Mother Tongue proficiency affected as more speak English at home: Sim Ann

SINGAPORE - The increasing number of Singaporeans speaking English at home has had an impact on the teaching and learning of students’ Mother Tongue languages, Minister of State for Education Sim Ann said today (Sept 13).

She added that this has resulted in varying levels of proficiencies among today’s students in their Mother Tongues, compared to students of the past.

Speaking at the East Asia Summit Conference on Bilingualism, Ms Sim said this is a challenge when promoting bilingualism, which she believes can be affected by social and cultural developments.

However, Ms Sim said Singapore’s bilingual policy has prepared its children for a globalised world, while strengthening Singapore’s identity as a hub for trade, commerce and people-to-people exchanges.

She added many countries today also recognise the value for children to learn two or more languages in school, citing statistics that point to half of the world’s population being bilingual or multilingual.

The conference is for international language experts to discuss ideas on how the teaching and learning of languages could play a significant role in enhancing the integration of the region. CHANNEL NEWSASIA