User:SNng/Language education in Singapore

With the exception of Mother Tongue classes, lessons in Singapore are conducted entirely in English. This continues from primary school all the way through to secondary school. In junior colleges, students who did Higher Mother Tongue (HMT) at secondary level have the choice to opt out of Mother Tongue classes entirely.

During British colonial rule, the local schools in Singapore had different school systems and taught in different languages. In the period of time where Singapore was heading towards self-governance after World War 2, bilingual education was a key policy for racial integration. ^[1] Considering also that Singapore is a linguistically and ethnically diverse country with a population of about 5 million people (as at June 2010),^[2] a lingua franca was needed to facilitate communication among the different races and different dialect groups. Malay was briefly considered to be the official schooling language, in consideration of the merger between Singapore and Malaysia. However, English emerged as the common tongue to be taught in school. Because of the status of English as a world language and the desire for her people to continue to be culturally anchored to their home language, the government thus encouraged Singaporeans to be fluent in English and their Mother Tongue. As such, bilingual education has always been a cornerstone of the language education system in Singapore.^[3]

The bilingual education policy was first introduced by the government in 1966. ^[4] All subjects are taught in English, and curriculum time is set aside weekly in all government schools for Mother Tongue lessons. This deviates from the more typical program models for bilingual education, for which academic content is taught in two languages, usually a native and a secondary, with variable extent for each language. 'Mother tongue' in this context refers to the language of one's official ethnicity, also denoted as the second language (L2), as opposed to the language spoken in the home domain, otherwise generally as acknowledged one's native language (L1).^[5]

The Ministry of Education (Singapore) places heavy emphasis on English as it is the “the language of administration, education, commerce, science and technology, and global communication” ^[6] and therefore “mastery of English is vital to Singapore’s pupils”. An English Language Institute of Singapore (ELIS) was set up in 2011 to provide "in-service training for EL and English-medium teachers". ^[7] It is hoped that when students leave school, they would have acquired basic literacy skills.

In 2011, a combined team of students from Raffles Institution and Hwa Chong Institution emerged champions at the 23rd World Schools Debating Championship held in Dundee, Scotland. ^[8] This is one of the many evidences of the success of the English as L1 policy.

History

Since 1987, English has been designated as the official first language within the local education system. English is the first language learned by half the children by the time they reach preschool age and becomes the primary medium of instruction, as well as subject of study, by the time they reach primary school. 80% of the lessons in school are taught in English.

The English Language Curriculum is designed to help pupils “pupils become independent lifelong learners, creative thinkers and problem solvers who can communicate effectively in English”. Hence apart from use in the curriculum, English is also intergrated in many co-curricular activities outside the classroom. Pupils will be required to read widely, learn how to analyse and evaluate language and the media, and respond creatively to problems and new technology. The curriculum is reviewed every 5 years. The table below lists out the main syllabus changes over the years.

Year	Main curriculum changes[4]
1966	Bilingual education policy introduced; English to be taught as either L1 or L2
1971	Emphasis on grammar and oral skills
1981	Grammar still a focus, oral communication changed to functional literacy (basic reading and understanding)
1987	Compulsory for all schools to teach English as L1
1991	Less focus on functional literacy; children fiction made compulsory to be read by students. Grammar still important but no longer the focus
2001	Re-emphasis on grammar and effective communication as a result of increasing use of Singlish
2010	Focus on listening and speaking skills and 'systematic and explicit instruction of grammar'

Primary school students are assessed on their skills in English based on the following tasks:

• Cloze passage (fill in the blanks)
• Comprehension passage
• Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ)
• Composition writing
• Oral test (Passage reading and picture description)
• Listening comprehension

The table below lists out the aims of each components of English-language assessment.

Component	Aims [6]
Reading	Students will be able to be independent readers
Writing	Students will learn to compose and express their ideas into text
Oral communication: Speaking and listening	taught to observe social conventions and etiquette and to give socially acceptable responses

Language facilitators to help primary school students with English-language learning were engaged in 25 primary schools in 2010.^[7]. These language facilitators will be conducting before- and after- school enrichment lessons, such as story telling and drama. Over time, MOE plans to extend them across primary schools in Singapore.

Students are assessed based on the following components:

• Comprehension
• Composition writing
• Oral test (Passage reading and picture description)
• Listening comprehension

Component	Aims[6]
Reading	Able to develop higher levels of literacy and apply reading comprehension strategies
Writing	Able to use intelligible, grammatically-sound English to write effectively to suit their purpose and audience
Oral communication: Speaking and listening	Understand internationally acceptable English, distinguish between formal and informal speech and apply oral communication strategies, will be able to speak and make presentions

By Junior College (JC), it is assumed that the students' English language level has reached a satisfactory level. In a subject known as General Paper, students are further assessed on their written English discourse skills, by presenting arguments pertaining to current world events, issues, and trends in an essay.

While English is the main medium of instruction in Singapore, it is compulsory to take a Mother Tongue language, one of the 3 other official languages of Singapore. Together with English, the official languages of Singapore are Mandarin Chinese, Malay, and Tamil.^[9] The mother tongue to be studied is determined by the ethnicity of the individual. Mother Tongue is a compulsory and an examinable subject for children taking the PSLE (Primary School Leaving Examination), GCE 'O' and 'A' Level examinations ^[10]. In addition, it is considered a pre-requisite into University admissions. However, foreign students who have been abroad may apply for an exemption from studying a mother tongue language of Singapore, to study their various languages if offered.^[11]

Education in the period between 1965-1978 was otherwise known as 'survival-driven education' as the adoption of the bilingual education policy was an attempt to integrate the various races and ethnicities in Singapore.^[12]. In 1966, students were given a choice to be schooled in any of the official languages of Singapore, and were then required to take up one other official language as a subject. Subsequently, students had to offer their Mother Tongue paper in the GCE examinations. By the 1970s, the English language was perceived to be the key to global success and opportunities, it saw a rapid rise in enrollments for English-stream schools. Non-English- stream schools were facing difficulties maintaining enrollments and resources while some faced the brink of extinction^[13]. Mathematics and Science were taught in English and students in non- English-stream schools had difficulty coping, causing learning English to be more desirable. Civics subjects were taught in the various mother tongues based on the student's race as the administration emphasized the importance of teaching moral education in Mother Tongue^[14]. In 1979, a streaming system was introduced. Students who were able to cope with the study of 2 languages would be in the "Bilingual" stream, while those thought to be more suited to focus on 1 would be streamed into "Monolingual" ^[15]. By the 1980s, the education board began addressing shortcomings of the then-system by tightening second-language entry requirements into tertiary education.

Mother tongue in Primary education

Primary school consists of 6 compulsory years- the first 4 years are foundational and the last 2 years are orientation stages. This is to ensure students will have a good grasp of their foundation by the time they take the PSLE before proceeding to secondary school. Currently, Mother Tongue is given 20% of curriculum time. ^[16]By Primary 4, subject-based banding allows the students to have a mix of standard and foundation-based subjects that caters to their individual learning need. Students who are found to be good in the language, is encouraged to take up Higher Mother Tongue ^[17] Currently, Mother Tongue shares equal weighting as other subjects such as English, Mathematics and Science of 25% in the PSLE. ^[18]

Mother tongue in Secondary education

Secondary school education comprises 4-5 years of education. Students are streamed into 'Express' and 'Normal (Academic/ Technical)' based on their PSLE results. At the end of their course of study, they would be required to sit for the national exam Cambridge 'O' levels or 'N' levels. They will be tested on listening, oral, reading and writing during the examination. Students are offered Higher Mother Tongue as well as the standard Mother Tongue during the GCE 'O' level examination. Students who have passed their Higher Mother Tongue are then exempted from reading Mother Tongue in at the junior college level, and are also eligible to take up Chinese, Malay, or Tamil Literature.

Mandarin Chinese or known simply as Chinese, is the main language spoken by Chinese Singaporeans. It was also made, in 1968, one of the compulsory Mother Tongue languages that is required of every Singaporean and Singapore Permanent Resident to be included as part of their education curriculum. Chinese was thus made a compulsory subject in the PSLE, in the same year. It was first introduced to Singapore during British colonization by Chinese schools in the 1920s, since then, it gained popularity. After Singapore gained independence, the government maintains continuous efforts to promote the language so as to ensure that Chinese Singaporeans know about their ethnic roots, culture and maintain traditional Asian values ^[19].

In addition, further efforts to encourage the use of Chinese included the 1979 "Speak Good Mandarin, Speak Less Dialects" Campaign as well as Chinese-medium SAP (Special Assistance Plan) schools- these schools teach both English and Chinese as first-language standard. Education in the period between 1978-1997 was the 'Efficiency-driven' phase- where the bilingual policy took a "one size fits all stance". Streaming was introduced. At the primary level, students would be streamed in to EM1 (students with strong aptitude for learning), EM2 (average students) and EM3 (students with a weaker aptitude for learning). However, in 2004, this streaming system was removed ^[20] Currently, education in 'Ability-driven', where IT skills are emphasized and used to enhance language learning.

The table below states the primary aims of the Chinese language syllabus^[21]

Syllabus	Aims
Primary 1 & 2	Able to recognize and read 600-650 characters and write 300-350 characters out of a designated character list
Primary 3 & 4	Able to recognize and read 1200-1300 characters and write 700-750 characters out of a designated character list
Primary 5 & 6	Able to recognize and read 1600-1700 characters and write 1000-1100 characters out of a designated character list

The following table summarizes the changes made with regard to the Chinese Language policy.

Year	Revisions made to Syllabus	More Information
1972	Second language weighting at PSLE doubled[1]	-
1979	"Monolingual" and "Bilingual" Streaming removed.	-
1980	Second language requirements relaxed.	Second language given equal weighting to other subjects.
1999	Increase number of students to take HCL (Higher Chinese Language) [22]	HCL (Higher Chinese Language) introduced to encourage students' with a strong aptitude for Chinese to develop their skills further.
1999	Admission to SAP Schools.	Increase intake from top 10% of PSLE cohort to 30%.
2001	Introduction of CLB. (Chinese Language 'B' Syllabus)[23]	CLB (Chinese Language 'B' Syllabus) introduced to encourage students' with a weaker aptitude for Chinese to strengthen their foundation.
2004	EM1-EM3 Streaming removed.	-
2006	Chinese handheld dictionaries allowed into examinations. [24]	-
2008	Introduction to Modular approach.	For Primary 1 to Primary 4. (see below for details)
2010	Revision in PSLE examination format.	-

The new Chinese language curriculum aims to make language learning more enjoyable, in hope that the students would take Mandarin beyond the classroom. Key learning areas include listening and speaking more as well as building a firm foundation in Chinese character learning skills in lower primary before developing essay skills in upper primary. The Ministry of Education has taken on a differentiated approach to ensuring each student will learn the language to the best of his abilities via a step-by-step process^[25]:

• Bridging Module
  • For students with little or no Chinese language background
  • Aims to provide support and foundation in basic speaking and writing skills
  • Once the student is ready, he may then continue with the Core Module

• Core Module
  • For students who have an interest to Chinese
  • Aims to develop and build literacy
  • Makes up 70%-80% of curriculum time throughout primary school
  • Is examined at PSLE

• Enrichment Module
  • For students, in the Core Module, who have a higher ability and interest in pursuing the language further
  • Aims to encourage extensive reading

As of now, the education board is looking into making language learning more interesting and IT-based. For example, language learning through the use of smart phones and online computer games (Source: MyPaper) ^[26]

The Secondary school Chinese syllabus focuses mostly on developing a student's linguistic skills and reinforce their literacy skills.

The following table shows the basic aim at the end of the course of study. ^[27]

Syllabus	Aims
Higher Chinese Language	Able to recognize, read and write 2700-2800 frequently-used characters
Chinese Language (Express Stream)	Able to recognize and read 2400-2500 characters and write 2000-2100 characters out of this list
Chinese Language (Normal Stream)	Able to recognize and read 2200-2300 characters and write 1800-1900 characters out of this list
Chinese Language (B)	Able to recognize and read 1600-1700 characters and write 1100-1200 characters out of this list

The following table summarizes the changes made with regard to the Chinese Language policy.

Year	Education Changes	More information
1999	Nan Hua Secondary School added to list of SAP schools.	-
1999	Introduction of 'Introduction to Appreciation of Chinese' enrichment programme in SAP schools.	-
2004	Introduction of CLB Syllabus.	Eligibility criteria relaxed.[23]
2006	'Literature in Chinese' offered for 'O'-level examinations.	[28]
2006	Changes in exam format.	Emphasis on memorizing decreases while context-understanding is greater emphasised.
2007	Choice of additional Mother Tongue.	Requirements from previously (top 30% of PSLE cohort) relaxed. Students are offered another Mother Tongue subject that is not their native Mother Tongue so long as they have an interest.[29]
2007	Bicultural Studies Programme.	Students interested in pursuing studies in two cultures are allowed to take up electives such as Chinese History and Chinese Philosophy.

Currently, the list of SAP schools include:

Malay (Bahasa Melayu "Malay language"), specifically in Roman script rather than Arabic script, is ceremonially recognized as the national language of Singapore.^[9] This is attributed to the Malays being identified as the indigenous people of Singapore. Spoken as the main vernacular among Malay Singaporeans today, Malay was once considered the regional lingua franca of South East Asia, from as early as the 15th century. However, the status of Malay as a home language of ethnic Malays is experiencing a decline, from 91.6% in 2000 to 86.8% in 2005.^[30]

During the period of British colonization, instilling basic literacy and numeracy were the aims of the then available Malay-medium primary schools built by the government, in addition to maintaining the Malay culture. In contrast, the colonial government did not provide for the Chinese and Tamil vernacular schools.^[31] By 1986, only a single class of 28 students at the end of their Malay-medium secondary education remained, with no primary level students left. Malay-medium schools thus came to a natural demise, as children ceased to register for Malay-medium education. This was unlike the Chinese-medium schools, which were removed by the government.^[5]

Today, the status and development of the Malay language in Singapore is overseen by the Malay Language Council of Singapore (Majlis Bahasa Melayu Singapura), which was first established in April 1981. In addition to standardizing Malay spelling in Singapore, the council also promotes the usage of the Malay language through the Malay Language Month (Bulan Bahasa Singapura), first introduced in 1962. The Malay Language Month aims to ensure the continuity of the language as a strong part of the Malay heritage through activities like performances, competitions, and workshops.

The primary level of the Malay language syllabus covers the foundations of students' proficiency at listening, speech, reading, and writing in Malay.

The table below outlines the intended learning outcomes of the syllabus.^[32]

Syllabus stage	Listening	Speech	Reading	Writing
Primary 2	Hear and understand messages, stories, and nursery rhymes.	Speak clearly using appropriate reference.	Comprehend text from essays, poetry, and song.	Write a paragraph.
Primary 4	Hear and understand children's stories, advertisements, dialogues, and poetry.	Speak clearly and efficiently using standard pronunciation, intonation, and pauses.	Comprehend text from short stories, essays, and poetry.	Write narrative, descriptive, or functional prose.
Primary 6	Hear and understand speeches, news, short stories, novels, and poetry.	Speak clearly, smoothly and effectively, using standard pronunciation, intonation, and pauses.	Comprehend text from essays, short stories, novels, and poetry.	Write various types of text.

Recently, the Ministry of Education enabled increased flexibility in the Malay language curriculum, at the Lower Primary level (Primary 1-3), by introducing "ability banding or differentiated instruction within a class". ^[33]

The following table summarizes the changes made with regard to the Malay Language policy.

Year	Revisions made to Syllabus	More Information
1972	Second language weighting at PSLE doubled.[34]	-
1976	MOE accepted the new Malay spelling system.[31]	Previously adopted by Malaysia and Indonesia in 1973.
1979	"Monolingual" and "Bilingual" Streaming removed.	-
1980	Second language requirements relaxed.	Second language given equal weighting to other subjects.
2006	Less emphasis on rote memory in PSLE.[33]	Increased emphasis on contextual understanding and increased weighting for speaking/listening aspect.
2008	New Malay language curriculum for Primary 1-4.[33]	-
2009	New Malay language curriculum for Primary 5. [33]	-
2010	New Malay language curriculum for Primary 5. [33]	-

The secondary level of the Malay language syllabus aims to further students' acquisition and use of effective Malay language, such that their enhanced communication skills will facilitate their appreciation of the Malay language, literature, culture, and values.^[32]

The following table summarizes the changes made with regard to the Malay Language policy.

Year	Revisions made to Syllabus	More Information
1960	Secondary Malay-medium classes were started at Geylang Craft Centre, Monk’s Hill, Kallang, and Serangoon.[31]	-
1961	Malay-medium secondary schools were built.	-
1976	MOE accepted the new Malay spelling system.[31]	Previously adopted by Malaysia and Indonesia in 1973.
1979	New spelling system implemented in the GCE O-levels.[31]	-
1980	Second language requirements relaxed.	Second language given equal weighting to other subjects.
1987	Malay Language Elective Programme introduced.	Non-Malay Secondary 1 pupils who are in the top 10% of their PSLE cohort are eligible if they have never learnt Malay in primary school.
2000	Introduction of ML "B" Programme. (Malay Language 'B' Syllabus)[23]	Made available in GCE O- and AO-level examinations in 2001.
2001	Elective Programme in Malay Language for Secondary Schools (EMAS) introduced in Bukit Panjang Government High School and Tanjong Katong Secondary School.[35]	Four-year Higher Malay programme. In addition, the pupils could offer Malay Literature.
2007	Students of the Malay Special Programme (formerly known as the Malay Language Elective Programme) will be awarded two bonus points for admission to junior college.[36]	Only eligible if they pass their third language O-levels.
2008	All Secondary 1 pupils from Express and Normal (Academic) courses offered Bahasa Indonesia and Arabic as Third Languages.	Lessons twice a week outside school curriculum time, for two hours per session, at the Ministry of Education Language Centre.[35]

Tamil is one of the four official languages of Singapore, and is as such, representative of the ethnic Indians. However, the Indian ethnic group speaks a variety of languages besides Tamil, which includes Malayalam, Punjabi, Gujarati, Bengali, Hindi, and Urdu. Estimated figures from 1988 indicates that Tamil-speaking Indians only constituted 64% of the ethnic Indian population in Singapore then.^[37] To date, only 36.7% of Indian Singaporeans (as of 2010) use Tamil as a home language.^[38]

Similar to the case of Malay, Tamil-medium schools suffered with the rise of English-medium schools, and parents stopped enrolling their children in these Tamil vernacular schools. In 1982, the only Tamil-medium secondary school in Singapore, the Umar Pulavar Tamil High School, closed down, and that was the last of Tamil-medium education in Singapore.^[37]

Non-tamil Indian languages

Concerns with regard to the provision of non-Tamil Indian languages were first raised in 1991.^[5] Now, a non-Tamil Indian student may choose to offer a non-Tamil Indian language such as Punjabi, Gujarati, Bengali, Hindi, or Urdu, as his Mother Tongue. These non-Tamil Indian mother tongues are also available for students to offer at the GCE N-, O-, and A-levels, in addition to the PSLE.^[11] Yet, due to the scattered nature and small sizes of non-Tamil speaking Indian communities, these non-Tamil Indian languages are seldom offered within the students' own schools, and instead require the Indian students to travel beyond curriculum time to special centres.

The primary level of the Tamil language syllabus covers the foundations of students' proficiency at listening, speech, reading, and writing in Tamil. Additionally, it also aims to educate students on Tamil traditions and customs. Primary school Tamil learners are assessed through these measures of competency:^[39]

• Written comprehension
• Oral and listening comprehension
• Essay

The table below states the primary aims of the Chinese language syllabus.^[39]

Syllabus	Aims
Primary 1 & 2	Understand simple spoken instructions, songs, and stories. Able to voice their opinions in Tamil.
Primary 3 & 4	Understand the news, debates, and discussions in Tamil. Able to converse fluently and perform public speaking, with correct intonation and pronunciation.
Primary 5 & 6	Become well-versed and fluent in reading, writing, speech, and listening.

Recently, the Ministry of Education enabled increased flexibility in the Tamil language curriculum, at the Lower Primary level (Primary 1-3), by introducing "ability banding or differentiated instruction within a class". ^[40]

The following table summarizes the changes made with regard to the Tamil Language policy.^[40]

Year	Revisions made to Syllabus	More Information
2006	Less emphasis on rote memory in PSLE.	Increased emphasis on contextual understanding and increased weighting for speaking/listening aspect.
2006	Spoken Tamil to be taught instead of formal Tamil	-
2008	New Malay language curriculum for Primary 1-4.	-
2009	New Malay language curriculum for Primary 5.	-
2010	New Malay language curriculum for Primary 5.	-
2010	PSLE Oral Examinations to use spoken Tamil instead of formal Tamil.	-

There remains some secondary schools which do not offer Tamil language classes within curriculum time. 10% of secondary students reading Tamil language are hence required to take Tamil lessons after curriculum time, at either the Umar Pulavar Tamil Language Centre (UPTLC), or 11 other school-based Tamil language centres around Singapore.^[35] A list of 93 secondary schools providing Tamil language lessons can be found here.

Secondary school students offering Tamil language at the GCE O-levels are assessed via the following measures of competency:^[39]

• Paper 1
  • Essay writing
  • Letter writing
• Paper 2
  • Sentence completion
  • Multiple-choice comprehension questions
  • Open-ended comprehension questions
• Paper 3
  • Listening comprehension
  • Oral examination

Early bilingual education policy in the 'Efficiency-driven' period (1978-1997) was based on a 'one-size fits all' approach. This has resulted in numerous present-day Singaporeans not having a good grasp of both English and Mother Tongue well. The Ministry of Education constantly reviews curriculums and policies to ensure their students develop their languages to the best of their ability with a more customized and differentiated approach.

• Education in Singapore
• Ministry of Education (Singapore)
• Multilingualism
• Bilingual Education
• Languages of Singapore
• Language planning and policy in Singapore
• Speak Mandarin Campaign