Monolingual

875 Words2 Pages

“Bilingual Education looks pretty on the surface but it’s cracking up underneath,” Jill smirked as she took a spoonful of the salmon brioche. Seated at the corner of a quaint café, Jill was dressed formally as she was from her workplace. Being one of the few Eurasians who interns at an international law firm, she has definitely proven herself to be an outstanding candidate for the firm due to her impeccable command of English. However, on that day, Jill reverted to speaking conversational English as she recollected her thoughts and unveiled her experiences during her ten years of Bilingual Education.
As a monolingual child, Jill was exposed to speaking English language at home. Both her parents are Eurasians and were not exposed to any form of Mother Tongues, other than English Language which they considered to be their Mother Tongue. Upon turning six, her parents were faced with a tough decision, knowing that regardless of the language chosen, their child will still be at a disadvantage. Eventually, Malay Language was chosen in a hope that Jill would be able to cope.
In Malay lessons, Jill struggled to enunciate Malay words as phonetically, English Language and Bahasa Melayu have differing phonetic variations for vowels. Her habitual pronunciation of words with an ‘ang moh’ accent and her constant use of inappropriate words in a context made her the subject of mockery in class. Her inability to comprehend the text as well as her classmates culminated her teacher’s frustration and in return, Jill retreated from seeking assistance. In addition, her Malay teacher had a tendency of conducting religious preaching discussions at the end of the lesson which created an exclusive environment for Jill. In an attempt to be included in ...

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...s Bilingual Education seem impressive on the surface, but in reality, there are many prevalent issues that policymakers have conveniently overlooked which affects other monolingual children who are ‘underrepresented’ and forced into a Bilingual Education. Jill critiqued that the current ‘drip-feed’ system; in which students are exposed to Mother Tongue for only two periods a day is clearly insufficient and students should be offered more languages that are of interest to them. As Jill sips her coffee, she contemplates the future of her children. Will they go through the same experience? Which Mother Tongue must she choose for them? Will this experience be a vicious cycle? Jill vowed to provide the best for her children but as for herself, her adamant refusal to acknowledge Malay as a second language has successfully reverted her back to be the striving monolingual.

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