Abstract:
In Hong Kong, nearly 90% of Hong Kong residents use Cantonese as the usual home language. In tertiary education, the intake of mainland students has been growing and these students are encouraged to overcome the language barrier by mastering the local vernacular, Cantonese, in order to understand local culture and make friends with local students, and make themselves more competitive in job interviews. This online Cantonese sounds and tones learning platform offers a comprehensive course in the Cantonese phonology using the Romanization system created by the Linguistic Society of Hong Kong. After mastering the Cantonese sound system, learners can go on with dialogues that are designed for elementary and intermediate levels of learners. It also has the word search function. Learners can find the corresponding Cantonese terms using Chinese characters, Hanyu Pinyin, English and Jyutping. We offer the Putonghua-Cantonese cross-reference lists which learners can use to master the general corresponding rules in initials, finals and tones. It is a self-access learning tool for Cantonese sounds and tones.
Code:
T0151
Principal Project Supervisors:
Keywords provided by authors:
- E-learning
- Cantonese pronunciations and vocabulary
- Learners’ autonomy
- Students’ reflective learning
- Research-informed teaching
Subjects:
Start Date:
01 Jun 2015
End Date:
31 Aug 2016
Status:
Completed
Result:
Our online Cantonese sound learning platform is designed for Putonghua and/or English speaking EdUHK students and beyond. With this self-access and self-directed learning too, they can 1) learn the basic Cantonese syllabic structure; 2) practice Cantonese sounds and tones by following the easy-to-follow instructions in Chinese and English and listening to sample recordings; 3) get the visual image of tones using the number-embedded tone contour for up to 10 syllables; 4) compare Cantonese with Putonghua using the cross-reference lists in initials, finals, and tones; 5) practice situation- and function-based mini-dialogues by imitating the recordings; and 6) use the mini-dictionary with which people can check the meaning of Cantonese daily expressions, pronunciations of place names of Hong Kong, China and major countries and cities, names of Hong Kong universities and government institutions, popular spots in Hong Kong. Words can be searched from Hanyu Pinyin, Jyutping (Cantonese romanization), Chinese characters (both simplified and traditional), and English.
Impact:
The intake of Putonghua-speaking mainland students is growing at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Due to the limited learning resources and time constraints, these students tend to end up with limited proficiency in Cantonese. No matter what programme they are in, students will benefit from this self-access and self-directed learning application. The dictionary function of this application is a useful resource for Putonghua and English speaking learners. It is also a unique dictionary in that vocabulary shared by Putonghua and Cantonese is also searchable, the function that has never been done in existing Cantonese dictionaries that only contain Cantonese-specific entries. It is hoped that the combination of course contents in Cantonese phonology and the mini-dictionary will be beneficial to any learners in their study as well as in their future career.
Deliverables:
Seminars/Presentations/Sharing Sessions
(2016, June). Seminar on “Designing an Online Cantonese Learning Platform for English Speaking Students” presented by Dr Shin Kataoka at The Hong Kong Institute of Education on 7 June 2016. https://repository.eduhk.hk/en/publications/fc6f73a9-e6bf-4a03-900e-dfb3566481e8
Teaching and Learning Resources/ Materials (including online resources)
A link to Self Learning Cantonese phonology course with mini-dictionary (http://corpus.eduhk.hk/Cantonese/). https://repository.eduhk.hk/en/publications/d01a1913-7b8c-42f9-a30c-dc64e8fa0701
Financial Year:
2014-15
Type:
TDG