The
2nd edition of Easy Steps to Chinese is especially de-signed for
non-Chinese background students, who are learning Chinese as a second/foreign
language. The series can be used by secondary school students as well as fifth
and sixth graders in primary schools.
This
series will help students establish a solid foundation of Chinese in terms of
characters, words, sentences and grammar through natural and gradual
integration of language, themes and culture. The simultaneous development of
listening, speak-ing, reading and writing is especially emphasized. The
ultimate aim is to help students develop communication skills in Chinese in
real-life situations and express their viewpoints appropriately, precisely,
logically and coherently.
The
series consists of seven books in three stages:
Stage
1 (Books 1, 2, 3): the focus of this stage is to establish a solid foundation
through the learning of pinyin, characters, vocabulary and grammar. The aim is
to help students foster an interest in learning Chinese and develop skills in
using simple Chinese for communication.
Stage
2 (Books 4 and 5): the focus of this stage is to learn more vocabulary and
grammar so that students are able to use the language functionally when
communicating with people in real-life situations.
Stage 3 (Books 6 and 7): the focus of this stage is to
provide students with authentic materials, and help them develop com-munication
skills. It is believed that when the time comes, the students will be confident
in expressing their viewpoints pre-cisely, appropriately, logically and
coherently in both oral and written forms.
Ms. Yamin Ma has an M.Ed. in Curriculum Design and Instruction from Queen’s
University, Canada. She used to teach English at both secondary and university
levels in Shanghai (China), Hong Kong (China) and Kingston (Canada) for over 10
years and has taught Chinese at primary and secondary levels in Hong Kong
(China) for more than 20 years. Ms. Ma has been the Head of the Chinese
Department in Island School (located in Hong Kong, China) for over two decades
and has taught IGCSE, AS/A-Levels and IB Language B courses.
Ms.
Ma is an expert in the field of Chinese language teaching and learning, and
author of two Chinese textbook series, which have been bestsellers worldwide
for 20 years. Ms. Ma will continue to offer training and workshops to teachers
of Chinese around the world.
In
order to meet the students’ needs to prepare for various exams and to achieve
good grades, the core vocabulary, gram-mar and requirements of various exams
are taken as reference when designing the series. Some unique features of this series:
Pinyin
appears on top of characters at an early stage and is gradually removed as the
students develop their Chinese profi-ciency. The teaching of pronunciation with
corresponding exer-cises is designed systematically and scientifically.
The
series stresses the importance of teaching basic strokes and compound strokes,
stroke order, radicals and character structures. Character writing exercises
are provided to reinforce the learning of characters.
In
order for the students to better understand and more easily memorize the new words
and phrases, an attempt has been made to ensure that only one character in each
phrase is new, and only one meaning of this new character is given. For each
lesson, new words and phrases are listed generally according to the order that
they appear in the text; however, some phrases containing the same character
are listed together for ease of learning.
Vocabulary
expansion is made possible through a good under-standing of the meaning of each
character in a phrase. Some of the words that appear in earlier stages are
repeated and prac-ticed in later stages to reinforce and consolidate the
learning.
Grammatical
rules are explained in a simple manner, followed by practice exercises in
contexts.
Themes
are varied and relevant to students’ real life, and are carefully selected
according to students’ age group, interest and level of Chinese in each stage.
Listening
exercises are evenly spread out in each lesson. The listening script uses the
same topic and vocabulary as in the lesson, while adding some new words that
appropriately chal-lenge the students.
Speaking
exercises take various forms that are interesting and relevant to students’
life so that the students are able to develop communication skills in real-life
situations.
Reading
materials cover a wide range of topics, such as daily life, humanities, arts,
history, geography, new technology, en-vironmental protection, etc. The themes
of reading are varied and the texts are authentic in nature.
Writing training starts at the outset and remains a
focal point throughout the series. The students are expected to use different
styles and apply what they have learned in the course to write appropriately,
precisely, logically and coherently.
For
Arabic-speaking teenagers (fifth and sixth graders and secondary school
students) who are learning Chinese.
With
three periods, approximately three hours, per week, most students will be able
to complete one book within one academic year. Fast learners can spend less than a year completing
one book.
How
to use this series:
Stress
the importance of character structure when teaching new words. Knowing the
meaning of the character in phrases will help students guess the meanings of
new vocabulary that they encounter later on.
Emphasize
the importance of having a good grasp of the new vocabulary and content of each
lesson. At the same time, the teacher should create opportunities for the
students to functionally use what they have learned.
Draw
students’ attention to the texts in each lesson, as the texts are samples for
oral and written work. The teacher should explain explicitly the formats and
requirements of different text styles. The oral and written exercises can be
modified to suit students’ levels.
Select
exercises in the Textbook and Workbook to match with your teaching plan. All
the exercises provided can be modified or expanded according to students’
abilities and levels of Chi-nese.
Besides the Textbook and Workbook, the
series includes additional materials such as exercises for specific language
skills, revision books for exams, Teacher’s Book, and digital resources, as
well as word cards, picture flashcards, lesson plans and test papers.
Make
good use of the supplementary resources provided. The teaching suggestions in
the Teacher’s Book and the answers to the exercises in the Textbook and
Workbook are just for reference.
Pace the course according to your teaching plan. As
the series is continuous and ongoing, each book can be taught within any time
span.