Making Learning of Mother Tongue Languages in Schools More Enjoyable

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Mr Saktiandi Supaat, Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC

Question

To ask the Minister for Education (a) what is being done to make the learning of Mother Tongue Languages in schools more interesting and enjoyable; (b) whether the Mother Tongue Language curriculum is designed to ensure students have a good functional use of the languages instead of learning idioms and phrases that are less likely to be used in conversation; and (c) whether lessons can be learnt from the private language centres that parents are sending their children to.

Response

1. The Mother Tongue Language (MTL) curriculum is designed to develop students' values, cultural understanding, and language skills to communicate effectively. It focuses on helping students to use their MTL proficiently in their daily lives. Teachers use authentic contexts, multi-modal resources, and instructional strategies such as role-playing and gamification to create engaging learning experiences. The idioms and phrases taught in the curriculum are carefully selected to enrich students' vocabulary and enable them to communicate with stronger cultural understanding.

2. The Ministry of Education regularly updates the MTL curriculum and scans international research developments in language education, incorporating best practices and technological tools. This ensures that our MTL curriculum, resources and instructional approaches remain responsive and effective to changes in environment and learner profiles.