pro-Hanyu Pinyin Taipei mayor elected head of KMT

On July 16 Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou was elected KMT chairman by a wide margin. Ma was behind Taipei’s welcome switch from bastardized Wade-Giles to Hanyu Pinyin.

Most advocates of Tongyong Pinyin, which Taiwan’s central government has adopted but not made mandatory throughout the country, like to tout the made-in-Taiwan aspect of their system. This is simply another way to oppose China. And perhaps the KMT of today, with its relatively cozy good relations with Beijing, would indeed generally favor Hanyu Pinyin. But it’s important to remember that the KMT in the past opposed Hanyu Pinyin. The KMT government’s decision back in 1986 to come up with a new romanization system was a direct result of the growing popularity of Hanyu Pinyin elsewhere and an increased understanding in Taiwan of the failure — at least in implementation — of Gwoyeu Romatzyh. So MPS2 was devised in reaction to Hanyu Pinyin. Predictably, it received little attention or support despite its nominally official status. In the end MPS2 was used basically nowhere but on some street signs. And so Tongyong Pinyin replaced another system that was already made in Taiwan.

If the KMT had backed Hanyu Pinyin a long time ago, the romanization situation in Taiwan wouldn’t be such a mess.

I believe Ma’s support for Hanyu Pinyin is not the result of politics but a recognition that the system is what the majority of Taiwan’s foreign population wants.

A note here on Ma’s preferred spelling of his name. In hanzi it is 馬英九. In Hanyu Pinyin it would be Mǎ Yīngjiǔ. But the standard romanization of his name is “Ma Ying-jeou.” The “jeou” certainly evokes the Gwoyeu Romatzyh tonal spelling system. But in GR Ma’s name would be Maa Ingjeou. Very curious.

Singapore to begin new Mandarin curriculum

SINGAPORE : 25 primary schools will introduce the new [Mandarin] Chinese language curriculum from January next year.

The pilot programme will involve all students in Primary 1 and 2.

Anglo-Chinese Junior (ACS) hopes to be among the first to try out the new approach to learning Mandarin where emphasis will be on character recognition and oral skills.

All students will take a core module which makes up about 70% of the curriculum, with bridging modules for weak students and enrichment classes for those with ability and interest.

But the majority will take on, what the Ministry calls, a school-based module.

“Teachers can use part of the enrichment or bridging modules provided. They can also design their own school-based materials. This helps bring about better customization,” said Yue Lip Sin, Deputy Director of the Education Ministry.

Schools can break up the classes, so students can attend a separate [Mandarin] Chinese class with those of the same abilities through the year.

They can also teach the core curriculum as per normal and put certain students in the add-on modules for certain lessons each week.

Primary 1 students will be banded by their teachers only after they have finished learning “Hanyu Pinyin”.

Teachers at ACS expect about 20% to take up the bridging module and 10% for the enrichment class.

They add that the concept of ability banding is not new to them.

“When we group the pupils of similar abilities together, the teachers are able to design lessons that cater to their needs. They will be able to spark their interest in the learning of [Mandarin] Chinese,” said Lye Choon Hwan, Head of the Mother Tongue Department at ACS

Students will be assessed based on the core syllabus and schools have the autonomy to decide on the methods of assessment.

But the ministry emphasized that what is more important is helping students develop a love for the language, without making it unchallenging.

The ministry will announce the schools in the pilot scheme later this year and implement the new curriculum in all primary schools by 2007.

source: Channel News Asia

Taiwan’s minister of education on language teaching

Dù Zhèng-shèng: xiāngtǔ yǔ jiàoxué pīnyīn xìtǒng jiāng xuǎn [róng]yì xué, [róng]yì yòng bǎn

Guózhōng xiǎoxué shǐyòng de xiāngtǔ yǔyán jiàocái méiyǒu biāozhǔn běn, cǎiyòng de pīnyīn xìtǒng yě bù yīzhì, yīxiē tiáojiào huò zhuǎnxué de jiàoshī yǔ xuésheng xiāngdāng kùnrǎo, jiàoyù bùzhǎng Dù Zhèng-shèng jīntiān biǎoshì, Jiàoyùbù Guóyǔ tuīxíng wěiyuánhuì tǎolùn guo jǐ cì, jiànlì yǐ “róngyì xué, róngyì yòng” zuòwéi pīnyīn xìtǒng zéyī de gòngshí, xīwàng bā, Jiǔyuè quèdìng.

Jiàoyùbù Guóyǔ tuīxíng wěiyuánhuì zhǔrèn wěiyuán Liáng Róng-mào biǎoshì, Huáyǔ, Kèjiāhuà de pīnyīn fúhào xìtǒng, zài Mínguó jiǔshí’èr niánchū tōngguò cǎiyòng tōngyòng pīnyīn xìtǒng, Mǐnnányǔ pīnyīn xìtǒng dào xiànzài hái méiyǒu quèdìng, tōngyòng, jiàohuì Luómǎ, TLPA sān zhǒng dōu yǒurén yòng, Guóyǔ huì zhèng diàochá xuéxiào jiàoshī rènwéi nà yī zhǒng pīnyīn xìtǒng bǐjiào hǎoxué, hǎo jiāo, zài tǎolùn juédìng.

Jiǔshísān (2004) xuénián dù Jiàoyùbù tuīdòng de xiāngtǔ yǔyán jiàoxué zhèngzài píng jiàn, píng jiàn wěiyuán shídì fǎngshì gè xiàn-shì xuéxiào hòu, zhè jǐ tiān zài guólì biānyìguǎn jìnxíng xiàn-shì shūmiàn zīliào jízhōng shěnchá, Dù Zhèng-shèng jīntiān guānkàn gè xiàn-shì zīliào, wèiwèn shěnchá wěiyuán, zhēnduì xiāngtǔ yǔyán jiàoxué jiàocái pīnyīn xìtǒng zhēngyì, tíchū qiánshù shuōmíng.

Dù Zhèng-shèng shuō, xiāngtǔ jiàoxué jiàocái bùlùn Héluò huà Mǐnnánhuà, Kèjiāhuà, yuánzhùmín yǔ, dōu shìyǐ yǔyán zuò jīchǔ, yǔyán zhīwài, háiyǒu wénhuà, lìshǐ, dìlǐ, zhěnggè xiāngtǔ jiàoxué nèiróng shì bǎ xiāngtǔ yǔyán yǔ xiāngtǔ jiāocái nèiróng jiéhé, wàijiè bǎ jiāodiǎn fàng zài pīnyīn xìtǒng, duì dì-yī xiàn gōngzuò de jiàoshī bìngbù zhòngyào.

Bùguò, Dù Zhèng-shèng biǎoshì, Jiàoyùbù Guóyǔ huì kāi guo jǐ cì huì, huòdé jīběn gòngshí, jiùshì yǐ “róngyì xué, róngyì yòng” wéizhǔ, cóng xuéxí zhě de jiǎodù chūfā, xīwàng tǎolùn chū yī tào dàjiā kě jiēshòu de pīnyīn xìtǒng.

杜正勝:鄉土語教學拼音系統將選易學易用版
中央社 2005-06-14 19:44

國中小學使用的鄉土語言教材沒有標準本,採用的拼音系統也不一致,一些調校或轉學的教師與學生相當困擾,教育部長杜正勝今天表示,教育部國語推行委員會討論過幾次,建立以﹁易學易用﹂作為拼音系統擇一的共識,希望八、九月確定。

教育部國語推行委員會主任委員梁榮茂表示,華語、客家話的拼音符號系統,在民國九十二年初通過採用通用拼音系統,閩南語拼音系統到現在還沒有確定,通用、教會羅馬、TLPA三種都有人用,國語會正調查學校教師認為那一種拼音系統比較好學、好教,再討論決定。

九十三學年度教育部推動的鄉土語言教學正在評鑑,評鑑委員實地訪視各縣市學校後,這幾天在國立編譯館進行縣市書面資料集中審查,杜正勝今天觀看各縣市資料,慰問審查委員,針對鄉土語言教學教材拼音系統爭議,提出前述說明。

杜正勝說,鄉土教學教材不論河洛話閩南話、客家話、原住民語,都是以語言做基礎,語言之外,還有文化、歷史、地理,整個鄉土教學內容是把鄉土語言與鄉土教材內容結合,外界把焦點放在拼音系統,對第一線工作的教師並不重要。

不過,杜正勝表示,教育部國語會開過幾次會,獲得基本共識,就是以﹁易學易用﹂為主,從學習者的角度出發,希望討論出一套大家可接受的拼音系統。

Another story on the same topic:

Xiāngtǔ yǔyán pīnyīn bùyī Guóyǔ huì yán yì

Jīn niándù (xiāngtǔ yǔyán jiàoxué píng jiàn) kāishǐ shěnchá, jiàoyù bùzhǎng Dù Zhèng-shèng jīntiān qiánwǎng guólì biānyìguǎn, liào jiě gè xiàn-shì xiāngtǔ yǔyán jiàoxué chéngguǒ. Dù Zhèng-shèng kěndìng gè xiàn-shì chuàngxīn jiàocái de yòngxīn, duìyú dāngjīn xiāngtǔ yǔyán pīnyīn xìtǒng bùyī de wèntí, dù bùzhǎng biǎoshì, jiāng jiāo yóu Guóyǔ tuīxíng wěiyuánhuì yán yì, bùguò wúlùn shì-fǒu cǎiqǔ tǒngyī pīnyīn xìtǒng, dōu yào yǐ xuéxí zhě jiǎodù chūfā, ràng lǎoshī hǎo jiāo, xuésheng hǎoxué cáihǎo.

Liào jiě gè xiàn-shì tuīdòng xiāngtǔ yǔyán jiàoxué chéngguǒ, Jiàoyùbù jīnnián dì-èr nián shíshī xiāngtǔ yǔyán jiàoxué píng jiàn, jiàoyù bùzhǎng Dù Zhèng-shèng Xīngqī’èr yě dào guólì biānyìguǎn shěncháhuì chǎng, qīnzì liào jiě gè xiàn-shì tuīdòng chéngjì. Dù Zhèng-shèng kěndìng xiànzài hěn duō xiàn-shì jiāo xiāngtǔ yǔyán de shíhou, bùzhǐ jiāo yǔyán, yě róngrù dāngdì lìshǐ wénhuà tèsè de yòngxīn, kàndào xǔduō xuéxiào dōu shànyòng duōméitǐ, wǎnglù děng kējì zì biān jiàocái, yě biǎoshì wèimiǎn, rènwéi cóng zhèxiē chéngguǒ lái kàn, yǐjing kěyǐ kàndào jiàogǎi de chéngjì. Zhìyú miànduì dāngjīn zuì ràngrén fánnǎo de gè dì pīnyīn xìtǒng bù yīzhì wèntí, Dù Zhèng-shèng biǎoshì, Jiàoyùbù yǐjing wēi tuō Guóyǔ tuīxíng wěiyuánhuì yán yì, huì cóng xuéxí zhě jiǎodù chūfā, zài zuò juédìng.

Jīn niándù xiāngtǔ yǔyán jiàoxué píng jiàn zhè jǐ tiān jìnxíng shūmiàn shěnchá, zhīhòu yóu gè xiàn-shì jìnxíng chéngguǒ jiǎnbào, xiàn-shì chéngjì zhīwài, Liùyuè dǐ yě jiāng xuǎnbá jì yōu jiàoshī, zuìhòu píng jiàn jì yōu xiàn-shì jiāng zài Qīyuè xiàxún bānjiǎng biǎoyáng.

鄉土語言拼音不一 國語會研議

今年度﹝鄉土語言教學評鑒﹞開始審查,教育部長杜正勝今天前往國立編譯館,瞭解各縣市鄉土語言教學成果。杜正勝肯定各縣市創新教材的用心,對於當今鄉土語言拼音系統不一的問題,杜部長表示,將交由國語推行委員會研議,不過無論是否採取統一拼音系統,都要以學習者角度出發,讓老師好教、學生好學才好。(羅皓恩報導)

瞭解各縣市推動鄉土語言教學成果,教育部今年第二年實施鄉土語言教學評鑑,教育部長杜正勝星期二也到國立編譯館審查會場,親自瞭解各縣市推動成績。杜正勝肯定現在很多縣市教鄉土語言的時候,不只教語言、也融入當地歷史文化特色的用心,看到許多學校都善用多媒體、網路等科技自編教材,也表示慰勉,認為從這些成果來看,已經可以看到教改的成績。至於面對當今最讓人煩惱的各地拼音系統不一致問題,杜正勝表示,教育部已經委託國語推行委員會研議,會從學習者角度出發,再做決定。

今年度鄉土語言教學評鑑這幾天進行書面審查,之後由各縣市進行成果簡報,縣市成績之外,六月底也將選拔績優教師,最後評鑑績優縣市將在七月下旬頒獎表揚。

Mandarin pop/rock lyrics in Pinyin

Lately I’ve been adding the lyrics to some songs, including titles by Cui Jian, Faye Wong, Wu Bai and China Blue, and Jay Chou.

I haven’t included Chinese characters. Keep in mind that songs are meant to be heard, not read. Also, tones generally disappear when words are sung. Thus, these songs should be considerably easier to understand when read in Pinyin transcriptions than when listened to alone. (It’s the same with other languages, too, of course.) If you find you’re having trouble, liànxí, liànxí.

Taiwan citizenship and Mandarin

Today’s Taipei Times has the following note:

Citizenship changes proceed

Foreign nationals seeking Taiwanese citizenship will be required to have a basic grasp of Mandarin and an understanding of the rights and responsibilities of being a Taiwanese citizen if an amendment to the Nationality Law (國籍法 guójí fǎ) is passed. The amendment was approved by the legislature’s Home and Nations Committee yesterday and sent for further screening to a legislative plenary session. According to the amendment, the Ministry of the Interior will set the standards regarding basic language ability and knowledge of citizen rights and responsibilities. The ministry will also be responsible for testing applicants. Vice Minister of the Interior Chien Tai-lang (簡太郎) said that the amendment is aimed at bringing naturalization laws in line with those of such English-speaking countries as the US, Canada and New Zealand.

According to an official U.S. government Web site on U.S. citizenship and immigration services, “To be eligible for naturalization, you must be able to read, write, and speak basic English.” (Emphasis mine.)

The few Web pages I’ve scanned about Canadian citizenship are not as specific about the language requirement. I get the impression, though, that being able to read and write French or English is not required as long as speaking ability exists. I didn’t see anything specific about the English-language requirement for New Zealand, either.

Official talk of a language requirement for ROC (Taiwan) citizenship surfaced about a year ago. At the time, I called the Ministry of the Interior to inquire about the situation. If applicants for citizenship are required to be able to read and write Mandarin in Chinese characters, this would be a substantial barrier to naturalization — much more so than being able to read or write a language that is written in an alphabetic script.

I was told that reading and writing Chinese characters would not be required. I hope that is still the intention of the government.

I also inquired whether languages of Taiwan other than Mandarin would be acceptable, and I was told they would be. Thus, someone able to speak Taiwanese (Hokkien, Minnan, Holo…), Hakka, or, rather less likely, one of the languages of Taiwan’s tribes, would be able to meet the language requirement without knowledge of Mandarin. I hope that this, too, is still the intention of the government.

I suspect some of the ambiguity may lie in how Guóyǔ (國語) is translated. Most of the time the word refers to Mandarin. Recently, however, the government has occasionally chosen to translate Guóyǔ not as “national language” (i.e. Mandarin) but “national languages” (i.e. the more than one dozen languages of Taiwan: Mandarin, Taiwanese, Hakka, and the languages of Taiwan’s tribes).

German paper on Chinese language reform

Another paper I’ve come across in my Web surfing: Ideen zur Sprachreform in China ab den ersten phonetischen Transkribtionssystemen unter besonderer Berücksichtigung des Schriftstellers Lu Xun (“Thoughts on language reform in China, starting from the first phonetic transcription and with special consideration of the writer Lu Xun”).

I don’t read German, so I can’t vouch for the correctness of the paper. Actually, from what little I can read, it seems that the author has a few all-too-common notions about “dialects”, etc. But the paper might be worthwhile anyway.

script reform in the Qing era

I recently came across W.K. Cheng’s “Enlightenment and Unity: Language Reformism in Late Qing China,” an interesting article from 2001 that covers much of the same ground as Victor Mair’s “Sound and Meaning in the History of Characters: Views of China’s Earliest Script Reformers,” but from a wider, social perspective.

new Taiwan ID cards

Nèizhèngbù guānyuán zhǐchū, bǐjiào xīn-jiù shì shēnfenzhèng shèjì de chābié, xīnshì shēnfenzhèng jiāng zàochéng shǐyòng xíguàn de gǎibiàn, qízhōng bāokuò xìngmíng lán zuìduō kě tiánrù 22 ge zì, fāngbiàn yuánzhùmín tóngshí biāozhù Hànzì yǔ Luómǎ pīnyīn xìngmíng; tóupiào shí bùbì yú shēnfenzhèng shàng gàizhāng, jǐn jìnxíng shēnfen biànshí, héduì míngcè, tóupiào tōngzhīdān děng dòngzuò; qiānyí hùjí jiùděi chóngxīn huàn fā; shēnfenzhèng bùzài yǒu xìngbié de yánsè qūgé.

內政部官員指出,比較新舊式身分證設計的差別,新式身分證將造成使用習慣的改變,其中包括姓名欄最多可填入廿二個字,方便原住民同時標註漢字與羅馬拼音姓名;投票時不必於身分證上蓋章,僅進行身分辨識、核對名冊、投票通知單等動作;遷移戶籍就得重新換發;身分證不再有性別的顏色區隔。

Spaces for 22 zì on the new Taiwan ID cards. I wonder if that means Hanzi, because my complete name (first, middle, and last, along with my three-character “Chinese name”) is longer than 22 letters.
If a proportional font is used, more than 22 alphabetic letters should fit within the space for 22 Hanzi. But if 22 zì does mean alphabetic letters, then there’s going to be a problem.