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RESEARCH STUDY ON THE LEARNING OF CHINESE LANGUAGE

Forbes Research Pte Ltd was commissioned by the Ministry of Education to seek views from pupils and parents on the learning of the Chinese Language (CL) at the primary, secondary and junior college levels. A quantitative survey was administered in February 1998. Respondents were asked questions relating to the standard of Chinese, the Chinese cultural content and values conveyed in the textbooks, and the time and effort spent on learning Chinese.
 

KEY FINDINGS

2. The survey revealed the following main findings:
   

1. Most parents and pupils at the different educational levels (around 80% or more) felt that it was important or very important to learn the CL.
   
   

2. A higher proportion of pupils at the primary school levels reported that they liked Chinese or liked Chinese very much, compared with pupils in the secondary schools or JCs. At most levels, the level of liking for Chinese was slightly below that for English and Mathematics.
   
   

3. Most parents agreed that Chinese Language was an important vehicle to transmit Chinese culture and values.

4. Mandarin was the spoken language used by most pupils at home. However, for those pupils who were weak in CL but strong in other subjects, the predominant language spoken at home was English.
   

5. Almost one-third of parents of pupils in the primary schools felt that the standard of Chinese Language was either ‘high’ or ‘too high’. Similar view was shared by about 60% of parents of pupils in the primary schools who were weak in CL but strong in other subjects.
   
   
6. Primary school pupils who were weak in CL but strong in other subjects spent more time on tuition and self-preparation in CL than in other subjects. They spent almost twice as much time studying Chinese than Mathematics (Table 1). They were mainly from English-speaking homes.
   
   
7. As seen in Table 1, even pupils who were strong in Chinese spent more time on tuition and self-preparation in CL than in other subjects, but proportionally less than those who are weak in CL. On comparison of the amount of time spent on tuition and self-preparation in CL across different groups of pupils, those who were weak in CL but strong in other subjects spent almost 70% more time than those in the main population (Table 1). Pupils from English speaking homes spent 20% more time studying Chinese outside of school, as compared to the pupils in the main population.
   
   

Table 1: Average number of hours per week spent on tuition and self-preparation outside school (Primary schools)

SA : Strong in all subjects;

ESH : English Speaking Home;

WCL : Weak in CL, strong in other subjects

3. The detailed findings, with supporting statistics, are given in the attached report prepared by Forbes ResearchPte Ltd.