Recognise and remember

Flip open a Primary 1 Chinese Language textbook, and you’ll notice that at the end of the main passage in a chapter, there are two rows of words: “Characters I can recognise”（“我会认”） and “Characters I can write”（“我会写”）. At the end of their Chinese lesson, students are supposed to be able to correctly pronounce the words in the first row, understand their meanings and distinguish their forms. These lessons act as a foundation to help pupils identify and read simple but key Chinese characters, before they move on to more complex characters.

On their part, teachers will guide pupils in understanding the meaning of the characters and how they are used in the context of the passages. We call this approach “teaching characters through words, and words through sentences”, as students will learn to recognise each character within the context of its usage rather than as an isolated unit. This makes it easier for pupils to remember the characters, as well as how they are used in speech and writing.

During the lesson, pupils will not be asked to simply memorise the characters. Instead they can use their imagination to think of fun and interesting ways to remember the form and meaning of each word.

Students learn to read new Chinese characters within a context.

Writing it right and writing it well

The row “Characters I can write” lists characters that pupils are expected to know how to write correctly, on top of being able to recognise and read. Primary 1 pupils will be taught to execute the basic strokes, maintain a proper sitting posture and hold the pen correctly. As they master the basics, pupils will move on to simple Chinese characters and words that they will frequently encounter during conversations and reading.

Teachers will also display characters written by the pupils to allow them to comment on each other’s writing as a way to encourage them to take the practice seriously. This will encourage pupils who have performed well while serving as a way to motivate others

Not all the words in the “Characters I can recognise” row will be included in the “Characters I can write” row for the same passage. Pupils may only be required to learn how to write some of the “characters I can recognise” when they come across the word again in a future lesson. We have structured the lessons with such sequences so that the pupils would have a manageable learning load for each chapter.

In addition, lessons will have “Meet-once characters”（“见面字”） that pupils need only understand within the context of that lesson. These characters are embedded in the text and not specially marked out. But pupils will have no difficulties in reading them as hanyu pinyin is provided.

Learning on their own, with imagination

Our aim in encouraging pupils to recognise more Chinese characters is to boost their ability to read earlier and lay a strong foundation for independent reading skills. To help with their learning, lower primary school pupils will receive a set of cards containing characters from the “Characters I can recognise” category. Teachers will also conduct word and computer games, classroom activities and picture presentations to reinforce the textbook lessons. These games spur pupils to use the characters in a relaxed and fun setting as they role-play and construct sentences using the words they have learnt.

Children today enjoy a more systematic approach to learning that builds up their language ability in ways that are both interesting and rigorous. After all, what really matters, as pupils start off on what we hope will be a lifelong relationship with the Chinese language, is that they learn to effectively recognise, write and use Chinese characters whenever they need to.

How to play games with Chinese character cards with your children at home

The new Chinese character cards aren’t just for class; parents can use them together with their children in character recognition games at home. Here’s some suggestions for ways to have fun with Chinese with your child:

• “Guess the character”: Cover up the card leaving only one corner visible and ask your child to try to guess the character.
• “Flip the card”: Cover up the card and let your child ask questions or you can provide hints (e.g., describe the form, the strokes and the component elements) to help the child guess the character; flip the card over after the child identifies the character correctly.
• Read out a character rhyme or riddle, and ask the child to find the correct card.
• “Matching cards to pictures”: Show the child a picture and let him or her find the corresponding character card.
• “Pick a card”: Let the child pick a card and read out the character and use it with another character to form a word at the same time.

Contributed by:
Mdm Liew Jee Hong
Subject Head
Nanhua Primary School

Mdm Teo Siaw Ee
Chinese Language Curriculum Planning Officer
MOE

Parents can also encourage their children's Chinese learning at home.

自主识字　认真写字

“妈妈，我学会写‘手’字了！一撇、二横、三横、四竖钩！”
“我还会认‘做功课’三个字！‘做’是单人旁加‘故事’的‘故’，‘课’是言字旁加‘糖果’的‘果’，都是很容易记的！”

家长应该希望孩子回家时都这样兴奋，因为那显示孩子对华文学习有浓厚的兴趣。无论是传授或者学习，这套2007年小学一、二年级开始推行的课程在方法上确实有了新的转向。
家长如果有机会翻阅课本，他们将注意到每篇课文的后边都列出“我会认”和“我会写”两行字。此外，课文还有少数的字暂时并不要求学生认或写。

课文内三类字的含义

这个情况应该怎么理解呢？实际上，“我会认”列出的字要求学生读准字音、理解字义和识别字形。学生在小一学习汉语拼音时，就开始认读一些字词。他们先学一些基本字（如：人、口），以便日后能以它来认读其他生字。过后进入课文教学时，教师除了让学生从课文的内容语境理解词义、学习字词，也通过启发性的提问，引导学生主动观察字形。教师还会鼓励学生发挥想象力，用自己的方法记字。在教学时，教师也尽可能做到“字不离词，词不离句”，好让孩子在语境中识字，而不是单个单个地学孤立的汉字。

“我会写”的字则要求学生在识读的基础上，能进一步正确书写。小一学生先学写基本笔画，再学写基本字、笔画简单的字和在口语交际与阅读中经常接触到的字。

此外，为了让低年级的学生能集中掌握“我会认”的字，课文里有一些“见面字”，学生只需要在那一课中理解这些字的概念和意思。这些字没有被特别标示，而是融合在课文里，学生阅读起来也不会有困难，因为课文是全文注音的。

需要说明的是，“我会认”的字如果在当课没有同时收入“我会写”，也将被编入以后的课文中，让学生学写。通过认和写的不同进度要求，教材精心安排滚动式的学习。一时没有学透的字并不等于永远没机会再学。

The Chinese character cards can be used by parents at home to reinforce their children's learning.

鼓励自主识字

大量识字的最主要目的是为提前阅读，并为日后阅读打好基础。低年级的学生每人都有一套“字宝宝”。这些“字宝宝” 印在小卡片纸上，其实就是每课“我会认”的字。在课室里，教师通过文字游戏、课堂活动、电脑语文游戏、图文简报等，让学生在轻松有趣的氛围中巩固识字，共同享受识字的乐趣。文字游戏如“一字开花”让学生用“字宝宝”的字说词语或句子，课堂活动如“开火车”则让学生当小老师，领导同学读出“字宝宝”的字。

要求认真写字

在指导写字时，教师会先引导学生注意字形的特点，再让他们书空练习笔顺。写字前，教师也会让学生念写字口诀，提醒学生要“手握笔杆留一寸，胸离课桌有一拳，眼离纸面一尺远”，确保学生的坐姿与握笔的姿势正确。为了鼓励学生认真写字，教师也通过实物投影仪展示学生写的字，让学生互相点评，激励把字写得正确、漂亮的学生，并要求学生改进没写好的字。
家长小时候也许最怕机械式的抄写，现在孩子在学校里接受的是更科学、更系统化的识字和写字训练。他们现在不仅字认得多，也写得又正确又漂亮。相信经过一段时日的训练，孩子识字和写字的能力都会提高。

如何在家里和孩子玩“字宝宝”游戏？

除了用来在课堂上学习，学生也能把“字宝宝”带回家，读给爸爸妈妈听。以下为家长提供的一些识字游戏的点子，希望家长能在家里和孩子一起玩“字宝宝”游戏，为孩子创设愉快的语文学习环境。

• 猜一猜：把“字宝宝”遮盖起来，只露出一角，让孩子去猜字。
• 翻卡：让孩子发问，或给他暗示（如：告诉他某个字的偏旁、结构、笔画、组成部件等），等他猜中后才翻开“字宝宝”。
• 念出顺口溜或字谜，让孩子找出正确的“字宝宝”。
• 图配卡识字：让孩子通过图画找出相应的“字宝宝”。
• 抽卡游戏：孩子一边抽取“字宝宝”，一边念出字音和配词（如：这是“游戏”的“戏”），并要求孩子限时读完，以增加趣味性。

小学华文课程咨询与支援团队
刘智凤（南华小学科主任）
张晓忆（华文课程规划员）