英语双语阅读精选-职称考试.docVIP

英语双语阅读精选 Minimise early hurdles in learning the mother tongue 减少学习母语的初期障碍Excerpts of speech by Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Senior Minister of State for Education and Trade Industry, at the seminar on “The Significance Of Speaking Skills For Language Development” last month at the National Institute of Education. 教育部兼贸工部高级政务部长尚达曼上个月出席了国立教育学院举办的常年淡米尔文教学与学习讲座，以下是他致词的摘要。Our bilingual policy has been and remains a key pillar of our education system, and of nation-building. It reflects our unique situation as a young, multiracial nation. 双语政策一向是我们的教育制度和建国历程的一大支柱，也反映了新加坡是一个年轻、多元种族国家的特殊环境。?By learning their mother tongues, our students gain not just linguistic skills but access to the deep rivers of culture and values that we inherit. 通过学习母语，学生不但掌握了语言技巧，也接触到各自的文化和价值观。?By requiring students to study their mother tongues, we retain and strengthen our identity as an Asian society, as well as our special character not just as an Asian society but a multicultural society. 规定学生学习母语，让我们保留也加强了身为一个亚洲和多元种族社会的特性。We cannot tell exactly how our identity as Singaporeans will evolve, how our different cultures will interact and mesh with each other, and how they will respond to an increasingly globalised world. 我们不能明确的知道新加坡人的认同感将如何逐步形成、不同的文化将如何交流和融合、及对日益环球化的世界作出反应。?But we do know that Singapore will be richer for having tapped into its mother cultures, and kept them relevant in a cosmopolitan setting. Our mother tongues, and the intermingling of our mother cultures, will be a source of vibrancy, and give us distinctiveness. 但我们却知道，熟悉母语文化并确保它们跟得上国际环境发展的步伐，对新加坡有利无害。我们的母语和母语文化的交流，是我们的社会朝气蓬勃的源泉，也是我们的特点。Our understanding continues to evolve on how students acquire languages. Two points are worth highlighting. 我们还在继续探讨学生到底如何学习语言。这里有两点值得注意。The first is about providing a context that students find familiar or interesting. Research suggests that students learn more effectively and achieve facility in a language when their attention is focused on real-life situations. 第一是为学生提供熟悉和有趣的环境。研究结果显示，如果学生的注