Abstract
Background: Hong Kong has entered a new era with the usage of two written languages (Chinese and English) and three spoken languages (English, Cantonese, and Putonghua). To teach Putonghua and thinking skills at the same time is a creative and challenging lesson arrangement.
Aims: This paper reported the findings of an action research involving the introduction of mind map not only as tool to help the students organizing their thinking and learning but also to further enhance the quality of the spoken Putonghua.
Sample: The participants of the research were primary and junior school students aged between 6 and 10 as well as 11 and 14 respectively. They were all interested in learning Putonghua.
Method: Qualitative method was used to gather data for the study and involved teacher observations and the evaluation of the mind maps drawn up by the students.
Results: It was found that the mind maps had been helpful in student motivation and organization of the contents of the spoken Putonghua.
Conclusion: The action research reported in this study had provided very insightful experiences for the students on one hand and had raised the quality of teaching Putonghua on the other.
| Keywords: | teaching Putonghua; mind maps; action research |
|---|
[Chinese Version | Index | New Horizons in Education | Other Journals | Subscription form | Enquiry ]
Mail any comments and suggestions to
hkier-journal@cuhk.edu.hk .