也关注来自非英语家庭小学生的学习<Ref1*>
Taking Care of Pupils from Non-English Families
根据本地报章2003年1月11日的报导，由于来自讲英语家庭的学生越来越多，教育部已经从去年起在四所小学试验推行，让教师用英语协助学生学习华文的双语华文教学法。
笔者认为，相对于讲英语家庭学生逐年的激增，来自谈母语或非英语家庭的学生将逐渐成为“少数族群”。所以我们显然也应该关注这类学生在新处境中学习时，所可能面对的困难或不利的因素。
对此，相信吴作栋总理在2001年的教师节群众大会上所忆述的教学经验，是具有启发意义的。当时总理向在场的7000多位教师透露，他在等待高中成绩放榜前，曾在启化华文小学当过3个月的英文代课老师。他告诉与会者：
“……我教导的是小学3年级的学生。这是个谦卑的体验（humbling experience）。我很快发现我是在学生们一脸茫然的情况下讲课的（I was talking over the heads of the students）。他们之中的大多数甚至连ABC字母都不懂，并且对我所说的话一句也无法理解。他们主要是林厝港一带的农夫和工友们的孩子。他们在家里用福建话交谈。英语是个外国语言。我发觉要传导知识是如何的困难。我必须学会让自己能被理解。……”（海峡时报.1/9/2001.<Ref2*>）
如果我们根据目前小学一年级学生的家庭用语比例，即讲英语和讲母语的学生大约各占一半的比例来看<Ref3*>，我们将不难理解，吴总理以往的教学经验到了今天，对于至少一半的学生而言，显然还是有效的。
当然，如今小孩子们在正式上小学前，大多数都有机会受过3年的学前教育<Ref4*>，而且多数的家长也应该会亲自教导儿女，所以来自非英语家庭小孩的英文基础确实已经不仅止于只认识ABC字母而已。但是，尽管如此，他们上小学时所将面对的情况却也是当年总理的学生们不必面对的。这些情况包括：
一，所有学校的主要教学媒介语都是英语。
二，来自讲英语家庭的孩子将可能逐渐占多数。
三，由于家庭语言背景的不同，所有学生的起跑点显然不可能是相同或接近的。
四，逐渐年轻化的教师与校长的语文能力将大多数是英语程度比母语强。
五，今日的小学生从低年级开始就在学习更艰深的英文字。
（对于这点，吴总理曾在一次英文报的访谈中告诉记者，他对看到侄儿们从小学一年级开始就学习他直到小学四、五年级时才懂得的字，感到吃惊。）（海峡时报.24/1/2001.<Ref5*>）
所以从学校，教师，到学生的组成情形与趋势来看，一个合理的疑虑很自然的会产生，那就是：学校的老师及校长们会不会因为已经非常习惯处于近乎全然英语化的环境中，而不自觉的假设或以为所有小学生(特别是分流前的低年级学生)的英语水平都不错，以至在教学时可能会忽略应该尽量使用简单英语教学的必要性呢？
笔者认为这个疑虑是值得提出来探讨的，因为：
一，如果上述描绘的情况出现，许多英语水平有待提高的学生将可能面对[一知半解]的学习困境<Ref6*>。而且严重的话，他们的自信心和学习兴趣也可能受到影响。
二，我们的社会一直在鼓励及期待人们学习和应用母语，比如华社的[讲华语运动]就是一个很好的例子。因此对于愿意身体力行的家庭，我们的教育体制必须能够确保他们的孩子，在正式教育刚开始的几年内，不会因为英语水平还不够而吃不必要的亏。这么做肯定对鼓励更多家庭保留母语及深化双语教育的社会效果都是有益的。
三，笔者相信教师和校长们都受过专业训练，而且都怀抱[有教无类]的心胸。所以只要他们意识到本文所提的疑虑有发生的可能并加以注意，他们就能更好的确保每个学生，特别是没有能力聘请补习老师的学生，都能受到最适当的督导与教育。
因此，隋着学校及师生环境的进一步英语化，教育部显然有必要注意逐渐成为少数的非英语家庭学生们的学习处境。至少教育部应该定时的检讨<Ref7*>、通知和提醒全国小学（和中学？）的教师与校长们，关于学生家庭用语的最新比例与变化。相信这些资讯将有助于他们更有效的教导和照顾不同学生的学习需要。<Ref8*>
以下是本文的注解(Ref):
本文是英文文章，T2-6: PM Goh's Teaching Experience is still relevant，的中文扩充版本。
“…… I taught Primary 3 students. It was a humbling experience. I discovered very quickly that I was talking over the heads of the students. Most of them did not even know their ABCs and could not understand a word I said. They were mostly the children of farmers and workers in Lim Chu Kang. They spoke Hokkien at home. English was an alien tongue. I found out how difficult it was to impart knowledge. I had to learn to make myself understood.……” (The Straits Times, 01/Sep/2001)
Ref3:
由于教育部近年来似乎没有公布有关数据，所以笔者是根据1999年的数据（来自讲英语家庭的小一新生占43%，而且每年增长2%左右）来做估计。
学前教育对孩子的语文发展会有帮助，例如教育部最近透露，一项为期18个月的学前教育新课程指导纲领的试验取得不错成果。根据早报（21/1/2003）的报导：
“……试验结果显示，参与新课程的学生在掌握英语、社交及解决问题的能力都提升了。这个现象在那些来自较低收入及不说英语家庭的孩子身上，效果尤其显著。……”
当然，学前教育对孩子语文能力发展的帮助也有极限。以下两件事正好可以做为参考：
一，政府早在1979年就在67所华校推出学前教育课程，帮助当时讲方言的小孩学习华语和英语，但后来的调查显示这对孩子往后的语文精通程度没什么影响（可能因为当时用的教学法不适当？）（详情请参阅下述抄自海峡时报的文章）。
NEW KINDERGARTEN CURRICULUM---Deja vu or a second chance?
“……The Government… In 1979, it began a pre-primary programme in 67 Chinese-medium schools for two purposes - to help kindergarten pupils from dialect speaking homes learn English and Chinese, and to arrest the declining enrolment in Chinese-medium schools.
The first reason went out the window when studies conducted by the ministry revealed that kindergarten attendance made no difference to a child's language proficiency in later life.
The second ceased to be relevant after 1987, when all Chinese-medium schools switched to English as the medium of instruction.……”
By: Sandra Davie（The Straits Times.24/Jan/2003）
二，讲英语家庭的小孩在上过学前教育后，还不是需要教育部推出双语华文教学法的帮忙吗？（请参考早报11/01/2003的封面新闻）
EXTRACTS FROM PRIME MINISTER GOH CHOK TONG'S INTERVIEW
WITH THE STRAITS TIMES, AS PUBLISHED ON 24 JAN 2001
The Education System
Q: A recurring concern is the stressful education system. Some readers ask whether the Government can review the system.
PM Goh: The Government has done so and has taken off some 20 per cent of materials off the curriculum. So the load has been lightened and they have moved into project work. Project work gives them more time but then, they've got to think more and do more research. I would say the stress comes not so much from the educational system but, very often, from the parents themselves. Many parents would send their children for swimming lessons, ballet, piano, calligraphy, and so on. So they want more free time for their children but they are in fact occupying their children's free time, for good purposes because all this will develop their own children. Is it stressful for the kids? I don't think we should underestimate the kids. I think most children can learn more than we thought they could learn.
Q: One of the complaints is that the educational standard is rising every year, imposing ever greater demands on students.
PM Goh: I have looked at my own nephews in Primary 1. I was shocked to see that, from Primary 1, they are learning words which I would not have known until Primary 4 or 5. So I asked the minister the same question, if we are going too fast...all these words, I'd never heard of until I was much older and with full sentences and so on. Well, my nephew seems to be able to cope and he's not exceptionally intelligent. I would say he's just a normal kid. I went through his work, I just encouraged him. He did not get full marks and so on, but I did not stress him. I said: "Try your best." So yes, the point is, the school is giving them more and more. It is right that, from time to time, the Education Ministry must review to see whether we are not moving at too fast a pace for the average child. So that's important, which I think they have done periodically.
Q: From the parents' view, the education system and the society are structured such that they have to put pressure on their children or else they would not be able to make it in society.
PM Goh: It is our fate in Singapore where people are our only resource. You can't sit back and just watch the rice grow or the oil being pumped out from the bottom of the sea. So, we therefore spend a lot of time in nurturing our kids.
etc...
关于[一知半解]的可能，笔者只能说由于目前大多数（？）来自各种家庭（英语及非英语）的小孩似乎都必须靠（？）课外补习的帮助，所以除非有可靠的统计调查供人们做仔细的研判，否则一切可能潜藏的问题只能继续以“补习了之”了。
对于合理的疑虑，吴总理的态度值得一提。例如当人们担心学校的课业进度对一般学生是否太快的问题时，他理解这样的担心并认为教育部必须不时的检讨情况。他说：（以下的引述抄自注5）
“……So yes, the point is, the school is giving them more and more. It is right that, from time to time, the Education Ministry must review to see whether we are not moving at too fast a pace for the average child. So that's important, which I think they have done periodically……”
所以希望本文所提的疑虑在人们心目中也是合理及值得关注的。
若本文会让人觉得对教师、校长及教育部不公平的印象，笔者必须在此致歉，因为这不是本文的意图。笔者关注的是，若小孩子们真的有被忽略的可能，成人就必须不时自发的警惕及观察他们的处境，因为孩子们不一定懂得把本身面对的困难反应给大人知道。