6/18/2006

do we need native angmo teachers?

We need angmo teachers to teach us English. Our standard of English has declined. A few immediate thoughts came to my mind. 1. Fire all the staff in MOE. All these high payment morons have failed the education system miserably and do not deserve to be there. 2. This is a case of pocket too much money. So fingers itchy and must find ways to spend them. Or something like if we want good sportsmen, just buy them. 3. Local talents are never good enough, so must pay for imported quality. Locals going to lose some jobs to foreigners again. 4. We are paying for quality foreign talents, so school fees must go up. Quality does not come cheap. After 40 years of excellence in our first class education, after 40 years of almost 100% literacy rate, after ramming our population with English in all major media and means of communication, from pop culture, fashion, literature, movies etc,... and our standard of English got from bad to worst? Why don't we look at it in a different way? Before, Ah Lian and Ah Beng only swore in Hokien or whatever dialects. Today they can swear in English. And they could do a little bit more. They can use words like auntie and uncle! Our society is anything but homogenous. The languages or dialects spoken are poles apart in terms of grammar, sentence construction etc etc. Do we really believe that with native angmo teachers our standard of English will be as good as England or America? And we believe that the mases will speak Queen's English like native English gentlemen? Even in England, many native English speakers speak in a variety of dialects and accents that are incomprehensible. The good English speakers are there, and those who need to speak and commnunicate in good English will possess the skills and abilities to do so. It is unnatural to expect the pork sellers and fishmongers in the market to speak good English. On the reverse, we could expect them to speak good dialects or their mother tongues. If we are thinking of having a nation of native English speakers, the only solution is to ban all other languages. Then we can proceed from there to make everyone a native English speaker. In reality, many Singaporeans are already native speakers and English is their mother tongue. English is not only their first language, the language they were born with and spoken at home, but also the only language they converse in daily. Want good native English teachers or not? Want, got or not? With our openly admitted position that our English Language is of sub standard, how are we going to attract foreign students to come here for a good English biased education? And how are we going to become a centre of excellence in Education? When foreign parents know that our English standard is half past six, no come anymore.

7 comments:

  1. when we continue to win the angus rose prize for english lit every year.....you'll start to question why we need native tutors.

    being an angmo => good in english?

    another pap scholar misguided assumption.

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  2. the same myth. our education system is world best. our students are academically world best. but no good compare with foreign talents.

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  3. Hi Abao,

    I am looking at the objective, to make us speak like angmoh and sound like angmoh and be like angmo? But then you got a point. What kind of angmoh shall we become, American, British, Australian, Canadian or Indian? Mind you, English is the official language of India and they speak very good English at the administrative and govt level.

    Our society is a mixed pot of Asians and Europeans with the Asians forming the majority. It is unlikely that we can ever be like angmohs. We should not kid ourselves and neither shall we want to be like angmohs.

    The present standard of English for commerce and international activities is world class and at par with any angmoh country. Leave the Ah Bengs and Ah Lians alone. And I don't think Ahmad and Muthu would want to be another angmoh.

    I no bluff you one.

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  4. I think you've taken your delusions to a record high, redbean. You consider an Indian an ang mor ? Hahaha.

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  5. to this particular anonymous,

    you have a real problem if you can't shift the real from the unreal, the fiction, the cynicism and the truth.

    you need to grow up and learn to read what people really said and do not take things superficially at face value.

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  6. You want the truth ? You can't handle the truth.

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  7. nice try jack. you acted well in the batman movie too. : )

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