October 21, 2008
Poems and songs help pupils learn Chinese characters and improve their verbal skills.
This is the fifth article in Schoolbag’s series of 10 features on the primary school Chinese Language curriculum. Read the previous ones here.
An earlier version of this article was published in Lianhe Zaobao on 10 April 08. For a Chinese version of this article, click here.
Chinese is both an ancient and living tongue, but how do we keep the language alive at home when many families now speak mainly English instead of Mandarin or Chinese dialects? With these and other changes in the social environment, many children are growing up unable to understand or communicate in Chinese until they go to school.
With this new challenge to educators, MOE’s new Chinese Language curriculum for primary schools now emphasises the acquisition of oral communication skills as the foundation for subsequent learning. At the lower primary levels, students start by listening to their teachers speak on interesting topics that grab the students’ attention and broaden their views. Next, students imitate the speaker and practise expressing themselves verbally. This allows teachers to gauge if a child has listened attentively and understood a particular topic or passage.
Beyond this, students can build up their verbal skills through four fun teaching activities: role-play, reciting, songs and exercises in public speaking.
Continue reading “Learning Chinese - Using Songs, Stories and Scenes from Real Life”»
