Diachronic study of distribution of Chinese characters in 4 sets of Singapore’s primary higher Chinese textbooks

Abstract

Chinese characters, also known as Hanzi, is one of the most difficult components when teaching Chinese language, it is also a key factor that restricts Chinese teaching. (Luo, Wang and Min, 2017) In Singapore, the main working and study language, as well as most frequently used language socially is English. This would mean that students in Singapore have attributes of a second language learner when it comes to learning Chinese. Thus, when designing the curriculum, it cannot be written according to the expectations of a first language learner. It is necessary to carefully select and design text, to reduce the learning burden of students and ensure the learning efficiency of students. This paper will compare the 4 sets of Higher Chinese Primary textbooks in Singapore (1979, 1997, 2002, 2007) with the HSK Character list. Character size, recurrence rate, usage rate and difficulty level will be analysed. Which set of textbook is more justifiable? How does the Singapore primary Higher Chinese textbooks evolve over the years?