In 1986, Putonghua was formally included in the curriculum of Hong Kong’s primary schools. Has the Putonghua standard of local primary school students raised over the years? What improvement can teachers and students make in teaching and learning Putonghua? Recently, Head of the PolyU’s Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies Prof. Chan Shui-duen, Associate Professor Dr Zhu Xinhua, Teaching Fellow Mr Yeung Kwan and others have co-authored a book titled Study on Primary School Putonghua Proficiency Tests. In this issue, they will share their analysis of the issues of teaching and learning Putonghua in local primary schools.

What are the major findings in your book - Study on Primary School Putonghua Proficiency Tests?

We have conducted an in-depth analysis of the local Putonghua teaching phenomenon. We found that the design of the Putonghua Proficiency Test for Primary Students, which consists of four parts - listening, judging, reading and speaking, is acceptable. The Test reasonably covers the programme curriculum and can effectively reflect students’ Putonghua standard.

Also, the Putonghua standard of primary school students is very much correlated with factors such as their fondness for the language, grades in school, the chance and frequency of using the language, age, etc. Hong Kong primary school students are good at listening and mastering the knowledge of the language, but are not so capable of expressing and communicating in Putonghua. In particular, students need improvement in learning to interpret the underlying meaning of the language. On the other hand, students can effectively master the vocabulary and grammar of Putonghua but they are not good at pronunciation when reading.

In general, what are the difficulties faced by primary school students in learning Putonghua?

Students’ pronunciation of Putonghua is affected by their knowledge of the Cantonese sounds. Between the two languages, the difference in pronunciation is much bigger than in grammar. As a result, students who are native Cantonese speakers experience greater difficulties in learning Putonghua. In addition, the inadequate lesson hours and the lack of opportunities in practising and using Putonghua has made it difficult to provide a good language environment and learning atmosphere.

Are the existing teaching methods used by primary school teachers addressing the learning problems of students? Please share your recommended methods.

We cannot generalize the effectiveness of the current teaching methods without a comprehensive analysis. We think that methods such as intuition teaching, game-based teaching, task-based learning, and simulated circumstances are more effective. However, methods like changing a sentence pattern, transcribing in pinyin, reading sentences in pinyin which focus solely on knowledge and technique training should not be used alone for a long duration. These methods are best to be complemented by other teaching methods.

In order to raise the Putonghua standard of primary school students, we suggest strengthening the learning and training in word and character pronunciation. Also, teachers have to build up the overall verbal communication capability of students, and focus on training students to understand the implied meaning of the language with cues of tones and contexts.

How can primary school teachers design assessment tools to measure students’ Putonghua level?

To facilitate students’ learning, the assessment tools should be reliable, valid and operational.

1. Set clear assessment objectives;
2. Utilize a variety of assessment methods, such as public speaking, giving performance, etc;
3. Combine formative and summative assessments;
4. Design various assessment marking forms;
5. Make good use of the assessment results by giving both teachers and students feedback for the improvement of teaching and learning quality.