The acquisitions of knowledge in Chinese classical literature and academic achievement among the secondary schools' students

This study was designed to determine the acquisition of Chinese classical literature knowledge, and the relationship between the acquisition of Chinese classical literature knowledge and academic achievement. This study was done in two National-Type Schools (NTSS) in the city of Klang, Selangor, and Malaysia. The instrument consists of a set of acquisition test with demographic variables. The respondents were 104 form four students, consisting of 52 students randomly chosen from two schools. The findings showed that the mean value of form four students' level of acquisition of Chinese classical literature knowledge was only 39.56. There was a significant positive correlation between acquisition test scores of classical Chinese literary knowledge (M = 39.56, SD = 11.66) and the grades obtained by the students in the Chinese subject in the Lower Secondary Assessment Examination (M = 3.77, SD = 1.27), r = 0.686, p <0.01). The results show that actions should be taken to raise students' interest in classical literature and to improve students' acquisition of Chinese classical literature knowledge as well as to ensure that the Chinese syllabus is implemented effectively.