MINativ Program - March 27th

At assembly today, Mr Simen spoke about the MINativ Program. The reason why students were able to speak good English in the past was derived from the strong role-models they had in English medium schools. In our school in the 1950s and 1960s, it took the form of the Brothers of St Gabriels and teachers who used the English language well. They did not have Singlish as role-models. In their homes, lay teachers may have used Teochew and the dialects but it was an entirely different language which did not interfere in the proficient use of English.

Students (and even teachers) today are different. They had Singlish and Mandarin as role-models and the home language. They grew up in the late 1970s and 1980s in a bilingual environment where mother tongue was encouraged as a language policy but more importantly with Singlish as the role-model used by many. In the homes, schools and daily communication, Singlish is frequently used which ultimately results in the 'watering down' of the standards of English we once had in the 1950s and 1960s. The result is the current status we find our selves in today - declining standards of both spoken and written English.

The only way to improve English is to adopt the strategy used during the SARs Outbreak in 2003 - Ring-fencing. " Ring-fence Montfort School with good 'native' speakers of the English Language", Mr Simen said. The goal is to use standard English in spoke and written language in the school. Teachers and students should take it in the right spirits. They should correct each other's spoken and written English in 'good spirits' and it should be taken in the 'right spirit' of camaraderie, acceptance and humility. Outside of school, basilects, masolects, dialects, pidgin English and Singlish may be used in less formal circumstances. Within Montfort School, the goal would be standard formal English. Gradually, as teachers and students become more proficient with the English Language, they would also become more adept at code-switching, but never unskilled, unschooled, unintended, random and confused code-mixing.

As part of the MINativ project, a contract would be given to both teachers and students to fill out if they were keen to participate in this school-wide exercise.

Mr Simen challenged the school to take up the MINativ Program.

(Towards the end of the assembly, a pocketful of Montfortian dwarves among Giants made Mr Simen and Mr Leow angry and upset over their behavior at the assembly. Inconsiderate and juvenile, the handful of students were taken out of the hall, spoken to and disciplined. The corrective action was (i) detention; (ii) a Praise-and-Grace tag on behavior/conduct/homework and (iii) a promisary note that they would sit in front of teachers for assembly for the next two weeks. Hardly worth it's weight in being inconsiderate and juvenile )