| |9 DECEMBER 2023HIGHERReviewResearch Journey & Impact Dr Lakshmi's research direction was inspired by school-based visits to Tamil classes, igniting her interest to elevate Singapore's official language status for Tamil language, and supporting people outside India overcoming language challenges. Her innovative approaches within the field of Tamil language education, particularly the implementation of Standard Spoken Tamil in classrooms through curriculum and pedagogy reviews, established NIE's role in making Tamil a real living language used in Tamil homes and Tamil classes. "The impact of Standard Spoken Tamil is clearly evidenced in our corpus of the Tamil language within the Tamil classroom," Dr Lakshmi asserted. "Overseas Tamil diaspora communities have embraced the Standard Spoken Tamil developed by us in their curriculum and pedagogy, with Singapore serving as a role model to their use and pedagogical initiatives in speaking and teaching Tamil."Overcoming ChallengesDr Lakshmi acknowledges the challenges inherent in research. One significant challenge she encountered was encouraging deeper awareness among parents to speak Tamil language to their children and integrate the language into their daily lives to enhance their linguistic identity. To tackle this, she advocates for teachers to incorporate engaging and enjoyable elements into Tamil languages classes from an early age. Finding satisfaction in the communities' understanding of her research findings and the application of evidence-based studies in classroom, Dr Lakshmi would embark on another doctoral study in a heartbeat, focusing on the use of Tamil language among Tamil diasporas if she were to start anew. Invitation to Aspiring ResearchersReflecting on her academic journey, Dr Lakshmi offers insightful advice to prospective graduate students aspiring to venture into a rewarding career in research. She emphasises the significance of immersing oneself in extensive reading of research articles, advocating for continual exploration and reevaluation within one's research domain. Stressing the importance of in-depth understanding and effective communication, she highlights the privilege of studying in a leading teacher training institution and prestigious university like NIE NTU, Singapore.If you aspire to expand your knowledge through research in a progressive and advanced environment like NIE, applications for the August 2024 intake are open until 31 January 2024 for research programmes. For more information, visit www.nie.edu.sg/aug2024. To find out more about Associate Professor Seetha Lakshmi and the research by the Asian Languages and Cultures Academic Group at NIE, please visit https://www.ntu.edu.sg/nie/about-us/academic-groups/asian-languages-and-cultures The National Institute of Education (NIE) is an autonomous institute under the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. It has been consistently ranked among the top 30 educational institutions in the world and the top five in Asia by the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) ranking.
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