Annual Report 2013–14

香港幼兒語言學習及教學網站 心理學系 Catherine Alexandra McBride 教授領導的中大生命全期發 展研究中心，在2014年初推出幼兒語 言學習及教學網上平台──「香港幼 兒語言發展」網站。 McBride教授及其團隊過去一直致力 於親子學習的研究，發現家長採用不 同的中文新字教學方法，會有不同的 效果，當中有不少出人意表的結果。 例如教導兒童認識中文字的筆劃順 序，或其部件組合（讓兒童明白中文 字由不同部件組合而成，他們可以根 據字面意思，將部首及聲旁拆開成有 意義的分件），相比起傳統以死記硬 背方式去學習生字，成效更為顯著。 McBride教授及其團隊集合了多年的 研究成果，推論出兒童學習中文過程 的基本原則，並將成果編寫成實用 的「香港幼兒語言發展」學習及教學 網站，為家長及老師提供了眾多實用 的教學技巧和相關的趣味遊戲，幫助 兒童學習中文字詞。 發現格陵蘭大量冰川消融 地球系統科學課程助理教授劉琳與國 際科學家合作的最新研究發現，過去 二十五年處於穩定狀態的格陵蘭東北 部冰川，亦是格陵蘭最後一片穩定冰 川，開始大量消融，其中的Zachariae 冰川在過去十年內消融了二十公里之 多，是全球暖化的嚴重警號。 來自五個國家共十所大學（包括中 大、丹麥科技大學和美國史丹福大 學）及科研機構的十三位科學家，利 Research-based Early Literacy Website for Chinese Children Led by Prof. Catherine Alexandra McBride, the Lifespan Development Laboratory has developed and launched a research-based website ‘Early Literacy for Chinese Children’ in early 2014. Past studies conducted by the Lifespan Development Laboratory on maternal mediation of writing in kindergarten children reveal that mothers' different teaching strategies for introducing new Chinese characters can vary in effectiveness, and some results may be surprising. For example, although rote copying of characters tends to be highly emphasized as a teaching method, this method has been shown to be less effective than other strategies focusing on stroke order and component segmentation (teaching children words by dividing them into meaningful components, e.g., semantic and phonetic radicals) for promoting writing and reading skills in young children. Over years of research, Professor McBride and her team have deduced some important underlying principles of Chinese learning, and illustrated them in practical learning suggestions in the new website ‘Early Literacy for Chinese Children’. A number of useful training tips as well as fun game ideas are available on the website to improve Chinese word and character learning. Research on Sustained Mass Loss of Greenland Ice Sheet Prof. Liu Lin, assistant professor of the Earth System Science Programme, revealed in a joint research with international scientists that the northeastern part of Greenland, the last remaining stable portion of Greenland’s ice sheet that has been stable for 25 years, is losing its ice rapidly. In particular, the Zachariae glacier has suffered a very significant retreat of 20 km just over the last decade. 24 開拓人類知識的版圖 Pushing Knowledge Frontiers