Mother Tongue Languages (MTL)
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Overview
Bedok South Secondary School’s MTL department strives to value-add to each and every student’s learning, and aims to equip students with the necessary skills to become confident users of their MTL in their daily lives.
We provide the following curricula in school:
Express Chinese (CL) & Malay (ML) Curriculum,
N(A) CL & ML Curriculum,
N(T) CL & ML Curriculum,
HCL Curriculum (only for students who are eligible),
CLB Curriculum (only at Secondary 3 and 4 levels).
Features of the BDS MTL Curricula:
Emphasising foundation building through consistent routines, structured scaffolding, and weekly bite-sized practices;
Creating a tight alignment between assessment and students’ school experiences;
Leveraging ICT to make learning more engaging and effective;
Developing differentiated resources to meet the varied learning needs of students;
Focusing on providing specific and meaningful feedback to help students close their learning gaps.
MTL programmes and pedagogies
Talent management
National Level Inter-School Essay Writing Competition (Pena Emas)
Every year, Bedok South Secondary School’s Malay Language Unit will provide a platform for students to showcase their talents in creative writing. This will also sharpen students’ writing skills and techniques as well as make Malay Language learning creative and fun. This year, Nur Sadrina Bte Saiful Sahri from 3C won 23rd position out of top 30 winners for Pena Emas (Upper Sec) while Irhas Bin Imran from 2C, won the 22nd position. Overall, our school managed to clinch 15 Gold awards for all the 15 essay submissions.
全国华文创作故事比赛 National Creative Chinese Story Writing Competition 2021
Students who show an aptitude in Chinese Language will also have the chance to participate in the above National Chinese creative writing competition. This year two of our students, Li Huayang from 3D, and Lin Ziyi from 2D have done the school proud by clinching the 2nd place and Merit award respectively.
第四届中小学课文朗诵比赛 4th Text Recital Competition
Students who show an aptitude in Chinese Language will also have the chance to participate in the above National Chinese Text recital competition. This year five of our students participated in the competition and they have done the school proud by clinching 3 Silver and 2 Bronze awards. The winners are Li Huayang from 3D, Lin Ziyi from 2D and Wu Meiyu (2D) for the Silver awards; Grace Ong You Ru (2C) and Nicholas Cheah Zhen Ze (2C) for the Bronze awards.
2. ML Ambassador Programme
Students who are exemplary role models and show an aptitude in the Malay Language are selected to be Malay Language ambassadors. These students will have the chance to take part in training provided by the organizing committee of the Malay Language Month and will assist in major events held during the month by being presenters during events and to promote various activities. Through the years, many students have benefited from the opportunities and training provided.
3. Using technology to facilitate collaborative learning and discussion of ideas
Students are taught how to analyse and answer the open-ended questions using the PEEL structure. They discuss issues with their group members and post their views on Padlet. Peers are invited to give their comments and feedback using the same platform.
Students are taught how to write product and game reviews using the structure provided. They discuss with their group members to come up with ideas and produce their own personalized review on the authentic sources.
Students are tasked to complete different work stations in teams, using the vocabulary words taught to them for situational writing. In each station, students login to different learning platforms like Word Wall, Flippity, SLS to complete the learning task, and to apply the vocabulary they have learnt into sentences.
1.mp45.mp42.mp44.mp43.mp44. Leveraging Social Media to enhance learning effectiveness
Secondary 1 students were tasked to construct captions on social media platforms using the vocabulary words that were taught to them in class. After posting their assignments, peers were encouraged to either correct or provide suggestions to improve their friends’ captions before discussing with their teachers during class discussion. During the May holiday this year, students were tasked to create videos to share their experiences during Circuit Breaker. The videos shown here are some samples of students’ work.
Joshua Chow 周俊恒 1A sharing what he learnt during May Holidays (video).mp4Issac Lua 赖正安1A reports on his May Holidays.mp45. Making culture and language learning fun through a diversity of activities such as movie appreciation, singing competition and talent showcase
During the annual MTL Fortnight programme, students can also look forward to taking part in various interesting activities such as culture and language learning through movie appreciation, drawing competitions, and handicraft making.
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Frequently Asked Questions
For Tamil Language, where does my child go for lessons?
Students taking Tamil Language as their MTL will need to attend lessons at Bedok View Secondary School once per week. Students should register at Bedok View Secondary School on the first day when school reopens.
For Non Tamil Indian Languages, what will the arrangement be like?
NTIL students are required to attend lessons with the respective NTIL community groups, and sit for examinations set by the Board for the Teaching and Testing of South Asian Languages.
For Foreign Languages and Asian Languages, what will the lesson arrangement be like?
Students are to continue with their private study arrangements as they will eventually be required to sit for the National exam at Secondary 4.
Can my child apply for Chinese Language ‘B’ if he or she is struggling with the MTL subject?
Yes. However, no Secondary 1 and 2 CLB lessons will be conducted in school. Students who would like to study CLB in place of the normal CL curriculum will need to attend lessons at either St Patrick’s School or St Hilda’s Secondary School once per week. Students may approach any MTL teacher to obtain the CLB application form.
Is my child eligible to study a Higher Mother Tongue Language?
The following students are eligible to study HMTL:
(i) An overall PSLE Score of 8 or better OR
(ii) An overall PSLE Score of 9 to 14 (inclusive); and attain AL 1 / AL 2 in MTL or Distinction / Merit in HMTL
Secondary two/ three students who have achieved >75% for their MTL EOY might be recommended on a case-by-case basis by their subject teachers.
Can I request for my child to be exempted from MTL?
MTL exemption would only be considered under the following circumstances:
Mid-stream Entry
The student enters the Singapore school system mid-stream after prolonged absence from the school system, and with no or weak prior learning of any of the official MTLs or languages that could be offered as MTL-in-lieu.
Special Educational Needs
The student has certified Special Educational Needs (SEN) and shows severe difficulty in coping with his overall learning.
My child was exempted from taking the MTL exam in Primary School. Must he or she take any MTL in Secondary School?
If a student was exempted from taking the MTL exam in Primary School because the student opted for a Foreign Language or Asian Language as a MTL-in-lieu, he or she was only exempted from the MTL exam at PSLE, but not exempted from MTL. The student would still be required to attend private lessons from Secondary 1 to Secondary 4 for the chosen MTL-in-lieu as he or she will have to sit for the National exam for this subject eventually at Secondary 4.
For students who were exempted from MTL in Primary School due to mid-stream entry or special educational needs, there will be no need to resubmit an application at Secondary School.
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