1. Rationale

Since Chinese is seldom the first language of Canadian children, the students’ progress in learning the Chinese language is quite different from those children whose first language is Chinese. For non-Chinese speaking students, Chinese is often a third language. In addition to the fact that English is the dominant language in the students’ environment, their progress in learning Chinese is inevitably slower than Chinese native speakers. In this case, the existing imported Chinese commercially produced textbooks, developed outside the country, are not only inapplicable to most students in the program, but also create a sense of frustration and inferiority due to inappropriate content, illustrations, reflections of the environment and gender and racial biases.

Since all the available textbooks lack Canadian content, curriculum relevant to the students’ actual environment and experiences, has been developed to enhance their interest in learning Chinese language.

2. Goals

The goals of the Chinese (Cantonese and Mandarin) programs conform to those outlined in the Ontario Ministry of Education document, "The Formative Years" in that they contribute to the provision of opportunities for each student, to the limit of his or her potential:

• to acquire the basic skills, fundamental to his or her continuing education;
• to develop and maintain confidence and a sense of self-worth;
• to gain the knowledge and acquire the attitudes that he or she needs for active participation in Canadian society;
• to develop the moral and aesthetic sensitivity necessary for a complete and responsible life.

The Chinese Curriculum for both Cantonese and Mandarin Programs contains four sets of books (please click on the headings below to see sample lessons).

1. Conversation Booklets (levels 1 and 2)
2. Preparation Booklets   (levels 1 and 2)
3. Kindergarten Booklets (levels 1 – 3)
4. Chinese Language Activities Booklets with readers and accompanied workbooks (levels 1 – 7)

The above sets of books are developed with a multilevel approach of thematic units. As each level is increased in difficulty, it involves a re-entry and expansion of the previous level.

The advantages of multilevel curriculum are as follows:

1. Even for a class with seven levels, the class can still be dealt with as one large group. Oral lesson can be given to the whole class at the same time. The reading and writing activities will be handled according to each student’s level of competency.
2. Students who are at a lower level can be exposed to the higher level of material orally. They can benefit not only in the areas of listening and speaking. They will be able to handle the reading material more effectively when they are promoted to a higher level later on.
3. This approach creates a better learning atmosphere when everyone in the class feels he or she is a participant rather than an isolated group or individual.
4. At the same time, it is more effective for the teacher, because it allows him/her more time to provide instruction to the individual student when necessary.

All the materials are free of gender, racial and social bias.

Therefore, this multilevel curriculum is very applicable to classes of students with various levels of language competency. However, this curriculum is also suitable for unilevel classes.