It’s compulsory for children within the Singapore national education system to learn their mother tongue as a second language. But what if choosing a Mother Tongue Language isn’t as straightforward?
Being an interracial family, one of the questions my spouse and I get asked quite often is, “What mother tongue will your kid learn in school?”
You see, Singapore is very big on bilingualism. The previous Minister of Education, Lawrence Wong (now Deputy Prime Minister), even mentioned that bilingualism is a “hallmark” of the local education system in one of his speeches. On top of English, your child is required to learn a second language should they attend a local school. By default, this second language is usually their Mother Tongue Language (commonly referred to as MTL, its acronym).
Picking a MTL isn’t as straightforward as one may think…
The choice of a MTL for single-race families is quite obvious. For interracial children, there are usually two MTLs, or more, should either parent be mixed race themselves and is a native speaker of more than one language.
However, the MTL requirement in the Singapore school system only allows a child to study one mother tongue. Another limiting factor is that local schools only offer three MTL options*: Chinese, Malay, and Tamil.
Therein lies the dilemma for ethnic minorities and interracial families:
- For interracial families where both mother tongues are offered, which mother tongue should they learn in school?
- For ethnic minorities and interracial families whose mother tongue(s) isn’t offered, what language should they choose to study in school then?
While compulsory education for Singapore citizens starts at the age of six, most preschools already include MTL lessons within their curriculum. In other words, should you opt to send your child to preschool, you’ll be faced with this dilemma much earlier.
* Indian children whose mother tongue isn’t Tamil can apply to study Non-Tamil Indian Languages (NTIL) like Hindi, Punjabi, Telugu, etc. However, these languages aren’t offered in most schools, and parents will have to make arrangements with private language centres to fulfil the minimum study hours.
There are also three Foreign Languages and Asian Languages that children can take should their mother tongue not be offered in the school system. These are limited to French, German, Japanese, Arabic, Burmese, and Thai. Parents will have to show proof that their child has either lived overseas (in a country where any of these languages are spoken) for a long period of time or that the child has formal learning of any of these languages. Just like NTIL, these languages aren’t offered in most schools, and external arrangements need to be made by parents.
My family’s situation: so many choices, so little time.
The great thing is that being Chindian (and of Tamil descent), my son has two obvious choices when it’s time to choose his MTL in school. As to which mother tongue he’s going to pursue in school – my spouse and I have yet to decide it.
It’s not an easy decision as we value both languages. Language is culture, and we want to raise our son to embrace his culture and heritage from both sides.
I’ve spoken to a few parents in similar situations to help with our decision-making. Here’s what I gather about how minorities and interracial families choose a MTL for their children to study in local schools.
How to choose a MTL for your child if you’re a minority or interracial family in Singapore
1. The ‘future opportunities’ logic
Almost everyone we spoke to, with kids or not, advised us to choose Chinese as our son’s MTL in school. Reason being that individuals with Chinese language skills are highly valued in the job market. Companies want employees who can assist them with Chinese clients, be it on a corporate or consumer level. Chinese language skills are so valuable that almost all international schools in Singapore offer bilingual or Chinese immersion programmes to students who are not of Chinese descent.
Since their mother tongues are not offered in the Singapore education system, some minority families have opted for their children to pick up Chinese as a second language. Citing it as a “useful language”, Singapore’s current Leader of the Opposition, Pritam Singh (whose children are of Punjabi descent), also chose Chinese as a second language for his oldest child.
2. The ‘homework assistance’ logic
I also dub this the most ‘practical’ logic because, like it or not, we as parents will be expected to help with our kids’ homework. Picture this: your child is experiencing some challenges with their MTL homework and approach you for help. Will you be able to help them with it? After all, Singapore’s exam board is known for coming up with some seriously tricky questions, even for adult standards.
Should one parent be more fluent and confident in their mother tongue than the other, it makes sense for the child to opt for that language as their MTL in school.
3. The ‘easier to score’ logic
A disclaimer: I personally do not think any language is ‘easier’ to pick up than the other. Each language has its unique features in grammar, pronunciation, and script, just as every child has their own strengths and weaknesses when it comes to language acquisition.
What comes across as a bit of a controversial way of picking a second language is to go with the one that’s ‘easier’ to learn. Many people whom I’ve spoken to think that Chinese is the more ‘difficult’ language to grasp, what with its tens of thousands of characters. Let’s not forget the homonyms too (Chinese characters that have more than one meaning and pronunciation), which are the bane of my schooling years. As such, I have heard of parents who chose Malay or Tamil as their children’s MTL to avoid the stress of learning Chinese.
4. The ‘common’ or ‘familiar’ language logic
For families whose mother tongues are not offered in mainstream schools, choosing to go with a ‘common’ or ‘familiar’ language is the next best option. This is the route my fellow colleague Rohini opted for. She did consider letting her oldest child pick up Chinese as a second language due to the opportunities it presents. However, she and her husband also considered the challenges posed by their unfamiliarity with the language. Hence, they registered their child to learn Hindi as it’s a language both of them are familiar with.
5. Let your child decide
This is my preferred choice, though some might say it’s not the most realistic. People ask: is a child capable of deciding what second language they should learn for the rest of their school life? It really is an important life decision, especially since you’re not allowed to change your MTL midway through school.
The way I see it, there are only two ways this route will turn out. Ideally, my child will develop a preference for one of his mother tongues based on his experience with it. But the more likely scenario would be that he’ll choose his MTL out of peer pressure. In other words, he’ll opt for the same MTL as his friends just to be in the same classroom with them.
Why is it not possible for my child to learn both his mother tongues?
Contrary to popular belief, it is actually possible for a child to learn three languages in local schools. This falls under the Ministry of Education Language Centre, which currently offers eight languages, including French and Spanish.
Having spent my school years learning three languages in Malaysia, this is naturally my preferred choice for my son. If I were to be honest, the tiger mum in me wants him to learn Malay as a fourth language, as it’s Singapore’s national language. But let’s be realistic: language learning isn’t everyone’s forte; there’s no point forcing it on our child if he’s not into picking up extra languages on top of the compulsory MTL. What’s more, there’s also a minimum score that children need to meet before taking on a third language.
So… what MTL will it be for my son?
We’re still adopting a wait-and-see approach to see if our little one shows any preference or strengths in acquiring a particular mother tongue. At the moment, we try our best to provide him with equal exposure to both Chinese and Tamil.
Personally, I truly believe that choosing a MTL should be a choice made out of passion. A child is more likely to enjoy the learning process and excel if they are interested in that particular subject. I know this from personal experience as I took Chinese as an elective in my final public examinations. It wasn’t a compulsory subject, and it had a reputation for being notoriously difficult to score (possibly affecting my overall result and chances of getting into a top college and university). But I took it anyway as I truly love language and saw the Chinese language as a big part of who I am.
Likewise, regardless of his MTL choice, I hope my son respects both his mother tongues. I also hope that he understands mother tongues are more than just a score in his school certificate, but a representation of the mixed heritage that is a big part of who he is.
