The Status Of Hong Kong Primary School Students Learning Mandarin And Teaching Strategies

Since the return of sovereignty of Hong Kong to China in 1997, the status of Putonghua language has been raised in Hong Kong. The language has become more familiarized. It is not a rare scenario to see Hong Kong people talking with tourists from mainland in Putonghua in major towns in Hong Kong which can show that Putonghua has increased its importance in the Biliterate Trilingual policy.Starting from September in 1998, the schools in Hong Kong have adapted the new Putonghua curriculum and it has switched from an elective subject to a core subject which is regarded as a enormous change. Until 2009, there are 277 primary and secondary schools using Putonghua to teach Chinese Language and in the next five years, there will be in total 277 schools teaching Chinese Language in Putonghua. Hence, the importance of learning Putonghua has been increased. However, the writer has discovered many problems encountered by primary students, for instance, the learning of Putonghua are affected by the language system of the mother tongue, the lack of contact with the native Putonghua speakers, they lack authentic language environment and students are of low motivation.All the problems mentioned directly affect students learning Putonghua. Why do students encounter such problems? In order to find out effective ways to help primary students learning Putonghua, this essay is hoping to investigate the current situation and teaching strategies of primary students. The essay aim at find out some teaching strategies promoting teaching Putonghua such as initiate students' learning motivation, creating Putonghua language environment, adapting a direct method to teach Putonghua, using integrated method to teach Phonetics, using Cantonese and Putonghua corresponding rules to teach Putonghua, enhancing the ability of using Putonghua to communicate, strengthening the teaching of Putonghua recitation and listening and speaking. The teaching strategies are the main focus of the essay. It is hoped that it can supplement the previous studies and promote the effectiveness of students learning Putonghua so as to help perfect the teaching of Putonghua in Hong Kong.