Abstract
In this chapter, we will first contextualize the debate surrounding the teaching of Putonghua in Hong Kong by reviewing the relevant literature in this area. Then, we will examine a selected number of psycholinguistic and neuroscience studies on young learners’ acquisition of L1 and L2 in multilingual settings, with a view to extrapolating insights from scientific research to inform the research question: psycholinguistically and neurocognitively, is there a biological life stage whereby language learning takes place more effectively and productively? Consonant with the excerpt cited above (Kuhl PK Neuron 67:713–727, 2010), latest insights in psycholinguistic and neuroscience research point towards a “time-delimited window in early life” (Mayberry RI, Lock E Brain Lang 87:369–384, 2003, p. 382), such that preschoolers’ sensitivity to language input has been found to be very high and that language learning outcomes in early life are more effective and productive. Such a high level of sensitivity to language input, however, has been shown to decline developmentally with age and maturation. In light of these insights, we will draw implications concerning the second MoI debate: relative to the goal of developing additive bilingualism among Cantonese-L1 Hongkongers to include Putonghua, it would appear that the life stage from age 4 to 8, broadly corresponding with preschool (K1–K3) and early primary education (P1–P3), constitutes a time-delimited window for optimizing the learning effectiveness of Putonghua and other languages. To capitalize on this time-delimited window in early life, and in keeping with the Chinese dictum ‘yielding twice the result with half the effort’, (Chinese dictum: 事半功倍 (si 22 bun 33 gung 55 pui 23/shì bàn gōng bèi).) three strategies are recommended in support of the government’s long-term goal of teaching Chinese in Putonghua (TCP). Compared with the current policy provision, whereby Putonghua is taught 2–3 lessons per week as a separate subject, it will be argued that providing high-quality and more intensive input from age 4 to 8 (K1–P3) would better enable schoolchildren to lay a solid foundation in Putonghua for more effective learning and use as they move up the education hierarchy in preparation for their work life.
We are in a nascent stage of understanding the brain mechanisms underlying infants’ early flexibility with regard to the acquisition of language – their ability to acquire language by eye or by ear, and acquire one or multiple languages – and also the reduction in this initial flexibility that occurs with age, which dramatically decreases our capacity to acquire a new language as adults (…). The infant brain is exquisitely poised to “crack the speech code” in a way that the adult brain cannot. (Kuhl 2010, p. 715)
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Notes
- 1.
兩文三語 (loeng 23 man 21 saam 55 jyu 23 /liăng wén sān yŭ).
- 2.
普教中 (pou 35 gaau 33 zung 55/pŭ jiào zhōng) in common parlance.
- 3.
Wai Kiu College [惠僑英文中學] was one of the 49 participating secondary schools sponsored by the Education Department in experimenting with the teaching of Chinese in Putonghua (see Preface, Cho 2005). Some 10 years after that 2005 monograph was published, the College continues to use Putonghua to teach the Chinese Language subject at Secondary 1 and 2 (http://www.wkc.edu.hk/w3/k2.html).
- 4.
- 5.
Especially syllables involving missing medial sounds like [i], [u] and [y], Liu (2012); cf. Ng (2001, pp. 191–192).
- 6.
That is, 以讀悟文 (ji 23 duk 22 ng 22 man 21/yĭ dú wù wén, Leung and Fan 2010, p. 24).
- 7.
注音符號 (Zhùyīn fúhào/zyu 33 jam 55 fu 21 hou 35).
- 8.
As is well-known, this is already common if not standard practice in some ‘international’ kindergartens in Hong Kong.
- 9.
Generally known as四字詞 (sei 33 zi 22 ci 21/sì zì cí) or 四字格成語詞 (sei 33 zi 22 gaak 33 sing 21 jyu 23 ci 21/sì zì gé chéng yǔ cí).
- 10.
胸有成竹: Hung 55 jau 23 sing 21 zuk 55/xiōng yŏu chéng zhū.
- 11.
成竹在胸: Sing 21 zuk 55 zoi 22 hung 55/chéng zhū zài xiōng.
- 12.
有把握: Jau 23 baa 35 aak 55/yǒu bǎ wò.
- 13.
射雕英雄傳: Se 22 diu 55 jing 55 hung 21 zyun 35/Shè diāo yīngxióng zhuàn.
- 14.
武俠小說: Mou 23 hap 22 siu 35 syut 33/wŭxía xiăoshuō, ‘martial arts novels’.
- 15.
金庸: Gam 55 jung 21/Jin Yong.
- 16.
Bat 55 jiu 33 joeng 22 siu 35 haai 21 syu 55 zoi 22 hei 35 paau 35 sin 33 soeng 22/bùyào ràng xiǎoháir shū zài qǐpǎoxiàn shàng.
- 17.
One deaf participant did not attend preschool and only started with a ‘sign language’ school at age 7.
- 18.
- 19.
See, e.g., ‘普教中政策與粵語地位’ [‘The Teaching Chinese in Putonghua policy and the status of Cantonese’] at 香港獨立媒體網 http://www.inmediahk.net/node/1020963, which has attracted 88 Likes on Facebook as of mid-May, 2016. See also feature articles, e.g., Cho (2015); Si (2015); and P.-W. Wong (2015) in Ming Pao; Kwan (2015) in the South China Morning Post (in Chinese, on nanzao.com ).
- 20.
HKDSE standards are “divided into five levels (levels 1 to 5), with 5 being the highest. Candidates with the best performance in level 5 are awarded a 5**, and the next top group is awarded a 5*. Attainment below level 1 is designated as ‘Unclassified’” (Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority, http://www.hkeaa.edu.hk/en/hkdse/introduction/, retrieved 1 Jun 2016).
- 21.
三字經 (Sān zì jīng/Saam 55 zi 22 ging 55).
- 22.
百家姓 (Bǎi jiā xìng/Baak 33 gaa 55 sing 33).
- 23.
『我國古代識字的課本有«三字經» «百家姓» 及 «日用雜字» 等。張志剬 [1992] 認爲,«三字經» 開頭簡單,難寫 難認 難讀的字少。«百家姓»,四字一句,有字無義,無需追究字義和句義,對集中識字有益無害。 「三書」既合「日用」又增長「見聞」,還教給兒童一些「義理」。 識字的目的突出,沒有不適當的內容,又不忽視兒童的要求和進行知識思想教育的需要。』(Hao 2001b, p. 104; cf. ZHANG Zhigong 1992).
- 24.
幼園英語朗誦賽精彩極具水準 , ‘English Speech Competition among kindergarteners reaching marvelously high standard’ (Ta Kung Pao, 30 Mar 2015).
- 25.
心理詞彙 (sam 55 lei 35 ci 21 wui 22/xīn lǐ cí huì).
- 26.
This method is known as 基本字帶字 (gei 55 bun 35 zi 22 dai 33 zi 22/jī běn zì dài zì); see Tse et al. (2008, pp. 37–38).
- 27.
The six bilingual children grew up in different households featuring parents who were bilingual in Cantonese and English. In five of the families the mother’s L1 was Cantonese, the father’s L1 was English. In the sixth family, the mother was a native speaker of English, while the father a native speaker of Cantonese. The age spans of the children over which data were collected from them varied, from the earliest onset age of 1;03;10 (Alicia) to 4;06;07 (Kathryn) (Yip and Matthews 2007, p. 64).
- 28.
- 29.
This is consistent with K.-C. Ho’s (2002, p. 280) view, echoing the Cantonese pronunciation expert M.-W. Ho’s [何文匯] (1996) recommendation mentioned in passing at a keynote conference presentation, that the romanization systems of all three languages – Putonghua, English and Cantonese – could be infused into the early primary curriculum. In fact, K.-C. Ho (2002) himself suggests that kindergarteners be exposed to Putonghua, although the systematic introduction and teaching of pinyin could start at early primary level.
- 30.
母語敎學敎師支援中心 (mou 23 jyu 23 gaau 33 hok 22 gaau 33 si 55 zi 55 wun 21 zung 55 sam 55/Mŭyŭ jiàoxué jiàoshī zhīyuán zhōngxīn), The Center for Advancement of Chinese Language Education and Research, CECLER, Faculty of Education, University of Hong Kong.
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Li, D.C.S. (2017). Medium-of-Instruction Debate II: Teaching Chinese in Putonghua (TCP)?. In: Multilingual Hong Kong: Languages, Literacies and Identities. Multilingual Education, vol 19. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-44195-5_7
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