Teaching Chinese As an Additional Language: Issues, Approaches, and Pedagogy
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Educational Policies and Current Practices 2015; 1(2): 57-69 ISSN: 2147-3501 (Print) 2148-9688 (Online) DOI: 10.15340/2147350112832 Research Article Teaching Chinese as an Additional Language: Issues, Approaches, and Pedagogy Chunlei Lu1*, Tony DiPetta 2, Yuming Xu3 1 2 3 Brock University, Canada Abstract: With the rise of China as a global economic and political power, the Chinese language has become one of the most important trade and cultural languages in the world. The demand for learning Chinese as an additional language has increased dramatically in recent years including a rapid rise in demand for elementary and secondary school Mandarin classes and teachers across North America. While the demand for Chinese as an additional language has increased substantively, however, qualified and certified teachers familiar with additional language teaching methodologies and more specifically with the understanding of how Chinese as an additional language is best acquired and retained by learners are rare. This article examined the current issues associated with instruction of Chinese as an additional language, analyzed the characteristics of the Chinese language, and explored important theoretical principles for teaching additional languages as they relate to the increasing demand for instructional capacity in the teaching of Chinese as an additional language. Based on the research literature, recommendations and practical suggestions for the classroom instruction of Chinese as an additional language are presented and discussed. Keywords: Chinese, additional language, teaching, issue, pedagogy *Chunlei Lu, Faculty of Education, Brock University, St. Catharines, L2S 3A1 Ontario, Canada Email: [email protected] Tony DiPetta, Faculty of Education, Brock University, St. Catharines, L2S 3A1 Ontario, Canada Email: [email protected] Yuming Xu, Faculty of Education, Brock University, St. Catharines, L2S 3A1 Ontario, Canada Email: [email protected] 1. Introduction With China’s growing economic and geopolitical importance, the country’s official language— Mandarin Chinese—has quickly become one of the most economically and culturally important languages in the world (Wu, 2010). As a result of this new global importance, Duff (2008) notes that Mandarin Chinese is “…gaining momentum internationally as a more widely studied language by students from non-Chinese ethnic backgrounds” (p. 6). She suggests that globalization is not only a phenomenon in economic terms but it also affects cultural trends, human migration in terms of where people choose to move to live and work, and educational focus and demand in terms of what languages people want to study in schools (Duff, 2008). Mandarin Chinese is therefore one of the fastest growing and in-demand languages among non-Chinese children and adults because people are recognizing China’s increasing global importance and realizing its utility for business and employment opportunities in a complex and competitive global marketplace. From an economic, political, and cultural perspective then learning Mandarin Chinese is seen as a vital necessity for understanding and interacting effectively with China in a new economic world order that is increasingly competitive. The growth of China’s global reach and influence combined with the growing immigration of Chinese to North America has resulted in Mandarin Chinese becoming a rising star in North Educational Policies and Current Practices 2015; 1(2): 57–69 57 American language classes (Finn, Lu, DiPetta, Young, & Ye, 2013). In the United States, it is estimated that 4 per cent of secondary school students are enrolled in Mandarin language classes and 3 per cent of elementary schools offer Mandarin language courses. In Canada, the Chinese language has become the second most spoken immigrant language in the country and demand for Mandarin in Canadian schools is soaring especially in Ontario, British Columbia, and Alberta which has had Chinese bilingual programming in its public schools system for more than 30 years. Chinese is now the third most widely spoken home language after English and French in Canada and after English and Spanish in the United States (Li & Duff, 2008). The rapid increase in demand for learning Chinese as an additional language however has not been accompanied by an adequate increase in the number of qualified and professionally certified Chinese as an additional language teachers (Arnoldy, 2007) nor by updated teachers’ training, professional development, and the development of appropriate teaching materials for Chinese language instruction in North American schools (Everson & Xiao 2009; Wu, 2010). The standard teaching methods for Chinese as an additional language in North America tend to be behind new understandings of how Chinese as an additional language is best acquired and retained by non-Chinese learners (Duff 2008; Everson & Xiao, 2009; Wu, 2010). This paper is therefore to examine the current issues associated with instruction of Chinese as an additional language, analyze the characteristics of the Chinese language, explore important theoretical principles for teaching additional languages, and discuss specific strategies rooted in the research literature for the classroom instruction of Chinese as an additional language are presented and discussed. The term Chinese or Mandarin as an additional language is used in this article rather than the terms second language, foreign language or international language, because Mandarin Chinese may be a learner’s third or fourth language (Judd, Tan, & Walberg 2010) and, in countries with a large population of Chinese immigrants (e.g., Canada, USA), Chinese (Mandarin or Cantonese) is often an essential community language, rather than a second language or a foreign language or an international language. The term Chinese as an additional language therefore is used as an inclusive term that is more culturally, politically and pedagogically appropriate (Lu, 2014) when referring to Chinese language learning which is not an individual’s first or native language. 2. The current issues with Chinese as an additional language instruction Teaching Chinese as an additional language within China dates back to the Tang Dynasty (7th to 9th century AD), a golden age of cosmopolitan culture when representatives of foreign countries flocked to China and needed to learn its language and culture. The practice of teaching Chinese as a foreign language outside China can be traced to the 19th century but Chinese language instruction did not reach significant numbers until the 1930’s and the onset of World War II (Xing, 2008). Before World War II, foreigners who learned Chinese as an additional language were mainly restricted to missionaries, scholars, government officials, and a few eccentrics (Kane, 2006). When World War II erupted, there was a surge of interest in learning Chinese in Europe and North America, and many Chinese students who pursued study of the other disciplines in Europe and North America became the Chinese language teachers at the universities where they were studying (Xing, 2008). The earliest Chinese language school in a community in Canada was established by the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Society of Victoria in the Province of British Columbia, Canada, at the end of the 19th Century to provide free instruction to all Chinese children (Li, 2008). In Vancouver, British Columbia, the first Chinese language curriculum as a subject in the public school system was developed in 1987 (British Columbia Ministry of Education, 2012) and continues today with. Mandarin Chinese as a subject provided in elementary and secondary schools throughout the provinces of British Columbia (British Columbia Ministry of Education, 2012), Alberta (Edmonton Public School Board, 2012), and in Ontario (York Region School, Board, 2013). In the United States, there are approximately 1,100 middle or secondary schools offering Chinese language education (Dillon, 2010). According to the Asia Society Survey Report in 2004 (as cited in Everson & Xiao, 2009), 2,400 American high schools were interested in establishing Chinese language programs, but could not, because of a lack of qualified teachers. Even with the lack of qualified teachers, these language programs more than doubled since 2005 (Weise, 2007). In the U.K., 500 secondary schools have Chinese language programs with a total of approximately 70,000 students (Xiao, 2011; Zhang & Li, 2010). The demand for Chinese Mandarin as a lingua franca or bridging language between China, as one of the world’s largest and fastest growing economic, cultural, and political forces, and the rest of the globe, has been geometrically growing in recent years (Duff, 2008; Li, 2008). The 58 Educational Policies and Current Practices 2015; 1(2): 57–69 current interest in learning Chinese is also driven by the rapid growth in Chinese emigration to Western countries across Europe and North America. However, many issues can impede the development of Chinese as an additional language programming in these countries including such factors as a shortage of suitable teaching materials and qualified teachers, little research on the teaching methodologies in Chinese as an additional language, and a lack of formal teacher training programs (Everson & Xiao, 2009; Li, 2008). Many Chinese language teachers in Canada and the United States have historically been Chinese native speakers without sufficient professional training and qualification in teaching Mandarin as an additional language. Even