Teaching Chinese Language in Singapore

This book presents the experiences of Chinese Language researchers in Singapore to Chinese Language researchers and teachers in other countries and regions, such as the USA, the UK and Asia, that are home to a large number of learners, young and old. As such, the innovative ideas it provides can be applied in practising teachers’ classrooms to promote more effective and efficient student learning. Beyond pedagogical innovations, the book also includes papers on the assessment of Chinese Language learning and teacher literacy – two areas that have been largely neglected by the Chinese Language research and teaching communities, not only here in Singapore, but also around the world. This book, the sequel to “Teaching Chinese Language in Singapore: Retrospect and Challenges” (Springer, 2016), is future-oriented, highlighting ideas that merit further attention from researchers and practitioners alike.

This book presents the experiences of Chinese Language researchers in Singapore to Chinese Language researchers and teachers in other countries and regions, such as the USA, the UK and Asia, that are home to a large number of learners, young and old. As such, the innovative ideas it provides can be applied in practising teachers’ classrooms to promote more effective and efficient student learning. Beyond pedagogical innovations, the book also includes papers on the assessment of Chinese Language learning and teacher literacy – two areas that have been largely neglected by the Chinese Language research and teaching communities, not only here in Singapore, but also around the world. This book, the sequel to “Teaching Chinese Language in Singapore: Retrospect and Challenges” (Springer, 2016), is future-oriented, highlighting ideas that merit further attention from researchers and practitioners alike.

This book presents the experiences of Chinese Language researchers in Singapore to Chinese Language researchers and teachers in other countries and regions, such as the USA, the UK and Asia, that are home to a large number of learners, young and old. As such, the innovative ideas it provides can be applied in practising teachers’ classrooms to promote more effective and efficient student learning. Beyond pedagogical innovations, the book also includes papers on the assessment of Chinese Language learning and teacher literacy – two areas that have been largely neglected by the Chinese Language research and teaching communities, not only here in Singapore, but also around the world. This book, the sequel to “Teaching Chinese Language in Singapore: Retrospect and Challenges” (Springer, 2016), is future-oriented, highlighting ideas that merit further attention from researchers and practitioners alike.

This collection of articles begins with an overview of the Reviews from past decades, then goes on to describe the current practices, and foretells the possible future developments.

Learn Mandarin while you brush your teeth or shave? Read how Singapore's Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew does it! A Prime Minister as an interpreter? Find out when and why MM Lee had to do it. For the first time, this towering figure of the island-state's politics gives a first-hand account of How he has learnt Mandarin over the last 50 years and kept it alive. He also tells When and Why he decided to learn the language, Where he got hold of the learning materials from, Whom he practises his Mandarin with and What spurs him on. MM Lee goes beyond these 5Ws and 1H in Keeping My Mandarin Alive, to share the agony of a late Chinese language learner and how he has overcome the difficulties - he strove to learn Mandarin only at age 32 (from 1955) and Hokkien at age 38 (from 1961). The comprehensive package also details how the English-educated MM Lee has been relating Mandarin to his master language in an effort to grasp the former and unravels how the latest technology has helped him in his quest.