‘Help non-Chinese kids learn the language earlier’

The head of an organisation that supports non-Chinese children in learning the language says it’s time for the government to set up a curriculum starting from kindergarten level for second-language learners.

Maggie Holmes, the co-founder of Chinese as an Additional Language in Hong Kong, says that with nearly 13,000 students from non-Chinese-speaking families now in kindergartens, more support is needed, and stressed the need for learning to start at an early age.

“We urgently need a curriculum for the teaching of Chinese as a second language that starts at kindergarten and goes right through the school system,” she told RTHK’s #Hashtag Hong Kong programme, broadcast on Sunday.

“This curriculum must be supported by progressive teaching materials …textbooks, flashcards, audio visual tools etc.”

Holmes said there was still no “systematic structure of support” for children from non-Chinese speaking families at Chinese-medium schools, while English-medium schools did not have a Chinese-as-a-second-language curriculum in place.

“And we need good content” Holmes added. “Target vocabulary and grammatical points should be explained in English. Romanisation must be used. Intended learning outcomes should be clearly expressed. Assessments must be created which reflect the child’s learning experience.

“Teachers should not be making these materials themselves.

“They are busy and rarely trained in the teaching of Chinese as a second language.”