INTRODUCTION OF HANYU PINYIN AT PRIMARY ONE FROM 1999

The Ministry of Education (MOE) will be implementing Hanyu Pinyin (HP) at primary one in all schools from Jan 99. This is to enhance the learning of Chinese language through building strong foundations in aural and oral skills from an early stage.

2 Currently, HP is taught either in the second semester of primary two or in the first semester of primary three. From Jan 99, the following changes will take effect:

a. Primary one pupils will learn HP in Term 1 before they are taught the Chinese texts with HP annotation from Term 2. The learning of Chinese characters will be phased in progressively during Term 1. A set of Primary 1 Chinese textbooks with HP annotation, HP instructional materials and exercises will be produced for pupils. These will be available for purchase in end-Dec 98.

b. Primary two pupils in 1999 will learn HP in Term 1 instead of the current second semester. They will use the existing HP instructional materials for the learning of HP. Chinese textbooks, workbooks and supplementary readers with HP annotation and HP exercises will be re-printed for pupils. These will be available for purchase in end-Dec 98

3 Next year’s primary three to primary six pupils will not be affected. The textbooks for these levels will only be re-printed with HP annotation in the year 2000.

4 The move comes after a year-long pilot study by MOE on the use of HP as a tool to facilitate the learning of Chinese at primary one. Eight schools comprising Special Assistance Plan, mission and neighbourhood schools participated in the study. The findings showed that the early introduction of HP at primary one had helped to improve pupils’ ability to speak fluent Mandarin with accurate pronunciation. It had also motivated them to learn the Chinese texts. The results of MOE’s evaluation tests showed that students who were taught HP achieved better oral and written performances, compared with those who were not taught HP.

5 Primary one Chinese language teachers will be required to attend a refresher course on HP to familiarise themselves with the new strategies and methods that have proven to be successful in the pilot schools. Curriculum specialists from the Ministry will also visit schools on a regular basis to provide professional guidance and support to teachers as well as monitor the programme closely.

Ministry of Education

EVALUATION OF THE HANYU PINYIN PILOT PROJECT – MAIN FINDINGS

INTRODUCTION

1 A one-year pilot project was initiated in Jan 98 to determine if the early introduction of Hanyu Pinyin (HP) at P1 level would help pupils learn Chinese more effectively. Based on the critical factors such as past PSLE CL results, school type and home language, 8 experimental schools were selected for the launch of this project. These were: Poi Ching School, Ang Mo Kio North Primary School, CHIJ (Katong) Primary School, Boon Lay Garden Primary School, Anglo-Chinese School (Barker Road), Dazhong Primary School, St Gabriel’s Primary School and St Michael’s School.

2 Another 8 schools were selected as control schools to match the experimental schools in terms of these critical factors. They were : Hong Wen School, Zhangde Primary School, St Margaret’s Primary School, Zhenghua Primary School, Anglo-Chinese Junior School, Junyuan Primary School, St Andrew’s Junior School and St Stephen’s School.

3 An evaluation was conducted in Oct 98 to evaluate the outcomes of the project.

RESULTS OF THE PILOT PROJECT

Benefits of Early Introduction of HP

4 There are benefits from introducing HP at P1. The results of the pilot project show that pupils given HP instruction performed better on tests compared to pupils who had not undergone HP instruction. The teaching of HP helped pupils particularly in pronunciation and articulation, as can be seen from the greater gain in attainment level of the pupils on oral tests than on written tests (see Chart 1 below).

Chart 1: Pupils’ General Test Performance

E1 - Experimental group taking tests with HP annotation

C1 – Control group taking tests without HP annotation

5 The mission schools gained the most from the HP project (see Chart 2).

Chart 2: Pupils’ Test Performance by School Type

Pupils’ Overall Test Performance by CL Ability

E1 - Experimental group taking tests with HP incorporated.

C1 – Control group taking tests without HP incorporated.

Learning of EL and HP

6 The study also indicated that in general HP did not interfere with the learning of EL or vice-versa. However, there was some but not significant interference from EL on the learning of HP.

Feedback from Teachers and Parents

7 Feedback from teachers and parents was generally positive. The early introduction of HP had a positive effect on the motivation of pupils in the learning of CL.

Feedback from teachers is that:

	Pupils found it easier to learn Chinese with the help of HP (70%).
	The learning of HP helped pupils speak Mandarin more accurately (87%).
	The learning of HP helped pupils learn Chinese characters more easily (82%).
	The learning of HP did not reduce pupils’ ability to write Chinese characters (60%).