Comments on: Teaching Science & Maths in Mother Tongue for Primary School http://www.bobbyong.com/2008/12/15/teaching-science-maths-in-mother-tongue-for-primary-school/ Dream Big, Dream Differently, Chase the Dream Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:05:54 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 hourly 1 By: Daddy Parenting Tips http://www.bobbyong.com/2008/12/15/teaching-science-maths-in-mother-tongue-for-primary-school/comment-page-1/#comment-15107 Daddy Parenting Tips Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:59:49 +0000 http://www.bobbyong.com/?p=272#comment-15107 My daughter is less than 2 years old and she can understand both English and Japanese, and later will introduce Malay, Mandarin and Cantonese. http://daddyparentingtips.blogspot.com/2009/07/tip-161-reading-in-both-languages.html I can't see why we cannot take 1 step forward to integrate the BM textbooks few years back with the current English science and maths text books. Its a lot of effort, but why move backward instead of forward. We can allow students to use either English or BM to answer in the exams as long as the maths and science principles are correct. Some good will surely come out of the dialectics at work between both languages instead of choosing either one. We need new advancements. We need Malaysia Boleh. Not some power struggle between languages. When will Malaysia advance and not hold on to race and language as stumbling blocks but embrace our differences as advantages? My daughter is less than 2 years old and she can understand both English and Japanese, and later will introduce Malay, Mandarin and Cantonese.

http://daddyparentingtips.blogspot.com/2009/07/tip-161-reading-in-both-languages.html

I can’t see why we cannot take 1 step forward to integrate the BM textbooks few years back with the current English science and maths text books. Its a lot of effort, but why move backward instead of forward. We can allow students to use either English or BM to answer in the exams as long as the maths and science principles are correct.

Some good will surely come out of the dialectics at work between both languages instead of choosing either one. We need new advancements. We need Malaysia Boleh. Not some power struggle between languages.

When will Malaysia advance and not hold on to race and language as stumbling blocks but embrace our differences as advantages?

]]> By: AISHAH http://www.bobbyong.com/2008/12/15/teaching-science-maths-in-mother-tongue-for-primary-school/comment-page-1/#comment-15086 AISHAH Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:38:00 +0000 http://www.bobbyong.com/?p=272#comment-15086 whether its Bahas Melayu, Mandarin, Tamil, the most important is we should be able to survive with the path you've chosen...rezeki is everywhere whether its Bahas Melayu, Mandarin, Tamil, the most important is we should be able to survive with the path you’ve chosen…rezeki is everywhere

]]> By: Teoh http://www.bobbyong.com/2008/12/15/teaching-science-maths-in-mother-tongue-for-primary-school/comment-page-1/#comment-13769 Teoh Fri, 20 Feb 2009 14:16:23 +0000 http://www.bobbyong.com/?p=272#comment-13769 I strongly do not agree with the usage of countries like China, Japan and Germany as examples of countries that have achieved a lot in Science and Mathematics even without using English. Why? The simple reason being these countries had a very early head start way back in late 19th century in their effort to modernise their country. During the 19th century, the discipline of Science and Maths were not that fast changing like now. Therefore they had the luxury of time to even translate both the discipline of that time into their own language. But, with the current fast pace advancement in modern Science and Math, one can't just simply rely solely on translated works because by the time the translation is done, it would have been obsolete by then. We would therefore be perpetually one or a few steps behind others in term of knowledge gained due to our 'heavy' dependence on resources translated from English into Malay or any other language. I strongly do not agree with the usage of countries like China, Japan and Germany as examples of countries that have achieved a lot in Science and Mathematics even without using English. Why?
The simple reason being these countries had a very early head start way back in late 19th century in their effort to modernise their country. During the 19th century, the discipline of Science and Maths were not that fast changing like now. Therefore they had the luxury of time to even translate both the discipline of that time into their own language.
But, with the current fast pace advancement in modern Science and Math, one can’t just simply rely solely on translated works because by the time the translation is done, it would have been obsolete by then. We would therefore be perpetually one or a few steps behind others in term of knowledge gained due to our ‘heavy’ dependence on resources translated from English into Malay or any other language.

]]> By: Bobby Ong http://www.bobbyong.com/2008/12/15/teaching-science-maths-in-mother-tongue-for-primary-school/comment-page-1/#comment-13601 Bobby Ong Tue, 23 Dec 2008 17:11:28 +0000 http://www.bobbyong.com/?p=272#comment-13601 wow! this issue is striking many ppl strongly! haha....well the gov is gonna decide soon what is best for us....whatever it is, i just dun wan science n maths to be taught back in malay....i just feel that teaching sc n maths in eng just like singapore is the best way to improve the standard of english for our future generation wow! this issue is striking many ppl strongly! haha….well the gov is gonna decide soon what is best for us….whatever it is, i just dun wan science n maths to be taught back in malay….i just feel that teaching sc n maths in eng just like singapore is the best way to improve the standard of english for our future generation

]]> By: Kai Yee http://www.bobbyong.com/2008/12/15/teaching-science-maths-in-mother-tongue-for-primary-school/comment-page-1/#comment-13597 Kai Yee Tue, 23 Dec 2008 04:30:37 +0000 http://www.bobbyong.com/?p=272#comment-13597 Oh well, after reading ur blog, i feel a flame burning in my heart- not a flame of anger, but a flame to contribute more to Chinese education. Maybe i should have taken chinese as my major, chemistry as my minor so that in future it will be easy for me to teach. I studied in a Chinese Primary school, a government Secondary school and a Singapore junior college. 3 different languages, but I had no problem adapting to anyone of them. In fact, i appreciate a lot that i was exposed to education in different medium. Being born in a chinese-speaking family, if i were to learn the strange subjects (that's what i thought when i was in Primary1)like maths and science, i would hv freaked out. Not even understanding the language, how do u expect the child to understand the subjects that are taught in that language? Not even knowing how to spell simple english words like "apple" properly(that s a typical primary one student's standard, at least in rural area), how do u expect me to teacher's explanation like "you have 6 apples, u distribute them to 2 frens, how many will each of ur fren get?" If not because of my tutor, I would not speak a single English word before i started primary school. See, medical schools in Russia require student to learn the language 1st. I am very glad that i was able to enjoy learning maths and science in chinese, which eventually sparked my interest in those subjects. I strongly believe that in primary education, it is important to spark the interest, familiarise the students to the basics first, before proceeding to using "foreign" language. Please, dong jiao zong, persist on this issue! However, those who doesnt speak chinese at home, please do not come chinese primary school because u r going to suffer, with the language that u nv learn. Oh well, after reading ur blog, i feel a flame burning in my heart- not a flame of anger, but a flame to contribute more to Chinese education. Maybe i should have taken chinese as my major, chemistry as my minor so that in future it will be easy for me to teach. I studied in a Chinese Primary school, a government Secondary school and a Singapore junior college. 3 different languages, but I had no problem adapting to anyone of them. In fact, i appreciate a lot that i was exposed to education in different medium. Being born in a chinese-speaking family, if i were to learn the strange subjects (that’s what i thought when i was in Primary1)like maths and science, i would hv freaked out. Not even understanding the language, how do u expect the child to understand the subjects that are taught in that language? Not even knowing how to spell simple english words like “apple” properly(that s a typical primary one student’s standard, at least in rural area), how do u expect me to teacher’s explanation like “you have 6 apples, u distribute them to 2 frens, how many will each of ur fren get?” If not because of my tutor, I would not speak a single English word before i started primary school. See, medical schools in Russia require student to learn the language 1st. I am very glad that i was able to enjoy learning maths and science in chinese, which eventually sparked my interest in those subjects. I strongly believe that in primary education, it is important to spark the interest, familiarise the students to the basics first, before proceeding to using “foreign” language. Please, dong jiao zong, persist on this issue! However, those who doesnt speak chinese at home, please do not come chinese primary school because u r going to suffer, with the language that u nv learn.

]]> By: David http://www.bobbyong.com/2008/12/15/teaching-science-maths-in-mother-tongue-for-primary-school/comment-page-1/#comment-13570 David Wed, 17 Dec 2008 19:21:51 +0000 http://www.bobbyong.com/?p=272#comment-13570 Sure. Summer :) May like that, we shall talk more about politics :P I feel we have changed so much since we depart and stepped out from the backgate of SMKBL :D Sure. Summer :)

May like that, we shall talk more about politics :P

I feel we have changed so much since we depart and stepped out from the backgate of SMKBL :D

]]> By: Bobby Ong http://www.bobbyong.com/2008/12/15/teaching-science-maths-in-mother-tongue-for-primary-school/comment-page-1/#comment-13569 Bobby Ong Wed, 17 Dec 2008 14:24:41 +0000 http://www.bobbyong.com/?p=272#comment-13569 hey yea no hard feelings...just differences in perspectives.... u coming back during summer? must go yum cha k hey yea no hard feelings…just differences in perspectives….
u coming back during summer? must go yum cha k

]]> By: David http://www.bobbyong.com/2008/12/15/teaching-science-maths-in-mother-tongue-for-primary-school/comment-page-1/#comment-13568 David Wed, 17 Dec 2008 13:25:57 +0000 http://www.bobbyong.com/?p=272#comment-13568 No hard feeling lah, just differences in perspectives. How we view the whole issue and how we were brought up influences our thoughts, ideas and views on specific issue. We gotta yamcha sometime next year ! No hard feeling lah, just differences in perspectives. How we view the whole issue and how we were brought up influences our thoughts, ideas and views on specific issue.

We gotta yamcha sometime next year !

]]> By: Bobby Ong http://www.bobbyong.com/2008/12/15/teaching-science-maths-in-mother-tongue-for-primary-school/comment-page-1/#comment-13566 Bobby Ong Wed, 17 Dec 2008 07:21:42 +0000 http://www.bobbyong.com/?p=272#comment-13566 dude, i don't want to criticise much but there seems to be a lil chauvinist behaviour in you that believes that the chinese language is superior. yes i can't deny the fact that the japanese and germans continue to be strong in their sciences even though they are taught in their own mother tongues. and i can't deny the fact that chinese language is increasing in popularity and might very well be the most spoken language soon. BUT, the de facto leader in science and maths now is english. most scientific papers and journals are written in english. researchers from all over the world write their research papers in english. most scientific textbooks are in english and sufficiently preparing our children to be proficient in english will allow our children to tap into this huge array of resources. it’s not so much about how teaching science and maths in one’s own mother tongue will help one become stronger at it, but it’s about SUFFICIENTLY PREPARING the child to be COMPETENT in the future to make full use of these scientific resources that are only available in english. and there is a reason why all these science research papers are published in english. the world economy is still dominated by english-speaking countries. and most of the top universities use english as the medium of instruction. but most importantly, english is the de facto world language. all our world leaders use english to communicate in world conferences like the UN. so it is only natural this process continues to science and maths journals in our increasingly globalised world. dude, i don’t want to criticise much but there seems to be a lil chauvinist behaviour in you that believes that the chinese language is superior. yes i can’t deny the fact that the japanese and germans continue to be strong in their sciences even though they are taught in their own mother tongues. and i can’t deny the fact that chinese language is increasing in popularity and might very well be the most spoken language soon.

BUT, the de facto leader in science and maths now is english. most scientific papers and journals are written in english. researchers from all over the world write their research papers in english. most scientific textbooks are in english

and sufficiently preparing our children to be proficient in english will allow our children to tap into this huge array of resources.

it’s not so much about how teaching science and maths in one’s own mother tongue will help one become stronger at it, but it’s about SUFFICIENTLY PREPARING the child to be COMPETENT in the future to make full use of these scientific resources that are only available in english.

and there is a reason why all these science research papers are published in english. the world economy is still dominated by english-speaking countries. and most of the top universities use english as the medium of instruction.

but most importantly, english is the de facto world language. all our world leaders use english to communicate in world conferences like the UN. so it is only natural this process continues to science and maths journals in our increasingly globalised world.

]]> By: David http://www.bobbyong.com/2008/12/15/teaching-science-maths-in-mother-tongue-for-primary-school/comment-page-1/#comment-13554 David Mon, 15 Dec 2008 22:39:22 +0000 http://www.bobbyong.com/?p=272#comment-13554 I posted a longer and more refined version of it at my blog. :D And link back to me please :P I posted a longer and more refined version of it at my blog. :D And link back to me please :P

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