Teaching and Learning Chinese in Global Contexts


Book Description

Although there is an extensive literature on the teaching of English as a Second or Other Language, there is very little published research on the teaching or learning of Chinese in similar contexts. This book is the first to bring together research into the teaching and learning of Chinese as a foreign language to non-native speakers, as a second language to minority groups and as a heritage/community language in the diaspora.The volume showcases the contribution of researchers working in such areas as language teaching and learning, policy development, language assessment, language development, bilingualism, all within the context of Chinese as a Second or Other Language. This is an exciting extension of teaching research beyond the traditional TESOL field and with be of interest to researchers and practitioners working in applied linguistics and Chinese language education worldwide.




Routledge International Handbook of Schools and Schooling in Asia


Book Description

This comprehensive handbook is the ultimate reference work, providing authoritative and international overviews of all aspects of schools and schooling in Asia. Split into 19 sections it covers curriculum, learning and assessment, private supplementary tutoring, special education, gender issues, ethnic minority education and LGBTQI students in Asian schools. The volume displays the current state of the scholarship for schools and schooling in Asia including emerging, controversial and cutting-edge contributions using a thematic approach. The content offers a broad sweep of the region with a focus on theoretical, cultural and political issues as well as identifying educational issues and priorities, such as curriculum, assessment, teacher education, school leadership, etc., all of which impact students and learning in multiple ways. The Routledge International Handbook of Schools and Schooling in Asia brings together experts in each area to contribute their knowledge, providing a multidimensional and rich view of the issues confronting the region’s school and education systems. Chapters 34, 35, 36, 37, and 38 of this book are freely available as downloadable Open Access PDFs at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.




Performed Culture in Chinese Language Education


Book Description

Performed Culture in Chinese Language Education: A Culture-Based Approach for U.S. Collegiate Contexts elaborates on a cultural awareness-oriented, cultural performance-based, and cross-cultural communication-focused foreign language pedagogical paradigm—Performed Culture Approach — in the context of U.S. collegiate Chinese language education. Guangyan Chen draws on the data collected through questionnaires, comparisons between this pedagogy and mainstream pedagogical frameworks, and analyses of curricular development, lesson plans, and classroom discourses. Chen promotes the performed culture approach by delineating the theoretical framework of this pedagogy, reporting studies that empirically support cultural primacy in Chinese language education, and illustrating this pedagogy through analyses of a curricular structure, a lesson plan, and classroom discourses. Chen shows how this pedagogy addresses the gaps between the social need for global citizens and the insufficient integration of culture into foreign language education. The performed culture approach also addresses the overall drop in U.S. collegiate foreign language enrollment as this pedagogy connects foreign language programs to university missions and social needs.




Teaching Chinese in the Anglophone World


Book Description

This volume offers a comprehensive overview of Chinese language teaching in New Zealand, in light of the declining interest in foreign language learning in Anglophone countries. While existing scholarly works have discussed Chinese language education in other Anglophone countries, this book is the first to provide an in-depth examination of the landscape of Chinese language teaching in contemporary, multicultural New Zealand, featuring insights from leading experts. The book consists of 21 chapters written by 29 contributors, including research students, experienced teachers, and leading scholars in every educational sector, from preschool to university and from mainstream education to community schools. As the first volume to focus on this subject, the book provides both historical perspectives and multilevel analyses of critical milestones, based on the latest data, policy changes, and politico-economic conditions shaping the future direction of Chinese language education in New Zealand. Its purpose is to offer insights and an overview of the New Zealand case that can help policymakers, programme leaders, researchers, teachers, and learners in the Anglophone world and beyond, to better respond to the rapidly changing and challenging environments they face. In addition to the Foreword by Patricia Duff and the Epilogue, the book is a valuable resource for anyone interested in Chinese language education in New Zealand, and serves as a catalyst for further discussion and research on this topic.




English as a Global Language in China


Book Description

This book offers insight into the spread and impact of English language education in China within China’s broader educational, social, economic and political changes. The author's critical perspective informs readers on the connections between language education and political ideologies in the context of globalizing China. The discussion of the implications concerning language education is of interest for current and future language policy makers, language educators and learners. Including both diachronic and synchronic accounts or China’s language education policy, this volume highlights how China as a modern nation-state has been seeking a more central position globally, and the role that English education and the promotion of such education played in that effort in recent decades.




Accessibility and Diversity in Education: Breakthroughs in Research and Practice


Book Description

Education is a necessary foundation for improving one’s livelihood in today’s society. However, traditional learning has often excluded or presented a challenge to students with visual, physical, or cognitive disabilities and can create learning gaps between students of various cultures. It is vital that learning opportunities are tailored to meet individual needs, regardless of individual disabilities, gender, race, or economic status in order to create more inclusive educational practices. Accessibility and Diversity in Education: Breakthroughs in Research and Practice examines emerging methods and trends for creating accessible and inclusive educational environments and examines the latest teaching strategies and methods for promoting learning for all students. It also addresses equal opportunity and diversity requirements in schools. Highlighting a range of topics such as open educational resources, student diversity, and inclusion barriers, this publication is an ideal reference source for educators, principals, administrators, provosts, deans, curriculum developers, instructional designers, school boards, higher education faculty, academicians, students, and researchers.




Learning Chinese in Diasporic Communities


Book Description

This book brings together new theoretical perspectives and bilingual education models from different sociopolitical and cultural contexts across the globe in order to address the importance of sociocultural, educational and linguistic environments that create, enhance or limit the ways in which diasporic children and young people acquire the ‘Chinese’ language. The chapters present a variety of research-based studies on Chinese heritage language education and bilingual education drawing on detailed investigations of formal and informal educational input including language socialization in families, community heritage language schools and government sponsored educational institutions. Exploring the many pathways of learning ‘Chinese’ and being ‘Chinese’, this volume also examines the complex nature of language acquisition and development, involving language attitudes and ideologies as well as linguistic practices and identity formation. Learning Chinese in Diasporic Communities is intended for researchers, teacher-educators, students and practitioners in the fields of Chinese language education and bilingual education and more broadly those concerned with language policy studies and sociolinguistics.




Interculturality in Chinese Language Education


Book Description

This book calls for a change in the way interculturality is introduced in Chinese language education, while the demand for Chinese language teaching increases around the world. The concept of culture – as in the phrase ‘Chinese culture’ – has often been one of the main emphases of Chinese language education, providing students with facts about China and ‘recipes’ on how to meet Chinese people and how to behave like them. However, Chinese culture, like all cultures, does not constitute a closed system, but is constantly evolving and exchanging with other cultures. This unique volume comprises studies from around the world that promote intercultural awareness, dialogue, and encounters in Chinese language education. Written in a clear and readable style, this book will appeal to a diverse readership, from practising and training teachers of Chinese, to researchers interested in language and intercultural education.




Learning Chinese


Book Description

The acquisition of Mandarin Chinese, one of the most important and widely spoken languages in the world today, is the focus of this innovative study. It describes the rise of Chinese as a global language and the many challenges and opportunities associated with learning it. The collaborative, multiple-case study and cross-case analysis is presented from three distinct but complementary theoretical and analytic perspectives: linguistic, sociocultural, and narrative. The book reveals fascinating dimensions of Chinese language learning based on vivid first-person accounts (with autobiographical narratives included in the book) of adults negotiating not only their own and others' language and literacy learning, but also their identities, communities, and trajectories as users of Chinese.