A study of the practice of using "integrative and effective approach to the learning and teaching of Chinese characters" to non-Chinese speaking students in a secondary school of Singapore = 新加坡中學非華語學生實踐「綜合高效識字法」研究

Abstract

There are two most difficult parts Singaporean students found in learning Chinese—Memory and Vocabulary. Chinese is not the first language or mother tongue for many students and even after six years’ Chinese learning in primary school, most students still have little literacy. The purpose of this study is to explore the effectiveness of 「Integrative and Effective Approach to the Learning and Teaching of Chinese Characters」 practiced by secondary school non-Chinese speaking students. The theories of this study are based on 「Integrative and Effective Approach」, combining with literacy theory, second language acquisition, mental lexicon, and literacy of non-Chinese students. The study aims to construct a comprehensive and efficient literacy method for non-Chinese students in secondary schools, and to research and develop the theory of 「Integrative and Effective Approach」. This research conducts teaching experiments at three classes in a secondary school in Singapore, to help them build a lexicon network by using mental lexicon, which makes it easier to learn Chinese characters. The three classes are from different levels, but their literacy is basically the same. 「Integrative and Effective Approach」 is taught with traditional teaching methods, with the sample size of 21, including 12 Chinese students and 9 Filipino students. All students’ family language is English. The research results are divided into two parts. In the first part, through analyzing the literacy ability of students of different levels by paired T test, the study shows that 「Integrative and Effective Approach」 effectively improves the literacy of all non-Chinese students compared with the traditional literacy. In the second part, by analyzing the literacy ability of students of different races through paired T test, it is found that students of different races all improve their literacy, while the performance of Chinese students is slightly higher than that of Filipino students. In addition, through classroom observation, student interviews, teacher interviews and work analysis, the literacy characteristics of non-Chinese students are summarized, and it can be concluded that the approach has enhanced their interest in learning Chinese characters and Chinese language. This study has filled the research gap in literacy teaching methods for non-Chinese speakers in secondary schools, and extended the theoretical framework of 「Integrative and Effective Approach」. The findings of the study could serve to design literacy curriculum and teaching methods for secondary school non-Chinese speaking students in Singapore. 新加坡學生認為學華文最困難的是記憶漢字/詞彙和學習詞彙。不少修讀華文的學生的家庭用語或第一母語並非華語；他們即使經過了小學六年的學習，多數學生的識字量仍非常少。本研究的目的是探索中學非華語學生實踐「綜合高效識字法」的成效。 本研究的理論以「綜合高效識字法」為內涵，結合識字理論、二語習得、心理詞彙、非華語學生識字等理論，建構「中學非華語學生綜合高效識字法」，研究並發展「綜合高效識字」理論。 在新加坡一所中學的三個班級進行教與學試驗，幫助他們利用心理詞庫搭建詞彙網絡，從而更易學習漢字。三個班級分屬不同年級，但是識字能力基本相同。運用綜合高效識字法與集中識字法同步教學。共有學生21人，其中華人學生12人，菲律賓學生9人，家庭主要用語均為英語。 研究結果分為兩部分，第一部分，通過配對T檢驗分析不同年級的學生的識字能力，顯示「綜合高效識字法」相較於集中識字法，能有效提高各年級非華語中學生的識字能力。第二部分，通過配對T檢驗分析不同種族學生的識字能力發現，不同種族的學生能力均有提高，而華人學生能力要略高於菲律賓學生。此外，通過課堂觀察、學生訪談、教師訪談、作品分析，總結出非華語學生的識字特點，並且驗證綜合高效識字法能夠提高他們學習漢字和中文的興趣。 本研究填補了中學非華語者識字教學法的空缺，延伸了「綜合高效識字」理論框架。本研究成果有助於設計適合新加坡中學非華語學生的識字教材及教學法。