For Singaporean children, learning Chinese is akin to learning about a completely new ideology, culture, and, in many cases, language. This entails learning a set of grammatical and syntactic rules that they may or may not be familiar with previously. The reason is that Chinese is a very different language from English. Learning a new language necessitates various skills that will aid in acquiring its new ideology. Therefore, learning Chinese will allow children to hone their higher-order thinking skills by comparing and contrasting it with the other languages they are familiar with, be it English, Malay, or Tamil. Chinese tutors in Singapore play an important role in ensuring that the students' higher-order thinking skills are developed in a smooth manner.
Higher-order thinking refers to a set of thinking skills that assist students in developing more complex thoughts and moving beyond rote memorisation. There are several types of higher-order thinking, and they all challenge students to apply what they know in novel ways. This concept is exemplified by critical thinking, comprehension, analysis, evaluation, and problem-solving. Different from lower-order thinking skills like remembering and understanding, students will retain these cross-disciplinary skills throughout their lives.
Language learning and higher-order thinking are complementary concepts. While higher-order thinking makes language learning more efficient and enjoyable, language learning also assists students in developing higher-order thinking skills through their activities and exercise. Let’s take a look at how Chinese tutors in Singapore can help their students develop these higher-order thinking skills through their language lessons.
IDENTIFY LEARNING STYLES
Higher-order thinking strategies can be tailored to accommodate a wide range of learning styles. As a result, in order to effectively develop higher-order thinking, Chinese tuition teachers must determine the most effective teaching methods. For this, understanding and establishing the required milestones to ensure that all students learn equally is similarly important. As a result, when developing these objectives, Chinese tutors in Singapore take their students' neurodiversity into account.
They focus on areas such as:
How to encourage visual, verbal, concrete and abstract thinking during Chinese lessons?
How long does it take students to complete challenging thinking tasks?
How to assess the level of Chinese language comprehension?
At the start of a unit, posing a series of mandatory questions, also known as thinking inventories, can aid in engaging students in higher-order thinking. This allows the children to think about and approach their language learning activities at their own pace.
DEFINE OBJECTIVES
Chinese tuition teachers in Singapore should determine beforehand which higher-order thinking skills students should master during the lesson. Clear objectives ensure that the classroom activities correspond to the ideas or skills the teachers want their students to learn. Sometimes instructors will design activities that require both lower-order and higher-order thinking skills. So, when deciding on activities involving analysis, evaluation, and creation, Chinese tuition teachers make every effort to have clearly defined objectives for each of their lessons.
SELECT APPROPRIATE ACTIVITIES AND LESSONS
Students with access to authentic learning experiences engage in more meaningful and interactive learning. As a result, when planning their classes, Chinese tutors in Singapore will choose learning activities relevant to their students' experiences to create a true learning experience.
As students realise the importance of learning the Chinese language or how it relates to their own lives, they will be motivated to ask more in-depth questions regarding their studies. These inquiries will aid in the development of their higher-order thinking skills.
Some higher-order thinking tactics used in classrooms by Chinese tutors in Singapore include selecting intriguing themes relevant to students' life or devising exercises addressing a real-world problem. It helps students to investigate multiple viewpoints on these topics and makes their Chinese language lessons more engaging.
ASSESS AND REFLECT
Students are routinely encouraged in Chinese language classes to demonstrate their capacity to memorise facts and information. On the other hand, questions about concepts like analysing and assessing are more focused on judging a student's ability to understand and apply higher-order thinking skills. Chinese tuition teachers in Singapore use this technique to discover students' depth of thought and ability to apply logic.
In their Chinese learning journey, children engage in a variety of activities that encourage various types of higher-order thinking. During their language learning-related activities, students will encounter exercises where they must support their argument without being influenced by the potential disagreement of others. These can be solved by employing proper language usage, which requires their knowledge and critical thinking abilities, thereby broadening their higher-order thinking scope.
DEVELOP YOUR CHILD'S HIGHER-ORDER THINKING SKILLS WITH THE BEST CHINESE TUTORS IN SINGAPORE
Higher-order thinking skills can help your child go beyond memorising and encourage them to develop creative and critical thinking skills in order to demonstrate their knowledge and academic achievements. These abilities, such as analysis, evaluation, and creation, are necessary for success in today's world. Developing such skills will allow your child to process information and come up with better solutions when solving problems and making decisions.
As a result, our Chinese tuition teachers at My Bright Education encourage the development of higher-order thinking as it assists our students in becoming intelligent and well-rounded individuals. If you are looking for a Chinese tuition class that will provide the essential fundamental language knowledge and help your child develop higher-order thinking skills, we are the place for you. We provide Chinese tuition and enrichment classes for kindergarten, primary, and secondary students, and our language lessons are integrated with activities to develop higher-order thinking skills. For any inquiries, reach out to us here.