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Hock Huan Goh

Nanyang Technological University, Office of Education Research, Faculty Member

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I am currently a research scientist at the Office of Education Research, NIE, NTU. I have done research on Chinese language competency among young children, and corpus-based studies on lexical diversity, syntactic complexity and code-switching tendency. My other research interest s curriculum implementation evaluation, classroom enactment and teachers' professional development.

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Mersin University

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Universitat Abat Oliba CEU

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Università del Molise

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Aalborg University

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University of Lausanne

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Papers by Hock Huan Goh

Home-based learning during school closure in Singapore: perceptions from the language classrooms

Educational Research for Policy and Practice

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore has resulted in the adoption of home-based lea... more The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore has resulted in the adoption of home-based learning (similar to remote or distance learning' worldwide) due to periodic school closures in Singapore. The media and academia have diverse views on the effectiveness of this alternative mode of education. This study draws data from teachers' interviews and students' focus group discussions of an ongoing large-scale baseline study on mother tongue education to reveal teachers' and students' perceptions of home-based learning. Findings showed that the participating teachers generally mimicked physical lessons online during home-based learning, and they faced difficulties in monitoring students' tasks online. Though students enjoyed the freedom of doing their learning tasks at their own pace, they were concerned with the lack of teachers' support and the social-emotional support from peers. With the feedback and reflections from teachers and students, it was observed that despite the availability of technology and online infrastructure, teachers need readiness for transiting between physical teaching and online instruction, whereas students need readiness for self-directed learning. From students' feedback, it was also noted that parents need readiness for educational technology and support for their children. To better prepare teachers, students, and parents for home-based learning, it is recommended that the developers provide more dedicated resources that take into consideration the different characteristics (e.g. orthography) of each language subject. Parents should also assume a greater role in monitoring their children's learning on behalf of the teachers for better effect in home-based learning.

Theoretical Perspectives and Analytical Framework

Mandarin Competence of Chinese-English Bilingual Preschoolers, 2016

This chapter drew upon two theoretical perspectives to formulate the hypothesis framework of this... more This chapter drew upon two theoretical perspectives to formulate the hypothesis framework of this study, namely, the bilingualism perspective of language input and output, and the approach of bilingual continuum. The framework is defined as the Continua of Mandarin Competence in relation to home language exposure. Based on the Dynamic System Theory (DST), this framework aims to encapsulate the complex Mandarin competence of Singapore Chinese-English bilingual children in relation to their Mandarin exposure. Specifically, this framework consists of three continua, i.e., the Home language Exposure continuum, the Mandarin Linguistic Competence continuum, and the Alternative Communicative Competence continuum (seen only from the code-switching perspective). In these continua, it is hypothesized that children's Mandarin exposures positively predicts their linguistic competence (in terms of lexical diversity and syntactic complexity while it negatively predicts their alternative communicative competence (in terms of code-switching to English).

Issue in Bilingualism: English-Chinese Code-Switching Past and Present

Teaching Chinese Language in Singapore, 2016

Code-switching (CS) is a common linguistic phenomenon found in almost any bilingual or multilingu... more Code-switching (CS) is a common linguistic phenomenon found in almost any bilingual or multilingual community. This phenomenon means alternation between two or more sets of linguistic codes in a person’s utterance during a conversation. Such alternation is not only found in adults’ talk but also among conversations of young children. In the past, many studies on CS had strong reservations over this phenomenon as some researchers viewed it as a manifestation of his incompetence or fusion in the two languages. This is still perceived by some language purists and language educators today (Goh and Zhao. CS in the classroom: A taboo norm. SingTeach, Issue 9. http://singteach.nie.edu.sg/issue09-ideas01/, 2007). On the other hand, CS is viewed positively by other researchers (Poplack, Linguistics 18:581–618, 1980; Genesee et al. Talking with strangers: A study of bilingual children’s communicative competence. Applied Psycholinguistics, 17(4), 427–442, 1996, Genesee. Bilingual first language acquisition: Exploring the limits of the language faculty. In M. McGroarty (Ed.), 21st annual review of applied linguistics (pp. 153–168). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2001). They have shown that CS consistently adheres to certain linguistic patterns and this means that CS is not a result of confusion or incompetence. Moreover, some research has revealed that children used CS for various communicative purposes, like showing intimacy to interlocutors or differentiating interlocutors, who speak different languages, etc. (Al-Khatib 2003; Genesee 1993, 2002; (Genesee et al. Dual language development and disorders: A handbook on bilingualism and second language learning. Baltimore, Brookes Publishing, 2004); Li and Milroy 1995; (Poplack, Linguistics 18: 581–618, 1980); Reyes 2004; (Romaine. Bilingual language development. In: K. Trott, S. Dobbin, P. Griffiths (Eds.), The child language reader (pp. 287–303). London: Routledge, 2004).

Review of Literature

Mandarin Competence of Chinese-English Bilingual Preschoolers, 2016

This chapter reviewed studies of Mandarin competence, both worldwide and in Singapore, with a foc... more This chapter reviewed studies of Mandarin competence, both worldwide and in Singapore, with a focus on the approaches adopted by studies and their findings on Mandarin competence of monolingual and bilingual Chinese children. In particular, the methodological approaches to Lexical Diversity, Syntactic Complexity, and Code-Switching in these studies were reviewed. From the reviews, it was found that internationally, child language studies, including studies on child Mandarin development, began with the less systematic diary keeping of small samples to the more systematic large sample and longitudinal approach, where both psychometric testing (via established language scales or inventories) and naturalistic or semi-naturalistic language data analysis (via diaries or corpora) were employed. Research on child language in Singapore mainly used the psychometric testing approach and lacked oral language data-based description of child Mandarin competence. Keywords Child language development • Mandarin competence • Lexical diversity • Syntactic complexity • Code-switching 2.1 Child Language Study on Mandarin Child language study has been a well-established field of research since the 1870s among academia interested in English. As pointed out by Ingram (1989: 7), the developments in this research area can be roughly divided into three stages namely "Period of diary studies (1876-1926)," "Period of large sample studies (1926-1957)," and "Period of longitudinal language sample studies (1957-1989)." Methodologically, such studies began with the less systematic diary keeping of small samples to the more systematic collection of language data involving large samples. As for the case of child language study on Mandarin, these approaches of research are generally similar. In what follows, this chapter will provide a brief overview on the development of child language studies in both international and

Effective Ways in Teaching Chinese Characters Without Phonetic Clues

Teaching Chinese Language in Singapore, 2018

Learning Chinese characters is a challenge for most English-speaking students. Considering both t... more Learning Chinese characters is a challenge for most English-speaking students. Considering both the learning objective and the learners’ ability, we developed the multiple teaching strategies to make learning Chinese characters more enjoyable. Based on the analysis of 947 Chinese characters without phonetic clues, we have devised some relevant teaching strategies in learning different types of Chinese characters and found that the single-component Chinese characters are best learned through the graphic method while the component-based teaching strategy is effective for teaching structural awareness, meaning, and radical position.

Improving the Teaching of Chinese Speaking of Young Students from English-Speaking Families: Teacher’s Professional Development

Teaching Chinese Language in Singapore, 2018

This article highlights the recent shift in the teaching of Chinese Language in Singapore from it... more This article highlights the recent shift in the teaching of Chinese Language in Singapore from its traditional emphasis on oral communication. It looks into the Chinese Language teachers’ beliefs, teaching strategies, and difficulties encountered in implementing the change. The research team design lessons plans which were implemented by purposively selected teachers in five schools. Teachers were observed and interviewed, and multiple case studies were reported.

Mandarin Competence Measured by Code-Switching Tendency

Code-switching (CS) is a common phenomenon among bilinguals, and many see it as a communication s... more Code-switching (CS) is a common phenomenon among bilinguals, and many see it as a communication strategy from the sociolinguistic and psycholinguistic point of view. This chapter attempts to examine this phenomenon in Mandarin communication of the sampled children, by comparing their language data against their different home language backgrounds. More specifically, this chapter aims to uncover the overall frequency of CS among the children, the types of CS they produce and the common linguistic elements that they often code-switch. Upon analysis, some statistically significant differences among the four home language groups were found in terms of their code-switching (CS) frequency, types of CS , types of intra-utterance CS , and the common content being code-switched . Negative correlations were found between the frequencies of CS and inter-utterance CS and the increased Mandarin exposures (represented by the CEI of the SCSMC). These findings support the hypothesis that there are ...

Review of “Teaching and Learning Chinese as a Second or Foreign Language: Emerging Trends”

978-1-4985-7479-2 (Hardback) $95.00 • 978-1-4985-7480-8 (eBook) No. of Pages 268 pp.

Chapter 13. Specialised corpora for Chinese language education in Singapore

Singaporean Chinese children's special Chinese vocabulary and their identity

As a variation of the Chinese language, Singapore Mandarin has its characteristics which represen... more As a variation of the Chinese language, Singapore Mandarin has its characteristics which represent themselves in phonetics, vocabulary, and grammar. Factors contributing to these characteristics are many: 1. Ancestors of Chinese Singaporeans mainly came from southern China and Singapore Chinese has been influenced by Hokkien, Cantonese, and Hakka; 2. Since the British rule, English had been the official language and keeps to be at a dominant position since independence of Singapore. Similarly, Singapore Chinese bears certain characteristics of the English language; 3. The population of Singapore is composed of Chinese, Malay, and Indian. In the course of interaction between nations, Singapore Chinese was also influenced by languages of the other two races, Malay in particular; 4. Since the foundation of the People’s Republic of China, great social changes led to great changes in the Chinese language. However, for quite some time, communication between China and Singapore was stopped...

Code-switching in the classroom : A taboo norm

Do not speak English during Mandarin lesson!" How many times have we chided our students for code... more

A critical examination of newly revised Chinese language syllabus and textbooks and their implementation for Singapore primary school students (Report 2): A critical examination of the newly revised Chinese syllabus for Singapore primary school students

In this report, we analyze critically the newly revised Chinese syllabus for Singapore primary sc... more In this report, we analyze critically the newly revised Chinese syllabus for Singapore primary school students. In this report, we divide the discussion into four parts. In the first part, we have a brief overview of the current pedagogic discourses in the Singapore context. In the overview, we outline the theoretical motivation that has driven the current pedagogic discourses in comparison with the traditional Chinese pedagogic principles. In the second part we discuss the research method where we identify the major parameters (e.g., curricular goals, objectives, linguistic/cultural emphases, theory/beliefs of Chinese language learning) common to any syllabus design and highlight our analytical foci in the syllabus examination. In the third part, we describe and analyze the contents of the syllabus within the theoretical framework with the main parameters/categories identified in the overview for capturing specific emphases/features stipulated in the syllabus and discuss their (in)...

Transcribing Chinese language classroom talk: To build a computer corpus

A critical examination of newly revised Chinese language syllabus and textbooks and their implementation for Singapore primary school students (Report 1): Chinese language education research in Singapore: Making a case for alternative research orientation

In this report, we review critically the research that has been done on Chinese Language educatio... more In this report, we review critically the research that has been done on Chinese Language education in Singapore context since the early 1990s. We divide the report into three sections. Firstly, we provide a synthesis of the research literature on Chinese language education where relevant studies are classified into three broad areas: language policy studies, sociolinguistic surveys, and pedagogical studies. In each of these areas, important findings/arguments/positions are identified and discussed with a general critique. Secondly, we comment on this body of research literature, pointing out salient problems and deficit in relation to the current official pedagogic discourse. In conclusion, we provide recommendations for future research. We argue for an alternative research, from the survey-based and literary oriented research to empirical research on Chinese language curriculum and pedagogical practices. Acknowledgement This paper makes use of data from the research project “A Crit...

Chinese language pedagogical experiment: a comparative study of classroom practices in Singapore primary schools

A study of lexical diversity, syntactic complexity and code-switching in spoken Mandarin of Chinese preschoolers in Singapore : a corpus-based analysis

A critical examination of newly revised Chinese language syllabus and textbooks and their implementation for Singapore primary school students (Report 3): A critical examination of Chinese language textbooks for Singapore primary schools

In this report, we analyze critically the newly revised Chinese textbooks for Singapore primary s... more In this report, we analyze critically the newly revised Chinese textbooks for Singapore primary school students. We divide the discussion into four parts. In the first part, we have a brief introduction of the context where the Chinese language textbooks were revised. In the introduction, we also discuss the rationale why the study of the textbooks are important and outline our research questions. In the second part we discuss the research method where we identify the major parameters and highlight our analytical foci in the textbook examination. In the third part, we describe and analyze how lessons are organized and what pedagogic activities are planned. In the fourth part, we examine what linguistic knowledges are prioritized. In the fifth part, we identify what cultural knowledges are selected and emphasized. In conclusion, we discuss the implications of the findings for possible changes in Chinese textbook development. Acknowledgement This paper makes use of data from the resea...

Mandarin Competence of Chinese-English Bilingual Preschoolers

Mandarin Competences Measured by Lexical Diversity

Mandarin Competence of Chinese-English Bilingual Preschoolers, 2016

As mentioned in Chap. 2, Lexical Diversity (LD, also known as “vocabulary richness or coverage”) ... more As mentioned in Chap. 2, Lexical Diversity (LD, also known as “vocabulary richness or coverage”) is a long-established concept and measurement for assessing language competence or proficiency of a child or second language learner. This chapter used LD as a measurement to study the linguistic competence of the four groups of children defined earlier in Chap. 4. The LD of the children was measured using different indices, namely, number of different Mandarin words (NDMW), lexical variation (LVar, in terms of Index of Guriaud), and word-type coverage per Parts-of-Speech (PoS). Upon analysis, LD showed differences among the four home language groups in terms of their number of different Mandarin words, lexical variation, word-type coverage, and parts-of-speech distribution. These differences were found to be statistically significant, and positive correlations were found on NDMW and LVar with increased Mandarin exposure (represented by the Chinese Exposure Index (CEI) of the Singapore Children Spoken Mandarin Corpus). These findings collectively support this study’s first hypothesis that Mandarin exposure dictates the competence of children in this study.

Mandarin Competence Measured by Syntactic Complexity

Mandarin Competence of Chinese-English Bilingual Preschoolers, 2016

In locations far from the equator achieving high conversion efficiency in low-power solar systems... more In locations far from the equator achieving high conversion efficiency in low-power solar systems is challenging due to low solar irradiance levels. This paper presents a high efficiency three-port converter (TPC) for light-to-light (LtL) applications where no direct solar conversion is required. The separation of the power flows allows to replace the conventional solution of two cascaded converters into a single structure with shared components. A loss distribution analysis of the proposed structure is performed, which shows very good match with the experimental results. A prototype of the TPC demonstrates high efficiency in both power flow paths. At low irradiation level, the photovoltaic to battery stage shows a peak efficiency of 99.1 % at at 1.5 W output power and the LED driver stage presents a peak efficiency of 97.3 % at 3 W output power.

Home-based learning during school closure in Singapore: perceptions from the language classrooms

Educational Research for Policy and Practice

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore has resulted in the adoption of home-based lea... more The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore has resulted in the adoption of home-based learning (similar to remote or distance learning' worldwide) due to periodic school closures in Singapore. The media and academia have diverse views on the effectiveness of this alternative mode of education. This study draws data from teachers' interviews and students' focus group discussions of an ongoing large-scale baseline study on mother tongue education to reveal teachers' and students' perceptions of home-based learning. Findings showed that the participating teachers generally mimicked physical lessons online during home-based learning, and they faced difficulties in monitoring students' tasks online. Though students enjoyed the freedom of doing their learning tasks at their own pace, they were concerned with the lack of teachers' support and the social-emotional support from peers. With the feedback and reflections from teachers and students, it was observed that despite the availability of technology and online infrastructure, teachers need readiness for transiting between physical teaching and online instruction, whereas students need readiness for self-directed learning. From students' feedback, it was also noted that parents need readiness for educational technology and support for their children. To better prepare teachers, students, and parents for home-based learning, it is recommended that the developers provide more dedicated resources that take into consideration the different characteristics (e.g. orthography) of each language subject. Parents should also assume a greater role in monitoring their children's learning on behalf of the teachers for better effect in home-based learning.

Theoretical Perspectives and Analytical Framework

Mandarin Competence of Chinese-English Bilingual Preschoolers, 2016

This chapter drew upon two theoretical perspectives to formulate the hypothesis framework of this... more This chapter drew upon two theoretical perspectives to formulate the hypothesis framework of this study, namely, the bilingualism perspective of language input and output, and the approach of bilingual continuum. The framework is defined as the Continua of Mandarin Competence in relation to home language exposure. Based on the Dynamic System Theory (DST), this framework aims to encapsulate the complex Mandarin competence of Singapore Chinese-English bilingual children in relation to their Mandarin exposure. Specifically, this framework consists of three continua, i.e., the Home language Exposure continuum, the Mandarin Linguistic Competence continuum, and the Alternative Communicative Competence continuum (seen only from the code-switching perspective). In these continua, it is hypothesized that children's Mandarin exposures positively predicts their linguistic competence (in terms of lexical diversity and syntactic complexity while it negatively predicts their alternative communicative competence (in terms of code-switching to English).

Issue in Bilingualism: English-Chinese Code-Switching Past and Present

Teaching Chinese Language in Singapore, 2016

Code-switching (CS) is a common linguistic phenomenon found in almost any bilingual or multilingu... more Code-switching (CS) is a common linguistic phenomenon found in almost any bilingual or multilingual community. This phenomenon means alternation between two or more sets of linguistic codes in a person’s utterance during a conversation. Such alternation is not only found in adults’ talk but also among conversations of young children. In the past, many studies on CS had strong reservations over this phenomenon as some researchers viewed it as a manifestation of his incompetence or fusion in the two languages. This is still perceived by some language purists and language educators today (Goh and Zhao. CS in the classroom: A taboo norm. SingTeach, Issue 9. http://singteach.nie.edu.sg/issue09-ideas01/, 2007). On the other hand, CS is viewed positively by other researchers (Poplack, Linguistics 18:581–618, 1980; Genesee et al. Talking with strangers: A study of bilingual children’s communicative competence. Applied Psycholinguistics, 17(4), 427–442, 1996, Genesee. Bilingual first language acquisition: Exploring the limits of the language faculty. In M. McGroarty (Ed.), 21st annual review of applied linguistics (pp. 153–168). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2001). They have shown that CS consistently adheres to certain linguistic patterns and this means that CS is not a result of confusion or incompetence. Moreover, some research has revealed that children used CS for various communicative purposes, like showing intimacy to interlocutors or differentiating interlocutors, who speak different languages, etc. (Al-Khatib 2003; Genesee 1993, 2002; (Genesee et al. Dual language development and disorders: A handbook on bilingualism and second language learning. Baltimore, Brookes Publishing, 2004); Li and Milroy 1995; (Poplack, Linguistics 18: 581–618, 1980); Reyes 2004; (Romaine. Bilingual language development. In: K. Trott, S. Dobbin, P. Griffiths (Eds.), The child language reader (pp. 287–303). London: Routledge, 2004).

Review of Literature

Mandarin Competence of Chinese-English Bilingual Preschoolers, 2016

This chapter reviewed studies of Mandarin competence, both worldwide and in Singapore, with a foc... more This chapter reviewed studies of Mandarin competence, both worldwide and in Singapore, with a focus on the approaches adopted by studies and their findings on Mandarin competence of monolingual and bilingual Chinese children. In particular, the methodological approaches to Lexical Diversity, Syntactic Complexity, and Code-Switching in these studies were reviewed. From the reviews, it was found that internationally, child language studies, including studies on child Mandarin development, began with the less systematic diary keeping of small samples to the more systematic large sample and longitudinal approach, where both psychometric testing (via established language scales or inventories) and naturalistic or semi-naturalistic language data analysis (via diaries or corpora) were employed. Research on child language in Singapore mainly used the psychometric testing approach and lacked oral language data-based description of child Mandarin competence. Keywords Child language development • Mandarin competence • Lexical diversity • Syntactic complexity • Code-switching 2.1 Child Language Study on Mandarin Child language study has been a well-established field of research since the 1870s among academia interested in English. As pointed out by Ingram (1989: 7), the developments in this research area can be roughly divided into three stages namely "Period of diary studies (1876-1926)," "Period of large sample studies (1926-1957)," and "Period of longitudinal language sample studies (1957-1989)." Methodologically, such studies began with the less systematic diary keeping of small samples to the more systematic collection of language data involving large samples. As for the case of child language study on Mandarin, these approaches of research are generally similar. In what follows, this chapter will provide a brief overview on the development of child language studies in both international and

Effective Ways in Teaching Chinese Characters Without Phonetic Clues

Teaching Chinese Language in Singapore, 2018

Learning Chinese characters is a challenge for most English-speaking students. Considering both t... more Learning Chinese characters is a challenge for most English-speaking students. Considering both the learning objective and the learners’ ability, we developed the multiple teaching strategies to make learning Chinese characters more enjoyable. Based on the analysis of 947 Chinese characters without phonetic clues, we have devised some relevant teaching strategies in learning different types of Chinese characters and found that the single-component Chinese characters are best learned through the graphic method while the component-based teaching strategy is effective for teaching structural awareness, meaning, and radical position.

Improving the Teaching of Chinese Speaking of Young Students from English-Speaking Families: Teacher’s Professional Development

Teaching Chinese Language in Singapore, 2018

This article highlights the recent shift in the teaching of Chinese Language in Singapore from it... more This article highlights the recent shift in the teaching of Chinese Language in Singapore from its traditional emphasis on oral communication. It looks into the Chinese Language teachers’ beliefs, teaching strategies, and difficulties encountered in implementing the change. The research team design lessons plans which were implemented by purposively selected teachers in five schools. Teachers were observed and interviewed, and multiple case studies were reported.

Mandarin Competence Measured by Code-Switching Tendency

Code-switching (CS) is a common phenomenon among bilinguals, and many see it as a communication s... more Code-switching (CS) is a common phenomenon among bilinguals, and many see it as a communication strategy from the sociolinguistic and psycholinguistic point of view. This chapter attempts to examine this phenomenon in Mandarin communication of the sampled children, by comparing their language data against their different home language backgrounds. More specifically, this chapter aims to uncover the overall frequency of CS among the children, the types of CS they produce and the common linguistic elements that they often code-switch. Upon analysis, some statistically significant differences among the four home language groups were found in terms of their code-switching (CS) frequency, types of CS , types of intra-utterance CS , and the common content being code-switched . Negative correlations were found between the frequencies of CS and inter-utterance CS and the increased Mandarin exposures (represented by the CEI of the SCSMC). These findings support the hypothesis that there are ...

Review of “Teaching and Learning Chinese as a Second or Foreign Language: Emerging Trends”

978-1-4985-7479-2 (Hardback) $95.00 • 978-1-4985-7480-8 (eBook) No. of Pages 268 pp.

Chapter 13. Specialised corpora for Chinese language education in Singapore

Singaporean Chinese children's special Chinese vocabulary and their identity

As a variation of the Chinese language, Singapore Mandarin has its characteristics which represen... more As a variation of the Chinese language, Singapore Mandarin has its characteristics which represent themselves in phonetics, vocabulary, and grammar. Factors contributing to these characteristics are many: 1. Ancestors of Chinese Singaporeans mainly came from southern China and Singapore Chinese has been influenced by Hokkien, Cantonese, and Hakka; 2. Since the British rule, English had been the official language and keeps to be at a dominant position since independence of Singapore. Similarly, Singapore Chinese bears certain characteristics of the English language; 3. The population of Singapore is composed of Chinese, Malay, and Indian. In the course of interaction between nations, Singapore Chinese was also influenced by languages of the other two races, Malay in particular; 4. Since the foundation of the People’s Republic of China, great social changes led to great changes in the Chinese language. However, for quite some time, communication between China and Singapore was stopped...

Code-switching in the classroom : A taboo norm

Do not speak English during Mandarin lesson!" How many times have we chided our students for code... more

A critical examination of newly revised Chinese language syllabus and textbooks and their implementation for Singapore primary school students (Report 2): A critical examination of the newly revised Chinese syllabus for Singapore primary school students

In this report, we analyze critically the newly revised Chinese syllabus for Singapore primary sc... more In this report, we analyze critically the newly revised Chinese syllabus for Singapore primary school students. In this report, we divide the discussion into four parts. In the first part, we have a brief overview of the current pedagogic discourses in the Singapore context. In the overview, we outline the theoretical motivation that has driven the current pedagogic discourses in comparison with the traditional Chinese pedagogic principles. In the second part we discuss the research method where we identify the major parameters (e.g., curricular goals, objectives, linguistic/cultural emphases, theory/beliefs of Chinese language learning) common to any syllabus design and highlight our analytical foci in the syllabus examination. In the third part, we describe and analyze the contents of the syllabus within the theoretical framework with the main parameters/categories identified in the overview for capturing specific emphases/features stipulated in the syllabus and discuss their (in)...

Transcribing Chinese language classroom talk: To build a computer corpus

A critical examination of newly revised Chinese language syllabus and textbooks and their implementation for Singapore primary school students (Report 1): Chinese language education research in Singapore: Making a case for alternative research orientation

In this report, we review critically the research that has been done on Chinese Language educatio... more In this report, we review critically the research that has been done on Chinese Language education in Singapore context since the early 1990s. We divide the report into three sections. Firstly, we provide a synthesis of the research literature on Chinese language education where relevant studies are classified into three broad areas: language policy studies, sociolinguistic surveys, and pedagogical studies. In each of these areas, important findings/arguments/positions are identified and discussed with a general critique. Secondly, we comment on this body of research literature, pointing out salient problems and deficit in relation to the current official pedagogic discourse. In conclusion, we provide recommendations for future research. We argue for an alternative research, from the survey-based and literary oriented research to empirical research on Chinese language curriculum and pedagogical practices. Acknowledgement This paper makes use of data from the research project “A Crit...

Chinese language pedagogical experiment: a comparative study of classroom practices in Singapore primary schools

A study of lexical diversity, syntactic complexity and code-switching in spoken Mandarin of Chinese preschoolers in Singapore : a corpus-based analysis

A critical examination of newly revised Chinese language syllabus and textbooks and their implementation for Singapore primary school students (Report 3): A critical examination of Chinese language textbooks for Singapore primary schools

In this report, we analyze critically the newly revised Chinese textbooks for Singapore primary s... more In this report, we analyze critically the newly revised Chinese textbooks for Singapore primary school students. We divide the discussion into four parts. In the first part, we have a brief introduction of the context where the Chinese language textbooks were revised. In the introduction, we also discuss the rationale why the study of the textbooks are important and outline our research questions. In the second part we discuss the research method where we identify the major parameters and highlight our analytical foci in the textbook examination. In the third part, we describe and analyze how lessons are organized and what pedagogic activities are planned. In the fourth part, we examine what linguistic knowledges are prioritized. In the fifth part, we identify what cultural knowledges are selected and emphasized. In conclusion, we discuss the implications of the findings for possible changes in Chinese textbook development. Acknowledgement This paper makes use of data from the resea...

Mandarin Competence of Chinese-English Bilingual Preschoolers

Mandarin Competences Measured by Lexical Diversity

Mandarin Competence of Chinese-English Bilingual Preschoolers, 2016

As mentioned in Chap. 2, Lexical Diversity (LD, also known as “vocabulary richness or coverage”) ... more As mentioned in Chap. 2, Lexical Diversity (LD, also known as “vocabulary richness or coverage”) is a long-established concept and measurement for assessing language competence or proficiency of a child or second language learner. This chapter used LD as a measurement to study the linguistic competence of the four groups of children defined earlier in Chap. 4. The LD of the children was measured using different indices, namely, number of different Mandarin words (NDMW), lexical variation (LVar, in terms of Index of Guriaud), and word-type coverage per Parts-of-Speech (PoS). Upon analysis, LD showed differences among the four home language groups in terms of their number of different Mandarin words, lexical variation, word-type coverage, and parts-of-speech distribution. These differences were found to be statistically significant, and positive correlations were found on NDMW and LVar with increased Mandarin exposure (represented by the Chinese Exposure Index (CEI) of the Singapore Children Spoken Mandarin Corpus). These findings collectively support this study’s first hypothesis that Mandarin exposure dictates the competence of children in this study.

Mandarin Competence Measured by Syntactic Complexity

Mandarin Competence of Chinese-English Bilingual Preschoolers, 2016

In locations far from the equator achieving high conversion efficiency in low-power solar systems... more In locations far from the equator achieving high conversion efficiency in low-power solar systems is challenging due to low solar irradiance levels. This paper presents a high efficiency three-port converter (TPC) for light-to-light (LtL) applications where no direct solar conversion is required. The separation of the power flows allows to replace the conventional solution of two cascaded converters into a single structure with shared components. A loss distribution analysis of the proposed structure is performed, which shows very good match with the experimental results. A prototype of the TPC demonstrates high efficiency in both power flow paths. At low irradiation level, the photovoltaic to battery stage shows a peak efficiency of 99.1 % at at 1.5 W output power and the LED driver stage presents a peak efficiency of 97.3 % at 3 W output power.