Singapore Bilingual Education Policy

By Natchaya Tangtrakun550 132 004

ObjectivesTo study English take on the role as the main

language of Singapore education and communication

To study how these policies effect three ethnics groups; Chinese, Malaysian, and Indian in Singapore

Singapore Chinese 77%

Mandarin Chinese

Malaysians 14%Malays

Indians 8%Tamil

Singapore Bilingual Education Policy(The key feature of the Singapore education

sys tem)

The government of Singapore

Launches the Bilingual Education Policy for the citizen

Assigns the Ministry of Education to set and provide the Bilingual Education System and curriculum

Aims of Bilingual Education PolicyTo help the students discover their talent, potential,

interest and learning style

To develop in students an enduring core of competences, value and character

To ensure that their skills and knowledge taught in school meet the challenge of 21st century

To equip students with language competencies to access Asian Cultures

To enable them to appreciate students’ heritage

Bilingual Education PolicyEnglish

To be recognized as the medium languageUsed in the subject-matter curriculumUsed in main instruction at all school

Primary School Education

Secondary School Education

Pre-University Education

The Examination

The government requires the students in each level to do the examinations before study further in the higher level

Primary school: Primary School Language Examination (PSLE)

Secondary school: Cambridge General Certificate of Curriculum Ordinary (GCE “O” Level Examination)

University: Cambridge General Certificate of Curriculum Advance (GCE “A” Level Examination)

Second Language Acquisition Assumptions Underlying Singapore Bilingual Education Policy

Beginning a second language early leads to higher proficiencyLee Kwan Yew said “a belief that children will

learn English better the earlier they start learning the language.”

This urged Malaysians and Indians to increase their use English in order to improve the education achievement to their children

Parents send their children to Eng-medium preschool program

Home language development is not academically helpful to development of English language skills

Singapore education policy is bilingual, so the government requires students to study official mother tongue as a subject in English-medium schooling

The students who use English as home language instead of their mother tongue, they will lead to academic success in English

More time devoted to earn a language will result in greater proficiency in languageFor preschool program, the students were not

achieve a high level of proficiency in English, so the government required Mathematic and Science to be taught in English

The two alphabetic language are similarEnglish is not difficult for the Malaysians and Indians to learn because of similarities of alphabet

Maintaining the ethnic language will protect ethnic identity, a sense of rootedness and cultural values

Teacher QualityTeachers

To be nurtured and motivated to achieve the best in line with the aspiration and interest

To receive pre-service training at National Institute of Education (NIE)

To encourage them to use research findings to improve classroom practices

ICT To enhance students’ learning experience

To equip the students with the critical competencies to succeed in knowledge

To enrich the learning environment of students

Partnership with ParentsFor deliver an education by involve and

support school programs

To encourage parents and community to work together with school

To provide conductive learning environment in schools, homes and communities

Singapore’s Education System’s Succeeded

Singapore builds strong linguistic foundation through bilingual policy

Students seem to master English well enough to learn Mathematic and Science content at high level of achievement

IEA Progress in International Reading Literacy Study 2001 provide an interesting source of evidence of students’ English reading skills. Their score are higher than international average

Singaporeans performs very well on both literacy and informational purposes on English reading

In 1998, More than 60% of students, they pass the “Cambridge “O” level examination and can study in Universities

The Interviewing with Ethnic Groups in Singapore

Indian couple and students said

Most of Indian children enroll in the normal school for taking bilingual education and curriculum as same as Chinese and Malaysians

At the present, the children usually use English as home language for communicate with their families and friends, but just a small group of them speak Indo-European languages; Bengali, Hindi, and Punjabi

The children can learn the Mother Tongue language, Tamil, at school.

They can learn the Indo-European language, religious, culture and tradition from Indian temples or religious institutions

An Chinese Teacher, named Tasha (on the right)said

In her school, most of teachers don’t put much information to their students.

They are trying to give an assignment to them for searching the knowledge outside classes.

The teachers put the values in action by building students character through community involvement programs.

For students’ English improvementIt depends on different domains for English like

the places or institutions that the language is used.

If the students speak English at schools or institutions where have the fluent English speakers, they can practice their English in the proper way.

Sometime, the places may force them to use formal English such as schools’ platform.

The Mother Tongue language is also an obstacle that can effect to the students English speaking and pronunciation.

Questions&

Thank you

Referencesen.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_SingaporeEn.wikipedia,.org/wiki/

Language_education_in_Singaporehttp://libguides.nl.sg/content.phpwww.lingref.com/isb/047ISB4PDFwww.pl.sg/doc_RH_Bilingual%20Education%20Policywww.abtassoc.us/articles/Ddixon_IJBEB_2005.pdf