Speeches
Speech by Mr S Iswaran, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Trade and Industry and Ministry of Education, at the Opening Ceremony of the Second English Language Teaching Seminar on Wednesday, 18 Nov 2009, at 9.15 am, at the Singapore Management University
Mdm Low Khah Gek, Director,
Curriculum Planning and Development Division,
Distinguished Guests,
Heads of Department and Teachers,
Ladies and Gentlemen
Good morning.
Introduction
It is my pleasure to be here today with a community of professionals who are deeply involved with the English Language. In our midst are English Language teachers and Heads of Department, Master Teachers and Curriculum Planning Officers from MOE. We are also joined by NIE lecturers and EL experts from NUS, RELC and the British Council.
All of you have the privilege and the challenge of teaching English to diverse groups of varying levels of competence in the language. More importantly, all of you play a key role in ensuring that Singaporeans are able to use English to communicate effectively.
Fundamentals of EL Teaching and Learning
Effective communication skills are anchored in strong fundamentals—a good grasp of grammar and vocabulary, the facility to process and present information in various forms of media, and the ability to think critically, write and argue coherently, as well as speak and articulate clearly. The teaching and learning of EL, as indeed with any language, is a complex undertaking that requires much effort and attention to the skills of reading, writing, listening and speaking. Students need to learn to communicate their thoughts and ideas in different modalities—spoken, written or electronic—and in different contexts.
I understand that the EL Syllabus 2010 was designed and developed with a focus on a “Strong Foundation and Rich Language for all”. This emphasis on imbuing our students with strong fundamentals in the English Language is essential. Our students must first be able to use accurate words and appropriate structures to communicate. They must have a good grasp of the linguistic elements and variations in speaking, listening, reading and writing. A rich vocabulary and keen sense of grammar are important prerequisites if our students are to be effective communicators.
Seminar Theme
The theme for this year’s seminar Multiliteracies: Exposing, Exploring and Experimenting is particularly apt in the light of the convergence of media and technology that has changed the way we communicate, receive and present information.
Just as the invention of the printing press transformed the way content was produced centuries ago, digital and media technologies are now reshaping the ways in which we view and present content. Rapid technological advancements and innovations, as well as the internet, have caused society to shift from a heavy reliance on print towards the inclusion of digital technology, sound as well as visuals for communication.
The concept of a unit of “text” has changed, and today includes not just written texts but any message form—verbal, aural or visual (or all three together). A Think-Tank called The New London Group, has been conducting research on the impact of new media and asserts that we need to re-conceptualise what we mean by ‘being literate’ in our society.
“Literacy” now goes beyond having the skill to interpret a string of words on a piece of paper. Increasingly, we are processing and interpreting information that is presented through multi-media images and sounds. To be ‘literate’ would thus mean being able to interpret critically the powerful and complex images of a multimedia world as well as being able to express ourselves in multiple media forms.
We must endow our students with the wherewithal to be effective communicators in this complex multi-media environment. Beyond teaching them to “read” and “write” the language of printed communication, we also need to provide them with the skills to be fluent in “reading” and “writing” the language of images and sounds. Notwithstanding these shifts, our students will still need the core skills—to be able to think critically and creatively, identify key concepts, discern fallacies, connect multiple ideas, ask probing questions and formulate responses.
Impact on Student Learning
We live in an era of truncated messages and limited attention spans. Tweets, SMSes and sound bites seem to be the unit of account in communication. In the US presidential elections last year, candidates championed themselves via websites, such as YouTube, and 30-second com¬mercials. Technology was used to convey strong impressions and shape opinions by presenting selective information and visuals. As we recognize that ‘texts’ can be consciously constructed not just to objectively share information but also to subjectively influence opinion, we need to equip our students with the ability to analyze texts, identify their origins, validate their authenticity, and detect biases and fallacies.
Role of Teachers
I have outlined what and how our students should learn in order to attain the literacies necessary for them to participate in a dynamic and complex multi-media and multi-modal world. Let me now share my thoughts on the role of English Language teachers. First, you have to be role models for effective communication. Your students, and indeed your peers, will look to you as an exemplar of how the language is to be used to communicate clearly, accurately and effectively.
It is important that you adopt, and demonstrate the spirit of continuous learning—stay abreast of developments, constantly update content knowledge, and be ready to employ new pedagogical approaches. For our students to be multi-literate, EL Teachers should ensure that English lessons allow them exposure to, and engagement with, a wide range of written, spoken, audio and visual texts. This will enable our students to learn and understand the complexity with which these texts function.
EL instruction in the classroom has to be current and relevant to our students’ experiences in the multimodal and multimedia world. Let me highlight two examples of how schools have embraced technology in the teaching and learning of EL.
At Zhenghua Secondary School, students and teachers use Multiply, an e-learning and digital sharing portal for English. Apart from using written texts, the portal provides them with an effective means of incorporating digital texts such as videos and podcasts into the EL Curriculum. This approach provides opportunities for the students to actively interact and engage with one another as they learn to be effective communicators through different media forms.
At Fairfield Methodist School (Secondary), students work with a range of multimodal texts from magazines to advertisements, videos and audio clips, to understand how to communicate. Students then apply that knowledge to create and communicate their own ideas through multiple modes and mediums. Students are explicitly taught how to critically evaluate the texts and to examine the impact of the different mediums in shaping opinions and perspectives.
Even as EL teachers employ a range of pedagogical approaches and create rich learning experiences for our students, they will be supported in this journey by MOE curriculum officers and EL experts from various agencies. I am glad that CPDD has developed an online tool called EL Cube to facilitate teachers’ instructional planning. Teaching resources and an online forum to promote sharing and discussion are also available in edumall 2.0. I urge all EL teachers to use these online platforms to learn, share and contribute to one another’s professional knowledge and development.
Conclusion
This is the second year of the English Language Teaching Seminar—its aim is to develop and enhance the capacity of our English Language teachers. ELTS 2009 will provide participants with a good balance of both theory and hands-on activities to learn how media, visual and information literacies can become part of language lessons for students. The rich variety of workshops will allow participants to explore and discuss how they can teach students to express their ideas, thoughts, perspectives, and feelings effectively using different communication media.
I know that our EL teachers are deeply committed to building a strong language foundation among our students. Let’s build on our strengths and continually strive to make the teaching and learning of the English Language a relevant, engaging and enriching experience for all students. I am confident that each and every one of you has the passion and conviction to rise to the challenge thereby enabling our students to communicate effectively and thrive in a modern technologically-driven world.
I wish all of you a fruitful and successful seminar.