Box1: Revised CL Curriculum Objectives

A differentiated set of objectives will be adopted, in order to engage and motivate all students:

A.                  For all CL students, the common denominator should be to enthuse them in learning CL, so that they will develop an abiding interest in the language and culture well after leaving school;

B.                  For the majority, the emphasis should be on effective oral communication and reading. However, as the four language skills tend to reinforce each other, a judicious attention to writing is also essential to strengthen these language skills;

C.                  For students with the ability and interest, especially Higher CL students[1], the focus should be to retain the objective of developing fluency in all the four language skills and good understanding of Chinese history and culture. This can be further enhanced in the SAP school environment; and

D.                  For a core group of students in each cohort, the aim is to achieve both high proficiency in the four language skills and a confident and intuitive understanding of history, culture and contemporary developments in China. This can be done through the Language Elective Programme (Chinese) and the recently-launched Bicultural Studies Programme (Chinese).

The broad objective of using the teaching of CL to transmit culture and values is still relevant for the majority of students.  However, this will be achieved in a flexible and natural way that students find interesting and relevant. Cultural content will also include both traditional and contemporary elements.

Box2: Key Recommendations

The key recommendations are set out below:

(A) Customisation and Flexibility at Primary Level

·         With the modular approach, all students will take Core modules, designed to occupy 70-80% of CL curriculum time. Bridging and Reinforcement modules will cater to those students that enter school with little exposure or who require additional support for the Core modules. Students with the ability and interest will be encouraged to study the language at a higher level through Enrichment modules.

·         The current distinction between CL and Higher CL courses at Primary 5 and 6 will continue. Within each of these separate courses, students will take Core modules. Students may also choose to take Enrichment modules (i.e. CL or HCL Enrichment modules).

·         The CL PSLE examination will be pitched at the standard of the Core modules.

·         HCL students will continue to take both the CL and HCL PSLE examinations.

·         The current differentiation at the secondary level should be maintained. In line with the revised curriculum objectives, the secondary and pre-university curriculum content will be refined. 

(B ) Greater Emphasis on Oral Communication and Readingfor Majority
 

·         Strategies to systematically develop the oral proficiency of students, for example through songs, verse/choral reading and recitation, will be used more extensively.

·         MOE will further study the pedagogical principle of “Recognise First, Write Later” and conduct a pilot study of teaching approaches under this principle. The study will involve teaching P1 and P2 students to recognise enough characters to read age-appropriate literature on their own.

(C ) Engaging and Relevant Materials and IT Resources

·         MOE will give textbook writers more flexibility in their choice of themes and topics of passages, the use of the character list, and length and number of passages.

·         MOE will equip all students with a handheld electronic device allowing, for example, conversion of hanyu pinyin input to characters, by the end of 2005.

(D) Assessing Students’ Ability to Use CL in Context

·         Assessment will be based on a more integrative and communicative approach, where students’ ability to use CL in contextualised situations is assessed.

·         In the longer term, MOE will study the possibility of incorporating school-based assessment as a component of the national examinations to assess oral communication skills.

(E) Strengthening Training and Recruitment of CL Teachers

·         MOE will establish a more structured training roadmap for all CL teachers.

·         MOE will also continue its drive to increase its recruitment of CL teachers. One way to increase the recruitment of bright and interested CL teachers is to start a Chinese Studies Diploma in one or two polytechnics and recruit these graduates into CL teaching.

(F) More Opportunities to use CL in the School Context

·         Schools will be given flexibility to apportion subject instructional time for EL and CL and find creative ways to increase total exposure time to CL in the whole school environment, for example, through CCAs and the informal curriculum.

·         If there is demand, a few SAP Primary schools will be allowed to provide greater exposure to CL by teaching more subjects in the Chinese language, particularly in the early primary years.

·         More subjects in CL that are of an accessible standard will be offered to a wide range of Secondary school students. Students will have the choice to study Literature in Chinese as a Combined Humanities Elective. A new subject on Chinese Culture and Thought will also be introduced to focus on traditional and contemporary aspects of Chinese culture.

(G) Community Involvement

·         A committee will be set up to explore ways where our community and media organisations can collaborate with our schools. 

Box3: Implementation Timeline

As the Committee’s recommendations comprise fundamental shifts in curriculum, assessment, teaching approaches and learning techniques, adequate time is needed for these changes.  In the meantime, MOE will phase in interim changes.  The implementation timeline for the changes are as follows:

Revised Curriculum Implementation

·         Modular curriculum – P1 and P4 in 2008

·         Revised PSLE examination format – 2010

Key Interim Changes

·         Format of PSLE and O-Levels – 2006 and 2007 respectively

·         Electronic handhelds for exams – 2006

·         Pilot “Recognise First, Write Later” approach

·         Review character list

·         Review of pre- and in-service training curriculum for teachers