R4 -
to borrow some structural patterns from western languages in order to
overcome this difficulty.
Effects on learning
6.
The nature of Chinese is such that most Chinese pupils need
to devote more time and energy to learning their mother tongue than do
pupils elsewhere.
(a)
(b)
The main reasons are thats
rote learning is unavoidable, especially in the preliminary
stages of language learning;
the basic language skills can be mastered only by constant
practice;
(c) pupils must become aware of and understand the implications
of the sound, form and meaning of certain characters in order
to achieve a satisfactory minimum standard; and
(d) beginners are unable to read children's story books etc.
independently until they have mastered about 1,000
Nat
1,200
characters.
The complexities of the language may cause a person of average linguistic
attainment to hesitate in using some words and expressions embodying,
complex characters of the type described; this may lead to diffidence in
expression.
7.
Viewed from another angle, a Chinese pupil may have indirectly
acquired, in the process of learning the Chinese language, the following
types of skill which could be of benefit to him in other respects:
skill in remembering isolated and unrelated items-e.g.
figures, symbols and facts;
(a)
(b) skill in detecting differences and similarities among a` group
of symbols, abstract figures, patterns, etc.;
(c) patience in work, especially work of a painstaking nature.