| by Kenny Freundlich, ITS
Jing-Heng Ma, Professor of Chinese, and Robert H. Smitheram,
Assistant Professor of Chinese at the University of California
at Santa Barbara, are building on the success of their award-winning
software HyperChinese. Ma and Smitheram have developed a
new series of modules to teach pronunciation of Mandarin
Chinese, focusing on the special needs of Cantonese and Taiwanese
speakers (as well as those with no Chinese background). The
software is currently being beta-tested by students here
at Wellesley; Ma and Smitheram expect the new modules to
be released in May of this year.
According to Ma, a growing number of introductory students
of Chinese come from homes where Cantonese or Taiwanese has
been spoken. The problems these students face in mastering
the correct pronunciation of Mandarin Chinese present unique
challenges, given that Cantonese speakers tend to make pronunciation
errors in a pattern quite different from students that have
had no exposure to any form of Chinese.
To hear an example of the digitized sounds used in HyperChinese,
click the speaker icons below.
 He's very
tired. He's
very tall He's
very busy
HyperChinese was created using the HyperCard authoring
system, which makes full use of the Mac's multimedia capabilities,
including graphics, digitized sound, and animation. Model
utterances of Mandarin Chinese have been digitized and serve
as the key resource for the program's drills, exercises,
and quizzes. HyperChinese also features an auto-record function
which allows a student to listen to an example sentence,
record her own voice, and then compare the two. A variation
in the focus of the drills deals with the different needs
of students with Cantonese or Taiwanese backrounds. Modules
include:
- the four basic tones and single syllable words;
- the neutral tone and two syllable words;
- sound discrimination; and
- key words for Mandarin Chinese pronunciation
The initial fourteen modules of HyperChinese, published
on a CD-ROM in November, 1993 by Cheng & Tsui Company,
introduced basic grammar to elementary and intermediate level
students who already know some Chinese. In August of 1993,
EDUCOM selected HyperChinese as a Distinguished Humanities
Software Award winner in the Higher Education Software and
Curriculum Awards Program.
HyperChinese was funded by a special gift from Mrs. Elizabeth
Tu Hoffman `76 and her husband Rowe Hoffman, along with funding
from the Helen Lin Fund, the Mellon Foundation for Language
Instruction, and Wellesley College. Ma and Smitheram began
the project in the fall of 1991 while Smitheram was an Assistant
Professor of Chinese at Wellesley.
The flexible and modular design allows for self-direction
and self-practice on the part of the student. The HyperCard
environment gives the student a rich language-learning experience
outside the classroom, allowing for more interactive and
conversational practice in class.
The material is primarily supplemental in nature. Modules
and units can be studied in any order, depending on the student's
needs. The scope of the material covered is not a complete
description of Chinese grammar, but rather a focused presentation
of the core grammar and the common areas of difficulty for
English-speaking students of Chinese. The material base of
the program does not derive from any specific textbook or
vocabulary list, but is supported by research conducted by
Professor Ma at the University of Michigan.
Each module is identified by a Chinese character chosen
to reflect the module's content as well as to enhance the
visual appeal of the program. The characters derive from
the brushes of well-known calligraphers. All Chinese is in
Pinyin with English translations -- no Chinese characters
are used for instructional purposes.
Each unit within a module gives a structured explanation
of a grammatical topic and concludes with one or more drills
which test a student's command of the material. A student
can move back and forth through a unit, work successively
through several units, or jump from one module to another.
For more information, contact Jing-Heng Ma, Professor of
Chinese, at x2191, or by email (jma@wellesley.edu).
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