Mother Tongue Language
Discover how we nurture every child's love for their Mother Tongue Language, with tailored pathways in Chinese, Malay, and Tamil to support every learner, from foundational skills to Higher MTL.
Purpose & Objectives of Learning MTL
The Primary MTL curriculum equips learners with the essential communication and language competencies, culture & values and 21st Century Competencies, and helps them become confident MTL users.
Communication: Students are equipped with foundational language skills to ensure effective communication.
Culture & Values - Students learn to appreciate their own MTLs, culture and traditions; and
21st Century Competencies - Students are equipped with the foundational social-emotional competencies and the competencies such as civic literacy, global awareness and cross-cultural skills, critical and inventive thinking.
2024 New Primary Mother Tongue Languages Curriculum
The new Primary MTL curriculum enables young learners to experience the joy of learning MTL, so as to motivate them to like and learn MTL for life.
Pedagogies & Assessment
Mother Tongue Languages in school
Chinese Language
The Chinese Language curriculum focuses on listening, speaking, reading, writing and interaction skills. It is tailored to your child's abilities and offered in the following modules:
Core module 核心课程: Designed for all primary school students.
Bridging module 强化课程: Designed for students who need more help with the language.
Enrichment module 深广课程: Designed for students with a higher aptitude for learning the language.
Malay Language
The Malay Language curriculum focuses on listening, speaking, reading, writing and interaction skills. Your child can progress to different levels of proficiency, depending on interest and abilities.
Tamil Language
The Tamil Language curriculum focuses on listening, speaking, reading, writing and interaction skills.
Higher Mother Tongue Language
The Higher Mother Tongue Language (HMTL) curriculum is designed to stretch students who have a strong interest and aptitude in the language. Students offering HMTL will bear a heavier curriculum and learning load, as the subject covers additional content knowledge and skills compared to standard Mother Tongue Language.
P5 P6 Higher Mother Tongue
Higher Mother Tongue Language is offered if your child passes 4 subjects and does very well for Mother Tongue Language at the end of Primary 4.
You will need to fill up an option form to indicate your child's preferred subject combination.
Students who take Higher Mother Tongue must stay back after school for two additional periods of lessons per week. They are required to take Higher Mother Tongue papers during year end examination.
School will assess your child's ability to cope with the subjects at the end of Primary 5. Your child takes the subject combination recommended by the school and sits for the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE).
P3 P4 Higher Mother Tongue
To further strengthen the learning of MTL from an early age, primary schools can offer HMTL across the 3 official MTLs from P3 onwards starting 2022.
What are the Criteria?
Proficient in oracy skills and demonstrate strong foundation
Students taking HMTL at P3 and P4 should be proficient in their oracy skills and demonstrate strong foundation for literary skills. School uses a set of qualitative descriptors (QDs) based on the P2 Mother Tongue Languages Learning Outcomes to determine students’ MTL proficiency.
Evidence of students’ performance throughout the year
Gathered information about students’ learning through checkpoints such as on-going assessments or alternative assessments to further provide information on students’ learning progress and inclination.
Teachers’ feedback and observations
To cover a whole range of performance, additional information about student’s learning can be gathered from class discussions, class work and homework.
How are lessons carried out for HMTL at P3 and P4 level?
For HCL
For HCL, the textbook includes literary-based texts which would require two additional periods per week to provide an enjoyable early experience to ethnic literature and cultural knowledge.
For HML or HTL
For HML and HTL at P3 and P4, differentiated instruction in a mixed ability class.
How would assessment look like for HMTL at P3 and P4 level for my child?
HMTL at P3 and P4 will be reflected as a non-weighted assessment. The schools would indicate your child’ progress in HMTL in the Holistic Development Profile.
Mother Tongue Support Programme (MTSP)
A customized programme to support the learning of pupils in Mother Tongue Languages in Primary 3 and Primary 4：
How was my child selected?
Enrolment into the programme is based on your child’s Mother Tongue Language level of proficiency. This is assessed by your child’s teachers through observations and different assessments throughout P1 and P2.
Will my child be learning the same thing as pupils in the other classes?
The MTSP provides additional support to your child. He/she will be learning various skills that will help him/her cope better with lessons in the future. It is a customized programme where pupils get more individualized attention, more chances to practise and more experiences of success.