Kaycheng Soh Teaching Chinese Language in Singapore Concerns and Visions Teaching Chinese Language in Singapore Kaycheng Soh Teaching Chinese Language in Singapore Concerns and Visions Kaycheng Soh Singapore Centre for Chinese Language Nanyang Technological University Singapore, Singapore ISBN 978-981-15-1148-6 ISBN 978-981-15-1149-3 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-1149-3 © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. 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The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore 189721, Singapore Foreword In 2009, the Singapore Centre for Chinese Language (SCCL) was opened by the then Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew to provide quality training for Chinese Language teachers as well as research into the teaching and learning of the Chinese Language in a bilingual environment. Over the past ten years, SCCL has conducted numerous practice-oriented in-service courses on teaching approaches and peda- gogy. More recently, a quantitative research programme was launched to equip teachers in conducting this type of research. To date, the Centre has produced a reservoir of research-based instructional materials for use by students in the class- room and monographs on teaching methodologies for teachers. New research and development projects are being conceptualized. Important research output of the SCCL researchers has been documented in two earlier monographs: Teaching Chinese Language in Singapore: Retrospect and Challenges (2016) and Teaching Chinese Language in Singapore: Efforts and Possibilities (2018). While the former is a collection of articles related to SCCL’s earlier phase of research, the latter is to commemorate SCCL’s 10th Anniversary. It presents field-tested innovative ideas of curriculum and pedagogies which deserve large-scale application and further verification in the schools. The present publication comprises a collection of essays by Dr. Soh Kaycheng who is currently Research Consultant to SCCL and editor of the earlier monographs. In this new collection, Dr. Soh shares his concerns and visions with regard to the teaching of Chinese Language in Singapore, first taking into consideration its complex language environment, and then, pointing the way to future possible practices and research. In 2018, Dr. Soh was conferred the Eminent Scholar title by the Centre for his contribution to research over the past decades. This publication is yet another instance of his academic output in research, covering topics such as bilingualism, the development of teacher creativity, world university rankings, and comparison of v vi Foreword international scholastic achievement. I sincerely hope this new publication will generate further conversations on the teaching and learning of Chinese Language in a bilingual context and spark new interest in research in this significant emerging phenomenon. Singapore Centre for Chinese Language, Peng Ho Singapore, Singapore Lee Kuan Yew Fund for Bilingualism, Singapore, Singapore Foreword This is the third book under the general title Teaching Chinese Language in Singapore. The first with the subtitle Retrospect and Challenges covers what has taken place in the past and what may be done in the future. The articles therein deal with topics such as teaching methodologies, teachers’ ICT and assessment literacy, and their perceptions of social status and job satisfaction. It ends with discussions on the issues of code-switching and teaching of culture. The second with the subtitle Efforts and Challenges presents research efforts of the Singapore Centre for Chinese Language researchers, covering curriculum and instructional materials, teaching of spoken and written Chinese, and assessment literacy, with some innovative ideas trialed in the school context. This third publication with the title Concerns and Visions differs from the previous volumes in two ways. While the previous ones are collections of articles by many SCCL staff, the present one has Dr. Soh as the sole author. Secondly, and more importantly, it covers a wide spectrum of issues relevant to the teaching of Chinese Language in the Singapore context, that is, the “big picture” problems which hitherto are seldom discussed. Topics dealt with in this collection of essays include culture-based and values-oriented teaching, linguistic and pedagogical aspects, cognitive and affective factors, and forecast and future directions. Obviously, these topics are more theoretical though not less practical. And, because of this, Dr. Soh does not claim to have made the last say but alludes that the topics call for further exploration, discussion, and even experimentation. In this third book, Dr. Soh displays his strong belief in supporting discussion with statistical data. In a very real sense, this approach is rare in this area of work. In this manner, Dr. Soh demonstrates his role as the Centre’s Research Consultant who is entrusted with the not-so-easy responsibility of infusing greater research rigour through the application of measurement and statistical concepts and techniques into the research done at SCCL. vii viii Foreword I believe that, with Dr. Soh’s judicial combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches in preparing this collection of essays, it will generate more discussion on the various aspects of the teaching of Chinese Language, not only in the Singapore context but beyond, where the Chinese diaspora is. Singapore Centre for Chinese Language, Foo Suan Fong Singapore, Singapore Preface This publication is a sequel to two earlier volumes, Teaching Chinese Language in Singapore: Retrospect and Challenges (2016, Springer) and Teaching Chinese Language in Singapore: Efforts and Possibilities (2018, Springer) which report the views and research output of researchers at the Singapore Centre for Chinese Language. However, this third volume differs from the earlier two in that it is a collection of essays by the author. It differs also in that it is not a monograph, in its strict sense, as the topics are diverse and do not form a cohesive theme although they all pertain to aspects of teaching of Chinese in the Singapore context. Notwithstanding this limitation, the essays are organized under a few broader threads. First is the relation between Chinese Language and culture. In the recent years, second language teaching community recognizes the close link between language and culture and encourages reference to and even infusion of culture into language teaching. The essays in Part I: Chinese Language Teaching and Culture deal with conceptual and practical issues of linking language teaching to culture in the teaching of Chinese Language in the context of Singapore as a multiracial society. It is a truism that Chinese characters (Hanzi) are at the root of difficulty of teaching Chinese Language, not only in Singapore but anywhere on earth because of its orthography. The first essay in Part II: Teaching and Learning of Hanzi looks into the development of Chinese character lists and the efforts to quantify the difficulty levels of Hanzi. The next essay presents a local exploration in indexing Hanzi with implications for the development of course materials. This is followed by an essay on memory strategies, largely based on psychological theories and memory experiments which suggest possible effective learning of Hanzi. Part II ends with a report on exploration of readability formula for Chinese as a second language against earlier studies in which Chinese is a first language. Language learning is intimately influenced by modes of assessment, teaching approach, home support, and attitudes. These four aspects of teaching approaches are discussed in the three essays forming Part III: Cognitive and Affective Aspects of Chinese Language Teaching. The first discusses the needed changes in assessment ix x Preface and the bilingual approach and the possible benefits of changing. The second is a projection of Chinese as the major home language in the near future and the need to revive it. Part III ends with a discussion of the effect of language attitude and its measurement. Seen in a dynamic language context of Singapore, Chinese Language interacts with English and results in interlanguage among the students. And, as more foreign