Category Archives: literacy

illiteracy among China’s disabled: official PRC survey

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A total of 43.29 percent of China’s disabled people aged 15 or above are illiterate, according to the results of the second China National Sample Survey on Disability.*

This represents a considerable drop from the 59 percent illiteracy rate in recorded in 1987, according to the survey.

The survey was conducted throughout China by government organizations, with 2,526,145 people in 771,797 households being inverviewed between April 1 and May 31, 2006.

People classified as disabled comprise 6.34 percent of the PRC’s population, or about 83 million people. More than 75 percent of these live in rural areas.

* Regular readers of this site know that I have little faith in the accuracy of China’s official statistics, especially concerning the topic of literacy. But I do like to keep track of what the PRC is saying about this.

source: Most of China’s disabled not financialy [sic] independent: survey, Xinhua via People’s Daily, May 29, 2007

Japanese literacy–an SPP reissue

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Here’s another re-release from the archives of Sino-Platonic Papers: Computers and Japanese Literacy: Nihonzin no Yomikaki Nôryoku to Konpyûta, by J. Marshall Unger of the Ohio State University’s Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures. The link above is to the PDF version (1.2 MB), which reproduces the original exactly.

This is a parallel text in Japanese (in romanization) and English, so if any of you want to practice reading romaji, here’s your chance.

The English text alone is available in HTML: Computers and Japanese Literacy.

The essay touches on many of themes Unger explores in depth in his books, all of which have excerpts available here on Pinyin Info: The Fifth Generation Fallacy, Literacy and Script Reform in Occupation Japan, and Ideogram: Chinese Characters and the Myth of Disembodied Meaning.

Here is the opening, in both English and Japanese (in romanization).

Watakusi wa saikin, gendai no konpyûta siyô to Nihongo ni tuite kenkyu site orimasu. Gengogakusya mo konpyûta no nôryoku ya mondaiten ni tuite iken o happyo suru sekinin ga aru to omou kara desu. I am currently engaged in research on contemporary computer usage and the Japanese language. Linguists too, I believe, have a responsibility to present their views on the potentials and problems of computers.
Sate, Amerika no zen- Kôsei Kyôiku tyôkan, John Gardner-si no kotoba de hazimetai to omoimasu. Sore wa “aizyô nasi no hihan to hihan nasi no aizyô (Eigo de iu to, “unloving criticism and uncritical love”) to iu kotoba desu. Gardner-si wa, Amerikazin no aikokusyugi ni tuite Amerika o sukosi de mo hihan site wa ikenai to syutyô suru hito wa kangaetigai da, aizyô nasi ni syakai ya bunka no ketten o hihan bakari suru koto wa motiron warui keredo, hihan sore zitai o kiratte kokusuisyugi o susumeru koto mo syôrai no tame ni yoku nai, to iimasita. Kono koto wa bokoku igai no syakai to bunka ni tai suru baai de mo onazi de wa nai desyô ka? Gengogakusya ya rekisigakusya mo “aizyô nasi no hihan to hihan nasi no aizyô” to iu ryôkyokutan o sakeru yô ni sita hô ga ii to omou no desu. Watakusi wa Nihon no gengo to bunka o senmon ni site, Nihon ni tai site aizyô o motte orimasu kara koso, Nihongo no hyôkihô ya Nihonzin no yomikaki nôryoku ni tuite no teisetu o mondai ni site iru wake desu. Iwayuru zyôhôka syakai no zidai ni hairi, ippan no hitobito ga pasokon ya wâpuro o kozin-yô ni tukau yô ni naru ni turete, nettowâku tûsin, kyôiku-yô sohutowea, sôzôteki na puroguramingu nado ga yôkyû sarete kite iru desyô. Mosi sono konpon ni aru yomikaki nôryoku no henka to genzyô o gokai sureba, gôriteki na konpyûta siyôhô o kaihatu dekinai darô to omou kara desu. Let me begin by quoting the former U.S. Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, John Gardner. I am thinking of his phrase “unloving criticism and uncritical love.” By this, he meant that it was wrong for proponents of American patriotism to oppose even the slightest criticism of the United States: although it is bad to dwell unsympathetically on finding fault with social and cultural shortcomings, it is equally bad for the future of society to advance nationalism and eschew all criticism. I think that this is also true when considering foreign societies and cultures. Linguists and historians would do well to avoid the twin extremes of “unloving criticism and uncritical love.” As someone professionally involved with the language and culture of Japan, I have an affection for the country, but for that very reason, I wish to call into question the accepted theory of Japanese script and literacy. As we enter the age of the so-called informational society, and as more and more ordinary people begin to use computers on an individual basis, demands on network communications, educational software, creative programming, and so on, will steadily increase. Unless we understand the present situation and history of literacy, which underlies all these applications, we cannot hope to develop a rational basis for computer usage.
Sate, hyôi mozi to iu kotoba wa Nihongo ni tuite no hon ni yoku dete imasu kara kokugogaku no yôgo da to itte mo ii hodo desu ga, hyôi mozi to iu mono wa zissai ni sonzai site iru desyô ka? Kyakkanteki ni kangaete miru to, dono gengo mo konponteki ni wa hanasu mono desu. Mozi wa syakaiteki, rekisiteki na men ga arimasu ga, mozi wa kotoba no imi no moto de wa arimasen. Tatoeba, itizi mo yomenai mômoku no hito de mo, hoka no syôgai ga nai kagiri, bokokugo ga kanzen ni hanaseru yô ni narimasu. Sitagatte, hanasi-kotoba to wa mattaku kankei ga nai mozi nado to iu mono wa muimi na gainen desu. Gengo no imi wa gengo no kôzô kara hassei si, mozi wa sono han’ei de sika nai wake desu. Kore wa toku ni kore kara no konpyûta o kangaeru toki ni wasurete wa ikemasen…. The term “ideographic characters” appears so often in books on the Japanese language that one might say it has become a stock phrase of Japanese linguistics. I wonder, however, whether such things as “ideographs” actually exist. When examined objectively, all languages are fundamentally speech. Characters are not the source of the meanings of words, although they do have their social and historical aspects. For example, blind people who cannot read a single character can nonetheless speak their native tongues perfectly, unless they suffer from some other handicap. The very idea of characters totally divorced from speech is therefore meaningless. For the meaning of language emerges from the structure of language, of which writing is merely a reflection. It is particularly important that we not forget this when we consider the computers of the future….

This was first published in January 1988 as issue no. 6 of Sino-Platonic Papers.

Taiwan gov’t releases booklet on Hoklo romanization

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Taiwan’s Ministry of Procrastination Education has finally released a handbook on the use of romanization for Taiwanese: “Táiwān Mǐnnányǔ Luómǎzì pīnyīn fāng’àn shǐyòng shǒucè” (《臺灣閩南語羅馬字拼音方案使用手冊》).

Most of the pages in this are devoted to a list of the syllables of Taiwanese. Without counting tones Taiwanese has nearly twice as many unique syllables as Mandarin (797 vs. about 410, respectively).

Here’s the list of Taiwanese syllables, as given in Taiwan’s current official romanization system for Hoklo:

a, ah, ai, ainn, ak, am, an, ang, ann, ap, at, au, ba, bah, bai, bak, ban, bang, bat, bau, be, beh, bi, bian, biat, biau, bih, bik, bin, bing, bio, bit, biu, bo, bok, bong, boo, bu, bua, buah, buan, buat, bue, bueh, bui, bun, but, e, eh, enn, ga, gai, gak, gam, gan, gang, gau, ge, gi, gia, giah, giam, gian, giang, giap, giat, giau, gik, gim, gin, ging, gio, gioh, giok, giong, giu, go, gok, gong, goo, gu, gua, guan, guat, gue, gueh, gui, ha, hah, hai, hainn, hak, ham, han, hang, hann, hannh, hap, hat, hau, he, heh, henn, hennh, hi, hia, hiah, hiam, hian, hiang, hiann, hiannh, hiap, hiat, hiau, hiauh, hik, him, hin, hing, hinn, hio, hioh, hiok, hiong, hip, hit, hiu, hiunn, hiunnh, hm, hmh, hng, hngh, ho, hoh, hok, hong, honn, honnh, hoo, hu, hua, huah, huai, huainn, huan, huann, huat, hue, hueh, hui, hun, hut, i, ia, iah, iam, ian, iang, iann, iap, iat, iau, iaunn, ik, im, in, ing, inn, io, ioh, iok, iong, ip, it, iu, iunn, ji, jia, jiam, jian, jiang, jiap, jiat, jiau, jim, jin, jio, jiok, jiong, jip, jit, jiu, ju, juah, jue, jun, ka, kah, kai, kainn, kak, kam, kan, kang, kann, kap, kat, kau, kauh, ke, keh, kenn, kha, khah, khai, khainn, khak, kham, khan, khang, khann, khap, khat, khau, khe, kheh, khenn, khennh, khi, khia, khiah, khiak, khiam, khian, khiang, khiap, khiat, khiau, khiauh, khih, khik, khim, khin, khing, khinn, khio, khioh, khiok, khiong, khip, khit, khiu, khiunn, khng, kho, khok, khong, khoo, khu, khua, khuah, khuai, khuan, khuann, khuat, khue, khueh, khuh, khui, khun, khut, ki, kia, kiah, kiam, kian, kiann, kiap, kiat, kiau, kik, kim, kin, king, kinn, kio, kioh, kiok, kiong, kip, kit, kiu, kiunn, kng, ko, koh, kok, kong, konn, koo, ku, kua, kuah, kuai, kuainn, kuan, kuann, kuat, kue, kueh, kui, kun, kut, la, lah, lai, lak, lam, lan, lang, lap, lat, lau, lauh, le, leh, li, liah, liam, lian, liang, liap, liat, liau, lih, lik, lim, lin, ling, lio, lioh, liok, liong, lip, liu, lo, loh, lok, long, loo, lu, lua, luah, luan, luat, lue, lui, lun, lut, m, ma, mai, mau, mauh, me, meh, mi, mia, miau, mih, mng, moo, mooh, mua, mui, na, nah, nai, nau, nauh, ne, neh, ng, nga, ngai, ngau, nge, ngeh, ngia, ngiau, ngiauh, ngoo, ni, nia, niau, nih, niu, nng, noo, nua, o, oh, ok, om, ong, onn, oo, pa, pah, pai, pak, pan, pang, pat, pau, pe, peh, penn, pha, phah, phai, phainn, phak, phan, phang, phann, phau, phauh, phe, phenn, phi, phiah, phiak, phian, phiang, phiann, phiat, phiau, phih, phik, phin, phing, phinn, phio, phit, phngh, pho, phoh, phok, phong, phoo, phu, phua, phuah, phuan, phuann, phuat, phue, phueh, phuh, phui, phun, phut, pi, piah, piak, pian, piang, piann, piat, piau, pih, pik, pin, ping, pinn, pio, pit, piu, png, po, poh, pok, pong, poo, pu, pua, puah, puan, puann, puat, pue, pueh, puh, pui, pun, put, sa, sah, sai, sak, sam, san, sang, sann, sannh, sap, sat, sau, se, seh, senn, si, sia, siah, siak, siam, sian, siang, siann, siap, siat, siau, sih, sik, sim, sin, sing, sinn, sio, sioh, siok, siong, sip, sit, siu, siunn, sng, sngh, so, soh, sok, som, song, soo, su, sua, suah, suai, suainn, suan, suann, suat, sue, sueh, suh, sui, sun, sut, ta, tah, tai, tainn, tak, tam, tan, tang, tann, tap, tat, tau, tauh, te, teh, tenn, tha, thah, thai, thak, tham, than, thang, thann, thap, that, thau, the, theh, thenn, thi, thiah, thiam, thian, thiann, thiap, thiat, thiau, thih, thik, thim, thin, thing, thinn, thio, thiok, thiong, thiu, thng, tho, thoh, thok, thong, thoo, thu, thua, thuah, thuan, thuann, thuat, thuh, thui, thun, thut, ti, tia, tiah, tiak, tiam, tian, tiann, tiap, tiat, tiau, tih, tik, tim, tin, ting, tinn, tinnh, tio, tioh, tiok, tiong, tit, tiu, tiuh, tiunn, tng, to, toh, tok, tom, tong, too, tsa, tsah, tsai, tsainn, tsak, tsam, tsan, tsang, tsann, tsap, tsat, tsau, tse, tseh, tsenn, tsha, tshah, tshai, tshak, tsham, tshan, tshang, tshann, tshap, tshat, tshau, tshauh, tshe, tsheh, tshenn, tshi, tshia, tshiah, tshiak, tshiam, tshian, tshiang, tshiann, tshiap, tshiat, tshiau, tshih, tshik, tshim, tshin, tshing, tshinn, tshio, tshioh, tshiok, tshiong, tship, tshit, tshiu, tshiunn, tshng, tshngh, tsho, tshoh, tshok, tshong, tshoo, tshu, tshua, tshuah, tshuan, tshuang, tshuann, tshue, tshuh, tshui, tshun, tshut, tsi, tsia, tsiah, tsiam, tsian, tsiang, tsiann, tsiap, tsiat, tsiau, tsih, tsik, tsim, tsin, tsing, tsinn, tsio, tsioh, tsiok, tsiong, tsip, tsit, tsiu, tsiunn, tsng, tso, tsoh, tsok, tsong, tsoo, tsu, tsua, tsuah, tsuainn, tsuan, tsuann, tsuat, tsue, tsuh, tsui, tsun, tsut, tu, tua, tuan, tuann, tuat, tue, tuh, tui, tun, tut, u, ua, uah, uai, uainn, uan, uang, uann, uat, ue, ueh, uh, ui, un, ut

reviews of books related to China and linguistics (2)

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Sino-Platonic Papers has just released online its second compilation of book reviews. Here are the books discussed. (Note: The links below do not lead to the reviews but to other material. Use the link above.)

Invited Reviews

  • William A. Boltz, “The Typological Analysis of the Chinese Script.” A review article of John DeFrancis, Visible Speech, the Diverse Oneness of Writing Systems.
  • Paul Varley and Kumakura Isao, eds., Tea in Japan: Essays on the History of Chanoyu. Reviewed by William R. LaFleur .
  • Vladimir N. Basilov, ed., Nomads of Eurasia. Reviewed by David A. Utz.

Reviews by the Editor

  • “Philosophy and Language.” A review article of Françcois Jullien, Procès ou Création: Une introduction a la pensée des lettrés chinois.

Language and Linguistics

  • W. South Coblin, A Handbook of Eastern Han Sound Glosses.
  • Weldon South Coblin. A Sinologist’s Handlist of Sino-Tibetan Lexical Comparisons.
  • ZHOU Zhenhe and YOU Rujie. Fangyan yu Zhongguo Wenhua [Topolects and Chinese Culture].
  • CHOU Fa-kao. Papers in Chinese Linguistics and Epigraphy.
  • ZENG Zifan. Guangzhouhua Putonghua Duibi Qutan [Interesting Parallels between Cantonese and Mandarin].
  • Luciana Bressan. La Determinazione delle Norme Ortografiche del Pinyin.
  • JIANG Shaoyu and XU Changhua, tr. Zhongguoyu Lishi Wenfa [A Historical Grammar of Modern Chinese] by OTA Tatsuo.
  • McMahon, et al. Expository Writing in Chinese.
  • P. C. T’ung and D. E. Pollard. Colloquial Chinese.
  • Li Sijing, Hanyu “er” Yin Shih Yanjiu [Studies on the History of the “er” Sound in Sinitic].
  • Maurice Coyaud, Les langues dans le monde chinois.
  • Patricia Herbert and Anthony Milner, eds., South-East Asia: Languages and Literatures; A Select Guide.
  • Andrew Large, The Artificial Language Movement.
  • Wilhelm von Humboldt, On Language: The Diversity of Hunan Language-Structure and Its Influence on the Mental Development of Mankind.
  • Vitaly Shevoroshkin, ed., Reconstructing Languages and Cultures.
  • Jan Wind, et al., eds., Studies in Language Origins.

Short Notices

  • A. Kondratov, Sounds and Signs.
  • Jeremy Campbell, Grammatical Man: Information, Entropy, Language, and Life.
  • Pitfalls of the Tetragraphic Script.

Lexicography and Lexicology

  • MIN Jiaji, et al., comp., Hanyu Xinci Cidian [A Dictionary of New Sinitic Terms]
  • LYU Caizhen, et al., comp., Xiandai Hanyu Nanci Cidian [A Dictionary of Difficult Terms in Modern Sinitic].
  • Tom McArthur, Worlds of Reference: Lexicography, learning and language from the clay tablet to the computer.

A Bouquet of Pekingese Lexicons

  • JIN Shoushen, comp., Beijinghua Yuhui [Pekingese Vocabulary].
  • SONG Xiaocai and MA Xinhua, comp., Beijinghua Ciyu Lishi [Pekingese Expressions with Examples and Explanations] .
  • SONG Xiaocai and MA Xinhua, comp., Beijinghua Yuci Huishi [Pekingese Words and Phrases with Explanations] .
  • FU Min and GAO Aijun, comp., Beijinghua Ciyu (Dialectical Words and Phrases in Beijing).

A Bibliographical Trilogy

  • Paul Fu-mien Yang, comp., Chinese Linguistics: A Selected and Classified Bibliography.
  • Paul Fu-mien Yang, comp., Chinese Dialectology: A Selected and Classified Bibliography.
  • Paul Fu-mien Yang, comp., Chinese Lexicology and Lexicography: A Selected and Classified Bibliography.

Orality and Literacy

  • Jack Goody. The interface between the written and the oral.
  • Jack Goody. The logic of writing and the organization of society.
  • Deborah Tannen, ed., Spoken and Written Language: Exploring Orality and Literacy.

Society and Culture

  • Scott Simmie and Bob Nixon, Tiananmen Square.
  • Thomas H. C. Lee, Government Education and Examinations in Sung China.
  • ZHANG Zhishan, tr. and ed., Zhongguo zhi Xing [Record of a Journey to China].
  • LIN Wushu, Monijiao ji Qi Dongjian [Manichaeism and Its Eastward Expansion].
  • E. N. Anderson, The Food of China.
  • K. C. Chang, ed., Food in Chinese Culture: Anthropological and Historical Perspectives.
  • Jacques Gemet, China and the Christian Impact: A Conflict of Cultures.
  • D. E. Mungello, Curious Land: Jesuit Accommodation and the Origins of Sinology.

Short Notice

  • Roben Jastrow, The Enchanted Loom: Mind in the Universe.

In Memoriam
Chang-chen HSU
August 6, 1957 – June 27, 1989

  • Hsu Chang-chen, ed., and tr., Yin-tu hsien-tai hsiao-shuo hsüan [A Selection of Contemporary Indian Fiction].
  • Hsu Chang-chen, T’o-fu tzu-huiyen-chiu (Mastering TOEFL Vocabulary).
  • Hsu Chang-chen, Tsui-chung-yao-te i pai ke Ying-wen tzu-shou tzu-ken (100 English Prefixes and Word Roots).
  • Hsu Chang-chen, Fa-wen tzu-hui chieh-koufen-hsi — tzu-shou yü tzu-ken (Les préfixes et les racines de la langue française).
  • Hsu Chang-chen, comp. and tr., Hsi-yü yü Fo-chiao wen-shih lun-chi (Collection of Articles on Studies of Central Asia, India, and Buddhism).

This is SPP no. 14, from December 1989. The entire text is now online as a 7.3 MB PDF.

See my earlier post for the contents of the first SPP volume of reviews and a link to the full volume.

for the record: remarks by the premier of the PRC State Council

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Here’s the official word by PRC Premier Wēn Jiābǎo (温家宝/溫家寶) on what the PRC will do regarding education. I’m putting this here mainly for later reference.

We put education high on the development agenda. A total of 184 billion yuan was allocated by both central and local governments to fund rural compulsory education, enabling us to pay tuition and miscellaneous fees for the 52 million rural students receiving compulsory education throughout the western region and in some areas in the central region, provide free textbooks to 37.3 million students from poor families and grant living allowances to 7.8 million students staying in dormitories. Of the 410 targeted counties, 317 reached the goals of making nine-year compulsory education generally available and basically eliminating illiteracy among young and middle-aged adults. The proportion of the target population attaining these two goals in the western region increased to 96% from the 77% of 2003. The central government spent 9 billion yuan over the past three years building facilities for 7,651 rural boarding schools. Eight billion yuan was spent to develop modern primary and middle school distance education for rural areas. The project covers over 80% of the rural primary and middle schools in the central and western regions and enables over 100 million students to have access to high-quality education resources. New enrollment at secondary vocational schools totaled 7.41 million and total attendance reached 18.09 million. Total attendance at institutions of higher education reached 25 million and the gross enrollment ratio rose to 22%….

Education is the bedrock of China’s development, and fairness in education is an important form of social fairness. We need to make education a strategic priority and accelerate the development of all types of education at all levels. The overall goal is to expand the availability of compulsory education and consolidate progress already made, accelerate the development of vocational education and strive to improve the quality of higher education. This year, we will completely stop collecting tuition and miscellaneous fees from all rural students receiving compulsory education. This will ease the financial burden of 150 million rural households with children attending primary and middle schools. We will continue to provide free textbooks for poor rural students receiving compulsory education and living allowances for those staying in dormitories. We will improve the mechanism for ensuring continuing funding for rural compulsory education. This year’s government allocations for rural compulsory education total 223.5 billion yuan, up 39.5 billion yuan from last year. During implementation of the Eleventh Five-Year Plan, 10 billion yuan will be allocated from the central government budget to upgrade rural junior middle school facilities. Local governments should also make corresponding increases in funding in this area. In addition, we will continue working to solve the problems that students from poor urban families and children of rural migrant workers in cities have in receiving compulsory education. This year, we will ensure that the plan to make nine-year compulsory education generally available and basically eliminate illiteracy among young and middle-aged adults in the western region and the modern rural primary and middle school distance education project achieve their final objectives. We will work to ensure that all children are able to afford and attend school. We are definitely capable of reaching this goal. We need to attach more importance to developing vocational education, which is a major reform and historic task to truly make education available to all members of society. The focus of this effort will be on developing secondary vocational education and strengthening the vocational education and training network for urban and rural areas. We will deepen reform of the management of vocational education by setting up a mechanism that combines the participation of industry, enterprises and schools and promoting models of school operation that integrate work and study and enhance cooperation between schools and enterprises. We will accelerate reform of education and teaching in higher education with the focus on improving quality, keep the scale of enrollment relatively stable, increase efforts to develop leading disciplines and universities, make innovations in the model for producing capable personnel and improve the mix of capable personnel being produced in order to produce large numbers of outstanding personnel. We will support and standardize the development of non-publicly funded schools and improve conditions for non-government entities to run schools.

Source: Report on the Work of the Government delivered by Premier Wen Jiabao at the Fifth Session of the Tenth National People’s Congress on March 5, 2007, via Xinhua, March 16, 2007

Holy hippos, Batman! — Taiwan expands its list of English words for students

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Taiwan’s Ministry of Education has dipped into pop culture for some of its additions to the list of English words that elementary and junior high students are expected to learn. Among the new additions are “Batman” and “Spiderman.”

Yes, students will be tested on these — but not until 2011.

Three professors and three junior high English teachers compiled the new list of two hundred basic words; this will be added to the existing list of one thousand words.

Here are some of the other new additions:

  • bat
  • bug (computer)
  • Easter
  • French fries
  • gate (airport)
  • guy
  • Halloween
  • hippo
  • kangaroo
  • koala
  • marker
  • MRT (the mass rapid transit systems of Taipei and Gaoxiong)
  • PIN (personal identification number)
  • scooter
  • slim
  • spider
  • surf
  • temple
  • T-shirt
  • yummy
  • zebra

sources:

illiteracy in China on the rise: PRC illiteracy eradication office head

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Gāo Xuéguì (高学贵 / 高學貴), the director of the illiteracy eradication office of the basic education department of China’s Ministry of Education, has acknowledged that illiteracy in China increased between 2000 and 2005, in large part because people are losing the literacy they were said to have acquired. Although the figures for literacy are still inflated, the admission is a refreshing bit of directness from a government not known for its willingness to release bad news about itself.

Here’s the full article:

The number of illiterates in China grew by more than 30 million between 2000 and 2005 despite its efforts to eradicate illiteracy, a senior official has said.

Though over 9.75 million adults learnt to read and write during this period, the number of illiterates in the country rose to 116 million, said Gao Xuegui, director of the illiteracy eradication office of the basic education department of the Ministry of Education.

The number of illiterates in China accounted for 11.3 percent of the world’s total in 2000, right after India, and 15.01 percent in 2005. That means many people who had come out of the illiteracy trap forgot what they learnt.

“The situation is worrying,” Gao said. “Illiteracy is not only a matter of education, but also has a great social impact.”

China defines literacy as the ability to read and write at least 1,500 Chinese characters.

“Given the increase in the number of illiterates, the country may not be able to meet its target of a 50-percent reduction in its illiterate population by 2015 as projected by UNESCO,” said China National Institute for Educational Research scholar Guo Hongxia.

A worrying factor, as Gao said, is the changing demography of illiterates in the country.

For instance, the western regions now have only about 40 million illiterates. In contrast, the central and eastern parts, which have a high population density, account for two-thirds of them, with 9.63 million being in Shandong alone.

A major reason for the rebound in the illiterate population is the changing perception of knowledge in the market economy. Farmers today can earn money by working as laborers, too. So they tend to ignore the nine-year compulsory education despite having access to it, Gao said.

Another factor that ironically contributed to the increase in the illiteracy rate is the success of the illiteracy eradication campaign of the previous years because that led many local governments to “eradicate” the departments in charge of the program itself, Gao said.

But despite the setback, the illiteracy eradication office is determined to fulfill its mission, for which it’s seeking 100 million-yuan ($12.9 million) this year.

The existing budget of 8 million yuan ($1.03 million), it says, is not enough because it allots a paltry 0.07 yuan (or less than 1 cent) to each illiterate person.

The extra money, the office says, will be used to build a team of illiteracy eradication professionals on government payroll and to offer subsidy to volunteers.

Projects to eradicate illiteracy among 80 million women and the ethnic minorities are already under way.

But some local governments haven’t shown a long-term commitment to the program, with a few even trying to bend the rules, said Wu Qing, honorary councilor of Beijing Cultural Development Centre for Rural Women, an NGO that helps with the literacy campaign.

source: Ghost of illiteracy returns to haunt country, China Daily, April 2, 2007

some character-input methods ‘Westernizing’ Chinese culture and making it ‘degenerate’: PRC official

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Many of the stories I come across in my searches for news about Pinyin are related to input methods for Chinese characters. But I seldom find anything of interest in these. They tend to follow the same template: someone is touting a great new character-input method that is just so much better than Pinyin and everything else. It’s going to save Chinese characters and thus Chinese civilization and all that is good in the universe, etc. Blah, blah, blah. I just get bored.

But I recently came across one widely reprinted article that’s a bit more interesting and amusing/alarming/absurd. It has the additional advantage of being about the claims of a member of the PRC’s Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. Here’s the key paragraph:

Chén Duó wěiyuán shuō: “Shǒujī Hànzì shūrù jìshù yīlài wàiguó gōngsī zhìshǎo zàochéng sān dà wèntí. Shǒuxiān, wàiguó gōngsī de Hànzì shūrùfǎ pòhuài le wǒmen shǐyòng Hànyǔ Hànzì de chuántǒng sīwéi xíguàn, dǎozhì Hànwén huà yánghuà, yìhuà, tuìhuà; qícì, wàiguó gōngsī bù zhíxíng wǒguó 27,484 gè zì de qiángzhìxìng biāozhǔn, biānmǎ zì liáng zhǐyǒu 6,763 gè zì, zàochéng Hànzì shǐyòng hùnluàn, Hànzì wénběn xìnxī shīzhēn, yǐngxiǎng guójiā xìnxī ānquán; hái yǒu, Zhōngguó měinián huā jǐ yì yuán gòumǎi wàiguó gōngsī de Hànzì shūrù ruǎnjiàn, yèjiè liǎnmiàn hézài? Hànzì wénhuà de zūnyán, quánwēi bèi zhìyú hédì?”

Committee member Chen Duo said: “The reliance of mobile phones on foreign corporations’ Chinese character input technology creates at least three major problems. First, foreign corporation’s Chinese character input methods are destroying the traditional patterns for thinking about using Chinese characters and are Westernizing Chinese culture, [causing it to be] alienated and degenerate. Next, foreign corporations are not complying with our country’s compulsory standard of 27,484 characters, using instead only 6,763 characters, which wreaks chaos in the use of Chinese characters, distorts Chinese character text messages, and affects national information security. Also, China spends hundreds of millions of yuan every year on Chinese character input software. Where is the self respect of the [domestic] industry? The dignity and prestige of the culture of Chinese characters — where have they been put?

About a week later Liu Naiqiang (刘廼强), another member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, was touting the “fool” (shǎguā) character-input method, whatever that is, and warning against Pinyin.

Here is the whole article about Chen Duo:

“Wǒguó yǒu chāoguò 4.6 yì shǒujī yònghù, jū quánqiú dìyī, dàn yǒu jiǔchéng yònghù shūrù Hànzì shí, shǐyòng de shì wàiguó jìshù!” láizì xīnwén chūbǎnjiè de quánguó Zhèngxié wěiyuán Chén Duó zài quánguó Zhèngxié shí jiè wǔ cì huìyì gānggang kāishǐ shí, biàn tíjiāo le yī fèn zhǔnbèi hěn jiǔ de tí’àn, jiànyì jǐnkuài shíshī shùzì jiànpán Hànzì shūrù guójiā biāozhǔn, niǔzhuǎn wǒguó shǒujī Hànzì shūrù jìshù shòukòng yú wàiguó gōngsī de júmiàn.

Chén Duó wěiyuán shuō: “shǒujī Hànzì shūrù jìshù yīlài wàiguó gōngsī zhìshǎo zàochéng sān dà wèntí. Shǒuxiān, wàiguó gōngsī de Hànzì shūrùfǎ pòhuài le wǒmen shǐyòng Hànyǔ Hànzì de chuántǒng sīwéi xíguàn, dǎozhì Hànwén huà yánghuà, yìhuà, tuìhuà; qícì, wàiguó gōngsī bù zhíxíng wǒguó 27,484 gè zì de qiángzhìxìng biāozhǔn, biānmǎ zì liáng zhǐyǒu 6,763 gè zì, zàochéng Hànzì shǐyòng hùnluàn, Hànzì wénběn xìnxī shīzhēn, yǐngxiǎng guójiā xìnxī ‘ānquán; hái yǒu, Zhōngguó měinián huā jǐ yì yuán gòumǎi wàiguó gōngsī de Hànzì shūrù ruǎnjiàn, yèjiè liǎnmiàn hézài? Hànzì wénhuà de zūnyán, quánwēi bèi zhìyú hédì?”

Chén Duó jīngguò diàoyán huòxī, yóu Zhōngguórén zìzhǔ kāifā de guó bǐ shūrù jìshù zì liáng 27,484 gè, pīnyīn shūrù sùdù Bǐguó wài shūrùfǎ kuàijiāng jìn sì chéng, bǐhuà shūrù Bǐguó wài shūrùfǎ kuài yībàn, yīn xíng zǔhé shūrù Bǐguó wài pīnyīn shūrùfǎ kuài jìn qīchéng. Tā rènwéi, “guó bǐ cǎijí jìsuàn le shù bǎiyì zì de Zhōngguó bǎixìng xíguàn yòngyǔ yòng cí, yōngyǒu gèxìng huà de zhìnéng tiáopín wénzì shūrù fāng’àn, yínghé le Zhōngguó bǎixìng shǐyòng Hànyǔ Hànzì de chuántǒng sīwéi guànxìng, shǐ wénzì shūrù gèng liúchàng, fāngbiàn, shíyòng. “2006 nián 10 yuè, xìnxī chǎnyè bù zhàokāi le yǐ guó bǐ shūrùfǎ wéizhǔ dǎo de guójiā biāozhǔn 《xìnxī jìshù shùzì jiànpán Hànzì shūrù tōngyòng yāoqiú》 zhēngqiú yìjiàn huì, chàngyì quánguó gè dàshǒu jī shèjì shāng, zhìzàoshāng děng cǎiyòng wǒguó zìzhǔ chuàngxīn de Hànzì shūrùfǎ.

Chén Duó wěiyuán shuō, jǐnguǎn guó bǐ shūrù jìshù yǐ qiànrù le kāng jiā, jīn lì, yǔ lóng, TCL děng zhōngduān chǎnpǐn, dǎkāi le shìchǎng de quēkǒu, dàn yóuyú shūrù jìshù shìyǐ qiànrù jìshù de fāngshì jìnrù shìchǎng, zhǔnrù ménkǎn gāo, zhōuqī cháng; zhàn wǒguó 60% yǐshàng shǒujī shìchǎng de jǐ dàguó wài pǐnpái shāng, cúnzài cǎigòu wàiguó gōngsī ruǎnjiàn de guànxìng, yǒude guónèi shǒujī chǎngshāng yě mángmù chóngbài guówài chǎnpǐn; jiāshàng shuǐhuò shǒujī jí shǎo fùfèi děng yuányīn, guónèi de Hànzì shūrù jìshù yào yǔguó wài yǐjing xíngchéng lǒngduàn de gōngsī jìngzhēng, nándù fēicháng dà; jiāzhī zhè xiàng jìshù de ménkǎn jiàogāo, jíshǐ qiāndìng le hézuò xiéyì, cóngxīn shǒujī yánfā dào chéngshú de chǎnpǐn chūchǎng zhìshǎo xūyào 9 ge yuè de shíjiān, zhège guòchéng rúguǒ méiyǒu hěn hǎode jìshù bǎozhàng hédà liáng zījīn zhīchí, hěn nán wéichí xiaqu.

Wèicǐ, Chén Duó jiànyì guójiā yǒuguān bùmén cǎiqǔ qièshí cuòshī tuīdòng shùzì jiànpán Hànzì shūrù guójiā biāozhǔn de shíshī, jiāndū hé yǐndǎo yǒuguān shēngchǎn shāng zhíxíng guójiā biāozhǔn, tuījìn guóchǎn shǒujī Hànzì shūrù jìshù chǎnyèhuà, bìng cóng fúzhí zìzhǔ chuàngxīn de jiǎodù chūfā, duì qí jǐyǔ zhèngcèxìng zhīchí.

sources:

“只有顺着中文书写逻辑，以字形和笔顺为基础，不用学、不用记，人人都很快上手的‘傻瓜输入法’才能成为全球通用的中文输入法。国家应尽快将‘傻瓜输入法’开发出来。”全国政协委员刘廼强说。

现在社会上的中文输入法很多，像目前最流行的繁体“仓颉”、“简易”，简体的“五笔”等，但刘廼强认为它们是为要求速度的专业人员设计的，不适合现在人人都要自己输入，速度不是最重要要求的现实状况。

至于“拼音”输入法，刘廼强则认为，虽然繁简皆宜，更无须特别学和记，只要统一拼音标准，按道理是不错的全球通用的输入方法。“问题是中文不是语音语言，老用拼音输入法，很容易就会执笔忘字。实践证明，彻底拼音化决不是中文发展的正确方向，因而也不是中文输入应发展的方向，因为这样下去，中文便会萎缩灭亡。”