English-Ordered Chinese

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.
Please improve this article if you can. (September 2006)

Please help improve this article or section by expanding it.
Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (January 2007)

English-Ordered Chinese (EOC) is the use of Chinese words to represent the meaning of English phrases and sentences that maintains the order (syntax) of the original English.

1 As a Learning Tool
2 See also
- 2.1 Social, cultural or political
3 External links

[edit] As a Learning Tool

EOC was conceived of as a tool to teach beginner's English to Chinese speakers by the Confucius Institute at Michigan State University.

EOC is a way for Chinese speakers with no knowledge of English to discover the similarities and diffences between Chinese and English grammar and syntax. The similarities between Chinese and English (both being analytical languages with canonical subject-verb-object word order) are sufficient for most EOC sentences to be understood by Chinese speakers, with differences also being readily apparent.

EOC can be combined with a gradual replacement of the Chinese words with the original English words. By replacing highly constrained words with English, students are able to guess the meaning of the English words. In this way, in addition to becoming familiar with English syntax and grammar, students can begin to acquire English vocabulary.

In written form, computer technology can also be used provide students with multiple choices to demonstrate knowledge of English vocabulary (using, for example, a pull-down menu on each English word) with feedback provided as to whether the choice was correct or incorrect. By gradually replacing the Chinese words of EOC with their original English words, Chinese-speaking students can develop the ability to learn and/or orally understand English.