HOD Mother Tongue's Message

HOD Mother Tongue’s Message

The Mother Department aims to develop a Bendemeerian who possess a commendable level of Mother Tongue Language (MTL) proficiency and competency that will enable him to excel in lifelong learning and to appreciate his cultural heritage while developing a global perspective at the same time. Hence, our sense of mission is to cultivate in our students the love of learning MTLs, and to develop their interest in the understanding and appreciation of our cultural heritage, as well as to promote ethical and civic behaviour.

The MTL curriculum focuses on listening, speaking, reading, writing and interaction skills. One of our approaches in ensuring language learning comes to life is to make it relatable to our students. There are many platforms in school to promote the learning of MTLs to encourage students to learn MTLs in an interesting and engaging manner. Under the department’s 4-Year Learning Roadmap, we have mapped out programmes under the different domains, namely cognitive, aesthetics, social and moral to support the progressive development of our students from Secondary 1 to 4/5.

Cognitive – To nurture students to be confident learners who think critically and communicate effectively, the department experimented with debate for 3E & 3N students as a way to discuss contemporary issues. Process writing is conducted for the lower secondary students to develop their writing skills. Under the reading programme, teachers leverage newspaper articles as resources so that students are kept current and informed. Students would also read prescribed novels by CPDD, TL monthly magazine, short stories and compilation of essays.

We continue to uncover new possibilities for learning and using MTLs, tapping on the affordances of technology to engage the students in learning MTLs. This year, all Sec 1 to 3 students are equipped with a Chromebook and the teachers take the opportunity to leverage ICT platforms such as the Student Learning Space and Google Classroom to promote active learning in class to develop students to be collaborative and self-directed learners. To infuse joy of learning in class, teachers use ICT tools such as Padlet for discussions, Kahoot quizzes, Vocaroo for oral practices, Canvas for spelling, Wordwall for vocabulary practices and Deck.Toys in their lessons.

To develop students’ proficiency of the Mother Tongue language and hone their skills in the listening, speaking, reading and writing domains, the department has been actively guiding students for external competitions, such as calligraphy competition, creative writing competition, poetry recitation and translation competition. These competitions also serve as platforms for students to appreciate the Mother Tongue culture and increase their interest in the language.

Aesthetics – To expose students to Mother Tongue language-related cultural performances and to enhance their theatre experience, the department organises excursions for students to watch musicals and theatrical plays.

Social and moral – The Malay Language Unit organises Learning Journeys to enrich students’ knowledge of the Malay language and culture. The Sec 1 students would visit the Malay Language Centre of Singapore, the Sec 2 students would watch performance at the Malay Heritage Centre and the Sec 3 students would visit Padi Restaurant for Nasi Ambeng (communal eating).

To extend students’ learning experiences beyond Singapore and to expose them to a different cultural environment, the department has organised overseas immersion trip to China and India. The trips have also provided students an opportunity to broaden their perspectives and learn social and language skills in a real world context. In the department’s effort to engage the hearts and minds of students to be active citizens by providing more platforms for them to lead, we also play host to staff and students from our partner schools in India since 2007.

Bilingualism is a hallmark of our education system. We should not lose this bilingual competitive edge, yet we acknowledge that different learners have different proficiency of the MTLs. We support our students at every level to help them build their confidence and enhance their motivation to learn MTLs. To provide greater flexibility catered to the different learning needs of our students and aligning ourselves to the transformation in the educational landscape, for students who are good at their MTLs, they are offered Higher MTLs or Subject-based Banding so that they are motivated to excel. Teachers adopt a myriad of teaching pedagogies and strategies such as thinking routines, inquiry-based learning, collaborative learning, role-play, oral presentation, questioning techniques and reflection to engage the students and to infuse Joy of Learning in our lessons. Students are assessed not just by summative assessment but also through formative assessment.

The other aspect of learning MTLs is for our students to appreciate their cultural heritage. MTLs are tied to culture, and the department makes a concerted effort to plan programmes such as celebrating the different ethnic festival so that students can experience the multi-ethnic culture in Singapore. The department promotes the Mother Tongue culture through festive celebrations such as Pongal, Chinese New Year, Hari Raya Puasa, Mid-Autumn Festival and Deepavali. Level activities are designed meaningfully for students to increase awareness of the different festivals and to better understand their heritage.

To conclude, we will continue to enhance the supportive ecosystem for the learning of MTLs by strengthening the partnership between school and parents, so that our students can continue the daily use of MTLs and keep the language alive at home too.

Ms Angela Chan Kai Gek
HOD Mother Tongue
Bendemeer Secondary School