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Offer dual-language textbooks in schools to spur use of mother-tongue languages

During the recent 40th anniversary of the Speak Mandarin Campaign, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that the proportion of Chinese households here speaking English as their main language has risen sharply in the past two decades.

To nudge Singaporeans to use mother-tongue languages, the writer suggests setting up a website that allows citizens to express their thoughts, among other moves.

To nudge Singaporeans to use mother-tongue languages, the writer suggests setting up a website that allows citizens to express their thoughts, among other moves.

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Kenneth Tan Sheng Han

During the recent 40th anniversary of the Speak Mandarin Campaign, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that the proportion of Chinese households here speaking English as their main language has risen sharply in the past two decades.  

I am not surprised by this shift, since English has been the lingua franca for personal and business use.

With China being an economic powerhouse, I can see why many want to learn Mandarin as a second or, perhaps, third language. This evolving trend is evident not just in Chinese families, but in Malay and Indian households.

Mr Michael Chiang's play Mixed Signals has been turned into a television series for Mediacorp’s Channel 5 as part of the broadcaster’s “Lights. Camera. Singapore” initiative. Before that, Mr Dick Lee's musical Fried Rice Paradise aired earlier in the year.

These TV series are colloquial in nature and are done in English. While Singaporeans value local art and literary creations, they are highly niche, and hence, many are hesitant to seek out avenues to enjoy them.

Here are my suggestions on increasing access to these creations and nudging households to speak mother-tongue languages:

  • First, we could encourage more Singapore plays and books to be remade into vernacular versions for free-to-air TV channels. This will allow not just an appreciation of the arts. It will also nudge Singaporeans to listen in their mother-tongue languages more often.
  • Second, offer language textbooks with dual languages for primary-school students — in English and a mother-tongue language. Akin to subtitles on free-to-air TV channels, this layer of “English subtitles” in textbooks will help young learners whose households do not speak mother tongue as their main language. 
  • Third, an online platform could be set up to encourage Singaporeans to write regularly in their mother-tongue language, never mind the length or topic. With such user-generated content, people can also provide tips and tricks by leaving comments on how to improve one’s writing.

Parents should also make a conscientious effort to encourage children to speak mother-tongue languages at home.

The steps to learning a language are listening, reading, writing and speaking. The ability to grasp a language is not an overnight affair, but an enduring effort.

Have views on this issue or a news topic you care about? Send your letter to voices [at] mediacorp.com.sg with your full name, address and phone number. 

Related topics

mother tongue Speak Mandarin Campaign TV school

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