Ministry To Promote Mandarin As Alternative

[george]

LANGUAGE CLASSES:

Ministry to promote Mandarin as alternative

BANGKOK: -- Critics dismiss plan as ‘market oriented gimmick’. The Education Ministry is planning to promote Mandarin as an alternative language for school students, and it says children may choose to begin learning the language as early as grade 1.

It is one of Education Minister Chaturon Chaisang’s latest policies, and aims to give Thailand a competitive edge in a world economy where China is exerting increasing power.

However, the policy has drawn concern from some critics who are worried that Mandarin classes will become “just another market-oriented product”.

Usanee Watanapan, head of the ministry’s translation institute, explained last week that Chaturon’s policy aimed to enhance Mandarin-teaching classes in the education system as a whole. Usanee will supervise preparation of the strategy.

“It’s not mandatory, but schools that are ready for it will be encouraged to begin Mandarin classes because it is becoming an increasingly important language,” she said.

According to the draft strategy, Mandarin teaching will be standardised in the same way as English, so that all schools in the country follow the same standard. The strategy does not cover language schools.

A central curriculum will be developed to identify what needs to be taught and the objectives at each level. “This will allow a continuity for Mandarin learners because there are currently different standards when it comes to Mandarin classes in Thailand,” Usanee said.

The curriculum, which is one of the strategy’s three main components, will be based on research and categorised into three parts: a 12-year curriculum for students who begin learning Mandarin when they enter primary schools; a six-year curriculum for those who begin Mandarin classes at secondary schools; and special courses for vocational students who may need specific vocabularies.

“We have received support from China,” Usanee said. “Chinese experts are going to work with our experts to develop textbooks based on our curriculum.”

She said that more information would also be given to the public on the HSK proficiency test – the Mandarin version of the Test of English as a Foreign Language. Test scores can be used to apply to Chinese universities and companies.

“China is an economic power and Mandarin is becoming increasingly important. If we try to avoid it, we will lose,” Usanee said.

At present, at least 300 Thai schools offer Mandarin classes to their students. About half of them are state schools.

“The number of such schools should increase in the future,” Usanee said.

However, the ministry has not yet set specific goals for how many more schools should join the Mandarin-teaching effort.

With the value of trade and investment between China and Thailand expected to reach US$20 billion (Bt824 billion) this year, Mandarin is being seen as a powerful economic tool.

“Mandarin-speaking graduates from my faculty get good jobs,” said Associate Professor Pornpan Juntaronanont, a deputy dean at Ramkhamhaeng University’s faculty of humanities and head of the faculty’s Mandarin division.

She said she could not agree more with the ministry’s plan to promote the teaching of Mandarin because it was now closely associated with economic power.

“Also, Mandarin links you to the rich culture of China, and when you know one more language, your view broadens,” she said.

Usanee went on to explain two other main components in the Mandarin promotion strategy: the development of teachers and cooperation among relevant organisations.

She said China would send native Mandarin experts, while Thai teachers would receive scholarships to study in China.

The Education Ministry will also push a plan to pair up schools in Thailand and China as “sister schools”, so that the Chinese schools are able to assist their Thai counterparts in the development of Mandarin classes.

Songsri Sirikhetkorn, an official for the Oriental Knowledge and Language School, which offers both Mandarin and Japanese, welcomed the ministry’s move. She said she had no concerns about any impact on her school’s business.

“On the contrary, I think more students will come to us for tutorial classes,” she said. Aside from Mandarin classes, her language school also teaches Mandarin calligraphy, Chinese painting, and how to play the Chinese dulcimer.

A lecturer at Chulalongkorn University’s faculty of education, Sompong Jitradab, was concerned that Mandarin classes are becoming “fashionable”, and that many people will jump at the opportunity they offer for reaping profits.

--The Nation 2005-09-27

[Spit the Dog]

‘market oriented gimmick’.

--The Nation 2005-09-27

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

These 3 words more or less sum this idea up.

[Rumpole]

According to the draft strategy, Mandarin teaching will be standardised in the same way as English, so that all schools in the country follow the same standard.

That settles it, then. They'll all be fluent within twelve months.