The Application of “Reading to Learn” Pedagogy in Teaching Han Characters in the Classroom of Teaching Chinese as a Second Language and Its Effectiveness

Abstract

Due to the variety and complexity of Chinese characters in terms of form, pronunciation and meaning, many non-Chinese speaking (NCS) students failed to master the formation of characters and sentences. It might be worth mentioning that English language and some NCS students’ first languages such as Pilipino, Urdu and Nepali, are all based on alphabetic writing system. A lack of understandings of font and word meaning makes NCS students feel particularly difficult when writing Chinese characters. In view of the difficulties of NCS students in writing Chinese characters and the achievements of predecessors in applying Reading to Learn (R2L) pedagogy, this paper attempts to explore the application and effectiveness of R2L pedagogy in teaching Chinese characters to NCS students during Chinese classes. The participants were a group of 15 secondary one students who are learning Chinese as a second language, and their Chinese teacher. Using a qualitative research approach, interviews, lesson study and text analysis were conducted to explore whether R2L was considered and in fact effective for the students to acquire Chinese characters. The results of the study showed that the students with different Chinese levels significantly improved their writing after they received R2L pedagogy teaching. Based on the results, the researchers put forward relevant suggestions on the R2L teaching strategies that Chinese teachers might apply when teaching NCS students. Keywords : “Reading to Learn” pedagogy, Han characters, Teaching Chinese as a second language, NCS students 中文字詞在形, 音, 義上的繁多和複雜, 導致許多非華語學生無法很好地辨認不同字, 詞, 句組合的特徵, 而非華語學生所掌握的英語或其本身母語例如菲律賓語, 巴基斯坦語, 尼泊爾語等都是以拼音文字系統為主, 缺乏字型, 字義的概念, 故他們在書寫漢字時感到特別困難｡ 鑒於非華語學生在漢字書寫上的困難, 以及前賢學者在應用｢閱讀促進學習｣(Reading to Learn, 簡稱R2L)教學法取得的成果, 本文嘗試探究這種教學法在非華語學生中文課堂的漢字教學之應用, 觀察並分析中文老師運用R2L教學法進行漢字教學的課堂設計和教學步驟, 以評估這種教學法對提高學生寫作描寫文字詞的成效｡ 本文以個案研究的方式探討R2L教學法如何應用在香港非華語學生中文漢字的寫作教學上, 透過分析一位中文老師運用R2L教學法給十五位中一級非華語學生講解描寫文的篇章和字詞寫作的課堂教學情況, 利用師生訪談, 課堂研習和文本分析等研究工具, 總結R2L教學法在中文第二語言課堂的漢字教學的應用情況及評估其成效｡ 研究結果顯示中文老師運用R2L教學法施教後, 可有效提高不同程度學生寫作描寫文字詞和篇章的能力｡ 研究者根據本文的研究結果, 對於R2L教學法應用在非華語學生中文課堂的漢字教學策略提出相關建議｡ 關鍵字 : ｢閱讀促進學習｣教學法, 中文第二語言, 漢字教學, 非華語學生