Home Chinese and Dyslexia How Interactive Teaching Helps Students Enjoy Learning Chinese and Build Confidence通过互动式教学提升有特殊需求学习者的学习兴趣并逐步建立信心

Chinese and Dyslexia

How Interactive Teaching Helps Students Enjoy Learning Chinese and Build Confidence通过互动式教学提升有特殊需求学习者的学习兴趣并逐步建立信心

Written by Hu Ying,
Chinese Educational Therapist

 “老师，我的孩子一上华文课就打瞌睡。”

    “我在家跟他讲华语，他都没有反应的。”

    “我女儿说华文太难了……”

    常常听到有家长跟我们反馈自己的孩子学习华文时缺乏学习兴趣，没有自信心，不敢“讲”，抗拒“读”，害怕“写”，甚至还有些“恨华文”。

    没错，对于有特殊需求的孩子来说，学习华文的确非常有挑战。尽管华文是新加坡华人的母语，学校从幼儿园就开始双语教学，不过大多数的孩子和家人、老师、朋友之间还是选择使用英文交流，因此长期缺乏语言环境导致华文对于他们从“母语”变成了“第二语言”。

    尤其是针对有读写障碍或是其他学习困难的孩子，他们更难在学习中获得成就感，所以更容易产生抗拒心理，排斥学习华文。如何提高孩子的学习兴趣，增强他们的学习信心，一直是DAS华文团队努力的方向，也是DAS华文课程不断探究的课题。

下面来谈谈在课堂上如何应用互动式教学来帮助有特殊需求的孩子提升华文学习兴趣和积极性，提高课堂有效性。

一、什么是互动式教学？

教学是一个双向沟通交流的过程，它需要教师和学生共同配合完成。

互动式教学的理论基础是源于人本主义心理学。心理学家马斯洛（Maslow）曾提出人的需要层次理论包括生理需要、安全需要、归属和爱的需要、自尊需要以及自我实现需要。另一位心理学家罗杰斯(Rogers)提出基于尊重、真诚、悦纳的完人教育观。

也就是说，教师需要提供学习资源，构建问题情境，尊重学生的主体地位，重视学习方法和健全人格的培养。

教师需要尊重学生的主体性，让他们有表达的空间，自由思考的权利。另外，在循序渐进的教学过程中，发生互动，不断改善。学生和教师之间，和其他同学之间进行有效交流对话，教师需要提供合理、恰当的方式，让学生们互相碰撞，启发思维。

传统课堂很难让学生们持续保持专注，我们需要打破“老师讲，学生听”的传统教学模式，让学生有参与感，课堂上体现平等、友好的地位。

有读写障碍或注意力缺陷的学生，通常伴随短期记忆弱、对文字焦虑等特点，而情境化、多感官（听、看、动）的互动教学能有效降低他们的文字焦虑，帮助他们在“做中学”。

二、互动式教学的实操策略与课堂示例

    在DAS的华文课堂上，我们主要通过师生互动与生生互动两大策略来调动学生的学习热情。我们会根据学生的学习特点，采用显性教学（Explicit Teaching）、循序渐进的教学设计，以及多感官学习策略，帮助学生逐步建立语言能力。

    互动式教学并不是为了“好玩”，而是让学生能够在真实体验中理解词汇、句型及篇章内容，降低学习负担，提高学习成效。

策略一：师生互动——创设情境，设问释义

师生互动策略主要是由教师进行引导，首先由教师结合教学目标创设情境，进行师生对话，设问释义。

示例A：教授句式“动词+得+形容词”

    教师邀请一位男生和一位女生上讲台，让他们做“跳”这个动作。

    教师问学生：谁跳起来比较高？

    学生回答：男生。

    教师继续问学生：现在我们知道几个词，一个是主语“男生”，一个是动词“跳”，另一个是形容男生跳得怎么样的词“高”，那么应该怎么把它们连起来说成一个正确的句子呢？

学生也许会回答：男生跳高。

这时候，教师就可以纠错并让学生说出正确的句式：男生跳得高。学生能够在跟教师的情境互动和感官（动）互动中，学习并掌握正确的句式。学生不是死记“得”字，而是在真实动作中理解句子的结构，因此更容易迁移到新的句子表达中。

示例B：教授趋向补语“来/去”

教师：学生甲，你现在可以去课室外面吗？好，请你就站在门外，同学们，学生甲在哪？

学生：学生甲在外面。

教师：学生甲刚才在哪儿？学生甲刚才在课室里，和我们在一起，这时候我们可以说“学生甲出去了。”

教师：学生甲，现在请你回座位，好了，学生甲刚才在外面没有和我们在一起，现在在课室里面和我们一起了，我们又可以说“学生甲进来了。”

这时候教师可以向学生讲解，在华文中用“来/去”放在动词后表示动作的方向，“来”表示朝着说话人的方向，“去”表示远离说话人的方向。通过之前的情境创设，学生在经过亲身体验（看、动）之后，会更容易理解句式的表达要求。接下来再设置相关的课堂活动让学生们进行分组操练就更加容易。

策略二：合作学习，寓教于乐

    另一种是生生互动策略，包括分组讨论，互相评价和成果展示，让学生们进行合作学习。对于有特殊学习需求的学生来说，单独回答问题容易产生压力，而合作学习能够降低焦虑，学生在同伴支持下会更愿意尝试表达。

例如识字复习课上，可以让学生们分组，每组分发学过的偏旁卡“三点水”、“两点水”，和不同的声旁/部件卡：“水”、“十”、“令”、“中”、“包”、“先”，然后让学生们进行配对，组合成目标字并读出来。小组之间可以互相纠错，最后进行小组评比。

教授词汇时，可以利用 “你比我猜”、“词语接龙”等游戏来增加课堂趣味性，提高学生的参与性；

教授句型和阅读课文时，可以分组进行角色扮演，模拟情景对话。

写作课上，也可以分组布置写作任务，并进行生生互评。学生们通过互相阅读、互相评价对方写得好的部分、可以改进的部分，互相学习，激发写作兴趣，提高写作能力。

三、互动式教学中的有效“提问”

古人云：学起于思，思源于疑。

    互动式教学以问题设计为基础，有效地“提问”可以启发学生思维，激发学习兴趣，从而增强自信心。

提问式教学需要针对学生的认知水平和学习需求合理提问。“提问”需要有创新性，趣味性，启发性和层次性。

示例：巧妙追问引出目标句型“除了……，……都……。”

句型课上，教师展示“水果”图片并询问学生：你们喜欢吃水果吗？

学生回答：喜欢。

接着展示“榴莲”图片询问学生：那下次老师请大家吃榴莲？

学生笑答：老师，我们不喜欢吃榴莲！

教师反问：你们刚刚不是说喜欢吃水果吗？

学生们大笑，教师告诉学生，这种情况大家可以说：除了榴莲，其他水果我都爱吃。引出目标句型：除了……，……都……。

再比如DAS华文中学课程的口语课，每堂课上会根据不同的主题，逐层向学生提出问题，层层递进，并根据学生的回答进行有效追问。每次提问过后，教师也会适当停顿，让学生有思考时间。

    教师也会考虑学生差异，设计不同层次的问题，学生可以利用所学知识，认真思考后进行回答，从而提高自信心。

总而言之，互动式教学可以更好地调动学生的主体性和积极性，有效提升有特殊需求学习者的学习兴趣，并帮助他们逐步建立自信。

最后，分享一段学生家长的真实反馈，希望可以激励同样致力于特殊教育行业的同行和家长朋友们：

“老师，我儿子跟我说，他现在最喜欢的科目是华文！每次来上课前他都很兴奋和期待，我真的想不到！他现在也不抗拒完成华文听写和华文功课了！”

“My child starts dozing off the moment Chinese class begins.”

“When I speak to him in Mandarin at home, he does not respond.”

“My daughter says Chinese is just too difficult…”

We often hear parents share that their children have little interest or confidence in learning Chinese. They are afraid to speak it, reluctant to read it and anxious about writing it. Some even say that they “hate Chinese”.

There is no denying that learning Chinese can be highly challenging for children with special educational needs.

Although Chinese is considered the mother tongue of Chinese Singaporeans and bilingual education begins as early as preschool, many children still communicate mainly in English with their families, teachers and friends. Without regular exposure to a Chinese-speaking environment, Chinese gradually becomes less like a mother tongue and more like a second language.

For children with dyslexia or other learning difficulties, it can be even harder to experience a sense of achievement in the classroom. As a result, they may become discouraged and increasingly resistant to learning Chinese.

Helping these learners develop an interest in Chinese and build their confidence has always been a key focus of the DAS Chinese team. It is also something we continually explore and refine through the DAS Chinese programme.

In this article, we look at how interactive teaching can make Chinese lessons more engaging and effective for learners with special educational needs.

What Is Interactive Teaching?

Teaching is a two-way process that requires active communication and cooperation between teachers and students.

Interactive teaching is rooted in humanistic psychology. Psychologist Abraham Maslow proposed that human needs include physiological needs, safety, love and belonging, esteem and self-actualisation. Psychologist Carl Rogers also advocated an approach to education built on respect, authenticity and acceptance.

In the classroom, this means that teachers do more than simply deliver information. They provide learning resources, create meaningful situations and give students the space to express themselves and think independently. They also place importance on developing effective learning strategies and supporting each student’s overall growth.

As learning progresses step by step, teachers continuously interact with students and adjust their teaching based on their responses. Through purposeful discussions between teachers and students, as well as among classmates, learners exchange ideas, learn from one another and develop their thinking.

It can be difficult for students to remain focused in a traditional classroom where the teacher speaks and the students listen. Interactive teaching moves away from this one-way model. Instead, it gives students an active role in the lesson and creates a more equal, supportive and welcoming learning environment.

Learners with dyslexia or attention difficulties may also experience challenges such as weaker short-term memory and anxiety towards written language. Contextualised, multisensory teaching that allows them to listen, see, move and participate can reduce this anxiety and help them learn through doing.

Interactive Teaching Strategies and Classroom Examples

In DAS Chinese classes, we use two main approaches to encourage active participation: teacher–student interaction and peer interaction.

Based on each learner’s needs, we also incorporate explicit teaching, carefully sequenced instruction and multisensory learning strategies to help students develop their language skills progressively.

Interactive teaching is not simply about making lessons “fun”. Every activity is designed to help students understand vocabulary, sentence structures and texts through meaningful experiences. This reduces the demands of learning and helps students learn more effectively.

Strategy 1: Teacher–Student Interaction Through Meaningful Contexts

In teacher–student interaction, the teacher guides the lesson by creating a situation connected to the learning objective. Through demonstrations, dialogue and carefully planned questions, students are supported in discovering the meaning and structure of the language for themselves.

Example A: Teaching the Sentence Structure “Verb + 得 + Adjective”

The teacher invites one boy and one girl to the front of the classroom and asks them to jump.

The teacher asks:

“Who jumps higher?”

The students answer:

“The boy.”

The teacher continues:

“We now have the subject, 男生, meaning ‘the boy’; the verb, 跳, meaning ‘jump’; and the word 高, which describes how he jumps. How can we connect these words to form a correct sentence?”

A student may respond:

“男生跳高。”

The teacher can then correct the sentence and guide the class towards the correct structure:

“男生跳得高。”
The boy jumps high.

Instead of memorising the use of 得 as an abstract grammar rule, students understand the sentence structure through movement, observation and interaction. This makes it easier for them to apply the structure when forming new sentences.

Example B: Teaching the Directional Complements “来” and “去”

The teacher says:

“Student A, could you step outside the classroom and stand by the door? Everyone, where is Student A?”

The class responds:

“Student A is outside.”

The teacher then explains:

“Student A was in the classroom with us just now, but has now moved away from us. We can say: 学生甲出去了 — Student A has gone out.”

The teacher then asks Student A to return to their seat.

“Student A was outside and away from us, but is now back inside the classroom with us. We can say: 学生甲进来了 — Student A has come in.”

The teacher explains that in Chinese, 来 and 去 can be placed after a verb to indicate the direction of movement. 来 describes movement towards the speaker, while 去 describes movement away from the speaker.

Because students have watched and physically experienced the movement, they are more likely to understand how the sentence structures work. They can then practise using them through further group activities.

Strategy 2: Collaborative Learning Through Purposeful Activities

Peer interaction may include group discussions, peer feedback and presentations. These activities give students opportunities to learn together and support one another.

For learners with special educational needs, answering questions alone in front of the class can feel stressful. Collaborative learning reduces some of this pressure. With the encouragement of their classmates, students may feel safer and more willing to express themselves.

During a Chinese character revision lesson, for example, students can work in groups using radical cards such as 三点水 and 两点水, together with character component cards such as 水, 十, 令, 中, 包 and 先.

 

When learning vocabulary, games such as Guess the Word and Chinese word chains can make lessons more engaging and encourage greater participation.

During sentence structure and reading lessons, students can work in groups to role-play different characters and act out situational dialogues.

Collaborative learning can also be used during writing lessons. Students may complete a group writing task before reading and reviewing one another’s work. They identify what their classmates have done well and suggest areas that could be improved.

Through this process, students learn from one another, become more interested in writing and gradually strengthen their Chinese writing skills.

Using Effective Questions in Interactive Teaching

An ancient Chinese saying tells us:

“Learning begins with thought, and thought begins with doubt.”

Questions form the foundation of interactive teaching. When used effectively, they encourage students to think, spark their interest in learning and help them become more confident.

Teachers should design questions according to each student’s level of understanding and learning needs. Effective questions should be creative, engaging, thought-provoking and carefully structured from simpler to more challenging ideas.

Using Follow-Up Questions to Introduce a Target Sentence Structure

During a sentence structure lesson, the teacher shows the class pictures of fruit and asks:

“Do you like eating fruit?”

The students reply:

“Yes!”

The teacher then shows them a picture of a durian and asks:

“In that case, shall I treat everyone to durian next time?”

The students laugh and respond:

“Teacher, we don’t like durian!”

The teacher asks:

“But didn’t you just say that you like fruit?”

As the class laughs, the teacher explains that they can describe the situation using this sentence:

“除了榴莲，其他水果我都爱吃。”
Apart from durian, I like all other fruits.

This naturally introduces the target sentence structure:

“除了……，……都……”
Apart from…, all…

In the DAS Secondary School Chinese programme, teachers use a similar approach during oral communication lessons. Questions are introduced progressively according to the lesson’s topic, and teachers use students’ answers to guide their follow-up questions.

Teachers also pause after asking a question, allowing students enough time to process it and organise their thoughts before responding.

As learners have different needs and levels of ability, teachers prepare questions at varying levels of difficulty. This gives students opportunities to apply what they have learnt, think carefully and experience success when they answer—helping them gradually build confidence.

Helping Learners Develop a More Positive Relationship with Chinese

Interactive teaching gives learners a more active role in the classroom. It encourages participation, strengthens their interest in learning Chinese and helps them build confidence one step at a time.

To end, we would like to share some real feedback from a parent. We hope it encourages fellow educators and parents who are also supporting children with special educational needs:

“My son told me that Chinese is now his favourite subject! He feels excited and looks forward to every lesson. I never imagined this would happen. He no longer resists completing his Chinese spelling or homework either!”

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