Mother Tongue

Department Focus

Culture

• understand & develop our unique identity through deeper appreciation of culture, traditions & history

Communication

• learn valuable skill for life and work
• ability to communicate in MTL gives Singaporean a competitive edge

Connection

• connect with communities across Asia and the people who speak that language

Curriculum

Our school MTL curriculum will continue to adopt appropriate approaches especially during the foundation years in lower primary, recognizing that our students come from different home language home. Our school will place more emphasis on recognizing students’ different starting points and addressing their learning needs to help them develop confidence in learning the language. We will offer more help and support to those with little or no foundation to help them develop confidence in learning the language, while helping to stretch those who are more able or have strong foundations in MTL.

Pedagogy

As a whole school approach, MTL Department has embarked on Differentiation Instruction (DI). DI gives pupils a range of ways to access curriculum, instruction and assessment. DI engages pupils to interact and participate in the classroom in a richer way. It is based on the assumption that all pupils differ in their learning styles, strengths, needs, abilities and that classroom activities should be adapted to meet these differences.

Programmes

Mother Tongue Language (MTL) Fortnight and Cultural Camp
MTL Fortnight event allows our pupils to immerse in an environment conducive for the learning and appreciation of MTL cultures. It aims to enhance the learning experience for pupils and inspire their interest in MTL.

Activities are targeted to different levels of pupils which involve mass participation. Pupils will be introduced to different cultural aspects of games, costumes and food. Activities include hands-on activities, traditional games station, preparation of traditional food and tasting, traditional costumes with accessories, exhibition, quizzes and performing arts. A good learning platform for the pupils to experience and appreciate culture in an authentic environment.

Reading Programme
Reading is an integral part of language learning. Creating a structured reading environment will help the students in learning MTL. In the last few years, students were encouraged to read MTL book on every Wednesday morning during pre-assembly. Initial results of the efforts to promote reading have been encouraging. Apart from that, students were encouraged to read MTL book in the MTL classroom during the transition of periods. Those students who have arrived early in the MTL classroom will read book while waiting for other students to arrive. This approach will be able to instil the culture of reading among the students.