Py Ko

Children's stroke sequence errors in writing Chinese characters

Each Chinese character is a two dimensional logograph and if character writing is seen as drawing a diagram, then there is no obvious ‘correct sequence’ in the writing process. However, over the ages and to this day, Chinese children have been taught the proper stroke sequence for forming the characters based on some calligraphic rules when they begin to learn to write in Chinese. The rationale for the teaching of stroke sequence has traditionally been argued on the basis of facilitating better calligraphy and as a memory aid for the exact reproduction of the correct form of the character. This paper reports on a study that tries to determine how far young children can master the correct stroke sequences in writing and the common kinds of errors children made. It further explores the importance of and the possible educational implications for the teaching of stroke sequences in the teaching of handwriting based on the empirical results.

Structural Awareness, Variation Theory and ICT Support

To be literate in Chinese, one needs to learn over a thousandChinese characters. This is obviously achallenging task for young learners.Psychological and developmental studies haveprovided evidence that awareness of structuralregularities among the characters is importantfor its learning. Yet how this structuralawareness can be enhanced in instruction isstill not clear. Some worry that any explicitinstruction about structures might actuallyincrease the cognitive burden of the younglearners, as they might be asked to thinkanalytically about the characters, or to learna meta-language that describes the structuralprinciples underlying Chinese charactercomposition. This paper discusses thenature of structural awareness in light ofGurtwitschs general theory of awareness [Gurwitsch, A. (1964). The Field of consciousness.Pittsburgh: Duguesne University Press] and the theory of variation by Marton and S. Booth [(1997)Learning and awareness. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum] and F. Marton and A. Tsui [(in press) Classroom discourse and the spacing of learning. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum], and proposes how the awareness of Chinese character structures can be developed through experiencing systemicvariations among related instances. Itdiscusses how information and communicationtechnologies can be used to provide usefulsupport for this purpose. These ideas areimplemented in a school–universitycollaboration project in Hong Kong andanecdotal evidence supports the conjecture ofthe authors. The structural awarenessinstruction can also be embedded naturally intomeaningful language learning contexts to forman integrative model of teaching that is wellreceived by teachers and students. Theinstruction does not appear to impose anyadditional cognitive load on the students. Onthe contrary, learners interest andsensitivity in picking up the structuralfeatures of Chinese characters increases.

Designing learning objects that afford learners the experience of important variations in Chinese characters

Effective teaching should focus the attention of learners to its essential aspects. It follows that instructional software can be designed in such a way that allows learners to experience the important variations in the critical aspects of the content to be learned. This paper reports on the experience of designing such special kinds of instructional learning objects for the learning of Chinese characters. The design of these learning objects takes into consideration not only what Chinese characters are all about but also how learners commonly make errors while they learn to write the characters. Out of the analysis of these learners errors, variations in the structural features of Chinese characters were pulled out and embodied in the design of the learning objects. Learners tinkering with the learning objects can thus implicitly develop a sense of the structural features or regularity of Chinese characters, which most importantly should prepare the learners to learn more new characters in the future. The main proposal of this paper is the notion of this variation-affording instructional software that allows learners to attend to the essential aspects of what is to be learned. Furthermore, the idea of the learning object also differs from other instructional software in its small, self-contained and reusable nature, such that teachers can flexibly embed the learning objects into their own teaching materials.

‘Learning Study’ for Primary School English Teachers: A Case Story from Hong Kong

English teachers worldwide find themselves in need of upgrading their professional knowledge and developing their professional competence as a result of ongoing educational reforms and a belief in teaching as a lifelong commitment. The need for professional development is arguably even more acute in primary schools as English is being taught to learners of increasingly younger ages in many contexts. Primary school English teachers are often found to have low English proficiency and professional competence in comparison with their counterparts in secondary schools and tertiary institutions. At the same time, teaching English in primary schools is an unrewarding profession in terms of recognition and working conditions. Due to the critical role that primary school English teachers have in laying the foundation for pupils’ ongoing efforts to learn English, it has become imperative for us to develop ways to support their ongoing professional development. In this paper, we introduce Learning Study, an indigenous variation of Lesson Study in Hong Kong, as a means to support English teachers’ professional development. Both Learning Study and Lesson Study are similar to action research as advanced by teacher educators in the West, but they also have features and characteristics of particular relevance to their own cultural contexts (Elliott and Tsai 2008). While Lesson Study refers to the in-depth studies of particular lessons undertaken by Japanese and Chinese teachers, Learning Study focuses on how students process the object of learning and what teachers can do to improve the quality of students’ learning engagement through a cycle of research lessons and teachers’ collaborative reflection (Lo, Pong, and Chik 2005; Walker 2007). Although it was initially promoted among teachers of other subjects such as chemistry and biology, we have seen an increasing number of Learning Study projects undertaken by English teachers over the years (Lee 2008; Siu 2008; Walker 2007). These studies have demonstrated the potential contributions that Learning Study could have for primary school English teachers. In the following sections, we address both what a Learning Study project is and how teachers benefit from participating in such a project. To this end, we will describe our experiences in a recently completed Learning Study project in Hong Kong, in which we worked with six local primary school

Experience in Designing Databases for Learning Chinese Characters

There is much regularity in Chinese characters. For example, the characters (car), (wheel), (rail), (transport), (carry), (turn) and (the roar of train) are all in relation to transportation and at the same time share the component . An interactive database that can retrieve these characters as linked together can enable students to explore and discover the relationship among the characters. This paper reports our many years of works in designing and developing such databases for learning Chinese characters. Several interesting issues on the implementation are raised, including intuitive interaction, demand for high accuracy, codification of components, decomposition of characters, handling multiple acceptable values, irregularity of Chinese characters and application-oriented development. Unlike most technology-centric research, much of our experience has been gained through an iterative development of the databases with actual contents and in collaboration with the Chinese educators. In this paper, we hope to propose a more humanistic and contextual approach into the study of Chinese computing.

Case studies of lesson and learning study in initial teacher education programmes

Purpose – The integration of Lesson and Learning Study within initial teacher education programmes is still evolving and subject to many constraints (Parks, 2008). The purpose of this paper is to introduce the special issue which intends to stimulate and facilitate continued growth and interest in fostering models of Lesson and Learning Study within initial teacher education programmes. Design/methodology/approach – The guest editors present each of the papers and introduce key themes and concepts. Findings – The collection of papers shows the richness and value of embracing Lesson and Learning Study within initial teacher education programmes; whilst being mindful of the challenges and constraints inherent in the nature of national policy towards the training of teachers. Originality/value – The collection of papers contribute to existing literature exploring the effectiveness and impact of Lesson and Learning Study within initial teacher education.

Learning Study – the dual process of developing theory and practice

Purpose – Variation Theory has been used as a source of guiding principles for pedagogical design, lesson analysis and improvement in Learning Study (LS). The purpose of this paper is to argue that the LS approach provides an important opportunity for teachers and researchers not only to improve the teaching strategies together but also refine the Variation Theory in action. Design/methodology/approach – A case study of teaching writing in Chinese at Primary 4 level of a LS project is selected using analysis of covariance to identify lessons that had significant differences in student learning outcomes. Analysis focuses on examining one of the major claims in Variation Theory which is that “contrast should precede generalization” in order to explore if this argument is able to provide a possible answer to the difference in student performance in the two classes of students of similar ability learning the same topic. Teachers’ contribution to the discussion of the application of the theory is analysed to e...

Pedagogy and Human Dignity--The Special Rank Teacher in China since 1978.

Teachers in China are regarded as vulnerable to sociopolitical changes. This paper, however, focuses on the resilience and innovativeness of state‐selected expert teachers – the recipients of the Special Rank Teacher (SRT) award. This award was the product of a transitional period in the aftermath of the Cultural Revolution, and was an act of rehabilitation for the teaching profession. Using a biographical approach, this paper analyses how the intentions of the award were reflected in the choice of recipients. It contributes to a deeper understanding of teachers in China and the notion of teaching excellence that the state‐recognised teachers exemplify.

Designing CALL for learning Chinese characters: CALL for learning Chinese characters

Despite the enormity of its quantity, printed or written forms of Chinese characters are composed from a limited number of common components. For example, the characters for pond(池), lake(湖), stream(江), river(河), sea(海) and ocean(洋) all contain a component in common, a three-dot component representing water. When this clue is explicitly highlighted to the students, the learning of Chinese characters can be greatly enhanced. Using computer to help students to develop this kind of structural awareness about language learning has not yet been thoroughly examined. This paper reports on the design of CALL software based on the pedagogic method to help students to develop the higher order skills to analyze and categorize Chinese characters by using components. The result of our classroom experiment has shown supportive evidence on the feasibility and the need of integrating the software with an affective and contextual way of teaching Chinese characters.

Chinese language pedagogy and human dignity: The special rank teacher in the aftermath of the Cultural Revolution

Established in 1978 two years after the end of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, the lifetime Special Rank Teacher (SRT) award honored outstanding teachers of various subjects at different instructional levels in the People’s Republic of China. The bestowing of the SRT award suggests the awardees were considered the embodiment of all-round “excellence,” including political, as well as moral and professional criteria. This chapter adopts a historical approach to explore the major developments in Chinese language and literacy teaching in Imperial, Republican and People’s Republic of China eras in order to place the SRT award in its historical context. The authors examine biographies of 14 SRTs to ascertain their contributions to the field of Chinese Language and Literacy and argue that the SRTs were in conformity with the mainstream societal values of the time. However, the SRTs were also reformists in that they were reflective and intrinsically motivated to discover their own ways to improve their teaching. They were innovative and skillful in articulating their pedagogic ideas as practical approaches to teaching. Essentially, the SRT award acknowledged and rewarded the exceptional pedagogical skills of the teachers, as well as their political fidelity to ideologies of the state.