Robert Matthews and his argument for Bopomofo

 

Robert Matthews LinkedIn Profile says the following:

My eclectic background (linguistics/biology/humanities+Chi/Fre/Span/Russ), teaching experience, and grasp of technology, make me suited for challenging jobs requiring advanced language skills, especially technical translation, indexing and language training.

Robert Matthews (馬學進) who lives in Taipei wrote the following on Quora in response to my answer.

Robert Matthews:

This addendum is an extended response to a comment by Luqman Michel, who is very upset that Bopomofo (which he seems to regard as backward and harmful), is somehow harming the teaching of Pinyin in Malaysia.

There are teachers from Tianjin, China who are teaching Pinyin using Bopomofo sounds. This is why I asked this question. We in Malaysia did away with Bopomofo in the 70’s and introduced Hanyu Pinyin. Why can’t China get rid of Bopomofo in China?

My response:

I never said that Bopomofo is backward and harmful and I am disappointed why these guys will put words into my mouth. All I am trying to do is to put forward ideas on how to improve our education system. Anyone is welcome to debate and let others accept or reject what is written.

If Robert Matthews and other Taiwanese want to continue Bopomofo, it is their prerogative but they should not come into Malaysia via Face book or any other means and corrupt Hanyu Pinyin that has been successfully implemented in my country.   

Robert Matthews:

Perhaps Luqman Michel is unfamiliar with the Chinese idiom 因材施教ㄧㄣ ㄘㄞˊ ㄕ ㄐㄧㄠin tsair shy jiaw / yīn cái shī jiào “to teach according to each student’s ability”. Hanyu Pinyin is legally mandated as the ONLY system to be used for the romanization of Mandarin within China. That being said, well-trained teachers know full well that one cannot use exactly the same textbooks and teaching methods for all students.

My comment:

Robert Matthews is repeating what the King in an Indian fable said. A king caught a three-legged rabbit and proclaimed that all rabbits are three legged.

Robert Matthews wants to live like the frog in the well. Granted he has gathered a lot of information over the years but he has forgotten the Chinese saying Huo dao lao xue dao lao. I challenge him to get a copy of my book Shut Down Kids and then tell me what he disagrees with. He does not know anything about why kids shut down/disengage from learning to read and yet has the audacity to say that teachers should not use the same teaching methods for all students. I say, teach kids the sounds of letters in English without extraneous sounds and all children will learn to read. When all children can read and on equal footing then segregate them into science and art classes according to their aptitude and ability.

Robert Matthews:

PRC teachers working in Malaysia (and elsewhere in SE Asia) are aware that Bopomofo has been around for over a century, but Hanyu Pinyin has only been actively promoted for about half a century (after the Cultural Revolution). Thus, including Bopomofo in their lessons is merely a way to adapt their lessons to students who retain memories of this system and thus feel at home with this alphabet. Rest assured, Luqman Michel, that the sounds of Mandarin written in Hanyu Pinyin, Bopomofo or IPA are EXACTLY the same. The sounds determine the symbols, NOT the other way around.

My comment:

This is the same thing that was said by Yong Wen San. We all know that Bopomofo has been around for a long time but educators in Mainland China decided that Hanyu Pinyin would be more effective and introduced it in Mainland China and did away with Bopomofo.

The Chinese travelled around the world in Junk ships. Why are the Chinese now travelling by airplanes? Sometimes I wonder why an educated guy like Robert Matthews would say such silly things such as Bopomofo being centuries old and therefore, we should maintain the use of it.

This reminds me of the Chinese story ‘The grass is blue’. LINK

The moral of the story above: There are people who, no matter how much evidence we present to them, are not in the capacity to understand and are blinded by ego. All they want is to be right, even if they are not.

Robert Matthews:

Perhaps Luqman Michel is unfamiliar with the Chinese idiom 因材施教.

My comment:

The direct translation of 因材施教 yīn cái shī jiào is ‘to carry out teaching based on the material’. The meanings, according to what I discovered on the internet are, i. to teach them according to their aptitudes and ii. To group students into similar abilities so that teachers can teach according to their abilities.

However, another value taught by Confucius is 有教无类 yǒu jiào wú lèi meaning education without discrimination – education for everyone, irrespective of background.

It would appear that catering to individual differences may not be feasible. So, educational establishments segregate students into different categories including segregating them between dyslexic and non-dyslexic students.  

If we teach Pinyin as per the Pinyin chart on my blog post this morning all kids will be able to read in Pinyin. There is no need to adulterate Pinyin with extraneous sounds.