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I REFER to Mr Liang Wern Kang's letter, 'Singapore can't afford to become monolingual' (ST, Aug 6). He contends that a lack of emphasis on second-language examination results will cause Singapore to become a 'monolingual, English-speaking country'.
This concern can be dispelled as the report, 'Express and special streams to merge' (ST, Aug 4) indicates an upward trend in the number of secondary school students opting to take Higher Mother Tongue.
This is even though it is not compulsory in the computation of the aggregate score for entry to junior colleges and tertiary institutions.
Undeniably, bilingualism or, better still, multilingualism, has its merits. The suggestion was never to move towards a one-language policy.
It is the approach in enforcing mastery of second language that is called into question.
The doggedness with which the objective of ensuring bilingualism is seemingly achieved has resulted in scores of Singaporeans who are not proficient in either language.
Many converse either in Singlish or mother tongue peppered with Singlish and dialect.
Few can code-switch and speak fluently in English or mother tongue.
Mr Liang says 'many private tutors have incorporated the new teaching with logic, reasoning and fun in learning Chinese'.
This point is irrelevant as we must first question the need for tuition to meet the standards set by the Ministry of Education.
That a large number of students require external help even though they spend at least half a day in school indicates a gap between abilities and expectations.
Engaging tutors has become almost a given to achieve high scores.
This clearly reflects a malady in the system. It also disadvantages those who cannot afford to pay for top tutors.
Even if 'long-term appreciation (does begin) from the cradle', any positive association a preschooler has developed with Chinese is often negated by the pedagogy adopted by primary school teachers, which in turn is determined to a large extent by the need to meet standards.
Many children, eager to converse and sing in Mandarin while in preschool, inevitably develop an aversion to the language once they enter primary school.
By removing Mother Tongue proficiency as a requisite for progress in the education system, or perhaps changing the PSLE computation, no student is disadvantaged or penalised in his education progress.
Best of all, this will allow students to learn the language at their own pace and ability, and ultimately develop a love for it - which is what we should aim for.
Jocelyn Lim Chieh Ying (Ms)
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