Welcome to English writing site!!!

Topics search engine

Friday 2 April 2010

Bilingualism is a sound educational policy

Topic: “Bilingualism is a sound educational policy.” Discuss.

Outline:
1. Briefly describe how the government decides how many languages a student should learn.
2. Describe the advantages of bilingualism.
- It allows people of different races to live harmoniously and to preserve their own cultures.
- Language learning contributes to intellectual development.
- It will improve the student’s communicative skills.
3. Describe the disadvantages of bilingualism.
- Some students may have difficulty learning two languages.
- Many students concentrate only on one language.
4. Briefly conclude that bilingualism is a sound policy.

The government of a country decides how many languages a student should learn. In Singapore, since its independence, the emphasis has been on bilingualism.

One advantage of a bilingual policy is that it helps the people of a multi-racial nation to live together harmoniously. For example, in Singapore, English is the main language used between members of different races. Thus, it bridges the gap between the various races. At the same time, learning their mother tongue will help both the students and their own cultures and traditions.

Moreover, children pick up languages easier than adults do. Hence, children should learn at least two languages when they are still young. Language learning also contributes to the child’s intellectual development. Thus, bilingual policies should be adopted.

Furthermore, learning two languages will enhance the students’ communicative skills. It would allow students to communicative with European and other nationals competently.

However, bilingual policies can pose some problems. Some students may find difficulty in mastering two languages. Consequently, their performance in both will be affected.

Furthermore, many students concentrate on one language and fare badly in the other. In fact, this is a problem faced by many Singaporean students today.

To sum up, I feel that bilingualism is a sound educational policy. However, educationalists should foresee possible problems and deal with them appropriately. For example, the present system which concentrates on languages and maths in the first few school years would boost bilingualism.

No comments:

Post a Comment