PGDipTHE

With English used as the principal medium of instruction for all school subjects in Singapore, and Mandarin as a compulsory mother-tongue subject for ethnic Chinese students, the natural expectation is a new generation of graduates with bi-language competencies. It is interesting to find out whether student teachers, who have undergone the new national unified education system at the primary and secondary school levels, differ from the 'Chnese-streamed' Chinese language trained teachers in terms of their attitude and competency towards the use of Chinese language. To investigate the current state of language use and language attitude of Chinese language teachers, a survey based on the use of a questionnaire was conducted. Based on the findings of the survey and the inadequate competencies of the student teachers, a new curriculum for the current Postgraduate Diploma Programme specialising in the teaching of Chinese in secondary schools is proposed.

This project is organised in the following manner: the introductory chapter sets forth the purpose of this project. The second chapter focuses on the direct effects of the Bilingual Education System and the Speak Mandarin Campaign on the linguistic repertoire of the Singapore Chinese community, and a description of the sociolinguistic status of Mandarin and English. The third chapter presents a discussion on the findings of the survey of language use, self evaluation in bilingual competence, and language attitude of Chinese language student teachers. The fourth chapter presents a proposal for a new curriculum design for the Postgraduate Diploma Programme specialising in the teaching of Chinese at the secondary school level. A justification for the proposal for the establishment of a foundation course in Chinese and the extension of the programme would be given.