國際學校的中文分層教學How Hong Kong's International Schools Stream Their Chinese Classes

大灣區香港學校教育展將於12月15日在香港亞洲國際博覽館舉行，此次參展的學校以直資、津貼學校為主，還有一部分私立中小學，不少內地家長躍躍欲試。然而，很多家長擔心廣東話教學會造成語言障礙，影響孩子的學習。於是，相當一部分將目光轉移到香港的一眾國際學校身上。The Greater Bay Area Hong Kong Schools Education Expo will be held on 15 December at AsiaWorld-Expo in Hong Kong. The schools taking part are mainly Direct Subsidy Scheme and government-aided schools, together with a number of private primary and secondary schools, and many mainland parents are keen to take a look. A good many of them worry, however, that teaching in Cantonese will create a language barrier that holds their child back — and so a sizeable share have turned their attention to Hong Kong's international schools instead.

然而，問題又來了：國際學校英文教學問題不大，家長和孩子早有心理預設，但是國際學校的中文教學會不會太簡單？會不會達不到母語者教學的水平？That, though, raises a further question. Teaching in English is not much of a concern — parents and children go in expecting it. But will the Chinese teaching at an international school be too easy? Will it fall short of the standard of a first-language programme?

小編今天就帶大家瞭解一下香港各國際學校的中文教學情況。Today we take a closer look at how Chinese is actually taught across Hong Kong's international schools.

在香港的國際學校當中，中文課的分層教學是非常普遍的，尤其是高小和中學階段。像大家很熟悉的中文教學的「大拿」——漢基國際學校和弘立書院，都會在適當的年段開始分層教學，有的家長在G1時就開始擔心孩子的中文會被分到二語班。更有家長認為，中國孩子分不到母語班，太丟人了！Streaming in Chinese classes is very common among Hong Kong's international schools, especially in the upper primary and secondary years. The two schools best known as heavyweights in Chinese teaching — Chinese International School and The ISF Academy — both begin streaming at the appropriate stage, and some parents start worrying as early as Grade 1 that their child's Chinese will land them in the second-language stream. Some go further still, feeling that it is downright shameful for a Chinese child not to make the first-language class.

分層教學是根據學生的中文學習能力、對中文的學習需求和文化背景，將學生分到不同的組別。通常，學校會按照中文母語學習者、二語學習者和外語學習者的參考標準為同學們劃分組別，不同的學校會根據學情進行調整。Streaming means placing students in different groups according to their ability in Chinese, their learning needs and their cultural background. Schools generally use three reference categories — first-language learner, second-language learner and foreign-language learner — and each school adjusts the bands to suit its own intake.

這裏，小編重點為大家介紹加拿大國際學校和香港國際學校的中文教學信息，因為這兩間學校的分層教學更為詳細、複雜。Here we focus on the Chinese programmes at the Canadian International School of Hong Kong and Hong Kong International School, because their streaming arrangements are the most finely graded and the most intricate.

首先來看加拿大國際學校。加拿大國際學校將中文分為中文A和中文B兩個程度。中文A又細分為Mandarin Higher Level和Mandarin language A level，適合中文母語或近母語的學生；中文B分為Mandarin Foundation Level和Mandarin Standard Level，適合中文初學者和二語學習者。據瞭解，加拿大國際學校會在G1時，根據學生的中文能力和學習需求，分為高班和低班兩個程度，在G3時分為MA prep、MHL、MSL和MFL，G4及以上加入MA的程度。學校採用繁體字教學，上課教材是教師自編，更加貼合本校學生的中文學習情況。Take the Canadian International School first. It divides Chinese into two levels, Chinese A and Chinese B. Chinese A is further split into Mandarin Higher Level and Mandarin Language A Level, intended for native and near-native speakers; Chinese B is split into Mandarin Foundation Level and Mandarin Standard Level, for beginners and second-language learners. We understand that in Grade 1 the school divides students into a higher and a lower band according to their ability in Chinese and their learning needs; by Grade 3 the bands become MA Prep, MHL, MSL and MFL; and from Grade 4 upwards the MA level is added. Teaching is in traditional characters, and the classroom materials are written by the teachers themselves so that they fit the school's own students more closely.

再來看香港國際學校，該校的中文分層教學更為複雜。從Reception2開始，學生會參加中文近母語和二語的學習項目。小學階段中文分為MNN和MSL，中學則分為IM3-5。據瞭解，小學G3-G5的中文分層還有一種説法，即IM1-3。分層越詳細，越能適應不同文化背景學生的中文學習需求，學校教學使用簡體或繁體，教材由學校自編。Now consider Hong Kong International School, where the streaming is more elaborate still. From Reception 2 onwards, students join either a near-native or a second-language Chinese programme. In the primary years Chinese is divided into MNN and MSL; in the secondary years the streams are IM3 to IM5. We understand that the primary streams for Grades 3 to 5 are also described as IM1 to IM3. The finer the streaming, the better it can accommodate the needs of students from different cultural backgrounds. The school teaches in either simplified or traditional characters, and writes its own materials.

為什麼香港的國際學校近些年對中文的重視程度越來越高？除了因為香港大環境對中文，尤其是普通話教學越來越重視，還有一個重要原因是香港的家長對孩子中文能力的要求越來越高。過去，國際學校的家長們要求孩子會聽、會説，但現在的家長要求孩子不僅要能聽説，還要能讀、能寫。多種因素綜合起來，使得香港各國際學校對中文教學越來越重視。Why have Hong Kong's international schools placed ever greater weight on Chinese in recent years? Part of the answer is that Hong Kong as a whole now attaches more importance to Chinese, and to Putonghua teaching in particular. Another important reason is that parents here expect more and more of their children's Chinese. In the past, parents at international schools wanted their children to be able to listen and speak; today they want them to read and write as well. Taken together, these forces have pushed international schools across Hong Kong to treat Chinese teaching with increasing seriousness.