INNOVATIVE CL PRACTICES
4           The hallmark of a good school is its ability to build on tradition while keeping pace with the future.  Chongfu Primary has done this in many dimensions of primary school life.  Let me highlight one aspect, which is in the teaching and learning of Chinese language (CL).  As a Hokkien Huay Kuan school, Chongfu has always been one of the leaders in the teaching of Chinese language and culture, in tandem with its efforts to promote multi-culturalism.

5           Chongfu started an appealing CL Enrichment programme for pupils at the lower primary levels this year.  Various learning posts were put up in the classroom for pupils to learn skills  –  in listening, speaking, reading, and writing.  The school also produced its own CD-ROM entitled “ecompo guide” which allowed older pupils to learn the various techniques of writing  -  both descriptive and narrative writing  -  and to do so at their own pace.  But not all efforts to bring quality into teaching involve new techniques or new technology.  It is interesting to see that teachers in Chongfu have revived the “Three-Word-Recitation”  –  the San Zi Jing (三字经).  They have found that this old way of learning traditional values also helps introduce new vocabulary (“reading”) and improve pupils’ diction (“speaking”).

6           At the beginning of this year, MOE decided to give teachers more room in the Chinese curriculum to introduce their own strategies to help their pupils learm CL more effectively.  To do this, we reduced the number of passages in CL textbooks by some 10 – 15 per cent.  Chongfu teachers are making good use of the freed up space, to plan more engaging lessons.  They are exposing their pupils to a more varied diet of reading materials, including newspapers and novels, and providing supplementary information on the authors of the passages that they learn.  The teachers tell us that their pupils gain a stronger understanding of the context of the passages they read, rather than just learning the passages for the new vocabulary.  The teachers have also used the time to conduct field trips, for example to the Tea Chapter (茶渊) and the Chinatown Heritage Centre at Pagoda Street, and engaged their pupils in writing reports and making presentations on what they have learnt.

7           That’s not all, I hear.  To deepen pupils’ appreciation of the various facets of Chinese culture, Chongfu has linked up with Ban Bu Qiao Xiao Xue (半步桥小学) and Hui Min Xiao Xue (回民小学) in Beijing, China.  Chongfu’s table-tennis team has been having friendly matches with players from Banbuqiao Primary.  I am told that their interaction with Huimin Primary pupils also gave them insight into the life of Chinese Muslims.  There is some learning that comes out of all these interactions.

8           Chongfu’s experiments in CL learning, and its teachers taking their students outside of the school’s confines, reflect the spirit of innovation that is taking place in schools across Singapore.  It is a spirit that is also motivating broader reforms we are undertaking in teaching and learning Chinese.

9           Teachers in selected primary schools are experimenting with more engaging teaching approaches through the school-based “SEED-CL” initiative [“Strategies for Effective Engagement and Development of Pupils in Learning CL”].  For instance, schools like Westview Primary and Evergreen Primary have been developing strategies to help pupils recognise characters early, so that they can read early.  By next year, the SEED-CL learning package for Primary 1 will be extended to all schools.

10          Besides encouraging school-based experiments in pedagogy, we have also made broad changes in the curriculum.  At the heart of these reforms is a recognition that in Singapore’s dynamic and complex language environment, a one-size-fits-all approach to learning Chinese, especially at early stages, will not work for pupils who enter school with differing competencies in the language.

11          That is why when the 25 primary schools pilot the modular approach in the new curriculum for Primary 1 and 2 next year, we will be looking closely at how schools customise bridging and enrichment modules to cater to pupils from different home language backgrounds.  Already, schools that have put together a trial programme for this approach are making some interesting observations.  At Yangzheng Primary, teachers have found that the weaker pupils, who are being given a bridging module, are now more willing to speak in Chinese in class. 

12          The CL education experts that MOE has engaged to give us advice on the implementation of our curriculum reforms have lent strong support to this approach.  In February this year, we asked three language learning experts from Hong Kong University and East China Normal University to give their views on the new differentiated curriculum[2].  They found our approach of customising teaching materials, pedagogy and curricula for students of different abilities to be an advance in teaching that is worth emulation elsewhere[3].