English Language and Literature
1. Department Staff
Name | Email Address |
|---|---|
Ms Chua May Ling, Diana (HOD English Language & Literature) | |
Ms Christina Camillus Lim (ST Educational Support) | |
Ms Yao Lingyun (SH English Language) | |
Ms Sek Li-En Grace | |
Ms Noelene Liew Oi-Yin | |
Ms Nicole Lee Kim Hui | |
Ms Miranda Tham | |
Ms Hong Wee Fui | |
Ms Bhavana Thiagarajan | |
Ms Adelia Ng Meiyu | |
Mrs Jasmine Yau-Low Ngiap Lee | |
Mr Brandon Low | |
Mdm Yow Ee-Linn Cynthia | |
Mdm Kavitha D/O Supramaniam |
The English Language and Literature Department in Peirce Secondary School consists of a dynamic group of teachers who are committed to empowering our students to become confident and proficient users of the language, equipped with 21st CC skills.
The department adopts varied pedagogical strategies to enhance our students’ language learning experiences. The lower secondary EL curriculum focuses on introducing meaningful, authentic and fun experiences to deepen students’ language proficiency in writing, reading, listening and speaking. To further deepen mastery of these skills, the upper secondary EL curriculum focuses on giving platforms and opportunities for students to put these skills to practice meaningfully while receiving feedback from both peers and teachers.
2. EL Department Programmes
YOUTH READERS PROGRAMME
Cultivates a vibrant reading culture amongst the students
Enables students to become lifelong readers who read for pleasure and across genres
Enhances students’ general knowledge and encourages them to keep abreast with current affairs
The students are encouraged to visit the school library which offers a myriad of good reading resources of varied genres. The students also subscribe to magazines which not only offer a wealth of knowledge to these young budding minds, but also make available student activities that are aligned with the EL syllabus to encourage self-directed learning.
Self-Directed Learning
In line with MOE 21st Century Competencies to develop Self-Directed Learners, our teachers make use of the students’ personal learning devices to encourage flipped learning through the use of applications such as Flippity and Padlet. To further hone their communication, collaboration and information skills, the students are given the platform to hone their presentation skills and to critically decipher information from the Internet.
Authentic Learning
To make experiences meaningful and authentic for the Secondary 1 students, the use of VR goggles took students to learning journeys which they could not embark on due to the pandemic. In other lessons, students were also exposed to authentic letter-writing, where they had the opportunity to write and send out a snail mail.
APPLIED LEARNNG PROGRAMME (ALP)
Focus: Comprehend Critique Collaborate
Brief Description:
To better align with the new 2020 EL Syllabus, the EL ALP of Peirce Secondary School underwent a revamp in 2021 and now focuses on facilitating students’ comprehension of print and non-print media materials they read and view, allowing them to connect with and respond in an appropriate and comprehensible manner to a specific target audience.
The EL ALP offers an authentic platform for the students to learn EL beyond their textbooks. In this programme, our students are exposed to varied multi-modal texts – posters, advertisements, articles, news, videos and other authentic texts in real-life situations. They learn to respond, in written and audio formats, both personally and critically, to what they read and view, cultivating their critical thinking, and ability to articulate and justify their opinions. Students also participate in peer critique where they learn to provide constructive feedback to their peers for improvements.
The careful and deliberate selection of authentic resources and questions to challenge students’ thinking and stimulate debate create joy of learning in the EL classroom. Collaboration, achieved via e-platforms such as Padlet and Google Slides presentations, builds not just the digital literacy of our students but also provides opportunities for them to blossom into collaborative learners and confident speakers.
3. Literature
P.T. Barnum said, “Literature is one of the most interesting and significant expressions of humanity.” Our Lower Secondary students will learn to critically analysed text from all three literary genres (fiction, poetry and plays) and build up a strong foundation in the study of Literature.
During literature lessons, students are taught the PEE(E)L framework to
(i) engage closely with texts
(ii) develop individual responses and a personal voice
Students also take part in interesting activities like
(i) Poetry Analysis Presentation
(ii) Shape Poem Creation
(iii) Author Research
(iv) Book Cover Project
(v) Hot Seating
(vi) Mini Debates
These different modes of assessment help students actively and creatively construct their understanding and interpretations of their literature texts.
Secondary One Literature texts:
(i) Percy Jack and the Lightning Thief – Rick Riordan
(ii) Little Things (Poetry Anthology) – edited by Loh Chin Ee, Angelia Poon and Esther Vincent
Secondary Two Literature texts:
(i) Little Ironies – Catherine Lim
(ii) Frankenstein (Play) – adapted by Philip Pullman
(iii) Little Things (Poetry Anthology) – edited by Loh Chin Ee, Angelia Poon and Esther Vincent