Retake mother tongue? No, D7 is good enough
-
Retake mother tongue? No, D7 is good enough
A-level students glad to focus on other subjects, now that mother tongue not counted for varsity entry
By Jane Ng and Yvonne Koh and Lynn Lee
ALMOST all A-level students who have secured at least a D7 for mother tongue at the AO level said they will not sit for the exam again, now that they have the minimum grade needed in that subject to enter a university here.
Only five of 70 students from seven junior colleges (JCs) polled by The Straits Times yesterday want to do the test once more, even though the grade no longer has to be counted in the university admission exercise.
Advertisement
Previously the students would take the subject in JC1 and retake it in JC2 to better their marks, first in the middle of the year and then again at the year-end.
Some JCs said that as many as half their second-year students would retake the exam.
Now, like St Andrew's JC student Suffian Hakim, 17, who got a C6 for his Malay language paper, they say they would rather concentrate on their other subjects.
Said Catholic JC student Alan Phua, 17, who got a D7 and is not retaking the exam: 'Now that the stress of studying for Chinese is not there, it frees me to focus on my biology S paper.'
Second-year Anglo-Chinese JC student, William Yonathan, 19, said that while he was not satisfied with his B4 grade for Malay, he would not retake the paper, 'because the subject takes up a lot of time, about four hours of lesson time, plus homework'.
His schoolmate Chan Wei Xuan, 17, who got a C5 for Chinese language, said he was satisfied with his grade, as it is 'one of my best ever for the subject'.
The change in policy also puts students who do the simpler mother tongue B syllabus on a par with those who do not.
Previously, they also needed a pass in the subject, but could not use their grade in their university application, which meant they had one fewer set of marks to count on for entry.
St Andrew's JC student Joel Gopalan, 18, who got an E8, said that because of the change in thinking, he no longer feels he will lose out by switching to the B paper.
'I know I'll pass it for sure and it won't affect my chances of going to university here,' said the JC2 student, who is of Indian-Chinese descent.
While Catholic JC student Joseph Tey, 18, is sticking with his D7 grade for Chinese language, he wonders if it will affect his job prospects.
The five who say they will retake the test scored between A2 and C5 for the subject.
Terence Quek, 17, a second-year student at Temasek JC who scored an A2, wants to get a scoresheet 'as perfect as possible'.
JC2 student Joanne Quek, 18, who had a C5, is retaking it for her mum, who is 'worried it'll affect my chances of getting scholarships'.
Mother tongue teachers, however, are disturbed by the change in policy. They believe some students would get a better grade the second time round. Some also fear their own jobs will become redundant.
Said one: 'Some of us will probably be transferred to secondary schools because of this, as we'll probably be teaching only one batch of students - the JC1s - instead of two.'
However, Catholic JC's principal, Brother Paul Rogers, believes that as there is now no longer pressure to produce grades, it could make mother tongue a more exciting subject to teach and to learn.
'The emphasis is now not just on imparting information necessary for passing an exam but teaching the students in a way that they're in a better position to use the language later on in life.'
HENG i no Do a Levels sia...if nt sure fail like sai...aso forgt wat is my chinese o level grade liaoz....
if oral can test hokkien nt chinese gd liao hor...
btw wats KAO PEH KAO BU in chinese ? -
Originally posted by Ah Ma:
my o'level get A2 for chinese i think..... those of my fran getting B3 n below will retake loh....
[b]HENG i no Do a Levels sia...if nt sure fail like sai...aso forgt wat is my chinese o level grade liaoz....
if oral can test hokkien nt chinese gd liao hor...
btw wats KAO PEH KAO BU in chinese ?
kao peh kao bu is cry father cry mother.... aka ku pa ku ma
-
orh i tout JIAO TIE JIAO NIANG..lolOriginally posted by thhong22:my o'level get A2 for chinese i think..... those of my fran getting B3 n below will retake loh....
kao peh kao bu is cry father cry mother.... aka ku pa ku ma
wow u gt A2 ahhh so gd...
i gt....dn tell u..wait u laugh at me 
-
chinese take until so gd also no use. not as though the wrkg world is using it everywhr.
-
hahaha wrong liao wrong liao.... i think if direct translation is 'ku bo ku mu'Originally posted by Ah Ma:orh i tout JIAO TIE JIAO NIANG..lol
wow u gt A2 ahhh so gd... i gt....dn tell u..wait u laugh at me -
anyone visits chinese forum here? tink i will spent 1 hr typing 1 paragraph..if sgforums uses chinese language
-
nothing less than A1............
-
xi guan jiu hao lah.....Originally posted by Ah Ma:anyone visits chinese forum here? tink i will spent 1 hr typing 1 paragraph..if sgforums uses chinese language
once u get use, then u can type fast fast liao -
Stoopid policy now then come out. But now make chinese at AO level look so damn redundant.
-
Me too.. my best chinese grade ever was C5..
when i came from with my results, my family was celebrating!! -
me go taiwan forum......Originally posted by Ah Ma:anyone visits chinese forum here? tink i will spent 1 hr typing 1 paragraph..if sgforums uses chinese language
bery fast if u use HYPY.... -
-
wah...A2Originally posted by thhong22:my o'level get A2 for chinese i think..... those of my fran getting B3 n below will retake loh....
kao peh kao bu is cry father cry mother.... aka ku pa ku ma -
Originally posted by Ah Ma:
-
A2 only lah.... not A1... don wahOriginally posted by SGpork:wah...A2
oral only merit... my fran got distinction n of cos, he got A1 -
u know why i wah...becos i either get c5 or b4..if abit suay..maybe fail..Originally posted by thhong22:A2 only lah.... not A1... don wah
oral only merit... my fran got distinction n of cos, he got A1
then u A2..of cos is....WAH lo... -
aiyoh chinese is the only A subject i got leh.....Originally posted by SGpork:u know why i wah...becos i either get c5 or b4..if abit suay..maybe fail..
then u A2..of cos is....WAH lo...
english oso C6.... humanties n maths all B -
then still ok what...Originally posted by thhong22:aiyoh chinese is the only A subject i got leh.....
english oso C6.... humanties n maths all B
*look into the mirror*
haiz...stupid.. 
-
u haven take o'level rite???Originally posted by SGpork:then still ok what...
*look into the mirror*
haiz...stupid..
study hard loh.... sure can do much better than me
-
-
wat lah???Originally posted by SGpork: -
me too lazy to score better than u...Originally posted by thhong22:wat lah???
i know where i stand... -
lazy? then study harder loh.... mine oredi so poor u cannot do worse than me leh.... wait alot of coz cannot enterOriginally posted by SGpork:me too lazy to score better than u...
i know where i stand... -
languages suck.....I hate languages.
but I still got A1 for Higher chinese and A2 for english in O levels