Premier’s Kingold Chinese Bridge Language Teacher
Scholarship
Expanding resources for
Chinese language teaching
Jenny Liu
TAFE NSW - Sydney Institute
Sponsored by
My study proposal prior to the trip to China was based on the possibility and availability
to collect first-hand information for overseas students to study and work in China. This
trip gave me the opportunity to complete my proposed study and achieve the initial goal,
which is to update new words and common expressions in modern Chinese related to
current economic development in China and update teaching materials related to the new
syllabus for TAFE NSW Chinese certificate III course.
The trip included a formal study tour, attendance at cultural events, experiencing campus
life and visiting culturally significant sites. The first part of my report is a narrative of the
formal study tour and attendance at cultural events around Beijing. Secondly, I describe
the culture tour to Henan and Xian. Thirdly, I present the new books and resources used
for Chinese courses. Finally, I discuss the outcomes of my proposed study program in
TAFE.
The formal study tour at Beijing Normal University
The study tour included 20 days of class lectures and discussions attended by 32 teachers
from 15 countries. Only seven teachers were from a Chinese-speaking background.
Others spoke different languages. The teachers came from Austria, Australia,
Czechoslovakia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mauritius, New Zealand, North Korea,
Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Thailand and Uzbekistan. The five teachers from Australia have
been teaching Mandarin in public school, NSW TAFE and universities. Other teachers
also teach Chinese in different institutes in their countries.
The study tour was organised by Beijing Normal University (BNU, a teacher training
university). It covered different fields which all related to teaching Chinese to foreigner.
All topics were presented by professors or experienced lecturers. Each lecture included
demonstration, discussion and questioning. Most lectures were conducted in Mandarin.
The fluency in Chinese among the teachers attending was varied. Some teachers had
studied and travelled in China many times and had taught Chinese for many years. These
teachers quite enjoyed the lectures, whereas a few younger teachers had taught Chinese
for only a couple of years and this was the first time they had visited China.
The three of us from NSW arrived late, one week into the study tour. We arrived in
Beijing on 17 July 2005 and attended the first lecture on next day. The topic was How to
teach Chinese characters and presented by Professor Chen fu. She reviewed the history
of Chinese characters first, then the important link between the shape, pronunciation and
meaning of characters. She showed the comparison pictures between the old characters
and modern Chinese characters. She also analysed the problems teaching the Chinese
characters. Finally, she shared her teaching methods and gave some very practical
suggestions on how to teach characters to foreigners.
Over the following weeks, the study tour covered numerous topics, such as oral Chinese
teaching, listening and reading Chinese, writing Chinese, modern Chinese pronunciation
and modern Chinese vocabulary and expressions. Other topics related to the history of
teaching Chinese included ancient Chinese teaching, history of Chinese teaching for
foreigners, overview on the methodology of teaching Chinese for foreigners and
overview on Chinese teaching material for foreigner. For Chinese culture teaching, the
topics included Chinese folk culture teaching, modern Chinese literature, novel and films
and Chinese calligraphy. For advanced Chinese teaching, the topics included modern
educational technology used in teaching Chinese and How to read Chinese newspapers
and magazines.
For teaching evaluation, the topic on the Mandarin examination analysed the reliability
and validity of the Mandarin test paper and introduced the structure of the HSK Chinese
Proficiency Test system. Overall, the study tour was intensive, informative and practical.
At end of each topic, there was a list of recommended books for teachers to do further
study or to use as textbooks for students. For those Chinese-speaking background
teachers, these lectures gave them a completely revision of Chinese language and
literature study, and fresh input of new Chinese teaching methods. For the non-Chinese
speaking background teachers, this intensive study tour gave them a great opportunity to
explore China and provided professional training for their Chinese teaching career.
Cultural events and visits around Beijing
Apart from above formal lectures in class, the BNU also arranged a number of outside
class activities, such as teaching tai chi, a Beijing city tour, watching the Peking opera,
climbing the Great Wall, visiting temples and historical sites, and a tour to Liulichang
cultural street. These activities enhanced the teachers’ knowledge of Chinese culture and
custom. Through these events, most of teachers collected valuable teaching materials and
information. A few important events are highlighted on below.
World Chinese Conference
The 4th World Chinese bridge.
On 20 July, we all attended a big event held in Beijing—the 4th World Chinese bridge—a
Chinese proficiency competition for foreign students at the Great Hall of the People.
Many foreign students attended from all over of the world and we were lucky to be in
Beijing at this time to see the final result. Most competitors spoke very good Mandarin;
some of them spoke Mandarin just like native Chinese. In all, 95 candidates performed.
Performances included singing, dancing, cross-talking, Chinese martial arts—Wushu,
playing Chinese musical instruments, drama, paper cutting and magic and story telling.
The winner of this competition was a Russian girl who spoke beautiful and fluent
Mandarin. We realised our duties and obligations to spread the Chinese language to the
world in the future to extend an economic link between China and whole world. This
event was very exciting and encouraging for all our teachers.
Peking Opera
Chinese opera is a traditional form of stage entertainment. It combines the elements of
mime, dance, song, dialogue, swordplay and acrobatics, as well as traditional Chinese
music, poetry, recitation and martial arts. There are more than 300 different types of
Chinese operas from different regions of China. In the ancient times, these operas could
only be performed for the emperor or the royal families, and only later on they were
introduced to more of the society. Chinese opera became popular in the world after the
grand master of Peking opera, Mei Lanfang, visited Japan in 1919. Since then Peking
opera has become the quintessence of Chinese culture in the world. On 19 July, we
watched Peking Opera in LiYuan Theatre. All of us were amazed by the beautiful
costumes, colourful facial make-up, brilliant music band and spectacular performance.
Great Wall
On 30 July we visited and climbed the Great Wall at Mutianyu. China began building
parts of the Great Wall in the Spring and Autumn Period (770–476 BC) and the Warring
States Period (475–221 BC). The first time these pre-existing walls were systematically
joined was in 201 BC, on orders from Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor who united
China, founding the Qin Dynasty (220–207 BC). The wall was built as a defence against
northern nomads.
The Mutianyu portion of the Great Wall is a steep one, with more than 1000 stone steps.
More than 20 of the trees have been identified as being more than 300 years old. We did
not take cable cars and decided to climb up. When we got the top after one and half
hours, we were all very exhausted. For all of the teachers, climbing such high steps with
an air temperature of 40 degrees centigrade was a big challenge. But we were rewarded by
cool fresh air at the top and the most striking views of the wall as it snakes away across
mountains and valleys, disappearing at last in the distance.
Campus life at BNU
During the three weeks study tour in Beijing, all teachers lived inside BNU. There are
five canteens for local students, one international student canteen and one staff canteen
for teachers and staff. They provide three meals every day and the prices are much
cheaper than in outside restaurants. Because July and August are the hottest months in
Beijing, the canteen often provided free soup or porridge for students and staff to avoid
overheating. The hottest day I experienced was 42 degrees. If you don’t like the meals,
there are many restaurants and takeaway shops surrounding BNU. It was quite normal,
after class for three or four people to go to a nearby restaurant to share different cuisines
and drink Beijing beer.
Because BNU is located near the city centre, there are many western food and
restaurants surrounding the campus. Transport is handy, just in front of campus. You
can jump on buses or subways or taxis to the city centre or famous tourist sites. In the
university there is a clinic, post office, bookshop, supermarket and snack bar shop, an
indoor swimming pool, fitness centre, library and playground are also well equipped. The
foreign student apartments were just like three or four star hotels. The service was good.
The staff were very kind and helpful. We all had a great time. At end of study tour, we
had a summary meeting with all the lecturers and professors and a large banquet after the
meeting. In the afternoon, we departed from Beijing to Henan province for the culture
tour. We travelled a long distance by train and buses for about seven hours.
The culture tour to Henan and Xi’an
The purpose of the culture tour was to know more about Chinese history and culture;
therefore, visiting ancient cities and sites is very important to trace China’s long history
and culture. On the tour we had four very good tour guides to explain and guide us all
the way and all the time. They spoke very good English and Mandarin and had a great
sense of humour. The tour lasted eight days and we all learnt a lot. The following
includes some brief information on famous places and sites we visited.
Henan
Our tour began at Anyang city in Henan Province on 9 August. Henan Province held the
ancient capital of China many times in Chinese history. Anyang is one of China’s seven
civilised ancient capitals and is the originating place of the internationally famous
‘inscriptions on bones’. We visited Yinxu museum where the Oracle Bones with
inscriptions were found and the site of Chinese earliest ancient capital. After lunch, our
tour bus headed to Zhengzhou to see the famous Yellow River, where we experienced
the force and mud of the Yellow River by hovercraft. The next day, we visited Kaifeng’s
Steel tower, Henan Museum, the Fengdeng Shaolin Temple and the Longmen stone
sculptures.
The Shaolin Temple was built in Henan in 495 AD. In 527 AD, Da Mo/Bodhidharma, a
famous Indian monk came here and “missionised” the Chan, or Zen, sect of Buddhism.
It is also the birthplace of a major school of Chinese martial arts--Shaolin Wushu. Wushu
is an important part of Chinese culture and heritage. On our bus tour through the
Shaolin Temple, we were surprised that there are martial arts schools everywhere.
Longmen Grottoes is situated 13 km to the south of Luoyang of Henan Province. The
construction of Longmen Grottoes began in 493 AD, and took nearly 300 years to
complete. Its exquisite carving and grand scale mark it as one of the three most famous
grottoes in China. Now remaining here are 2345 caves and niches, over one hundred
thousand Buddhist statues and more than 2800 pieces of inscriptions. Longmen
Grottoes was inscribed on the World Heritage List in November 2000. Baima (white
horse) Monastery in Luoyang of Henan province is the earliest monastery established in
China and has a history of more than 1900 years. According to legend, a white horse
carried Buddhist scripture here, so it got the name. Followers of Chinese Buddhism have
always acknowledged Baima Monastery as the ‘ancestral temple’ and the ‘source of
Buddhism’.
Xi’an
On 13 August, we arrived by train at Xi’an, the capital of Shaanxi province. On 14
August we visited the world famous Terracotta Warriors Museum.
Terracotta Warriors Museum
It was Emperor Qin Shihuang’s tomb which is guarded by a life-sized army of 6000
terracotta warriors, horses and chariots. The site dates from the Qin dynasty which was
from 227 to 207 BC. Qin Shihuang was China’s first emperor, and unified the measuring
system, written language and built a transportation network.
On 15 August in the morning we visited Huaqing Lake, where an important political
event occurred during Chairman Mao Zedong’s former rule. In the afternoon, we visited
the Huxian’s Farmer’s Painting Museum. After a very busy and tiring day, we had a
chance to see the night scenery of Xi’an city. On 16 August, we returned to BNU. The
tour was very packed and tiring, but it was good exercise and some of us burnt up all that
extra weight we had put on! During the tour, I purchased a lot of useful books.
New books and resources
I started teaching straight away when I returned to Sydney and was very excited to share
my experiences and joy with my students. I immediately used the new books I purchased
for the Chinese certificate III class. The students were happy and satisfied. The following
outlines some books and resources that have been successfully used in the class and
some valuable information that I gathered for students wishing to study in China.
Books for studying in China
For the syllabus unit Study in China, I used a number of new books brought from
Beijing. The book Elementary Chinese Reading Course has three parts in each lesson. Each
lesson has three short reading texts, then practical posters, notes etc. The third part is
street signs with pictures showing Chinese characters. For foreign students, this book
provides a list of vocabulary in English and exercises to check the learner’s reading
comprehension. The reading passages length very from 40 to 150 words and cover
different topics such as computers and the Internet, the Chinese middle class, smoking
and scholarship etc.
Another book called New Chinese Situational Dialogues was also used for general daily
conversations. The book Rapid Literacy in Chinese is designed for students who have
learned Pinyin and the basic structural components of characters preferably have
completed Chinese certificate II in TAFE. Therefore, I used some lessons from this
textbook in the Chinese certificate III class. The result was very effective. The students
found the text was easy to read and practical and the topics were related to what they
needed to learn.
When students complete the Chinese Certificate III in TAFE, many of them plan to
travel and study in China. Some of them need take the Chinese Proficiency Test to meet
course entry requirement in China. The book Guide to Chinese Proficiency Test (HSK) is
completely based on the various test syllabuses written by the Chinese Proficiency Test
Centre of the State Chinese Office. This book covered both elementary, intermediate and
advanced levels. Most of the language materials used in this series are taken from
newspapers, broadcasts and TV programs since 1995; therefore, the candidates who use
the books will surely have a thorough understanding of the manifold aspects and levels
of the Chinese Proficiency Test.
Books for working in China
For the syllabus unit Work in China, I chose the book Gateway to Business Chinese Regular
Formulas and Etiquette. This book is designed for industrialists and businessmen who wish
to learn Chinese. Any economic and commercial transaction between China and a
foreign country may be viewed as a cross-cultural activity. The removal of language
barriers and difficulties that lie in the understanding of the culture, subtle points and
principles expressed by a target language will be greatly beneficial for one’s commercial
success. Thus, this book focuses on those aspects.
Colleges and courses for foreign students
Beijing Normal University (BNU), founded in 1902, is among China’s earliest established
institutions of higher learning and is one of the key universities in the country. At
present, BNU has 22 schools, 6 departments and 14 research institutes and offers 52
undergraduate programs. BNU confers Master’s degrees in 127 disciplines and
Doctorates in 70. It has 16 post-doctoral research centres. In 2005, Chinese Language
and Culture, Pre-school Education, History, Psychology, and Education teaching
programs were ranked at the top. BNU began to accept students from abroad in 1965.
Over the years, BNU has become well known throughout the world.
BNU not only teaches foreign students (including undergraduate students and long- or
short-term students) Chinese language and culture, but also fosters the native and foreign
post-graduate students majoring in linguistics and applied linguistics and/or Chinese
language and character study. The BNU has over 40 years of extensive experience
teaching Chinese as a second language. In addition, BNU also offers business Chinese
and executive Chinese for diplomas and for businessmen working in China. BNU has
well-equipped teaching facilities, an excellent staff, fine studying and living environment,
convenient location and a well-developed teaching administration system. To date, BNU
has instructed more than 10,000 international students from over 50 countries. More
than 1000 foreign students study at BNU every year. Another famous place to study is
the Beijing Language and Culture University (BLCU). The BLCU has simular facilities to
BNU.
Outcomes of the proposed study in TAFE
The initial goals of my proposed study program were achieved. With new books and
materials, my students have gained updated information for studying in China and are
able to select courses according to their individuals needs. After using the book Gateway
to Business Chinese in the class, the students have become more familiar with China’s
current workplace routines and conditions and are able to communicate in a more
appropriate and professional manner. So far, three of my former students have gone to
study in China already. Two students are currently working in China. They are all very
pleased that they had studied Chinese in TAFE. Eight students travelled to China during
the TAFE holiday and wish to learn more Chinese and study hard. This year, I have
taught the Chinese Crossover class with new books, and the students were happy and
satisfied. Most of them want to continue study Chinese at TAFE.
In conclusion, I have learned a lot of new teaching methods and strategies, and expanded
my professional knowledge through the formal study tour at BNU. I have also gained
valuable information and knowledge of Chinese history and culture. Those new books
and materials will continue to make the Chinese course more practical and viable and
provide more benefits for students who will study and work in China.
Bibliography
Beijing Tourism Administration (2000) Beijing—The Magnificent City, Lee Fung-Asco
Printers Ltd.
Chen, Ru (2005) New Chinese Situational Dialogues, Peking University Press.
Ni, Ming-liang (2004) Guide to Chinese Proficiency Test (HSK), Peking University Press.
Qin, Shi (1996) China, New Star Press.
Seligman, Scott D., Chen, I-Chuan (2001) Chinese at a Glance, NY: Barron’s Educational
Series, Inc.
Wu, Zu-guang., Huang, Zudin., Mei, Shao-wu (1984) Peking Opera and Mei Lanfang, New
World Press.
Zhang, Li., Shen, Shu-ying., Nie, Xue-hui (2005) Gateway to Business Chinese, Peking
University Press.
Zhang, Pengpeng (2004) Rapid Literacy in Chinese, Sinolingua.