從社會發展的情況看香港小學中國語文科課程的發展

香港的小學中國語文科課的發展，從一八四七年的華文鄉村學校的《三字經》、《千字文》(明基全，1996)開始到現在的目標為本課程，經歷了不同階段的改變和發展。小學中國語文科的發展過程，如何結合社會的發展來作出改變呢？這實在是一個值得探討的課題。本文的分析指出，八十至九十年代的課程發展，顯示課程的發展目的以應付生活所需要語文技能為主，在中文走向國際化前，我們是不是該加給我們的小學生加上更多文化元素呢？筆者嘗試從有關小學中國語文課課程的文獻，結合當時的社會情況，從五十年代開始，就社會發展的情況和本港小學中國語文科課程的發展關係，作出初步的探究，以期借古鑑今，對小學中國語文科課程的發展，找出一個路向。
The curriculum of Chinese Language (primary) in Hong Kong with Sanzijing (Trimetrical Classic) and Qianziwen (Thousand Character Book) (明基金, 1996) as a start in 1847, up to the Targeted Oriented Curriculum at the present moment, has experienced changes in different stages. How are these changes in different stages be correlated with the social development in Hong Kong? This is an issue worthy of investigation. This chapter attempts, by correlating findings from literature review and the social phenomenon at different stages, to explores the relationship between social development and that of Chinese Language in primary schools since 1850. The analysis reveals that the curriculum tends to eliminate traditional cultural elements in the curriculum in 1980s and early 1990s. This finding draws our attention to a critical issue: when Chinese Language is taking a stride internationally, should we, in addition to language tools, put more emphasis on cultural elements for our younger generations? In view of the issue, this chapter further speculates on the development of Chinese Language (primary) and make an attempt to find a new direction for the future. Copyright © 2000 The Hong Kong Institute of Education.