Opening Address by Minister for Education, Mr Chan Chun Sing, at the Mother Tongue Languages Symposium 2024

1. A very good morning to all of you. 大家早上好. Selamat pagi. Vanakkam. I am happy to welcome you to the 13th Mother Tongue Languages Symposium.

Bilingualism Is a Fundamental Pillar of Our National Identity

2. Recently, there has been much discussion on our country's state of bilingualism in the public domain.

1. Some Singaporeans are worried that we are becoming less bilingual. I think many of us in this room will share this concern.
2. Yet, others feel that English alone is sufficient for Singaporeans to get by.

3. Clearly, proficiency in English is necessary, but on its own, it is not sufficient for us as a society.

1. The English Language serves as a common language for all of us to interact across the diverse ethnic groups and as a universal business language which plugs us into the global business environment.
2. However, our MTLs anchor us to our heritage. It also offers us an edge, a competitive advantage by allowing us to connect with people who speak the same language, as well as tapping into wider opportunities in the region. I will come back to this theme, over and over again today. It is not just about bilingualism, but also biculturalism. The ability to understand different languages opens windows for us to understand and appreciate different cultures.
3. Today, our proficiency in two languages allows us to communicate with people from both the east and the west, from within and beyond Singapore, and help us better connect to an increasingly fractious and fragmented world.

4. A nation with people who can code-switch between different languages is more inclusive, and more resilient in its diversity, than one that is exclusive and monolingual.

5. Research suggests that bilinguals have better ability to empathise and understand other people's perspectives, especially those that are different from our own. The more languages you speak, the more likely you will be able to consider other people's views from their perspectives, and to be more accepting of their differences. This reduces prejudice and fosters a national identity that is more inclusive.

6. It is not just languages, but understanding the cultures behind all these so that we must be both bilingual and bicultural.

1. For example, try translating堂伯母in English: "my father's paternal cousin's wife". Maybe we are tempted to just say "Auntie" as we usually do. One might suggest that this translation is accurate, but not very apt. This difference presents a worldview that places a particular type of emphasis on kinship and familial ties.
2. When we learn a new language, we access a different worldview and are able to connect better with the culture.

7. As a nation comprising various ethnic and language communities, bilingualism is a cornerstone of our education system and continues to stand as a fundamental pillar of our national identity. Upholding bilingualism will strengthen our social fabric.

1. I would like to share one example. Every year, our students from the secondary Language Elective Programmes or LEP in Chinese, Malay, and Tamil come together for a seminar.
2. This year, they read three MTL literature texts written by local authors from the three races. The short stories cover issues like identity and heritage. Each work is translated into Chinese, Malay or Tamil.
3. If you are from, say the Malay programme, you will read all three works in Malay. Our students used their MTL to read deeply and study these ideas presented in the works.
4. The Chinese, Malay and Indian students then used English to discuss their ideas and share their perspectives with one another.
5. The bilingual approach helped deepen their language abilities, and also built understanding and fostered connections between them.

8. Beyond school, bilingualism also has its benefits that last for life. Research has suggested that:

1. Bilinguals are better at executive functions, attention, working memory and cognitive control.
2. Bilingualism may also slow down ageing of the brain in the long run and delay the onset of Alzheimer.

9. Given the importance and benefits of bilingualism, I will be concerned if our people become less bilingual than before. Indeed, challenges line the road ahead for us to remain bilingual, particularly for our youths to be proficient in our MTLs. We will have to do more to preserve this important asset of ours to step up our gear.

Early Exposure to Languages Enables Students to Develop a Strong Foundation for Language Learning

10. First, we need to start early. Early exposure to languages will enable students to develop a strong foundation for language learning.

11. Today, we recognise outstanding preschool Mother Tongue teachers who have used engaging pedagogies for young children to learn, use and love the language.

1. For example, Ms Norfaezan Binte Fadiar employed Storygami, a creative approach involving origami papercraft activities, to engage her students to participate in her storytelling activity.
2. Ms Sutha d/o Kandasamy facilitated experiential learning with fun activities like getting students to hunt and locate picture cards associating them with Tamil vocabulary.
3. Ms Woon Poh Leng creates a vibrant learning environment through songs, movements, and musical instruments to encourage children to use Chinese.
4. These teachers have also established partnerships with parents by sharing teaching approaches and involving them in surveys, workshops, and activities with external organisations. This created a learning environment that extends beyond our classroom. I would like to extend my congratulations to the three of them as well as to the many other teachers who will be receiving the award today. Beyond the winners today, I would also like to thank all our mother tongue teachers for your efforts to uphold our bilingualism and mother tongue.

12. MOE will take additional steps to support our children's learning at the Pre-school level.

1. From 2025, we will pilot a programme in two MOE Kindergartens to increase the amount of MTL exposure by 30 minutes, from 1 hour to 1.5 hour per day.
2. We will provide more opportunities for children to learn and use their MTL and help them build a strong foundation for language learning in their later years.
3. We will gradually scale up the pilot to more MOE Kindergartens and explore increasing MTL curriculum time with other Pre-school operators as well.

13. At the primary level, from next year, MOE will gradually implement a reading programme called MTL SOAR.

1. We hope to instil in students the love for reading in MTL to Spark interest, Open minds, Appreciate cultural roots and Rise as bilingual readers.
2. We will also provide graded readers for students across genres and topics that are exciting to our young children. This will complement the existing curriculum and textbooks so that students can apply and extend what they have learnt in the classroom.
3. The programme will also cater to different types of learners. Those who are stronger in MTL proficiency can read more books that are richer in content and be stretched in their learning, while those who need more support will have books that are more accessible for them. We are going to customise the programmes in order to meet the diverse needs of our students.
4. Some of these materials will be curated by our counterparts in the National Library Board (NLB). We will also involve parents in reading at home and encourage them to bring their children to visit the libraries for more activities.

Provide Differentiated Support for Students to Learn MTL

14. Second, we will continue to provide choice and differentiated support for students to learn MTL.

1. All of us have different strengths and talents. Some students may be strong in languages but not in other subjects.
2. We will support more of these students to take Higher MTL (HMTL), so they can learn their MTL to as high a level as possible and as they desire.

15. From 2026, Secondary 1 students will be able to take up HMTL as long as they perform well in MTL or HMTL at PSLE, regardless of their overall PSLE score.

1. There are some students today who did not meet the PSLE eligibility criteria but were given a chance by their secondary school to study HMTL.
2. These students have deepened their interest in HMTL, and coped well with their O-Level HMTL, without affecting their overall academic performance.
3. Their experience gives us the confidence to allow more students to do so.
4. This is also aligned with other MOE moves that we have been making recently to better recognise and develop a diversity of strengths in our students across different domains.

Extending MTL Learning Beyond the Classroom

16. Third, the learning of MTL must extend beyond the classroom. This year's symposium consists of an explorer zone activity where students will get to interact with our "everyday heroes" like grocers, firefighters, lifeguards, and bus captains in their MTLs.

17. Education efforts to develop our youths' proficiency in MTL will be inadequate, if the languages are not used regularly in daily life. A whole-of-society approach is necessary to make MTL living languages, where students use MTL in real-life settings. Use your MTL as much as possible. Even in multiracial settings, consider using both your MTL and English as appropriate to increase the visibility of our languages and promote inter-cultural understanding.

18. Besides using MTL in daily lives, we also need to groom talents who can contribute and continue the usage of MTL in the media and arts industries. Wu Xianfeng was a student who had participated in the National Schools Xinyao Singing and Songwriting Competition in 2020 organised by the Committee to Promote Chinese Language and Learning (CPCLL).

1. That experience has broadened his understanding of Chinese pop music and honed his songwriting skills. After the competition, he continued to pursue this interest. This year, his song was selected as one of the soundtracks for the popular China TV programme 花儿与少年.
2. At 24, he is now a songwriter. His creates, publishes and uploads his songs on online platforms based in China. He recognises the value to continually improve his Chinese proficiency, not just to connect with his Chinese fans, but to also help him read business contracts and communicate with other music professionals from the Chinese speaking world.
3. The learning experience beyond the MTL classroom experience has shaped his career choice. I think technology has also played a part. The online platforms have made it possible for him to reach a much wider audience. The same online platform today will also allow our people to access resources beyond conventional mediums.

Leveraging Technology for MTL Learning

19. This brings me to my fourth point. We will explore greater use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and educational technology (EdTech) to help enlarge the space for our students to use MTL.

1. For example, we have recently enhanced the speech evaluation tool on the SLS platform. This tool can automatically award marks to students based on their reading accuracy and fluency. It can identify specific errors in mispronunciation, insertions or omissions and demonstrate to students the correct way of reading.
2. With such immediate and targeted feedback, we observed that students have become more self-directed and motivated. They are willing to try and try again to improve their reading before submitting their assignments.
3. Besides SLS, our MTL educators are also adept at curating other types of EdTech to best meet the needs of their students. Dr Dong Yaru from CHIJ Primary (Toa Payoh) will share how she uses different kind of AI-powered tools to enhance Chinese oral skills among her students in one of the afternoon sharing sessions. I encourage you to attend and understand the efforts undertaken by some of our MTL teachers.

20. MOE will continue to keep abreast of the latest developments in EdTech and work with partners to develop better solutions for our students.

Starting at Home

21. The Paris Olympics ended a month ago. I am very sure we are all impressed by our youngest ever Olympic medalist Maximilian Maeder, or Max.

1. Not just for his sporting power, which is exceptional; nor for his character and disposition, which is far mature beyond his age; but also, his ability to communicate in Chinese, English and German fluently. You might be wondering: how did he pick up these languages?
2. I then saw the video interview that his mother, Mrs Hwee Keng Maeder, had given. She shared passionately the importance of Chinese in her children's lives. She wanted them to be able to communicate with their grandparents and to understand the culture and heritage embodied in the language. She even named Max after the Chinese philosopher 墨子 and the younger siblings after 老子 and 王阳明.
3. She and her husband endeavored to use different languages with their children and created the space for them to grow, thrive and pick up these languages. This is the impact of a nurturing home environment.

22. If we want MTL to be living languages, we need to live with the language, otherwise the language will leave us. I hope Mrs Maeder's example will inspire all of us to sharpen our bilingual abilities and encourage all of us to try and use it frequently with our children, regardless of the standard we think we are at. The more we use it, the better we will be and the deeper the seeds we will plant in our children's language abilities. One day, it will flourish.

Conclusion

23. Last year, I spoke about how Bilingualism is our most treasured "passport". However, we will soon enjoy passport-less travel at Changi Airport. Let me try a new analogy this year. In recent years, superhero movies from Hollywood have gained massive popularity. Many audiences are looking forward to the next Avengers movie. Sci-fi fans or even K-drama fans would be familiar with the idea of the multiverse, where you travel across different universes and experience different kinds of life, sometimes in parallel timelines. I think all Singaporeans have a special power to access the multiverse, and our key to that will be our bilingualism.

24. The ability to speak two languages and understand two cultures or more enables us to maintain a strong link to our heritage and forge connections with people around the world. It allows us to access different "universes" with its own culture, customs, and nuances. In the process, we learn to appreciate diversity and respect different perspectives.

25. Let us cherish this unique key that we have, which is bilingualism. Recently, when we refreshed the Lee Kuan Yew Fund for Bilingualism vision and mission, we asked ourselves what would encapsulate our aspiration. At the spur of the moment, I came up with these three words that bilingualism should be: our identity, our lives, our advantage.

26. Indeed, if you think about it, bilingualism and multiculturalism are our identity. Not many countries in the world today will have an event like this where we celebrate together the diversity of our cultures and for different cultures to come together as one. It is part of our lives because everywhere you go in Singapore, we see people with the ability to code-switch and connect with people from different backgrounds, not just among Singaporeans but with people from other cultures. The fact that we can learn and appreciate different languages and cultures puts us in a good stead to be a bridge in a fragmenting world. The more fractious the world may become, the more important it is for us to appreciate diverse perspectives that are different from ours. The ability to master a language is the key for us to be that bridge. Without languages, biculturalism and bilingualism, we will never be that bridge to maintain our edge in this world.

27. So finally, once again, I would like to thank all educators, stakeholders, partners and parents who are here today with us. I think all of you are here because you believe in our cause. May you go forth and continue to uphold our bilingualism so that we can keep alive our bicultural edge and in turn, put Singapore in a stronger position to maintain and strengthen our relevance in a fragmenting world.

28. Thank you very much.