閩南語用詞 沒羅馬化
記者謝蕙蓮/台北報導
「嘸宰羊」、「麥擱講」…民眾到KTV、看報章雜誌，經常可以看見這些坊間自創的閩南語詞。教育部下個月將公布閩南語300常用詞用字建議表，大約九成閩南語詞使用漢字，約一成使用漢字和羅馬拼音併用或只有羅馬拼音，並沒有把閩南語羅馬化。
教育部國語推行委員會主委鄭良偉表示，閩南語300常用詞用字建議表，所選擇的是民眾經常使用、且台語界沒有爭議的字詞。預定下個月公布的300常用詞，大約有一成左右無法用漢字呈現，國語會決定在建議表中，以漢字、羅馬拼音併陳方式呈現，只用羅馬拼音的不到1%。
九年一貫課程實施後，坊間各種版本鄉土語言課本，使用的文字都不相同。有羅馬拼音、有漢字、甚至還有老師上課時自創新字，造成教學上很大困擾。
為了改善學校鄉土語言教材閩南語用字的混亂現象，教育部國語推行委員會成立「台灣閩南語用字工作小組」，經過多次會議，第一階段300個常用詞已大致選定。教育部下個月立委選後要召開諮詢委員會討論，計畫年底前正式公布，供書商編寫教材和學校教學參考。
鄭良偉表示，300閩南語常用詞用字，是比較了10多本閩南語詞典用字，再集合文字學、聲韻學、教育心理、社會心理學各方面的專家，找出閩南語本字並考慮現在民眾的閱讀習慣，盡量採用簡單、易懂、易學的文字來呈現。
閩南語常用詞建議表過去在討論過程，也曾遭到立委質疑教育部要把「閩南語漢字羅馬化」。鄭良偉強調，工作小組是本於專業，盡量找到閩南語的漢字「本字」，如果本字太難，就改用簡單、易懂、社會有共識的字。
study on literacy of Japanese college students
Japanese lost for words
Eric Johnston in Osaka
Thursday November 25, 2004
The GuardianWith its phonetic symbols and complex vocabulary, Japanese can defeat even the most talented linguists. Now it seems to be baffling native speakers, too.
Nearly a fifth of the students at Japanese private universities have the reading ability expected of 13- to 15-year-olds, according to the National Institute of Multimedia Education (Nime), which surveyed 13,000 in their first year at 33 universities and colleges.
The students were presented with a multiple choice test and asked to define nouns, adjectives and adverbs.
Two-thirds of the respondents thought that a word meaning “to grieve” actually meant “to be happy”.
The study showed that foreign exchange students who had spent some years learning Japanese could sometimes read better than locals.
The survey confirms a trend which educationists have noted for at least 10 years.
And although the Nime report gives no reason for the low standards, the Japanese have long attributed the reduced vocabulary of today’s students, at least in part, to the proliferation of comics, which use simple ideograms and sentence structures.
The research team has called on the education ministry, to which the institute is affiliated, to introduce remedial classes for the students that need them.
Foreigners have long considered Japanese to be one of the world’s most difficult written languages.
It uses two separate sets of phonetic symbols and thousands of Chinese ideograms, and some words have as many as a dozen meanings and nearly as many pronunciations.
The good news, the researchers said, was that only 6% of the students at state universities were reading at junior secondary school levels.
The national universities tend to have tougher entrance exams than private colleges.
Korean university to require passage of character test
November 24, 2004 ? Korea University said yesterday that a test on Chinese characters will become a graduation requirement for students entering this year. The students can take the test at any time during their stay at the school.
“China has become an economic giant, but our students are less and less competent in the language,” Kim Chang-bae, education support manager of Korea University, said. “Proficiency in Chinese characters is essential for understanding the Korean language.” He said large business groups, such as Samsung and SK, have recently begun looking at Chinese character proficiency in their employment criteria.
The first test, on which students must score a minimum of 60 percent, is scheduled to take place Saturday, and the university is now taking applications. Four tests are planned next year.
S’pore’s guidelines
S’pore gov’t approves changes in teaching Mandarin
From next year, Chinese language lessons will shift its focus from memorising characters to communication skills and reading.
Songs and even Chinese comics are expected to become instructional materials.
And a modular approach to primary Chinese education will be in place by 2008.
Under the modular approach, all students will take the same core Chinese lessons.
But students who have little exposure to the Chinese language will take bridging modules which focus on listening and speaking skills at Primary 1 and 2.
Students who need additional support can take reinforcement modules at Primary 3 and 4.
Those who display ability in the language can take enrichment modules throughout their primary education.
Schools can determine their own Chinese language and English language subject time allocation.
For example, Tao Nan School will implement two additional Chinese language periods per week next year.
These two periods will replace the time allocated for one English and one Science lessons.
PSLE examinations for the Chinese language will also change by 2010.
Project work and presentations are likely to be components of the overall assessment.
There will also be a shift to school-based assessment instead of a centralized examination system….
wide-ranging discussion on writing Mandarin and the ‘threat’ of English
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Here’s a machine English translation
Ministry releases character list for Taiwanese
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