The Importance of Mother Tongue
and how you can help.
Supporting Mother Tongue
Research into second language acquisition and bilingualism has provided evidence that
point to a link between proficiency in mother topngue and academic achievement in
the second. It has been suggested that children need to attain a critical level of
mother tongue proficiency in order to avoid problems in their second and third languages.
Children who come to school with a solid foundation in their mother tongue develop stronger literacy abilities in the school language. When parents and other caregivers create time to spend time with their children and tell stories or discuss issues with them in a way that develops their mother tongue vocabulary and concepts, children come to school well-prepared to learn the school language and succeed educationally. Children's knowledge and skills transfer across languages from the mother tongue they have learned in the home to the school language. From the point of view of children's development of concepts and thinking skills, the two languages are interdependent. Transfer across languages can be two-way: when the mother tongue is accepted at school and promoted at home, the concepts, language, and literacy skills that children are learning in the majority language can transfer to the home language. In short, both languages nurture each other when the educational and home environment permits children access to both languages.
How can you help?
Please check your bookshelves and if you do find any children's books in good condition please send them to the Learning Centre so we can enhance Quarry Bay children's learning even further.
Looking forward to seeing those books arriving soon.
Steph Gilchrist
Remember to keep in touch
Email: learningcentre@qbs.edu.hk
Website: http://www.qbs.edu.hk/
Location: Hau Yuen Path, 6, North Point, Hong Kong
Phone: 2566 42 42