L1 Text in a Bilingual Educational System: Language-Intensive or Literariness-Focused?
Submitted by:
Jinghua Fan
Abstract:
Singapore is a country with multiple ethnic groups, cultures and mother tongues, but English was designated as the first language and the primary medium of instruction in schools, while mother tongue languages of different ethnic groups are used in mother tongue language and literature subjects. With the increasing proliferation of bilingual education services (public and private) under globalization, L1-L2 has increasingly become a continuum instead of a distinction, and the same applies to Singapore where L1 and L2 distinction is harder to make within and across ethnic groups, which make Singapore a unique case to inspire reflections for contemporary language education. In reference to Singapore, the paper tries to re-examine the following questions: 1) What are the defining features of L1 in bilingualism? In particular, what defines the essential focus of L1 and L2 education, language intensive or literariness focused? This issue is raised on the assumption that L1 education is often literature-focused and culture-oriented and culture while L2 teaching is form-focused and skill-oriented. 2) What implications does the L1-L2 continuum have for language acquisition and education? When English as a universal lingua franca has become a dominant language (L1) in Singapore, how should mother tongue education be designed to keep a balanced bilingualism, and what aspects should be emphasized to ensure the cultural transmission, especially when the mother tongue culture is increasingly not embodied in students' L1 language? The present paper will delineate and discuss the issues with reference to a few research projects which have been conducted in my research centre on language background (through questionnaire), language proficiency (through questionnaire) and mother tongue textbooks (through environmental scanning and documentary analysis) in Singapore. When analysing the different considerations in the syllabus design of language-culture education in the context of bi- and multi-lingualism, the paper highlights the underlying higher-order questions concerning cultural identity in multi-ethnic nation-state, fairness in education, multiculturalism and other related issues. The paper hopes to illuminate the reflection of worldwide L1-L2 education with the case analysis of Singapore.
Selected Bibliography
Garcia. O. and Li, W. (2014) Translanguaging: Language, Bilingualism and Education.
Hornberger, N. H. ed.(2003) Continua of Biliteracy: An Ecological Framework for Educational Policy, Research, and Practice in Multilingual Settings.
MOE, Singapore (2011)2010 Mother Tongue Languages Review Committee Report: Nurturing Active Learners and Proficient Users.
Schmid,M.S., Kopke, B, Keijzer, M, and Weilemar, L. eds. (2004) First Language Attrition.
- Jinghua Fan
Singapore is a country with multiple ethnic groups, cultures and mother tongues, but English was designated as the first language and the primary medium of instruction in schools, while mother tongue languages of different ethnic groups are used in mother tongue language and literature subjects. The L1 and L2 distinction is hard to make within and across ethnic groups, which make Singapore a unique case to inspire reflections for contemporary language education. Given the increasing proliferation of bilingual education services (public and private) under globalization, the paper tries to re-examine the defining features of L1 through educational practices including the objectives of mother tongue education. In particular, what defines the essential focus of L1 and L2 education, language intensive or literariness focused? What implications does the L1-L2 continuum have for language acquisition and education? When English as a universal lingua franca has become a dominant language (L1) in Singapore, how should mother tongue education be designed to keep a balanced bilingualism, and what aspects should be emphasized to ensure the cultural transmission, especially when the mother tongue culture is increasingly not embodied in students' L1 language? The present paper will delineate and discuss the issues with reference to a few research projects which have been conducted in my research centre on language background, language proficiency and mother tongue textbooks in Singapore. Different considerations are taken in the syllabus design of language-culture education in the context of bi- and multi-lingualism, and many of these considerations underlie higher-order questions concerning cultural identity in multi-ethnic nation-state, fairness in education, multiculturalism and other politically sensitive issues. The paper hopes to illuminate the reflection of worldwide L1-L2 education with the case analysis of Singapore.
Selected Bibliography
Garcia. O. and Li, W. (2014) Translanguaging: Language, Bilingualism and Education.
Hornberger, N. H. ed.(2003) Continua of Biliteracy: An Ecological Framework for Educational Policy, Research, and Practice in Multilingual Settings.
MOE, Singapore (2011)2010 Mother Tongue Languages Review Committee Report: Nurturing Active Learners and Proficient Users.
Schmid,M.S., Kopke, B, Keijzer, M, and Weilemar, L. eds. (2004) First Language Attrition.