The teaching and learning of Chinese characters and reading for Hong Kong non-Chinese speaking (NCS) students in primary school = Xianggang fei Hua yu xiao xue sheng Zhong wen shi zi ji yue du jiao yu xue yan jiu

Abstract

In recent years, the issue of non-Chinese speaking (NCS) students’ learning of Chinese Language has become a general concern in the education sector of Hong Kong, especially when a rising number of NCS students are admitted to local schools. The current study looks closely at the learning of Chinese characters and reading among NCS students in primary schools. Objectives of the research include: (1) to understand the challenges facing NCS students and their Chinese Language teachers in learning and teaching Chinese characters and reading, and (2) to explore effective practices that are beneficial to NCS students’ learning of Chinese characters and reading.

The research consists of two studies. A questionnaire survey was conducted in Study One with 151 teacher participants from 28 primary schools having the experience of teaching NCS primary students. The survey aims at unveiling the challenges that exist in the availability of lesson time, pedagogy, teaching and learning materials, etc., with a focus on the teaching and learning of Chinese characters and reading. Results suggested that the lack of teaching and learning materials (77.3%) and pedagogy (64.2%) have been the major obstacles to the teaching of characters. Mastering pronunciation was considered to be easier for the students (89.3%) (M=2.11(SD=.31)), whereas writing characters the most difficult (88.7%) (M=1.11(SD=.32)). In terms of reading, more than half of the teachers (52.7%) did not offer Chinese reading lessons to NCS students as their Chinese vocabulary was deemed insufficient.

Study Two aims at enhancing NCS students’ Chinese character learning and reading in the classroom contexts. Learning Study, a classroom-based research rooted in phenomenography, was conducted in a local primary school enrolling both NCS and local students. Four learning studies were conducted on character learning and Chinese reading. Lessons for the target group were designed using variation theory, and lessons for the reference group were conducted in traditional approach. Pre- and post-tests were also carried out at the beginning and the end of the school year. The results suggested that NCS students made significant improvement in character learning (z=2.680; p<0.05) and Chinese reading (z=2.677; p<0.05). The research has provided evidence that the learning study approach is beneficial to promoting NCS students' Chinese character learning and reading ability.

All in all, these two studies have initially crystallized the challenges that teachers faced in teaching Chinese characters and reading to NCS students in primary schools. It also brought to light the discernment of specific objects of learning through the learning study. Regarding character learning, students should be aware of fusing the components to form a Chinese character and discerning the sound, shape and meaning of the characters simultaneously. Regarding reading, content should first be made relevant to students' daily life to activate their schema. Students should also be equipped with the means of word segmentation in Chinese through "contrast" and "generalization" so as to enrich their vocabulary, and subsequently enhance their reading skills. Implications to education policy, pedagogy and future research in the area of Chinese Language learning for NCS students were suggested.

近年，越來越多非華語學生進入香港主流學校就讀，同時，語文教師在教授中文為第二語言時束手無策，香港非華語小學生學習中文成為重要問題。不同的研究都指出初小是學習第二語言的最好時機，讓非華語學生有效地學習漢字，當積儲一定字詞彙後，就要培養他們的閱讀能力。故此，本文旨在探討（一）香港非華語小學生及其語文教師在中文識字及閱讀學與教的困境，（二）探討協助非華語小學生改善中文識字及閱讀的有效策略。 本文由兩個研究組成，研究的第一部分為問卷調查，目的是廣泛地探討非華語學生學習中文的情況，來自28 所學校共151 位具教授非華語小學生中文經驗的教師，完成了一份探討非華語學生，在香港小學學習中文的情況與困難的問卷。藉此了解收取非華語學生的華語學校，學生學習中文的教時、教材和教法，並探討識字及閱讀教學的困難與挑戰。調查結果顯示，教師認為教導非華語學生識字的最大困難是，沒有合適的教材(77.3%)和不懂得教導非華語學生的有效教學法(64.2%)。學生掌握字音比較容易(89.3%)（M=2.11(SD=.31)），最難是書寫漢字(88.7%)（M=1.11(SD=.32)）；閱讀方面，有過半數的教師(52.7%)，認為 非華語學生識字量不足，因此沒有為學生設立閱讀課。

研究的第二部分旨在探討以課堂學習研究協助非華語小學生改善中文識字及閱讀的有效策略及成效，以一所同時收錄華語及非華語學生的小學作試點，進行了共四個識字及閱讀的課堂學習研究，找出教學的關鍵特徵，並評估非華語小學生學習中文的成效。目標小組根據變易理論設計及進行教學，參照組由教師沿用平日教學的方法施教。前、後測在學年初及結束進行，結果顯示非華語學生在識字(z=2.680; p<0.05)及閱讀(z=2.677; p<0.05)方面的學習都有顯著進步。

本研究提供為香港語文教師教授非華語小學生中文的困境提供了實證，同時證明課堂學習研究對非華語學生的識字和閱讀學習，有正面作用。本文在學術及教學上有以下發現，由於非華語學生的母語是拼音文字，跟中文的表意文字有所不同。因此，識字教學方面，教師要讓學生對漢字的合體字是由部件所組成產生覺識，同時需辨識漢字的形、音、義，提高識字的效能。閱讀教學方面，教師亦要運用全部及局部的概念，將閱讀的內容與學生的日常生活結合，透過類比及對比的變易模式，讓學生掌握分詞法，從而理解閱讀材料的內容，並增加學生的詞彙量，提升學生的閱讀能力。本研究將課堂學習研究應用於非華語小學生學習中文，具突破性。本文也就非華語小學生學習中文的教育政策、課堂實踐及未來研究三方面提出了建議。