well. This may cause dispute between children and their parents who tend to preserve their cultural identity. The demands of children to keep up to their peers may cause dissension in the family.
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Schools in Singapore:
Tanjong Katong Primary School
Tanjong Katong Primary School is one such school that has a high number of International students, with 1700 international students coming from 39 different countries in the year 2007. The parents of these international students expressed that the main reason that they send their children to the local primary school is due to the lower school fees as compared to International schools.
Nanyang Primary School ( Autonomous School)
Nanyang Primary School is a school not run by the government of Singapre. However, it receives aid from the government. In Nanyang Primary School, the teachers adopt different methods of teaching for different subjects. For example, toys@work is a method adopted to teach science. Toys@Work is a unique Programme in Nanyang for the teaching and learning of Science through the use of toys. It is also a Multiple Intelligences teaching strategy that our Science teachers are expected to employ as there are designated Toys@Work activities to be completed for each level in a year. These lessons enable the pupils to have hands-on experience in deriving Scientific concepts to be covered in the syllabus by playing with toys. They also get the opportunity to design and create their own toys to demonstrate the same concept learnt, hence allowing them to also display their creativity.
The Math instructional programme of Nanyang Primary School also focuses on experiential learning where students take part in programmes like Maths Trail, Hands-on Mania, Problem based task and Math Olympiad(for selected students) throughout their six years in the school.
For the two other subjects like English and Chinese, the school too adopts similar methods to teach their students, concentrating more on experiential and holistic education.
These methods have been proved to be effective as Nanyang Primary School has been producing top students for the Primary School Leaving Examinations ( PSLE). Wee Yen Jean was the top scorer of PSLE in 2007 with a score of 287. In other years the school may not have produced the top scorer for the year, but statistics show that students from Nanyang Primary School generally perform better as compared to other primary schools.
SJI INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL (Private School)
SJI International School uses a combination of teaching methods in their school. Examples of methods are didactic, thinking and processing through paper exercises, research and research papers, group work, individual oral, role playing, experimental and experiential. However, SJI intends to focus on experiential learning. Experiential education involves learning through an experience in the fullest sense of the word and can lead to a remarkable enhancement in self-esteem. It should occur within a context that takes a student out of a personal zone of comfort (eg. An expedition or a service placement) and offers a substantial challenge, ideally physical, intellectual and psychological, the achievement of which will yield great satisfaction. The challenge generates a heightened sense of awareness and interest as well as offering a context rich in learning opportunities, involving the individual disciplines, but essentially cross curricular and holistic. A skilled teacher can empower the student to learn from every facet of the experience without reducing spontaneity and a sense of personal freedom. Experiential education should be driven by the inherent power of a well-designed and substantial challenge and not fine-tuned. The teacher should be the imaginative creator behind the project, not an omnipresent supervisor.
Conclusion
While local schools and international schools both have their merits and demerits, it ultimately depends on the personal family’s situation, the child’s adaptability and family’s financial resilience could play the deciding role whether to send one’s child to a local school or international school.
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