教育王國

標題: 好不好用全英语跟孩子说话? 南华早报引述专家学者的意见 [打印本頁]

作者: vernayu 時間: 10-8-4 00:53 標題: 好不好用全英语跟孩子说话? 南华早报引述专家学者的意见

The quest for English comes at a price - SCMP

The quest for English comes at a price

Problems when Cantonese speakers talk to their children in English

Verna Yu

Aug 02, 2010

Cheryl is one of many middle-class Hong Kong parents who have high hopes for her children. Even before her son was born, she was determined he would speak English like a native speaker.

So ever since Daniel came along, she and her husband have been speaking to him in their less-than-perfect English, even though they realise their ability is limited. A native Cantonese speaker, she speaks passable English but is far from fluent because she hardly ever uses the language in her daily life.

Like many Hong Kong parents, they have little faith in the local education system and want their son to get into an international school and study abroad when he is older. So why not give him an early start in English?

"If Daniel's English isn't good, he will be disadvantaged in life," the mother of one said. "Kindergarten and school interviews - everything is so competitive these days. So we want him to get used to the language as early as possible."

But her husband admits that talking to their two-year-old toddler in a foreign language can sometimes be frustrating. "The other day I wanted to tell him off and I couldn't find the right words to express myself," the father sighed, shaking his head. "So I just lapsed into Cantonese."

Emily's mother is equally adamant. She and her husband speak Cantonese to each other and to their relatives, but switch into English when they speak to their two young children, aged two and four.

The children utter only English words and are unable to communicate with their grandparents, who speak only Cantonese. But their parents think it is the inevitable price to pay for getting the children into an international school.

"I heard that at some kindergarten interviews, if they hear you speak in Chinese, you will be rejected right away," Emily's mother said.

Daniel and Emily's parents are among a growing number of local Hong Kong parents who have decided to give their children a head start in life by trying to make English their native tongue.

And who can blame them? The standard of English in Hong Kong has been seen as declining since the change of sovereignty more than a decade ago but fluency in the language is still a ticket to good schools and jobs, as well as a status symbol.

But linguists and educational professionals are warning that parents' language choice can have a far wider impact than just their children's language ability - it affects their sense of identity, cultural values and the family relationships.

For a start, if the standard of the parents' English is just moderate, they should not expect that by speaking to the children in flawed English, the youngsters will end up speaking perfect English.

"For the first few years [of their lives], the children take on features of the parents' non-native English because they use it as a model," said Professor Virginia Yip, director of Chinese University's Childhood Bilingualism Research Centre.

With flawed English as a model, the child may end up being functionally bilingual but unlikely to achieve a native standard in the language without regular contact with native speakers.

More importantly, educators say, parents should be aware that their communication with their children and their ability to express their feelings will be severely curtailed, unless they are near-native English speakers themselves. Daniel's father is a case in point.

Dr Angel Chan of Polytechnic University's Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies said: "If parents use a language they're not very proficient in to communicate with their children, they risk sacrificing their chances of having a close relationship with them.

"We often use our own language to communicate our intimate and subtle feelings, so why not take advantage of our mother tongue to build an intimate relationship with our children?" she said. "Life is not just about language ability."

Linguists say parents should also consider how their language strategy will fit into their family and social lives. They should think about whether the children would be able to form close relationships with grandparents and the rest of the family. Will they also be happy for their children not to be able to read Chinese street signs, order food in restaurants and not understand what people are saying around them?

All of the factors inevitably affect a child's sense of cultural identity and belonging.

Linguists say language shapes our outlook in life, influences our thinking and is the carrier of our cultural values and sense of identity, so Chinese parents who try to provide only English should therefore consider whether they would be happy to sacrifice their Chinese values.

"If you want to cultivate a sense of identity, the role of language is indispensable," said Dr David Li Chor-shing, professor of English at the Hong Kong Institute of Education.

"A child's development of a sense of identity is very much dependent on his language, and who he socialises with."

Nursery rhymes, ancient poems and folklore passed down many generations are full of encoded cultural elements and children who learn them are subconsciously absorbing the values behind them, Li said. For example, classical tales such as the 14th century Twenty-four Pious Sons, which aims to teach the Confucian virtue of filial piety, lose much of their cultural meaning when translated into English.

Rejecting Chinese inevitably deprived children of opportunities to learn about their cultural roots, and could leave them confused about their self-identity, Li said.

Academics say that even from a purely linguistic point of view, there is no advantage in withdrawing Chinese altogether from children because the plasticity of infants' and toddlers' brains allows them to process two or even more languages simultaneously. So by all means, educators and academics say, take your children to English-speaking playgroups, but consider it an advantage that in speaking to them in Chinese and exposing them to English at the same time, you are giving them the chance of becoming bilingual. "Using Cantonese as well is not going to disadvantage the child, ultimately you would expect it to be an advantage, to give the child the gift of being bilingual," said Stephen Matthews, linguistics professor and bilingualism expert at the University of Hong Kong.

"If [parents] no longer speak Chinese to their children, we tend to think they're doing them a disfavour by unnecessarily depriving them of their ancestral language."

From a development point of view, parents could even be disadvantaging their children's language progress by artificially imposing English in an environment where the language was not naturally spoken, Cecilia Kam Oi-ping, principal of the Yew Chung International Kindergarten, said.

Kam said many Hong Kong couples spoke Cantonese to each other yet made every effort to ensure their children spoke English only. Many depended on language-teaching products such as videos and flashcards instead of real conversations as a language model.

She said parents who discouraged children from speaking the native language they could have easily picked up at home and in their natural environment were actually not helping them, as languages have to be acquired through linguistic interaction in real-life situations.

"You would actually be depriving them - they would have 50 per cent less learning opportunities," she said. "You need an environment and situations to learn a language.

"Using flashcards and video, children will only copy in parrot fashion but will not learn to communicate."

Some parents say that once their children have been accepted by an international school, they will switch back to Cantonese. But linguists say that by then, they would have missed out on the "golden period" of acquiring it as their mother tongue, while the child's brain is at the peak of its learning capability. A child who starts developing Chinese later than that would process the language in his or her brain like a second language and the grammar and pronunciation were unlikely to reach native-level.

"I would worry if a child has not been exposed to and used [a language] up to age four," Matthews said. "We would worry that they would be disadvantaged in that their Chinese will never be quite native-like."

Linguists worry that many Hong Kong parents have simply not been adequately informed on language issues and although well-meaning, they are often unaware of the possible consequences of their choice.

Matthews says he's come across more cases of children who were discouraged from learning Cantonese but who later wished they'd had the chance. Li agrees: "Many Hong Kong parents do not realise that their quest for English fluency comes at a heavy cost - in this process, are we also losing something?"

Copyright © 2010 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All right

作者: happyvalley 時間: 10-8-4 19:28

唔洗好似論文咁長，一句：思路，講英文用英文思路，中文比英文有多點深度，睇下小三書就知，中文要作詩詞，英文要去到中學，相叉遠。影響思路深度，好難搞。

作者: stccmc 時間: 10-8-4 23:56

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作者: Y2KChild 時間: 10-8-5 17:04

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作者: stccmc 時間: 10-8-5 22:57

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作者: happyvalley 時間: 10-8-6 01:22

原帖由 Y2KChild 於 10-8-5 17:04 發表
一語道破 happyvalley 所作分析之謬誤!

即使想簡單地用教科書之深度去比較中、英文，也應用以英文為母語之小三書來比較。香港學生的英文程度低，本地小三英文書當然很顯淺。

國際學校小一、二，即本地 K3、P1，已經開始 ...

嘩！唔洗咁大句『某五』。見過細路講英文，爸爸講中文，當然無問題，好似我地講緊鄉下話。

作者: Y2KChild 時間: 10-8-6 09:44

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作者: Y2KChild 時間: 10-8-9 12:05

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作者: eviepa 時間: 10-8-11 23:36

Stccmc兄,

你囡囡英文真了得!

我跟女兒對話, 一點兒英語都不會說, 即便是互相稱謂, 她會叫我爸爸, 我叫她的中文名字, 所以她的英文, “說”的一環一向是相對弱項!

Stjoboldboy,

我的情況與你相似，英文口語一向是相對弱項，所以我拖到最後才處理口語。不過，我從來沒有奢望女兒英文口語近似native水平。能清楚表達自己就算是成功了。因此，我最近也開始撥點時間和她講英文了。

eviepa

作者: eviepa 時間: 10-8-11 23:40

見那麼多家長沈迷字咭，公文，文法班，劍橋班，補習班，我相信有反效果的不會少。

完全同意。大把band 3學生是從這樣的教育培養出來的。反而大量閱讀中英文書的，從未見過有band 3生。

作者: Sumyeema1 時間: 10-8-12 12:05

eviepa,

最近連看了兩本書，[餵故事書大的孩子] 和 [培養孩子的英文耳朵]，作者汪培珽的理念和你培養 Evie 相近，都是著重閱讀的重要性。

原帖由 eviepa 於 10-8-11 23:40 發表

完全同意。大把band 3學生是從這樣的教育培養出來的。反而大量閱讀中英文書的，從未見過有band 3生。

作者: 囝囝爸 時間: 10-8-12 12:08

在暑假餘閒讀了幾本書, 加深了閱讀之好之說. 又見兩位家長對閱讀對語文學習之好之長期推動, 不少論題皆見其鼓吹蹤影, 恨鐵不成鋼之苦心, 但仍未成功, 仍見 BK 不少家長追求各種課外學習的標題處處, 或我介紹剛讀過其中兩本書, 對閱讀和學習有興趣的家長可加深了解.

一本叫"閱讀動起來", 另一本叫"讀書力".

任何學習, 功多則藝熟, 何謂"功", 容易理解, 但"功"之本身從不容易. 不要輕信如"讀書不是求分數"之類之簡單看法和輕鬆解釋.

作者: wunma 時間: 10-8-12 15:34

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作者: stccmc 時間: 10-8-12 20:23

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作者: eviepa 時間: 10-8-12 23:00

相對來說, 男孩子說得一口好英語是比女孩少, 而在發音上更不及女孩, 真的原因不明.

心理學大量的研究證明，女孩的語言（口語）天分平均比男孩為佳，這是與生俱來的。原因是….. 進化結果、造物主的主意。

不過，很可惜，我囡囡的口語天分就比我年少時差很多。

作者: Angine 時間: 10-8-13 00:00

This is an interesting topic!

My son is 18-month old now and I communicate with him in both Cantonese and English (sometimes Mandarin) starting from day 1. He is also attending different languages PG. Well I would say my spoken English is not bad so I believe and hope I would not teach him flawed English! And I do agree and buy the passage of SCMP. Thanks for sharing a good and useful piece!

And from observation, my son's language ability should be quite ok. I hope I am heading to the right direction!

作者: Y2KChild 時間: 10-8-13 11:11

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作者: jamesbond007 時間: 10-8-14 01:33 標題: 癡人說夢 ── 來點補充

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作者: thankful 時間: 10-8-14 11:36

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作者: evatsoihk 時間: 10-8-16 21:58

啊，真的吗？

我一直在观察ISF的情况，暂时听说（升p2）还不错，尤其中文方面，跟sis一样或更强一点呢。

所以，想了解多一点关于“两头不到岸”的意思。

原帖由 Y2KChild 於 10-8-16 14:41 發表
ISF不是成功例子，反而出現兩頭不到岸，讀了幾年的出現逃亡潮。

作者: eviepa 時間: 10-8-17 00:01

你認為中文及英文的聽講讀寫，能同時達到native level 係極難既事。有次電台聽到余若微講既英文，真係以為係英國人講英文，我亦相信佢既中文唔會差得去邊。所以，你認為極難既事，係有人做到既。

Awah112,

以我所見所聞，未出過國的香港傳統學校學生，畢業後講英語時不帶香港口音的，真是鳳毛麟角。大概只有一小撮天份極高，加上勤奮進取，再加上埋到鬼仔鬼妹堆的學生，才可以打破這局限。余若微就是其中的一條鳳毛。正因如此，我從來沒有這個野心，要女兒達到native level。能表達到自己就已經勝過大部分人了。

eviepa

作者: jamesbond007 時間: 10-8-17 00:04 標題: 癡人又說夢

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作者: iamfine 時間: 10-8-17 09:46

原帖由 awah112 於 10-8-17 09:31 發表
eviepa

有次睇報紙見到余若微同佢老公，佢老公係外國人，我相信對余若微既英文有一定影響，亦認同你既睇法。

awah112

Since when has Dr. Edmund Woo become a gweilo?

作者: awah112 時間: 10-8-17 09:55

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作者: evatsoihk 時間: 10-8-18 20:50

我对ISF认识不深，但我想他们的中文程度应该不差（不过我只是观察低年级的中国语文课本），至于英语就算比不上其他IS，可也应该过得去吧。

不妨叫朋友放胆去尝试一下本地学校（总比留在那儿“两头不到岸”的好），我觉得应该不会像想象中那般难考进去吧，而唯一担心的反倒是孩子的适应能力。

纯粹个人想法，若不合听就当我没说过好了。

原帖由 Y2KChild 於 10-8-17 15:54 發表
我不想再評論ISF，這是我朋友的親身感受，他的孩子在ISF幾年，對ISF已失去信心，不想在ISF讀中學，可是感到兩頭不到岸，想轉去其他IS，但又恐怕在ISF所接受的英文學習未能等同其他IS之水平，轉去 local，又怕中文未入流及難於適應。他 ...

作者: Y2KChild 時間: 10-8-19 10:20

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作者: peremum 時間: 10-8-26 15:14

I don't understand why we have to linger on the point of "native speaker level".  Do we mean fluency, or without accent or use of words?
Share with you 2 cases.
1) A friend of mine is raised by parents who do not know English & educated in H.K.  He has the typical HK accent but his English is more fluent than a lot of British people.
2) I have a Scottish (grad from Oxford) colleague whose spoken English is practically incomprehensible but his writing is marvellous.

So, can anyone tell me what is "native" or "near native"?  As long as your kids can speak, read & write good English, why bother about the N word?

作者: iamfine 時間: 10-8-26 15:37

If a German can speak with German accent, a French with French accent and a Finn with Finn accent, what's wrong with Chinese speaking with Chinese accent? Me too can't understand the obsession on the part of some parents with "native speaker level" and "accent-free English". Self prescribed and administered zoloft thingy?

[ 本帖最後由 iamfine 於 10-8-26 15:40 編輯 ]

作者: Sumyeema1 時間: 10-8-26 16:32

這也是我的疑問。為何一定要強調 Native level 呢？

記得多年前，公司還依賴錄影帶來傳達信息，各國的 country manager 發言的時候， marketing 的同事會幫英文口音重的country manager 配上英文字幕，連澳洲的 country manager 也不例外，澳洲的同事很氣憤地說：我們講的是正宗英文，為何要配字幕呀？笑得我。

身為家長，能為下一代提供中/英的學習環境，等孩子大了，可以透過中/英的語言溝通，吸收知識，我覺得已經不錯了。

原帖由 peremum 於 10-8-26 15:14 發表
I don't understand why we have to linger on the point of "native speaker level". Do we mean fluency, or without accent or use of words?
Share with you 2 cases.
1) A friend of mine is raised by parent ...

作者: peremum 時間: 10-8-26 17:07 標題: 回覆 1# 77777 的文章

Hi 77777. Nice to see you here.

I agree with you. Do not mind so much whether the kids' English is "native" or not. Rather make sure they are learning correct/good English.

Based on this reason, my husband always stresses to our children that they should not learnt English from our Filippino helper. Don't misunderstand me. He is very nice to the helper & we have excellent relationship with her. He just want to make sure that they learn the language correctly. He emphasises that one must learn proper (never mind about the accent/tone) before one can play with English.

作者: stccmc 時間: 10-8-27 01:00

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作者: peremum 時間: 10-8-27 15:01 標題: 回覆 2# stccmc 的文章

Hi stccmc

Good day to you!
Of course it is not for me to benchmark the kids' English level. However I believe there are at least 2 touchstones that we can consider.
1) Objective testing - There are several reputable ESOL tests in H.K. e.g. Cambridge ESOL, London Test of English or AQA ESOL. They are comprehensive test of all the 4 aspects of English Language. I would say if a youngster is enrolled in such tests & get good result for his/her age/grade level, than we can safely conclude that his English is reasonably good. For example, PET merit for a S2 student.
2) Subjective parameter - If a kid can handle all her English study satisfactory, read a lot of English materials appropriate to her age/grade (YES, I am a great fan, like you, of reading), listen & communicate in reasonable/comprehensible English, then I don't think the parents should worry much.

以上愚見, 誠乞指正!

作者: peremum 時間: 10-8-27 15:06 標題: 回覆 2# 77777 的文章

LOVE is beyond words. I don't think the kids will mind any minor (or even major) linguistic mistake, as long as our message to them is care & love. So, stick to the language that you are comfortable with.
Or maybe keep an open mind & learn the language together with the kids.
Since a long time ago, my husband & I have given up trying to CORRECT our girl's English. We just sit down & learn side by side.

作者: Y2KChild 時間: 10-8-27 17:01

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作者: peremum 時間: 10-8-27 17:43 標題: 回覆 1# Y2KChild 的文章

Please accept my apologies for being stupid, but I believe that a lot of parents have expressed their view that we are not pursuing "native speaker" level English for our kids.  We just want our loved ones to have reasonably good English, so that they can qualify as global citizens.

1) Why do you want to benchmark against first language kids?  Do you want your kid's English to be mother tongue level, or is he already there?
2) I cannot restrain myself from wondering why you discriminate against the ESOL tests.  Are you trying to tell us that if one is not born into a 1st language English family, his/her English is always inferior to a native speaker?
3) Do you mean benchmarking against school children of UK?  However, a lot of them are not themselves mother tongue English speaker.
I can assure you that I know how good is the average English standard in Britain.
4) As I have mentioned more than once.  As long as my kids can handle their day-in-day-out English usage, I can sleep well at night.

By the way, my girl has also taken some benchmark tests which compare her to the English standard of schoolgoers in the USA. (Well, maybe you can say USA is a multi-ethnical & therefore not 1st language English nation, but then how about UK?)  She is rated as 93 percentile among  all US kids of her grade level.  As a matter of fact, I earnestly doubt whether she can score much better than 93 percentile among HK children.

[ 本帖最後由 peremum 於 10-8-27 17:46 編輯 ]

作者: Y2KChild 時間: 10-8-27 17:57

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作者: peremum 時間: 10-8-27 18:18 標題: 回覆 1# Y2KChild 的文章

Well, I am not 激動

Actually you are one of the contributors to BK who I admire much.
Totally agree with you that "其實是沒有必要追求某種口音，除非是想得到某國國民之認同，否則只要能流利溝通便可。"

I must clarify one point.  I never intend to say "香港本地學校學童的英文平均水平會高過英國學童的英文平均水平".  I just say that the English level of HK is not much worse than USA (but on average, I still believe US is a bit, just a bit, better).  For the UK, well, I can only say they are not as good as before, and our best teenagers are comparable to their UK counterparts.
However, I have just come across several college students from UK this summer which are very nice, good manner & well-educated.  All in all, I seldom see such good kids among HK youngsters.  HK youth tends to be good in study but not as good as a person.

Anyway, please accept my apologies if I have caused you misunderstanding about my intention.  Still friends?

作者: Y2KChild 時間: 10-8-27 19:54

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作者: stccmc 時間: 10-8-27 22:19

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作者: awah112 時間: 10-8-27 22:42

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作者: peremum 時間: 10-8-27 23:19 標題: 回覆 3# Y2KChild 的文章

Thanks for your kind reply. There are always good (or even very good) & sub-par students in every nation.

也是題外話:
It is perfectly o.k. for parents to have hope that their children can speak in perfect English (for that matter, French, German, PTH, whatever). My point is just that don't put too much stress & pressure on this. The most important is don't "scare" the kids away from English.

By the way, I have been reading a lot about stccmc's girl in various forums. Maybe I am a newcomer & do not know much, but she is really my "idol".

作者: peremum 時間: 10-8-27 23:32 標題: 回覆 3# stccmc 的文章

For the accent issue, pls. refer my reply to Y2KChild.

For the Singaporean, I always consider their education is very good & very suitable for a elitist society.

Frankly speaking, I also consider the ESOL system of Cambridge YLE system quite "conservative", while their exam for teens quite o.k.  Actually, I would say the following cross-reference is more appropriate.
Starter - K3 to P1
Mover - P2 to P3
Flyer - P4, max P5
KET - P5 to P6
PET - S1 to S2
FCE - S3 to S4
CAE - S5, max S6
CPE - hard to say for this one

As mentioned in my reply to Y2KChild, I am very interested in your girl.  If you deem it appropriate, pls. PM me & we can share our sweet/bitter experiences in raising a daughter.

作者: stccmc 時間: 10-8-28 13:57

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作者: peremum 時間: 10-8-28 15:22 標題: 回覆 1# stccmc 的文章

Of course for average. If for a talented or even gifted child, I would say the scale has to be shifted at least one level.

作者: Whitepine 時間: 10-9-13 10:05

peremum,

" HK youth tends to be good in study but not as good as a person."

Yes, I also have the same feeling!!!

原帖由 peremum 於 10-8-27 18:18 發表
Well, I am not 激動
Actually you are one of the contributors to BK who I admire much.
Totally agree with you that "其實是沒有必要追求某種口音，除非是想得到某國國民之認同，否則只要能流利溝通便可。" ...

作者: PenguinBoBo 時間: 10-9-14 08:47

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作者: judy 時間: 10-9-14 09:38

We share the same view..You know what I'm thinking? It's that American got American accent, British got British accent , Australian got Australian accent, and they all think that their accent is the best, so what's wrong with Chinese accent anyway? Do we expect an European to speak Putonghua with perfect Putonghua accent? It's perfectly fine to me as long as the spoken English is not choppish. May be people just like picking bones from an egg. There is only one way to speak accent-free English, that is - don’t speak English at all.
It seems to me that some people don’t like being a Chinese, poor guy.

有冇見過一啲屋村師奶點樣杯割、打擊新移民師奶嘅自尊。新移民師奶可能在外貌、內涵都勝過屋村師奶，但就係講唔正廣東話，俾屋村師奶日夜取笑，久而久而，咩自信都冇埋，唯有向屋村師奶埋堆，進貢。

在一些公司也一樣，有啲人透過運用屋村師奶之方法，以争取利益。

作者: awah112 時間: 10-9-14 10:49

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作者: Y2KChild 時間: 10-9-14 12:47

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作者: PenguinBoBo 時間: 10-9-14 13:59

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作者: Y2KChild 時間: 10-9-14 14:30

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作者: stccmc 時間: 10-9-14 14:50

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作者: Y2KChild 時間: 10-9-14 14:53

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作者: PenguinBoBo 時間: 10-9-14 15:39

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作者: stccmc 時間: 10-9-14 16:27

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作者: Y2KChild 時間: 10-9-14 16:30

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作者: Y2KChild 時間: 10-9-14 16:41

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作者: PenguinBoBo 時間: 10-9-14 17:14

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作者: Y2KChild 時間: 10-9-14 17:49

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作者: edea 時間: 10-9-14 19:22

呵呵，我都想囡囡發音有accent唔好咁chinglish,唔代表我唔愛國啊。

作者: edea 時間: 10-9-14 20:42

原帖由 Y2KChild 於 10-9-14 17:49 發表
當然我無權阻止你講完又講，你喜歡的話請繼續。

有一d會員風格點都改變唔到, 一睇就知佢係邊個.

無謂跟歪理作糾纏.

作者: mattsmum 時間: 10-10-10 07:55 標題: 回覆 98# vernayu 的文章

周日話題﹕俾阿仔學廣東話
(明報)2010年10月10日星期日 05:10
【明報專訊】最近在國際先驅論壇報，紐約    時報及南華    早報發表過文章談論香港父母用英語跟孩子溝通的現象，非常驚訝不僅在香港及海外的媒體及網站引起了廣泛討論，甚至有遠自盧森堡，法國    ，以色列    的讀者來信作出回應，所產生的迴響是我始料不及的。

似乎語言教育在海內外都是一個令大家容易引起共鳴的課題。

為人父母的，哪有不想望子成龍    的？我明白父母的一片苦心，總希望把最好的給孩子。我大學修語言系，略知皮毛，所以我寫文章的目的，也是希望向父母們解釋一些基本的語言學習概念，也希望他們能參照語言及教育學家的意見，衡量利弊作出有智慧的決定。

其實更令我關注的，是這現象的背後，究竟說明了什麼？暫且不談對錯，在香港，原來有這麼多教育水平不低的父母，認為我們的母語不值得傳給下一代！他們認為雖然用英語比較吃力，但情願自己辛苦一些，也要不惜一切務求子女講得一口地道的英語。

這，是否因為香港被英國    統治了150年，長期在殖民地主義下，讓我們失去了自信及對本土語言及文化的尊重，認為我們自己的東西不值一哂？是否因為廣東話是方言，沒有普通話及英語的國際地位，在凡事追求功利，競爭的社會裏，使得我們願意拋棄用了一輩子來表達思想感情，標誌著我們身分認同的母語？是否因為多數上一代也是漂泊到香港的移民，對本地語言文化的感情紥根不深，所以採取一種實用主義，覺得沒用的就扔掉？或是，更深一層的想，這是否顯示了我們香港人看不起自己的根，以自己的身分為恥？

四歲小孩不屑用廣東話交談

若是如此，不要小看我們這種不經意流露的輕蔑，因為小孩子感性敏銳，我們這種態度，也必然傳給我們的下一代。筆者就曾經見過一個四歲的小孩，他父母雖然用廣東話跟人交談，但自小用英語跟他溝通，按理孩子在廣東話的環境裏，沒有完全聽不懂的可能。但別人一嘗試用廣東話跟他說話，他就一臉不屑，很不高興的跺腳，看見這種情景，我只有替他嘆息﹕香港是中國人的社會，你也長有一副中國人的臉孔，四歲的你已經不耐煩人家跟你說中文，那前面幾十年的路，你不是還有很多的氣讓你生？

我擔心很多父母對語言與文化的密切關係缺乏認識。在大學時，教授經常強調，語言是文化的載體，一個民族的歷史過程會因應社會，文化的變遷而發展出獨有的一套詞彙及文字。一個民族有某些概念，它的語言便產生某些詞彙去表達那概念，相反，沒有某些概念，便沒有那詞彙。一種文化經過時間的過濾，便會形成自己獨特的語言，用以表達該民族的思想。所以，一個人在某個文化成長，他的母語便是塑造他對世界認知的工具。我們的母語，讓我們理解我們文化中的某些概念，也同時局限了我們對自身文化沒有的概念的認識。簡單的例子，比如，中國人有「米」跟「飯」之分，不吃米飯的西方人就只有「RICE」，沒有煮熟非煮熟的米之分，層次高一點的概念，如中國文化裏的忠孝，禮義廉恥，男女長幼的尊卑之分，都還在我們生活中不知不覺地發揮影響。西方相對平等的人倫觀念，中國人也肯定不容易接受。比如我的英籍丈夫的叔伯父，姨母等，比他年長四五十年，卻要求他不要再喊他們uncle，auntie，理由是他不再是小孩，應該平等地直呼名字，令我這個被朋友認為很西化的人，每次聽到他直呼90歲的姨母的名字時，覺得特別刺耳，這就是我自小成長受中國文化潛移默化的烙印。

既然語言是文化傳承的工具，每個人都代表著他一套的背景文化，價值觀，人生觀等，父母們可曾想過，你輕視廣東話，但又勉強用外語跟孩子溝通，卻無法貼切地表達自己，孩子將來長大，你們之間在文化上及溝通上可能出現鴻溝﹕你的一套有可能不被孩子接受，甚至被瞧不起呢？也可曾想過，我們今天唾棄母語，會剝奪下一代認識我們的意識形態、核心價值及身分認同的權利呢？以前每個孩子都琅琅上口的唐詩、童謠（如「月光光照地堂」）和傳統故事（如二十四孝），充滿中國文化涵義，這些一旦翻譯成英語，已經失去了很多文化元素。我們真要把這些傳統當作糟糠嗎？我們是否要他們只能從外語及西方的角度去認識我們的歷史及文化？

「不知扣鈕英文怎麼說」

曾經有一位自認英語不大靈光，但又選擇全用英語跟小孩溝通的朋友對我說，孩子在中國人社會長大，不擔心他會缺乏接觸中國文化的機會。但試想，缺乏流暢地表達自己的語言工具，如何把你重視的觀念栽種在孩子心裏呢？一位英語不錯的媽媽抱怨，孩子頑皮起來，她也未能用恰當流暢的英語責備他。一位英語不甚流利的爸爸坦言，很多時候根本詞不達意，有天他想跟孩子解釋如何扣鈕，發覺自己不會說，要打電話向朋友求救。我慨嘆的是，這位爸爸，跟我們聊天時，談笑風生，地道的廣東話風趣傳神。但一轉身對著自己兩歲的孩子說話，卻變得結結巴巴，用生硬的讀音，有限的詞彙，錯誤百出的文法，費勁地一句一句拼出英語句子。做他的朋友，我只能惋惜他不讓孩子認識他最真實自然的一面。他說，孩子將來大了，自己的英語不夠用，還是要說回廣東話的。可是，我的朋友，你可知道孩子學習第一語言的黃金時期是零至四五歲左右，錯失了這時期，補學中文便變作學外語一樣難，增加學習重擔？為什麼不在孩子的母語學習期自然地讓他們吸收我們的語言資產呢？為什麼逼他們受罪，用我們不甚流利的，錯誤百出的外語作他們的語言典範？

我並非抗拒學外語的風氣，但是家長千萬不要以為多學英文便等於沒有學中文的空間，幼兒的腦袋是靈活的，可以承載多種語言，別誤會以為要英文好就要放棄中文。

可能很多家長沒有想得那麼多，只是單純的想子女學好英語，為日後上名校，找工作鋪路。但他們有否想過，即使不談文化及溝通的問題，單從功利的角度看，在今天競爭劇烈的社會，雙語能力才是將來的方向？單靠英語，中文不精，怎可跟雙語寫讀能力高的同齡人競爭？筆者14歲到英國留學    ，大學畢業後在英國或香港的跨國公司均找到工作，不單是因為我能操地道的英語，也是因為我能毫不費勁的寫、讀中文。現在外國公司需要的是了解中國文化及市場的人才，而並非土生土長而中文不精的人。

其實香港不缺學習英語的機會，很多幼稚園都有外籍英語教師，坊間也不乏英語教材，如電台、電視節目有英語廣播，圖書館有英語讀物，隨處都有中英對照的廣告，商店有中英貨品標籤等，父母可加以利用，激發孩子對外語的興趣。要是資源許可，更可以帶孩子外遊，讓他們實地練習英語，我相信這些措施都足以讓孩子輕鬆地掌握英語，非要不惜一切把有瑕疵英語強加於他們身上作母語。

錯過黃金時期學母語如學外語

最近一位語言治療專家跟我提到，一位受過高深教育的媽媽為了用英語跟孩子溝通的決定懊悔不已，向他求助。自孩子出生開始，她夫婦倆一直用英語跟他說話，到了他小三時才猛然發現中文的重要性，但孩子已經錯過了學習母語的黃金時期，到八九歲再像學外語般惡補中文反覺非常吃力，而最要害的是他的社交能力受到很大的阻礙，在學校被同學排擠，而且英文也只是平平，作父母的，便覺得是自己害了孩子，毁了他的前程。

天下父母都是為了孩子好，我嚕嗦了這麼多，只是希望家長們不要好心做壞事，能冷靜地坐下來分析利弊，作出一個理性的選擇。

其實父母是孩子第一個老師，為什麼不把我們最自信，最揮灑自如，用了一輩子表達自己的語言及塑造我們的文化，原汁原味的傳承給下一代？

文﹕余詠恩

編輯程詩敏

作者: samuel89 時間: 10-10-11 10:02 標題: 回覆 99# mattsmum 的文章

非常認同升中前階段先"俾阿仔學廣東話"

[ 本帖最後由 samuel89 於 10-10-11 10:05 編輯 ]

作者: Y2KChild 時間: 10-10-11 17:07 標題: 回覆 1# samuel89 的文章

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歡迎光臨教育王國 (/)