High tech Chinese
AUG 16, 2004High-tech Chinese
Flashy graphics in class
Assessments on CD-ROMs
IT software for essay writing
By Ho Ai Li
LAOSHI (teacher) standing in class and conducting a lesson using only chalk and talk is becoming a rarer sight these days.
Chinese-language teachers here are increasingly using computerised resources like graphics, the Internet and CD-ROMs to get and hold their students' attention.
National Institute of Education's head of the Chinese Language Learning Technologies Research Lab, Professor Chua Chee Lay, who has carried out research in the use of information technology (IT) in teaching Chinese, said that about 80 per cent of the 3,500 or so Chinese-language teachers here turn to interactive multimedia in some form or other in their classes.
Many teachers started doing so in the late 1990s, he said.
One reason could be the Ministry of Education's move to promote the use of computers in classrooms in 1997.
Chinese teachers from eight primary and secondary schools The Straits Times spoke to all said that this helps make lessons more lively for students.
Mr Peh Chin Cheok, head of mother tongue at Anglo-Chinese School (Barker Road), said: 'If teachers don't use IT, it's very hard to get pupils' attention.'
North Vista Secondary's head of mother tongue, Mr Ng Aik Seng, said that including computerised resources also works better with Normal (Technical) students, who generally prefer more hands-on learning over sitting down and listening.
Using CD-ROM assessments allows students of different abilities to learn at their own pace, he added.
Some teachers design their own PowerPoint slides and graphics for their lessons. Others download exercises and enrichment programme material from MOE websites.
It is now also easier for them to do so, said Prof Chua, as there has been a growing amount of educational software from China and Taiwan becoming available since the mid-1990s.
There are nearly 1,000 types of Chinese educational software and games at software supermarket Challenger Superstore alone. These include software that allows one to type in Chinese characters and which have an English-Chinese/Chinese-English dictionary.
Their prices start at around $10.
VCDs or DVDs, which have stories that incorporate Chinese vocabulary, cost around $10 each, and are popular with parents looking for something to help their children revise at home.
Challenger Superstore and Popular Bookstore said that sales of these software have increased in the last few years but declined to disclose figures. At MPH Parkway Parade, sales of these have grown by 20 to 30 per cent in the last three years.
The subject head of Chinese at Blangah Rise Primary, Mrs Seah Li Za, said that pupils love going to the computer laboratory for class.
They 'perk up almost instantaneously' when a lesson is to be held there, so much so, 'before I even finish announcing it, they're already breaking out into cheers and hoorays'.
Hong Wen Primary pupil Cherie Wong, 12, said she remembers a lesson better when there are computer visuals.
'Last time, I didn't really like Chinese because I found the characters very difficult to remember, with so many strokes to write. The pictures help me remember them.'
Not everyone is that enthusiastic about multimedia learning though. A few teachers pointed out that multimedia tools should be supplementary and that rote learning still plays a key part in Chinese-language lessons.
They are also concerned that students will not remember how to write Chinese characters if they rely too much on computers and do not practise writing them.
To CHIJ St Theresa's Convent Chinese language teacher Mak Mun Heng, it is a matter of 'finding a balance'.
'Chalk and talk can be interesting too,' she said.
- -Additional reporting by Lynn Lee
Software: What's available
PenPlus Professional Edition Recognises up to 27,000 Chinese characters; does not restrict the sequence in which strokes are written; quick Chinese to hanyu pinyin conversion; key in English words to get Chinese characters with standard Chinese pronunciation.
Where: Challenger Superstore - $298 Chinese Star 2003 (Academic Edition) Based on multi-Windows operating system; allows user to input hanyu pinyin to get Chinese characters, with variety of fonts.
Where: Challenger Superstore - $88 Chinese Vocab Builder VCD Based on the latest teaching methods used by China's educational system, this animated series uses songs and rhymes to help children recognise and remember Chinese characters. Available in six volumes, in VCD or a set of both book and VCD with a total of 3,000 Chinese characters, which is enough for a child to start reading novels and newspapers.
Where: Popular - $19.90 per volume Transtar Chinese English Translation Software Features full-text translation, two-way dictionary, translation of sentences and embedded translation directly from MS Word, PowerPoint, Acrobat Reader 5.0 and web pages as well.
Where: Challenger Superstore - $108
Copyright @ 2004 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.
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